Change of itinerary until June for Eastern Caribbean

[mswhittaker]

The more I think about it, the more bummed I am. For a 7 day cruise with only 3 POC, I feel like those 3 need to be very special and of course CC is special but I think Tortola was meant to be the real pull for this cruise and St. Maarten as a backup just does not meet expectations (and before any of the Disney Can Do No Wrong and Deserves No Culpability and Hey At Least It's Better Than Being At Home!! crew swoop in with their pitchforks...or perhaps tridents since this is the cruise forum?? Save it, I'm not interested.) and I feel like we should have been given notice earlier OR they could have substituted with a second day at Castaway. Of course the hurricane and the damage is not Disney's fault and the repairs are not their responsibility, but I do feel like they could have a better contingency plan. I'm clearly not the only one who would have second guessed this itinerary had St. Thomas and St. Maarten been the only ports of call (in addition to Castaway of course). There just isn't a lot of choice for those of us with very young children. Especially if we aren't interested in being away from the ship for the entire day.

...and for the record we are very much looking forward to St. Thomas!

Oooh I would have loved a second day at Castaway!

 

[jk and ek]

Yeah..I think the Magic is docked at CC on that day though...and rearranging the entire itinerary would have been a logistical nightmare..so I totally get why that wasn't an option. Nice to think about, though!

 

[cheribelle]

Haha, I'm gonna have to stop you right there... Disney isn't "giving" us anything. We all paid a premium for this cruise.

Pardon my wording. You and we paid a hefty price for the cruise and you are still being OFFERED an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Whether you choose to go or not, or get off their ship to the ports of call, is your choice.

 

[mswhittaker]

Pardon my wording. You and we paid a hefty price for the cruise and you are still being OFFERED an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Whether you choose to go or not, or get off their ship to the ports of call, is your choice.

This is true. But it is okay to be disappointed!

 

[cheribelle]

This is true. But it is okay to be disappointed!

Of course! That was the point of my post! But to expect Disney to have a better contigency plan is just not right. Ports get changed all the time, that’s a risk in cruising. And whatever they decide to do will never make everyone happy. It seems you like Castaway a lot so be happy that was never changed and pray for good weather! Enjoy your cruise because I’m sure all these changes will be forgotten about once onboard

 

[jk and ek]

Pardon my wording. You and we paid a hefty price for the cruise and you are still being OFFERED an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Whether you choose to go or not, or get off their ship to the ports of call, is your choice.

Well, we sail in 28 days so...sure we could "choose" not to go, but we would lose what we paid. So.

And what we paid for is a cruise that went to Tortola. Again, I understand all the clauses and fine print and know that nothing is guaranteed. We are still allowed to be disappointed. Does being disappointed in this moment mean that our vacation is a scorched earth unsalvageable disaster? Of course not. Does it mean that we wont try and make the best out of the situation? Of course not. Does it mean I begrudge the happiness of those pleased with this change? Of course not. It means in this moment we feel bummed and just let me and my family have our feelings, maaaaan! Being disappointed does not equal "you are the most negative person on planet earth, its all or nothing just stay home and be miserable!!!" I'm just not a fan of telling people to suck it up/be grateful and ignore times they feel disappointed or sad because "it could be worse". We probably WONT forget about this change and WILL always still wish a little bit that we were able to see Tortola, but hey. I'm more sad for the people of Tortola who were likely depending on us being there and bringing in the cash.

 

[cheribelle]

Well, we sail in 28 days so...sure we could "choose" not to go, but we would lose what we paid. So.

And what we paid for is a cruise that went to Tortola. Again, I understand all the clauses and fine print and know that nothing is guaranteed. We are still allowed to be disappointed. Does being disappointed in this moment mean that our vacation is a scorched earth unsalvageable disaster? Of course not. Does it mean that we wont try and make the best out of the situation? Of course not. Does it mean I begrudge the happiness of those pleased with this change? Of course not. It means in this moment we feel bummed and just let me and my family have our feelings, maaaaan! Being disappointed does not equal "you are the most negative person on planet earth, its all or nothing just stay home and be miserable!!!" I'm just not a fan of telling people to suck it up/be grateful and ignore times they feel disappointed or sad because "it could be worse". We probably WONT forget about this change and WILL always still wish a little bit that we were able to see Tortola, but hey. I'm more sad for the people of Tortola who were likely depending on us being there and bringing in the cash.

Wow I never said any of those things so not sure where you are coming from. I responded to the part where you felt Disney should have had a better contingency plan. Which I explained my opinion above. You should be disappointed and I never ever said you shouldn’t. Not sure why so much hostility.
Enjoy your cruise. Hopefully you will make the best of it.

 

[jk and ek]

But you ARE telling people to "Be Happy!" when I think you should just let people....be.

 

[cvjw]

Add us to the disappointed list. Just checked for an excursion for st marten for our may cruise, and only one showed available. A zip line tour. Not interested. Guess we will stay on the ship.

Wish Disney had made this change earlier so we had more notice.

 

[jk and ek]

Add us to the disappointed list. Just checked for an excursion for st marten for our may cruise, and only one showed available. A zip line tour. Not interested. Guess we will stay on the ship.

Wish Disney had made this change earlier so we had more notice.

Excursions wont be available until after the 16th. I keep seeing random things show up, but they change minute to minute. I have heard that when they are fully available, the selection is likely to be limited. Especially for those with young kids or who do not want something that takes up the entire day.

 

[cheribelle]

But you ARE telling people to "Be Happy!" when I think you should just let people....be.

I wasn’t going to respond anymore but one final thing, I never said be happy. FWIW I’m cruising this summer and I really want to go to Tortola too. And I too will be disappointed if it changes. Like I said earlier I responded to your post about Disney’s contingency plan. And that was it.

 

[mswhittaker]

Add us to the disappointed list. Just checked for an excursion for st marten for our may cruise, and only one showed available. A zip line tour. Not interested. Guess we will stay on the ship.

Wish Disney had made this change earlier so we had more notice.

I don't think it's working yet. But reading what others who've been on the St. Maarten stops recently have said, it doesn't seem like there will be many options anyway. It seems the only beach offered is the one right off the boat (which is a fine beach, but I would not consider it "beautiful" by any means. We got off the boat ourselves and rented our own chairs and wifi for the day but it's probably the least attractive beach in all the Caribbean stops we've been to). I have seen many people booking their own excursions outside of Disney. We did St. Maarten on our own (shopped, found a place to eat, and hung at the beach) and while it was fine...not interested in doing it again. So I think it's a stay on the ship day for us! We have a list of movies we want to try to see this trip too so gives us more time to do that.

 

[jk and ek]

[...]I never said be happy.

[...] be happy

 

[cheribelle]

Seriously? You quote my post to SOMEONE ELSE regarding castaway?

You know it’s posts like your original post saying Disney should have had a better contingency plan in these situations that confuses a lot of people into expecting that Disney should do more whenever changes are made.

Have a nice cruise and I’ll just BE HAPPY that I’m not sailing with such a negative person.

 

[minniemouse1]

Well I am disappointed and wish I could cancel this cruise now since I have already been to St. Maarten 5 times I think. I would of loved to be informed before the PIF date but since I cruise in 38 days I am stuck. I wanted Tortola. It was the only reason we booked this cruise and being limited to school vacations has not worked in our favor since our last few cruises have been Eastern.

 

[jk and ek]

Seriously? You quote my post to SOMEONE ELSE regarding castaway?

You know it’s posts like your original post saying Disney should have had a better contingency plan in these situations that confuses a lot of people into expecting that Disney should do more whenever changes are made.

Have a nice cruise and I’ll just BE HAPPY that I’m not sailing with such a negative person.

Why is it always the ones who are accusing others of being mad who always seem to get or be the most upset.

Hope your cruise makes it to Tortola...and if it doesn't, you're given more than 3 weeks notice.

 

[crichardson11]

I'm bummed. We were really looking forward to the baths. Now I have to book again!!!

 

[mswhittaker]

Well I am disappointed and wish I could cancel this cruise now since I have already been to St. Maarten 5 times I think. I would of loved to be informed before the PIF date but since I cruise in 38 days I am stuck. I wanted Tortola. It was the only reason we booked this cruise and being limited to school vacations has not worked in our favor since our last few cruises have been Eastern.

Oh you're on my cruise!

 

[mycutiepatooties]

Does anyone know which June cruises this will impact. We sail June 16 through the 23 on the Fantasy eastern Caribbean.

 

[vikequeen]

I'm bummed. We were really looking forward to the baths. Now I have to book again!!!

That’s my theory - I’ll just have to go again someday. A nice problem to have!! I’m a little disappointed but since I’ve not been to either Tortola or st Maarten we will make it work. And I expect we will have a great time.