Reply To: JCCC4: Post Mortem (Feedback Thread)
I also love the cruise and wouldn’t go if I didn’t love it.
That said, there were a few issues. As someone who has to sit in the back of the venues, I totally agree about the loud talking. I missed most of the banter and a lot of the performances because I was surrounded by loud talking. There were also several occasions where people backed all the way up to the wheelchair and I had to leave so I didn’t get elbowed in the head. I think these things are just a lack of self-awareness, possibly brought on by drinking, sleep deprivation, and the compressed schedule this year. I’m really glad the cruise is 8 days next year.
I had Fixed Seating, and we found that the signs were one-sided (would suggest making them double-sided), and the pink was so subtle most people couldn’t tell it wasn’t white. I felt like we had to turn down hundreds of people. Also, many at our table didn’t go to all the dinners, but we weren’t sure if they were coming or not. On many nights, our table was very empty. This might be something to think about – might be good to tell people who signed up for Fixed Seating beforehand that if you aren’t going to dinner at the MDR, try to let your table know. If I’d known about the seating cards (somehow missed that), we could have used them when we knew people weren’t coming. I would suggest having all the fixed seating in one general area, if possible. Our table was right behind a giant wall, so we really couldn’t see anything that was going on.
I feel like a lot of shows were super late this year. It made it really difficult for me and in many cases, I just had to go to bed. Hopefully having a longer cruise will help in that regard.
Recording – I also wish we’d been notified beforehand which things wouldn’t be recorded. I assumed the things I didn’t go to would be recorded, but found out later they weren’t.
Unofficial official people: maybe they could have some sort of identifier so we would know they’re not actually doing shows. Totally fine with it, just wish expectations were more clear.
Not sure what happened with the lines unless it was the store effect – people see a line start to form and feel like they’d better get in it. The issue for me was that usually a path clears to let the wheelchair through, but that mostly did not happen this year. On one occasion, we couldn’t get into the Labyrinth because the entire entrance was solid people. It seemed to have clear areas inside, but we couldn’t get to them.
Sound – I don’t know if it was because it was a different ship, but this year there seemed to be a lot of sound imbalances. I definitely noticed it most during Artemis and during the Pomplamoose show, but in general it seemed like vocals were too low and other things were much too loud.
I disagree with some of the comments about misogyny – I felt like a character was being played. That said, as someone else said it’s a fine line and may be difficult for some people to distinguish.
I was not at all surprised to hear that the ship had a lot of new staff. Hopefully next year that won’t be the case. What stood out for me is that more staff than usual seemed to be unfamiliar with things and either couldn’t answer questions or would just say “we don’t have that” and walk away. I thought that led to way more confusion than usual. Overall, they were really nice and I do appreciate them, though.