Billing Problems on 10/11/03 western

[jenwein98]

Has any one else had a problem getting a detail of their on-board billing? They were not able to print out our bill before departure and when we checked our credit card, the amounts seem to high. We call Disney and they directed us to All Seasons Travel (as that who we booked with). All Seasons said "Duh. Why would we have your on-board billing". Which is what we thought.

Anyway, we haven't gotten anything from Disney yet. Any suggestions?

BTW - my inlaws were on the same cruise and are having the same problem.

Thanks y'all
Jennifer

 

[SueEllen]

I had my DH go by Guest Services that morning to get the final print out of the account. The amount that they showed as charged to my credit card still has not reconciled with what is showing on my credit card statement.

I know they put letters under the stateroom doors that said you could go by guest services to get the printout or they would be mailing them.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this problem with the amounts.

Sue Ellen

 

[LisaGoeke]

I know they said it would be mailed to us but I figured we would have rec'd it by now. I had two charges on my credit card from them....I haven't checked the exact amounts, but I believe one was the amount I was told Friday afternoon, then there was a separate amount for what we spent Friday evening in the shops. I guess I should compare to make sure they're correct.

 

[SandraLee]

(My old name was ReadyForDisney2003)

I did not receive anything either. I called DCL directly yesterday and they did some checking and said they would mail it out that day. It has not arrived. I did have 2 charges on my credit card and I think they are in the vicinity of what I expect.

A bit off topic, but . . .

I think the technology was very lacking on the ship that week. There were at least 2 times when the whole system shut down. The first was when I was trying to get a copy of my charges. The second, I was checking my DD out of the club. They had to resort to the 'paper' system.

 

[taswira]

When I checked in at the terminal, some things could not be verified. They were unable to see onboard credits, because the computer system onboard had not been tied back into theirs. They said it was due to it having been "off-line" in dry dock.

As for Billing - I checked my bill on the last afternoon to see that my onboard credit had been applied (which had not been the day before), and they gave me a print-out. I did not buy anything more, and the print-out matched what was charged to my AmEx when I checked it online two days later.

This is off the bill topic but still on "<B>problems</B>." The ship still needs a lot of work. The floor in my room had a spot by the foot of the bed where the floor would give (dip a few inches) when stepped on, then pop back up. The room host was well aware of it. The spot that "gave" quadrupled in size by the end of the cruise. Maintenance engineering had been working on it prior to the cruise. The desk and table could also use some work (deep scratches and minor stains).

I do hope the Billing problems do not recur. It is great to know that charges are automatically billed to my card and to receive a printout in the stateroom before debarking. It obviously makes it easier for Guest Services as well.

Instead of starting a new thread on the topic, I <I>would</I> like to stress that I REALLY enjoyed the Magic and am booked on another next year, but was very surprised at some differences between her and the Wonder that should not exist. They are minor but noticeable. I frequent the Deck 9 drink station. There are no straws there on the Magic. I asked a CM, who promptly went into Topsiders and returned with straws for me. I said I did not mean for him to get straws just for me, but I was looking for them because they have straw dispensers on the Wonder. He said that is one of the things they do differently from the Wonder. How logical is that? There were also no napkins at the drink station until I asked, and for that they brought a dispenser. Even at Scoops, the CM would give you napkins if you asked, but a dispenser was not guest accessible. All I can surmise is that perhaps the Magic has problems with kids littering the ship or pool with straws and napkins(?).

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I also was on the 10/11 cruise and received the same letter under my door about the computer problems--still didn't receive anything in the mail so I decided to call the Disney reservation line (1-800-939-2784) and they contacted Accounting and said I would get a statement in the mail--charges on my Visa did not match up to what I expected.

After taking 4 Disney cruises (3 on the Magic), I was very disappointed with the ship this time. We ordered a stateroom gift for my daughter (the pearls with Mickey) and still did not have the gift in the stateroom by 6:00 p.m. on the night of sailing....just thought it would be nice to have a stateroom gift in the room since my daughter's anticipation level was high (I had told her she was getting something but didn't tell her what!)--it had been charged on my Visa as soon as I called the gift order in..I went to guest services and was told that they were still delivering the gifts. We finally received it around 7:15 p.m.

Also, our stateroom safe did not work..they sent someone up and he swiped his card and seemed annoyed at how dumb we were...said see it is working now and is locked..until I pulled on the door and it opened!! It took them 1 1/2 days (until we were in Key West afternoon) to get it fixed and in the meantime, we had to use under the mattress for our travelers checks/cash since I didn't want to keep running to Guest Services for cash...just feel that the level of customer service wasn't up to the usual standards. I think it is unreasonable to wait 1 1/2 days just to have the battery replaced in the safe...if they gave me the battery, I could probably have done it myself. JMHO.

 

[SandraLee]

Sarah'sMomfrom PA . . . Interesting about the safe. We had the same battery problem. Guest Services sent someone and they *did* replace the battery, but I had to show them the problem. And, I got the same look from the guy.

I can also tell you I had to ask 4 times (yes, 4 times) to get the Castaway Club gift (towel and pins) in my room! I was so mad the last time, they had housekeeping bring one to the guest services counter and I waited for it. I thought it was just dumb I had to waste time asking for something like this. This was also where I saw someone was asking about something to do in Grand Caymen and the Guest Services person said she didn't know because this was her FIRST week on the ship!

Anyway, I'm glad this cruise was not my *first* Disney cruise. Our service was *ok*, but not exceptional. And, we also, had a brand new Assistant Server. He tried hard, but ...

 

[SueEllen]

To piggy back on this also--we were disappointed with the refurbishments that were done in Dry Dock also. We expected that the ship would be in top shape, but it was not. Our verandah was awful (the railing was rough, had paint dripped on it from where they painted some of the upper decks, and more.) Our carpet was coming up on the floor at the seams (splitting by the connecting cabin door.) Our friends connecting room didn't have hot water for a while, which Disney finally fixed, but then we couldn't get cold water!

While I had a great trip overall I was disappointed with the lack of things that were done in drydock. Apparently they concentrated on the underside of the ship and such and didn't do anything to the staterooms and such.

Sue Ellen

 

[ARLO1]

We also were on the 10/11/03 cruise(Hi everyone) and also had stateroom problems.

1st - the slats in our bed were hanging down and it was quite noticable as soon as we looked at the bed. the maintenance man came almost right away to fix it.

2nd - there was no air conditioning and we had to call 3 times to get it fixed, then it was too cold in the room and we had to turn the air all the way off and were still cold.

3rd - the shower head was broken and did not stay in a stationary spot so you could shower without holding the shower head in your hand. that was fixed pretty quickly.

over all it was still a great trip and enjoyed meeting everyone.

arlene

 

[padisneyfan]

I am still waiting for our statement, though checking my visa bill on line I see that the charges have been posted and they look accurate. However, it would be nice to see the statement to compare. I don't know why DCL hasn't gone to letting you look at your bill from your room on the TV, like they do on CCL and RCCL and a large number of hotels. That way you can check it every day and take care of any problems right then.

I agree that other then the major inside changes (Diversions, Coffee Cove, etc and new carpet in the common areas), the staterooms seemed to have little done to them in dry dock. The Magic is beginning to show it's age in areas. I guess DCL really can't afford to keep the ship in dry dock for longer than 2 weeks to make big overhalls to staterooms. Other cruise lines do put their ships in dry docks some for months to make major overhalls, but have other ships to fill the gaps left by a ship being out of commission. The only other alternative, I guess would be to close down sections of rooms at a time.

SandrLee--- Ready for Disney 2003, I was a couple doors up from you and passed your room several times a day, but never got to meet you.

LisaGoeke--- You are another one, that I passed your door everyday and never got to meet.

Hi to Arlene Sue Ellen MaryJo Shari


Nancy and Norm

 

[taswira]

Hi Nancy and Norm! Hi Mary Jo, Arlene and Sue Ellen!

Sue Ellen - My verandah was in the same condition. Not only were there paint drippings, rough railing and visible rust on the metal on the outside of the ship below the railing, but (having a Navigator Verandah with the cushioned bench and chair) the cushions were very badly stained and just plain dirty on top of that! I had on white jeans when I boarded, and would not sit on the verandah until I had changed. The first night the air conditioning ran full force even when I tried to turn it to heat. As we discussed, I think I had your share of AC, Arlene! I reported it the next morning in a thoroughly frozen state, and it was promptly repaired.

Like Sandra Lee, I am glad this was not my first Disney cruise. If it had been, it might also be my last! But I have experienced the magic of the Wonder, and will have patience with the Magic. I very much enjoyed the 7-day. I am sure they will work on necessary repairs to staterooms and other areas as soon as they are able. Let's hope!

 

[Tulirose]

We got our statement under the door as usual. I didn't realize that people were having problems! What a bummer. I always ask at GS about halfway through the trip for a copy of my charges to jump start the verification of statement.

DH and I went to the Steering Committe Q&A session on 10/11/03 (saw Amy and Chris there!). It seems the major major thing done during this dry dock time was re-piping. At first I didn't quite understand what he was saying but finally understood it to be the plumbing! Entirely redone. I would say that that certainly had to be a tremendous undertaking! The other major thing done, as previously mentioned, was new carpeting throughout all public areas.

 

[padisneyfan]

Hi Rosemary Thanks for the information on what the major repairs were during dry docking. I can imagine that the plumbing would be a big repair. I thought the toliets weren't as noisey this time. Maybe I am just getting used to them. You must have been one of the lucky ones to get a bill before the system went down.

Nancy

 

[LisaGoeke]

I agree, it was nice to pass everyone's door and see their disboard magnet and their cruisetoberfest II stuck to the door. Even though unfortunately I didn't get to meet many people, I still felt like I "knew" people on the ship.

Anyone else have problems with their toilets? One night ours would not flush. When I called to have it repaired the guy said they'd send someone right up. Well after waiting about an hour for someone to come "right up" I walked down to my mom's room to use her toilet and guess what....hers was broken too! However, sometime through the night it finally flushed. It would have been nice to have been informed that they were aware of the problem and working on it instead of having me wait around for the plumber who never showed up.

 

[Windermere]

The toilet thing happens all the time. One of our cabin stewards told us about it once. It's a routine thing but I can't remember the reason behind it.

 

[taswira]

There was one afternoon when I pushed the button to flush and nothing happened. I pushed again and held it for awhile . . still nothing. I exited the bathroom, and by the time I reached the phone, I heard the toilet flush. Delayed action!

 

[piglet33]

Hi guys,

You can count me in on the missing statement too. I called Disney yesterday and was told they would send one out to me, but it would take about 3 weeks!

Our veranda had problems too. The glass around light out there was broken. Good thing Lenny saw it before Haley got to it. She could've gotten cut on it. I called GS and they sent someone up. Of course, he only brought a light bulb with him, because that's what he thought he needed. He replaced it while we were at dinner. There were chips of paint on the veranda too. Haley kept picking them up wanting to put them in her mouth like any normal 11 month old would do. Needless to say, we didn't use the veranda too much since I didn't want her eating paint chips.

The speaker in our room only worked sometimes. I called about that too, but it was never fixed. We couldn't hear any announcements at all. Not very safe if you ask me.

I also think our mattress needed replacing, because the springs always poked us in our backs. That bed was very uncomfortable. Not like the one we had last time.

You know, I may not have rebooked because of these things, but since so many people were rebooking for 10/02, I just had to. We had such a great time with the people that we met, that I couldn't let this keep us from getting together with them again.

Hopefully, they will have these things fixed for next year's cruise.

Renee

 

[mcnuss]

The other major thing done, as previously mentioned, was new carpeting throughout all public areas.

I am glad that was done. We were on the infamous Thanksgiving cruise last year, and bc of the virus, they were bleaching the carpets. Apparently no one at DCL thought about what bleach would do to those carpets, and you should have seen the CMs running around the ship inspecting them. There were huge areas of bleached out carpets. What a shame.

 

[SandraLee]

I called today (Halloween) AGAIN. This time I had a fax number. They faxed me the a copy of the account review.

I would recommend this approach. I'll keep an eye to see if it does arrive in the mail, but I doubt it.

(I changed my name from ReadyForDisney2003 to SandraLee)