Any Negative experiences with DU?

[Jimbo]

My DU experience matches Crisi's. I really missed the ability to talk to an agent. An answer to a question generally prompts another question, and if I was talking to a live person, whether on the phone or face to face, I'd ask that question. DU doesn't permit that sort of give and take.

The time period when I was booking my cruise coincided with some problems at DU. I'm not clear what those problems were exactly, but the bottom line is that my booking was messed up. I had a deposit that was due, and it nearly impossible to get my booking straightened out via email in time. So I gave up and booked through AAA.

Frankly, I really struggled with DU's business model. On every other e-commerce site I deal with, the Internet is used to eliminate some of the middle men. This "friction" slows things down and pushes up costs, so that's generally a good thing. I book almost all of my travel this way. But DU hasn't eliminated anything that I can see. The only difference is that instead of interacting with the middle person directly, you do it via email. This doesn't seem like progress to me. It can be OK, I suppose, if everything is working smoothly. But when it's not, it has a whole "message in a bottle" feel to it.

I'm sure that I was dealing with them during a bad period. And I assume those problems have been fixed, since so many rave about DU. But I am extremely happy with AAA too.

 

[vossjemi]

Once you've booked, you can look at your confirmation online. In that confirmation is a phone # to call them should you need to. When I first booked, I wanted an spr that i could see available on another website. When the confirmation was sent to me, it was the wrong cabin, but the note said it wasn't available anymore....but I could see it available on this other website. Well, in my excitement to make sure i got the cabin i wanted, I emailed back very fast. But, I also called the # in my confirmation because I wanted to make sure it got done very fast to be sure. Sure enough, it was just a blink in the system or something which explained why it was temporarily unavailable...but they got it switched around lickety split and i was a happy camper.

 

[Billinaz]

It appears the agents work from home quite a bit. There is a phone number, but you'll wind up getting an answering machine.

 

[SueEllen]

Originally posted by Billinaz
It appears the agents work from home quite a bit. There is a phone number, but you'll wind up getting an answering machine.

Just an FYI--you do not always get an answering machine. There is a live person that answers the phone during office hours. If all lines are busy you will get the machine, but messages are returned ASAP.

Sue Ellen

 

[disneyfreakk]

i have never booked with DU. i had put in for a quote with very specific dates. i also asked for a quote on the suites at AKL and on the cruise, as well as club level for the HRH. well, they sent me a quote that had nothing to do with anything i had asked (except that yes, suites are avalible but they are more expensive! DUH, i knew that! AND the dates were wrong! needless to say i have never used them. i figured if they couldnt get my info on a quote right then my vacation would just be more fun than i could handle

 

[Bauerbandt]

This will be our first cruise and first time using DU. I was getting similar pricing directly from DCL, but decided to use DU because of their support of these threads. I would have to agree with those (Crisi, Jimbo, etc.) who have found difficulty in communicating with DU under the email (only) model, especially as plans change. We (luckily) received our travel docs on 9/30 (incorrect mailing address and wrong contact phone number). Sent an email that day to DU TA, but have not received a call or email back. I guess I'll have a final opinion after our trip.

 

[SueEllen]

Originally posted by Bauerbandt
We (luckily) received our travel docs on 9/30 (incorrect mailing address and wrong contact phone number). Sent an email that day to DU TA, but have not received a call or email back. I guess I'll have a final opinion after our trip.

Bauerbandt--Please email John (john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com) and let him know about the document problem. He will take care of correcting any issues.

Have a great cruise!
Sue Ellen

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

DU have looked after my booking very well, so I also recommend.

 

[jodifla]

I liked working with DU also. When I called to pay my final amount, I requested bedrails and a booster seat, and they were ready and waiting on the ship when I got there.

Other than that, I didn't really need to be in contact with them much after the initial pricing.

I worked with Penny and she was great.