IRLdisneyprincess
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2016
Hey all! After almost ten months of waiting, I went on my first Disney cruise on the Halloween on the High Seas September 17th Wonder sailing from San Diego to Mexico. It was five awesome days and I had a great time and they almost had to drag my friend and I off the ship... I'm not kidding, we just did not want to go home!
This was a five day sailing and I participated in an FE (which made the cruise even more magical and I'm so glad we did it). I mention this because my friend and I did the FE with a FB group for our sailing and even as of right now the page is still active with people posting photos from the cruise and discussing the sailing.
My friend and I were shocked to find out that a lot of the people we sailed with were unhappy with our cruise. Apparently lots of people got seasick, dining was rushed and many others felt that the service was unusually "off". I have seen complaints about the quality of food, etc. The general consensus seems to be that our sailing was not Disney as its best. Well, you coulda fooled us! We honestly had a blast and were overwhelmed and impressed by how much was going on and how amazing the ship was. It was our first cruise and it was my first ever experience with Disney... I was seriously impressed. When I read these complaints, I thought, "Well if this was "okay" then what the heck is above and beyond for Disney?!" But talking it over with some of the others, I started to understand that some of them were on their 5th or 10th time with Disney and were comparing the quality to past sailings. Us not being seasoned cruisers, we didn't really pick up that it was an off sailing. We didn't know anything was out of the ordinary. But overall I was pleased with the quality of the cruise and I didn't have too many issues with anything.
Well... except this one thing...
I'd like to start out by saying that I feel bad for feeling this way lol. I feel like I got my feelings way too hurt over it. But I was really disappointed with character interactions. The lines for photos weren't that bad, and I do realize that the meet and greets were supposed to be short that way people could get pictures and move along. But it was obvious from the getgo that the characters were not going to pay much attention or do cute interactions with the adults, only the kids. During the dance party the characters would only dance with the kids or the other adult cast members. Again, that's fine, but even while my friend and I danced nearby and waved to the characters, they would still ignore us. We eventually just left because even though it was fun and everyone was being taught a new dance (and the party was for all ages) we realized that the characters were focused on the smaller kids more than anyone.
Same with photos... the CMs would rush us and only let us get two photos, while they let the families with kids get twenty... that and the Princesses talked to them for longer to both the kids and the adults in those families.
I mean, I know that I'm an adult but I'm still a huge fan of Disney and heard they were known for having awesome character interaction. I've watched videos filmed at Disney World where the characters are great about interacting with EVERYONE, not just the kids. I expected that level and what I received on the cruise was way below that.
In the end I got my pictures and was happy, but I felt rushed and was sad that the characters didn't interact with me more. Especially since I've waited so long to meet all of them. I couldn't wait to talk with the princesses or strike funny poses with Mickey and Goofy... not to sound like a baby, but I was disappointed.
This was a five day sailing and I participated in an FE (which made the cruise even more magical and I'm so glad we did it). I mention this because my friend and I did the FE with a FB group for our sailing and even as of right now the page is still active with people posting photos from the cruise and discussing the sailing.
My friend and I were shocked to find out that a lot of the people we sailed with were unhappy with our cruise. Apparently lots of people got seasick, dining was rushed and many others felt that the service was unusually "off". I have seen complaints about the quality of food, etc. The general consensus seems to be that our sailing was not Disney as its best. Well, you coulda fooled us! We honestly had a blast and were overwhelmed and impressed by how much was going on and how amazing the ship was. It was our first cruise and it was my first ever experience with Disney... I was seriously impressed. When I read these complaints, I thought, "Well if this was "okay" then what the heck is above and beyond for Disney?!" But talking it over with some of the others, I started to understand that some of them were on their 5th or 10th time with Disney and were comparing the quality to past sailings. Us not being seasoned cruisers, we didn't really pick up that it was an off sailing. We didn't know anything was out of the ordinary. But overall I was pleased with the quality of the cruise and I didn't have too many issues with anything.
Well... except this one thing...
I'd like to start out by saying that I feel bad for feeling this way lol. I feel like I got my feelings way too hurt over it. But I was really disappointed with character interactions. The lines for photos weren't that bad, and I do realize that the meet and greets were supposed to be short that way people could get pictures and move along. But it was obvious from the getgo that the characters were not going to pay much attention or do cute interactions with the adults, only the kids. During the dance party the characters would only dance with the kids or the other adult cast members. Again, that's fine, but even while my friend and I danced nearby and waved to the characters, they would still ignore us. We eventually just left because even though it was fun and everyone was being taught a new dance (and the party was for all ages) we realized that the characters were focused on the smaller kids more than anyone.
Same with photos... the CMs would rush us and only let us get two photos, while they let the families with kids get twenty... that and the Princesses talked to them for longer to both the kids and the adults in those families.
I mean, I know that I'm an adult but I'm still a huge fan of Disney and heard they were known for having awesome character interaction. I've watched videos filmed at Disney World where the characters are great about interacting with EVERYONE, not just the kids. I expected that level and what I received on the cruise was way below that.
In the end I got my pictures and was happy, but I felt rushed and was sad that the characters didn't interact with me more. Especially since I've waited so long to meet all of them. I couldn't wait to talk with the princesses or strike funny poses with Mickey and Goofy... not to sound like a baby, but I was disappointed.