Critique of 2.0?

[DisneyKevin]

Because you were on a Disney ship and everyone loves Disney, many of you excused the mediocre service by pointing out that the best crew members were moved to the Dream. Had you been on ANY other ship, you would've posted, "Never again on _____ cruise line!"

Another possibility is that we might just be a bit more seasoned in our travel experiences and understand that things can and do go wrong.

I've read every post in this thread and people have been moderate in their criticism of the service received.

I've been on Royal Caribbean where things have also gone wrong and havent written them off either.

I think the reason people are disagreeing with you is because you made a blanket assumption and that never works.

 

[NancyIL]

Another possibility is that we might just be a bit more seasoned in our travel experiences and understand that things can and do go wrong.

I've read every post in this thread and people have been moderate in their criticism of the service received.

I've been on Royal Caribbean where things have also gone wrong and havent written them off either.

I think the reason people are disagreeing with you is because you made a blanket assumption and that never works.

You're right - I shouldn't have assumed everyone would write off other cruise lines with the same service issues. However, after one less than stellar cruise experience, many do write-off Royal Caribbean and others.

As for the critique of 2.0 - this is the largest number of mediocre reviews I have read about DCL's service on any one thread. If I had never sailed with DCL, I would be a bit worried about cruising on the Wonder in the next few months after reading the reviews.

 

[OKW Lover]

When I started this thread I was interested in hearing exactly what people thought DCL could have improved on this cruise. I did that not because I thought it was a bad cruise, but that I thought any cruise can be improved. This was our 3rd DCL cruise and I still rate DCL higher than other cruise lines (on which I've sailed probably 10 times) in terms of overall cruise experience.

I know that a single experience is not enough to judge and make blanket statements. Just like I wouldn't write-off a particular restaurant based on one visit, I shouldn't write-off a cruise line based on one cruise. Sadly, people often do so.

 

[DVC Kathy]

This was our sixth Disney cruise, but our first on the Wonder.

The service levels (except for the baristas) weren't what we were used to on the Magic. We weren't sure if was because things were more casual on the 3/4 night cruises, or if it was due to pillaging of staff for the Dream.

If we hadn't cruised DCL before, I'm not sure we would have thought anything was off - so it certainly wouldn't have caused us to vow never to sail DCL again. Our opinion would have been the same if we had that experience on a different cruise line - so no Disney bias there.

I will say that the "complementary" birthday/anniversary cakes are horrendous. Tablemates have shared theirs in the past, so we knew better than to request one for our anniversary!

Kathy

 

[corky441]

It's hard to critique when there is no comparison to make

Since this was not only my first DCL cruise, it was also my first cruise ever.

Did I have disappointments? yes & most of them had nothing to do with Disney-it was Mother Nature who wrecked havoc with a lot of the outdoor/on deck plans and activities

Did I expect more than what I received? possibly - this is always a problem when you have the opportunity to plan and get excited over a year ahead of time. You read post after post about how wonderful-magical everything is. Everyone is talking about their "best" experiences and what to expect and what happened to them and it fills your head with things that quite frankly may be impossible to achieve.

Did I have the time of my life? Big yes - it was wonderful to see so many of our ABD 1.0 friends again. I loved meeting so many people who I only knew by their board names. How great to put a face with the names.

Did I enjoy the food? - yes for the most part. But to me it was no different than going to a new restaurant you've never tried before. Sometimes what you order is awesome... sometimes it isn't.
Nothing was horrid. Palo was wonderful, but not necessarily "drop dead, OMG, the best meal ever in my life"
In fact I hardly remember everything we had every night - I was enjoying the company of my tablemates more than dinner anyway.

Did I like the service? - I did, very much
Our stateroom attendant Emer ( no not Elmo as per DH ) was very attentive to our needs. Mind you there were only 2 adults in the room and I'm the type to keep it neat & tidy anyway. One of our bags was delayed in getting to us, and Emer found it for us in the short time it took for the muster drill. He called us by name all the time. We asked for ice the first day but didn't make it clear that we also needed it for the portable cooler. After we did though, he kept our beverages iced at all times.

Will I cruise again with DCL? most definately, our next cruise is booked for this coming May

I have three very special memories from this trip:
1. I'll never forget the crew member who I thought was just going to help me carry a tray of breakfast goodies from Beach Blanket on deck 9 down the stairs to deck 8 - he carried the tray the entire way to our forward stateroom
2. Finding a deck chair in a non-windy area of deck 9 and just reading for an hour
3. seeing DH (Dino) just sitting in a chair by the window in the promenade lounge "relaxing"

 

[DisneyKevin]

Did I expect more than what I received? possibly - this is always a problem when you have the opportunity to plan and get excited over a year ahead of time. You read post after post about how wonderful-magical everything is. Everyone is talking about their "best" experiences and what to expect and what happened to them and it fills your head with things that quite frankly may be impossible to achieve.

We have talked about this on the Podcast several times and perhaps we are guilty of encouraging it.

People's expectations are heightened by what they've read and heard on the boards.

We often hear that people's trips are ruined because they didnt get a towel animal, or that their kid wasnt chosen for Jedi Academy or that their daughter didnt get to wake up Tinkerbell or that their DCL server didnt make personalized ice carvings while twirling flaming batons.

Please understand that I am not making excuses for poor service. I'm saying that, as Marilee has pointed out, sometimes expectations are so high that almost nothing will be able to meet them.

There have been enough people referencing mediocre service on this ship that there was clearly an issue, but many times I think guests just have the bar set too high in their own minds.

On one of my first DCL cruises, our assistant waiter (I think his name was Plavix...or something like that) told me that he was an Olympic shot putter (?) for a European country that I dont remember. When I expressed interest, he proceeded to do a hand stand and walk the length of Triton's. Upon reaching the stairs, he went to one hand and then jumped up each of the three stairs on on the same one hand.

So far, this has proven to be a one time thing.

 

[OKW Lover]

... or that their DCL server didnt make personalized ice carvings while twirling flaming batons.

Lets not be silly now, we all know that the flaming batons would be extinguished by the water from the melting ice carvings.

 

[NancyIL]

On one of my first DCL cruises, our assistant waiter (I think his name was Plavix...or something like that) told me that he was an Olympic shot putter (?) for a European country that I dont remember. When I expressed interest, he proceeded to do a hand stand and walk the length of Triton's. Upon reaching the stairs, he went to one hand and then jumped up each of the three stairs on on the same one hand.

So far, this has proven to be a one time thing.

That would certainly be a tough act for the next assistant waiter to follow!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

While I truly feel bad that some of you suffered some lackluster service, I am hoping it benefits me as I go on a 3 day on the Dream in March!!!

It's only a consolation because I could not make the Podcast cruise or any of the ABD trips with the team!!

I won't expect anyone to walk on their hands. Only Kevin could be so lucky.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

While I truly feel bad that some of you suffered some lackluster service, I am hoping it benefits me as I go on a 3 day on the Dream in March!!!

It's only a consolation because I could not make the Podcast cruise or any of the ABD trips with the team!!

I won't expect anyone to walk on their hands. Only Kevin could be so lucky.

I'm walking on my hands now for you - you just can't see me.......

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm walking on my hands now for you - you just can't see me.......

Thanks John! I appreciate the gesture. Sure you can't join me in March?

 

[BriarRosie]

I didn't mean to imply that all Podcast cruisers will always rationalize less than exceptional service from Disney. It just seems that Disney cruisers in general are a lot more forgiving if the sub-par service is received on a Disney ship than on any other cruise line. Just read a few threads on the cruise line board about "DCL vs. ________" and you'll see what I mean.

But we also tend to be more informed than the 'average' Disney guest. That's why we already knew that many of the experienced crew has been siphoned off to start up the Dream. If we hadn't had prior knowledge about that, our experiences might have been different. I'm not excusing some of the lackluster service, but I am more forgiving to new crew. Especially when I've had some crew experiences that exceeded my expectations. There's a mix in there of really good, average and bad. Luckily, it seems most of us were able to adapt fairly well.

 

[bigmoonmullen]

Our stateroom attendant: Saw him once.... but we were next to never in the room. He did keep the room cleaned and brought in fresh bathroom products all but one day. Turned down the sheets nightly with chocolates and left towel animals that Louise loved. We thought he did a very nice job.

Our head waiter: Understand their purpose but had very little interactions with him. I guess that is good.

Our assistant server: Did a pretty nice job getting drinks and remembering what we typically ordered. However, he was a little slow delivering the drinks and asking if you wanted another drink. Overall I was satisfied.

Our "Main" waiter: She was very pleasant but at times slow delivering the various courses. We seemed to be one of the last tables to complete our meals nightly. Now Louise may have contributed somewhat to that... at times she asked questions about multiple appetizers and entrees. Guess what, she was given all of them. One night three appetizers, one night two entrees and one night three entrees. I guess she never learned Good thing our great table mates enjoyed sharing some of this.

Palo: Exceptional from start to finsih.

The entertainment: I thought it was OK... we typically stayed till midnight to 1AM. Bar service sucked.

The weather: Not what I expected. I was looking forward to 70's to 80's... We all know that did'nt happen.

 

[Cherinva]

Having never been on a cruise before, I didn't know what to expect. However, it being Disney, I knew I would be happy....and I was. Our Dining Room Servers were good, not exceptional, but they did their job and did it well. One thing I was impressed with, he (Nelson) made a suggestion at every meal for entre and dessert. If no one at the table ordered it, he would bring one anyway for all of us to sample....I thought that was cool. They knew our names right away, and knew what we would like to drink. The food was good, there wasn't anything that we had that we didn't like.

The room steward was exceptional !!!! Upon entering the room, he knocked on the door and introduced himself and made it clear that if we needed anything at all, day or night, that we were to contact him....and he made good on that !!. He addressed us by our names and we saw him a lot. Our room was clean and tidy....shoes were put out of the way and he even folded the clothes that my girls left out. I appologized to him once, knowing that my girls are not that neat, and I told him how much I appreciated his detail...he bowed to me and told me that he was at our service and would do whatever was needed to make out time on board more enjoyable. (too bad he is staying on the Wonder to go to the West Coast)

The weather could have been better, but DCL didn't control that. The entertainment was great for what we did. I liked the cove cafe also.

I met the Captain, got his autograph and a picture with him. We also did the pin trading with the Officers on the last night...that was cool too.

My overall experience was a good one, and I will definately go again.

Now, would I have liked the cruise as much, had it not been a Pod Cast Cruise? Probably not...It was awesome to recognize people, or have them come up to me and say..."aren't you Cheri?"....that was way cool and it's an experience I won't forget....especially running into Pete (and Walter) for the first time. I've rebooked for PCC 3.0 and hope that life doesn't get in the way.

 

[evildiva]

This being my first cruise ever, let alone my first Disney cruise, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I brought my mother, who had been on a Celebrity cruise earlier in the year, and she said that while they were certainly two different cruise ships geared to two different groups she had an equally good time on the Wonder.

Our Server and Assistant Server were both new to their positions and told us as much on the first night. I usually can't stand when people use this as an "excuse" but that was not the case here. Peret and Emma both informed our table that they were new and asked that we tell them anything we would like done differently or changed. They were very concerned that we were having the best time possible. This included Peret providing suggestions on each item on the menu and as a previous poster has said, bringing that item if no one ordered it. Could the service have been a little faster? Sure. But they have a lot of people to take care of and were always ready to get us whatever we wanted no matter what.

I never saw our Steward. My mom did and said he was very nice. Of course we didn't spend much time in the room so I am sure he was very nice. We can back every day to fresh toiletries, towels and reading material. We also returned every night to a nicely turned down bed, with towel animal (mom said they didn't do this on Celebrity and she absolutely loved them), and chocolates.

Would I cruise again? Of course! I already booked Podcast 3.0! However, I would (if the price were right because let's face it cruising isn't cheap) book another Disney cruise in a heart beat. I hope that the NYC speculation is true, living in MD this would be much easier to get to than Orlando.

 

[irishdadx4]

or that their DCL server didnt make personalized ice carvings while twirling flaming batons.

wait a gosh darn minute there..I didn't get any personalized ice cravings or flaming batons...

would I go on another DCL cruise...guess I wouldn't have booked two more if I wouldn't. But they are going to be for PCC 3.0 and 4.0. I don't think I would like to go on the cruise without the disboards gang.....that's what really made the trip...although I think we would have an excellent time if it wasn't a Podcast cruise, if I'm going to go why not do it with the gang.

As far as our servers and stateroom host....all were good, and at times excellent. Gordana and Alan were great in the dinning rooms. Our assistant had a few problems he needs to address in future cruises, but he and Gordana, the server were great, and simply added to the great tablemates Kat and I had for this cruise. (Hello Tonya, and Alissa, and Don and Greg...it's just not the same eating anymore without you guys ) Our stateroom host did what he needed to do and did it good. The food for the most part was good to very good. Parrot Cay was the most unexceptional, a real shame we got that restaurant on our rotation twice. Breakfast was also not very good there. DCL cannot cook eggs or grits.
Mike

 

[kimisabella]

I received a reply from Disney Cruise Lines regarding the letter I sent them last month about the incident that happened to us on the cruise.

Long story short - In Animators Palate, a waiter knocked over a styrofoam cup of hot coffee as he was passing by my husband, and my husband ended up with hot coffee all over his arm (he was wearing a short sleeve shirt), shirt, and jacket which was hanging on the back of the chair. The waiter, our waiter, and our head waiter apologized, and gave us a voucher to get all the items cleaned free of charge. Subsequently, they lost the shirt and jacket in the laundry room, they found it the next day, but the coffee stains didn't come out of the shirt, and they ended up charging us for the cleaning...We wasted a lot of our vacation time trying to sort this out. On the ship they gave us a $50 credit to solve the issue, however, the shirt that was ruined was a new $80 Lacoste polo shirt.

So, the other day I received a nice letter, the usual stuff, apologizing, and enclosed was a $50 shipboard credit for a future cruise.

 

[OKW Lover]

So, the other day I received a nice letter, the usual stuff, apologizing, and enclosed was a $50 shipboard credit for a future cruise.

Might just be me, but this doesn't seem adequate Andrea. No, I don't think you should get a free cruise (but it would be nice) for the trouble. But really, $50 credit on a future cruise means they are only out the money if you do chose to cruise with DCL again.

Not that there's anything else to be done.

 

[kimisabella]

Might just be me, but this doesn't seem adequate Andrea. No, I don't think you should get a free cruise (but it would be nice) for the trouble. But really, $50 credit on a future cruise means they are only out the money if you do chose to cruise with DCL again.

Not that there's anything else to be done.

I agree with you, Jeff. But, at this point, I don't believe there is any other route to take.