Just off the Dream...a few interesting points

[lindsay0526]

There's no reason why the Navigator shouldn't be ready the night before. After all, the room host/hostesses used to leave them in your room while you were at dinner...

 

[lilsonicfan]

I'm saying this because there's been a trend of little cut backs on different cruise lines lately (disappearing of newspapers, paper schedules, table cloths, turn down service chocolate, printed pictures, shampoo bottles replaced by dispensers) and fees added here and there (room service). It's easy to anticipate that those changes will happen on DCL from one moment to another...

I'm sure other ships on other cruise lines also have those laundromat systems but they made the cuts regardless.

I agree about the variety of cutbacks, I just think that tablecloths and towels is an odd place to cut back. It seems like it would be a real burden on the room hosts to keep track of how many towels any particular cruiser uses. And tablecloths, I guess it's possible. I frankly am happier without printed pictures as I always thought those were wasteful on other cruise lines.

 

[Numtini]

Some of those aren't cutbacks, they're environmental.

 

[mevelandry]

I agree about the variety of cutbacks, I just think that tablecloths and towels is an odd place to cut back. It seems like it would be a real burden on the room hosts to keep track of how many towels any particular cruiser uses. And tablecloths, I guess it's possible. I frankly am happier without printed pictures as I always thought those were wasteful on other cruise lines.

Carnival has a different system for towels: While there are regular towels that you can use as you wish and have replaced as you wish, they also put a certain number of "beach towels" in your cabin that you can bring to the pool or at the beach.

They are very nice, spongy and large and I noticed that guests tend to bring those instead of the regular "shower towels" and reuse them instead of taking tons of towels at the pool and dumping them in the "used towel" bins. From what I understand, your cabin steward will replace them on demand...

They also have "towel huts" near each pool where you can borrow towels (they take your cabin number) that you have to bring back when you are done with it...

Overall, less towels are used.

Not my favorite system, but I got used to it!

The downside is that if the "beach towels" are not in your cabin by the end of the cruise, you will get charged 20$ per towel.

 

[mevelandry]

Some of those aren't cutbacks, they're environmental.

With lots of savings ($$$) as collateral effects...

 

[Mikamarii]

People hate change that much is clear. No one will ever be happy.

I feel bad for the hard working employees who take the punishment from guests for decisions beyond their control.

Most of the new generations are growing up with phones and tablets. Right or wrong is another discussion. It makes sense to move the navigators from paper to the phones. It doesn’t require you to stare at your phones all day, no different than having to stare at the navigator all day. We don’t buy roaming packages on vacation but Our phone is also our camera so it’s great being able to access the navigator as well. Dcl gives free internet access to the app so the move is of no cost to the guest.

DCL employees are amazing at making sure we have everything we need. If you asked for a navigator I’m sure your host would provide one every day. It makes more sense to provide the paper version on a need basis vs having enough to cover everyone as that is a lot of waste. I’m not an environmentalist by any stretch but that doesn’t mean we can’t reduce in areas where an easy alternative is available.

 

[Jess_S]

People hate change that much is clear. No one will ever be happy.

I feel bad for the hard working employees who take the punishment from guests for decisions beyond their control.

Most of the new generations are growing up with phones and tablets. Right or wrong is another discussion. It makes sense to move the navigators from paper to the phones. It doesn’t require you to stare at your phones all day, no different than having to stare at the navigator all day. We don’t buy roaming packages on vacation but Our phone is also our camera so it’s great being able to access the navigator as well. Dcl gives free internet access to the app so the move is of no cost to the guest.

DCL employees are amazing at making sure we have everything we need. If you asked for a navigator I’m sure your host would provide one every day. It makes more sense to provide the paper version on a need basis vs having enough to cover everyone as that is a lot of waste. I’m not an environmentalist by any stretch but that doesn’t mean we can’t reduce in areas where an easy alternative is available.

As someone who posted that I don't want to look at my phone on vacation, I did not mean that I don't want to look at my phone "all day." I meant that I do not want to look at my phone at all. And since I am not capable of memorizing the activity schedule, the elimination of paper navigators necessitates looking at the phone multiple times a day.

I would be fine with the Navigators being left out somewhere for those who want to grab them, but that is not what happened on the Fantasy. You had to stand in line at guest services and then answer a series of questions about why you didn't want to use the app.

The whole environmental explanation continues to ring very hollow for me. There was all manner of paper left in my room to advertise various things, but not the one piece of paper that is actually helpful. Not to mention that meat production is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, but everyone on DCL continues to push eating more, more, more -- while most of that more ends up in the trash.

Not all change is bad though. I think I would be in favor of a more controlled towel system. I bet it would cut back on chair hogs at the pool.

 

[lorenni]

I would be fine with the Navigators being left out somewhere for those who want to grab them, but that is not what happened on the Fantasy. You had to stand in line at guest services and then answer a series of questions about why you didn't want to use the app.

.

Seriously? I may have to go GS daily now just to reinforce the whole - “I lock my phone in the safe on day one and and take it out when we disembark” sentiment. It’s also what annoys me most about park trips now. I spend way too much time managing fast passes and other crapola on my phone.

 

[KayKayJS]

Just want to reiterate what the above posters about not wanting to have their phones out AT ALL.

My husband I are leave in them in the room and this is the #1 reason we love crusing above all other vacations. It's contact free from the outside world and distraction free. Phones have done a lot of great things for us but they have certainly destroyed human attention span and many people's ability to connect with their families. We just don't want to have our phones at all on a cruise. And we won't.

Our next cruise is early may and I will find out if the room host can provide nagivators each night if requested...

 

[pixiedustedme]

I never pre-order for Castaway. Minus the bread, pretty much everything is safe (not sure about ribs due to sauce as I refuse to eat meat on bones - ick!) and beans don’t go with picnics in my opinion. If you can escape your son for food, go to Serenity Bay and you can get a steak!

Barbeque ribs & beans are very appropriate to picnics here in Texas. I learned at that time not to pre-order again, or to expect DCL to be able to decently make barbeque ribs or beans.

 

[Princess_Iliana_of_Avalor]

The change seems pretty pointless if they're just going to offer them at Guest Services. It makes me a little sad. We're going on our first cruise in December and I was looking forward to keeping those as souvenirs

 

[rigfamily]

I am just off the Dream 3/8/19. I missed paper Navigators, trial size toiletries and plastic straws! I have to say that the Dream was my least favorite ship of the 4. Might be the lackluster crew and Carly the CD. Unimpressed. I just kept thinking that everything was better on the Fantasy and the Magic... It was disappointing.

 

[PinMan]

I got back March 2 ,from my cruise on the Fantasy and had all the things you point out was not available ???

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'm saying this because there's been a trend of little cut backs on different cruise lines lately (disappearing of newspapers, paper schedules, table cloths, turn down service chocolate, printed pictures, shampoo bottles replaced by dispensers) and fees added here and there (room service). It's easy to anticipate that those changes will happen on DCL from one moment to another...

I'm sure other ships on other cruise lines also have those laundromat systems but they made the cuts regardless.

They need all the table cloths to cover the spills that happened nightly at my table due to no lids and straws for my 2 year old.

 

[miller4x4]

Just want to reiterate what the above posters about not wanting to have their phones out AT ALL.

My husband I are leave in them in the room and this is the #1 reason we love crusing above all other vacations. It's contact free from the outside world and distraction free. Phones have done a lot of great things for us but they have certainly destroyed human attention span and many people's ability to connect with their families. We just don't want to have our phones at all on a cruise. And we won't.

Our next cruise is early may and I will find out if the room host can provide nagivators each night if requested...

Add me to the list of cruisers wanting to disconnect from my phone during the entirety of the trip. Among my personal preferences, there have been many studies about the negative affects staring at screens have on us. Humans relax more and sleep better when they are not bombarded with the blue light emitted by such devices. The softer reflected light from a paper source is much more comfortable on our eyes. I know that through the course of my vacation I am not going to avoid seeing light from a screen (such as funnel vision, display signs, etc.) but breaking free from my phone should be an option that shouldn't require me traveling to guest services to accomplish. Even if they had bins by the three elevator location on each deck that would be more reasonable. On top of that, trying to force paying customers to use a service whether they want it or not is not good business. I never thought I would see the day, but if this navigator issue is still in practice when I cruise this May, I will be submitting my first complaint to Disney at the end of the cruise.

ok. rant over.

 

[Jess_S]

I got back March 2 ,from my cruise on the Fantasy and had all the things you point out was not available ???

Do you mean that your cruise ended on March 2? I was on the cruise that embarked March 2 and we were told it was the first one to get the changes. Lucky us.

 

[Disney Fam of 3]

I'll definitely get paper navigators each day of our cruise from Guest Services on the Magic next week. I also hope they still have toiletries in the little containers for our cruise. The only "green" that is in DCL's reasoning for not providing these is the green of the money they're saving, imo.

Just got off the Magic last Friday. There were individual bottles of toiletries and paper navigators each night in our room.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Just got off the Magic last Friday. There were individual bottles of toiletries and paper navigators each night in our room.

This will be changing on the Magic in the next couple of weeks. Our cruise leaves April 5th and I was told that the toiletries change will be in effect by then (including in Concierge).

 

[mcurrence]

Hi all! I sent an email asking specifically about the lotion and this is what I got back...

 

[lilsonicfan]

I can't help but think "Now you will have more room in your suitcase for souvenirs" is a bit snarky.... lol.