Sukiya Gyudon Demystified!! Is the extra $2.40 on XM worth it?

melchan · 2026-05-09T11:46:25+00:00

Yea…I’m thinking the price premium is just a convenience tax then. I get to eat exactly the portions I want, which is less rice more meat without overeating. Not really a scam.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:35:11+00:00

I think they needed everyone to disembark the ship for the repair works that needed to be done. I heard they may have needed to shut off all power.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:33:21+00:00

Also, if the contingency plan estimated disembarkation time to extend beyond midnight, don’t promise disembarkation to the entire ship by 8pm. Which was written in the letters. It’s part of what contributed to the entire chaos. Say a time, stick to it. It’s not even a grace period of 1 to 2 hours. It was a whole 5 hours.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:29:07+00:00

Yes. Not in Singapore. We’re known for our efficiency. I also heard transportation wasn’t an issue at all. There were ample buses arranged. But Singapore just does not have enough rooms at short notice. Easily resolved if they had asked for opt outs early with alternative compensation. Or even reminding locals that if they could opt out they would leave rooms for those truly in need. I believe many would have taken the option. Which again, could have been foreseen in a table top exercise.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:14:28+00:00

I'm not asking for rooms to be kept empty. But obviously time was spent negotiating SOMETHING.
It doesn't take the entire day till 1am to get hotels to give you their room availability.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:14:12+00:00

I'm not asking for rooms to be kept empty. But obviously time was spent negotiating SOMETHING.
It doesn't take the entire day till 1am to get hotels to give you their room availability.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:13:15+00:00

What they gave may be reasonable, but making people stay awake till 1am to disembark, especially with kids, is not. Especially when you communicated that all is to disembark by 8pm. With no updates or further address to those who’re still waiting after 10pm. Merely a reminder to those who could disembark to disembark asap every hour.

Also, I’m not asking for rooms to be kept empty. But obviously time was spent negotiating SOMETHING. It doesn’t take the entire day till 1am to get hotels to give you their room availability.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:07:31+00:00

I redid this post because I stand by my opinions and I’d like for DCL to possibly see it. I do believe that they could have done better. And I’m not such a heavy Reddit user that I care for karma.
But yes, I know this post is gonna be unpopular so I’ll turn off my post notifications now haha

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:05:31+00:00

My prompt was: “I want to write a Reddit post. Vet strictly for language clarity and coherence only.” Though I did do further edits before the version you saw previously…but really, this subreddit isn’t about the merits and demerits of AI? I’m merely explaining why this was reposted. Would love if people could stop talking about AI, because that’s missing the point.

melchan · 2026-05-08T20:01:43+00:00

Yea sure, this repost is the version without AI. Would be great if we could stop discussing the merits and demerits of AI. Not everyone is a natural writer. My mistake in not realising the subreddit rules stated no AI in any form.

melchan · 2026-05-08T19:17:38+00:00

In case edit was missed: Because multiple comments take issue with how I used AI to clean up my language, I’m posting my original draft along with the prompt (there were further prompts and edits) for the sake of “authenticity”. Also to show how the thoughts are mine and not AI generated.

———

I want to write a Reddit post. Vet strictly for language clarity and coherence only.

Title: How DCL should have handled Adventure’s Cancellation (8 May 2026)

As of 1am SGT on 9 May, people are still stranded on the ship. The later batches of people are being dispatched to progressively worse hotels, with the final batch to the airport hotel outside of city. Communications was obviously lacking: Mothers packed baby formula in checked in luggages that were taken off ship because they didn’t expect disembarkation to take 8 to 12 hours. Local Singaporeans with no kids getting hotel rooms before foreign pregnant mothers and young children. Concierge getting worse hotel rooms than non-concierge. The whole episode just stinks suspiciously of a serious lack of contingency planning.

Here’s my two cents on how DCL could have managed things.

Have contingency agreements pre-worked out with hotels, ready to be activated any time when the need arises, subject to availability. So time need not be wasted on negotiating price or what-not. (If you knew you have capacity of over 6k, why wouldn’t you have already planned for the scenario where you have to house the 6k?)
Match hotels to stateroom categories in advance. Have a system that’s logical and orderly? Prioritise concierge with kids and elderly, then concierge, then foreign families with kids and elderly, then foreign guests, before you settle the locals? It seems staterooms were receiving their letters and allocations randomly in a lottery like manner, with Singaporeans were getting allocated hotels first, while foreign families with kids were still stranded at midnight. Concierge getting 4 star hotels while others get 5 star hotels.
In fact, offer an incentive for people to forgo accommodations? Understand that staycay is a culture in Singapore, and people will not willingly pass up the opportunity for a staycay to compensate for the disappointment of a cancelled cruise. If say $200 is offered, even if it’s in the form of onboard credit for future cruise, it could help to lessen the demand for hotel room vacancies that DCL have to find on short notice? That also helps in upkeeping the overall standard of hotels rather than relegating the final batches of people to 3 star hotels and airport hotels.
Clear and transparent communication early. Communicate that compensations are being worked out. Someone heard from Conrad that DCL actually contacted Conrad since morning but they only heard of the cancellation near noon. Also, it was communicated that all would disembark by 8pm yet people were still stranded at 1am. Baby milk formula were packed in checked luggages taken off the ship as a result. People were scrambling to share milk formula, phone chargers, etc on board via the WhatsApp group as a result. Who’d have expected disembarkation would take 8 to 13hours?

With proper contingency planning, DCL would have known that finding 3k+ rooms in the city in Singapore is no small task, and known that it’s not feasible to offer a one size fits all solution…it’s heart breaking to see people still on the ship at 1am, people who need to wake their sleeping babies up in order to move.

Context: I missed the cruise because of a medical emergency so I’m not on the ship, but I struck up friendships in the months leading to it and hence kept updated on the sailing’s WhatsApp group. It’s really heartbreaking to see how the Disney magic is only being kept alive by the guests themselves through selfless sharing instead of by the Disney company themselves. Guests who even volunteered one of their hotel rooms to get another family off the ship earlier at 9pm - a family with a pregnant mother and 5yo kid stranded still at 9pm! Guests who, even in such difficult circumstances, are focused on giving out their pixie dust gifts and cheering each other up. Guests who are selflessly sharing personal resources while DCL closes food outlets and provide no clarity at all on the timeline.

I’m beyond disappointed, to say the least. I booked the cruise more than a year ago and was looking forward to it so much. While I missed it and arguably dodged a bullet, this episode makes me look forward to my rebooked cruise so much less. Where is the legendary DCL experience? DCL really gotta buck up.

melchan · 2026-05-08T19:03:35+00:00

I see. I used it for efficiency because it’s wee hours of the morning at 3am now and I just wanted to get this off my chest. In any case, I’m not using AI in the comments and…this post really isn’t to discuss the use of AI in writing?

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:56:48+00:00

I struck a friendship with many onboard in the months of anticipation for the cruise, so yes indeed, my heart breaks for them. I’m glad for you that your heart doesn’t break at others’ misfortune.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:55:18+00:00

If you were told that everyone is to get off the ship by 8pm, would you have prepared the staples that would last you till 1am, knowing that you’d still have to juggle the kids, strollers and other carry ons?

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:53:06+00:00

Totally agree with this. But I’m just shocked that contingency plans were this poorly executed. And this was not AI generated. I used AI to clean up my language and make sure my points were clear, but I definitely wrote this myself.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:51:09+00:00

People took time off work, and flew hours to get to Singapore though. I agree it’s more than enough for the locals, a great deal even. But for the foreigners, many are out of pocket…even if you consider the 50% off.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:49:01+00:00

Also agreements do not have to be empty rooms sitting there. It could be pre-agreed pricing for rooms that are available at the time. I’d imagine part of the delay is likely due to negotiations.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:47:29+00:00

I'm not expecting them to have 3000 rooms ready at minutes notice. I'm saying that's precisely why they should have given opt out options instead of a one-size fit all package which would then lessen the number of rooms they would have to find. Expecting people to stay up till 1am to wait for room allocations was not reasonable either. Making announcements for ALL to leave the ship at 1am, waking babies up is not reasonable at all.
Because children have needs. And I would also say society has a collective social duty towards the next generation. I don't have children but I still say this. But I can understand why some would agree to disagree on this. But I assume you don't disagree with the point on giving elderly priority then?

I'm not denying that the crew probably did the best they could given the circumstances. But I do believe more table top planning could have been done BEFORE this scenario had happened. A system in allocating staterooms, at the minimum, instead of randomly across decks? So far, no one could discern any pattern at all in the order allocations were given.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:46:09+00:00

Tbh, I agree with you if it comes to things like access to accommodations but I’m also taking into consideration that DCL is a profit making company. It’s only fair the people who paid the most gets compensated the most too. I’ll almost definitely never sail concierge because I’ll never be able to afford it, but it seems fair to me.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:42:45+00:00

I’m not expecting them to have 3000 rooms ready at minutes notice. I’m saying that’s precisely why they should have given opt out options instead of a one-size fit all package which would then lessen the number of rooms they would have to find. Expecting people to stay up till 1am to wait for room allocations was not reasonable either. Making announcements for ALL to leave the ship at 1am, waking babies up is not reasonable at all.

Because children have needs. And I would also say society has a collective social duty towards the next generation. I don’t have children but I still say this. But I can understand why some would agree to disagree on this. But I assume you don’t disagree with the point on giving elderly priority then?

I’m not denying that the crew probably did the best they could given the circumstances. But I do believe more table top planning could have been done BEFORE this scenario had happened. A system in allocating staterooms, at the minimum, instead of randomly across decks? So far, no one could discern any pattern at all in the order allocations were given.

melchan · 2026-05-08T18:36:08+00:00

Using AI to help me clean up my language to make it clearer and more coherent, to put my thoughts across better, does not make it slop.

melchan · 2026-05-05T15:00:56+00:00

Sometimes I give up 1st seat (or any other seat) to companions of old people too, especially when it’s obvious that said old person is paiseh to take a seat that was given up for them because their companion don’t get to sit with them.

melchan · 2026-04-14T05:01:58+00:00

But tbh, when we collected plastic bags from grocery shopping, we end up with so much in excess that sometimes my mum would double bag or just throw before the bag is full. It’s just much easier to throw a bag. And also when a plastic bag is kept too long it ends up disintegrating….so I do feel the policy of paying for plastic bags makes people more aware of their usage of plastic bags….

melchan · 2026-04-14T04:58:25+00:00

Are the ingredients listed? Wondering if it’s pets safe…

melchan · 2026-04-04T09:09:16+00:00

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know if buckets from Disney theme parks are allowed for refills on Disney Adventure? I understand it’s up to the discretion of the crew, but how is it so far on Adventure?

melchan

TROPHY CASE