Unfortunately, worst vacation we ever had

[cvjw]

We had the same issue on our January Pixar cruise. Dinners took over 2 hours. Never had that happen before. We sailed a couple weeks ago on the fantasy again and were told that the Pixar cruises were the first really full cruises in a while. It took a few cruises for the kitchen to get things working right for so many people. Could have been the same on the dream if it was full.

Also caught covid on the Bermuda cruise. Lots of people did. Cast members were also sick. That also could have been a factor.

 

[shananigans]

The worst experiences we’ve had have been on the Dream once and the Wonder once. Both times it was server related. I was extra irritated with the Wonder sailing because we were Concierge.

We sail the Fantasy end of this month and haven’t had a bad trip on her yet.

Magic we sailed back in 2006 and will sail again in Sept. Dream in Oct and Wish in Jan 2024.

Hopeful the Magic will be a positive experience. Overall, the Fantasy is the kiddos fav ship. It’s a tie for me between the Fantasy & Wonder. Love the smaller ships because there are less people, but the amenities on the newer ships are more enjoyable for the kids.

 

[Shinaniganz]

Was this the first time the Dream had done a 7-night? I looked at DCL blog and there are no 7-night navigators for the Dream.

I believe the first 7 night was April 15-22 to the Western Caribbean out of Miami. We went on that cruise, and I had a tough time figuring out the schedule

 

[mmouse37]

We recently sailed the Fantasy (March 4th one of the last Pixar cruises of the season) and we had about 3600 onboard according to staff we asked. Was told it was very full but the next cruise was going to have even more. This was our first time I absolutely did not like are table location which was literally in a corner next to where they store all the extra high chairs and other stuff. Our serving team was pleasant but we felt not warm or really welcoming....more business only. This was our 53rd DCL and never experienced that before. Our late seating was very long each night. One night we did have plans after dinner and asked to be out quicker and they complied but we just felt overall service/food quality was not up to par. Soups were lukewarm and some things we always order tasted different. We are very easy going and "go with the flow type people" but it was annoying this cruise.

MJ

 

[KashasMom]

We just returned on Saturday from a 7 night on the Dream.
It had been about 8 years since we were on our last Disney Cruise so I don't think multiple sailings were our issue.

So much has been cut on the ship.
Except for embarkation day, Cabanas mostly only had one side open.
Cabanas was closed for dinner.
No dessert buffet at Cabanas after Pirate Night fireworks.

The menu at our rotational dinners was not good at all save for a few items.
Our dinner service team was terrible, we were usually the first one's in the restaurant and close to the last ones out. The service was SOOOOO SLOOOOW AND AWFUL. So bad that half our party gave up on dinner service and had to eat Flo's or room service because they got tired of missing on board events that they wanted to attend. We kept missing things because sinner took so long.
Tortola is a terrible port, not too much to do if you don't book an excursion. Though St. Thomas was a great day as we booked a cheap cab and went to Magen's Bay for a great beach day.
Just like the theme Parks, Disney has continually jacked up prices as they continue to cut what they give you for your money.
The only reason we went is because of the Disney+ Deal, but for the price, I doubt we'll ever cruise Disney again and we'll probably stick to other cruise lines that don't cost as much and have similar or better food and activities.

I'm so sorry this was your experience. We cruised on the Magic in early October and the difference between that cruise and pre-Covid Disney cruises - and our overall horrible experience - has definitely pushed us to make the decision not to cruise with Disney again. It's NOT the same product - and getting less for more money shouldn't make sense to anyone.

This is from the review I posted in Oct:

"We had main seating for dinner and were back in Lumiere's. We met our dining team. Throughout the cruise they seemed to be constantly in a rush - more than the usual "busy". They seemed overwhelmed. They barely had time to talk to us. I hate to say but the food has changed drastically and not for the better. I know food is subjective and I won't be reviewing each meal. I will say this - we did not have ONE thing the entire cruise that was HOT. Everything was warm. We had two vegetarians with us and the offerings were awful. The bean patties were dry and overcooked, tofu was undercooked, other dishes over-salty, etc. By comparison on our last cruise (Nov 2019 same ship from NYC as well) one of our vegetarians was a vegan. Each night the head waiter came to our table to discuss the following night's meal - including vegan dessert! He LOVED the food on that cruise. By about day 3 of this cruise, he was done with the food. My husband got so sick from the jerk chicken (I'll spare you the details) but I assume it was food poisoning. He was afraid to eat after that. Our special diet granddaughter's plain pasta with butter was either cold or overcooked - and after the first night there was no butter. My grandson never got ketchup or mustard and his meal included - literally - 4 french fries. What was so odd is that the server NEVER asked how/if we enjoyed the food. On any other cruise if you left three-quarters of a plate of uneaten food, the server would ask if you liked it, if you wanted something else, etc. Was this team new? Did they move the best to the Wish? These thoughts came to my mind at every dinner."

 

[iloveeeyore]

Hubby and I were on this cruise. I was just coming on here to share my thoughts when I saw this post. I'm so sorry to read about your disappointment!

We had a fabulous vacation and an absolutely amazing dining team. Our meals took about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half, and for us, this is what we expect and prefer. That said, I totally see your point about the cut backs and service problems. The cutbacks are industry-wide, unfortunately. The pirate night buffet party seems to have gone away after Covid and hasn't yet been returned. The food quality has definitely slipped, but in our experience, I guess we were lucky, ours wasn't as bad as yours. We have only been cruising on DCL for 3 years, 3 cruises, so I guess our expectations were not as high?

I think it was a combination of the Disney+ promotion (3rd and 4th passenger sail free), trying out new menus because the Dream had only done one 7-night sailing prior to this one, and servers on new contracts in advance of the imminent relocation to Europe...that combination of events really frazzled the service teams and they were clearly having a hard time keeping up with demand.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope you find more joy and satisfaction on your next vacation!

 

[nalabear]

2 hours for meals? Ouch. 1 hour is preferred. 1.5 hours is getting long and unsettling. 2? Not going back.

Disney cruise is a premium product and should be at the level of that -- not RC or NCL or Celebrity.

OP didn't even get Carnival service it seems and we would not be happy about that. Hopefully beyond the food service things went well.

 

[Princesca]

I will say on our recent cruise on 4/23 the lines for everything were horrendous. Character meets were always at minimum a 20-30 minute commitment. Even the Royal Gathering which we had an 'appointment' for took 45 minutes, most of that spent waiting in line. 30 minutes for the food on Castaway... it was super crowded everywhere. I was caught a little off guard because the cruise vlogs (post-COVID ones) we watch never look that packed and the atmosphere always seems more chill than what we experienced. Still loved it, but the experienced cruiser in our party basically said she was shocked at how crowded it was at the price point.

 

[Sakura1017]

Had the same issue on my 1st mediterrean and first Disney cruise. We had late seating so no matter how early we would get there the server would prioritize meals with families that had children. We would often be there earlier and order food before the families with children showed up. Somehow their order was still sent out first. So we wouldn't be done till close to 10 pm and then excursions would be so early around 7 am each day.

That made my family not want to do second seating ever again. Even if excursions ran late the cruise started early dining once ashore and pushed back late dining.

I didn't realize at that time we should have provided more feedback on the surveys. After letting guest services know after cruise was over, they mentioned the issue should have been brought up right away to the head server. So my family learned that if there are issues to try to get it resolved while you're on board. There's not much that can be done after getting off.

 

[squirk]

I didn't realize at that time we should have provided more feedback on the surveys. After letting guest services know after cruise was over, they mentioned the issue should have been brought up right away to the head server. So my family learned that if there are issues to try to get it resolved while you're on board. There's not much that can be done after getting off.

Your lead and head servers didn’t check in with you periodically to ask if you were satisfied with both the food and the service?

 

[Sakura1017]

Your lead and head servers didn’t check in with you periodically to ask if you were satisfied with both the food and the service?

They asked us how the food was. Never the pace. We didn't know at the time we could address that, and thought it was because we were all adults they wanted to serve kids first. So when i called guest services after the cruise was over they explained that shouldn't have happened and it was probably more of a training issue with that server it needed to be addressed.

I try to ask about servers now in groups on sailings but I know some may not want to share because they want that server on their sailing.
 

My second cruise the server asked us how he was doing on pace and if he needed to adjust anything. We told him he was doing great and if there were any issues we would let him know. He did great and I wasn't sure if because I was sailing in concierge this cruise if it made more of a difference. Or because it was at lesser capacity they had more time for each group.

 

[Flying Fish]

Our last cruise on the Fantasy was pretty close to what has been described here. We have younger kids, so we really enjoy Disney for them, and we actually had grow fond of it as well. I was hoping our last cruise was the exception, but I a now thinking it was not. We are cruising again in a few weeks, and I am slightly nervous about what we will see. Between the cost increases, the food quality crash, and the service disasters I'm starting to think seriously about other lines. We can do two RCCL cruises for the cost of each Disney (maybe three depending on the discounts). If we are not getting premium service or food, I do not see any reason to pay premium prices.

 

[squirk]

They asked us how the food was. Never the pace. We didn't know at the time we could address that, and thought it was because we were all adults they wanted to serve kids first. So when i called guest services after the cruise was over they explained that shouldn't have happened and it was probably more of a training issue with that server it needed to be addressed.

That indeed sounds like a training issue, because ever server we’ve ever had - even the “just OK” ones - has performed multiple spot-checks to ask about the quality of the service as well as the food.

 

[Princesca]

That indeed sounds like a training issue, because ever server we’ve ever had - even the “just OK” ones - has performed multiple spot-checks to ask about the quality of the service as well as the food.

Yeah, if anything, we were asked way TOO often. :/

 

[BrokeMack]

Charles Pierson, did you just come here to vent? People have been responding and asking questions and you've just disappeared. Is this one of those situations where someone copies and pastes the same negative review to every message board and travel site they can find or are you interested in participating in the discussion you started? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I genuinely want to hear your response to the input you've received.

 

[jimmymc]

I kind of feel like, until you’ve experienced horrible service, it’s kind of hard to understand how disheartening and disappointing it feels to have a dream vacation go south. It’s not about being picky or expecting too much … it’s about paying a premium price for premium service and then the service is nowhere near what it SHOULD have been,

This is one time where the lack of choices really hurts DCL. There usually isn't a buffet or other casual restaurant for a real dinner, only fast food and room service, so if the main dining rooms aren't for you then it hurts your cruise experience.

 

[RoseGold]

I thought your passport got stolen or you got mugged or you got Rotavirus or Southwest canceled your flight and you missed your cruise or something. But it was a slow dinner service and boring cruise port, which is what I thought the point of cruises was?

 

[sponica]

I will say on our recent cruise on 4/23 the lines for everything were horrendous. Character meets were always at minimum a 20-30 minute commitment. Even the Royal Gathering which we had an 'appointment' for took 45 minutes, most of that spent waiting in line. 30 minutes for the food on Castaway... it was super crowded everywhere. I was caught a little off guard because the cruise vlogs (post-COVID ones) we watch never look that packed and the atmosphere always seems more chill than what we experienced. Still loved it, but the experienced cruiser in our party basically said she was shocked at how crowded it was at the price point.

It's the tail end of school vacations and I'm pretty sure that Disney+ deal made the price point more palatable. I had a friend on the 7 night Dream from the 22-29th and I'm pretty sure she did the cruise because she was so frustrated with her parks experience in 2022. If she used the Disney+ deal, it probably nudged her in the cruise direction for a comparable price point. She typically does a week at deluxe resorts with 6 or 7 day park hoppers.

 

[sadiecatie]

I thought your passport got stolen or you got mugged or you got Rotavirus or Southwest canceled your flight and you missed your cruise or something. But it was a slow dinner service and boring cruise port, which is what I thought the point of cruises was?

That was my thought - like, not to say those are valid annoyances, but if that’s the worst vacation you’ve ever had, you’ve been very fortunate. Most of these are honestly down to not doing adequate research

 

[Princesca]

It's the tail end of school vacations and I'm pretty sure that Disney+ deal made the price point more palatable. I had a friend on the 7 night Dream from the 22-29th and I'm pretty sure she did the cruise because she was so frustrated with her parks experience in 2022. If she used the Disney+ deal, it probably nudged her in the cruise direction for a comparable price point. She typically does a week at deluxe resorts with 6 or 7 day park hoppers.

Yeah, we figured it was the D+ deal, which was pretty unprecedented, and a lot of people finding that justification to add people to their state room, or go on a cruise, period.