Bad Verandah Experience...

[Debbie H]

Cam,

I'm not really sure what DCL will do for you. They have brochures that show pictures of the rooms and where the rooms are located and the rooms are even on the web for everyone to see what type of stateroom they are getting. The travel agents have the pictures too, so your friend should have known exactly the type of stateroom you had.

As far as the gifts, did you give them back? The best way of letting someone know your displeasure is not accepting gifts given to you as a token to begin with. Did you take them to Guest Services and let them know that that was not what you wanted and not your idea of compensation and resolution?

My husband and I spoke to quite a few people on shore from other cruises and not one person from another cruise line had a nice thing to say about the cruise they were on. Pools had salt water, were not filled at the days at sea (what else to do at sea?), dining was in a large room all together. Staterooms small. We were glad we were on DCL after talking to them!
We are taking our 6th DCL cruise in November and loved every one of them. One we had a steel verandah, which if you sat, you couldn't see anything..but just to be on the cruise we didn't mind!

 

[Mjasp]

Deb... I must be missing something here. After all this talk, I still don't see anywhere how you could tell by brochures that the verandah has an obstructed view, also if it wasn't for these boards I wouldn't even know that some rooms have metal bottom verandahs. I have the large DCL catalog. Please tell me which page tells of the metal verandah and the verandah that Cam had.

I also would have been disappointed, if I didn't know in advance.

 

[paulmc80]

I sure wouldn't be able to tell what rooms have obstructed views from any pictures in on the websites and in the brochures.

I wouldn't be thrilled thinking I was getting a regular verandah type room and that is not really what I got. Especially after I specifically asked about the room.

I like this thread, its real interesting.

 

[Debbie H]

Well, whenever we book a stateroom, my husband (ex Navy doc) has the deck plans (they are on the Disney Cruise Line web site plus in the books) in front of him and a picture of the outside of the ship. He can find the room that they are talking about in an instant. That far back aft, looking at the pictures, there is going to be an obstruction of some sort. We mean no insult by this but if you have any familiarity of the ship at all, plus the deck plans, you should be able to figure it out. Once you leave the straight portion of the ship, the curved aft portion has no view of the front part of the ship and a very poor view of the side.

I might suggest in order to avoid disappointment , when you make your reservation and they assign you a room, have a deck plan handy and see exactly where they are going to put you and extrapolate what your view might be. He has, on more than one occassion, asked for a different stateroom at the time the reservation was being made because he didn't care for the location.

In Cams defense, they were told the room had an unobstructed view and that is what they should have had. They were still on the straight line of the ship. Looking at the deck plans only you would think it would be ok. Looking at a picture of the outside of the ship however, would have caused us some concern that there may be some sort of an obstruction from the way the steel curves.

As far as the steel bottom verandahs, you can also look at a picture of the outside of the ship and see those rooms.

 

[paulmc80]

I've been looking for a picture of either the Wonder or Magic to show my wife the room we'll be in from the outside. Its not a veranda room though .. its a cat 9, room 2566. Not that it realy matters to see it on the outside, but would be nice.

 

[Hopkins]

I feel bad for Cam because the stateroom they received is not what they were told from DCL, and that's were the mistake is. At DCL telephone representative end. I understand why they are upset.

Tina

 

[keenercam]

Hi, everyone!
It has been really interesting hearing all your input. In response to a couple of the inquiries, I wanted to make a couple of points.

First:
While I was talking to the CM, I had the following web page in front of me:
http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/disneycruiseline/ratesanddates/ships/deckindex?id=Deck6
You will note that the deck plan shows absolutely no curvature, but the next cabins aft are a different color and I asked whether there was a difference since 6634 was the last cabin in category 6 and was told absolutely not. The really ironic thing is that we easily "found" our cabin on the ship, looking from outside the terminal, because we were told it was the last full view. So, we counted to the 6th deck, found that obstruction, and pointed to the next cabin forward and told our friend Bob that that was our cabin--he even asked how we could tell, did we count all the way back? No, we actually just looked to the next verandah forward from that obstruction.

Second:
When I called DCL a couple of days ago and asked about that cabin, they told me again that the verandah is the same as all the others further forward.

Finally:
I am still upset that it took Guest Relations more than 3 days to even address the issue on the ship and then being told several times that someone would call us at home and that never happened.

For My3Kids--the door is 2 panels, so you can see that almost half of the straight-on view looking from the LR out to the verandah. UGH!! And if you were sitting on the verandah, you had to squish both chairs all the way to the left & put the little table to the right or in front of the chairs in order for both people to have a view.

For what it's worth . . .


Have a Disney Day, everyone,
Cam

 

[Mjasp]

As having only cruised once last May, and not knowing about cruise ships I would never think of counting back to see where my stateroom was from the outside. The inside yes as they have the plans laid out in the book. But c'mon, what person unless a seasoned cruiser would even know about obstructed views or metal verandahs and start counting on the outside where NO room numbers are even lissted, when its not even mentioned in the brochure. I'm sorry this is something that should be listed in the brochure. I was on the ship in May and if Cam didn't mention obstructed verandah's I still wouldn't have known there was such a thing. I do know about the metal verandahs but only from this board.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I've been reading this thread with interest and am anxious to see how it plays out with DCL. I agree that with some research, you can have a better idea of exactly what to expect, but not everyone has the luxury of this community prior to boarding the ship for the first time. For example, on our first cruise, we stayed on deck 7 aft, and never knew about the "secret" balcony on the back of the ship.

While I would agree with those who would not have these rooms re-classified as a category 7, I think that at issue here is the misinformation given out by the reservations cast member. This person was specifically asked if there was an obstructed view on this verandah, and stated that there was not. I think DCL is accountable for this, and their attempts to make amends have fallen short at this point.

I think the "Cams" were very reasonable in their very well-worded request and were very rational about how they went about it. Sadly, if they had been more irrational about it, they might have gotten what they wanted while on the ship just to go away. Kudos to them for taking the high road. I agree that some kind of compensation is due. Perhaps not the full difference between categories, but maybe DCL could split the difference, especially considering they have another cruise already booked.

Please keep us up to date on what (if any) action DCL takes on this issue. Best of luck in dealing with them.

Also, if anyone has stayed in 7620 or 7120, I would be interested to hear about (or see a picture of) the verandahs in these rooms, as they seem to be even more obstructed then their counterparts on deck 6.

 

[Debbie H]

Mjasp,
We were not "seasoned" cruisers when we started and we still knew where our stateroom was. We did our homework.

I think the issue here is what Cam was told by a cast member. Being told that, there was no reason for them to think differently. I just commented, that knowing where the statetoom was located and looking at the outside of the ship, we would have been concerned. But again, that is the way we do it.

If you are unsure where the stateroom is and if it is important for you to know, I would certainly take the time to count or at least have an idea by looking at the outside of the ship.

I certainly hope she got the cast members name. We have a notebook that has all of our DVC info in it and any time reservations are made, even if it is somewhere other than Disney, it goes in the book with the date ressies were made, the time and who we spoke to. I guess being in the medical field we are so use to documenting everything that it is just a habit for us.

 

[taswira]

Debbie, I am just like you when it comes to research and knowing <I>exactly</I> what I am getting. It would have been very easy to look at the larger picture of the outside of the ship (in the big brochure), count the Navigator verandahs and then find their Cat. 6 by counting from there. And yes, it is clear that it was partially obstructed. The issue is that the CM told them it was totally unobstructed, so DCL was in error. The one thing I have learned through the years is that I NEVER take a sales person's (or reservationist's, etc.) word for anything unless I personally know and trust that person. It is a sad case when a customer can't trust the statements of those who are supposed to know their job, be it cruise line, airlines, computer stores or whatever. But that's how it is. They were not happy, and I wish them well in seeking compensation.

 

[Debbie H]

taswira,
AMEN!

 

[Mjasp]

Deb...We also are in the medical field and YES documenting is VERY important and it seems Cam seems to have documented everything. So good for her/him.

Hmmm...So now if I book on another line I am really in real trouble as I won't have this board and all the sea veterans. The Grand Princess looks like a tough one to decipher. I guess I'll have to stick to Disney and the room I know. Ahhh poor me having to stick with DCL.

 

[JOANNEL]

Cam & Howard,

I wish you the best on this. Please don't cancel your reservation. I know how much you guys love Disney. I think another line would be disappointing after sailing on the Magic. I have full confidence that Disney will make good. They rely on us tourists.

Good Luck,

Joanne & Roger

 

[TnRobin]

We have stayed in 7620 last September. Other than a slight curvature toward the top of the aft end of the veranda, I didn't notice any difference between it and the other veranda we had. Really I did not notice it much at all. I would not consider 7620 obstructed at all.

 

[piglet LS]

With all the reports of obstructed views we're starting to wonder if this room has any hidden surprises.

Appreciate any info....thanks!
Niola

 

[Ginny]

These boards are amazing.....I'm always learning something. If I had only known before that there was a direct correlation to being in the medical profession and a positive cruise outcome. And all this time I thought we had such wonderful cruises because of the kindness of other Dis'ers and these boards.

Well, the pressure is off for Christmas, 2003. Let me run and write that down.

 

[PiperG]

The one thing I have learned through the years is that I NEVER take a sales person's (or reservationist's, etc.) word for anything unless I personally know and trust that person. It is a sad case when a customer can't trust the statements of those who are supposed to know their job, be it cruise line, airlines, computer stores or whatever. But that's how it is.

As part of my job I oversee a Customer Service Center, and we are currently implementing sophisticated call quality technology. The folks here might want to ask if their initial reservation call had been recorded, and ask that a manager review that call. We often review calls to assess the escalated issues and determine if additional training or enhancements are needed.

Along those lines, a colleague of mine says that, as a child, her family planned a Disney vacation to the campground area of WDW. When they arrived in their camper, the resort had them in-bound the following day, leaving them stranded for a night. The parents complained and Disney ended up reviewing the reservation call, ultimately finding that the error was on Disney's part. They put the family up in one of the resort ootels for that one night.

Just a thought to add some punch to the complaint.

 

[Debbie H]

Ginny,

Being in the medical profession has no direct correlation with a positive cruise experience and I didn't think a smart remark was warranted. These cruises are what you make of them. We got much more out of our many trips to Disney World by talking to people who had been there first. Some of the information on these boards are not nearly as accurate as personal experience would suggest. Unfortunately, some people see the glass half empty then want to be comped for the missing water. Other people, and we count ourselves as this group, see the glass half full and search for ways to add more water.

It is our hope that Cam and Howard get this resolved to their satisfaction. We think it is unfortunate that they didn't get the view that they expected. If DCL thinks this is significant enough to comp them, then I congratulate them for their efforts to get this rectified. If the success of their whole cruise hinged on the time spent on the verandah, then they missed out on a lot of opportunities to have fun on the boat.

The disappointment of glossy folder vacations not withstanding, we believe that important information can be shared on boards such as this and we appreciate the advice and experience of others and have used this board to that purpose many times. Even so, some of the fun of any vacation, especially the Disney Cruise is the discovery of things no one mentioned or may have even observed.

The only advice I can bring from the medical profession is that if it is not documented, with the date, time and name of any important encounter, then it didn't happen. We wish everybody the best and wouldn't trade our DCL experiences for anything.

 

[taswira]

Please know that my reference to customer service and sales people was not to imply that none of them are knowledgeable in their jobs. My statement was to remind people that there are uncaring and incompetent workers out there <I>along with</I> the caring and competent, as well as many who are new at their jobs. If you don't have a longstanding working relationship with them, it is difficult to tell the difference. The <I>safest</I> route is to make yourself as knowledgeable about a product as possible and know exactly what you are getting, and not completely rely on the sales person. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of time and effort and is impossible for many, who can only hope they end up with the <I>better</I> customer service personnel. These boards help <I>a lot</I> of people, but as was pointed out, along with the serious, seasoned cruise veterans who give valuable information, there are often posts which are not-quite-factual. In the end, we are each responsible as individuals for what we decide and what it was based upon.