Aug 24 2014 cruise canceled!

[bumbershoot]

Whether that is true, I don't know, but frankly, I don't care. Disney tries to be special, and many of us believe they are. That's why I am never, ever moved that an argument that it is okay for them to do something wrong is "it's standard in the cruise industry."

(I've seen this response from many posters, please don't take this personally. I'm trying to make a point about Disney being something special, not like everyone else....)

It's not said to say it's ok. It's said to say that when you booked you agreed to something like that being possible. Now if you didn't read every word of the contract it makes sense if t wasn't seen, but dcl is rather expensive to enter into a contract with, and it's important to read the contract.

Apples and oranges:

[*]DCL encourages guests to book dummy cruises.

[*]I doubt that any guest who booked a particular cruise wants it to be canceled to accommodate a private charter.
Woody

Unless, of course, they end up being part of the company or group that has chartered it, right?

 

[woody73]

Unless, of course, they end up being part of the company or group that has chartered it, right?

One could hope.

Woody

 

[BK2014]

At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to numbers. Only a relatively small percentages of cruises get cancelled like this, when compared to the number of DCL cruises that take place each year. Being over a year out, how full was this cruise that was cancelled? I obviously don't know, but I am guessing less than 50% and possibly less than 25%. So the number of upset people, versus the number of people who are satisfied from booking through sailing, is probably not large enough to get DCL to change their practices.

 

[tankin]

Taken from the confirmation info Disney sent me when I booked my cruise:

Disney Cruise Line may in its sole discretion and without prior notice change, substitute, postpone, cancel or deviate from any scheduled sailing, itinerary or call at any port, and may substitute another vessel for the ship, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage incurred by a Guest as a result of any such change, substitution, postponement, cancellation or deviation. The Guest shall pay any and all expenses incurred if a Guest is detained on board ship or elsewhere at any stage of a voyage because of quarantine, port regulations, prevailing applicable law, illness or other cause.

Yes and the intent behind that clause is force majeure. If that was the case here, most people would not be as upset as they are. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

I normally the biggest Disney apologist in a given room. I can't in this case. Disney chartered the cruise. They are making a ton more money but disappointed everyone booked. In Disney Parks, they would be looking on how to fix this immediately. How many times have you seen them hand out FP like candy or buy lunch to pacify upset people? I've seen some guest recovery efforts exceed $100 for a group. Here, they cancelled the group's entire vacation a tossed them $100.

If Disney want's to act like CCL (and I think CCL actually handles things like this better), they need to charge like CCL. Disney had spent years establishing a vacation brand around not doing things like this and having better customer service when things go wrong. Its amazing how cheaply they throw that brand away.

 

[4 The Love Of Disney]

Yes and the intent behind that clause is force majeure. If that was the case here, most people would not be as upset as they are. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

I normally the biggest Disney apologist in a given room. I can't in this case. Disney chartered the cruise. They are making a ton more money but disappointed everyone booked. In Disney Parks, they would be looking on how to fix this immediately. How many times have you seen them hand out FP like candy or buy lunch to pacify upset people? I've seen some guest recovery efforts exceed $100 for a group. Here, they cancelled the group's entire vacation a tossed them $100.

If Disney want's to act like CCL (and I think CCL actually handles things like this better), they need to charge like CCL. Disney had spent years establishing a vacation brand around not doing things like this and having better customer service when things go wrong. Its amazing how cheaply they throw that brand away.

While we both can argue what we think the intent of the clause is (I think the clause is there to cover DCL butts for making decisions for what they deem to be in their best interests, not just to cover them for incidents as a result forces of nature beyond their control, etc) ....I will agree with you that just because they can do it, doesn't mean that they should.

 

[over50visits]

It's not said to say it's ok. It's said to say that when you booked you agreed to something like that being possible. Now if you didn't read every word of the contract it makes sense if t wasn't seen, but dcl is rather expensive to enter into a contract with, and it's important to read the contract.

The contract also states they don't guarantee the food is edible or the ship works (see paragraph 18), and if the food makes you sick it's not their problem. I believe that if the food were spoiled or the ship didn't work, it would be fair of guests to complain and seek redress.

Sorry, but I disagree that because it is in the contract that we should say oh well and chalk it up to the lawyers. Disney was dead wrong here, period. The made a deliberate choice to make an agreement with people for a cruise, allowed them to make schedules and commitments around that agreement, then chose to break their promise. They had a choice.

 

[PegIra]

I agree that Disney has the right to cancel any cruise if need be, BUT I think Disney also has a responsibility to to uphold it's part of the bargain also. If someone has in good faith agreed to pay a certain price for a cruise and then Disney cancels that cruise, I think Disney should give them equal accomodations on the next cruise they pick for the agreed upon price. Walt believed in the Magic and lately I'm not sure that is the Disney Policy.

We are huge Disney fans, have been on 7 Disney Cruises with 3 more booked and are annual passholders, even though we live in Delaware. But lately, it hurts me to say Disney doesn't care like they used to. I really hope they prove me wrong.

 

[ariel68]

...what others on the cancelled sailing have opted to do with their reservation...move, cancel, etc.. I was under the assumption, from a comment posted on the thread that all cruisers originally booked on this sailing had until July 15th to move their reservation to a new date, or it would be defaulted to a Dec 3rd sailing. We have moved ours to August 31st and were very fortunate that we were able to move our reservation for our Vacation Rental accommodations as well. We are still booked in our original staterooms, the price for which actually dropped from what we paid for the cancelled dates.

I just hope the next 13 months fly by quickly...our DGD is so excited (but growing very impatient). She has to wait til she is 5 to go on "Mickey Mouse's Boat" (she is turning 4 a week from today). As excited as I am to have her be part of the planning process, some days I regret telling her so far in advance. Instead of hearing the usual "are we there yet" we will spend the next year listening to her constant "Gramma its taking sooo long for me to be this many" cutie:holding up her outstretched hand, with her cute little sad panda face )...well thank goodness we are only having to push back our reservation a week, I cant imagine having to break the news to little ones whose reservations may need to be pushed back even farther or sadly cancelled altogether .

Best of luck to all of you who were in the same boat (pardon the pun)

 

[LizzieandLuke]

what others on the cancelled sailing have opted to do with their reservation...move, cancel, etc.. I was under the assumption, from a comment posted on the thread that all cruisers originally booked on this sailing had until July 15th to move their reservation to a new date, or it would be defaulted to a Dec 3rd sailing.

We cancelled our cruise. We can't do the fall (hubby's work) and I wouldn't pay the money to cruise a week earlier. I couldn't justify it in my mind. As a mom and homeowner things come up all the time - braces, car repairs, home repairs - this summer alone we needed a new dishwasher, fridge and washing machine. Vacations are very important but they can't be everything.

We are looking at the Freedom of Seas (7 days) on RC for the same week. Its more money (but the same as the prior week for the Dream) but we were going to do 4 days at the park following the cruise so we actually come out easily $1,3000 ahead. I can't get my kids on board though. When showing DS the mini golf course he asked where Mickey was and DD won't even talk about it. She doesn't understand. I know there are some that would say I shouldn't disappoint my children but they will have a wonderful vacation as a family and we are fortunate to cruise at all

 

[LizzieandLuke]

We cancelled our cruise. We can't do the fall (hubby's work) and I wouldn't pay the money to cruise a week earlier. I couldn't justify it in my mind. As a mom and homeowner things come up all the time - braces, car repairs, home repairs - this summer alone we needed a new dishwasher, fridge and washing machine. Vacations are very important but they can't be everything.

We are looking at the Freedom of Seas (7 days) on RC for the same week. Its more money (but the same as the prior week for the Dream) but we were going to do 4 days at the park following the cruise so we actually come out easily $1,3000 ahead. I can't get my kids on board though. When showing DS the mini golf course he asked where Mickey was and DD won't even talk about it. She doesn't understand. I know there are some that would say I shouldn't disappoint my children but they will have a wonderful vacation as a family and we are fortunate to cruise at all

I will add that I hope that anyone who had to cancel or pay more money let Disney know how unhappy they are. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone in the future - and Disney needs to know how unhappy you are.

 

[MillauFr]

We moved our cruise to 8/17/14. Had to pay $300 more but they gave us a $100 OBC. So we are out about $200. Got the same room though. We were going to go to the parks prior to our cruise now we will go after the cruise.

 

[ariel68]

We moved our cruise to 8/17/14. Had to pay $300 more but they gave us a $100 OBC. So we are out about $200. Got the same room though. We were going to go to the parks prior to our cruise now we will go after the cruise.

We contemplated moving ours to Aug 17th also, but would have cost us an additional 800.00

After much discussion we opted to move to the Aug 31st sailing, saving us almost 400.00 in the process, plus the 200.00 OBC we received (100 per stateroom). We too were able to book our original staterooms. Down side is that our DGD will miss the first couple days of Kindergarten. Her Mom thought that she would get so much more from her trip with us than what she would out of the first couple days of Kinder, so here's hoping the next 10 months fly by quickly

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We contemplated moving ours to Aug 17th also, but would have cost us an additional 800.00

After much discussion we opted to move to the Aug 31st sailing, saving us almost 400.00 in the process, plus the 200.00 OBC we received (100 per stateroom). We too were able to book our original staterooms. Down side is that our DGD will miss the first couple days of Kindergarten. Her Mom thought that she would get so much more from her trip with us than what she would out of the first couple days of Kinder, so here's hoping the next 10 months fly by quickly

Sounds like you made the right move! It's just kindergarten... I mean, I remember my graduation but not the first few days. I remember wonderful Disney trips though! And you saved money and got the credit. Good move!