columnwest
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
First off, I had a blast on PCC3.0, made a lot of great new friends and had the best dining companions I could've hoped for (even if our particular servers were a little less than great). I'm not posting this thread to dump on the cruise.
But, after getting back home, my reaction now is sort of... it was good, but not great. And, I'm not really sure why. After PCC1.0 and PCC2.0 my feeling was "wow, I can't wait to go on the next one". My reaction after 3.0 was, "maybe I'll skip the next couple". Maybe it's just me; maybe I'm just Disney'ed out; maybe I'm just really spoiled from the phenomenally great past experiences.
But, here are a few things I noticed. Not "good" or "bad" things per se, just different from the previous cruises.
- With a bigger ship and a smaller number of DISers, it felt less like we "owned" the cruise. On the previous cruises, it seemed like DISers were everywhere, especially with the PCC door magnets everwhere. This time, it felt like we were much more in the minority. For me, this definitely changed the "atmosphere" on the ship.
- On the previous trips, there seemed to be more evening and adult activites planned. Or, just more stuff planned in general. This time, the "official" activity list seemed pretty light. And, though I attended several of the talks with genuine personal interest, I thought it was a little disapponting that most of the daytime meets seemed to be centered around Dreams as a business rather than something more social.
- On the topic of on-board events... What ever happened to the "unofficial" events? I guess I'm guilty here as much as anyone, since there was nothing preventing me for organizing something. But, why again was there no West Coast meetup? I know Nancy said there was trouble getting it organized. I would've been happy just hanging out with other westcoasters at the Cove Cafe and sharing iPhone pics of Cars Land. Nothing fancy required. BTW, hats off to the folks who organized the stateroom crawl, which was one of the highights of my cruise. That Walt Disney Suite was amazing!
- A lot of folks I met from the previous cruises were absent from this one. I'm looking at you Todd, Lauren and Jeri, Frank, Heather and Anna (among others). I missed you guys and gals; it wasn't the same without you. Hope to see you on a future trip.
- I really enjoyed the presentation from Kevin and Jody. However, after the last cruise with Charlie Ridgeway, Bob Gurr and Jody Benson.... I mean, man, that's a hard lineup to top. Still... I have to be honest I was hoping for Marty Sklar or Dave Smith or Tony Baxter. It's hard not to make the comparison... Kevin and Jody are brilliant, but it wasn't as exciting for me as the lineup of Disney Legends we had last time.
- The Podcast recording seemed a little rushed to me. Maybe it was due to the smaller stage or having to fit in the DL recording as well (though I enjoyed finally seeing what everyone looks like). There didn't seem to be as much playful banter as in years past, and the "giveaway" portion at the end seemed shorter than last time with the "favorite things" motif. A friend's mom who was sitting next to me was hoping that an iPad would be among the items, but the prizes were gift cards and $6000K trips. Granted, I am fully aware that they don't have to give anything away at all. But, I thought there was less variety in this year's items. Personally, I think I'd rather see more smaller prizes than fewer big-ticket ones, since that would give more people a chance at winning something without having to spend more on prizes. And, I have never been a fan of gift-cards in general, though I know they make for more practical prizes. On the plus side though, I thought it was a very nice gesture on Pete's part to honor the prize to the girl who was not present due to her family's medical emergency.
- Also on a more positive note, I really loved the gift bags this year. Lots of cool and genuinely useful stuff. And even though it isn't all that functional in terms of keeping you cool, I can't stop playing with that LED fan. The gummies were great snacks, and the extension cord came in very handy.
And again, I really can't put a price on being able to hang out with 400 other like-minded Disney fans, make some great new friends, and have a fantastic time doing it all aboard one of the most beautiful ships at sea. Though I may appear to be complaining (and I'm really not, just sharing some thoughts about things that seemed different), I had an awesome time. In some weird way I hope that I end up really regretting not going on the next one.
I'd be interested to know what others thought of PCC3.0. Hopefully, we can all keep our comments respectful of each other's. And, also reflective of the huge respect I think we all have for the DIS team's (especially John's) hard work in putting the Podcast Cruises together.
But, after getting back home, my reaction now is sort of... it was good, but not great. And, I'm not really sure why. After PCC1.0 and PCC2.0 my feeling was "wow, I can't wait to go on the next one". My reaction after 3.0 was, "maybe I'll skip the next couple". Maybe it's just me; maybe I'm just Disney'ed out; maybe I'm just really spoiled from the phenomenally great past experiences.
But, here are a few things I noticed. Not "good" or "bad" things per se, just different from the previous cruises.
- With a bigger ship and a smaller number of DISers, it felt less like we "owned" the cruise. On the previous cruises, it seemed like DISers were everywhere, especially with the PCC door magnets everwhere. This time, it felt like we were much more in the minority. For me, this definitely changed the "atmosphere" on the ship.
- On the previous trips, there seemed to be more evening and adult activites planned. Or, just more stuff planned in general. This time, the "official" activity list seemed pretty light. And, though I attended several of the talks with genuine personal interest, I thought it was a little disapponting that most of the daytime meets seemed to be centered around Dreams as a business rather than something more social.
- On the topic of on-board events... What ever happened to the "unofficial" events? I guess I'm guilty here as much as anyone, since there was nothing preventing me for organizing something. But, why again was there no West Coast meetup? I know Nancy said there was trouble getting it organized. I would've been happy just hanging out with other westcoasters at the Cove Cafe and sharing iPhone pics of Cars Land. Nothing fancy required. BTW, hats off to the folks who organized the stateroom crawl, which was one of the highights of my cruise. That Walt Disney Suite was amazing!
- A lot of folks I met from the previous cruises were absent from this one. I'm looking at you Todd, Lauren and Jeri, Frank, Heather and Anna (among others). I missed you guys and gals; it wasn't the same without you. Hope to see you on a future trip.
- I really enjoyed the presentation from Kevin and Jody. However, after the last cruise with Charlie Ridgeway, Bob Gurr and Jody Benson.... I mean, man, that's a hard lineup to top. Still... I have to be honest I was hoping for Marty Sklar or Dave Smith or Tony Baxter. It's hard not to make the comparison... Kevin and Jody are brilliant, but it wasn't as exciting for me as the lineup of Disney Legends we had last time.
- The Podcast recording seemed a little rushed to me. Maybe it was due to the smaller stage or having to fit in the DL recording as well (though I enjoyed finally seeing what everyone looks like). There didn't seem to be as much playful banter as in years past, and the "giveaway" portion at the end seemed shorter than last time with the "favorite things" motif. A friend's mom who was sitting next to me was hoping that an iPad would be among the items, but the prizes were gift cards and $6000K trips. Granted, I am fully aware that they don't have to give anything away at all. But, I thought there was less variety in this year's items. Personally, I think I'd rather see more smaller prizes than fewer big-ticket ones, since that would give more people a chance at winning something without having to spend more on prizes. And, I have never been a fan of gift-cards in general, though I know they make for more practical prizes. On the plus side though, I thought it was a very nice gesture on Pete's part to honor the prize to the girl who was not present due to her family's medical emergency.
- Also on a more positive note, I really loved the gift bags this year. Lots of cool and genuinely useful stuff. And even though it isn't all that functional in terms of keeping you cool, I can't stop playing with that LED fan. The gummies were great snacks, and the extension cord came in very handy.
And again, I really can't put a price on being able to hang out with 400 other like-minded Disney fans, make some great new friends, and have a fantastic time doing it all aboard one of the most beautiful ships at sea. Though I may appear to be complaining (and I'm really not, just sharing some thoughts about things that seemed different), I had an awesome time. In some weird way I hope that I end up really regretting not going on the next one.
I'd be interested to know what others thought of PCC3.0. Hopefully, we can all keep our comments respectful of each other's. And, also reflective of the huge respect I think we all have for the DIS team's (especially John's) hard work in putting the Podcast Cruises together.