So much for Castaway Gold

[Rogillio]

Since we are now Castaway Gold we can book activities early. Today is the 105 days out from our cruise so I went on-line first thing this morning to make reservations. This is what I found:

All of the massage slots on all 4 sea days are booked with the exception of dinner times and late at night.

The first 3 of the 4 sea day brunch slots are completely booked.​

So either the Castaway Platinum club members took all the most desirable slots or Castaway Gold people were on-line at midnight last night to book? Either that or DCL blocks out the most desirable slots for the suites?

My only concern or irritation is when people book "just in case" slots knowing they will later cancel the extra slots they took. In other words, say you want to do a Palo brunch but you don't have time to do your cruise planning...so you book brunch on every sea day and then decide later which day you really want and cancel the rest. Same thing for spa treatments.

I bet if they would put even a small cancellation fee on reservations at Palo and the Spa and excursions, that would stop a lot of this.

I also think there ought to be a waiting list for Palo and such so when people do cancel, you can get the slot.

OK, enough whinning for today....never feel sorry for a man who is taking a 12 day DCL cruise.

~Mike

 

[calmpets]

A large number of the gold members do stay up till midnight to make their reservations, so I'm not surprised availability was so limited. Sorry you weren't able to get what you wanted!

 

[eva]

My only concern or irritation is when people book "just in case" slots knowing they will later cancel the extra slots they took. In other words, say you want to do a Palo brunch but you don't have time to do your cruise planning...so you book brunch on every sea day and then decide later which day you really want and cancel the rest. Same thing for spa treatments.

I bet if they would put even a small cancellation fee on reservations at Palo and the Spa and excursions, that would stop a lot of this.

I also think there ought to be a waiting list for Palo and such so when people do cancel, you can get the slot.

OK, enough whinning for today....never feel sorry for a man who is taking a 12 day DCL cruise.

~Mike

I didn't think you could do this. Isn't everyone only allowed one reservation for dinner, brunch, and tea? And there is a wait list. When you get on board call Palo and have your name put on it. We got a second night doing that.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Since we are now Castaway Gold we can book activities early. Today is the 105 days out from our cruise so I went on-line first thing this morning to make reservations. This is what I found:

All of the massage slots on all 4 sea days are booked with the exception of dinner times and late at night.

The first 3 of the 4 sea day brunch slots are completely booked.​

So either the Castaway Platinum club members took all the most desirable slots or Castaway Gold people were on-line at midnight last night to book? Either that or DCL blocks out the most desirable slots for the suites?

My only concern or irritation is when people book "just in case" slots knowing they will later cancel the extra slots they took. In other words, say you want to do a Palo brunch but you don't have time to do your cruise planning...so you book brunch on every sea day and then decide later which day you really want and cancel the rest. Same thing for spa treatments.

I bet if they would put even a small cancellation fee on reservations at Palo and the Spa and excursions, that would stop a lot of this.

I also think there ought to be a waiting list for Palo and such so when people do cancel, you can get the slot.

OK, enough whinning for today....never feel sorry for a man who is taking a 12 day DCL cruise.

~Mike

Mike, I am very sorry for you, when the new CC club tiers came out, I posted this would happen, they have just *bumped* up a lot of people to earlier slots and of that, these are the regular cruisers who all know to book at 00:00.

Whilst it looks like nice benefits, on any popular cruise with a high number of CC members Shore trips and Palo will go quickly.

I actually agree that when you book Palo, you pay a deposit or the full fee on line, and only get a refund if you cancel this pre cruise. This will stop people booking on spec.

 

[dwonderz]

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe when you get on board you can go and get a reservation for a spa treatment or Palo. Crossing fingers!

 

[mmouse37]

Eva is correct....you can only book 1 ressie each for Palo online (one brunch, one dinner, one tea) online....once on the ship you can book more or be waitlisted for another ressie.

MJ

 

[atinkerbellmom]

I thought you are only able to book one spot. I do know to that every spot is not open. They only release so many spots for each booking time to allow that everyone gets a chance. Some slots open at Platinum, then some for Gold then some to Silver then some to the general public and some for the ship. It is not like everything is open with the Platinum folks and then fills as everyone else is able to book. THat would never be fair. So I would just try again at the next opening of slots and you may have better luck.

Sorry you were not able to get what you want. I understand because most DCL addicts are a little OCD in planning (myself included) and want to plan ahead, but you may have to wait until the next opening. Good luck

 

[enchanted72]

I didn't think you could do this. Isn't everyone only allowed one reservation for dinner, brunch, and tea? And there is a wait list. When you get on board call Palo and have your name put on it. We got a second night doing that.

IME you are correct. I stayed up till midnight back in the fall for our Jan cruise and kept getting error'd because I accidently tried to book the dinner twice (trying to get the brunch) it told me I already had the maximum amout of ressies available. It said the same thing when I forgot to log out of mine and into my sisters to book their brunches. I was not trying to get multiple ressies for the same meals I was just plum tired and my head was spinning trying to book ressies for 3 different families after being up since 5am. In the future they were all told they would have to book their own meals/excursions.

OP~sorry you are disappointed. Honestly, I think that more and more people are aware that you need to get on at midnight to book and so they do just that, even non-MB users. Gone are the days of being able to just wake up early in the morning and booking and I don't think that has anything to do with the tier system. jmho.

 

[Rogillio]

I thought you are only able to book one spot. I do know to that every spot is not open. They only release so many spots for each booking time to allow that everyone gets a chance. Some slots open at Platinum, then some for Gold then some to Silver then some to the general public and some for the ship. It is not like everything is open with the Platinum folks and then fills as everyone else is able to book. THat would never be fair. So I would just try again at the next opening of slots and you may have better luck.

Sorry you were not able to get what you want. I understand because most DCL addicts are a little OCD in planning (myself included) and want to plan ahead, but you may have to wait until the next opening. Good luck

Woah! Are you serious? I've never heard this before. So in 15 days when they open things to Silver, there will be more massage slot and more Palo slots? So really Platinum (and Gold) members' advactage is not really that great if they hold back these desirable slots.

~Mike

 

[Rogillio]

IME you are correct. I stayed up till midnight back in the fall for our Jan cruise and kept getting error'd because I accidently tried to book the dinner twice (trying to get the brunch) it told me I already had the maximum amout of ressies available. It said the same thing when I forgot to log out of mine and into my sisters to book their brunches. I was not trying to get multiple ressies for the same meals I was just plum tired and my head was spinning trying to book ressies for 3 different families after being up since 5am. In the future they were all told they would have to book their own meals/excursions.

OP~sorry you are disappointed. Honestly, I think that more and more people are aware that you need to get on at midnight to book and so they do just that, even non-MB users. Gone are the days of being able to just wake up early in the morning and booking and I don't think that has anything to do with the tier system. jmho.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...so that's your story and you're sticking to it. ;-)

I'm not that disappointed....we did get a Palo bruch, just not on the day we had preferred. I was not able to get a massage booked for my wife though....that is always her 'special treat' when we cruise but she did not want to take port time to do a massage and did not want to miss dinner for a massage. We'll check when we get on-board and see if they have a waiting list (on sea days).

~Mike

 

[n0pa]

All of the massage slots on all 4 sea days are booked with the exception of dinner times and late at night.

I am platinum, going on the 5/30 wonder cruise, i logged on at midnight and all the message times we already taken for our sea days & port days also (except during Dinner and breakfast). I have a feeling the Disney does not make these available. before the 90 day mark to make it fair for everyone.

Don't go blaming us platinum people.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I have to say that as I understand it.

50% of Palo slots are opened up online at 120 days, and all shore trips.

Then 120 days gets first bite, 105 days second bite and so on, NO more slots are opened up, unless a new shore trip is added. And as other people quote you can only book one of brunch one of tea, and one of dinner online.

At port on embarkation 45% of Palo, is made available for people getting to port early, first come first served, and 5% kept back for suite bookings.

And ''seconds/repeaters/waitlists'' follow this.

People booking Palo private room for a meal will know at 30 days so you get some cancellations then. -as you cant hold more than one of each meal type pre cruise.

 

[enchanted72]

Yeah, yeah, yeah...so that's your story and you're sticking to it. ;-)

I'm not that disappointed....we did get a Palo bruch, just not on the day we had preferred. I was not able to get a massage booked for my wife though....that is always her 'special treat' when we cruise but she did not want to take port time to do a massage and did not want to miss dinner for a massage. We'll check when we get on-board and see if they have a waiting list (on sea days).

~Mike

You should have seen me....I was like yelling at my pc, an inanimate object like it could hear me and respond. <---that would have been me if the smiley was beating the monitor with a 3 ring binder!!!!

I personally think you should try out the theroy that they hold spots for each tier and non-CC members and then report back here if it works!

 

[Tarabra]

Interesting...here's what I did. Since I hadn't paid in full yet, I was waiting until the last minute. On day 76, I paid in full and got on to book. EVERY thing was open. I got Palo dinner and Brunch. Didn't book any spa treatments but lots of openings for Palo. Maybe they had already opened things up for the 75 day bookings.

 

[Rogillio]

I am platinum, going on the 5/30 wonder cruise, i logged on at midnight and all the message times we already taken for our sea days & port days also (except during Dinner and breakfast). I have a feeling the Disney does not make these available. before the 90 day mark to make it fair for everyone.

Don't go blaming us platinum people.

Thanks. I will quit beating myself up for not staying up till midnight to book the massage for my wife. Certainly if you - as a Platinum @ midnight - could not get one of these slots, I was not gonna get one either. I'll check back at midnight on day 91 and see if anything is open. I don't know how many massage slots they have but I'm guessing there are not very many!

~Mike

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Mike thats a pain, but yes I did and will log on at midnight for booking stuff.
And I agree re booking just for the sake of it.
Also you can book then go with other party when onboard and swap to there name, not sure thats fair either.

 

[Dizzyworld]

Keep trying especially at the 90 day at midnight. I assume since this isn't your first cruise you are paid in full. Just in case. I always have to remind myself. Good luck.

 

[kcashner]

I find it interesting that people have (or think they have) exact percentages and know how the system works. THey might...but if they do, it has to have come from CMs, because the information has not been made public.

What we DO know--about 50% of reservations are held back till after boarding and are never available on line. The concierge holds some reservations till after the embarkation day. If these reservations are not used by guests in suites, they are then released to the general population and given to people on the waiting list. I've never seen or heard an exact percentage of the reservations that the concierge keeps, but it is sufficient for concierge guests. They also hold back spa spots, Tea with Alice tickets, etc.

People DO stay up till midnight to make reservations. Each adult can have ONE reservation for brunch, one for tea, and one for dinner. Additional reservations may be available on board after the first day (sign up for the wait list on day one, you will be called if openings become available.)

Obviously, reservations fill more quickly on the shorter cruises--there are basically the same number of adults on board whether the cruise is 3,4, or 7 nights, but the shorter cruises have only half the number of dinner slots as a longer 7 night cruise.

Keep trying on line--people DO change reservations, which can free up some which were previously booked. If you don't get what you want, try again after boarding. We have ALWAYS gotten a reservation when we wanted one, but it was frequently after boarding.

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

I thought you are only able to book one spot. I do know to that every spot is not open. They only release so many spots for each booking time to allow that everyone gets a chance. Some slots open at Platinum, then some for Gold then some to Silver then some to the general public and some for the ship. It is not like everything is open with the Platinum folks and then fills as everyone else is able to book. THat would never be fair. So I would just try again at the next opening of slots and you may have better luck.

Sorry you were not able to get what you want. I understand because most DCL addicts are a little OCD in planning (myself included) and want to plan ahead, but you may have to wait until the next opening. Good luck

Actually this is incorrect. They release 50% of all slots to online booking, and all slots are available to Platinum, Gold, etc. If they were to only release some bookings, then being able to book that far out would not really be a repeat cruiser benefit. 30% of reservations are held for booking on the first day of the cruise, and 20% are held for concierge. If you are put on a wait-list and get your reservation onboard, then you got one of the unused concierge spots. This info is straight from onboard concierge team.

 

[Disney Lover Linda]

I feel your frustration - I ran into the same thing with the brunch when we went on the Med cruise in 2007. I did get a reservation when we boarded. Please refresh my memory - did you need your castaway club number when you booked or did they know automatically you qualify? I remember they needed something when we booked. We are Silver and on the 6/12 Northern Cap. cruise so wish me luck.