Bad Verandah Experience...

[KeenHo]

Dave-

The two additions to your site will undoubtedly educate many future DIS'ers as to the verandah options, styles and possible obstructions. I hope it is sucessful in warning others who may book these (obstructed view) rooms with other expectations. Thank you.

Howard

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Thanks Dave!

You have a great informational site - I'm sure other's have said it but, for planning a first Disney Cruise, Your site is a wonderful resource!!

 

[my3kids]

If Disney is reading this....here is my suggestion. Price the metal verandahs and the obstructed verandahs at the same price level as the navigator's verandah. They could be called category 7n for navigator style or category 7m for metal obstructions of various kinds. (My opinion, the metal bottomed are a major obstruction, the funky beams a minor one) Then some of category 7 is available for parties of 4, and no one who books a cat. 6 gets disappointed or ends up with a view they neither expected nor wanted. Otherwise inform the people booking that these are not the verandahs pictured in the book and let the customer decide. If you aren't willing to change the category level or inform the customers, then don't book people into these unless they specifically request the room, or approve of the obstructions. They could be used as overflow rooms where you used them for upgrades to free up cabin space in the lower categories. Who wouldn't be thrilled with the pictured verandah if they were expecting a category 11? Getting off my soapbox now......

 

[Laura24]

Gosh,
Where would we all be without this great forum of information. I just love the fact that we can all share the good and bad experiences and learn from each other. Having read the thread start to finish,I feel The Cams disappointment and I couldn't help myself from constantly looking at my cabin numbers (two staterooms) and wondering. I think we are safe......6140 and 6142. I don't expect anything more than an enclosed verandah and am thankful for the sharing and caring around here between us.
Thanks also to Dave for the additional FAQ info on his site. It has been a great wealth of knowledge for my trip planning.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I like my3kids' suggestion of adding new categories. I'm researching our fall Princess cruise, and they have all manner of categories for staterooms. There's one type which has only 4 cabins, but it is in it's own class and has it's own pricing structure. This class, I think it's called BF, has it's own balcony, but also has the promenade going by it. It's the same size as other balcony cabins, but does not have the same view.

Other cruise ships seem to have many more category types than the Magic and Wonder. I'm wondering if this was done for simplicity's sake. I'm all for simplicity, but it becomes a problem when one category 6 does not equal another.

 

[KeenHo]

Just want to keep all of you posted on the progress (or lack there of) on the written response from Disney. We are still waiting. We will be sure to post the correspondence when we get it. Thank you, have a great weekend!

Howard

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

How long has it been since you sent the letter, Howard? Is it time to escalate yet?

 

[sandee]

I felt the same way you did after we received a "blow-off" letter from DCL along with an 8"stuffed mickey, a plastic picture frame and a book. We'd written to complain about my 9 y.o. grand dtr. being served a strawberry daquiri, which we didn't discover until she'd drank 1/2 of it. We thought it was a virgin straw. daquiri and we were not happy with how casually it was handled when we complained on the ship. We were not looking for anything material from DCL, just wanted someone to express the fact that this was a serious mistake. (If this happened in a restaurant here at home, someone could lose their liquor license!). At the time she drank it ,all the CM who served her and the person from guest services kept saying was,"the cost of the drink has been deducted from your bill"... it really made me wonder how many other kids have accidently gotten real drinks.

GO BLUE HENS!!

 

[keenercam]

We faxed the letter to DCL on 7/23. On 7/25, I sent Joel the link to this thread. On 7/26, I got the email from Guest Relations saying that we should expect a reply by postal mail in the next 2 - 3 weeks. Today is 2 weeks. Still no word.
We are truly hopeful that Disney's response will resolve this. If we don't hear from them by 8/16, we will have to take the next step. I just don't know yet what that should be. So far, it seems DCL really just doesn't care -- I'm sure they just figure we are only one family and they are having no problems booking their cabins, so why should they do anything to accommodate us?

BTW, funny enough, yesterday we got a castaway club mailing urging us to explore their new western itinerary. How funny is that, considering we sailed the 6/22 western? Very bizarre

Have a great day everyone!

 

[plutojudy]

We must remember it is not a perfect world. Disney lets people down too.

 

[KeenHo]

In a letter of response dated August 5, 2002 Disney responds:

"Thank you for your e-mails, letter and facsimile regarding the letter I sent to you on July 17, 2002. It has been forwarded to my attention, and I appreciate this opportunity to address your concerns once again.

Please allow me to reiterate my heartfelt regret for any miscommunication or disappointment with your stateroom verandah. I can assure you that it is never our intention to mislead our guests about any aspect of our operation. Our company recognizes the necessity of accurate information, and every effort is made to enable all of our Disney Cruise Line representatives to consistently provide the most accurate information to our travel partners and guests. I would also like to apologize if particular individuals onboard our cruise ship did not reflect to you the high standards of courtesy and professionalism for which our cast and crew are known. Your comments have been shared with the appropriate shipboard and shoreside management individuals.

Furthermore, your comments, in addition to those received by other guests concerning those particular stateroom verandahs, are being considered for reclassification. However, we feel that the stateroom amenities and complimentary rentals at Disney's Castaway Cay, valued at $90, are fair and equitable for these circumstances. Please be assured, though, that we will continue to strive to provide our guests with the finest vacation and entertainment experiences, and we are truly grateful for your valuable input to help us achieve that goal.

Although we are unable to provide you with an alternative solution to your concerns, we want you to know that it would be our pleasure to welcome you aboard the Disney Magic once again. We hope you will reconsider returning to Disney Cruise Line.

Sincerely,

Executive Guest Correspondent
Disney Cruise Line"


Our comment is forthcoming..... We'd love to hear yours... Thanks.

Howard

 

[aseafish]

That is a totally inadequate response from Disney. I am disappointed in DCL to say the least.

Disney lets people down too.

The understatement of the year.

 

[taswira]

All things considered, it is <I>exactly</I> the response I expected. However, I <I>am</I> sorry things were not resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[paulmc80]

I don't like the response, just feels to me like something missing there. No committment on their part or something like that. Just doesn't feel right to me. Especially since you all clearly checked about the view.

Sorry to hear that is the best they can do. Doesn't seem very imaginative to me.

 

[kmoore]

It's quite likely that DCL is not willing/able to do more by way of compensation because they would be setting a precedent which would be the basis for having to reimburse all past cruisers in that cabin. I wouldn't be surprised if that is their thinking in sticking with the "$90" worth of gifts/services.

Karen

 

[WDWLVR]

I've sat back and watched this for a few weeks waiting to hear what Disney's reponse was. Like Taswira I agree that it was pretty much what I expected. I guess the only difference from most of you is that it doesn't disappoint me. I think it was an honest and thought out letter that said they would cover the mis-communication with those on the ship so that it doesn't happen again. It stated that based on your comments and others (either from this board or elsewhere) that they will look into reclassification of this particular room. Then they state that they feel the compensation you have gotten to date (the room ammenities and $90 worth of Castaway Cay rentals is a fair trade for this. If they did re-classify the room that would be about a $200 savings (based on a regular veranda vs. a Navigator veranda). It sounds like what they gave you on board comes close to that.

I, too, am sorry if it wasn't the response you wanted, but like Karen said they are most likely not able to offer other deals or they would be swamped with many people wanting compensation for this and other things.

Disney has shown that they listen, and they got back to you in the time frame promised. At this point I would let it go and remember the good parts of the cruise of which I hope there are many for you.

 

[Hygiene99]

well, the room has been noted on Dave's site and im sure Barb and Tony will have a note on this stateroom as well so ..
some good has come of this .. for future cruisers..
doing there home work , i know what u where told and i hate when that happens u think u r doing the right thing and u get Screwed.. same kind of thing happened to us
with excursion The JEEP SAFARI tour on the western route..
i did mention it to some one at the desk ...... and it seems they have gotten it straitened out....
AFTER watching Stateroom Tv. we decided to book JEEP
Excursion... when we got to the vehicles they where Geo Trackers not JEEPS and we also thought that for $85.00 EACH
we would have own JEEP No 2 other people where placed in this GEO TRACKER...... and u had too share the driving time
as well ........ was not happy with this whole thing dont get me wrong we did have fun on the excursion but it was just the little things..... Peter.........
KEENHO what would u like us to do im am willing to email or call The nice folk at dcl there is also somebody the screename Shipahoy on this board that works for DCL....

would like to keep the issue alive in DCls mind so that this room get reclassified to cat 7 then u would think it was great sort of like Secret porthole rooms

 

[MarkRG]

I am sorry you feel that DCL is letting you down in some way. I would be a little disappointed on the hull of the ship blocking some of the view. Being an engineer I can tell that picture posted was taken from the left side of the cabin, not straight out the door. There is no real way to determine from it as to how obstructed the view really was.

The mistake that was made was not even by the castmember you booked it with but whoever classified it a full view in the first place. All that castmember is a person in front of a pc with a map layout of the ship. Just like when you booked your next one onboard. They don't need to know the exact layout of every room, as they are supposed to have good information on that from others already.

As a DVC member and Disney shareholder I am going to be practical.

As an engineer I may be blunt.

My opinion is that what you have gotten in response in enough. I would not condone them going overboard in compensation to anyone on such a matter.

I would point out my opinion is NOT just based on what was posted in this thread alone.

Consider these reports from KeenHo:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2133615#post2133615

And,

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1981256#post1981256

And,

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1976467#post1976467

I honestly don't see from reading these threads how it so heavily impacted the trip. In fact there's no mention of it at all until the other thread discussing verandahs came along. :/

My apologies if this comes off heavy handed, but I think the whole trip is not being seen from this thread alone.

 

[taswira]

I just read those threads, Mark. Gee - From reading THIS thread I thought the "bad verandah" had "totally ruined" their vacation. I guess NOT!

 

[paulmc80]

Oh shucks. Don't think they all ever said it totally ruined the vacation, but that it was a major disappointment. Which I can certainly see. Don't believe anyone wanted any large compensation either.

From what I see though, and in my experience in dealing with large organizations (namely corporations), a letter like this basically means nothing will be done. Or it certainly remains to be done that is for sure. The lack of mentioning any names or titles of persons spoken to or handling this indicates, to me anyway, it probably is just a lot of rhetoric. I for one would have taken a very different tact. Notably inviting the customer to contact me again or to even contact the person more directly responsible for correcting the situation in order to ensure it was being handled.

Just my $0.02 .... maybe less with inflation since I had it for awhile.