So about this Hurricane - 10/7 Dream cancelled, 10/7 Magic Canadian, 10/8 now 10/9 Fantasy 6-night

[peter11435]

How can a forecast be "a good bit west of Castaway Cay" AND "no where near Florida"?

I meant to say east. Sorry for the typo

 

[AquaDame]

It still leaves the people on the Oct 8 in Limbo. I'm sure many of them aren't going to be able to fly in on Thursday or Friday.

Seems they are really banking on PC being open again since they plan on bringing the Dream in on Sat to drop off the current cruisers...

edited to add that I also am looking forward to reports of how DCL is handling travel arrangements with those stuck onboard for an extra day now.

 

[truck1]

The Dream is too big for Key West

The Dream class can actually go into Key West under certain conditions.

 

[lillygator]

wonder what will happen if pc has severe damage?

 

[tee11]

Dirk,
We were supposed to sail out on the Dream yesterday and cancelled because one in our party is in a wheelchair and we weren't comfortable with what could happen, where we'd end up coming back into port. We were informed there is no refund and the insurance claim would definitely be denied. We might possibly have 75% applied to a future cruise but it's not definite. So disheartening.

I just wanted to offer encouragement- don't second guess your decision- you did the right thing. IMO - if you are traveling with loved ones that are babies, children, elderly, disabled - you need to make these tough decisions- and traveling is a totally different ball game - safety always first - why put your loved ones into a difficult- at best- situation?

 

[Ofinn]

Anything is always possible. But five days ago. Florida was not in the cone.. Now it is very much in the cone with potential for center of circulation landfall within the state. The point is these things can and do change course and are unpredictable. The post I was replying to was wrong to say this storm has acted as forecasted for a week because it has not.

I've been watching the weather for the last 5 days and they have always had tracks that could go into Florida. You can defend DCL, but it took them a lot longer then some of the other cruise lines to offer refunds. I would be surprised if ships are allowed into PC on Sat so hopefully they have a back up plan for that.

 

[gweeptrish]

The Oct 7 Magic has been changed to a Canadian Coast cruise. Our recompense is $100 per person stateroom credit OR 20% off a future cruise. I'm pretty upset at such paltry incentives. DCL changes our "go somewhere warm and visit WDW" cruise to "go to Canada in October" and doesn't even offer us as much recompense as the cost of the park hopper ticket we're losing?

 

[AquaDame]

The Oct 7 Magic has been changed to a Canadian Coast cruise. Our recompense is $100 per person stateroom credit OR 20% off a future cruise. I'm pretty upset at such paltry incentives. DCL changes our "go somewhere warm and visit WDW" cruise to "go to Canada in October" and doesn't even offer us as much recompense as the cost of the park hopper ticket we're losing?

You also have the option of cancelling for a full refund... there is a huge storm in the way. I'm not trying to apologize for them at all, but I am not sure what else they should be doing? Aside from deciding this sooner that is.

 

[danajay]

You also have the option of cancelling for a full refund... there is a huge storm in the way. I'm not trying to apologize for them at all, but I am not sure what else they should be doing? Aside from deciding this sooner that is.

Agreed; you can get a full refund and then get a future cruise at a 20% discount. Seems like a good deal to me considering they don't have control over the weather (they are not doing this because of mechanical problems or anything)

 

[Carrie in AZ]

This is a crazy question.....do you think they will allow new passengers to book the Oct 7 Magic sailing to Canada??

 

[Garyjames220]

Don't no if it's that great a deal. U get 10% off for booking onboard Nywah Andrew am sure some of the lines are offering 50% off a future cruise

 

[peter11435]

I've been watching the weather for the last 5 days and they have always had tracks that could go into Florida. You can defend DCL, but it took them a lot longer then some of the other cruise lines to offer refunds. I would be surprised if ships are allowed into PC on Sat so hopefully they have a back up plan for that.

I'm not defending DCL here. I agree they should have made decisions sooner. That's not the point. The point is you can't make these decisions a week early as they will be the wrong decisions. At the end of last week. Florida was not in the forecast cone.

 

[jdb in AZ]

This is a crazy question.....do you think they will allow new passengers to book the Oct 7 Magic sailing to Canada??

Since this is such an unusual scenario, I doubt anyone here has personal experience of something similar. Call DCL and see what they say.

 

[AquaDame]

This is a crazy question.....do you think they will allow new passengers to book the Oct 7 Magic sailing to Canada??

Its too close to departure - Oct 7th is not on their website anymore as they had to provide the cruiser's information to the port authority already.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Sweatpee..I'm in Boston. I just got off the phone with DCL customer relations (5 mins ago) and was told that I should plan on being at PC at the scheduled departure time on Friday as the cruise itinerary has not been modified and no changes have been announced. I was verbally advised that I should plan on traveling there if I want to sail. That to me is nothing other than, if you don't want to lose your money, than show up in a place that has been evacuated. Clueless.

Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. And losing cruise fare money (while not fun) is not a big deal, and far less valuable than my family's safety and convenience.

I'm sorry. IMO this is totally irresponsible and contrary to the current realities and facts associated with the storm, as we know them at this time.

Of course the storm can change and nobody knows what the storm will ACTUALLY do until it has ALREADY happened. How long do you need to wait?

I have no idea where the call center for DCL is but there's a definite disconnect between those people & reality. For that Disney should be ashamed. If I worked for that call center and was being told to advise people errantly I would escalate that through proper channels. I would tell people anything but still come to Florida. Case in point, post-Katrina I was a communications supervisor in our parish emergency operations center. After the storm when the phones did come back we were told to tell residents the parish was closed and they couldn't come back. I can tell you I told my callers and my staff to say the words we were told but to give additional info. Like: "Officially the parish is closed. They don't want you to come back because we have no resources here. We don't need more burden. I understand your home/pets/family are here. If you do choose to come back know that there is no electricity, no water, no ice, no gas, no ATM, no services, nothing. Most roads are obstructed with debris & power lines. If you come here be prepared with absolutely everything you need to get here AND get back out." So to me the DCL calltakers should be saying "Officially your cruise is not altered yet. Look at the news and be aware of closures and evacuations in the port. Watch weather forecasts to understand what you'll face here. Double-check your airlines & hotels for any cancellations." Not a thing wrong with stating what they're told to regurgitate but suggest people educate themselves to make decisions.

Maybe Disney is waiting to let the airlines and hotels be the bad guys. I think they're still not sure what to do. There's no route out of this that will make them the good guys. Saying nothing isn't helping their case. They need to just cancel the Friday Dream. Try moving Saturday's Fantasy to Port Everglades if possible. If not possible, ditch it.

I agree. Don't tell people itineraries aren't changed. They definitely are. But it is ultimately the burden of each person to ensure their own safety which you definitely have well in-hand.[/QUOTE]

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Pressure rising might be temporary. I think they are predicting it to regroup and strengthen as it moves over the warm gulf stream. Water temps are supposed to be at record highs. What I heard on the last update there is no wind shear or anything to really weaken it.

Hubby keeps saying it's looping. He's been saying it for a while. I'm on the coast near Houston. We are supposed to get a cool front push thru this weekend that I'm hoping will hold off a system if it makes it to the Gulf. I can definitely see it glancing the coast, looping back, crossing to the gulf, then pushing back across to the Atlantic. Talk about the triple whammy.

 

[mousemamma]

Just out of curiosity, has Disney ever had two ships at Port Canaveral at the same time? (since both Dream and Fantasy coming in on the 8th now). Does one ship use another cruise terminal or do they wait for one ship to unload and then rotate the other one in? Was just curious.

 

[mevelandry]

The Oct 7 Magic has been changed to a Canadian Coast cruise. Our recompense is $100 per person stateroom credit OR 20% off a future cruise. I'm pretty upset at such paltry incentives. DCL changes our "go somewhere warm and visit WDW" cruise to "go to Canada in October" and doesn't even offer us as much recompense as the cost of the park hopper ticket we're losing?

Can't you already get 20% if you book another cruise on board? (Or is it 10%? Can't remember...)

 

[AquaDame]

Just out of curiosity, has Disney ever had two ships at Port Canaveral at the same time? (since both Dream and Fantasy coming in on the 8th now). Does one ship use another cruise terminal or do they wait for one ship to unload and then rotate the other one in? Was just curious.

Yes, quite recently the Wonder dropped off its passengers from the Panama Canal repo on the same day that one of the Dream class ships was in port. They used another pier. In this case though there are already several other ships due to port that day so I am not sure what is going to happen.

 

[tinker&belle]

If you were booked as on Onboard Booking with the 10% discount would it stack with the new 20%?