Amusing article in the NYTimes

Personally, I find it amusing that a travel editor would go on a Disney cruise with such a willfully clueless attitude:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/travel/disney-cruise-magic-bahamas.html

And than admit that he'd never cruised before. Yes, he is an idiot. My favorite is going to BBB on Castaway day. There is SO much wrong info in this article that....well, I guess you can't be fired when everything is written as an opinion rather than a fact.

I get that this is someone’s (dream) job and that means you get assignments that you might not like from time to time (that’s why it’s a job). But why go in with a snarky, negative attitude, and with no planning. Would you go to Paris without any prior knowledge or preparation, and with a bad attitude? What would you expect as an outcome in that situation?

Give it the ‘ol college try. Or move over and let someone else do the job.

Would you go to Mardi Gras and complain about the commercialism and cheap Made-in-China trinkets that are thrown from the floats? No, you’d claim that’s an authentic cultural experience. Well, so is experiencing the very best of an iconic American idea/brand.

Go with the flow, dude. That’s any experienced traveler’s motto.

I get that this is someone’s (dream) job and that means you get assignments that you might not like from time to time (that’s why it’s a job). But why go in with a snarky, negative attitude, and with no planning. Would you go to Paris without any prior knowledge or preparation, and with a bad attitude? What would you expect as an outcome in that situation?

 

Give it the ‘ol college try. Or move over and let someone else do the job.

 

Would you go to Mardi Gras and complain about the commercialism and cheap Made-in-China trinkets that are thrown from the floats? No, you’d claim that’s an authentic cultural experience. Well, so is experiencing the very best of an iconic American idea/brand.

 

Go with the flow, dude. That’s any experienced traveler’s motto.

Well said.

I have a problem with him lying in order to circumvent USPH requirements (and not even realizing that the health form was NOT a Disney thing), and then admitting to lying. And there are so many parts of his vacation that could have been better with just a little advance research and planning.

When the cruise line was less than 2 years old, there was an article referencing "The Tragic and the Blunder." I was on the maiden voyage of the Magic and there was A LOT wrong. My next cruise was almost 18 months later, by which time DCL had corrected everything I'd viewed as a problem. So, by the time this article was published, they'd overcome the initial start up issues. And yet this travel author felt the need to bash the start up of a new line, new product which has largely reinvented the face of "family" cruising across all lines.

I don't understand these writers. They certainly aren't experts on travel!

Articles like this one are why I prefer to research on Cruise Critic. I will take the opinions from first 400 posts I see on Cruise Critic over the snarky New York Times Travel writer! There was so much he got wrong, and the lying on the health form is indeed an issue.

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His cluelessness also showed in his comments about room size and shower height. DCL has some of the largest staterooms at sea. He should try a different cruise line for comparison, then he wouldn't complain as much.

And $1,500 bar bill for a 4-day cruise? I'm surprised he remembered anything to write about.

And $1,500 bar bill for a 4-day cruise? I'm surprised he remembered anything to write about.

:'):'):')

His cluelessness also showed in his comments about room size and shower height. DCL has some of the largest staterooms at sea. He should try a different cruise line for comparison, then he wouldn't complain as much.

 

And $1,500 bar bill for a 4-day cruise? I'm surprised he remembered anything to write about.

I think the $1,500 bill included items like the BBB princess hair and makeup makeover -- you know, that he scheduled for the day they were going to go snorkeling. That'd be a hard expense to forget. I don't think there's any bar bill that'd take the edge of that for me.

I think the $1,500 bill included items like the BBB princess hair and makeup makeover -- you know, that he scheduled for the day they were going to go snorkeling. That'd be a hard expense to forget. I don't think there's any bar bill that'd take the edge of that for me.

Yeah, no kidding. I think this is an example that shows one of the flaws of professional travel writers - if this was his OWN money he was spending, I'm sure he would have been much more thoughtful. As it was, I can imagine that he tacked on a sampling of the high-end and/or typical things that he thought people do on these cruises so he could "kick the tires" - without much thought on sequencing, pacing, etc. Again, not his money, so no harm no foul, right?

We even planned out the Stingray Adventure timing to coincide with a reasonable time to digest lunch - that's a sensible thing to do. But it's an example of thinking through the experience ahead of time.

Interesting article.

Keith

One thing I got out of that article. I think I'll try that McClellan flight next cruise.

I thought writers did their research!! Obviously this one did not.

A confession: I’ve been a travel editor for nearly a decade, and yet this was my first cruise. I also haven’t been to a Disney property since my age was in the single digits.

How does one get to be travel editor for NYTimes without ever having taken a cruise or visited the most popular family travel destination????

By his qualifications I guess I should apply for a position as political editor ... or food editor .... I did make mac' & cheese from a box last night.

Now you know why I stopped read NYTimes ....

p.s. if not a regular MSN user, this article hit the 'headlines' on their feed ...... and to be honest I didn't find it disparaging to DCL as much as 'my, how uninformed ... must have done ZERO research.'

SHAME ON YOU NYTimes .... this IS ....... false news

Ya don't think this was ALL on the expense account do ya?????

Wow, the secondary title of that piece should have been "A Fool and His Money are Soon Parted."

I'd like to hope it was intentionally written as satire, but perhaps it just goes to show that many presumably educated people turn off their brains when vacation time comes and just do stupid things.

I see the NY Time web site later added at the end "Many readers had passionate reactions to this article. We collected some of them — positive and negative — here." One of the comments by the original author reads as follows (emphasis mine):

"Some readers dinged me for not doing enough advance research: “Looks like he would of had a better time if he’d done his homework before hand. Some very bad planning on his trip,” wrote M&M on Twitter. ” And a reader, Tarin Olding, asked: “U don’t do any research on the destination/industry before u experience it & write critically about something u put no effort into? Entire online cornucopia of boards, FB groups (including cruise specific ones), websites, podcasts & blogs to help you!”Guilty as charged. But I will add that it was an intentional decision: I wanted to go into the trip as a total novice, to learn things the hard way. (For one thing, I figured it would make for a more entertaining story.) There are definitely ways to game the Disney cruise system — and we should probably do a follow-up article on that."

Wow, I can just imagine him doing the same on a trip to Paris then writing things like:

- It's hard to believe the seats on trans-Atlantic flights aren't bigger than they are on domestic flights. That was uncomfortable.

- After I got to Paris, I asked my hotel concierge if there were any good art museums in town. He directed me to a place called "Louvre." It was immense, sprawling, easy to get lost in. At one point I saw a big crowd so naturally walked the other way. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the Mona Lisa is on display there and probably was what drew the crowd. Rookie mistake I guess, but some better signage would have helped.

- It turns out many people in France travel by train. And there is this discount ticket called a Eurail pass that can be a good deal, but you have to buy it in the USA before you get to France. Bummer. By the time I learned about it, I was already in Paris and I couldn't buy one.

I could go on...

Oh, and how about the part where he says "We headed to dinner, but Anna — perhaps freaked out by all of the costumed passengers — had a fit of nerves." Perhaps the author should have admitted that his daughter was perhaps freaked out that she wasn't in the new costume she had desperately begged her parents to buy for, while everyone else was dress up in pirate attire, and her dad was saying something like "It's just like Halloween; first you go trick or treating, then you put on your costume."

OK, I am going to the extreme with some of these comments, but really, I hope that "article" was meant to be satire (like most of my post is intended to be). I really, really hope it is...

Wow, I can just imagine him doing the same on a trip to Paris then writing things like:

- It's hard to believe the seats on trans-Atlantic flights aren't bigger than they are on domestic flights. That was uncomfortable.

- After I got to Paris, I asked my hotel concierge if there were any good art museums in town. He directed me to a place called "Louvre." It was immense, sprawling, easy to get lost in. At one point I saw a big crowd so naturally walked the other way. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the Mona Lisa is on display there and probably was what drew the crowd. Rookie mistake I guess, but some better signage would have helped.

- It turns out many people in France travel by train. And there is this discount ticket called a Eurail pass that can be a good deal, but you have to buy it in the USA before you get to France. Bummer. By the time I learned about it, I was already in Paris and I couldn't buy one.

That is hilarious. I'd read that review.

or like the lady we saw (and heard) in a small shop in a small village in Montenegro last summer screeching at the poor woman behind the counter "why don't you take dollars...?"

or like the lady we saw (and heard) in a small shop in a small village in Montenegro last summer screeching at the poor woman behind the counter "why don't you take dollars...?"

Yeah, but to complete the analogy - THEN that lady goes home and writes an article/travel review of Montenegro and complains about the horrible customer service and how inauthentic the whole trip was - they didn't even take dollars!!

How does one get to be travel editor for NYTimes without ever having taken a cruise or visited the most popular family travel destination????

I travel for a living and I’ve literally covered the entire world while getting paid to do so. I’ve been married for 14 years and I have two kids, but last October was the FIRST time I ever took my family to Disney.

Why? Because, up until that time, I had no interest. Contrary to what many Disney fans may think, there’s a big world out there and Disney is not everybody’s idea of a vacation destination. In fact, a lot of people despise the idea of Disney style vacations. So I’m personally not surprised that the author of the article hadn’t been to Disney.

As mentioned before, we finally did both Disney parks and a Disney cruise last year, partly encouraged by Disney friends who were in shock that we’d never taken our kids there. All I can say is that we gladly did it, got the T-shirt, but it will probably be years before we consider another Disney vacation if ever.

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I travel for a living and I’ve literally covered the entire world while getting paid to do so. I’ve been married for 14 years and I have two kids, but last October was the FIRST time I ever took my family to Disney.

 

Why? Because, up until that time, I had no interest. Contrary to what many Disney fans may think, there’s a big world out there and Disney is not everybody’s idea of a vacation destination. In fact, a lot of people despise the idea of Disney style vacations. So I’m personally not surprised that the author of the article hadn’t been to Disney.

 

As mentioned before, we finally did both Disney parks and a Disney cruise last year, partly encouraged by Disney friends who were in shock that we’d never taken our kids there. All I can say is that we gladly did it, got the T-shirt, but it will probably be years before we consider another Disney vacation if ever.

 

 

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Like you, I have traveled the world extensively during my professional career - I am retired now. Over 100 business trips to London alone, and most every commercial center in the world: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne. And many more. I tried to take an extra day or two whenever I could to experience places like the Louvre, for example. And a few Michelin Star restaurants here and there (but never a 3 star).

So, I do know there is a “big world out there”. I enjoyed seeing all of these places, and getting to know and work with people from so many different cultures.

But, we do many of our vacations through Disney. And not just Disneyland and Disney World (which we do periodically but not every year). We occasionally go to Aulani, where Disney took great care to reflect Hawaiian culture in an authentic manner. More so than many other Hawaiian resorts. We have also been to England, Scotland, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France with Disney Cruise Lines. The Caribbean, Mexican Rivera, and Panama Canal. And Alaska. In all our travels, Alaska is a top destination, and we spend a few days in Vancouver before any Alaskan cruise. I worked extensively in Vancouver and it is a favorite North American destination. We visit friends there.

Liking or disliking Disney has little to do with one’s travel credentials. And, we have, in fact, experienced a big world out there through our Disney vacations. Yes, a cruise vacation is different from visiting a country for an extended period of time. But, when time is limited, we find Disney Cruise Lines to be a great way to “see the world”. We like their focus on the guest experience, the classic beauty of their ships, the friendliness of their officers and crew. We know many crew from many cultures - crew friends from Croatia, France, Brazil and South Africa. We are also doing some embedded Adventure by Disney experiences to future cruises to further enrich the cultural experience.

The problem with the article in the New York Times article was the author did a bad job of preparing for his cruise, and then knocked Disney for what was mostly an outcome of his poor planning.

Maybe the poster despises Disney - he doesn’t say. But he is correct that people do despise Disney. Candidly, I didn’t start out as a fan - I certainly kept my distance from Mickey for many years. What won me over? The awesome, wonderful, memorable experiences we had as a family cruising and vacationing with Disney. Our kids are in their 20’s and still want to experience Disney vacations with us! And, I do take pictures with the Mouse these days.

5 million air miles and a career that took me all over the world, and I will take a Disney vacation any day I can!

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5 million air miles and a career that took me all over the world, and I will take a Disney vacation any day I can!

Great for you. Unfortunately your credentials are hardly representative of those tourists who limit their travels to only Disney related vacations, or who can’t understand how there are people on this Earth who’ve never taken a Disney vacation.

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