Since my initial post....

After reading this blog and seeing the pictures, please consider how you feel about the truthfulness and perception of Disney Cruise Lines representatives.  Their official statement reads, 

"While it was a difficult evening, never was the safety of our guests or crew members compromised"  -Rebecca Peddie, manager public affairs.

Consider this when you look at the photos of the damage the ship endured....  

• What if it had been 4 hours earlier?  
• What if children had been at the "Midship Detective" kiosks that flipped over and skidded across the hall?  ...They would have been crushed, seriously injured or killed!  
• What if folks had still been roaming on the Ledo deck and restaurants?   

I look at those pictures and think, it is ONLY by the grace of God that it happened when the public areas, restaurants and shops were empty at 1:30AM.  Never once before all this happened was it recommended that we return to our rooms.  Our only communication was to "be cautious and use handrails while in the hallways."

I wonder if any of the arm chair quarterbacks and insensitive "naysayers" would be willing to wheel their child or grandparent into those areas for a repeat performance?  Do they have THAT much faith in the "magic of Disney"  that they now believe they are invincible?

Our Story

Before some readers lecture me on the risks of cruising during hurricane season, let me say that I am well aware that there are risks to taking a cruise during the "hurricane months"....  

Most cruises that are effected by a hurricane are redirected and may experience a change in itinerary OR skipping ports all together while sailing away from the storm.  Our cruise didn't exactly turn out that way.  We were riding out 30-50 ft. waves and 70-100+ mph wind gusts.  

Rebecca Peddie, Disney Cruise Line's manager of public affairs released a statement on Friday, October 26th stating, 

“The Disney Fantasy skipped its stop in Castaway Cay today [Friday], and instead, guests are enjoying a sunny day at sea a safe distance from the storm."  

This could not be further from the truth!

When we left St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon we began following the outer bands of Sandy and continued to get nailed by Sandy until we got off the ship in Port Canaveral on Saturday.  Outdoor amenities were closed to us for 2 days (Aquaduck, Goofy's, Mini golf, Shuffleboard, Deck 4 track, seating areas).  The crew did a wonderful job of offering plenty of indoor activities but the "sunny day" response from DCL is quite a stretch!

Personally, I think we should have stayed put for 12-24 hours floating somewhere far from the bands of this storm.  Instead, we followed it.  My impression is that some of the higher ups at DCL clearly were hell bent on keeping both the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream on schedule as to avoid having to deal with the chaos of delayed debarkation on Saturday.  All the while, the other cruise lines (Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean) all headed away from the storm, extended or shortened their cruise time and chose to safely dock at alternate ports in FL. 

Most of this could have been avoided if they had stayed south of the storm and hung out at St. Thomas for 12-24 hours.  Yes, it would have cost DCL major inconveniences and money BUT we would have been safe and comfortable.  Nevermind the expense of the damage on the ship and monetary retributions they are now having to make to the 2500+ of us that finally disembarked Saturday afternoon.  (many of us missing our flights).  Disney has offered us 25% off a future vacation.  It's a nice gesture that my husband and I will accept but I would have gladly paid full price on my future vacation to NOT experience Friday night!  Unfortunately, I paid for 2 cabins (we brought my in-laws as guests) and Disney will only discount one future cabin booking....  not cool in my opinion.  I paid for two cabins, it would be nice to have the discount on 2 cabins!

That brings me to breakfast and disembarking the ship.  After all the chaos we went through, we were not able to eat our final farewell meal at breakfast because of the extensive damage to the dining rooms.  Instead, we were sent to the Cabanas buffet (decorated with shattered windows) for a limited breakfast menu with no ice, no coffee and no soft drinks.  Not really a big deal BUT not "magical" either. ;-) 

Disney Cruise Line is KNOWN for their organized disembarking procedures.  Yikes, that's not how Saturday afternoon went this time...  After pushing it so hard to get back to Port Canaveral, we floated around for several hours before being able to pull into the port.  This was due to the seas being too rough to approach the port.  By the time we finally got clearance from customs to disembark, the crew threw up their hands and just let everyone get off the ship at once.  They already had a ship full of irrationally scared guests and then they didn't assist in an organized debarkation at all!  It was particularly scary for those of us with small children as many guest were not exactly polite in their desire to get off that ship!  I personally stood in one spot for over an hour shoulder to shoulder with other guests waiting to get off the ship.  When they finally opened the door around 12PM, a wave of people  started gently pushing forward.  It was really unnerving! I felt like I was at a Black Friday Stampede at Walmart!

My final point is how Disney handled the turn-around of the Fantasy.  By 8PM Saturday night, the Fantasy was headed back out with it's next set of guests.  However, the poor crew, INCLUDING THE OFFICERS AND CAPTAIN had not had a wink of sleep from the night before.  (Maybe they got a relief crew?) Not to mention the work that had to be taking place to repair all the damaged glass, furniture, shattered verandahs, computers, flooded hallways, etc.  Is it safe to have that crew jump right back to the helm for another non-stop week of sailing?

I have included some of my own pictures as well as other links I have found since we got home.  Although the pictures can never do it justice, you may be able to see a sliver of what we experienced.  Most crew members (Cast Members) that I spoke to were also very shaken.  Sure, there were a few hardy ones that have spent many a years at sea, but most were saying that this was NOT the typical storm to weather at sea.


VIDEOS OF DAMAGE (other passengers videos)

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-865019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKAVtVvbnLA&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2JV3j6AEpc&feature=player_embedded

Earlier in the day videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk8WyPj89LM&feature=related 

This next video is pretty cute!  I didn't take this on either but it was earlier in the day.  The REALLY rough stuff was in the middle of the night when we got too close to Sandy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrWxoaX_ZUs&feature=relmfu

NEWS COVERAGE:  I was interviewed by our local NBC and CBS affiliates.  I wonder why ABC didn't call?  (Hhhmm... could it be because they are owned by Disney?)

NBC

CBS



PICTURES OF DAMAGE 

Broken windows in Cabanas Buffet.

 Our cruise path.  You can see from St. Thomas we rode in the southern and western bands of the storm all the way to Port Canaveral.

 Flipped over kiosks. Smashed computers and flipped "Hoverround Scooter" in the background against the wall.

 Gift Shop Damage.  Workers were already putting things back as evidenced in the clothes hanging on the wall.  This was around 3AM.

 Flipped sofa

 Europa Area of ship - adult lounges

Disembarking Chaos

Here are some additional pictures that were sent to me from another cruiser on our ship.