DCL Policy Changed With out Notice

[tweis]

Wait...what?? Does that effect if yo0u had already booked and paid your deposit before the change?

Did you transfer you reservation before or after the DCL policy change?

 

[benz0]

Wait...what?? Does that effect if yo0u had already booked and paid your deposit before the change?

It doesn't matter when you booked and paid your deposit. Which is why this is a scam IMO. People who booked and paid a deposit before the change in the rules should be grandfathered into the old rules that they agreed to when the deposit was made.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Sorry I'm lost here ? If Disney is giving an OBC and 10% for booking while on board then why change ? Costco is more?

As another poster has said, you can combine the incentives for booking onboard with the incentives offered by Coscto (and other TAs). Just as an example, I plan to book a Med cruise for next summer while we're on the Fantasy in a few weeks. We will get 10% and a $200 OBC from DCL for booking onboard. At the time of booking, I will designate Costco as the TA. If the price of the cruise is the same as it is now, I will get a $710 cash card from Costco in addition to the DCL incentives. We considered designating a traditional TA, but the largest OBC we'd be eligible for is $400.

Many TAs reduced the amount of OBC for transferred bookings even before this change on DCL's part. If you designate a TA while onboard, the booking is not considered a transfer. If you can not book onboard and your TA of choice offers a reduced OBC for transfers, your best bet is to book through the TA.

 

[tweis]

As another poster has said, you can combine the incentives for booking onboard with the incentives offered by Coscto (and other TAs). Just as an example, I plan to book a Med cruise for next summer while we're on the Fantasy in a few weeks. We will get 10% and a $200 OBC from DCL for booking onboard. At the time of booking, I will designate Costco as the TA. If the price of the cruise is the same as it is now, I will get a $710 cash card from Costco in addition to the DCL incentives. We considered designating a traditional TA, but the largest OBC we'd be eligible for is $400.

Many TAs reduced the amount of OBC for transferred bookings even before this change on DCL's part. If you designate a TA while onboard, the booking is not considered a transfer. If you can not book onboard and your TA of choice offers a reduced OBC for transfers, your best bet is to book through the TA.

^^^^THIS. Most TAs already offered usually half of of their regular OBC for transfers. It did not start with the DCL policy change.

For the OP, I'm sorry that you can no longer transfer to Costco, many DISers have tried getting around the new policy and failed. If you really want the costco card then it may be best to cancel and rebook.

 

[mom2jcg]

As another poster has said, you can combine the incentives for booking onboard with the incentives offered by Coscto (and other TAs). Just as an example, I plan to book a Med cruise for next summer while we're on the Fantasy in a few weeks. We will get 10% and a $200 OBC from DCL for booking onboard. At the time of booking, I will designate Costco as the TA. If the price of the cruise is the same as it is now, I will get a $710 cash card from Costco in addition to the DCL incentives. We considered designating a traditional TA, but the largest OBC we'd be eligible for is $400.

Many TAs reduced the amount of OBC for transferred bookings even before this change on DCL's part. If you designate a TA while onboard, the booking is not considered a transfer. If you can not book onboard and your TA of choice offers a reduced OBC for transfers, your best bet is to book through the TA.

Thank you for clearing this up. I had partial information, but you answered a question I didn't know how to word.. If you move the date later, do you lose or reduce the amount of the Costco credit/TA OBC?

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

OP - have you *tried* to transfer the booking over to Costco? I'm sorry if I missed it, however if you haven't, it's worth a shot. Others have had success and some have not. I would at least try it and see what happens. I was right near the 30 day booking window and transferred to Costco right around the date it changed so mine went through. I'm sorry you're disappointed and I hope it works out for you. Yes, the Costco cash card is a big incentive especially when you can combine it with the 10% off and $200 OBC from booking onboard - it's the best of both worlds.

Good luck,
Heather

 

[FabFivePA]

It doesn't matter when you booked and paid your deposit. Which is why this is a scam IMO. People who booked and paid a deposit before the change in the rules should be grandfathered into the old rules that they agreed to when the deposit was made.

I hate to be a stickler, but did they actually 'agree' to this rule, meaning was the transfer ability in writing in the cruise contract?
If it is then they definitely needed to have notified you and honored what was agreed when you made your reservation.

if not, then your reservation was not directly affected, your cruise and everything that comes with it are the same. The credit is through Costco and has nothing to do with Disney. So unfortunately it was a gamble to wait it out 7 months after your reservation was made assuming nothing would change. Since it's nothing that directly affects your reservation, while I understand the frustration, I don't feel it was negligence on Disney's part, or a scam, etc,for them to not send out a general email to everyone who has a reservation just in case they may or may not want to transfer it somewhere along the line, even if your intention was explained when you booked it. Because at that time you would have been able to do it.

Companies change their policies all the time, so if the credit was that much of a priority definitely would've booked it that way from the start and worried about the room placement issue after. If the credit was through Disney and they all of a sudden taken away, then once again definitely that would be an issue. But it's in a gray area where nothing between you and Disney has changed, just the way to deal with third-parties.

If it IS in writing somewhere, then definitely fight it! Sorry this has dampened things for you. And don't mean to stir things up, just giving another point of view. Hope you still go and have a wonderful cruise!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Thank you for clearing this up. I had partial information, but you answered a question I didn't know how to word.. If you move the date later, do you lose or reduce the amount of the Costco credit/TA OBC?

I was advised, no you don't lose the incentives from booking onboard. We were considering moving our Alaska 2014 to this year if a friend was joining us and I called Costco and asked this very question. Of course they had to call DCL and the pricing that was given to Costco reflected the 10% off and the $200 was still "in there". DCL explained it to me that it's "embedded" in the reservation however I'd always make sure it truly is before moving something and confirming it.

Hope this helps,
Heather

 

[mom2jcg]

I was advised, no you don't lose the incentives from booking onboard. We were considering moving our Alaska 2014 to this year if a friend was joining us and I called Costco and asked this very question. Of course they had to call DCL and the pricing that was given to Costco reflected the 10% off and the $200 was still "in there". DCL explained it to me that it's "embedded" in the reservation however I'd always make sure it truly is before moving something and confirming it.

Hope this helps,
Heather

Thank you so much!

 

[Bonniec]

Did you transfer you reservation before or after the DCL policy change?

I didn't transfer anything. I just booked the cruise through DU which had an OBC. But someone said they had to offer less now so I wondered if that effected me.

 

[GromMom]

I booked a dummy in Sept and named Costco travel as my agent, was that enough or was I supposed to transfer the reservation? I would have looked into that sooner but was waiting for all of 2014 to be announced to see if Hawaii was an option. It would suck if I lost out on the Costco credit, but now I'm not sure who to call to move my reservation now that we want to book.

 

[benz0]

I hate to be a stickler, but did they actually 'agree' to this rule, meaning was the transfer ability in writing in the cruise contract?
If it is then they definitely needed to have notified you and honored what was agreed when you made your reservation.

if not, then your reservation was not directly affected, your cruise and everything that comes with it are the same. The credit is through Costco and has nothing to do with Disney. So unfortunately it was a gamble to wait it out 7 months after your reservation was made assuming nothing would change. Since it's nothing that directly affects your reservation, while I understand the frustration, I don't feel it was negligence on Disney's part, or a scam, etc,for them to not send out a general email to everyone who has a reservation just in case they may or may not want to transfer it somewhere along the line, even if your intention was explained when you booked it. Because at that time you would have been able to do it.

Companies change their policies all the time, so if the credit was that much of a priority definitely would've booked it that way from the start and worried about the room placement issue after. If the credit was through Disney and they all of a sudden taken away, then once again definitely that would be an issue. But it's in a gray area where nothing between you and Disney has changed, just the way to deal with third-parties.

If it IS in writing somewhere, then definitely fight it! Sorry this has dampened things for you. And don't mean to stir things up, just giving another point of view. Hope you still go and have a wonderful cruise!

Do I have a cruise contract? Where would I find such a thing? DCL isn't denying what the policy was when I booked, so it's not like I have to prove anything to them. The problem as I see it is that they make a change that retroactively and negatively effects my reservation by limiting my options for who I'd like to handle the reservation through. It DOES directly effect my reservation.

I don't expect Disney to send out an email notifying people of each individual change. I do however expect them to notify reservation holders that changes are being made, especially when deadlines are involved, so that reservation holders can review those changes and adapt their plans accordingly. I don't think thats unreasonable, and in fact there are a lot of service companies that do just that all of the time. DCL choose not to do that, and based on my circumstance I feel like this was dishonest.

 

[benz0]

OP - have you *tried* to transfer the booking over to Costco? I'm sorry if I missed it, however if you haven't, it's worth a shot. Others have had success and some have not. I would at least try it and see what happens. I was right near the 30 day booking window and transferred to Costco right around the date it changed so mine went through. I'm sorry you're disappointed and I hope it works out for you. Yes, the Costco cash card is a big incentive especially when you can combine it with the 10% off and $200 OBC from booking onboard - it's the best of both worlds.

Good luck,
Heather

I haven't tried yet because I just found out about this today. I intend to try though. I'm also waiting for a call back from someone at DCL to discuss my options.

 

[tweis]

I didn't transfer anything. I just booked the cruise through DU which had an OBC. But someone said they had to offer less now so I wondered if that effected me.

The reduced OBC is only for people that are transferring their reservation to DU, it does not affect people that named DU as their agent or the ones that booked directly through DU.

 

[ikelshellmad]

I booked a dummy in Sept and named Costco travel as my agent, was that enough or was I supposed to transfer the reservation? I would have looked into that sooner but was waiting for all of 2014 to be announced to see if Hawaii was an option. It would suck if I lost out on the Costco credit, but now I'm not sure who to call to move my reservation now that we want to book.

@Grommom: If you named Costco as your travel agent at the time of booking, this does not affect you. You will call Costco Travel to make any changes to your reservation.

@OP: Sorry you have to deal with this stressful situation. The best thing to do when booking onboard is to name Costco as travel agent at that time. That way, Costco will have your reservation (and you get the Costco card), and you wouldn't have to deal with the transfer later on.

 

[Bonniec]

The reduced OBC is only for people that are transferring their reservation to DU, it does not affect people that named DU as their agent or the ones that booked directly through DU.

Okay thanks. I must have read it wrong

 

[AmyAnne]

Do I have a cruise contract? Where would I find such a thing? DCL isn't denying what the policy was when I booked, so it's not like I have to prove anything to them. The problem as I see it is that they make a change that retroactively and negatively effects my reservation by limiting my options for who I'd like to handle the reservation through. It DOES directly effect my reservation.

I don't expect Disney to send out an email notifying people of each individual change. I do however expect them to notify reservation holders that changes are being made, especially when deadlines are involved, so that reservation holders can review those changes and adapt their plans accordingly. I don't think thats unreasonable, and in fact there are a lot of service companies that do just that all of the time. DCL choose not to do that, and based on my circumstance I feel like this was dishonest.

There are two documents -- a cruise contract and something else, I can't rememeber what it's called exactly, terms of service or something like that -- that you can access through the DCL website if you pull up your reservation. BUT I read both of those documents and I found nothing either way about transferring reservations, and this was what the DCL person I spoke with also said -- that it's not in the contract.

If you find out anything different, please post!

 

[m&m's mom]

I was caught in the same thing but I actually have no issue with it. How can Disney pay their employees to do all the booking and any other work/changes and then pay a commission to a 3rd party to do the same thing? What business would prosper doing this?
I will reshop my 2014 Alaska cruise when I am onboard next month and choose TA then if worth it- but I'll probably just leave it.

 

[neg58]

Do I have a cruise contract? Where would I find such a thing? DCL isn't denying what the policy was when I booked, so it's not like I have to prove anything to them. The problem as I see it is that they make a change that retroactively and negatively effects my reservation by limiting my options for who I'd like to handle the reservation through. It DOES directly effect my reservation.

I don't expect Disney to send out an email notifying people of each individual change. I do however expect them to notify reservation holders that changes are being made, especially when deadlines are involved, so that reservation holders can review those changes and adapt their plans accordingly. I don't think thats unreasonable, and in fact there are a lot of service companies that do just that all of the time. DCL choose not to do that, and based on my circumstance I feel like this was dishonest.

The change was not with your contract (reservation) with Disney. Disney never had an agreement with you on whether you could transfer a reservation to a TA, what that TA MIGHT reward you with in cash or OBC. Who Disney does have agreements with are the TA, and those are what changed. Disney informed the TAs that they would no longer pay the TAs for reservations transferred after 30 days, and it seems they also informed TAs that the fee for a reservation originally booked with Disney and transferred to a TA within 30 days would be reduced, which has caused some TAs, including DU, to reduce their OBC award. Makes sense that the TAs then don't want to take reservations made more than 30 days ago because they'll receive no fee and that for those reservations originally booked with Disney but transferred within 30 days will have a reduced OBC because the TA's commission is reduced. Disney can, of course, drop any TAs they want to at any time, including Costco, and then you'd be out again. TAs can also choose not to work with Disney if they don't think the commission is enough.

Disney has a right to make any deals they want with TA, or in fact not even pay TAs a commission (and thus do all bookings directly). Some airlines have been doing this and blocking commissions to Expedia or other travel sites because they don't feel they make enough money on the tickets by paying Expedia a commission. Southwest only books on its own site.

Allowing people to book on board, in advance, isn't required by law. Disney doesn't have to give discounts or OBC or TA commissions at all, but they do because they think they get more business that way. If you don't like their business policies, take your business elsewhere.

Nancy

 

[TLSnell1981]

I THINK they can keep the Disney offers and combine them with the Costco offer if they transfer. I believe I read that somewhere on here.

Yep, you receive the cash card, onboard credit, the discounted fare AND reduced down payment.

I booked a dummy in Sept and named Costco travel as my agent, was that enough or was I supposed to transfer the reservation? .

I just booked a dummy date onboard and named Costco as my agent. I had to call and have the reservation moved to Costco. It was not automatically sent to the TA.

BTW...I kept all of the original paperwork.