Did DCL do enough to find their missing son?

(Source: http://consumerist.com/2013/03/11/dad-not-thrilled-with-response-when-child-goes-missing-on-disney-cruise/)

In a nutshell, these parents dropped their child off at the daycare center and then their child went missing. The parents don't feel Disney did enough to find their missing child, who was eventually found.

Personally, I think Disney handled the situation well. When your own child is missing, you're panicking. You're emotional and freaking out so of course, if anyone doesn't react the same as you, you'd feel that they are not responding well.

I am sure Disney goes through these kinds of things all of the time and there is a specific way they handle it. I don't think they should expect a free vacation out of this and the very fact the Cruise Director and a Disney representative talked to them and offered a WDW park pass shows they were trying to work this out with them.

But those are just my opinions, what do you think?

Considering the child never left the childcare center and had simply found a dark corner to fall asleep in, and was never in any harm, I think that they are over-reacting. Granted, it's possible that DCL should have shown a bit more empathy to the wife--although I suspect that there is another side to this story.

Of the entire tale, the thing I find most concerning is that the child's RFID bracelet didn't work. That's something that DCL needs to address.

A full refund? He's out of his mind. I think that had he asked for something more reasonable to begin with, DCL might have been more agreeable to his terms.

Well, Brent seemed a little bit like a loon in that article, and that was his own accounting of the incident. Which makes me think he was even crazier IRL. I agree the bracelet is the real issue here.

Considering the child never left the childcare center and had simply found a dark corner to fall asleep in, and was never in any harm, I think that they are over-reacting.

Should it really take child-care staff 45 minutes to find a child who is asleep in the childcare center he is supposed to be in? I'd expect childcare staff to have a better idea of where their charges are, or is there no expectation of supervision when you drop your kid off? To me, as someone who has worked in childcare, is very disconcerting. That, combined with a bracelet that doesn't work means Disney needs to look at how they are monitoring these centers.

A full refund though- the guy is crazy.

Should it really take child-care staff 45 minutes to find a child who is asleep in the childcare center he is supposed to be in? I'd expect childcare staff to have a better idea of where their charges are, or is there no expectation of supervision when you drop your kid off? To me, as someone who has worked in childcare, is very disconcerting. That, combined with a bracelet that doesn't work means Disney needs to look at how they are monitoring these centers.

 

 

A full refund though- the guy is crazy.

I agree that it shouldn't have taken that long, but there are parts of the story that don't make sense and make me question his timeline.

I didn't think parents were allowed into the childcare area unless it was open "Family Time." Even if so, he spent 20 minutes of the 45 that his child was "missing" looking for him in the club. At what point was he going to ask a staff member for assistance? Then he's running all over the ship--something that I think would take longer than 25 minutes.

I also find it hard to believe that some complete stranger would tell the father that he was thinking about leaving the ship and flying home with his family because of the situation. Get a grip--just don't put your kids in the clubs.

I do want to say that I think it was a bad move on DCL's part to lump the kids together in a 3-12 group, although I also think part of that was prompted by the many parents who think their child is so smart and mature that they need to "move up" three age groups. Logic would prove that here aren't that many Sheldon Coopers in this world. :rolleyes: DCL should have kept the 3-6 and 7-12 age groups and not allowed kids to change groups unless they were within a month of their birthday on the day of sailing, regardless of their circumstances. If parents wanted their kids together, they could let them play outside of the clubs.

I think what is important to remember is that the 3yr old was never in any danger, nor able to leave the club.

Not apologizing for DCL, but the CM's did the right thing IMO by remaining calm and not panicking, discretely alerting other CM's that a child was missing.

I think the YAC's should have stopped all current activities and searched the spaces more throughly after 15 minutes with the cleaning lights on.

Hopefully they have learnt from this bad publicity and will look at the missing child procedures.

As for the the mom who was obviously upset, maybe they could have handled her emotions better, maybe not. As none of us were there, it's the mom and dad's interpretation of how they felt is all we have to go on, and that is a one sided opinion.

Regarding the bracelet not working, again who knows?

Presumably it worked when the child was checked in and the system registered that? After that it may have become faulty.

And as for supervision, yes they are supervised so not real harm can come to them, but they're every move is not monitored.

They are free to roam around the spaces as they wish and not kept in small age specific groups or made to all do the same thing.

Childcare, not preschool or kindergarten, and the kid was kept safe at the end of the day.

Ex techie

The part about the father ordering the DCL staff to stop letting people get off the ship is a bit odd, particularly when he got mad that they didn't follow his orders.

Also, isn't the Cruise Director the highest rank in charge of the hotel department? Demanding to see the Captain doesn't sound like the best way to handle the situation........

The part about the father ordering the DCL staff to stop letting people get off the ship is a bit odd, particularly when he got mad that they didn't follow his orders.

 

Also, isn't the Cruise Director the highest rank in charge of the hotel department? Demanding to see the Captain doesn't sound like the best way to handle the situation........

The cruise director reports to the hotel director who reports to the master of the vessel (the Captain.)

I do want to say that I think it was a bad move on DCL's part to lump the kids together in a 3-12 group, although I also think part of that was prompted by the many parents who think their child is so smart and mature that they need to "move up" three age groups. Logic would prove that here aren't that many Sheldon Coopers in this world. :rolleyes: DCL should have kept the 3-6 and 7-12 age groups and not allowed kids to change groups unless they were within a month of their birthday on the day of sailing, regardless of their circumstances. If parents wanted their kids together, they could let them play outside of the clubs.

As one of those parents who is glad they lump kids together, just want to say it is definitely NOT because I think my child is more mature! My 6 year old is special needs and needs his 8 and 10 year old sisters to talk for him and my 2 year old won't stay in the nursery by himself. The only reason we booked again for next year is because we can leave the two boys with their siblings. Otherwise, we would have had to wait several years to cruise DCL again :eek:

Also, I agree with the PP that to demand a full refund because your child was where he was supposed to be and you just didn't know it, seems a bit ridiculous. While from the author's point-of-view I can understand why he was frustrated, there are two sides to the story and we have no idea what really went on here.

(Source: http://consumerist.com/2013/03/11/dad-not-thrilled-with-response-when-child-goes-missing-on-disney-cruise/)

 

In a nutshell, these parents dropped their child off at the daycare center and then their child went missing. The parents don't feel Disney did enough to find their missing child, who was eventually found.

 

Personally, I think Disney handled the situation well. When your own child is missing, you're panicking. You're emotional and freaking out so of course, if anyone doesn't react the same as you, you'd feel that they are not responding well.

 

I am sure Disney goes through these kinds of things all of the time and there is a specific way they handle it. I don't think they should expect a free vacation out of this and the very fact the Cruise Director and a Disney representative talked to them and offered a WDW park pass shows they were trying to work this out with them.

 

But those are just my opinions, what do you think?

1. The source is a blog, who copied and pasted parts of the Fathers blog to provide the most drama. I don't have the link to the father blog, but if you google it , you will see alot was selectively left out of the blog story.

The blog is one of those connected to big magizines, this time Consumer Union. They use these blogs for publicity on stories they cannot print/soil in their trademark magizine. EI....questionable facts.

2. We dont know how long the child was missing as it was 45 minutes, before the friend found the father, (who was running around the ship)to tell him the child was in the club and fine.

3. We don't know what procedures were followed behind the scenes, these procedures are not made public for the obvious reasons.

4. The Father himself admited in his story that he over reacted. The couple had dinner the next night in Palos. You have to wonder if they were so upset...........where was the child at dinner?

5. If it was my kids, I would be not be first demanding compensation, asking for a appoligy and after getting it from a DCL representative, wining about not getting more compensation.

The system worked, the child was never in danger, never left the club, the only question here is why the bracelet didnt work when the child was in the club.

AKK

1. The source is a blog' date=' who copied and pasted parts of the Fathers blog to provide the most drama. I don't have the link to the father blog, but if you google it , you will see alot was selectively left out of the blog story.

 

The blog is one of those connected to big magizines, this time Consumer Union. They use these blogs for publicity on stories they cannot print/soil in their trademark magizine. EI....questionable facts.

 

2. We dont know how long the child was missing as it was 45 minutes, before[b'] the friend[/b] found the father, (who was running around the ship)to tell him the child was in the club and fine.

 

3. We don't know what procedures were followed behind the scenes, these procedures are not made public for the obvious reasons.

 

4. The Father himself admited in his story that he over reacted. The couple had dinner the next night in Palos. You have to wonder if they were so upset...........where was the child at dinner?

 

5. If it was my kids, I would be not be first demanding compensation, asking for a appoligy and after getting it from a DCL representative, wining about not getting more compensation.

 

The system worked, the child was never in danger, never left the club, the only question here is why the bracelet didnt work when the child was in the club.

 

AKK

More than likely, with the aforementioned friend.

And there IS a link to the whole entire blog on that other discussion board you frequent....so if you really wanted someone to read the whole thing and see for themselves what the man really said, you could have easily provided that, rather than just your own thoughts and speculations.

Also, I agree with the PP that to demand a full refund because your child was where he was supposed to be and you just didn't know it, seems a bit ridiculous. While from the author's point-of-view I can understand why he was frustrated, there are two sides to the story and we have no idea what really went on here.

The man didn't immediately DEMAND anything, other than to sit with the Captain and discuss ways to have this never happen to anyone else and their child.

And this HAS happened before.

Rather, the cruise director sat with the man, and they talked. Then the cruise director asked if there were anything else he could do, to help this man feel better about what had happened, and the man said that since the cruise was for his wife's birthday, it would be nice if the Captain or Cruise Director stopped by their table at dinner, so that one of them might apologize to the mother of the child.

True, before the man went to dinner, he sent a note to the CD asking about a refund, since he felt that their cruise had been ruined.

At that point, NO ONE showed up at their table, and the man and his wife only received a note back from the cruise director saying that someone from Disney's shoreside services would contact them about any possible compensation when they got home.

Well, obviously, once the family was off the ship and could no longer be a thorn in their side, the shoreside person told them they could have a couple of park tickets. Big deal.

But interestingly enough.....other than talking about it on his blog, that's ALL THE MAN DID.

He hasn't tried to sue, he hasn't gone to the media.....nothing.

The people you see here making light of the family's situation are all die-hard Disney fans who post on another ALL-DISNEY discussion board, and they'd defend Disney cruise line even if a ship was sinking.

Do I like Disney? Yes

Do I hate them? No

Have I cruised with them? Yes, 13 times

Will I cruise with them again? Yes, in 2014

But do I think that they are PERFECT and so far above every other line, and above reproach? NO

More than likely, with the aforementioned friend.

 

 

And there IS a link to the whole entire blog on that other discussion board you frequent....so if you really wanted someone to read the whole thing and see for themselves what the man really said, you could have easily provided that, rather than just your own thoughts and speculations.

I found it odd the Father didnt mention where the child was.........seems reasonable to me.

There is a link to the blog story, I did not see a link to the father blogs...........I did see parts of it. I also made it clear I that anyone could find it.

Of course since you apparently have the link,you could have provided it yourself, curious why you didnt ?? other then to attack me.

AKK

But to make you happy Diasy, here is the Fathers comments as quoted, I do NOT know if this has been edited or is complete.

In January, we decided to take our two children on a Disney Wonder cruise. We went with several other families we knew and expected to have a fantastic time. While on board, we left our 3 year old son, in their child care facility, the Oceaneer Club (for children aged 3 to 12).

We were happy to see they had a wrist band tracking system, which could identify where a child was on the ship at any time and alert staff if the band went outside the area he was supposed to be in.

So you can imagine our fear, shock, outrage and panic when we came back after an evening with friends, to find our child missing from their child care facility.

Our 5 month old had been left in the nursery that day, so my wife had stopped off to pick him up, while I went with two other parents to the Oceaneer Club to pick up our older son.

We walked into the care facility, which was always dimly lit. I walked around each of the rooms looking for my son. I spotted two of his friends and asked if they’d seen him. They said he was there someplace, so I continued to walk around the facility hunting down my child.

I remember thinking it was a bit of a hassle to send a parent in alone to wander around and try to find their kid. I began to get a little annoyed as I searched. Where could he be? For a split second I even had the thought, ‘I hope he is actually here,’ but dismissed it as silly at the time. At that point, I was more annoyed than worried and decided to ask someone if they’d seen my son.

I returned to the room where I’d originally started searching, and the employee commented that this was the third time they’d seen me there–was everything okay? I told him I couldn’t find my son, so they started walking around, calling his name. I began looking under draped compartments, behind obstacles, anywhere a child might hide.

At that point, I took a moment to call my wife and asked her to come over immediately because they couldn’t find our son!

When I went to search the bathroom, an employee stopped and told me that ‘parents are not allowed in the bathroom.’ THAT was the point it hit me right in the face—MY KID WAS MISSING!

I don’t know if I can fully describe the feeling when you realize your child is gone. Everything changed from that moment… I was no longer frustrated, angry, or annoyed, I was scared to death and went completely into FIND MY CHILD MODE, which started with understanding their operating procedures for missing children.

I quickly assessed the staff, the surroundings, and the efforts made so far to locate him. I told the employee I could no longer assume my child was in the facility and I needed to know what their next steps were immediately.

He said the next step was to check the tracking band system, which would pinpoint my son’s location. We walked over to the computer and as they pulled it up, everyone got very quiet. The screen showed my son’s band as ‘UNREADABLE’!!!.

At that moment I came close to losing it, but I had to focus… I had to find my child! ‘Unreadable’ could mean anything—wandering the ship, taken by a stranger, or worse. My wife had shown up by this time and was understandably distraught but there was no time for me to console her.

I immediately ran to another care facility for older kids called the Oceaneer Lab. I asked if they had done any child swaps between care facilities and whether THEY had my son. They checked their system and said they hadn’t transferred any children between rooms that day. At this point Carol, a senior team member, came in and also began searching for him.

Realizing that if my son was there they would find him shortly, I ran back to the Oceaneer Club to see if miraculously he’d been found. One look at the terror on my wife’s face and the pleading look in her eyes told me he was still missing. I shook my head and she began to sob, calling out for help. I will never forget that moment.

I was forced to turn my back on her and head the other way to continue the search for our son. In a display of heartlessness, none of the employees offered her sympathy or consolation. They literally turned their backs on her and acted like she was irrational and overreacting, leaving her there alone sobbing and shaking.

I ran as fast as I could all the way to the front of the ship and down 5 flights of stairs, to get to the gangway. We were docked in the Bahamas, with people coming on and off the ship. I told the personnel at the gangway that my son was missing from their child care facility and that they needed to make sure no one else left the ship until he was found. They gave no indication they would stop anyone from leaving, and were unaware of a missing child, a full 20 minutes after he’d gone missing. They said if I had a missing child I needed to inform Guest Services.

So I bolted back up 3 flights of stairs and all the way across the ship again to get to Guest Services, where I ran right up to the counter and told them what had happened. I let them know I just got back from the gangway and asked them why no announcement of a lost child had been made yet.

The employee checked a few things in the computer and said that an announcement had gone out to the staff’s ‘wave’ phones, an internal cell phone system. This seemed suspect, since neither the gangway personnel nor this individual at guest services had known there was a lost child until I told them. I again asked why no announcement had been made and told again that a message had gone out on the wave phone network. I then asked if they had cameras on the ship, they said yes. I urged them to begin reviewing the recordings to determine if my son had left the facility on his own, or been taken.

I turned and ran up several flights of stairs again, back to the Oceaneers Club to see if anyone had found my son in the time I was gone.

There was a crowd of people gathered, including all the friends who’d come with us on the cruise. They said my son was still missing and everyone started searching the halls.

I was trying to imagine where he might go if he left the facility on his own. He’d shown a great interest in the balcony area of the ship where he could look down at the water. What if he went to play on the rails and fell?? I found myself walking back and forth several times. I had to pull myself together and focus. Panic wouldn’t help me find him.

I turned around and saw Carol coming out of the theater, where she had been searching. I pulled her aside and said firmly and clearly that they had make 20 announcements a day about excursions, parties, and dinner times, but in the 45 minutes since my son had gone missing, not one announcement had been made. Nothing that said ‘excuse me guests, but we have a 3 year-old boy who has gone missing, so please take a look around and see if you spot anyone matching this description.’

I told her if she didn’t make an announcement immediately, I’d be forced to break down the door and make the damn announcement myself! She promised she would make an announcement, but wanted to finish searching the theater first.

I turned and ran back to the Oceaneer club, where I was flagged down by one of our friends. My son had been found and was okay. I was lightheaded…could barely breath… and exhausted… I stood against the wall and began to cry from shock and relief.

Out of nowhere, a stranger came up to me with tears in his eyes and gave me a supportive hug. Having a son of his own, he empathized with what I had gone through. He said after what just happened, he was already considering leaving the ship with his family and flying home.

I went inside and they told me that my son had crawled into a ‘tunnel’ of stacked chairs and fell asleep, not to be found until 45 minutes later.

Later that evening, someone came to our room with a bottle of wine and a printed apology card. But as my wife and I discussed what had happened, there were still too many concerns and unanswered questions to let this drop:

• How had our son been able to craw away and fall asleep without anyone noticing?
  
• Why were the employees unable to find him for nearly 45 minutes?
  
• Why was his security band unreadable?
  
• Why did everyone ignore my wife and make her feel so alone and terrified?
  
• Why did none of the ship’s crew seem to be aware there was a missing child, despite the wave phone message which seemed to be their primary form of communication?
  
• Why was no announcement made on the ship at any point?
  
• Most importantly, why was there no apparent protocol in the event of a missing child considering this is Disney, a world-class organization that builds it’s reputation on the happiness of children?
  

We felt that there were too many things that went wrong for us to simply accept a bottle of wine and a printed apology card. We wanted to make sure someone in charge knew about these problems–we wanted to speak with the Captain.

So I made a call and asked to meet with the Captain, at his earliest convenience, to discuss what had happened. I was told that someone would contact me shortly. We were never allowed to speak to the Captain, but it was arranged for us to meet with the Cruise Director instead.

I really did not want to go into this meeting angry. My primary intention was to help them better understand what went wrong, identify things that could be improved, and the overall way the issue was handled.

During the meeting, I made it clear that while we were relieved that our son was eventually located, he HAD been missing for 45 minutes while in their care. The fact that he was found didn’t change the apparent lack of a clear plan to find him, or the lack of urgency exhibited by the cruise staff.

I was given the following answers and assurances:

• They were aware the lighting was too low in the care facility and they plan to renovate it the next time the ship dry docks.
  
• They do have a process for handling lost child emergencies, however since that hadn’t been apparent to us, they would look into that and address it.
  
• I was given an apology for the lack of empathy shown to my wife by the crew during the crisis.
  
• They would definitely investigate why the tracking band was unreadable.
  

Near the end of the meeting, the Cruise Director asked me what they could do to make it up to us. I told him I didn’t have a specific remedy in mind, but something needed to be done, especially for my wife since this cruise had been booked to celebrate her birthday. What happened essentially ruined her birthday and spoiled the entire trip for her.

I mentioned that we had a dinner reservation for her birthday, and I thought to myself that maybe the Cruise Director or the Captain might come by to wish her a happy birthday and apologize to her in person. At least to show that they do value their customers and that truly cared for what had happened to us.

Later, I spoke with my wife and we agreed that the best outcome would be not having to pay for a vacation that was ruined. So I sent a note to the Cruise Director and then headed to the restaurant.

Dinner was alright, considering we were hardly in a mood to celebrate after what had happened. Disappointingly, no one came by to apologize or offer birthday wishes.

When we returned to the room that night, there was a printed note from the Cruise Director saying someone from their corporate office will contact us after the trip.

A few days later, we received a call from Rebecca, an executive from Disney’s communication team. After I told her the whole story, she was apologetic, but said there was no way they would refund our money. All she could do was to offer us a two-day Disney World park-pass with limited access.

I was stunned by her response, as she attempted to analyze the exact number of cruise days that were ruined. She told me that since our son went missing on the third day of the trip, we had enjoyed the first two days and only the last two days were ruined. Therefore, they were only willing to offer two day park passes as compensation. Adding insult to injury, the last thing she said before she hung up was to call her back if we changed our mind about accepting her offer.

Considering I have two little boys, we would most certainly have booked other Disney vacations and cruises in the years to come. But this experience—the loss of my son, the poor response to the crisis aboard ship, and the uncaring, calculated corporate response afterward—has changed all that.

“Disney” should be synonymous with making fantastic memories—that famous ‘Disney magic.’ But for my family, we will always associate Disney with our horrific experience of losing our child and a serious lack of customer service.

Would refunding our money or offering us another cruise have made up for their mistakes and lack of empathy during a child crisis? Not really, but would have said they cared enough to try.

Where is the Disney ‘magic’? For me, it’s been lost. Where is the customer service Disney is supposed to be known for? Nonexistent. If you choose to cruise with Disney, you may be forced to ask one more question–“Where is my child?!!!”

__________________

Reading the Fathers said to be full comments, it strikes me that although he was scared to death with his missing son, as I have been when my kids were astray and rightfully so, but I wonder if he seems more upset now, after the lad was found safe and sound, more upset that the cm's were not more consoling to him and his wife.

Like the comment he wanted the Captian or Cruise Director to stand at his table and appologize, like they were royality.Mind you the cruise Director who is in charge of the Clubs, already had appologized, but I guess the Father wanted it done in public,like *hat is hat* kind of thing.

As noted here by mis Daisy, they were really fast togo from not sure what they wanted to a full refund rather fast.

I have not seen it, but he did more then the blog, he also facebooked and twittered it...............This reads just looking for attention....IMO

AKK

The people you see here making light of the family's situation are all die-hard Disney fans who post on another ALL-DISNEY discussion board, and they'd defend Disney cruise line even if a ship was sinking.

I am not sure if this was directed toward me or not, since I am part of another all-disney discussion board and I would consider myself a Disney fan (though not die hard). Just not sure what that has to do with it.

Everyone is going to have their own opinions, I am a bigger RCL fan than DCL and would have had the same opinion for them or Carnival (which I don't particularly care for).

I'm also admittedly not a parent, so I have no idea how I would react in his place and as previously said, there are many things we don't know since we weren't there. I just hate it when people are self-entitled and feel they need to get something for free because they weren't pleased with a situation. Talking to the cruise director about what happened, trying to work through the situation so hopefully no one will have to go through the same experience is great. But saying, "give me a couple thousand dollars!" is overkill (which is essentially what Disney would be doing by giving them a free cruise).

But I respect the opinions of those who disagree.

The man didn't immediately DEMAND anything, other than to sit with the Captain and discuss ways to have this never happen to anyone else and their child.

And this HAS happened before.

 

Rather, the cruise director sat with the man, and they talked. Then the cruise director asked if there were anything else he could do, to help this man feel better about what had happened, and the man said that since the cruise was for his wife's birthday, it would be nice if the Captain or Cruise Director stopped by their table at dinner, so that one of them might apologize to the mother of the child.

True, before the man went to dinner, he sent a note to the CD asking about a refund, since he felt that their cruise had been ruined.

At that point, NO ONE showed up at their table, and the man and his wife only received a note back from the cruise director saying that someone from Disney's shoreside services would contact them about any possible compensation when they got home.

 

Well, obviously, once the family was off the ship and could no longer be a thorn in their side, the shoreside person told them they could have a couple of park tickets. Big deal.

But interestingly enough.....other than talking about it on his blog, that's ALL THE MAN DID.

He hasn't tried to sue, he hasn't gone to the media.....nothing.

 

The people you see here making light of the family's situation are all die-hard Disney fans who post on another ALL-DISNEY discussion board, and they'd defend Disney cruise line even if a ship was sinking.

Hog Wash! and you know it is, just a easy attack.

This was posted on the second page of the thread on the Disney discussion board:

http://www.brentcsutoras.com/2013/03/06/disney-cruise-lost-child-destroyed-vacation-lost-confidence/

All I'm saying is that I think it would have been nice to see people just say "Oh, I feel bad for that family" and left it at that.

The dad did ask about a refund, and when he was told no, he left it at that.

I think a lot of people at least TRY that at one time or another. With a lot of things. Maybe they don't think the people who came to clean their carpets did a good enough job, so they call and ask for a partial refund or something.......I don't see crucifying the guy for asking.

 

I have not seen it' date=' but he did more then the blog, he also facebooked and twittered it...............This reads just looking for attention....IMO

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

 

I'm not attacking I just am asking where you saw him post on Facebook and/or Twitter?

 

I don't know about this guy, but my posts on Facebook can only be seen by people I allow to see it and that means just friends and family.

I would tell family and friends about it if this happened on my vacation....wouldn't you?

I'm not attacking I just am asking where you saw him post on Facebook and/or Twitter?

 

I don't know about this guy, but my posts on Facebook can only be seen by people I allow to see it and that means just friends and family.

I would tell family and friends about it if this happened on my vacation....wouldn't you?

well I must admit I have not seen it , but it has been reported on the other sites by more then 1 person...........my facebook is open to anyone...I have nothing to hide, and I would never post anything private on a social site, private to freinds and family or not. (and for your own protection,I suggest, you dont post anything private on facebook),......many people are that way.

AKK

well I must admit I have not seen it ' date=' but it has been reported on the other sites by more then 1 person...........my facebook is open to anyone...I have nothing to hide, and I would never post anything private on a social site, private to freinds and family or not. (and for your own protection,I suggest, you dont post anything private on facebook),......many people are that way.

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

 

Well, of course I wouldn't post anything private. But I, like a lot of other people, do talk briefly about a trip I may have taken or something like that.

The people you see here making light of the family's situation are all die-hard Disney fans who post on another ALL-DISNEY discussion board, and they'd defend Disney cruise line even if a ship was sinking.

 

But do I think that they are PERFECT and so far above every other line, and above reproach? NO

That's not my feeling at all. I think they are far from "above reproach" however I also think that the man who wrote the original blog was ridiculous in demanding a full refund--that as well as some inconsistencies in his story, and his own admission that his reaction was over-the-top makes me really wonder about how much was fact versus perception that was grossly exaggerated.

There have been other incidents on DCL ships that I thought were far more serious--the disabled older teen who harassed the younger teen for example. DCL obviously took that situation VERY seriously as some of their long standing policies were changed within weeks after it happened.

Bottom line, DCL had a malfunction with the bracelets, and that is something that needs to be addressed. They should also probably have a different set up in the later evening so that tired children have a safe place to sleep--perhaps something like pre-schools have with the foam mats and small coverlets along one of the walls in the club. I suspect that had he requested compensation that fit the situation--comped dinner at Palo for example--DCL would ahve been happy to oblige. But his crazy request for a full refund made him seem, well, crazy.

All I'm saying is that I think it would have been nice to see people just say "Oh, I feel bad for that family" and left it at that.

 

The dad did ask about a refund, and when he was told no, he left it at that.

I think a lot of people at least TRY that at one time or another. With a lot of things. Maybe they don't think the people who came to clean their carpets did a good enough job, so they call and ask for a partial refund or something.......I don't see crucifying the guy for asking.

I agree.I am not crucifing him! I have stated more then once He had every right to be scared silly!.......I know I was..........

What I don't understand is the tone of his blog.......he seems more upset that the CM's were not grubling at his feet and wanting the Master and Cruise director to come to his table and applogzise is just that.

It doesn't add up in my mind.

Do I think the cm's reacted properly, YES! the syastem worked! There is things going on my wave phone and other actions behind the scenes.

Did the wristband, not work.....YES, and that is the issue I have with DCL.

I also have a problem with the few who come in and right off say everyonewho is not ready to blame DCL is a DCL cheerleader, so their opinion and statements are not to be counted or trusted.......hog wash....

Example.

At the start, I questioned the report blogger..the whole story was written like it was in pieces matched together.............I was told I was a cheerlearder.its a Comsumer Union blog.........they are to be trusted.

Then it was found out that the boggers never talked to the Father and pasted and coied the father statements from the father blog.......and left out parts to add to the drama.

Gee your wonder why I dont trust the media? and why CU would never print that type of trash writing in their Magazine!.........they have the blogs to get the publicity!

OK.........soory to bore you Diasy, just my opinions.

AKK