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Our ship rescued someone who fell off the ship

Our ship rescued someone who fell off the ship

Old Jan 16, 2015, 9:15 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by pseudoswede
My first Disney cruise is in December. Pray for me.

I guess I lucked out that my daughters love the movie, but don't have a need for any of the accessories except the DVD--watched about once every three weeks.


What ship are you going on? Feel free to PM with any and all questions. We had an absolutely fantastic time. We've been on a lot of different cruise lines (although none of the really high-end ones like Seabourne) and have yet to get service like we got on this ship.

Originally Posted by Need
LOL I saw so many (both frantic kids and parents). Yeah Mr. Mop sounded familiar. I was half asleep so I can't remember. I was sure it was Starboard side because if it was Port side I would have got up and look out the balcony.

I can't believe he would be in the water for 4 hours.. and drunk? That's crazy. Funny thing is that after we came back, we found out that one of our friends is going to start working on the Oasis of the Sea starting next month!
Oh, our kids were having a blast. It was the parents who were frantic.

From what the concierge told us, the guy was really, really lucky. His health issues were not nearly what they would have expected.

Mike
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Old Jan 17, 2015, 9:55 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by mikeef
We've been on a lot of different cruise lines (although none of the really high-end ones like Seabourne) and have yet to get service like we got on this ship.
Since Disney Magic was our first cruise, could I ask you how did the food compares to the other cruises? The cruise director kept saying about the "amazing" food. Was it really amazing to you? The buffet is better than a Hometown buffet but that's about it. Most of the Vegas buffet (over $20) would beat it. The dinners were quite blend. Most of the food seems to have not much taste... the only food that was pretty good was Palo. But again, it is pretty good, not amazing.

Sorry about derailing the thread.. but then I started the thread so I think it is okay LOL.
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Old Jan 17, 2015, 6:29 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Need
Since Disney Magic was our first cruise, could I ask you how did the food compares to the other cruises? The cruise director kept saying about the "amazing" food. Was it really amazing to you? The buffet is better than a Hometown buffet but that's about it. Most of the Vegas buffet (over $20) would beat it. The dinners were quite blend. Most of the food seems to have not much taste... the only food that was pretty good was Palo. But again, it is pretty good, not amazing.

Sorry about derailing the thread.. but then I started the thread so I think it is okay LOL.
Glad to help derail. The cruise thread is under-served, anyway.

"Amazing" is a relative term, similar to the way that they describe all those jewelry deals on land. We describe it as equivalent to Bar Mitzvah food. The meat is always overcooked, since they're cooking for thousands of people, while they go heavy on the pasta because it's cheap (and kids like it). The term we would use for it is "adequate." As you know, though, people often confuse quantity with quality, and we felt that the best food on the cruise came from the grill on Deck 9.

I thought the food was equivalent to what we've had on Princess (which has gone downhill) and not as good as Celebrity (which rated as wedding food) or Holland America (which rated as "good wedding food").

The plus side is that very few of the desserts or baked goods were worth the calories, so we cut down on those as the cruise went on. It's hard to screw up a salad.

Having said all that, my parents went on Oceania and thought the food was wonderful, and their tastes are more sophisticated than mine.

Mike
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Old Jan 20, 2015, 6:12 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by mikeef
On the Disney cruise, there would be a schedule of when certain characters would appear. You showed up a few minutes before they got there and waited five minutes in line. Not Anna and Elsa. Oh, no, if you wanted to see them, you had to make a reservation.
When the line at Disneyland was 3 hours to see Elsa & Anna, we told our kids to "let it go."

I note that the line is now much shorter, as Frozen is wearing off for many kids. Luckily, our six-year-old has been over it since last summer.
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Old Jan 20, 2015, 6:14 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by mikeef
Glad to help derail. The cruise thread is under-served, anyway.

"Amazing" is a relative term, similar to the way that they describe all those jewelry deals on land. We describe it as equivalent to Bar Mitzvah food. The meat is always overcooked, since they're cooking for thousands of people, while they go heavy on the pasta because it's cheap (and kids like it). The term we would use for it is "adequate." As you know, though, people often confuse quantity with quality, and we felt that the best food on the cruise came from the grill on Deck 9.

I thought the food was equivalent to what we've had on Princess (which has gone downhill) and not as good as Celebrity (which rated as wedding food) or Holland America (which rated as "good wedding food").

The plus side is that very few of the desserts or baked goods were worth the calories, so we cut down on those as the cruise went on. It's hard to screw up a salad.

Having said all that, my parents went on Oceania and thought the food was wonderful, and their tastes are more sophisticated than mine.

Mike
We were afraid of this, despite being fans of Disney in general . . . which is exactly why we booked Crystal over Disney for our family cruise. Hopefully it lives up to expectations!
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Old Jan 21, 2015, 4:35 am
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All is well that ends well.
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Old Feb 24, 2015, 10:34 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by mikeef
What ship are you going on? Feel free to PM with any and all questions. We had an absolutely fantastic time. We've been on a lot of different cruise lines (although none of the really high-end ones like Seabourne) and have yet to get service like we got on this ship.
Disney Magic.

Mrs. Swede and I recently watched a documentary about the 2013 dry dock, and we're even more excited about the cruise. We haven't told our kids yet.

We've been told that Disney Cruises are great at dealing with food allergies. We will see.
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 2:03 pm
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Originally Posted by pseudoswede
Disney Magic.

Mrs. Swede and I recently watched a documentary about the 2013 dry dock, and we're even more excited about the cruise. We haven't told our kids yet.

We've been told that Disney Cruises are great at dealing with food allergies. We will see.
Swede,
Our experiences with dealing with food allergies on DCL has been amazing (5 total cruises, including one on Disney Magic). My wife is a Celiac that is also allergic to corn, peanuts, walnuts, tomatoes, and sesame seeds, so there is a lot she can't eat. The key is to call DCL and have them put the allergies in the passenger's reservation, then on the first night of the cruise, the head waiter will come to your table before ordering dinner and discuss options with you for that night. At the end of the meal, they will give you the menu for the next night and work with you on what items you want and how they can accommodate your allergies. They will also take your breakfast order at that time and set up where you want to eat it. Like I said, 5 cruises and no issues with my wife being able to eat or having any contamination issues.
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Old Feb 26, 2015, 2:16 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by SCGustafson
Swede,
Our experiences with dealing with food allergies on DCL has been amazing (5 total cruises, including one on Disney Magic). My wife is a Celiac that is also allergic to corn, peanuts, walnuts, tomatoes, and sesame seeds, so there is a lot she can't eat. The key is to call DCL and have them put the allergies in the passenger's reservation, then on the first night of the cruise, the head waiter will come to your table before ordering dinner and discuss options with you for that night. At the end of the meal, they will give you the menu for the next night and work with you on what items you want and how they can accommodate your allergies. They will also take your breakfast order at that time and set up where you want to eat it. Like I said, 5 cruises and no issues with my wife being able to eat or having any contamination issues.
Thank you for that. That is basically the same procedure we had when we cruised with Carnival.

Carnival took it one step further and even encouraged us to bring recipes and our own vegan products (cheese, butter, cake mixes) so that the kitchen could store it and cook with it when preparing Miss Swede's foods. We were absolutely blown away. Do you have an experience if Disney would be willing to do the same thing?
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 9:09 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by pseudoswede
Thank you for that. That is basically the same procedure we had when we cruised with Carnival.

Carnival took it one step further and even encouraged us to bring recipes and our own vegan products (cheese, butter, cake mixes) so that the kitchen could store it and cook with it when preparing Miss Swede's foods. We were absolutely blown away. Do you have an experience if Disney would be willing to do the same thing?
That sounds really good. As for Disney cruise, I am not sure I would trust the dining crew to not mixed up the food if I have food allergies. I am not big but I ordered diet coke because I am diabetic. But 3 nights into the cruise, they would still bring the diet coke to another guest at the same table. Maybe they think he should be drinking diet coke? On one night, the other guest wanted to substitute a side on one entree to a side on another entree. You would think it would be easy.. since they are both on the menu. But It took an extra 15 minutes for our table of food to arrive. I have no prove it was because of the switch, but all the other tables got food but ours.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 9:37 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Need
That sounds really good. As for Disney cruise, I am not sure I would trust the dining crew to not mixed up the food if I have food allergies.
Believe me, the last cruise line we expected to provide such service would've been Carnival. They also said they prepared her food in a different part of the kitchen (with freshly-washed equipment and utensils), and one cook was responsible for preparing her order from start to finish. They went above and beyond expectations. I guess our expectations would be Disney would provide the same kind of accommodations.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 11:03 am
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Originally Posted by pseudoswede
Thank you for that. That is basically the same procedure we had when we cruised with Carnival.

Carnival took it one step further and even encouraged us to bring recipes and our own vegan products (cheese, butter, cake mixes) so that the kitchen could store it and cook with it when preparing Miss Swede's foods. We were absolutely blown away. Do you have an experience if Disney would be willing to do the same thing?
I am afraid that we did not get to that point with my wife's meals. I highly recommend calling DCL and discussing the situation with them. Their customer service is incredible and they will usually pursue an issue until they can get to someone who can give you a definitive answer.
Enjoy your cruise. We have found Disney to be leaps above our Carnival experience (wife vowed to never cruise again after our Carnival cruise, but along came our daughter who convinced her to try Disney and now it is our favorite form of vacation). It is well worth the price difference as Disney prides itself on the customer service and providing opportunities for the whole family, whether as a whole or as individuals.
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Old Feb 27, 2015, 11:18 am
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In general with food allergy problems the cruise line wants you to contact them ahead of time, then they also generally ask that you contact the head waiter to discuss the situation with him once you're on the ship. I would expect that for something like Celiac that they would indeed be preparing food in a separate part of the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination. In general, the cruise lines are pretty good with being able to handle these types of requests. Bringing your own food and having it prepared is probably going to be a bit iffier on ships (they may not want to bring food of unknown sources into their kitchen).

But I would say make sure you talk to the head waiter for your section, because they're the ones that are going to be able to help out in arranging things for you. (I know on some lines they'll bring the next days menu to you near the end of dinner and work out with you what might be reasonable for them to prepare for you so they can make sure they prepare it properly.)
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Old Mar 14, 2015, 5:42 am
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that's crazy.. they should give all the passengers a voucher to encourage them to come back.. can't imagine wanting to cruise after hearing that story.
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Old Mar 14, 2015, 8:46 am
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Wow did this thread take a turn or what. I started reading from the most recent and thought I was in the wrong thread. Thread started about rescuing someone that fell off a ship and turned into a food/allergies and service thread.

No judgements here, just an observation.
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