Disney Magic stuck in Bahamas!

[truck1]

All 3 and prob the Fantasy as well has the traditional prop/rudder arrangement.The DCL ships have an articulated rudder that helps in low speed manuevering.

 

I doubt, though I have been wrong on occasion, that the azipods would have helped for the simple fact that one set of the thrusters (bow set)still would have been overpowered by the wind and current.Even though the stern may have been in better control, the bow would have been an issue.TUgs would have helped if they could have gotten out or there in a timely fashion, as they have in the past.One followed the Wonder to CC a few weeks ago to help her to the pier, from Nassau.

[Sandy Sails]

We were on the Magic the previous week and got to Castaway Cay on Friday Feb 5th. Although it was a windy day, the captain docked the ship bow-first, very very slowly. We heard there was a storm brewing for later that afternoon but it didn't appear. We left the dock with no problems.

 

But you would have thought, with an afternoon storm brewing, they would have docked stern-first for a clean get-away.

 

My bad! I gave you incorrect info - so sorry! DH just confirmed that on Feb. 5th, the Magic DID back in. Duh - we were sitting at the back of ship outside Topsiders watching the whole thing.

 

:o

[Ballroom dancer]

I assumed that it had azi pods from observing the water turbulence at 90 degree angle to the stern but today I did find one blog that said they were standard props. I couldn't find any difinitive information on the propulsion system. I would like to know for sure. Bruce

[im4clowns]

This is a long post, but then it's been a long couple of days...

 

We were on the Magic as well in party of seven, including three young children. The Disney reputation for organization and, for want of a better term, crowd control, suffered greatly IMO during this episode, especially the disembarkation "process."

 

First, as you point out the weather was clearly problematic. "Captain John" blamed the third-party tender providers for requiring everyone to return to the ship at Grand Cayman no later than 2:00 p.m. He said they had spoken to them "to no avail" (or similar words) and implied that he would have remained in port had it been his decision. Considering what happened at Castaway Cay, that seems significant.

 

Second, there was much talk of the weather as we arrived at the somewhat aptly named Castaway Cay, both from the captain and Peter, the cruise director... we were very fortunate the weather was so wonderful, it was an "envelope," it might get worse later in the day but it would be beautiful for much of our stay, etc. We were actually quite surprised to step out on deck and find that it was quite cloudy - still, no complaints about the weather while we were there.

 

Yes, there was a lot of talk about the weather, but it was the captain and his fellow "cast members" who apparently didn't do anything about it (please pardon the sarcasm but it's been a grueling trip back to the West Coast where I'm writing this).

 

 

Now to the debacle. Instructions were that we were to completely vacate our staterooms as soon as we went to breakfast, as early as 6:30 a.m., i.e. "take your day packs with you and make yourselves comfortable in the common areas." We had tipped our cabin attendants generously, and tipped them for the extra day as well. One employee had mentioned that they often lost out in these situations because most passengers naturally didn't tip them for the extra day aboard and the next load of passengers were angry at missing a day of their cruise and consequently tipped a lot less.

 

So we stayed in our staterooms until about 8:30 a.m. We then saw the Disney Theatre was virtually deserted and sat in there with a few dozen other passengers. We mentioned to some employees making preparations for the opening night show on the next cruise that it wouldn't cost Disney a lot to run some cartoons on the big screens for kids and, amazingly, they started doing that a few minutes later, albeit without sound.

 

Throughout this time we heard further profuse apologies from Peter that they couldn't get enough CBP staff to work the ship, because of all of the other ships in the main port. We were also told that we wouldn't be docking at the main terminal because it was full, but we weren't told (or at least we didn't hear) the specific location of our terminal, which turned out to be Terminal 3. Had we known how important this information would be, we would have asked the Front Desk.

 

At around 9:00 a.m. an employee entered and made an announcements to people sitting behind us (we were halfway down) and then left. People started to exit and we asked what he'd said. Apparently he'd said we could now leave the ship, a bizarre way to inform people, sort of a word-of-mouth pass-the-rumor along approach.

 

The stairways were crammed with people all the way down to Deck One. We walked to the aft. Again, the stairways were packed, an extremely unsafe situation after all of the emphasis on safety throughout. We managed to catch an elevator and fall in with the crowd heading for the gangway. By now, Disney had apparently given up and just wanted us all off the ship. For the first time for us two grandparents in upwards of 200 days of cruising on a variety of lines (Princess, Celebrity, HAL, RCCL, Oceania, Cunard), we walked off without a swipe of the key card in a stream of humanity.

 

We proceed with the rest of the line toward the small building where our luggage was stored. Terminal 3 is used for small ships (gambling ships?) and the employees confirmed it was completely inadequate for a ship of this size. We eventually managed to get our luggage, but we feel for the people who absolutely needed porter assistance. They were few and far between and the room was so crowded it was very difficult for the few porters available to make their way back in. The "smart" passengers were leaving the room, getting a porter, and bringing him back in. Others waited patiently in the room with their hands up.

 

In our case, the four adults could just barely manage the luggage, car seats, and three young children. We then rejoined the line to leave. NO passport check, but a cheerful CBP officer removed our Customs declaration (nothing to declare, thank goodness) from my pocket, as my hands were full. "Welcome to Ellis Island," I said, and he grinned and said "Oh yeah."

 

We then emerged into the 45 degree breezy day (as the ship warned us). Now there was yet another huge lineup for people to cross a street into a parking lot where buses were waiting to take people either to the airport or the parking lot. Where were the loud hailers to direct passengers or at least tell him the situation? There were employees and they were no doubt doing their best. One told us "don't yell at me. I'm doing my best" before we'd said a word to her so there's little doubt they were bearing the brunt of passenger dissatisfaction.

 

We were well off the ship and announcements were being made to those on board. The only announcements we'd heard were a combination of repeated calls by name for non-Americans to report for Immigration inspection on board and repeated apologies for the lack of CBP officials and "it's completely out of our control." Yes, it was out of control.

 

We had a private prepaid shuttle and gathered it was fair to jump the line if we weren't waiting for a bus. By now the little children were quite cold as the sweaters we'd pulled out for them weren't meant for staying outside for any length of time in this weather.

 

We ended up waiting nearly 40 minutes for our shuttle, which isn't specifically Disney's fault. We repeatedly told the dispatcher where we were and it wasn't until the third call that it eventually seemed to dawn on them that the Disney Magic was not docked in its usual spot.

 

We may well request compensation, probably a futile gesture, for our airline change fees. Could we make suggestions? Yes, we most certainly could, but they're the experts, aren't they? Better communications on board, better communications at "Port Canaveral" so shuttle drivers know where to go, employees with loud hailers, some kind of order rather than word-of-mouth for disembarking passenggers, etc.

 

We still have nothing against the Disney Cruise Line, and we've had problems disembarking a couple of other times, including a lengthy delay in September on Jewel of The Seas in Boston. At that time, however, it was Grandma and Grandpa on their own. A shipload of children, including our own precious ones, adds a new dynamic and the passengers were not well served yesterday. We can only hope Disney learns from the experience and does a lot better next time.

 

 

I was also on the ship with my DH and 14 month old and I totally agree that Disney dropped the ball on disembarking the passengers. we were waiting on deck 3, sitting on the floor and the last announcement we heard is that at 9am they were hoping to start calling passengers off by luggage color....well at 930 a CM came by and told us we needed to get off....we heard no annoucement and was told they decided to let everyone get off at the same time...what a cattle drive....you couldn't move, and then once you got off the ship you waited in a long long line in the cold to get into the building to get your luggage, I was very frustrated. Disney could have handled it better....this was our first Disney cruise and maybe our last...I think I will stick with RCCL.

[kwarner]

Capt BJ. We were on that cruise. I too wondered about the impact of having gone in bow first. I wondered which direction was more controlable. While it would normally seem that bow first is better I thought that the fact that the azipods could develop far more thrust then the bow thrusters could might make departing stern first a better option. What are your thoughts.

 

Also we agree with the other posts that Disney did a poor job responding to the situation. I can not believe that this is the first time that anything like this. They showed a total lack of coordination. Where it comes to phone calls to change airline plans they shoud have assigned one phone to each airline and gotten the airline to have one person stay on the line to change everyone's plans. Most of the delays were waiting for each airline to answer the phone.

We docked at CT3 but since no one would or could pay for additional customs agents we had to wait until they cleared another ship first. They should have known that this would be the case and not insist that every one eat at 0630 and leave their rooms. They failed to organize the departure from the ship. They seem to have a good method when they tender but completely lost it for this departure. Bottom line is they need to develope contingency plans on how to deal with a variety of issues. Having said all of this I do think that Disney's normal level of customer service is outstanding they don't react well to anomalys. Bruce and CJ

 

I was also on the ship with my DH and 14 month old and I totally agree that Disney dropped the ball on disembarking the passengers. we were waiting on deck 3, sitting on the floor and the last announcement we heard is that at 9am they were hoping to start calling passengers off by luggage color....well at 930 a CM came by and told us we needed to get off....we heard no annoucement and was told they decided to let everyone get off at the same time...what a cattle drive....you couldn't move, and then once you got off the ship you waited in a long long line in the cold to get into the building to get your luggage, I was very frustrated. Disney could have handled it better....this was our first Disney cruise and maybe our last...I think I will stick with RCCL.

 

Thanks to both of you fellow passengers for confirming that the disembarkation was as poor as we had described it. It was honestly not sour grapes on our part. We have to think everything fell apart at the end, including Disney's usual high standard of communication. They threw up their hands and somebody said "Just get them off the ship..." im4clowns, the employee spread the "leave-the-ship" rumor in the Disney Theater around 9:00 a.m. IIRC, and we were off the ship and in the middle of the mob while you were still sitting patiently waiting, not that we were enjoying ourselves any more! I also have to let you know we suffered a lengthy disembarkation from the RCCL Jewel of The Seas's transatlantic in Boston in September, the same ship moored near us at Grand Cayman. Five large ships arrived that same day including the QM II, the non-Americans who had to report early to Immigration recounted that they were all lined up at 6:30 a.m. for ONE CBP officer initially, and we ourselves waited to get off the ship until 11:00 a.m. since we were spending two nights in Boston and traveling only with carry-ons. We thought we'd miss the queues but we still had to wait a significant amount of time, again with repeated apologies over the P.A. Still, that didn't approach the unique chaos of Sunday's experience.

 

Ballroom dancer, the suggestion about better organizing the phone calls to airlines to change flights, obviously the single highest priority for most passengers, is an excellent one and actually the kind of logical organizing we would ordinarily expect of Disney's usual high standard in this area.

 

There were a number of first-time cruisers on there and it's sad to that they may think this was a typical cruise ship disembarkation. It would be enough to put anybody off further cruises.

 

Despite all this, we did enjoy the cruise with three of our young grandchildren and their mom and dad, we've already made positive comments to others and would still recommend Disney cruising to families with children.

 

Happy Cruising to All!

[Host Mick]

Capt BJ. We were on that cruise. I too wondered about the impact of having gone in bow first. I wondered which direction was more controlable. While it would normally seem that bow first is better I thought that the fact that the azipods could develop far more thrust then the bow thrusters could might make departing stern first a better option. What are your thoughts.

 

...

 

 

The Magic and Wonder don't have azipod propulsion, they use standard props on shafts as well as five thrusters, three forward, two aft. They do, however use articulated rudders for better low-speed maneuverability. The first master of the Magic, Hans I believe requested these during the design after seeing plans for Castaway Cay.

I had thought that the resaon that the ships back into the wharf at Castaway Cay was that if the winds pick up, it would be easier to leave. This may confirm that though it would have been difficult to leave through the narrow channel in 50 knot winds regardless of which way she was pointing.

[Host Mick]

99.98% of the time, the ships back in. Everyonce in a while theyll come in bow first for 1 reason or another, but that is few and far in between.

 

They used to berth starboard side to all of the time until a hurricane damaged the wharf. When the ships returned, they started backing in to berth port side to.

[Capt_BJ]

having seen both MAGIC and WONDER in dry dock I can assure you they do not have 'pod' propulsion and as I recall they have conventional rudders as well, not articulated, but I'll have to see if I can find my pictures of the ships in DD for that to be confirmed.

[Capt_BJ]

They used to berth starboard side to all of the time until a hurricane damaged the wharf. When the ships returned, they started backing in to berth port side to.

 

sorry - disagree .... sailed inagural on both ships and had the discussion with a master very early on. We baked in our first visit in year one.

 

They knew the 'problem' ..... any mariner would see it. The channel is very narrow.

[truck1]

having seen both MAGIC and WONDER in dry dock I can assure you they do not have 'pod' propulsion and as I recall they have conventional rudders as well, not articulated, but I'll have to see if I can find my pictures of the ships in DD for that to be confirmed.

 

 

[truck1]

sorry - disagree .... sailed inagural on both ships and had the discussion with a master very early on. We baked in our first visit in year one.

 

They knew the 'problem' ..... any mariner would see it. The channel is very narrow.

 

 

 

Hmm.Was on both ships inaugurals, and sailed a few times a year,prior to the hurricanes, and we did both, bow in and stern in.After the hurricanes, it seems the ship come in stern first,most of the time, unless there is a reason, for her to come in bow first.

[pearlriverlass]

Our family was on the Wonder while the Magic got stuck at Castaway Cay. We had just left Nassau, Bahamas and were really looking forward to going to Castaway Cay. But we woke up and the captain announced NO STOP at Castaway Cay due to weather. Everybody was disappointed. In fact, while we were in Nassau we decided AGAINST doing some activities (like snorkeling, jet skiing or banana boating) because we figured we'd rather do it at Castaway Cay under the watchful eye of Disney rather than a potentially unreliable, perhaps unsafe provider.

So were were terribly disappointed when we woke up the next morning and found out that we wouldn't be going to Castaway Cay because of weather. Everybody on the ship was disappointed, but we all understood that you can't do anything about the weather.

Then we read in the paper how all the passengers who got stuck an extra day on the Magic were given all kinds of compensation! 20% off their cruise, 20% off a future cruise and a free day at EPCOT.....this same offer was extended to all the people waiting at Port Canaveral for the next sailing of the Magic and who also had to be put up in local hotels for the night!

We also read in the paper how "....the Disney Wonder was unaffected by the situation."

UNAFFECTED? We lost a complete day of itinerary....we sat out at sea and weren't offered ANYTHING as compensation...not even a free drink!!! NONE of us would ever have even complained because we all know about the legalese in the contract we signed about the WEATHER.....so how come we got shafted and the MAGIC passengers got all kinds of compensation. I'm not asking for the SAME compensation, but SOMETHING would have been nice!!

I contacted Disney Cruise Line and communicated with Rebekah from guest communications who politely informed me that sorry but nothing for you....then I got passed on to John Paris, executive correspondent for DCL who said the exact same thing....NADA for you.

What happened to Disney service??? I'm appalled....this was our first Disney Cruise (we've cruised Carnival before though) and we are HUGE Disney fans, we go to Disney World at LEAST once annually....so this was just a huge punch inthe stomach and a shock.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts.....like I said, I'm not asking for a free cruise, but they gave us NOTHING in compensation or consideration of ANY kind and we're the ones who got a whole day of itinerary eliminated.

Pearlriverlass

[kgloverii]

Our family was on the Wonder while the Magic got stuck at Castaway Cay. We had just left Nassau, Bahamas and were really looking forward to going to Castaway Cay. But we woke up and the captain announced NO STOP at Castaway Cay due to weather. Everybody was disappointed. In fact, while we were in Nassau we decided AGAINST doing some activities (like snorkeling, jet skiing or banana boating) because we figured we'd rather do it at Castaway Cay under the watchful eye of Disney rather than a potentially unreliable, perhaps unsafe provider.

So were were terribly disappointed when we woke up the next morning and found out that we wouldn't be going to Castaway Cay because of weather. Everybody on the ship was disappointed, but we all understood that you can't do anything about the weather.

Then we read in the paper how all the passengers who got stuck an extra day on the Magic were given all kinds of compensation! 20% off their cruise, 20% off a future cruise and a free day at EPCOT.....this same offer was extended to all the people waiting at Port Canaveral for the next sailing of the Magic and who also had to be put up in local hotels for the night!

We also read in the paper how "....the Disney Wonder was unaffected by the situation."

UNAFFECTED? We lost a complete day of itinerary....we sat out at sea and weren't offered ANYTHING as compensation...not even a free drink!!! NONE of us would ever have even complained because we all know about the legalese in the contract we signed about the WEATHER.....so how come we got shafted and the MAGIC passengers got all kinds of compensation. I'm not asking for the SAME compensation, but SOMETHING would have been nice!!

I contacted Disney Cruise Line and communicated with Rebekah from guest communications who politely informed me that sorry but nothing for you....then I got passed on to John Paris, executive correspondent for DCL who said the exact same thing....NADA for you.

What happened to Disney service??? I'm appalled....this was our first Disney Cruise (we've cruised Carnival before though) and we are HUGE Disney fans, we go to Disney World at LEAST once annually....so this was just a huge punch inthe stomach and a shock.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts.....like I said, I'm not asking for a free cruise, but they gave us NOTHING in compensation or consideration of ANY kind and we're the ones who got a whole day of itinerary eliminated.

Pearlriverlass

 

Missed ports happen all of the time cause of the weather. If a missed port happens, the ships ramp up their activities onboard to try to make up for the lack of day on the island. They DO NOT COMPENSATE due to the weather, though. It is a risk you take when you board a ship. NO COMPANIES DO THIS.

 

What happened with the Magic was WAY out of the ordinary. And Disney went ABOVE AND BEYOND in their compensation. I hate seeing people always trying to get a free buck for ANYTHING that possibly could affect them in the tiniest bit. I hope you had a wonderful cruise. I am SURE Disney did a fantastic job.

[loveysbydesign]

Our family was on the Wonder while the Magic got stuck at Castaway Cay. We had just left Nassau, Bahamas and were really looking forward to going to Castaway Cay. But we woke up and the captain announced NO STOP at Castaway Cay due to weather. Everybody was disappointed. In fact, while we were in Nassau we decided AGAINST doing some activities (like snorkeling, jet skiing or banana boating) because we figured we'd rather do it at Castaway Cay under the watchful eye of Disney rather than a potentially unreliable, perhaps unsafe provider.

So were were terribly disappointed when we woke up the next morning and found out that we wouldn't be going to Castaway Cay because of weather. Everybody on the ship was disappointed, but we all understood that you can't do anything about the weather.

Then we read in the paper how all the passengers who got stuck an extra day on the Magic were given all kinds of compensation! 20% off their cruise, 20% off a future cruise and a free day at EPCOT.....this same offer was extended to all the people waiting at Port Canaveral for the next sailing of the Magic and who also had to be put up in local hotels for the night!

We also read in the paper how "....the Disney Wonder was unaffected by the situation."

UNAFFECTED? We lost a complete day of itinerary....we sat out at sea and weren't offered ANYTHING as compensation...not even a free drink!!! NONE of us would ever have even complained because we all know about the legalese in the contract we signed about the WEATHER.....so how come we got shafted and the MAGIC passengers got all kinds of compensation. I'm not asking for the SAME compensation, but SOMETHING would have been nice!!

I contacted Disney Cruise Line and communicated with Rebekah from guest communications who politely informed me that sorry but nothing for you....then I got passed on to John Paris, executive correspondent for DCL who said the exact same thing....NADA for you.

What happened to Disney service??? I'm appalled....this was our first Disney Cruise (we've cruised Carnival before though) and we are HUGE Disney fans, we go to Disney World at LEAST once annually....so this was just a huge punch inthe stomach and a shock.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts.....like I said, I'm not asking for a free cruise, but they gave us NOTHING in compensation or consideration of ANY kind and we're the ones who got a whole day of itinerary eliminated.

Pearlriverlass

Since the weather was so bad and dangerous you probably wouldn't have gone to CC anyway(whether or no the Magic was there)...they miss CC many times due to the weather...it's not that unusual!

[alemap]

We also were on the WONDER when we had to skip Castaway Cay. Although disappointed at first, we had a WONDERFUL day at sea! I felt like it added an extra day of relaxation to our cruise, since we had already been to a port (Nassau). They added many special extra events to the Navigator-TONS of things to do, many extra character greets, Wii tournaments, movie viewings, etc. My kids (and the adults!) especially loved the "vegetable-cart racing" with Joe-he is hysterical.

No complaints here! Just gave us more time to enjoy the ship. Can't do anything about the weather!

[Cuizer2]

Our family was on the Wonder while the Magic got stuck at Castaway Cay. We had just left Nassau, Bahamas and were really looking forward to going to Castaway Cay. But we woke up and the captain announced NO STOP at Castaway Cay due to weather. Everybody was disappointed. In fact, while we were in Nassau we decided AGAINST doing some activities (like snorkeling, jet skiing or banana boating) because we figured we'd rather do it at Castaway Cay under the watchful eye of Disney rather than a potentially unreliable, perhaps unsafe provider.

So were were terribly disappointed when we woke up the next morning and found out that we wouldn't be going to Castaway Cay because of weather. Everybody on the ship was disappointed, but we all understood that you can't do anything about the weather.

Then we read in the paper how all the passengers who got stuck an extra day on the Magic were given all kinds of compensation! 20% off their cruise, 20% off a future cruise and a free day at EPCOT.....this same offer was extended to all the people waiting at Port Canaveral for the next sailing of the Magic and who also had to be put up in local hotels for the night!

We also read in the paper how "....the Disney Wonder was unaffected by the situation."

UNAFFECTED? We lost a complete day of itinerary....we sat out at sea and weren't offered ANYTHING as compensation...not even a free drink!!! NONE of us would ever have even complained because we all know about the legalese in the contract we signed about the WEATHER.....so how come we got shafted and the MAGIC passengers got all kinds of compensation. I'm not asking for the SAME compensation, but SOMETHING would have been nice!!

I contacted Disney Cruise Line and communicated with Rebekah from guest communications who politely informed me that sorry but nothing for you....then I got passed on to John Paris, executive correspondent for DCL who said the exact same thing....NADA for you.

What happened to Disney service??? I'm appalled....this was our first Disney Cruise (we've cruised Carnival before though) and we are HUGE Disney fans, we go to Disney World at LEAST once annually....so this was just a huge punch inthe stomach and a shock.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts.....like I said, I'm not asking for a free cruise, but they gave us NOTHING in compensation or consideration of ANY kind and we're the ones who got a whole day of itinerary eliminated.

Pearlriverlass

 

You didn't miss a day out of your itinerary. You missed a port. I don't see where that compares to the passengers who arrived on Saturday expecting to board the Magic and found out that there was no ship to board. Those people missed a day out of their itinerary.

 

The people on the Magic had to make new arrangements for getting home. Who knows how many missing something important because instead of flying home on Saturday, they could not fly home until Sunday. As much as I love cruising, I would not want to spend an extra unplanned day on a ship. An eight night cruise instead of a seven night cruise is wonderful - if it is a planned eight night cruise. It is not welcome if it was a planned seven night cruise.

 

You missed a port that you might have missed anyway (because of the weather). It was just that in this case the reason for missing the port was a little unusual.

 

Given the three scenarios (those on the Magic, those that should have been on the Magic and those on the Wonder) I would choose to be in your shoes.

[frednsb]

Our family was on the Wonder while the Magic got stuck at Castaway Cay. We had just left Nassau, Bahamas and were really looking forward to going to Castaway Cay. But we woke up and the captain announced NO STOP at Castaway Cay due to weather. Everybody was disappointed. In fact, while we were in Nassau we decided AGAINST doing some activities (like snorkeling, jet skiing or banana boating) because we figured we'd rather do it at Castaway Cay under the watchful eye of Disney rather than a potentially unreliable, perhaps unsafe provider.

So were were terribly disappointed when we woke up the next morning and found out that we wouldn't be going to Castaway Cay because of weather. Everybody on the ship was disappointed, but we all understood that you can't do anything about the weather.

Then we read in the paper how all the passengers who got stuck an extra day on the Magic were given all kinds of compensation! 20% off their cruise, 20% off a future cruise and a free day at EPCOT.....this same offer was extended to all the people waiting at Port Canaveral for the next sailing of the Magic and who also had to be put up in local hotels for the night!

We also read in the paper how "....the Disney Wonder was unaffected by the situation."

UNAFFECTED? We lost a complete day of itinerary....we sat out at sea and weren't offered ANYTHING as compensation...not even a free drink!!! NONE of us would ever have even complained because we all know about the legalese in the contract we signed about the WEATHER.....so how come we got shafted and the MAGIC passengers got all kinds of compensation. I'm not asking for the SAME compensation, but SOMETHING would have been nice!!

I contacted Disney Cruise Line and communicated with Rebekah from guest communications who politely informed me that sorry but nothing for you....then I got passed on to John Paris, executive correspondent for DCL who said the exact same thing....NADA for you.

What happened to Disney service??? I'm appalled....this was our first Disney Cruise (we've cruised Carnival before though) and we are HUGE Disney fans, we go to Disney World at LEAST once annually....so this was just a huge punch inthe stomach and a shock.

Would love to hear everybody's thoughts.....like I said, I'm not asking for a free cruise, but they gave us NOTHING in compensation or consideration of ANY kind and we're the ones who got a whole day of itinerary eliminated.

Pearlriverlass

You can not be for real!

[piecey]

People on the Disney message boards have reported that the ship was scheduled to have life boats inspected... that was the reasoning for them not backing in, as they normally would have.

 

I've only ever sailed with them once, in 2006. I was on the Wonder but remember them testing life boats. Will have to dig out my pictures and see if we backed in that trip or not... though they'd obviously have to test the boats on both sides at some point, I guess.

[love2driveinct]

pearlriverbass -- I was on this particular cruise, and we were not given 20% back off of what we paid, and we were not given free tickets to Epcot. I believe that the passengers on the cruise following us, who indeed lost a full day of their vacation, were given those things.

 

DCL offered us some free ship-to-shore phone calls, as well as sporadic free interent and cell phone use, in order to change flights and other travel arrangements. They also gave us 20% off our next booking, which I thought was generous, but appropriate (but I certainly was not EXPECTING it).

[truck1]

People on the Disney message boards have reported that the ship was scheduled to have life boats inspected... that was the reasoning for them not backing in, as they normally would have.

 

I've only ever sailed with them once, in 2006. I was on the Wonder but remember them testing life boats. Will have to dig out my pictures and see if we backed in that trip or not... though they'd obviously have to test the boats on both sides at some point, I guess.

 

 

 

Usually theyll test one side of the lifeboats then the other, at different ports.Sometimes on the same cruise.Ive seen both Disney ships and other Lines doing lifeboat testing in Nassau, and CC)They are supposed to be tested on a regular basis, as well as the crews doing man overbaord drills, I honestly dont know what the time frame would be.(We saw the crew dry suits on the pier at CC in August, drying out after a few drills the ship did.)For the Wonder at least, shell have to come in bow in to CC so they can get the port side boats in the water, since she is almost exclusively port side to the pier in Nassau.(It would be rare for the Wonder to be at a different berth at Nassau, and that would be if the Magic had an itinerary change and beat her to the port.)That would leave CC as the only viable option to some in a different side at a different port.PC would be out of the question since they have too much to do getting guests on, refueling, plus the lifeboat drillitself would tend to get in the way. Also, most of the crew assigned to the lifeboats, would be doing other duties.

 

 

For the Magic, assuming that it is true that they had to test the lifeboats, she may have been port side to the pier, at all of her ports, and had no choice in the matter, incoming in bow first, so she could get her port side boats in the water.

[truck1]

pearlriverbass -- I was on this particular cruise, and we were not given 20% back off of what we paid, and we were not given free tickets to Epcot. I believe that the passengers on the cruise following us, who indeed lost a full day of their vacation, were given those things.

 

quote]

 

That was my understanding of the matter, in that DCL took care of lodging for the night, and also a food voucher for a dinner meal if Im not mistaken in addition to what was posted above.But only for the guests scheduled to leave that sat the Magic was at CC.

[Ballroom dancer]

OK I have another question. The evening of our scheduled departure the captain said that tugs would have to come from Freeport and that Freeport harbor was closed due to weather. I understand that part. Does anyone know if there are tugs in Abaco Isl. It is only 4 miles away. But the bottom line is that by then next day when the seas were calmer I doubt that Freeport was still closed so why didn't they send tugs? I can see the cost factor but if we hadn't made it out saturday by 5pm it would have put them 2 days behind schedule and that would have cost a lot more. Any thoughts?

[Cuizer2]

OK I have another question. The evening of our scheduled departure the captain said that tugs would have to come from Freeport and that Freeport harbor was closed due to weather. I understand that part. Does anyone know if there are tugs in Abaco Isl. It is only 4 miles away. But the bottom line is that by then next day when the seas were calmer I doubt that Freeport was still closed so why didn't they send tugs? I can see the cost factor but if we hadn't made it out saturday by 5pm it would have put them 2 days behind schedule and that would have cost a lot more. Any thoughts?

 

If the tugs could not get out of Freeport because of the weather, then when the weather improved enough for the tugs to come, they may not have been needed. Sort of a Catch-22. The ship only need the tugs when the weather is so bad the tugs can't make it. Once the weather improves enough for the tugs to make it, the ship doesn't need the tugs anymore.

[Ballroom dancer]

If the tugs could not get out of Freeport because of the weather, then when the weather improved enough for the tugs to come, they may not have been needed. Sort of a Catch-22. The ship only need the tugs when the weather is so bad the tugs can't make it. Once the weather improves enough for the tugs to make it, the ship doesn't need the tugs anymore.

 

Only problem with that is the on saturday (the second day) the seas had calmed even though there were 30 kt winds. We tried 3 times over a couple of hours to depart and finally got out on the 4th. If we failed to get out for another 5 hours then it would have meant yet another day onboard.

[Cuizer2]

Only problem with that is the on saturday (the second day) the seas had calmed even though there were 30 kt winds. We tried 3 times over a couple of hours to depart and finally got out on the 4th. If we failed to get out for another 5 hours then it would have meant yet another day onboard.

 

But what makes you think the tugs in Freeport had it any easier?