A handful of unfortunate guests recently had a not-so-magical experience on the Disney Cruise Line.
Much like Disney’s theme parks, the Disney Cruise Line delivers an immersive experience that blends luxury with signature Disney magic. Each ship features Broadway-caliber shows, character meet-and-greets, and themed dining that immerses guests in the worlds of their favorite movies, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Frozen (2013).
From the elegant Disney Wish to the new ship, the Disney Treasure, every vessel offers something unique. With rotational dining, fireworks at sea, pirate parties, and even exclusive adult-only areas, Disney Cruise Line ensures a vacation that’s as relaxing as it is magical (something that’s not necessarily true of the parks themselves).
Recently, however, some guests had an experience that was definitely neither relaxing nor magical.
Sewage Issue Causes Chaos on Disney Cruise Line
A guest took to Reddit to detail an incident that occurred on the Disney Magic.
“What compensation would you find acceptable for having a sewage backup in your room?” they questioned. “It was a ship issue and affected multiple rooms, no alternate rooms available. Poop on the carpet. Cleaned and dealt with immediately but so gross.”
Yes, sewage didn’t just flow into one room on the ship, but several. As others pointed out, this kind of incident is usually caused by people flushing things they shouldn’t down the pipes, such as wipes. Being on a ship with contained plumbing, these issues can easily spiral out of control.
However, as per the guest, the issue was actually caused by pressure issues aboard the ship. “I don’t think the surface level clean they did was sufficient (a 15 min clean of a carpeted surface that had feces) and they were not able to move us to another room,” they added.
The guest also went on to claim that “they are still running fans in the hallway two days later. No amount of cleaning makes this not gross.”
Horrifying though this story is, it’s worth noting that this kind of thing is extremely rare. Guests aren’t regularly checking into Disney Cruise Line rooms overflowing with sewage. This is just one of those freak incidents that can, unfortunately, happen no matter how well you prepare for a vacation.
Other Freak Issues Impacting Disney Guests
Over the years, we’ve heard of multiple strange occurrences happening to guests on Disney vacations – both on the Disney Cruise Line and at the parks.
Earlier this year, for example, a guest returned to their hotel room at Walt Disney World Resort, only to find that all of their belongings had been removed after the hotel automatically checked them out when they roamed too far on checkout day.
Meanwhile, another guest detailed an incident where a drunk fellow guest tried to break into their hotel room. In 2024, a guest also claimed that they were injured when their wall-mounted bed collapsed on them at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort.
Disney had previously warned guests staying at the then-new Disney’s Riviera Resort to avoid using the same style of bed via signs and hotel room voicemails after they were deemed unsafe.
Before the Disney Treasure welcomed its first official guests, it also had an incident in which water flooded the atrium after a fire alarm set off the sprinkler system during a press event. On its way from Europe to the U.S., the Disney Treasure also experienced another kind of emergency when it rescued four people stranded on a sinking catamaran.
Have you ever had an unexpected incident on a Disney vacation?
