Aug 24 2014 cruise canceled!

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I think there is a difference just wanting to be able to pay the same price you booked and trying to get a bunch of free on board creds...

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

When this happened to me, I would have been happy if they could have just kept my "effective date" which was the day I originally booked, and let me have that on a different ship. That way all the "early booking" advantage I had would just be applied to a different ship. But, DCL refused. And it was a Christmas cruise, and my kids' surprise. It stunk, and I'll be honest- it took a bit off our faith in the whole "pixie dust" thing. Like the OP, DCL was very snippy with us. We got about zero sympathy. In the end, it's made me a less loyal customer.

We went to Aulani with our vacation dollars for that trip. And we had just as great of a time.

 

[HeatherH]

The offer made to me was price protection back to pricing at the time of original booking, any sailing or ship, $100 onboard credit. Didn't have to be the same ship or itinerary.

Didn't read the whole thread, just reporting.

 

[lbgraves]

I think there is a difference just wanting to be able to pay the same price you booked and trying to get a bunch of free on board creds...

It's all a discount given by DCL.

The offer made to me was price protection back to pricing at the time of original booking, any sailing or ship, $100 onboard credit. Didn't have to be the same ship or itinerary.

Didn't read the whole thread, just reporting.

Yes, that is what has been reported, but some are not satisfied with that and want DCL to honor the price they paid for this cruise on another cruise the same number of nights.

 

[HeatherH]

It's all a discount given by DCL.



Yes, that is what has been reported, but some are not satisfied with that and want DCL to honor the price they paid for this cruise on another cruise the same number of nights.

Thank you for summarizing it all for me! I think DCL has been very fair with their offer, especially since it can be combined with onboard booking discounts and OBCs. Price protecting back to booking date is golden. It is unrealistic to think they can do more than that...most cruise lines don't do that, especially for a cruise date more than a year from now. No one could possibly have air booked yet, or any costs that weren't refundable.

 

[Monorail Bob's dd]

I am among those who were supposed to be on the August 24th cruise. I was extremely disappointed as this was the first cruise ever I was supposed to be on, I have never cruised before. I am a Disney travel agent and I had toured the Dream on an Agent Education Program trip in March and fell in love, booked the cruise as soon as I got back home. I do think it is wrong that the price I paid was not honored on another 4 night cruise. I had booked that cruise for a reason and at a particular price point. I am supposed to be cruising with my family and my BFF's family and she had to travel that week if we all want to go together. Because of this, we re-booked on the Fantasy for August 23rd, which I really am excited about. I think the $100 onboard credit is kind of lame but what can you do? I am thinking this is a first world problem to have.

 

[LizzieandLuke]

They should be offering people who were on this cancelled cruise to move their reservation to any available date of the same exact itinerary, at the same price as the cancelled reservation (and in the same "general" stateroom category, of course - if they were booked in, say, an 8D and none were available on the new date...thye're obviously not going to give them a concierge suite, but an 8A or even something in the 7s would be reasonable.), plus some OBC.

- I would be very happy with this too.

Lizzie ... Before you can the whole trip, try contacting Chris Elliott (chris[at]elliott.org). He is a consumer advocate whose personal website I help moderate and may be able to help you. He's aided a number of companies in seeing the error of their ways in the past. Not sure if it will help or not but it couldn't hurt.

- Thank you - I will give it a try.

Thank you for summarizing it all for me! I think DCL has been very fair with their offer, especially since it can be combined with onboard booking discounts and OBCs. Price protecting back to booking date is golden. It is unrealistic to think they can do more than that...most cruise lines don't do that, especially for a cruise date more than a year from now. No one could possibly have air booked yet, or any costs that weren't refundable.

I am sorry but I do not think this is fair. I am only asking that Disney honor the price I paid for 1 week earlier. (Leaving Aug 17 instead of August 24) Why do I need to pay an additional $800 to get put on a ship a week earlier. I DID NOT CANCEL. I did what everyone said to do - booked early, did research, paid my deposit. There was no discount offered on rebooking. As a matter of fact I chose 7C and if that's not available I have to pay the difference to upgrade. .

We go to WDW bi-annually. I have given them thousands of dollars. I just find this outrageous.

 

[JimGA]

Just because some people aren't joining the band wagon to boycott DCL if they don't give people who were on this cruise any other cruise for the same price, it doesn't meant that we think DCL should do whatever it wants. It simply means that we have seen this happen time and time again and know that DCL does what it wants. Every single time this happens there is an uproar, but nothing changes. If you look at the material published by DCL with the cruise dates you will see printed on the bottom of every page something along the lines of ITINERARY SUBJECT TO CHANGE. That statement clears them. They don't have to do anything to compensate anyone when an itinerary is changed, sometimes they do as they have offered in this case. Last month when they changed multiple cruises they didn't offer a cent in OBC.

Well said DCL only has to answer to their share holders, and currently their shares are doing great.

 

[LizzieandLuke]

Disney chartered this ship. They did not cancel because the ship required maintenance, mechanical issues etc. They canceled because someone was willing to pay top dollar. So technically they sold something that was already sold to many people to make money. And my little family (and the other little families) that were already scheduled - Disney is saying &@#% The all mighty dollar comes before me and my family and they won't even let me sail a week earlier at the same price.

 

[ladyleslie]

Disney chartered this ship. They did not cancel because the ship required maintenance, mechanical issues etc. They canceled because someone was willing to pay top dollar. So technically they sold something that was already sold to many people to make money. And my little family (and the other little families) that were already scheduled - Disney is saying &@#% The all mighty dollar comes before me and my family and they won't even let me sail a week earlier at the same price.

You Nailed It !!!!!!!!!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

As much as a Disney freak that I am and a big cheerleader and promoter, I DO NOT think they are being fair. Going to 'first booking' is no help when you are talking peak season vs last week of Aug.

If Disney changes on you, it should be "We are so sorry to have to inconvenience you this way, you are important to us, and we can try to get you on this next closest sailing for what you are already paying."

The End.

 

[tankin]

As much as a Disney freak that I am and a big cheerleader and promoter, I DO NOT think they are being fair. Going to 'first booking' is no help when you are talking peak season vs last week of Aug.

If Disney changes on you, it should be "We are so sorry to have to inconvenience you this way, you are important to us, and we can try to get you on this next closest sailing for what you are already paying."

The End.

I'm with you... This is just another incident in a long string where I see Disney beat the "Keys to the Kingdom" into their castmember's heads but completely ignore them at higher levels.

This isn't a circumstance beyond their control. This isn't dropping a port or two due to weather. This isn't cancelling a cruise due to a mechanical breakdown. This is a business decision to make more money that negatively effected their customers and they don't care. So much for courtesy and show.

 

[woody73]

. . . If Disney changes on you, it should be "We are so sorry to have to inconvenience you this way, you are important to us, and we can try to get you on this next closest sailing for what you are already paying."

Agreed.

IMO, if DCL is going to sell a charter cruise that displaces existing guests, they should add to the cost of the charter enough funds to put the original guests on a substitute cruise at the same price.

Any economic burden caused by the charter should fall on the company booking the charter, not on the displaced guests.

Woody

 

[4Joyces]

I was booked on the same cruise for 8/24/14. It was to celebrate my daughter starting kindergarten. They were going to charge $800 for me to move it up to 8/17/14. They said that was the price it would've cost when I booked last December. Um, no thank you. So I canceled it. And since we aren't going on the cruise, I also canceled our plans to go to WDW the week before the cruise. And since we aren't going to WDW next August, I also canceled my plans to get APs when we go in September. I figure that decision not to honor the same price for a cruise the week before probably cost Disney about $7-8000 of my family's money. Now we're looking into other options for our 2014 vacation. Dumb move on Disney's part, if you ask me. Both from a business and customer service perspective.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

 

[delauzons]

Today, I officially cancelled. There was no other cruise I could go on that was comparable. I booked concierge the day the cruise came available to book. I then told 2 other families who also booked concierge rooms. I chose that one because it was a good price. The kids were so excited to all be together. We are DVC members and have been on multiple Disney cruises. I am extremely turned off. When people had Disney World value hotels booked and Disney decided to move them they were upgraded to Villas. My sister in law booked Pop Century and got upgraded to a 2BR villa at OKW! I didn't expect to be upgraded but I feel like i was shut out. I felt it was very un-Disney and really left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway, all 3 families are looking for a new vacation option for next summer. We went to Woodloch Pines for the first time this year and loved it so we might try that.

 

[anna08]

If you like beaches, Watercolor in Florida on the gulf coast is always ranked one of the best family vacation spots every year. We've been going to there and Seaside for over 10 years and LOVE it!! There is fantastic family programming and you can get everywhere by foot or bike.

http://www.watercolorresort.com/FamilyFunDays/ - check it out!

 

[delauzons]

Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a great place!

 

[LizzieandLuke]

Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a great place!
I booked marked the page too. It looks like a fun family place. So many choices. Royal Caribbean has a 7 day Dreamworks cruise out of Port Canaveral the on August 23th 2014 for just a few dollars more than the Dream. (Comes out cheaper since we wouldn't be doing the parks.) I think we we will be doing that but still thinking it over.

 

[LizzieandLuke]

Thanks for the info - I booked marked the page too. It looks like a fun family place. So many choices.

Royal Caribbean has a 7 day Dreamworks cruise out of Port Canaveral the on August 23th 2014 for just a few dollars more than the Dream. (Comes out cheaper since we wouldn't be doing the parks.) I think we we will be doing that but still thinking it over.