Anyone use Small World?

[jeast]

I'm thinking of transferring my disney reservation to Small world for the cash to you rebate. Anyone use them and like them. Specifically Joyce.

 

[suwoogie]

I'm using them. I have Laura as my agent. So far everything is good. We used them last time and I forgot about the rebate. When the check came I was pleasantly surprised!

 

[cepmom]

I'm using them too ~ we also have Laura as our agent. We have 2 cruises booked with her and also a reservation at WDW before this summer's cruise. She has been great...I have had to change my reservations several times and she is always good about getting us what we need. (had to change from cat 4 stateroom to 2 cat 10 connecting, changed dates, changed reservation to take advantage of the Disney Visa onboard credit offer etc).

When the AP holder rates came out , she called me at home to see if we wanted to change to that rate. When I wasn't home, she asked my DD for my cell # so she could get that information to me right away! I was hesitant about using a TA, but after that, I was truly impressed! I actually got an email offer for the free dining plan offer for WDW (before it was open to the public) I booked that and had it transferred over to Laura ~ she has been so great, I would have felt badly if she was losing her commission after being so good to us!

suwoogie ~

when did your rebate check come? Did you receive it before or after your cruise?

 

[mom_rules]

Also used SWV-they were great. Had the best quote at the time - Our agent Jo was wonderful-emailed helpful hints etc. Our rebate check was waiting for us when we walked through the door after our vacation!

 

[suwoogie]

Same with us. The check was there when we got back from the cruise. It took a while to find it under all those bills and junk mail that piled up! Like I said, it was a nice surprise.

 

[bjkj]

I am using them! So far so good. Barbara is my agent and she has been great. She has answered countless questions and arranged things perfectly. I would reccomend!

 

[pdarrah]

I hate to rain on the parade - but we used them for our cruise last October and were very unhappy with our agent (no, I won't name her here). If I deal with an online travel agent, I expect to get responses to emails (or phone calls) AT LEAST within 24 hours - not 48-72 hours! Since I was on the DISboard here, I didn't have that many questions, but the ones I did took forever to answer. When I would follow up and ask again, I'd get rather snotty replies about how busy she was.

This probably isn't a problem with the entire agency, but so far I am keeping my reservation for October with DCL - I'm just afraid to get into the same situation again. Due to the hurricanes last year, our itinerary was changed and it was VERY hard getting any information about that from our agent. I got more details by emailing DCL directly!

pdarrah

 

[RKB]

I am using Sandy right now and she has been very quick to reply to any emailed questions - never too busy to get right back to me. She has also had good advice. So far I am very happy with the service I have received. My other DCL trip I hired a useless local travel agent so this is a nice change!

 

[ladypoo]

We have used this travel agency for 2 previous cruises and are using them again for our Cruise in August. Our travel agent is on vacation this week and rooms opened up on the repo cruise. We called her and she was gracious enough to call the cruise line and get us a higher category stateroom. Sometimes they are a bit "snappy" but all in all we have been satisfied with them

 

[jeast]

pdarrah,

Can you at least confirm that it was not joyce?

 

[pdarrah]

Hi Jeast,

Yes, I can confirm it was NOT joyce. I just don't want to be mentioning names here - it just doesn't seem fair. Maybe she was having some major personal problem at the time or something - I was just very unimpressed with the "service" I received since I pretty much had to handle everything myself once the cruise was booked.

pdarrah

 

[lookingforward]

I was underwhelmed with Small World. We used them for our September cruise. I switched from a Cat 3 to two Cat 5's under the Florida Resident rates and saved about $2000. Our agent was not too happy about extra questions, etc. I booked the Romance package and it seemed I knew more about it than she did, especially when it came to making reservations through DCL's Debbie. (My agent told me that I should not call her). At any rate, the cruise was shortened by the hurricane from four nights to three. Since it was going to be only 3 nights I cancelled the Romance Package and we were refunded 40% of the cruise fare. It took MANY phone calls to iron out the refunds (DCL would not speak to me because I had a travel agent on the reservation) and then it took many inquiries before I got my $75 rebate. It was, for me, under the circumstances, more trouble than it was worth!

 

[MommyMouse]

I booked with Leigh for this cruise coming up. She seems very informative and on the ball. On the other hand, we just got off the Magic a few weeks ago, so many of my questions were self answered. For that cruise, we used All Seas Travel. I think All Seas may be a bit less, but with Small World we get the rebate AND onboard credit.

 

[we6clarks]

I also had a bad experience with SWT. The agent we were assigned to got back to us with in 24-48 hrs with price quotes for a 3 night cruise in Jan. When I emailed that we changed our minds and wanted to do a 4 night cuise instead I never heard back from her. Maybe it's me, I haven't had luck with any TA I've tried contacting. I booked with DCL instead.

 

[Momeska]

I, too, used Small World Vacations and for the most part was very happy with them. My agent kept in touch with me via email about all the changes. She even cancelled my original booking and rebooked it in order for me to take advantage of a $100 rebate. We came home to the "forgotten" (by me!)additional $100 check from SMV. Our agent always emailed me with any new info i.e. the free soda change. She wished us a happy trip and sent another email afterwards hoping we had a great time.

My one "complaint" was a phone call I received from her, all excited that we had gotten an upgrade. We originally booked a Cat. 12, which actually had to be a Cat. 11 because there were four of us and only 3 fit in a Cat. 12. She was so excited that we got this upgrade to a Cat. 8 that she wanted to tell me over the phone instead of by email. Well...once she gave me the stateroom number and I (obsessive, that I am ) researched it, found it was also a Cat. 11, not an 8. I called her back and she told me that it's called a Cat. 11 by Disney but is really a Cat. 8 because of where it's located. I was so excited. Well, come to find out, there was nothing special about it and it was a true Cat. 11. My point after this rambling is that she should have done her research before calling and getting me all excited about this "non" upgrade. She did apologize once she found out. In the end, it didn't matter one bit. They could have put us on the deck, we had such a wonderful time.

 

[erikthewise]

We have booked two cruises through Small World (Laura) and are very satisfied. No complications, no problems, quick response to emails.

 

[jeast]

Great information. Thanks everyone!

 

[WVMD]

I booked a 4-day over Easter 2004 with Small World. I had made my first reservations directly, and decided to try a TA. I researched and thought that they were a good choice. I was not satisfied with their service - we had a few days pre-cruise at the Royal Pacific. Reservations were messed up, requests were not followed through, etc.

It seemed like the TA was most interested in getting me to transfer my 10 day cruise to them - which I thankfully did not.

I sent an email to the owner and the agent outlining why I was disappointed. I never received a reply.

It''s just like anything - your experience may vary - as it was obvious when I researched that many people had good experiences with them.

Virgil

 

[jeast]

To be honest, I'm thinking of running a thread on dana at micdan.com. She seems pretty popular in other threads. I guess I'm just fussy. I usually do things on my own and don't like to give up control.

On the other hand, it would be nice to have someone keeping track of any discounts/fare changes that would help me. Not to mention the rebate check.

I'm undecided.