ForMyBoys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2013
I'm writing this to give information to all of you considering cruising DCL during pandemic times. We had a cruise booked Jan 2-8th. We had two connecting staterooms and are a family of 5. All of us are vaccinated and had no symptoms. We used Disney transfers and boarded a bus to the port at approx 9am. The bus was full. We arrived at port at 10ish and were led to a testing site where we each tested then were assigned a tent to wait for results.
To get results you log into the safepassage website. Effectively we found out on the website that our 18yo (who is vaccinated and had no symptoms) tested positive and we weren't clear to sail. Everyone around us were high fiving and making thier way to the port and my kids were devestated. There were no instructions on what to do if you weren't clear to sail. We told the woman at the front of the tent that we were not clear to sail and she must have misheard us and asked us to walk to the cruise port but there were big signs saying not to unless you are clear to sail. My husband wanted to ignore the sign because we were told to walk to the port. I went back and told the lady the signs say we shouldn't walk to the port because we weren't clear to sail. I then told her we had a positive test and she directed us to stay still and someone would get us.
They brought us to a waiting room in a mobile home and a Dr came to talk to us. They could clearly see my son who tested positive was doing well. Then they officially told us we couldn't sail and they offered a full refund OR credit. I chose credit but after reading the letter (non transferable etc) asked to switch to refund because I wasn't sure if my college age son could sail with us again. They switched it no problem. And did put both connecting reservations on the form. I am working on rebooking and found out I am no longer eligible for the 10% discount due to getting a refund. I plan to call tomorrow to see if I can get a refund for one room and credit for the other but I'm not holding out hope. They made us decide there in the moment which option we wanted and gave us very little info.
Then they asked us to describe our luggage and said they would provide free transport back to the airport once luggage was collected. We arrived a bit before 10am and all this happened before 11am.
2 hours later she came into check on us and provided a letter showing the refund for both staterooms. We asked on status of our luggage and she wasn't sure. I mentioned we hadn't had breakfast (we expected a big lunch on board) and she brought us each one little bags of chips and bottles of water. I finally got my 11yo calmed down.
Then another 2 hours passed. So it was then 3pm. No one had given us an update or checked on us. We were in a sterile room with just chairs. I posted a photo. My husband went looking for someone and mentioned it is 3pm and we have 3 kids and we're hungry. Seems they don't really have anything simple like boxed lunches nor anywhere to purchase food. My 11yo was very upset and we finally had him feeling better a couple hours later, but then he was crying again. Being put alone in a sterile room for 4 hours after the devastation of not being on the cruise was about the most unDisney like thing that could happen. He could also see the ship and people having fun on the ship deck outside the window.
At 3:30 I took my 11yo son for a walk to calm him down even though I don't think we were supposed to leave that room for anything but going to the restroom. The lady who gave us chips/water earlier in the day saw us and asked why we were still there. I told her we'd been left alone and no luggage and she called someone on her walkie talkie. Finally at 4:15pm someone came to get us. They put us on a Disney bus with our luggage and drove us back to the airport. We arrived back at the airport at 5:30pm. 8 and half hour ordeal.
No one helped us arrange for lodging or rental cars or anything. We of course had our phones and figured it out. The internet at the port wasn't very good so booking everything was a pain.
We bought insurance through the Disney Cruise Line which was closed on Sundays. I called the next day and while I haven't filled out the report seems likely our rental car and lodging won't be covered since it wasn't an official Trip interruption if we never boarded the cruise and we're being told only the cruise fare itself us eligible for trip Cancellation coverage. Note: I would not buy Disney trip insurance...look elsewhere.
All in all it was a horrible day and experience. You'd think they'd at least have something little for the kids stuck in this. Maybe a coloring kit and micky bars?? Small lunches or something???
I'm happy to answer any questions you have, just wanted to share a real life experience.
To get results you log into the safepassage website. Effectively we found out on the website that our 18yo (who is vaccinated and had no symptoms) tested positive and we weren't clear to sail. Everyone around us were high fiving and making thier way to the port and my kids were devestated. There were no instructions on what to do if you weren't clear to sail. We told the woman at the front of the tent that we were not clear to sail and she must have misheard us and asked us to walk to the cruise port but there were big signs saying not to unless you are clear to sail. My husband wanted to ignore the sign because we were told to walk to the port. I went back and told the lady the signs say we shouldn't walk to the port because we weren't clear to sail. I then told her we had a positive test and she directed us to stay still and someone would get us.
They brought us to a waiting room in a mobile home and a Dr came to talk to us. They could clearly see my son who tested positive was doing well. Then they officially told us we couldn't sail and they offered a full refund OR credit. I chose credit but after reading the letter (non transferable etc) asked to switch to refund because I wasn't sure if my college age son could sail with us again. They switched it no problem. And did put both connecting reservations on the form. I am working on rebooking and found out I am no longer eligible for the 10% discount due to getting a refund. I plan to call tomorrow to see if I can get a refund for one room and credit for the other but I'm not holding out hope. They made us decide there in the moment which option we wanted and gave us very little info.
Then they asked us to describe our luggage and said they would provide free transport back to the airport once luggage was collected. We arrived a bit before 10am and all this happened before 11am.
2 hours later she came into check on us and provided a letter showing the refund for both staterooms. We asked on status of our luggage and she wasn't sure. I mentioned we hadn't had breakfast (we expected a big lunch on board) and she brought us each one little bags of chips and bottles of water. I finally got my 11yo calmed down.
Then another 2 hours passed. So it was then 3pm. No one had given us an update or checked on us. We were in a sterile room with just chairs. I posted a photo. My husband went looking for someone and mentioned it is 3pm and we have 3 kids and we're hungry. Seems they don't really have anything simple like boxed lunches nor anywhere to purchase food. My 11yo was very upset and we finally had him feeling better a couple hours later, but then he was crying again. Being put alone in a sterile room for 4 hours after the devastation of not being on the cruise was about the most unDisney like thing that could happen. He could also see the ship and people having fun on the ship deck outside the window.
At 3:30 I took my 11yo son for a walk to calm him down even though I don't think we were supposed to leave that room for anything but going to the restroom. The lady who gave us chips/water earlier in the day saw us and asked why we were still there. I told her we'd been left alone and no luggage and she called someone on her walkie talkie. Finally at 4:15pm someone came to get us. They put us on a Disney bus with our luggage and drove us back to the airport. We arrived back at the airport at 5:30pm. 8 and half hour ordeal.
No one helped us arrange for lodging or rental cars or anything. We of course had our phones and figured it out. The internet at the port wasn't very good so booking everything was a pain.
We bought insurance through the Disney Cruise Line which was closed on Sundays. I called the next day and while I haven't filled out the report seems likely our rental car and lodging won't be covered since it wasn't an official Trip interruption if we never boarded the cruise and we're being told only the cruise fare itself us eligible for trip Cancellation coverage. Note: I would not buy Disney trip insurance...look elsewhere.
All in all it was a horrible day and experience. You'd think they'd at least have something little for the kids stuck in this. Maybe a coloring kit and micky bars?? Small lunches or something???
I'm happy to answer any questions you have, just wanted to share a real life experience.
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