DCL carry-on alcohol policy changing Sept. 30 2015

[gismo1554]

Can anyone tell more about the fish extender exchange. About how many gifts do I need to bring. Do we give out gifts everyday of the cruise or just one day?Pleasse help !!

Hi Michelle. Please repost over on the main discussion board for more answers as this post is about the new alcohol policy. With regards to numbers etc you only do it 1 day and it will all depend on which cruise you are on and how many people sign up.

I have signed the petition and still not received a response to my second email. The corkage fee I believe only stands if you take the wine to the restaurant and ask them to open it doesn't it?

Oh and does anyone know if you can order a bottle of rum on room service? I don't remember seeing this option

 

[El Cid 94]

You do need to supply your own cork

...Yes, but only 2 corks!

 

[Twinprincesses]

They only responded to my first email and nothing after that as well. If I was cruising next year I would not have a problem but being one of the first ones after the announcement is what gets me. It is the lack of consideration to the people that do budget and were paid in full.



Offer a special daily drink package, on board credit or something. It is a huge inconvenience for those sailing within the first week of the announcement.

 

[Ofinn]

Perfect timing. Everyone's focusing on all these things that normal people find joyful, then they spring things and hope some don't notice.


This whole thing just makes me so sad. Not for me, I really don't care *for me*. We brought a bunch of wine on simply because I was gifting a bunch of Oregon wine my aunt can't get, and we met up on the cruise. I brought some 22oz bottles of beer from the same microbrewery/winery/microdistillery for us, too. She and I got through ONE bottle of wine together, and maybe a bottle of beer. Took the rest right back off. I'm the only one in my little family that drinks, and 2 bottles for a cruise is perfectly enough for me. Only time my wine left the room was while walking directly to my aunt's room, while the rest of our families went and watched the shows. On that cruise I actually bought a glass of wine in the dining room, despite having like 6 bottles in my room. (the two families chose to not sit together at dinner, in hopes that it would allow the kids to eat and not play, so we didn't meet up that night for a drink, and since I was giving her the wine I didn't feel OK just drinking some before dinner)

But I just HATE that it's been changed for others who took advantage.

The price of the Disney cruises is more of deal breaker for me than the alcohol policy. We did bring some onboard, but were not really huge drinkers. The policy change makes me feel pretty negative about Disney. I did use it to justify the price difference even though it really does not justify the price difference.

We were pretty big spenders at WDW. I was unhappy about a lot of their changes and taking away some discounts. I wrote of few emails, and got a few canned responses. I decided to take a break from WDW. I haven't been back in almost 3 years, and I have no plans of going back. My bank account has been better off for it. I haven't regretted it or missed WDW at all. I haven't reached that point with DCL yet, but I feel like I'm close to getting there. I have been pricing out other cruise lines the last few month and the price differences are really staggering.

It's encouraging your family likes RCI so much. I don't think I'm too far off from pulling the trigger and giving them a try.

 

[jetskigrl]

They only responded to my first email and nothing after that as well. If I was cruising next year I would not have a problem but being one of the first ones after the announcement is what gets me. It is the lack of consideration to the people that do budget and were paid in full.

Offer a special daily drink package, on board credit or something. It is a huge inconvenience for those sailing within the first week of the announcement.

One of the things that is bothering me about this whole thing is that I can't make mixed drinks in my room at all. We are PIF for our upcoming October cruises. It is also our 20th anniversary so we splurged on a 1-bedroom. We planned on enjoying our verandah and the room a lot on this cruise. We rarely drink wine and don't drink beer at all. So now DH and I have no options for drinks in our room unless we keep leaving to go to the bar and back Plus, I like the flavored vodkas (cherry vodka in sprite, etc) and that isn't even offered on the ship.

Even just being able to buy a small bottle of rum or vodka on the ship to keep in the room would be better than just cutting us off (even if it costs a little more than my buying it at the store on land). I just want to have the convenience of being able to make a mixed drink in my own cabin (where the mixers are already supplied).

 

[over50visits]

...Yes, but only 2 corks!

Isn't there a thread about how to cheat Disney by sneaking extra corks onboard?

 

[turtle27]

I would like to not have to cheat DCL, but they need to rethink this for PIF guests and let us at least purchase a bottle of liquor for our rooms. Normally I am a rule follower, I don't think that I am the exception to things. But in this instance, I really am thinking about it. There are many ways to get my liquor on-board, would just like to not have to circumvent the rules to do so.

 

[Chirple]

I am a non-drinker for the most part (will have one on that rare occasion), but I don’t think it’s fair that DCL is limiting the type of alcohol you can bring aboard. It’s especially insulting to those who are PIF. If they wanted to implement this new policy and not alienate their loyal client base, I agree that they should have made the date one beyond for those PIF.

 

[bumbershoot]

The price of the Disney cruises is more of deal breaker for me than the alcohol policy.

Totally. I mean, we don't book if the price isn't good, but it seems to be getting harder to find that good price. I'm not scouring the site to find those good deals, though. We've got the two Royal cruises booked next year and hopefully those will suffice. I don't know, there are 9 whole months between them LOL.

The other day I was thinking about Royal and Disney, and remembered that I had an issue on Vision that was magnified because we disembarked Vision, drove from Ft Lauderdale to PC, and boarded Dream for a concierge cruise. Dream did come off better for those 4 nights simply because I was having a hard time with asthma after being on Vision b/c we had had JUNK weather for nearly 2 days and all the smokers went into the casino, and our rooms were right off the centrum. Problem solving for me = no more Centrum ships for us. DS and DH, however, had no issues with it (stronger lungs) and feel that Vision was one of our best cruises yet. (the fact that the very outgoing, known, rather hyper concierge on Dream was soooo condescending to my son compounded it for DS...don't talk to a 10 year old the way you'd talk to a 2 year old)

Anyway. I feel right now that Disney is changing everything that was good about them. Makes me sad. And I had a rotten visit to DisneyLAND in July, so it's all just really hurting, in the way that a bad Disney trip can hurt. (mental? emotional? pocketbook? not sure)

 

[Ofinn]

Totally. I mean, we don't book if the price isn't good, but it seems to be getting harder to find that good price. I'm not scouring the site to find those good deals, though. We've got the two Royal cruises booked next year and hopefully those will suffice. I don't know, there are 9 whole months between them LOL.

The other day I was thinking about Royal and Disney, and remembered that I had an issue on Vision that was magnified because we disembarked Vision, drove from Ft Lauderdale to PC, and boarded Dream for a concierge cruise. Dream did come off better for those 4 nights simply because I was having a hard time with asthma after being on Vision b/c we had had JUNK weather for nearly 2 days and all the smokers went into the casino, and our rooms were right off the centrum. Problem solving for me = no more Centrum ships for us. DS and DH, however, had no issues with it (stronger lungs) and feel that Vision was one of our best cruises yet. (the fact that the very outgoing, known, rather hyper concierge on Dream was soooo condescending to my son compounded it for DS...don't talk to a 10 year old the way you'd talk to a 2 year old)

Anyway. I feel right now that Disney is changing everything that was good about them. Makes me sad. And I had a rotten visit to DisneyLAND in July, so it's all just really hurting, in the way that a bad Disney trip can hurt. (mental? emotional? pocketbook? not sure)

Im really looking at Harmony of the seas out of Rome next Fall. Its 2k less than the Magic and the best part is it leaves out of Rome.I would love to spend several days in Rome. When we get back from this Hawaii cruise Ill have to make a descision. I have hard time focusing on more than one cruise at a time. All these hurricanes in the pacific are making me edgy.

 

[littleblackegg]

Im really looking at Harmony of the seas out of Rome next Fall. Its 2k less than the Magic and the best part is it leaves out of Rome.I would love to spend several days in Rome. When we get back from this Hawaii cruise Ill have to make a descision. I have hard time focusing on more than one cruise at a time. All these hurricanes in the pacific are making me edgy.

Oh, Rome is amazing. Every time I go I have to be dragged out of the city kicking and screaming. The food. The Baroque sculpture. The shoes. The architecture. Swoooooon! I had a little old man in a very natty wool suit grab my hand and start talking to me in fast, dramatic Italian. "What's he saying," I asked my friend, who was stationed there in the US Navy. "He says if he were 40 years younger he would chase you down the street!" He bought me a lovely glass of Barolo. I LOVE Italy.

 

[goNDmay9]

i just received a voicemail from disney regarding my email on tuesday. i copied karl holtz, anthony connelley, larry stauffey, and robert iger. The long and short of the message was: the only thing that is on par with the other cruise lines is the new alcohol policy. the rest is still premium...and it sounds like you know that. we hope you enjoying your upcoming cruise in october, but no considerations will be made. (considerations = obc or ability to cancel) and feel free to call him anytime.

sounds very similar to what others are hearing. i am glad that they are taking the time to call people back though.

honestly - i am not sure how much this change in policy will impact our family. we have two young children and having the ability to sip a cocktail on the veranda after they go to bed is a HUGE perk for us. i prefer prosecco though and DH likes wine, so at this point, we are really not sure how this will impact us. although, since we are past our pif date - i suppose i will let you all know in october!!

most importantly though, it DOES impact a lot of others. And that makes me sad. like i wrote in my email, disney and dcl have always set the bar in both the customer service and overall customer experience. you have consistently risen above the "cruise" industry. this is what creates the "magic" - yadda yadda. if this is no longer the brand image that is to be experienced going forward, disney is a for profit company and it's board members and executives can move forward with this new image. if disney wants to start being on par with others in the cruise industry, families should be given the courtesy to decide if the disney premium is still worth it. to have that decision taken away from us an absolutely horrible guest experience..more yadda yadda...

the way that they are treating the pif guests is just very disappointing. and this on top of all the other changes since we booked on board last july. le sigh.

thanks for allowing me a place to vent.

 

[AquaDame]

thanks for allowing me a place to vent.

Hay, thanks to you for stepping up and trying! Seriously. This is certainly one way to make sure they don't see an immediate impact - keep as quiet as they can, not allow people to cancel if they choose, etc etc.

 

[BzyMommee]

Disney Guest Communications,

When we booked our Disney Cruise (Feb. 2015) we looked into the alcohol policy. We used the BYOB policy to help justify the price difference from other cruise lines. We still planned on purchasing a drink or two from Disney or even a bottle of wine with dinner.

Other cruise lines have drink packages in addition to fares and it’s still cheaper than a Disney cruise - by quite a bit. You're removing a competitive advantage that the competition doesn't have; ask your strategy executives again if this is really the route that DCL should go.

To change this policy 3 days prior to our cruise is bait and switch!!! We as consumers are very disappointed and we haven’t even left for our vacation. This policy should have taken affect prior to ‘paid in full dates’ so people could elect to opt out if they chose to do so. Or this policy should take affect for the passengers that have not yet paid in full.

Unfortunately, this new policy will affect the gratuities we set aside and planned for the staff. It also affects any future plans we may have had with Disney Cruises. We are very disappointing in Disney, seems that profit and gouging is what dreams are made of at Disney. This change makes Disney Cruise not worth the higher fares. This will be our first and last Disney Cruise. You just made the competition look so much better!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Unfortunately, this new policy will affect the gratuities we set aside and planned for the staff.

Personally, I don't think you should penalize the crew for a decision made by the higher ups.

But I'd certainly mention it heavily on my comment card (several times).

 

[gumbypee]

Personally, I don't think you should penalize the crew for a decision made by the higher ups.

But I'd certainly mention it heavily on my comment card (several times).

I agree with Shmoo

 

[turtle27]

Personally, I don't think you should penalize the crew for a decision made by the higher ups.

But I'd certainly mention it heavily on my comment card (several times).

I agree, but inadvertently, I am going to, we are not going to visit the bars, therefore, tips that bartenders would have made, now will not be. And no, I am not going to just go randomly tip the bartenders if I am not drinking... I will tip as we normally do otherwise. And I will see how long we stick to the whole no visiting the bars, lol.

 

[Orukal]

Personally, I don't think you should penalize the crew for a decision made by the higher ups.

But I'd certainly mention it heavily on my comment card (several times).

I don't think she intended lower gratuity amounts to be used as a voice of displeasure. Some (My family included, who are taking the East Bound Panama Canal cruise in Oct-Nov) are simply stretching our budgets as is. I had intended on taking a bottle of liquor onboard, but now I won't be. I also won't be buying any drinks at the bar simply because I don't want the additional cost. This policy change has made me make choices about what I will and won't be doing on our cruise because we're just not a well off enough family and even $100 on a cruise like this would be pushing things for us. This will most likely be our second and last Disney Cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I am not going to just go randomly tip the bartenders if I am not drinking... I will tip as we normally do otherwise

I don't think she intended lower gratuity amounts to be used as a voice of displeasure

I agree, not ordering drinks (that will have the auto-gratuity added) is fine, but I read that post as all the gratuities that they had planned to give the "staff". As in anyone receiving gratuities. So that she can still purchase alcohol onboard.

 

[TheLanes]

I don't think she intended lower gratuity amounts to be used as a voice of displeasure. Some (My family included, who are taking the East Bound Panama Canal cruise in Oct-Nov) are simply stretching our budgets as is. I had intended on taking a bottle of liquor onboard, but now I won't be. I also won't be buying any drinks at the bar simply because I don't want the additional cost. This policy change has made me make choices about what I will and won't be doing on our cruise because we're just not a well off enough family and even $100 on a cruise like this would be pushing things for us. This will most likely be our second and last Disney Cruise.

Easy on admitting things like that on here. There are very, very rude people that will claim that you shouldn't be cruising then, and that they will buy a drink onboard because they feel sorry for you.

I don't feel sorry for you, because I am thinking the same. I've saved a bunch to take my family on this, and am thinking of ways to save money. That won't, however, be a decrease in the auto tips to the wait and housekeeping staff. I'm hoping that's not what the one lady meant in her letter.

I'm against the policy, but this has no effect on my budget. I either sneak booze on or drink less. I won't spend less on other things to buy alcohol. That logic does not make sense to me.