DCL Disney Magic At Sea UK Residents Only Sailing Summer 2021 General Information

[BadPinkTink]

Oh dear. If that's the case Disney have really really dropped the ball on this! I had hoped to book 1 if not 2 just to get back on the ship. I understood it was all subject to change but make all these changes or even cancel without any information from them when Platinum were supposed to be booking this morning is just poor management of the situation.

I know, honestly, what I think happened, is that one UK travel agent put the information public before Disney were completely ready and they HAD to make an official announcement before everything was actually confirmed. And that since that travel agent made the mistake DCL have been scrambling to do damage control AND continue working with the ports and UK Government regulations and all the other things they need to do to restart sailing.

If anyone is to blame for this miss, its the travel agent who made the info public before DCL were ready to officially announce

 

[BadPinkTink]

Where are you seeing this information Tink?

On other Disney fansites who are getting information from various places on social media. Basically there are people who are getting information and then posting and other people are sharing this information.

 

[rubysparkles]

They really should not have announced without having more concrete details, I’ve read a lot of comments that are absolutely fuming. I’m really surprised Disney Cruises have promised something they can’t deliver, as managing expectations is a huge part of customer service. They could have made the announcement without ports or dates or telling CC members they could book before the general sale. Keeping my eyes on this, but I’m not getting my hopes up at all now.

 

[BadPinkTink]

They really should not have announced without having more concrete details, I’ve read a lot of comments that are absolutely fuming. I’m really surprised Disney Cruises have promised something they can’t deliver, as managing expectations is a huge part of customer service. They could have made the announcement without ports or dates or telling CC members they could book before the general sale. Keeping my eyes on this, but I’m not getting my hopes up at all now.

DCL were forced to announce when they did as a UK travel agent made the info public before DCL said they could. Its not DCL fault

 

[MissPrincessBelle]

DCL were forced to announce when they did as a UK travel agent made the info public before DCL said they could. Its not DCL fault

DCL didn't have to announce dates and ports before they were ready. They could've kept it vague and just confirmed that staycation cruises were a thing. They released this extra information, they're to blame unfortunately.

 

[steveyjc81]

The internet is full of rumours all the time (for example Disney world policies, new Apple products), you don't see them being confirmed simply because of an internet rumour.

 

[steamboat will]

I wonder whether because CC bookings have an open today jumping for the conclusion that all the the sailings have been cancelled.

Hope so

 

[steamboat will]

Please don't try to defend DCL by blaming leaks from a travel agent... If they are not ready to go public DCL should have said "more information will be available soon" or simply stayed quiet... Disney aren't bullied by rumors or leaks online... It's one of the most rumored about companies on the planet.

Almost every new ride, product, and film they produce is surrounded by rumors and leaks.. but they control the narrative by releasing what information they want, when they want not by responding to every leak or rumor by releasing information that's not ready to go live

 

[BadPinkTink]

I know this is hard but this a new product launch for DCL and due to Covid, and the various restrictions and Government regulations, things will not be as smooth as they once were. Add into the mix that their press release embargo was not honoured by a UK travel agent and its no wonder that there is confusion.

Also remember, that the majority of people who will be on these cruises are not like us and are not constantly refreshing and searching out minute by minute information. The majority of people who will be on these cruises will not know anything about all this confusion and rumours and will get their information from mainstream media and not Disney fan sites and social media.

 

[mousematt]

I have never been on a Disney cruise. I was very excited to book one of these cruises as a way to dip my toe in the water. Indeed, I wondered if this was a way for Disney to market their cruises to a whole new audience. When they were announced I was very likely to book, unless the pricing was crazy.

I’m now unlikely to book. The communications and planning have been a complete shambles. What confidence can I have that the cruises will be any better organised.

Disney is a massive, multi-billion dollar company. It seems crazy to suggest that this is all the fault of some rogue TA.

I’ve been surprised and disappointed by the consistent lack of detail offered. There are vague, generic promises that are rendered meaningless by warnings that it’s all subject to change. If I book a cruise do I get to see a show or not? Is it guaranteed? Could I turn up to the theatre and be sent away because I didn’t get there early enough?

It is utterly bizarre to me as a newbie that pricing information is not made available in advance. So when booking eventually opens, I have to gather and absorb huge amounts of information and make a panicked decision because, absurdly, each second I waste the price goes up.

The Castaway Club seems designed to actively deter new cruisers. My money’s as good as anyone’s. I have no interest in being treated as a second-class citizen. What kind of business model makes you earn the right to know what the prices actually are? And those of you who are Castaway Club members might like to try to sound just a little less bratty and entitled. Some of you.

This could have been a great marketing opportunity for DCL. Sadly, they have screwed every aspect of it up.

 

[Evoga]

Are Disney having legal problems with cruise staff coming from red zones to work in U.K. waters?

 

[BadPinkTink]

Are Disney having legal problems with cruise staff coming from red zones to work in U.K. waters?

We don't know, but that could be one of the many problems they are trying to sort out behind the scenes.

 

[moorhunhe]

I’ve been surprised and disappointed by the consistent lack of detail offered. There are vague, generic promises that are rendered meaningless by warnings that it’s all subject to change. If I book a cruise do I get to see a show or not? Is it guaranteed? Could I turn up to the theatre and be sent away because I didn’t get there early enough?

It is utterly bizarre to me as a newbie that pricing information is not made available in advance. So when booking eventually opens, I have to gather and absorb huge amounts of information and make a panicked decision because, absurdly, each second I waste the price goes up.

This.

Instead of them having all the info, so it can go online all at once, but no.
If a travel agency really did put stuff online while they shouldn't have, Disney could really just made an announcement that info has been put online without their consent, and that they are still working on things and official info will follow soon.

Same with the prices. I'm sure they can put those out there a few days in advance, instead of a "call now and book" kind of thing.
I don't want that either. I want some time to process things. I always have a price in mind, but depending on what they will tell me it will cost, I might need a bit of time to think about it, if it's more then I thought, and see if it's still possible or not (especially with extra costs from testing that will add up).

It all seems a bit of a mess, or maybe, it just seems like a big mess, because there's so much rumours going around?

 

[steamboat will]

Hey mousematt don't be disheartened. As many of the posters have pointed out 99% of the public won't even be aware of the challenges and inconsistencies in some of the messaging, it's really only the avid fans who frequents boards like these really know the problems and communication mistakes that have happened. DCL is the best product that Disney offer and being put off by these issues means you'll miss out on something really great.

And As for Castaway Club. it's industry standard to offer your most loyal customers incentives to rebook and Disney is WAY higher priced than it's competitors in this class. Encouraging those repeat visitors back is vital and DCL survival. It's really not any different to airline rewards and hotel recognition schemes.


I was I first time cruise once and my first booking experience nearly put me off ever wanting to sail again. But just a couple of nights into our first cruise we'd rebooked our next.

Once the kinks are worked out I'm almost certain you'll be hooked too.

 

[ShellB8585]

Are Disney having legal problems with cruise staff coming from red zones to work in U.K. waters?

I was just discussing this with someone else. It is a possibility but it seems very odd to me that Disney wouldn't have worked that out before they announced anything. And I don't just mean an announcement to the public I mean all announcements so there could be no leaks.
Disney as a company are usually quite considered in their actions and it seems so out of character for them to have over looked so many things here.
I have worked in customer service myself for many years and one of the most important aspects is managing expectations of customers. and to be fair DCL have said all along it was subject to change.

Why tell travel agents you are going to offer these if you don't have anything in place yet? They could have easily waited a few more weeks before releasing anything.
Why scramble to provide (what we now know is inaccurate) information after a TA leak? They could have just left it as a rumour. They decided to confirm it and that's the point it becomes poor management by them.

Marketing only works if it's positive, all that I see happening here is confusion and upset. That leads to a negative view of DCL and in relation Disney in general.
They aren't doing themselves any favours at the moment, especially if the idea was to attract new cruisers. The only information coming is rumours, no-one knows how accurate they may be and it seems people are getting more angry the more rumours are reported.

The sooner they make an official announcement the better. Let us all know what's going on, most people will calm down a little once they have information.
We can all get back to our lives and figuring out a different type of trip perhaps for this year.

The fact they have dropped the ball so much on this announcement will put a lot of people off even trying a Disney cruise. To those people I really hope they will in the future when normality returns and they aren't trying to navigate a pandemic. As someone who was a major parks fan nothing has compared to Disney cruises for me and are now my favourite type of vacation. Don't let this small blip, and it is small in the grand scheme of things, put you off trying them completely!

 

[steamboat will]

And I word on pricing... It drives me crazy too that Disney won't release pricing before opening day opening day. I think because the cruises are price dynamically it's a very challenging thing to do. Rooms start from just $1,000 maybe true on the first day the cruise go on sale but once these rooms have been sold the next tier maybe $1,300 which then just ends up upsetting more people who can't get thier advertised rate...

 

[BadPinkTink]

This.

Instead of them having all the info, so it can go online all at once, but no.
If a travel agency really did put stuff online while they shouldn't have, Disney could really just made an announcement that info has been put online without their consent, and that they are still working on things and official info will follow soon.

Same with the prices. I'm sure they can put those out there a few days in advance, instead of a "call now and book" kind of thing.
I don't want that either. I want some time to process things. I always have a price in mind, but depending on what they will tell me it will cost, I might need a bit of time to think about it, if it's more then I thought, and see if it's still possible or not (especially with extra costs from testing that will add up).

It all seems a bit of a mess, or maybe, it just seems like a big mess, because there's so much rumours going around?

You have to remember everything about this is new to Disney. They are used to dealing with the majority of American passengers who are Castaway Members and who know the way things are done at DCL. There has never been an issue with the dynamic pricing structure and with not releasing pricing before General Booking day, but they have obviously mis calculated that.

Right now they are on a steep learning curve, trying to fix the problems caused by information going public too soon AND dealing with a new market segement who have different expecations and requirements.

I know this is all crazy, but really, those of us following this minute by minute are just a very small minority. Most people who will be booking will know nothing of this and will first hear about these cruises when DCL start advertising on UK radio, in UK print media and on UK TV.

 

[MissPrincessBelle]

You have to remember everything about this is new to Disney. They are used to dealing with the majority of American passengers who are Castaway Members and who know the way things are done at DCL. There has never been an issue with the dynamic pricing structure and with not releasing pricing before General Booking day, but they have obviously mis calculated that.

Right now they are on a steep learning curve, trying to fix the problems caused by information going public too soon AND dealing with a new market segement who have different expecations and requirements.

I know this is all crazy, but really, those of us following this minute by minute are just a very small minority. Most people who will be booking will know nothing of this and will first hear about these cruises when DCL start advertising on UK radio, in UK print media and on UK TV.

Disney has done plenty of Med cruises and UK/Baltic cruises that are filled with Brits. They’ve dealt with non-American customers before. I do think COVID has a big impact on this, but either way, they released information too soon. Disney should know better by now.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

So latest news seems to be that TAs are being contacted to say all cruises are cancelled - apparently Disney didn’t want to make vaccines mandatory and as that has to be the case, they’ve decided to pull out.

I’m not sure how accurate this is, but once again people are saying they have been told by ‘reputable sources’.

If true, another sad consequence of the pandemic.

 

[BadPinkTink]

UNCONFIRED UNOFFICIAL RUMOUR

I'm seeing on social media that travel agents are being contacted that all of the sailings have been cancelled. This is due to UK Government requirements about all passengers being vaccinated, which DCL would not comply with. DCL want children onboard which is why they released information about only requiring passengers to have a Lateral Flow Rapid Test at the ports.