NO CASTAWAY CAY FOR US

[mpsiq]

Oh, right, I forgot to say we got “compensation” fastpasses for rides we were not interested, since they limit those as well.

 

[Capt_BJ]

when parking goes wrong on a ship vs weather

 

[DisLiss]

And later in the week, all hopes of being happy in the happiest place on earth went to hell when every day many of the rides we went had “technical difficulties”, ruining each and every park day planning that was carefully made back home. We had issues in rockin roller coaster, rise of the resistance, thunder mountain railroad and even in the haunted mansion. Every time one of those lame experiences happened all we got from disney was the standard ”sorry” that didnt make up for anything.

I'm really sorry you experienced a lion's share of disappointments on your trip. It's always a bummer when multiple things you were looking forward to don't work out.

I am confused as to what you expected from WDW beyond an apology when the rides were down, though. It sounds like you had the success of the park portion of your trip wrapped around certain rides and those rides happen to be down. If Disney couldn't make those rides be available to salvage the trip for you, then I just wonder what else they could do. You mentioned that you weren't happy with fastpasses or their apology. I sincerely wonder if there was really anything they could have offered you that would have helped.

 

[Capt_BJ]

*2007 oct All Star Music *2010 dec Disneyland Paris offsite *2011 mar Disneyland Calif offsite *2012 jun Port Orleans French Quarters *2012 nov Port Orleans French Quarters *2013 nov Animal Kingdom Lodge *2014 jun Port Orleans Riverside *2015 jan Port Orleans Riverside *2016 Jun Coronado Springs *2018 jun Saratoga Springs Resort, right around the corner

can we assume you are now UNIVERSAL fans . . . or are you happy now with your VENT?

 

[MomOTwins]

Wow, I know it's frustrating to have things not go according to plan but the negativity in this post is just over the top. You wanted to punch the cruise director in the face for trying to stay upbeat and positive? That's the cruise director's job!

If CC was the only reason you wanted to cruise, a little research would have revealed that Jan-Feb has the highest percentage of missed CC dockings of any time of year. Cruise fares are discounted accordingly compared to peak seasons like summer break. That's like sailing in Sept-Oct and complaining about hurricanes.

As for saying your vacation was "ruined" by a few ride outages, for which you were compensated with fastpasses to other rides. Well, I've had only one vacation that I'd consider ruined, and that was when my grandmother died. Every other time, no matter what went wrong, I was still able to find some positives--even when my DH got sick on our first disney cruise and was quarantined, the time our luggage got destroyed on the way there by the airline, the time our hotel room flooded, the time I broke my toe on a water slide on the first day of our trip. Stuff happens. Please reread your original post and ask yourself if what happened is really worth all this negativity.

 

[tarheelz]

Note, OP posted back in 2013.

If CC was the only reason you wanted to cruise, a little research would have revealed that Jan-Feb has the highest percentage of missed CC dockings of any time of year. Cruise fares are discounted accordingly compared to peak seasons like summer break. That's like sailing in Sept-Oct and complaining about hurricanes.

This. CC is missed around 25% of the time in January. February is a bit better. (Another poster has recently posted the polling results on this.)

Tremendous focus is paid to "hurricane season" risks. There is almost no coverage of winter cruising risks of the Caribbean. Instead, the lower rates are always attributed to the lower demand of kids being in school.

As many on the January 18 Fantasy Cruise have been saying for weeks, the challenge for DCL (and apparently other lines) is that there is a deeply entrenched culture of telling patrons as little as possible. It's accepted for everyone to act completely surprised that a port was missed "due to weather." While overt lies from the officers and castmembers are still rare on DCL, lies of omission are the standard practice. It's foolish as it doesn't work. There are too many alternative sources of information out there. The result is distrust, cancelled placeholders, and DCL alumni telling family and friends to not waste their money on the Disney premium.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I realize DCL can't control the weather but they can control the cruise director joking about missing CC.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Do you have a trip report anywhere? I would like to hear your experiences since I usually agree with your takes on things.

you literally just made my day! The cruise stopped in New Orleans and we spent two days there but I’ll type one up with honest opinions !

PS: Now you have an excuse to go on another cruise to get that day in!

 

[SL6827]

In fact, it does not happen regularly. Someone here once calculated that 3% of attempts to dock at CC fail, which is not ‘often‘. Of course, this winter season has been the worst for the entire region in a long time. Many ports were missed, and routes altered, on all cruise lines during the month on January.

@SL6827, if there is no other ship at CC, they can dock there anytime. They sometimes do it the next day after a failed attempt, or in replacement for a missed port. We were supposed to go to St Marteen during a 2017 cruise, but a storm was between PC and that island. The stop was replaced by a second stop at CC, which made everyone onboard quite happy.

I did research it and there is no other ship scheduled for the next day, which is nice to know we could possibly get to dock the following day if something happened on that Wednesday. But with two previous trips in May, we have had nothing but wonderful weather.

 

[mpsiq]

Wow, I know it's frustrating to have things not go according to plan but the negativity in this post is just over the top. You wanted to punch the cruise director in the face for trying to stay upbeat and positive? That's the cruise director's job!

If CC was the only reason you wanted to cruise, a little research would have revealed that Jan-Feb has the highest percentage of missed CC dockings of any time of year. Cruise fares are discounted accordingly compared to peak seasons like summer break. That's like sailing in Sept-Oct and complaining about hurricanes.

As for saying your vacation was "ruined" by a few ride outages, for which you were compensated with fastpasses to other rides. Well, I've had only one vacation that I'd consider ruined, and that was when my grandmother died. Every other time, no matter what went wrong, I was still able to find some positives--even when my DH got sick on our first disney cruise and was quarantined, the time our luggage got destroyed on the way there by the airline, the time our hotel room flooded, the time I broke my toe on a water slide on the first day of our trip. Stuff happens. Please reread your original post and ask yourself if what happened is really worth all this negativity.

Omg I cant believe I am reading this. I am sorry for your lost, but what does that have to do with me? I have the right to be mad for being ripped of by disney. People are different. Respect my ways. I will respect yours.
..

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have the right to be mad for being ripped of by disney.

But that's the issue. You perceive it as being "ripped off" by Disney. Where some of us know you weren't.

Things happen. If you need a vacation that goes off as planned, leaving your house isn't going to do it. It's best to plan your vacations, but be realistic that something is bound to happen.

 

[n2mm]

This. CC is missed around 25% of the time in January. February is a bit better. (Another poster has recently posted the polling results on this.)

off topic, but found that interesting. I’ve cruised 10 times during January/February and never missed castaway. Guess we were lucky.

ive missed castaway 2 times (out of 23 cruises). November 2010 (windy). September 2019 (aftermath of hurricane Dorian) pier was closed so we were not allowed to dock.

 

[Chronic Daydreamer]

As many on the January 18 Fantasy Cruise have been saying for weeks, the challenge for DCL (and apparently other lines) is that there is a deeply entrenched culture of telling patrons as little as possible. It's accepted for everyone to act completely surprised that a port was missed "due to weather." While overt lies from the officers and castmembers are still rare on DCL, lies of omission are the standard practice. It's foolish as it doesn't work. There are too many alternative sources of information out there. The result is distrust, cancelled placeholders, and DCL alumni telling family and friends to not waste their money on the Disney premium.

As someone who's worked for 2 different cruise lines, this is sadly pretty true. I can recall many time's we've been instructed by management NOT to tell guest's that there may be a change in plan, even though we know there's a high possibility of things not working out. I remember helping seat 800 guests for a show we and management KNEW was not going to happen, but we weren't allowed to say anything! Those poor people wasted an hour of their time waiting for something that wasn't going to happen!

I remember serval time's we couldn't dock in CC, or we'd dock much later after serval tries, or port's would change and we couldn't say anything (or sometime's weren't even told ourselves) until last minute. I'd always try and hint subtly that things may be different if it seemed likely, i'd rather people be informed. I'm sure they have their reason's for not giving guest's a head's up about thing's that might not go to plan, since it seem's to be such a common practise, but it seems like a good way to cause disappointment to me.

 

[bakerworld]

Sorry for your loss

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Omg I cant believe I am reading this. I am sorry for your lost, but what does that have to do with me? I have the right to be mad for being ripped of by disney. People are different. Respect my ways. I will respect yours.
..

I understand being disappointed, but DCL (or any other cruise line for that matter) does not guarantee a port stop. If you booked the cruise solely for the stop at CC, either your TA ( if you worked with one) did you a disservice by not explaining this, or you booked the cruise without educating yourself or reading your cruise contract. DCL didn’t rip you off. Disappointment - I get it. Anger - not so much.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

I think if you want to vent about it it's perfectly fine. The first time I read through your initial post, I was a little concerned about your direct aggression on the subject ("punch in the face"), but I realize it's hyperbole. To be honest, I've seen far worse passive aggressive posts and behavior over much less than what, from your perspective, must be a waste of a hefty chunk of money. Rage on, friend. I hope you are able to simmer down that disappointment and try to think about some of the fun you and your family were able to experience despite, "technical difficulties." Being together is what is important.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Sorry that you had such a terrible vacation, but hopefully you did have some good moments. I go into our vacations with one expectation — that we eventually make it to our destination and back home in one piece. Everything else is gravy.

 

[gdrj]

Omg I cant believe I am reading this. I am sorry for your lost, but what does that have to do with me? I have the right to be mad for being ripped of by disney. People are different. Respect my ways. I will respect yours.
..

Sorry but if you are going to rant, others can disagree. That what happens on boards. There is no reason to “Respect my ways” Sorry.

The ”punch in the face” and “ripped off” are just over the top. But you know what, you can disagree.

 

[mpsiq]

Now I am the terribly bitter guy going on a rant against the good folks at disney... if was a disney hater I probably wouldnt be at disney resort right now after many disney vacations over the years, right? Its not only about the CC and DCL situation. I have noticed in my last 3 trips to the theme parks, two to florida and one to california, that even with a lot of planning it is getting harder everytime to have a nice day in a disney park. The rides breaking down and the crowds getting worst (even when you try to avoid peak season or holidays) makes a terrible combination. Hollywood Studios is total nightmare, for example. I am a fan and I will probably be back(not to a cruise) but I think the forum is not meant to be a place used only for embelishment of all things disney. Someone has mentioned Universal Studios: yes, we went there for one day and there were no “technical difficulties”, they seem to be doing a better job in the maintainance of their theme parks. The only problem is that I simply do not like it as much as I like the disney parks. Shame on me...

 

[freshmanjs]

This. CC is missed around 25% of the time in January. February is a bit better. (Another poster has recently posted the polling results on this.)

Tremendous focus is paid to "hurricane season" risks. There is almost no coverage of winter cruising risks of the Caribbean. Instead, the lower rates are always attributed to the lower demand of kids being in school.

As many on the January 18 Fantasy Cruise have been saying for weeks, the challenge for DCL (and apparently other lines) is that there is a deeply entrenched culture of telling patrons as little as possible. It's accepted for everyone to act completely surprised that a port was missed "due to weather." While overt lies from the officers and castmembers are still rare on DCL, lies of omission are the standard practice. It's foolish as it doesn't work. There are too many alternative sources of information out there. The result is distrust, cancelled placeholders, and DCL alumni telling family and friends to not waste their money on the Disney premium.

Did you enjoy the game tonight? Go Devils!