If you could change one thing about DCL, what would it be?

[brentm77]

Until this Pixar cruise, I thought servers and room attendants were given a wage by DCL. I have learned that they are not. I think DCL has to make that known.

Are you are saying they only make tips? Everything I have read and been told by servers is that there is a small base wage, plus tips.

Also - isn't it pretty well known that most of the pay is based on the tips? It seems implied given they have a set amount, per day, per person. It would seem odd to me for DCL to say, "we barely [or don't] pay our employees, so make sure you tip," or something like that. I think their current system of saying what we should tip does the job.

I any case, people should tip generously where possible. The people providing the service on DCL work ridiculously long hours to make our cruises enjoyable and deserve it.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Get rid of the up sale pressure at the spas. The masseuses really push extra treatments and Elemis products, to the point that it's uncomfortable.

 

[Flossbolna]

concering the beds... becareful what you wish for. On MSC I marked our reservation to have our bed made in to two twins.. It was my mom and I. Well the double bed separated made such a tiny twin ( not your standard) where I was fearful to turn at night withougt falling out. So we asked then to ´put the beds together again.

On a recent sailings my DH was going crazy on disney because of the one blanket - we sleep german style where each has their own doubel duvet.. so I asked the room guy and he brought us an additional duvet. and my DH was super happy.

Did you end up with two huge duvets or two small (“German size” ones? Would live to know since I am German and the one big duvet drives me crazy, too!

 

[RedHead0186]

Used to visit San Juan and St Marteen not too long ago

They still do, just not very often. We did the San Juan/St. Maarten itinerary last September. Seems they only offer it like, once a year, I have no idea why. I also saw a San Juan/Tortola itinerary, which would be a nice mash up.

 

[Dug720]

Until this Pixar cruise, I thought servers and room attendants were given a wage by DCL. I have learned that they are not. I think DCL has to make that known.

They ARE given a wage. They'll say a lot to get a bigger tip and ensure Excellent ratings - and especially if people are that nosy to ask how much they make.

 

[Dug720]

Get rid of the up sale pressure at the spas. The masseuses really push extra treatments and Elemis products, to the point that it's uncomfortable.

That's al spas on all cruise lines.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

That's al spas on all cruise lines.

I'm sure it is, but it's far more pressure than I've experienced elsewhere (resorts, stand-alone spas,...).

 

[WorldCruiser]

They still do, just not very often. We did the San Juan/St. Maarten itinerary last September. Seems they only offer it like, once a year, I have no idea why. I also saw a San Juan/Tortola itinerary, which would be a nice mash up.

I enjoy San Juan. St Marteen was my first stop on my first cruise many years ago and can’t remember much about it. Haven’t been back since.

I’m not a big fan of Tortola, but they have been hit bad by hurricanes so I don’t judge them too harshly.

I wish they had more itineraries. Heck they could do 6 different ones with just San Juan, St Thomas, St Marteen and Tortola.

 

[holula]

I wish they has more itineraries. Heck they could do 6 different ones with just San Juan, St Thomas, St Marteen and Tortola.

I love San Juan and don’t understand why they took it off most of their itineraries. There are enough eastern ports to do a mash up like you suggested.

 

[RedHead0186]

I wish they has more itineraries. Heck they could do 6 different ones with just San Juan, St Thomas, St Marteen and Tortola.

I agree. The St. Thomas/Tortola itinerary gets a little tired. Would love to see them do more mash ups between those four ports (like you said, you can get six different itineraries out of those!)

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

My #1 want would be more variety in itineraries. There are so many options in the carribean and central America, I don't understand why they are so limited in where they go. I also think it's a waste to have so many 3 and 4 night cruises. It's too much effort for me for just 3 nights.

 

[Kesohio63]

Bring back Sweet Temptations to the MDR dessert menus! I love being able to sample multiple desserts without getting extra full-size ones (because then I eat all of it)!

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Two things that would get me to pay Disney's prices more often: better food and more variety in the itineraries.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[auntlynne]

 

[DisneYE]

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned:
For the love of GOD: Please change the programing on the TV's.
It's been the same movies/shows for what? the past 4-5 years? maybe more.
Put some some new movies, remove the ones that are less watched, etc.
It seems their tech dept just uploaded a bunch of movies years ago and left them there to rot forever.
Encanto is going on 2 years and still not on TV's? Why? Same with Turning Red, Onward, Soul and others.
Disney purchased Avatar many years ago and it's still not their TVs? crazy.

I like to fall asleep watching TV and it would be nice to have some 'new' movies added to their lineup.

 

[brentm77]

The fact that a well-traveled Disney cruiser just stated she was unaware of how important tips are to the pay of the crew is just conformation. (Thanks for sharing, @bobbiwoz.)

But that isn't what she said. She said that they didn't get any wage, which isn't true. They do get a small wage/minimum guaranteed wage.

I 100% agree that tips are important, but Disney already sets a recommended rate, so the average person is at least paying that. I don't think Disney has dropped the ball in ensuring people know tipping is important - it seems more than obvious since it automatically gets charged to everyone. I tip above and beyond Disney's recommendations, because the service always warrants it. I just was correcting the misinformation, and disagreeing that there was some piece of information Disney hasn't communicated properly in this respect. But I think we all agree that tipping is important.

If you disagree and think Disney should do more, what exactly do you propose they say to customers?

 

[brentm77]

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned:
For the love of GOD: Please change the programing on the TV's.
It's been the same movies/shows for what? the past 4-5 years? maybe more.
Put some some new movies, remove the ones that are less watched, etc.
It seems their tech dept just uploaded a bunch of movies years ago and left them there to rot forever.
Encanto is going on 2 years and still not on TV's? Why? Same with Turning Red, Onward, Soul and others.
Disney purchased Avatar many years ago and it's still not their TVs? crazy.

I like to fall asleep watching TV and it would be nice to have some 'new' movies added to their lineup.

Great one. And fix the outdated system on the Magic. It was so slow and unresponsive on our last cruise that it was close to impossible to use in a normal manner. Putting on a movie was a slow painful process.

 

[tvguy]

Now that others have mentioned it, an “anytime” dinner option would be huge on any cruise longer than 3-4 nights. I don’t like to skip dinner entirely but some nights it’s nice to change up dining time while still having a civilized meal. We didn’t start cruising Disney until last year, and I understand that anytime dining is hard to pair with rotational dining, but we definitely miss the convenience of anytime dining on luxury lines.

I have no problem with that being an OPTION, just don't make it the norm. On NCL we waited in line for "anytime dining" for 90 minutes. It was a MESS. On NCL you CAN'T make reservations in the MDR more than 24 hours in advance. The extra cost dining rooms you can make reservations as far in advance as you like. So after we learned after the first night to make our NEXT nights MDR reservations when we arrived for dinner. We also requested the same server team every night instead of having a different team as you normally would with Freestyle dining. The server team really appreciated that we requested them. Apparently that puts them in a good light with the Head Server when they are requested by guests.

 

[tvguy]

Until this Pixar cruise, I thought servers and room attendants were given a wage by DCL. I have learned that they are not. I think DCL has to make that known.

That is the norm with all cruise lines so nothing unique there. They get a small (by our standards) wage, room and board, medical insurance and air fare from their home nation, and back home at the end of their contract. But tips are where they make their money. Reason I say small wage "by our standards" is, because in their homelands this may not be such a small wage. We had a server who told us his wage was equal to the average wage back home in Indonesia. He had been on ships for 8 years, and was going to work 2 more years and retire at age 31 on the income he got from tips. He would never have to work again.