Disney Fantasy and How Disney handles cancelling a cruise

mjh2901

Mike Hathaway
Joined
Sep 23, 2013
As someone who was on the Fantasy when they cut the cruise short, I want to throw down what I think went wrong and what possible fixes are.

Cancelling the cruise was not the wrong decision, how Disney handles it is.

The captain announced during our dinner the cruise being canceled, the refund and the discount. That's it. The only way to make that more announcement more accurate would be to add "We will push you all of the boats through port doors and not the normal embarkation ramp, with no organization or control after we dock. Once off the boat, buses will take you to WDW or Orlando Airport after that you are all on your own."
This is a boat with limited satellite lines out, and Disney Runs the cruise line separate from Disney Travel. My group and many others spent the next entire day waiting in different hour-long lines to talk to guest services, then wait for an hour or two for a line to become available and guest services to then call your wave phone and connect you to the number you needed to talk to. For people calling agents, they generally got an answering machine asking for a callback number this is beyond frustrating because no one on the boat has a callback number. People dealing with airlines had it worse. Every airline but SouthWest treated passengers as if Orlando was going to be open the day the hurricane hit and the flights would go as normal,. Guests making changes where paying fees as if this was a voluntary change. The section of my family not going to WDW rented a car and drove to Atlanta to fly out. Other passengers learned that rental car companies will answer the phone and rent you a car even when they are out of cars then inform you at the counter when you goto pick up keys.

My wife and I were going to check into Port Orleans for a few days after this cruise, our goal was to get two days added. Because Disney Cruise charges a lot more for WDW rooms we had the cruise with them and the WDW stay with WDW travel. It took 2 hours or 137 minutes according to the phone and 2 supervisors at WDW travel to get those days added at full cost $500 plus. Disneyworld was selling all the rooms residents evacuating, and told many cruisers nothing was available. Towards the end of my call right before they said it was done, our call was disconnected (an issue with that technology not a problem with the boat), It took me 9 hours to get a successful call out, and I finally called Port Orleans directly and the wonderful person at the desk verified everything.

In the end, after checking in we found out there was offered a 40% hurricane discount (from other guests) and we went back to the front desk to get that sorted out.

At no point did any Disney Employee on the boat, or on the front line have a clear idea of what was going on, what or if any discounts were available, or even what passengers should do. Disney has canceled cruises in the past, apparently, they have never planned out a process for how to handle the passengers when they do so. This is their fault, not the hurricane, not the passengers. The only way to possibly treat customers worse would be to cancel the cruise, hand everyone innertubes from the AquaDuck and tell them to jump, Cuba is off the starboard side.

Later we learned WDW travel due to hurricane had two many calls causing a busy signal for many people on the ship (and ashore). According to an employee at WDW I talked to the "entire state of Florida" called wdw resort at the same time for 2 days.

How Disney Should Handle This.

Go to the computer and print a sheet for each cabin with the following question "When my cabin reaches port we need the following
1. Our luggage as our car is at port or someone will pick us up
2. Transportation to Orlando Airport
3. Transportation to WDW and a room for the members of my cabin for 2 nights
4. Transportation to WDW and room for the members of my cabin for 1 night
5. Transportation to WDW and my reservation #______ to be extended by two nights.
Then have everyone drop it off at Guest Services have them fax it over to WDW travel and take care of it. Almost every passenger on that ship would have gladly handed over a credit card and said, fix this I deal with the costs later. It was Disney that was refusing to take our money. They should have a plan for how to communicate back with passengers once reservations are made. We as passengers have no normal means of communications of those ships, the staff however does.

I am not upset that the cruise was canceled. I am steaming mad they think pushing everyone off the boat in an evacuation zone is an allowable process. They also proved that they have no Guest Recovery Skills. I am just glad the 2-day refund will completely pay form my wife and I to repeat a Caribbean cruise next Thanksgiving on the Symphony of the seas, a company that so far has shown much better customer service than the now overpriced Disney Cruise Line.
 
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Sounds like quite a frustrating time for you and your family!

Definitely inspires me to avoid booking a cruise during hurricane season next year.
We were tempted by the cheaper prices, guess we'll pay a bit more and go early spring.
 
It's such a bummer to read this. I'm sorry you dealt with all of that. We were at Polynesian at the same time and they handled everything so smoothly that we were truly impressed. I hate to hear that DCL isn't doing as well as WDW itself. I hope your next cruise is much better! And I'm thinking about trying RCL so I'll love to hear how that goes!
 


H O R R I B L E ! ! ! We were on a DCL cruise stuck out at sea (we weren't able to come into US waters and dock to disembark) so i know exactly what you are referring to with waiting in hours-long lines at GS to place a satellite call, but in our case, there was no danger or evacuation, just inconvenience in missing flights, and I would guess only roughly 30% of guests were even affected and needed to use the phones (most drove, had flights later in the day, the next day, or were extending their stay). I CANNOT imagine the chaos on a ship with a vast majority of the guests' continuing travel plans affected (those that couldn't simply safely drive home). Kind of shocking DCL seems to think of everything except cutting a cruise short. I hope after all that your expenses were all somehow reimbursed. So sorry.
 
Both the Dream and the Fantasy return that day. That's 8000 people. It's just not possible for Disney to be able to provide hotel rooms for that many people.
This hurricane was running straight up the state. There was no other place for the ship to dock.
 
Due to the size of the ships and the number of passengers on each, it would be impossible for DCL to accommodate every individual stateroom. The logistics of how many guests in each room, what resort those guests would expect to be able to book. The WDW resort was preparing for a shutdown, DCL was trying to get ships back to port safely, allowing for time to sail away from the impending storm. This was a fluid situation, with all types of the travel industry being impacted.

Sorry that you experienced this but not sure how anyone could prepare for this type of situation. Remember that the ports were going to close, airports shutdown, theme parks closed. Orlando area resorts are busy year round, so it isn't so simple as suddenly arranging for 2500-3000 available rooms.
 


Both the Dream and the Fantasy return that day. That's 8000 people. It's just not possible for Disney to be able to provide hotel rooms for that many people.
This hurricane was running straight up the state. There was no other place for the ship to dock.

I challenge this assumption. First, 8000 people may not need accommodations. There are a lot of people from Florida or the surrounding states that may choose to go home. The Disney Dream docked and let passengers off on Thursday morning, September 7. The Disney Fantasy docked and let passengers off on Thursday afternoon, September 7. Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys on the morning of September 10. While airports closed on Friday night, September 8, there were still road ways to get out. I would say that would take the number of people down to approx. 5-6,000 people who may want a hotel. This also doesn't include people who are able to get a flight somehow someway.

Conversely, Disney World has 20,961 rooms not including DVC rooms, Swan/Dolphin, Shades of Green, Wilderness Lodge, etc. http://wdwnews.com/fact-sheets/2016/06/30/walt-disney-world-resort-hotels-fact-sheet/

Assuming about an 85% occupancy rate (school is already in session), that would translate to 3,144 rooms. At 3 to 4 people to a room, that would accommodate 9,432 to 12,576 people. Again, that's not even including DVC rooms (which I would argue they could access if no DVC member is occupying them).

This would be more than enough to handle the 5-6000 people.

-Ed
 
I challenge this assumption. First, 8000 people may not need accommodations. There are a lot of people from Florida or the surrounding states that may choose to go home. The Disney Dream docked and let passengers off on Thursday morning, September 7. The Disney Fantasy docked and let passengers off on Thursday afternoon, September 7. Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys on the morning of September 10. While airports closed on Friday night, September 8, there were still road ways to get out. I would say that would take the number of people down to approx. 5-6,000 people who may want a hotel. This also doesn't include people who are able to get a flight somehow someway.

Conversely, Disney World has 20,961 rooms not including DVC rooms, Swan/Dolphin, Shades of Green, Wilderness Lodge, etc. http://wdwnews.com/fact-sheets/2016/06/30/walt-disney-world-resort-hotels-fact-sheet/

Assuming about an 85% occupancy rate (school is already in session), that would translate to 3,144 rooms. At 3 to 4 people to a room, that would accommodate 9,432 to 12,576 people. Again, that's not even including DVC rooms (which I would argue they could access if no DVC member is occupying them).

This would be more than enough to handle the 5-6000 people.

-Ed
The question still remains - Why should DCL be responsible for making sure those 5-6000 people have WDW resort accommodations?

As you say, there was 2-3 days from debarkation til the hurricane hit. Why shouldn't the people themselves be responsible for seeing to their onward travel or hotel accommodations?
 
The question still remains - Why should DCL be responsible for making sure those 5-6000 people have WDW resort accommodations?

As you say, there was 2-3 days from debarkation til the hurricane hit. Why shouldn't the people themselves be responsible for seeing to their onward travel or hotel accommodations?

You're mistaking legal obligation from good customer service. Legal obligation is drop you off, good luck, that's it. Good customer service is more. How a company acts during a crisis is telling of their brand.

When Tylenol had people replacing their pills with poison, they had no immediate legal obligation to do much. After all they were the victims. Instead they did he unconventional and pulled all of their drugs. It gained them a huge amount of public press.
 
You're mistaking legal obligation from good customer service. Legal obligation is drop you off, good luck, that's it. Good customer service is more. How a company acts during a crisis is telling of their brand.

This! As a marketing and sales professional, my family would starve if I only provided my customers with what I am "responsible" for doing.

From what I've read, I would say DCL fulfilled its legal obligations and then some. Now whether those DCL customers are as satisfied as the Norwegian passengers who were allowed to stay onboard and even transfer from other ships to the larger one...it would be interesting to compare the survey results. Whether it's fair or even accurate to say, the mental image of "dumping 8,000 people in an evacuation zone" is a public relations issue that companies like Disney try hard to avoid.

Cruising is a competitive industry with many options. I think Disney's reputation for providing "magical" guest experiences coupled with the price premium does entitle DCL guests to expect more than what other cruise lines provide, and certainly more than what DCL is responsible for doing.
 
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You're mistaking legal obligation from good customer service. Legal obligation is drop you off, good luck, that's it. Good customer service is more. How a company acts during a crisis is telling of their brand.

When Tylenol had people replacing their pills with poison, they had no immediate legal obligation to do much. After all they were the victims. Instead they did he unconventional and pulled all of their drugs. It gained them a huge amount of public press.
Well, I supposed that DCL felt they did their job making sure everyone got to land safely. They just don't have the manpower to be personal travel agents for the 5-6000 people who now require "help" to work out the rest of their schedule.
 
I don't understand why they didn't just extend the cruise. Yes, it would still cause a travel disruption for those impacted, but it would have ensured everyone had accommodations while the storm was bearing down.

We were on Fanatsy when Matthew came through, and they extended us by a day and changed our itinerary. The delay gave everyone time to make new flight arrangements and hotel reservations if necessary. I don't know, maybe we just got "lucky" that time.
 
Since the phone lines for airlines, shuttle services, WDW, and all other resorts/hotels/motels, were busy with people changing plans, how exactly do you think these room reservations would be accomplished?

For those who think that DCL did not do enough, are you suggesting that WDW and DCL maintain a block of 2500-3000 rooms on hold throughout hurricane season? That would be lost revenue for roughly 5 months per year.
 
Conversely, Disney World has 20,961 rooms not including DVC rooms, Swan/Dolphin, Shades of Green, Wilderness Lodge, etc. http://wdwnews.com/fact-sheets/2016/06/30/walt-disney-world-resort-hotels-fact-sheet/

Assuming about an 85% occupancy rate (school is already in session), that would translate to 3,144 rooms. At 3 to 4 people to a room, that would accommodate 9,432 to 12,576 people. Again, that's not even including DVC rooms (which I would argue they could access if no DVC member is occupying them).

Swan/Dolphin and Shades of Green are not owned by Disney and assuming that DCL could book into them is very borderline. It's like assuming they could also get everyone into Bonnet Creek (hey, it's nearby!) or the stuff at Disney Springs (because, hey, it's called DISNEY Springs!).

You are also assuming, particularly with DVC rooms, lower occupancy than was already the case (DVC runs at 95% occupancy, and any gaps would be due to cancels at that point, which exist somewhat outside the booking system). They were shutting down all of Fort Wilderness (lowering overall occupancy), some of the rooms you cite are out of service (Coronado and CBR have extensive construction), and part of Saratoga was taken out of service. The persons at a Fort Wilderness Cabin (sleeps 6) and a Treehouse Villa (sleeps 8 or 9) got most of anything that could sleep larger family groups already, as they had a reservation on campus, and there is a guarantee of a room in THAT contract (albeit not always the one paid for).

I genuinely don't think Disney had 3,000 hotel rooms, let alone sorting out occupancy and pricing.
 
While I do think it's a bit unrealistic to think DCL could just magically find accommodations for all of their displaced cruise passengers, I believe they could have done better. Other cruise lines docked, let passengers disembark if they chose and let the ones that could not find flights out or a safe place to shelter stay on the ship when they sailed away. They were not legally required to do so, but chose to place customer service and the well being of their passengers ahead of their legal obligations.

I'm betting the passengers on those ships have a much warmer feeling towards those cruise lines than people in the OP's situation do about DCL. I was pretty shocked when I heard DCL had not given passengers the option of staying on board. Other cruise lines were doing it and it seemed like an obvious solution to a very difficult problem. I'm really sorry that you had to go through that OP, and I'm glad you made it through the storm safely.

All that being said, I guess it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback in these situations. The fact is these hurricanes coming one right after another are reeking havoc on the cruise industry. Some of the decisions made have been great, some not so much.
 
Were the ships that allowed passengers to remain on them U.S.A. registered or foreign? Foreign registered ships would have been required to stop at a non-U.S.A. port before returning a U.S.A. port.
 
Were the ships that allowed passengers to remain on them U.S.A. registered or foreign? Foreign registered ships would have been required to stop at a non-U.S.A. port before returning a U.S.A. port.
There is currently only one US flagged cruise ship (NCL Pride of America) and it sails Hawaii.

The cruises that were extended had probably already stopped at a distant foreign port before finally returning to the US.
 
Were the ships that allowed passengers to remain on them U.S.A. registered or foreign? Foreign registered ships would have been required to stop at a non-U.S.A. port before returning a U.S.A. port.

Would they have to stop again if they had already done so prior to releasing evacuees? Or is the stop just part of the continuation of the voyage? I find the questions raised to be intriguing.
 
I don't understand why they didn't just extend the cruise. Yes, it would still cause a travel disruption for those impacted, but it would have ensured everyone had accommodations while the storm was bearing down.

We were on Fanatsy when Matthew came through, and they extended us by a day and changed our itinerary. The delay gave everyone time to make new flight arrangements and hotel reservations if necessary. I don't know, maybe we just got "lucky" that time.
Possibility of the ports being closed. If Irma hit along the east cost the Port of Miami and Port Canaveral could both have been closed.
 

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