For the first time in about 12 years I feel like going on a Disney cruise.
Don’t get me wrong, the last time we cruised I thought the ship (the Disney Wonder) was incredible. The cast members were attentive, engaging and incredibly thoughtful. The food was out of this world. Almost everything was perfect. Except for the weather. But let me back up for a minute.
There’s been a lot of focus on Disney Cruise Line with the recent christening of the Disney Dream. And it’s brought about urges I thought were gone forever. Namely: The urge to cruise.
I’ve received a few emails asking what I thought of DCL, and the answer is the same every time: I’m probably not the best guy to ask.
When the opportunity to take a trip on the new Disney Wonder came about in 1999, we jumped at the chance. It was a decent price – primarily because it was in the most active part of a very active hurricane season. So we opted to take a chance on a trip that was four days in the parks and three days at sea.
A perfectly nice photo with Mickey just before we board the Wonder... AND PLUNGED INTO DOOM MU HU HAHAHAAAAA!
We rolled the dice. We lost.
We sailed just as Hurricane Irene slammed into the Caribbean and the southern U.S. It’s not like her approach was a secret. We watched the news reports from our room at Dixie Landings every night as it grew in intensity and proximity to our itinerary.
This did not look promising.
In the big picture, Irene wasn’t a crushing storm. It was a category 1 hurricane. But it produced heavy damage across southern Florida, and President Clinton declared 18 counties as disaster areas.
The view out our porthole just as we were leaving Port Canaveral. This was the leading edge of things to come.
So, as you can imagine, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. But it did give me some great material to write about in my book. They stories are primarily about being very sick, watching a very bad movie over and over and trying to be unconscious for as much time as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not whining at all. In retrospect it was a pretty cool experience. I mean… Two-for-one drinks and free wine with dinner had us laughing about our predicament. And when we were docked at Nassau we had a great night at Animator’s Palate. It just didn’t give me a fair look at cruising with Disney. We couldn’t dock at Castaway Cay due to the high seas, so it almost feels we didn’t get the full experience.
I’ve had many friends go on a Disney cruise, and they all come back raving about it. I’ve never heard anyone complain about a Disney cruise, so I can only believe it’s a great experience. Assuming you’re not recreating the “Poseidon Adventure” as we were.
Still, with all this Disney Dream talk recently, it makes me want to give it a second chance. Though it’s only into its maiden voyage as I write this, I’ve heard nothing but great things about it from friends who attended the press event and from great (and envy-inducing) blogs from the ship.
Yet my lasting impression is of Robin Williams, the ceiling of our stateroom, and this: A short video made up of brief clips Amy and I took during our trip. There aren’t even many photos, since most people were feeling rather sick. Except for my friend Kevin. Somehow he escaped all of it and seemed to have a trouble-free time. But that’s him most of the time anyway.
Amy, Kevin and Jodie outside Animator's Palate.
Anyway, here’s what’s left of our Disney Wonder memories:
Yeah, that’s thunder. Bleurgh.
Have you sailed in a hurricane? Tell me about it.
Discussion
As a matter if fact I have. We took a Disney cruise in October of 1999 for our honeymoon. The first night out we sailed through a hurricane. It was insanity and not an experience I want to repeat. I wonder if we were on the same cruise. Ours was the week of Ocober 10, 1999. But we spent the first part of the week in the parks so we sailed more towards the 14th.
Julie – I think we were on the same cruise! Our anniversary is Oct. 14, and our servers gave us a cake to celebrate our anniversary. I think we actually got on the ship on the 14th.
Small world!
My friends were on a Disney cruise when Hurricane Katrina was approaching. Luckily, they had a wonderful experience. As for me, I think I’d rather be on a cruise ship caught in a hurricane than in a car in contraflow on the interstate!! Horrible, horrible memories!!
I’ve never sailed during a hurricane, but I have sailed on DCL three times and had a blast each time. As you made clear in your book, it’s not Disney’s fault the trip was for lack of a better word, sucky. I’d give it another shot, maybe during a less intense season. A good Disney cruise never disappoints. And when you get to spend a few days in WDW, life’s pretty awesome.
I’m sailing in the Dream in April as an 18th birthday/graduation/Christmas present, so I’ll let you know how that trip goes! It’s sure to be wonderful
I’m so excited that you are thinking of giving DCL another try!!
I still think it’s funny that on your one and only cruise you ran into Hurricane Irene, and almost exactly 37 years earlier, my mother, Irene ran into Hurricane Ella on *her* one and only cruise! My Dad was there, too, of course. So were a bunch of Soviet missiles, but that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish!
We were on our Honeymoon as well, on the same ship. We were married on Oct. 9th and spent the week in the park before getting aboard. We also stayed at Dixie Landings. Boy that first night was an experience. We had reservations for the nice restaurant on the top of the ship. That is not the place to be when the ship is rolling back and forth. We took our food back to our room. The ship channel showed the waves outside the ship but said the waves were 1-3 feet. We had quite a laugh about that. I almost ran into our cabin door at night when I got out of bed and the shipped rolled. Besides that one night, the cruise was fantastic and I still recommend it to friends. We have a great story to tell our kids.
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