9/16/2017 Magic Transatlantic from Barcelona

[BelleBway]

Even though I am a solo adult, I only ever hung out at the family pool. It was always less crowded and I like Funnelvision movies.... especially when I am in the hot tub. (which I had to myself most of the time)

My biggest issue this cruise was that during my dinner at Palo on pirate night, I suddenly felt so seasick that I could barely eat a thing- not even the chocolate souffle. I still am a little bitter than I had to pay full price; they offered to let me come back but I certainly didn't want to pay a 2nd time. (Plus I *loved* my dinner table mates and felt rather alone without them) Frankly, other guests seemed more concerned about me than the staff- this lovely couple who must have overheard me wanted to walk me back to my room to be sure I was ok. I declined because I was fine enough to walk, but it was so sweet of them to care. I can't be the first person who ever felt ill while dining at Palo.

In general, I got the idea that some of the CM's on the ship would ask how I was because they felt it was good guest service but they did not know how to deal with a response other than "Everything is great!"

I will say that in contrast to a previous poster, I had an excellent response from guest services when I reported a toilet that wouldn't flush. 5 minutes after I reported it, the toilet suddenly flushed itself- which actually spooked me lol. Then someone came to my door to make sure it was ok- he told me they'd fixed something. And then guest services called a little later to make sure it was ok.

I was very happy with all of my excursions. I didn't do much in NYC except see a show because I go there all the time and so it's not a big deal to be there. I understand why the itinerary had to change, but ending my trip with 4.5 straight days at sea followed by a day in NYC was a letdown and felt a bit like I was wasting precious vacation time. I had a lot of fun during those days, don't get me wrong- I even performed improv for the first time ever in my life which was pretty neat. I just really like going new places and I'd really looked forward to St. John's.

 

[Aanna]

How does it make any sense that they would charge you for tickets that they had given to someone else? Who would be willing to sign on for something like that?? Is that really Disney?

I tried to get in to see the cooking demos, but they were always too crowded to be interesting to me. My mom went to all of them, and was disappointed to find that they all included chocolate, which she cannot eat.

Something else that made me wonder a bit: even though I put it on the reservation and let our serving staff know several times that my mother gets very sick if she eats chocolate, they continually presented her desserts with chocolate decorations that were not listed in the food description. Even for my parent's anniversary congratulations, they were presented with the standard chocolate cake round! Our server asked once if it was an allergy or an intolerance, and I answered as I would have at Disney World -- it's technically an intolerance but if she has any chocolate or cocoa powder she has terrible flu-like symptoms. Our experience at WDW is that if you declare an allergy they will go out of their way to ensure that there is no cross-contamination. If it is an intolerance they will simply make sure that nothing on your plate includes the dangerous ingredients. On the cruise it felt like they really didn't care and expected her to eat around it as if it was just a matter of not liking chocolate.

The second to last night our server was surprised at our horrified expressions when my mom was given yet another dessert with a chocolate stuck in it.

I really loved our server. She was a treasure in every other way. This was just so out of whack with my experience with Disney and food issues.

Edited to add: Anyhow, I just wrote a feedback email to Disney about our issues, and I'm going to take a few cleansing breaths and let it go. Perhaps it's time to plan a non-Disney vacation to Newfoundland or the Azores so my kids can experience them after all

 

[Aanna]

On a brighter note, I asked my children today where they might like to take their next vacation. They both answered "Barcelona!" Probably not going to happen soon, but it made me excessively happy

 

[olafLover]

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[gismo1554]

It's interesting that you say that. This was our first cruise, but our impression going in was that these exact things would be just a bit better than we found them. Not having any previous experience, though, we just weren't sure if it was our expectations that were out of line or if it was an actual difference from the usual.

We also had a paperwork snafu that led to some bad results, but no where near being turned away at check-in! It makes me sick just to think about that. In our case, I tried to submit the Child Debarkation authorization form when we checked in. The woman who checked us in told me it was not necessary and refused to take it. When I insisted, she said I could hand it in to Guest Services. So, after the initial rush at Guest Services was over, I handed it in -- carefully asking if this really meant that my children could go off the ship with anyone in our party. I was assured that everything was taken care of.

Fast forward to Ponta Delgada. I left on the Highlights excursion with my parents at 8:15. At 8:45 my husband and children tried to debark for the Whale and Dolphin watching, but were denied because my daughter was registered in my parent's room and the permissions had not been correctly entered into the database. By the time Guest Services had found the form I submitted and grudgingly allowed my family to debark, the excursion had already left. My husband was livid, my son in tears. They ended up staying on the ship all day for lack of anything to do on land. What did guest services do? The best they offered my husband was a refund on the excursions that had left without them. That meant six straight days at sea with the itinerary changes.

I didn't find out until about an hour after we had left port (my DH and DD vowed not to tell, but my DS was too upset to keep it quiet). If anyone saw a hysterical woman at Guest Services on Ponta Delgada day... yeah, that was me when I found out. How embarrassing.

All that to say, if I flipped out over that missed port, I cannot imagine missing the entire cruise!

OMG that's awful! I do think that DCL this year was probably the most unorganized I've been on but Ive had such good customer service experiences on them. I do think that its worth giving them another shot based on previous experience but this years was a little disappointing in that respect. This was the first year as well that I have ever known them to have unaccessible gangways which really shocked me (Lisbon I had a note to say that I wouldn't be able to get off the ship until 1pm). There was definitely some weird things going on with this cruise and if anything it felt like the crew weren't 100% on the ball. Unfortunately this meant that things got messed up and this definitely impacted you. I don't think your expectations were high I think they were what they should be but that the cruise let you down (and others big style). I just am hoping it was a one off to be honest.

Did anyone else find that their excursion was shortened in Cadiz after the "surprise" low tide situation delayed debarkation? They made a big deal of stating that they would make sure that those who had "all day excursions" would still get the full time they were supposed to; we had Seville (on our own) booked and it was supposed to be an 8-hr excursion. Well, we don't leave until 10:00 and when we get to Seville after the 90-min drive, we are told we had to be back at the bus at "15:45...quarter to 3." The tour director stated this several times and my DH and I kept asking, "is she meaning 2:45 or 3:45??" Well, she meant 2:45, saying we had to get back to the ship by 16:30/4:30. GRRR!! So, they shortened our excursion, despite the fact that they said they would hold the ship and let those who had all-day excursions have the FULL excursion and they wouldn't shorten the excursion. Yeah, well they did and I wasn't very happy about it. I was going to complain to Guest Services but DH made me hold back since we weren't super excited about Seville. We should've stayed in Cadiz and explored. Still...I don't appreciate them stating one thing and then doing another.

I also have to write them an email regarding Guest Services this trip. We had issues with having a Palo reminder card being delivered the day of embarkation in Barcelona stating we had reservations for that night (uh, no, we did not). I noted it was the wrong name on the card so I called to inform them they delivered the card to the wrong room (although I couldn't make out the state room #). When I explained that our reservations were scheduled for Wed. night, 9/20, GS tells me they have no record of our reservation. I ask how I can have a print-out from DCL stating we do indeed have reservations. Their only answer is to transfer me to Palo--which no one answers. So I walk all the way over there to find no one there. So I walk all the way down to GS with the written time in our booklet and the incorrect card. When I get up to the counter, the CM was able to find the reservation immediately. I explained I was not too pleased with being led on a wild goose chase all over the ship to clarify an error that was their fault. I barely got an apology. But for the next 5 days, at least 3x/day, I would get a call about the mixed p reservation. But when we reported a clogged toilet issue, no one called to ensure it was resolved. And at the end of the cruise...no final bill was delivered. But because DH and I needed to be off the ship first thing, we didn't think of it until we were already off. So I never did see what our final charges were (and judging how the errors on the cruise went, who knows what errors were on the bill). So I graded them a 2 on the survey (compared to a couple of issues we had on the Fantasy on our last cruise, GS sent up a bouquet of Rice Krispy Mickey Bars as a courtesy).

Also am including how terrible the food choices for vegetarians were for this cruise. On one night, there was zero appetizer, soup or salad choice for me. And because I am allergic to mushrooms, I only had one entree choice. Ridiculous!!! So glad we had a great server, who anticipated what a crappy night to be vegetarian this was and spoke to the chef to make up some appetizers and a salad. That is inexcusable to have zero choice on a menu. We'll see what DCL says *shrug*

Actually agree with you regarding the food! I'm not veggie entirely but tend to have issues with the meat options. Tried a few veggie options and liked none of them! They were all so bland and overcooked! I found that with the non-veggie food in general too! The worst food I've had if I'm honest and I am planning on emailing DCL about it as I felt bad for our servers as I barely ate any mains.

Another observation. I expected the adults-only areas to be packed since there didn't seem to be an abundance of children onboard. Twice I tried to find a lounge chair at the adult pool but was unsuccessful. Instead, I went over to the family pool, which was empty. Even though those chairs aren't loungers, they still had reclining backs. I had to leave a couple of times during the day, and not once did anyone move my things because they needed a chair. I saw other adults doing this as well.

I did my first (and last) ride on the Aqua Dunk. Holy moly! Who can keep their arms and legs crossed on that thing? I think I was having a battle with the water while I was in the tube. I had a bruise on my hip the next day.

I will say that I did not see any adults bringing their children to adult-exclusive activities. I agree with you, @The Cruising Canadians, that there didn't seem to be a lot offered considering how many adults were on the ship.

We also didn't watch one single movie in the Buena Vista Theatre, and our stateroom was 4 doors away. Every movie I wanted to see was not playing at a convenient time for us, and then they were only shown early in the cruise.

I found the variety and number of activities had definitely decreased on this cruise. Everything seemed a little more standard and more "oh another x" rather than "oh something to try". I think I saw two of every craft activity and similar quizzes every day. Even the entertainment was very much repeats of the shows in the theatre in Fathoms each night. I don't mind a bit of repeats but when thats all the options its very boring. I've definitely noticed this as being a bit more standard. Also there was a child in Anyone Can Cook the one day that they had to ask to be removed as it was crying (not sure why they let them in to be honest as it is adult only)

I tried to get in to see the cooking demos, but they were always too crowded to be interesting to me. My mom went to all of them, and was disappointed to find that they all included chocolate, which she cannot eat.

This actually did annoy me a little as they weren't even different things with chocolate they were practically the same thing for 3 days - chocolate lava cake, chocolate spider and chocolate something else that I can't remember. I can eat chocolate but I like to have a variety of things at Anyone can cook and this really wasn't. I did however like the Croque en bousche but there was no sample which I thought we would get something. I like to try what they are making but we got nothing at that one.

I have decided to draft DCL a letter about my niggles. Although I am hopeful that all the problems were more a one of than the norm now the more I think about it the more I found things very unusual and unorganised. I don't expect to get a response that isn't "tough" but at least I will feel better about it lol

 

[RedSox68]

If my son hadn't slipped and told me, my family would have gotten nothing. As it was, it took more than half an hour of my tears before the Guest Services supervisor offered anything beyond the bare refund. She had some Star Wars items sent up to the room for the kids and comped the up-charge on DH and my Palo dinner that night. I was shocked that, on something that was so obviously their fault, it took them that long to offer to make things better. For a while the supervisor just stood there asking what we thought she could do about it at that point.

The only thing that makes me feel better about it is that my son wore the gifted Star Wars lanyard and baseball cap for the rest of the cruise. Those two things really did seem to make him feel better about what had happened.

This is so not the Disney care and service I experienced in the past -- and so disappointing that you had to take up time on your cruise to make this right. They should have been on top of this from the beginning. It's funny that it even sounds like they were hoping they didn't have to refund the tour money either!

 

[Chirple]

I think I'm also going to send a more detailed email to DCL once I can gather all of my thoughts and get my husband's feedback because I just keep thinking of more things now. After we booked Seville on Your Own and saw the length of the bus drive, my husband got concerned about that much travel early in the day. He is Type II diabetic and needs to use the restroom frequently in the morning. When I emailed DCL in advance of the cruise, they reassured me that there would be a stop on the way to Seville. What is one of the first things our guide said on the bus? There will be no stops. He hit the Starbucks as soon as we got there.

Regarding the way they handle the play tickets, Port Excursions put the blame squarely on Shoreside Services.

We also had an issue with the toilet not flushing one night, but it was fixed immediately. We also got a follow up call from Guest Services.

 

[Aanna]

This is so not the Disney care and service I experienced in the past -- and so disappointing that you had to take up time on your cruise to make this right. They should have been on top of this from the beginning. It's funny that it even sounds like they were hoping they didn't have to refund the tour money either!

That really shocked me, too! The first thing the supervisor said when we finally met with her was basically, "We are so wonderful to you! We have graciously decided to refund the excursion costs! Isn't that amazing of us? That makes everything right." I looked at her in shock. There was, in my mind, no question about us paying for excursions that DCL had caused my family to miss, but she made it sound like this was so overwhelmingly wonderful of them that we should be grateful. I wish I could express her attitude more clearly. I was flabbergasted.

 

[Aanna]

OMG that's awful! I do think that DCL this year was probably the most unorganized I've been on but Ive had such good customer service experiences on them. I do think that its worth giving them another shot based on previous experience but this years was a little disappointing in that respect. This was the first year as well that I have ever known them to have unaccessible gangways which really shocked me (Lisbon I had a note to say that I wouldn't be able to get off the ship until 1pm).

Did you really not get off the ship until 1?? That's terrible! No wonder there were so many people returning late to the ship. It puts my experience into perspective if so many other people had their port visits shortened to that extent.

 

[Chirple]

That really shocked me, too! The first thing the supervisor said when we finally met with her was basically, "We are so wonderful to you! We have graciously decided to refund the excursion costs! Isn't that amazing of us? That makes everything right." I looked at her in shock. There was, in my mind, no question about us paying for excursions that DCL had caused my family to miss, but she made it sound like this was so overwhelmingly wonderful of them that we should be grateful. I wish I could express her attitude more clearly. I was flabbergasted.

This should have been a given on DCL's part and not a pat on their own backs.

Did you really not get off the ship until 1?? That's terrible! No wonder there were so many people returning late to the ship. It puts my experience into perspective if so many other people had their port visits shortened to that extent.

When we arrived in NY, did any of you experience the fiasco getting off to declare yourself at Immigration? My husband has a bit OCD, and he was timing how long it was taking in between calling decks. After Deck 6 was called, we went to sit in the chairs on Deck 5 overlooking the atrium. Hardly any passengers were getting off. We waited for quite a while until we decided to just head down. I think we got off the ship after 12 noon. Then we waited in the Immigration line, which moved pretty quickly (had a nice short chat with ABBAFab). By that time we were so cranky we just walked down the path along the Hudson River. My husband was getting too hot so he sat on a bench; I made it as far as Chelsea Piers before my ankle started to really bother me. Our goal originally was to walk to Chelsea Market and have lunch, but we got off the ship so late in our heads that we decided against it.

 

[Aanna]

When we arrived in NY, did any of you experience the fiasco getting off to declare yourself at Immigration? My husband has a bit OCD, and he was timing how long it was taking in between calling decks. After Deck 6 was called, we went to sit in the chairs on Deck 5 overlooking the atrium. Hardly any passengers were getting off. We waited for quite a while until we decided to just head down. I think we got off the ship after 12 noon. Then we waited in the Immigration line, which moved pretty quickly (had a nice short chat with ABBAFab). By that time we were so cranky we just walked down the path along the Hudson R

Huh. We were Deck 7, so we debarked quickly enough. While DH, the kids and I spent a few hours away, my parents just took a stroll and then when back to the dock. They said that they had to wait hours to get back on to the ship (they were finally let back on after 1:30) because people were trickling off so slowly. They spoke of many times when more than 5 minutes would pass before another one or two people would debark. Heck, my DD and I took a cab to Central Park, walked across it, explored the Met for several hours, bought black and whites on Madison, took a cab back, and only got on the ship 10 or 15 minutes after my parents were allowed back on. Something was definitely very odd.

 

[gismo1554]

Did you really not get off the ship until 1?? That's terrible! No wonder there were so many people returning late to the ship. It puts my experience into perspective if so many other people had their port visits shortened to that extent.

No as I was very lucky! Basically my condition means I struggle with steps and they had steps down to the port that day that were mesh and very odd depths. Anyone in a wheelchair couldn't get off I know that much but I actually went and looked at the gangway then went and asked about options at guest services. They kindly offered to (and did) walk me off the ship themselves so that I could get off and then when I went to get back on I waited for the second gangway to open. There was no way I would have been getting off if I hadn't offered me that option. I was practically in tears at the desk trying to get confirmation that the other gangway would be open at 1pm on the dot. It actually opened at 1:30pm and either way that wouldn't have been long enough to go into town. I had some lovely table mates who after I mentioned this being an issue the day before actually stopped at Hard Rock to get me a pin as this was my main reason for wanting to walk around the town so if I hadn't been able to get off at least I would have had something to cheer me up later that day! Instead it was a bonus pin and I was extremely touched by the wonderful gesture. I've never known DCL to not provide an accessible route before and as said wheelchair users wouldn't have been able to get off so I assume that there would have been some individuals who just couldn't go anywhere. The letter didn't even mention options for things like if you had booked a tour or anything it just said you will need to wait til 1pm which I found really odd. We were only in port til 3:15pm so having 2 hours off the ship didn't seem long at all!

This should have been a given on DCL's part and not a pat on their own backs.

Agree completely! The cheek of saying "oh but we aren't charging you"! Were you meant to be grateful when it was there issue?

When we arrived in NY, did any of you experience the fiasco getting off to declare yourself at Immigration? My husband has a bit OCD, and he was timing how long it was taking in between calling decks. After Deck 6 was called, we went to sit in the chairs on Deck 5 overlooking the atrium. Hardly any passengers were getting off. We waited for quite a while until we decided to just head down. I think we got off the ship after 12 noon. Then we waited in the Immigration line, which moved pretty quickly (had a nice short chat with ABBAFab). By that time we were so cranky we just walked down the path along the Hudson River. My husband was getting too hot so he sat on a bench; I made it as far as Chelsea Piers before my ankle started to really bother me. Our goal originally was to walk to Chelsea Market and have lunch, but we got off the ship so late in our heads that we decided against it.

I spent about an hour queuing in New York. My table mates came down same time as me (deck 6) and could see me in the queue and reckon I moved really quickly along the line (they were in the right hand queue and me the left). To me I thought it took forever and it ended up that I had to rush to get back onboard for 4pm as I wanted to do a loop on the open top bus. I did manage it but I was surprised as I left at the time when deck 6 was called expecting to be well into the city by 11 and it was more like gone 12

 

[RedSox68]

Did anyone else find that their excursion was shortened in Cadiz after the "surprise" low tide situation delayed debarkation? They made a big deal of stating that they would make sure that those who had "all day excursions" would still get the full time they were supposed to; we had Seville (on our own) booked and it was supposed to be an 8-hr excursion. Well, we don't leave until 10:00 and when we get to Seville after the 90-min drive, we are told we had to be back at the bus at "15:45...quarter to 3." The tour director stated this several times and my DH and I kept asking, "is she meaning 2:45 or 3:45??" Well, she meant 2:45, saying we had to get back to the ship by 16:30/4:30. GRRR!! So, they shortened our excursion, despite the fact that they said they would hold the ship and let those who had all-day excursions have the FULL excursion and they wouldn't shorten the excursion. Yeah, well they did and I wasn't very happy about it. I was going to complain to Guest Services but DH made me hold back since we weren't super excited about Seville. We should've stayed in Cadiz and explored. Still...I don't appreciate them stating one thing and then doing another.

I am so sorry you were disappointed in Seville and the time was cut short. I know I would have marched to Shore Excursions and asked for a partial refund it was not a full excursion. This happened to us in Rome, when our tour guide decided to cut our tour of the Colosseum short, even though there were other Disney tours there doing the whole Colosseum. I went to SE desk and saw many people from our excursion complaining. My family got $35 each back as a credit on our account.

 

[Aanna]

Something just occurred to me: do you think, since this was a less expensive cruise filled mostly with people who already are loyal to DCL, that they used this as a training cruise? I know they were training a new Bingo caller, but perhaps there were a

No as I was very lucky! Basically my condition means I struggle with steps and they had steps down to the port that day that were mesh and very odd depths. Anyone in a wheelchair couldn't get off I know that much but I actually went and looked at the gangway then went and asked about options at guest services. They kindly offered to (and did) walk me off the ship themselves so that I could get off and then when I went to get back on I waited for the second gangway to open. There was no way I would have been getting off if I hadn't offered me that option. I was practically in tears at the desk trying to get confirmation that the other gangway would be open at 1pm on the dot. It actually opened at 1:30pm and either way that wouldn't have been long enough to go into town. I had some lovely table mates who after I mentioned this being an issue the day before actually stopped at Hard Rock to get me a pin as this was my main reason for wanting to walk around the town so if I hadn't been able to get off at least I would have had something to cheer me up later that day! Instead it was a bonus pin and I was extremely touched by the wonderful gesture. I've never known DCL to not provide an accessible route before and as said wheelchair users wouldn't have been able to get off so I assume that there would have been some individuals who just couldn't go anywhere. The letter didn't even mention options for things like if you had booked a tour or anything it just said you will need to wait til 1pm which I found really odd. We were only in port til 3:15pm so having 2 hours off the ship didn't seem long at all!



Agree completely! The cheek of saying "oh but we aren't charging you"! Were you meant to be grateful when it was there issue?



I spent about an hour queuing in New York. My table mates came down same time as me (deck 6) and could see me in the queue and reckon I moved really quickly along the line (they were in the right hand queue and me the left). To me I thought it took forever and it ended up that I had to rush to get back onboard for 4pm as I wanted to do a loop on the open top bus. I did manage it but I was surprised as I left at the time when deck 6 was called expecting to be well into the city by 11 and it was more like gone 12

They regularly stop at these ports, right? On the one hand, it sounds like a problem with what the port has available for use. On the other, these are very basic things that DCL should have worked out looong before arrival in port. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that distress!

My dad really wants to take an Alaskan cruise, and up until now I was agonizing over better itineraries/prices on other lines vs. the superior service I expected from Disney. From youngest to oldest, everyone in our party is more than ready to give another cruise line a go after this experience.

 

[Chirple]

Something just occurred to me: do you think, since this was a less expensive cruise filled mostly with people who already are loyal to DCL, that they used this as a training cruise? I know they were training a new Bingo caller

Very interesting observation and one that I mentioned to my husband while we were on the ship. I recognized two people in the MDR--a server and a head server. Our requested server was moved to the Fantasy. The server we did have said he trained under her, and he seemed really green. He tried too hard. There were times when I really just wanted a salad, and he kept pushing me to order more food. The server we love would have respected my order and left it up to me to make the decision.

 

[Aanna]

Very intertesting observation and one that I mentioned to my husband while we were on the ship. I recognized two people in the MDR--a server and a head server. Our requested server was moved to the Fantasy. The server we did have said he trained under her, and he seemed really green. He tried too hard. There were times when I really just wanted a salad, and he kept pushing me to order more food. The server we love would have respected my order and left it up to me to make the decision.

lol I had intended to delete that half-formed thought! Very interesting that it occurred to you, too.

 

[elvispursley]

@Aanna, that's a good point about it being a training cruise. Our head server was brought over from the Fantasy specifically for this cruise and he said he's heading back to the Fantasy now that the cruise is over. I loved our assistant server but she seemed new. I noticed we never had our drinks waiting for us on the table like we typically do on the Fantasy.

Also, DH and I wanted to know how you can have a "surprise" low tide like we did in Cadiz? Isn't that what you get paid the big bucks for, to know the tide tables? @gismo1554, I think it's ridiculous about the whole gangway situation. I thought there was more than one port where we had a funny gangway.

I'm still in the middle of my very long email to DCL. I answered the survey they sent and found it really really odd that they only asked my opinion about Porta Delgada, Lisbon, and New York...nothing about Cadiz!!! Did they totally forget we went there??? Super weird!!

 

[Chirple]

The way the gangway was placed in Cadiz reminded me of the tender we took in St. Thomas. I was just recovering from a broken ankle (same ankle with the current issue) and was not only wearing a boot but had crutches, too. That was a fun trip up and down! I immediately thought of people who had issues with mobility when I saw the angle in Cadiz.

I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer because we loved our trip overall. Dining Services offered us our own table when they could not grant our server request (declined the offer). Maintenance was quick to address the toilet issue. The custodial staff kept those restrooms really neat and clean. We never had to hunt down our stateroom host if we were running low on toiletries. We love sea days, and the weather was amazing. Even Port Adventures got back to us quickly with their nonsensical response regarding the waitlist.

We have been on 3 of the 4 Disney ships, and I am now thinking that we should schedule a cruise on the Fantasy before they roll out the next 3. We have decided to cancel our British Isles cruise next year because 4 port days in a row during a 7 night cruise is not relaxing. I am debating on keeping the 5 night Bermuda cruise but going solo.

 

[gismo1554]

Something just occurred to me: do you think, since this was a less expensive cruise filled mostly with people who already are loyal to DCL, that they used this as a training cruise? I know they were training a new Bingo caller, but perhaps there were a

I was wondering the same but in previous TA's have never felt this way. It was like no one knew what they were doing so it is quite possible.

They regularly stop at these ports, right? On the one hand, it sounds like a problem with what the port has available for use. On the other, these are very basic things that DCL should have worked out looong before arrival in port. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that distress!

My dad really wants to take an Alaskan cruise, and up until now I was agonizing over better itineraries/prices on other lines vs. the superior service I expected from Disney. From youngest to oldest, everyone in our party is more than ready to give another cruise line a go after this experience.

I think Lisbon is a less frequent port but they have been there before so the fact they only let people know the day before seemed very odd. I agree with the options out there its worth shopping around I feel especially somewhere like Alaska where you spend a lot of time seeing things and therefore not using the onboard stuff anyway.

Also, DH and I wanted to know how you can have a "surprise" low tide like we did in Cadiz? Isn't that what you get paid the big bucks for, to know the tide tables? [USER=91989]@gismo1554, I think it's ridiculous about the whole gangway situation. I thought there was more than one port where we had a funny gangway.

I'm still in the middle of my very long email to DCL. I answered the survey they sent and found it really really odd that they only asked my opinion about Porta Delgada, Lisbon, and New York...nothing about Cadiz!!! Did they totally forget we went there??? Super weird!![/USER]

There was Cadiz as well that had a weird gangway but had no notification on that one. It was very very steep so I guess wheelchairs would have been interesting going down it. As it wasn't steps I just took it slowly and was OK but I can imagine some people struggled.

I too spotted Cadiz was ignored. It seemed strange that our first port was the one they forgot to ask us about.

 

[Aanna]

I too spotted Cadiz was ignored. It seemed strange that our first port was the one they forgot to ask us about.[/user]

Perhaps, after the troubles there, they do not intend to return and so don't need the feedback?