Anybody else having trouble with AAA booking?

[disneycrazzzy]

I was one of those who was able to book two category 4 cabins on the 8/8/2009 Western for the price of two category 11s. I really didn't care whether I got a category 6 or 5 or 4, but since they were all the same price; I chose the 4. I was also able to pick from about 6 or 7 cabins that were available on the AAA website.

We were able to get two adjacent cabins forward on deck 8 on the port side. I can see on the DCL website that there are now adjacent category 4 cabins available on the starboard side near the aft elevators. We would prefer these cabins. I called my AAA agent to request she see about switching cabins.

She informed me that I shouldn't request "any" changes since my ability to book the cabins I have in the first place was a "mistake". She told me that DCL is only honoring these prices because it was their mistake in allowing these bookings (I know there are others on the DIS who got the same deal).

She made me feel really bad. Like I had done something illegal or immoral. I wouldn't think I would be treated any differently by DCL than any other passenger with a booking of a category 4 cabin regardless of how much I paid. I'm not sure why she couldn't ask. If they said "No," I'd be fine with that. I even offerred if my reservation is such a problem, to drop down to a category 6 if they would be willing to work with me to get the same cabins for our 8/8 and 8/15 cruises (we are doing back-to-back cruises) so we wouldn't have to switch between cruises. I don't think she cared.

So this is why I really don't like working with a TA. I can't talk to DCL myself and work out these kind of details. I want to verify our CC numbers are there, make sure we are linked for dining, make sure we are waitlisted for early dining, etc. and now I have to rely on a TA to do all that without really a way to verify. Oh well....I shouldn't be complaining based on the prices we got....but still. Otherwise, the AAA agent I've been working with has been very pleasant and has done everything I've asked her to do.

Thoughts?

 

[Interpol]

Sounds like your TA was being lazy and didn't feel like doing any footwork for you to get your cabin assignments changed. You've paid for your accomodations and essentially signed a contract with DCL, PLUS you've offered a reasonable alternative if DCL decides to renege on you (which you're not obligated to do, IMO).

 

[ga9497]

TA's like this give all TA's a bad name. To be honest she could have called and checked. I don't believe it was Disney's mistake because it wasn't DCL's site it was AAA site that gave those prices.

 

[kaseyC]

No, the TA I am working with from my local AAA office has been great and has handled all my requests. (adding CC number and waitlist for main dining)
I'm not too surprised that they will not allow you to change your cabins. Many times with these types of promos especially if there is some type of mistake on their part, they will not allow any changes or modifications.

Is your local AAA office close to you? it probably couldn't hurt to pop in and talk to your agent face to face.

Good Luck and don't let it put a damper on your getting an awesome deal.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

Thoughts?

Call the same AAA location (or even a different one in the same territory) and ask to speak to someone OTHER than that agent. As far as I know, they all can see each others bookings if they are in the same territory (or at least the same office). Ask the new agent to please try to change the room.

Either it works or it doesn't.

Heck, I went so far as to call clear across the country, and I ultimately had to access the NY AAA web site to get the deal...after being told by my west coast agent "I can't even find that rate on the system", and by the west coast AAA web people "oh, that rate is a mistake".

Ultimately, the west coast AAA web people held a cat4 at that rate anyways (they were very nice about trying to get to the bottom of the "mistake"), but I had already booked through the east coast already.

In other words, don't give up just because someone tells you it is impossible.

I'd be paying thousands of $$$ more if I had given up.

She informed me that I shouldn't request "any" changes since my ability to book the cabins I have in the first place was a "mistake". She told me that DCL is only honoring these prices because it was their mistake in allowing these bookings (I know there are others on the DIS who got the same deal). She made me feel really bad. Like I had done something illegal or immoral.

Either she is feeling some misplaced "moral outrage" over this ("It was a mistake on the web page and you took advantage of it! Cheater! How dare you expect to get the price listed!"), or maybe the local AAA shops are having to eat the price difference, so some of the agents are mad?

My (new) east coast AAA agent was quite helpful after I got this deal...and my west coast AAA agent has always been helpful as well. My west coast AAA agent was even a bit miffed at AAA because I had to jump though all of those hoops in order to get an advertised rate!

 

[kaseyC]

She made me feel really bad. Like I had done something illegal or immoral. I wouldn't think I would be treated any differently by DCL than any other passenger with a booking of a category 4 cabin regardless of how much I paid. I'm not sure why she couldn't ask. If they said "No," I'd be fine with that. I even offerred if my reservation is such a problem, to drop down to a category 6 if they would be willing to work with me to get the same cabins for our 8/8 and 8/15 cruises (we are doing back-to-back cruises) so we wouldn't have to switch between cruises. I don't think she cared.

Thoughts?

I missed this part of your post. (I was at DDs soccer practice posting from my Iphone) Now this part ticks me off and I think you should call her on it. No one should make you feel bad or like you have done something wrong. Even at the price of this AAA promo, it's still alot of money.

Call her back and insist that she at least calls DCL and asks. If she refuses again, either request another agent or her supervisor. You are not asking for anything more than to change cabin numbers not categories.

 

[WendyinMaryland]

I don't buy that this was a mistake. Maybe they were hoping that less people would jump on it, but if it was a mistake, they would have pulled it WAY before they did (it was online for a WEEK and some people say that they CALLED and got that same rate through this week!). I think they freaked because so many people were canceling as the pay-in-full day arrived, and they wanted to fill the ship. Perhaps they don't want to set a precedent of a deal like this because they don't want people to 'wait' for deals in the future rather than book way in advance to get the 'cheapest' rates like we had been told to do. That may be why they are passing this off as a 'mistake'. Were all the kids sail free pins a mistake too?

 

[Dizzyworld]

I feel your pain. I will never work with the AAA agent I have here in Timonium Maryland. Clueless. Useless. Never returns emails questions or phone calls. I have been more than patient. The last time it has now been 2+ weeks since she was suppose to get an answer to my question and get back to me. I was in the office when I asked the question. The person at DCL group wasn't there to give the answer so she was going to get the answer and get in contact with me. I ended up calling DCL group sales and got the answer I needed so I could book my excursions . Still no AAA response.. I've talked twice to her manager and still it hasn't gotten any better. Booking a cruise should be such an easy trip for them to book.

Good luck. Call the manager. It is a business deal and your money.

 

[moet7]

I was one of those who was able to book two category 4 cabins on the 8/8/2009 Western for the price of two category 11s. I really didn't care whether I got a category 6 or 5 or 4, but since they were all the same price; I chose the 4. I was also able to pick from about 6 or 7 cabins that were available on the AAA website.

We were able to get two adjacent cabins forward on deck 8 on the port side. I can see on the DCL website that there are now adjacent category 4 cabins available on the starboard side near the aft elevators. We would prefer these cabins. I called my AAA agent to request she see about switching cabins.

She informed me that I shouldn't request "any" changes since my ability to book the cabins I have in the first place was a "mistake". She told me that DCL is only honoring these prices because it was their mistake in allowing these bookings (I know there are others on the DIS who got the same deal).

She made me feel really bad. Like I had done something illegal or immoral. I wouldn't think I would be treated any differently by DCL than any other passenger with a booking of a category 4 cabin regardless of how much I paid. I'm not sure why she couldn't ask. If they said "No," I'd be fine with that. I even offerred if my reservation is such a problem, to drop down to a category 6 if they would be willing to work with me to get the same cabins for our 8/8 and 8/15 cruises (we are doing back-to-back cruises) so we wouldn't have to switch between cruises. I don't think she cared.

So this is why I really don't like working with a TA. I can't talk to DCL myself and work out these kind of details. I want to verify our CC numbers are there, make sure we are linked for dining, make sure we are waitlisted for early dining, etc. and now I have to rely on a TA to do all that without really a way to verify. Oh well....I shouldn't be complaining based on the prices we got....but still. Otherwise, the AAA agent I've been working with has been very pleasant and has done everything I've asked her to do.

Thoughts?

HI

I'm also one of the lucky ones who got a cat. 4 for the same price as a cat. 6. You DO NOT have to talk to your TA about changing staterooms, linking your reservations, checking on your Castaway Club Numbers. The ONLY thing you have to talk to your TA about is if the question has to do with MONEY!

I was told this by a very nice woman at DCL. I called to make sure my two staterooms were linked and I started the conversation with .....I have a cruised booked with AAA and I want to check to see that my staterooms are linked. Can you help me even though I have booked with a TA?

She said "yes" that she can talk to me about and help me with anything to do with my cruise, except if it involves money.

She linked my reservations, put our cc numbers on our reservation and marked which day we wanted to celebrate our anniversary in the dinning room.

A few days later I noticed a statroom opened up that was in a better location and I called DCL and asked for the new stateroom , had no problem at all. Once I hung up, checked the website and my new number was there.

So, just call DCL with your request and hopfully they will be just as helpful!

And I agree with the other posters, WE (the people who got the cat.4's) did NOTHING wrong. We booked cruises at the price that was quoted to us!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

You DO NOT have to talk to your TA about changing staterooms, linking your reservations, checking on your Castaway Club Numbers. The ONLY thing you have to talk to your TA about is if the question has to do with MONEY!

Oh I hope you are right! I'll call first thing tomorrow and see what they can do. That would be awesome. I can continue being the planning-maniac I am without having a "middle-man" to frustrate me. Let's hope those cabins are still available. I would really like to get back with my AAA TA and be able to say...."neener neener" after I get the cabins I want.

Thanks for the info!

And btw...the Disboards Rock! Without all who continue to post with little tidbits of information they've gleaned....I'd still be trying to decide whether to choose the category 12 cabins are category 6 cabins we had booked for our cruise...instead we are in category 4s for just a few $100 more than our category 12s.

 

[moet7]

Oh I hope you are right! I'll call first thing tomorrow and see what they can do. That would be awesome. I can continue being the planning-maniac I am without having a "middle-man" to frustrate me. Let's hope those cabins are still available. I would really like to get back with my AAA TA and be able to say...."neener neener" after I get the cabins I want.

Thanks for the info!

And btw...the Disboards Rock! Without all who continue to post with little tidbits of information they've gleaned....I'd still be trying to decide whether to choose the category 12 cabins are category 6 cabins we had booked for our cruise...instead we are in category 4s for just a few $100 more than our category 12s.

Good luck when you call, you shouldn't have a problem, since I didn't. You can check the DCL website tonight to see if the cabins are still there. Let us know how it all works out for you.

And I so get how you feel, I also hate using a TA, I'm so use to being incharge when we travel, but for the 3,520 I am saving on my cruise, I will put up with it!!!

I should add that the TA I am using with AAA has been wonderful and handled a horrible problem I had with my disney rewards card!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

I should add that the TA I am using with AAA has been wonderful and handled a horrible problem I had with my disney rewards card!

Not that I want to get "blood out of a turnip", but were you able to get the Disney Visa $50 OBC AND the AAA $150 OBC? That is also a question I have asked my AAA TA. I'm guessing since this is a money question, she will have to answer. Or my reliable disfriends will know....

 

[HallsofVA]

Not that I want to get "blood out of a turnip", but were you able to get the Disney Visa $50 OBC AND the AAA $150 OBC? That is also a question I have asked my AAA TA. I'm guessing since this is a money question, she will have to answer. Or my reliable disfriends will know....

Our first cruise we did not get the Disney Visa $50 OBC because we had the AAA OBC. Don't know if they've changed that policy or not.

 

[moet7]

Not that I want to get "blood out of a turnip", but were you able to get the Disney Visa $50 OBC AND the AAA $150 OBC? That is also a question I have asked my AAA TA. I'm guessing since this is a money question, she will have to answer. Or my reliable disfriends will know....

Hi
I had my AAA TA ask about the visa obc, my TA thought I would get it, since it's from Visa, but Disney said NO, since I received the AAA promo. Which I don't understand, since the money isn't coming from Disney, but atleast my TA asked for me and she said that the Disney person tried a few different ways to get me to have it, but it kept boucning out.

Good luck with getting your staterooms.

 

[kaseyC]

I don't buy that this was a mistake. Maybe they were hoping that less people would jump on it, but if it was a mistake, they would have pulled it WAY before they did (it was online for a WEEK and some people say that they CALLED and got that same rate through this week!). I think they freaked because so many people were canceling as the pay-in-full day arrived, and they wanted to fill the ship. Perhaps they don't want to set a precedent of a deal like this because they don't want people to 'wait' for deals in the future rather than book way in advance to get the 'cheapest' rates like we had been told to do. That may be why they are passing this off as a 'mistake'. Were all the kids sail free pins a mistake too?

No, I don't believe they are saying the promo was a mistake. I think the way it was set up on the website was incorrect. According to my AAA TA, the promo was supposed to be GTY only, lowest Cat. in the type of Cabin selected. For example, 3 passengers or less wanting a Verandah at the promo rate should have been able to only book a Cat 7 GTY, 4 passengers a Cat. 6 GTY and 5 passengers a Cat. 4 GTY. The error was the fact that those of us who booked online were able choose our Cabin Category and cabin number no matter how many passengers were sailing. Of course, most of us selected the Cat. 4, which ended up saving us the most money.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

I called DCL this morning to see if they could change the cabins on my reservation and the answer was "Only AAA can change the reservation." She explained the reservation was "locked" and she couldn't access it. So, I might just ask my AAA agent again to see if DCL will change the cabins. Overall, she has been very helpful and friendly. She just thinks that DCL will change the great rate I got if I change the cabins....I think she is mistaken.

Speaking of mistakes....I agree that the problem with the AAA promotion up until Wednesday of last week was they improperly implemented it on the AAA website allowing us to pick our cabin. I have cabins booked both 8/8 and 8/15. I wasn't able to see any cabins available on 8/15 and gave up getting the promotion. As of Wednesday, the AAA website didn't show the great rates on any sailing. On Thursday a disboarder mentioned she was able to call and get the rate. I called AAA and was able to get the properly implemented promotion on the 8/15 cruise.....I got a 7 GTY for our group of 3 for the price of a category 11. On 8/8 I got a category 4 cabin (not GTY) for our group of 3. By this weekend however, another disboarder mentioned the rates weren't available anymore by phone....I don't know about that firsthand.

According to my AAA agent the implementation of the promotion on the AAA website was the responsibility of DCL and that DCL is bearing the brunt of the discounted category 4 cabins we got. My husband says they are still getting thousands of dollars and they should be able to accomodate my request. I am going to send my AAA agent another email and request she makes a change. When I look at the DCL website there are still at least 8 cabins available in each of categories 4, 5, 6, and 7 on the 8/8 cruise. The 8/15 cruise has cabins but they are all GTY.

 

[moet7]

I called DCL this morning to see if they could change the cabins on my reservation and the answer was "Only AAA can change the reservation." She explained the reservation was "locked" and she couldn't access it. So, I might just ask my AAA agent again to see if DCL will change the cabins. Overall, she has been very helpful and friendly. She just thinks that DCL will change the great rate I got if I change the cabins....I think she is mistaken.

Speaking of mistakes....I agree that the problem with the AAA promotion up until Wednesday of last week was they improperly implemented it on the AAA website allowing us to pick our cabin. I have cabins booked both 8/8 and 8/15. I wasn't able to see any cabins available on 8/15 and gave up getting the promotion. As of Wednesday, the AAA website didn't show the great rates on any sailing. On Thursday a disboarder mentioned she was able to call and get the rate. I called AAA and was able to get the properly implemented promotion on the 8/15 cruise.....I got a 7 GTY for our group of 3 for the price of a category 11. On 8/8 I got a category 4 cabin (not GTY) for our group of 3. By this weekend however, another disboarder mentioned the rates weren't available anymore by phone....I don't know about that firsthand.

According to my AAA agent the implementation of the promotion on the AAA website was the responsibility of DCL and that DCL is bearing the brunt of the discounted category 4 cabins we got. My husband says they are still getting thousands of dollars and they should be able to accomodate my request. I am going to send my AAA agent another email and request she makes a change. When I look at the DCL website there are still at least 8 cabins available in each of categories 4, 5, 6, and 7 on the 8/8 cruise. The 8/15 cruise has cabins but they are all GTY.

Hi
Sorry but your reservation is NOT locked. I called twice and both times was able to have things changed or added that had nothing to do with money.

Just so I am understanding you correctly, all you want to do is change staterooms from one cat. 4 to another cat. 4? you don't want to move up a cat. or down a cat. which would involve money.

I would call back and speak to someone else. When you call, just say "I have a cruise booked and noticed stateroom # has opened up that I would like to change to, don't mention AAA at all.

The person I spoke with at DCL that changed my stateroom's name was Candy.

Good luck!

 

[ga9497]

Hi
Sorry but your reservation is NOT locked. I called twice and both times was able to have things changed or added that had nothing to do with money.

Just so I am understanding you correctly, all you want to do is change staterooms from one cat. 4 to another cat. 4? you don't want to move up a cat. or down a cat. which would involve money.

I would call back and speak to someone else. When you call, just say "I have a cruise booked and noticed stateroom # has opened up that I would like to change to, don't mention AAA at all.

The person I spoke with at DCL that changed my stateroom's name was Candy.

Good luck!

Whoever at DCL allowed you to make changes shouldn't have. If you booked through a TA only the TA should be able to make changes avoiding any confusion between what they have on their end when you booked and what you are changing. They do not see the change unless they physically pull up your reservation on Disney's end. The cm' that did the change can get into big trouble for accessing your reservation. Having only the TA access it is to avoid confusion further down the road.

Disneycrazy - I don't believe for a minute that it was DCL's fault. I mean do they really have access to AAA's computer system? I think not.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

I would call back and speak to someone else. When you call, just say "I have a cruise booked and noticed stateroom # has opened up that I would like to change to, don't mention AAA at all.


Good luck!

I didn't mention AAA at all (I knew better) and said basically exactly what you suggested...."I'd like to change my cabins on my reservation." Once she brought up my reservations she said she couldn't see it to make changes since it was owned by a travel agent.

!!!Newsflash!!!: My AAA agent was able to change my cabins. I sent an email at 7am (west coast time) and she responded within 10 minutes that they were changed. I told her that I knew of several others who got the same deal and were able to change their cabins.... Again thanks to my disfriends!

My AAA agent also let me know that she is willing to do anything I need her to do and that I can call/email as much as I want....that this is her job. That made me feel better.

And for good measure I logged onto the DCL website and confirmed the cabin changes....super!

 

[moet7]

Whoever at DCL allowed you to make changes shouldn't have. If you booked through a TA only the TA should be able to make changes avoiding any confusion between what they have on their end when you booked and what you are changing. They do not see the change unless they physically pull up your reservation on Disney's end. The cm' that did the change can get into big trouble for accessing your reservation. Having only the TA access it is to avoid confusion further down the road.

Disneycrazy - I don't believe for a minute that it was DCL's fault. I mean do they really have access to AAA's computer system? I think not.

According to the DCL person they can change anything as long as it doesn't have to do with money.

As far as my TA with AAA is concerned having DCL link my staterooms, request my anniversary on a certain night in the dinning room and changing my room number doesn't hurt my reservation with them at all. I have no othe reason to even speak to my TA anymore since the "money" part of it is over.

I have called Disney Cruise Lines three times about my reservation and all three times they handled "non-money" issues for me.

Not sure why disneycrazy was given an excuse that her reservation was "locked" might have gotten a CM that just didn't want to help her out, maybe she just got done answering a bunch of phone calls about the swine flu and was in a bad mood!

Regardless, I would think her AAA TA should be able to handle this without it being such an issue.