°o° °o° °o° 9/11/09 DCL Announcement Discussion Thread °o° °o° °o°

hey Gydell....I have stayed away from the cruise boards since we have no trips planned, so the wonder is there for good?
 


Anyone else disappointed that the silver, gold, & Platinum membership is based on # of sailings instead of # of days sailed. Most other cruise lines use # of days sailed. You could have done FIVE 4 night sailings and be a gold member but I've sailed more nights than you but I'm only a silver member. I've done a 3, 7 & 11. So, I've sailed 21 nights. I'm disappointed with this new tier system. Plus, my 11 nighter was in a category 3. Also, in the summer of 2010 I'll be sailing on 12 nighter and I still won't be gold. How silly is that??? There better not be a HUGE difference in Silver and Gold Members...
 


So, I e-mailed them about the new tier system. I just realized by next summer I would have sailed 33 days with Disney (3,7,11,&12 nights) and I still won't be a gold member. I will have to book two more cruises at 4 days each for 8 more days. So, I will have to sail at least 41 days to be a gold member but someone else can sail 20 days and be a gold member. I'm sorry this is wrong and I'm very DISAPPOINTED in Disney.....
 
So, I e-mailed them about the new tier system. I just realized by next summer I would have sailed 33 days with Disney (3,7,11,&12 nights) and I still won't be a gold member. I will have to book two more cruises at 4 days each for 8 more days. So, I will have to sail at least 41 days to be a gold member but someone else can sail 20 days and be a gold member. I'm sorry this is wrong and I'm very DISAPPOINTED in Disney.....


I can definitely understand your frustrations as I am sure you have spent two or three times what some Gold members have spent on Disney Cruises. Personally I think it should be either or. Five cruises or a minimum of 15 days. That way people who booked 5 three night trips quailify but those who took only two 7 days wouldn't. Just my opinion. Let us know if you get a response!
 
Anyone else disappointed that the silver, gold, & Platinum membership is based on # of sailings instead of # of days sailed. Most other cruise lines use # of days sailed. You could have done FIVE 4 night sailings and be a gold member but I've sailed more nights than you but I'm only a silver member. I've done a 3, 7 & 11. So, I've sailed 21 nights. I'm disappointed with this new tier system. Plus, my 11 nighter was in a category 3. Also, in the summer of 2010 I'll be sailing on 12 nighter and I still won't be gold. How silly is that??? There better not be a HUGE difference in Silver and Gold Members...

So, I e-mailed them about the new tier system. I just realized by next summer I would have sailed 33 days with Disney (3,7,11,&12 nights) and I still won't be a gold member. I will have to book two more cruises at 4 days each for 8 more days. So, I will have to sail at least 41 days to be a gold member but someone else can sail 20 days and be a gold member. I'm sorry this is wrong and I'm very DISAPPOINTED in Disney.....

IMHO.....

A lot of people have given this feedback to DCL, Hence there is now an additional FAQ answer on the CC website, however I do not feel they understand peoples feelings on this. Often its a bulk standard email response.
That other cruiselines do this, however, many other cruise-lines do reward longer cruises.

I have had 60 days on the Magic, 72 by July 2010, but still GOLD only.

You can be Platinum on 30 days on the Wonder!

I encourgage everyone to send their own views to DCL.

I also feel they have devalued the concierge service, it used to be 105 days and you pay a premium for that, but now any Platinum cruiser can book at the same time irrespective of Cat booked. Recent cheap upgrades at Port for suites, and introduction of tipping on Suites for concierge are making suites less desirable now when the perks are freely available for a lower price.

They do read this, so keep posting as well!
 
I can definitely understand your frustrations as I am sure you have spent two or three times what some Gold members have spent on Disney Cruises. Personally I think it should be either or. Five cruises or a minimum of 15 days. That way people who booked 5 three night trips quailify but those who took only two 7 days wouldn't. Just my opinion. Let us know if you get a response!
That is a great idea. Disney obviously needed to do a little more research before implementing this new tier system. I just don't think they thought it through. I'm really disappointed because this isn't rock science and they can't even think outside the box. They sure don't have problem when they make a movie. UGH...
 
IMHO.....

A lot of people have given this feedback to DCL, Hence there is now an additional FAQ answer on the CC website, however I do not feel they understand peoples feelings on this. Often its a bulk standard email response.
That other cruiselines do this, however, many other cruise-lines do reward longer cruises.

I have had 60 days on the Magic, 72 by July 2010, but still GOLD only.

You can be Platinum on 30 days on the Wonder!

I encourgage everyone to send their own views to DCL.

I also feel they have devalued the concierge service, it used to be 105 days and you pay a premium for that, but now any Platinum cruiser can book at the same time irrespective of Cat booked. Recent cheap upgrades at Port for suites, and introduction of tipping on Suites for concierge are making suites less desirable now when the perks are freely available for a lower price.

They do read this, so keep posting as well!

Welcome Back Andrew. I missed you.:hug:
 
IMHO.....

A lot of people have given this feedback to DCL, Hence there is now an additional FAQ answer on the CC website, however I do not feel they understand peoples feelings on this. Often its a bulk standard email response.
That other cruiselines do this, however, many other cruise-lines do reward longer cruises.

I have had 60 days on the Magic, 72 by July 2010, but still GOLD only.

You can be Platinum on 30 days on the Wonder!

I encourgage everyone to send their own views to DCL.

I also feel they have devalued the concierge service, it used to be 105 days and you pay a premium for that, but now any Platinum cruiser can book at the same time irrespective of Cat booked. Recent cheap upgrades at Port for suites, and introduction of tipping on Suites for concierge are making suites less desirable now when the perks are freely available for a lower price.

They do read this, so keep posting as well!
Thanks Andrew... I haven't been on the cruise Chat page for a while so, I just read the announcement. I didn't know about the conceirge level thing either. That is definitely not fair as well. We did our 11 nighter in a category 3. I really just don't think Disney thought it through. I hope they can recover.

My inlaws sail Princess. They are like at 500 plus nights. So, they get free laundry service on all their cruises (the ships do not have onsite laundry rooms) and they always get multiple category upgrades. My FIL is a tad on the frugul side so, he always books the cheapest category available and they always get upgraded for free to window or balcony room. I don't know the details of their benefits but he seems to like them and they are based on # of nights sailed not number of cruises. I remember because he always makes a big stink about it when he returns from vacation. They always win the prize for the most sailed onboard the ship.
 
I also feel they have devalued the concierge service, it used to be 105 days and you pay a premium for that, but now any Platinum cruiser can book at the same time irrespective of Cat booked. Recent cheap upgrades at Port for suites, and introduction of tipping on Suites for concierge are making suites less desirable now when the perks are freely available for a lower price.

They do read this, so keep posting as well!

Now that concierge has been moved to 120 days as well I don't agree that it is devalued with the new system. Think about it. When the REAS package was available anyone could book it for under $400 and get the same booking window as concierge. Many first time cruisers did just this so that they could get Palo resies and book excursions at the 105 day window, which at that time was the highest available. I do not remember reading one single post on this board by someone in concierge who was upset by that fact in the past few years. Noone has reported yet what the window for the REAS is for the last few months of the year with the new system in place so I could see someone who paid the extra thinking that they were going to be among the first to get resies would be upset that they may not be getting what was advertised when they added the package.

But anyhow, since the REAS is being stopped with 2009 you will no longer have that influx of cruisers who only have to shell out $400 no matter what category they have booked to get the concierge booking window...think those cat 12 bounceback cruises even. I believe that there will be far fewer Plat members on each cruise - and they will have paid A LOT more to DCL than $400 to get that access - so the system is actually benefiting those who are in concierge on the cruise The Plat members won't be getting the extra service, gifts, space, etc so that will remain exclusive. And yes, I know that the REAS package is not offered on the longer repo & TA cruises but when you take into account the number of cruises that did offer the REAS that is a very small percentage.
 
I hope they will rethink the CC levels as well. We have only sailed once with DCL (7 night Western), but our next cruise is the 14 day EB TA. So we will have only 2 cruises, but 21 days...
 
Welcome Back Andrew. I missed you.:hug:
:love::love::love:
Thanks Andrew... I haven't been on the cruise Chat page for a while so, I just read the announcement. I didn't know about the concierge level thing either. That is definitely not fair as well. We did our 11 nighter in a category 3. I really just don't think Disney thought it through. I hope they can recover.

My inlaws sail Princess. They are like at 500 plus nights. So, they get free laundry service on all their cruises (the ships do not have onsite laundry rooms) and they always get multiple category upgrades. My FIL is a tad on the frugul side so, he always books the cheapest category available and they always get upgraded for free to window or balcony room. I don't know the details of their benefits but he seems to like them and they are based on # of nights sailed not number of cruises. I remember because he always makes a big stink about it when he returns from vacation. They always win the prize for the most sailed onboard the ship.

I think that the special cruises of over 7 nights ie 10/11/12/14/15 should get an extra credit, as if you think a back to back 7 night gets two! Even a B2B Wonder gets two on 7 nights.

Now that concierge has been moved to 120 days as well I don't agree that it is devalued with the new system. Think about it. When the REAS package was available anyone could book it for under $400 and get the same booking window as concierge. Many first time cruisers did just this so that they could get Palo resies and book excursions at the 105 day window, which at that time was the highest available. I do not remember reading one single post on this board by someone in concierge who was upset by that fact in the past few years. None has reported yet what the window for the REAS is for the last few months of the year with the new system in place so I could see someone who paid the extra thinking that they were going to be among the first to get resies would be upset that they may not be getting what was advertised when they added the package.

But anyhow, since the REAS is being stopped with 2009 you will no longer have that influx of cruisers who only have to shell out $400 no matter what category they have booked to get the concierge booking window...think those cat 12 bounceback cruises even. I believe that there will be far fewer Plat members on each cruise - and they will have paid A LOT more to DCL than $400 to get that access - so the system is actually benefiting those who are in concierge on the cruise The Plat members won't be getting the extra service, gifts, space, etc so that will remain exclusive. And yes, I know that the REAS package is not offered on the longer repo & TA cruises but when you take into account the number of cruises that did offer the REAS that is a very small percentage.


See your point but disagree, why?

REAS had very little availability, it was very much limited on sale each cruise, it started life as a Wedding add on package, and the 105 booking's was only meant for Palo, the shore booking was an (DCL) unadvertised perk, it was advertised here.

Plus people paid for REAS yes it wasn't too much but they paid for it.

Plat cruisers will be far higher there is considerable repeat cruisers on these boards, the poll going on shows a good level already.

Now when I booked my Cat 3, I was aware of REAS, (well didn't apply to my next cruise anyway before it was withdrawn, as thats 12 nights) but booked being aware of that.

Baltic shore trips will be very very popular, like the Med, with the majority of cruisers coming from the USA they will feel more comfortable trusting DCL to organize it, not like the Caribbean where far more do it themselves.

So I booked and paid for a concierge room, yes its a great room, fabulous in fact, but the product included first choice of booking shore trips and Palo, now its joint first, its can I say 'Russian roulette' if there are many Plats on my Baltic cruise or not, (or any one)

Should concierge pay sky high prices, and then someone with less say 30 days cruising on the Wonder equal the booking window.?

Now this isn't a rant, just my opinion, I feel they are chipping away at the suite perks, if you book early you pay high, but we have seen many posts of very cheap upgrades to suites this year,

Now not everyone will agree with this, concierge cruisers are few so the majority may not be sympathetic, but I have had a lot of people PM to agree with me!
 
I look at it as a SHARED perk for loyal cruisers and the people who can and do pay for the suites. It shouldn't be a competition.

ALL OF THE OTHER CRUISE LINES BASE THEIR TIERED REWARD SYSTEM ON THE NUMBER OF CRUISES, NOT THE AMOUNT OF DAYS.

If it went by the amount of days, I too, would be platinum...but I'm not complaining. If it went by the amount of money spent on cruises, as in, the number of rooms paid for, the amount of money spent only on suites on longer cruises, paying for a DCL wedding, I'd be so far beyond Platinum that it isn't even funny. But I'm still not complaining. How fair would it be to the people who only have enough vacation time to take the 3 and 4 night cruises, if they counted the number of days?

There will ALWAYS be someone who feels that they are getting the short end of the stick. Always.

Disney did what they did according to industry standards.

There really isn't any reason to keep going over and over something that's already done, and I seriously doubt that a letter-writing campaign is going to make any difference whatsoever.
 
Most likely posted before but words to the wise.

Do not double instruct, IE two or more travel agents.
Do not panic if you instruct a TA, and decide to book yourself.

These can bump up the tier prices, or cause Main dinner to fill, or Cats to swap to GTY status for you and others quicker than it should.

With phone call bookings only this week this should reduce the possibility, as we can see DCL can and have linked our CC numbers with previous and newly booked cruises, so they can see who is double booking.

Its frustrating though not knowing prices in advance that leads to a little panic, and more double instructions IE test the water on inside and outside rooms.
 
Well, it's 10pm here and it's a school night, so I'll be turning in soon so to all who will be on the phones to DCL tomorrow...

pixiedust: Good luck pixiedust:

Hope all you Gold/Platinum CC members can get the cruises/dates you want! :cutie:

But please leave room onboard for me. :-)
 

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