Concierge class and COVID

[KashasMom]

The OP's last "seen on" in his profile was the evening of Friday, same date he originally posted. I think he was hoping for someone to tell him who to successfully contact, but no one here can do that. What works for one person might not work for the other. I feel like the wife (or whomever he wants to blame for not checking the emails that DCL sent) seems to be the one to be handling all the details of everything.

That may be presumptuous. It's possible - since they've never cruised with DCL AND used a TA - that any email just may have gone into spam. I'd rather give someone the benefit of the doubt considering how many Rah Rah Disneys there are on here! And there are plenty of people with Concierge bookings that feel like they're getting a raw deal. Personally, I think it's absolutely ridiculous to have to pay in full 5 months before a cruise that we have no idea what it's going to be like. When I put my deposit down I didn't agree to have to wear a mask on my cruise or have to be tested or vaccinated or whatever else they're going to expect. I DID agree to things like a change of port, etc.

Oh, and as far as the "last seen" - you don't have to sign in to check responses.

 

[erik3dis]

Have you made your final payment yet? Our Wonder cruise is Feb. 8th and final payment was due next week. Fortunately, just today, Disney (and therefore, Dreams Unlimited) extended final payment to 60 days prior. My plan - as of yesterday - was to move the cruise to a phoney booking but yeah, I'm pretty over Disney. These aren't normal circumstances and they should have made exceptions for Concierge, who already pay a ridiculous premium. The experience - we enjoy - IS diminished. All we can do now is wait until December and see how things if the experience has improved.

Yes I did make final payment. We had a long concierge cruise cancelled and I took the cruise credit and booked two cruises. Seems like a lifetime ago. Made final payment before one of the subsequent cruises was cancelled.

So here I am with a massive credit with DCL, two cruises booked and the nearest one, Thanksgiving is fully paid for. But with restrictions and Covid still going strong, no desire to really go.

As you say, let's hope things get better and the experience will improve. Otherwise, I have to believe we will be given opportunity for a refund at some point.

 

[starry_solo]

Yes I did make final payment. We had a long concierge cruise cancelled and I took the cruise credit and booked two cruises. Seems like a lifetime ago. Made final payment before one of the subsequent cruises was cancelled.

So here I am with a massive credit with DCL, two cruises booked and the nearest one, Thanksgiving is fully paid for. But with restrictions and Covid still going strong, no desire to really go.

As you say, let's hope things get better and the experience will improve. Otherwise, I have to believe we will be given opportunity for a refund at some point.

If you're on the dream, Disney gave until today to cancel due to the new policies Disney put in place yesterday. I think there's a deadline today to cancel for a full refund for one of the other ships too.

 

[KashasMom]

If you're on the dream, Disney gave until today to cancel due to the new policies Disney put in place yesterday. I think there's a deadline today to cancel for a full refund for one of the other ships too.

Their cruise is on the Wonder. AFAIK, there haven't been any offers of refunds for the Wonder's future cruises (except possibly the EBPC because of the new vaccine requirements).

 

[erik3dis]

Their cruise is on the Wonder. AFAIK, there haven't been any offers of refunds for the Wonder's future cruises (except possibly the EBPC because of the new vaccine requirements).

I believe if your cruise is pre November 1 on the Wonder you can request a refund. But later than that, you're in limbo and Disney keeps your money.

 

[WheresWalt]

As a PP mentioned, DCL did offer an "out" to anyone with a cruise booked on the Dream before she re-started earlier this month. Unfortunately that opportunity has passed. The Fantasy is currently in that cancellation period, for cruises scheduled in Sept. or Oct. 2021 if canceled by 9/3/2021. I don't know if the suggestion to book one of those cruises and then subsequently cancel would work. I suggest you talk with your TA about that.

It's possible the Wonder will offer a similar "out" before cruising restarts on the west coast -- presumably this fall. Or possibly the Magic when she returns to the US.

Did you purchase travel insurance and if so does it have any covered reasons you may be able to claim?

@WheresWalt

hi starry solo. I’m still hanging around. Our TA told us that such notices of refunds are scams or false leads.

 

[lanejudy]

Our TA told us that such notices of refunds are scams or false leads.

Wow! You need a new TA. She was only thinking of keeping her commission, not what might be best for the customer. If this is a larger agency, I would be going to the manager or owner with a formal complaint. Hopefully you still have the emails and any responses from the TA were in writing. So sorry you are dealing with this.

 

[WheresWalt]

Wow! You need a new TA. She was only thinking of keeping her commission, not what might be best for the customer. If this is a larger agency, I would be going to the manager or owner with a formal complaint. Hopefully you still have the emails and any responses from the TA were in writing. So sorry you are dealing with this.

Can anyone provide a copy of the notice/email from DCL showing the refund offer?

 

[lanejudy]

Can anyone provide a copy of the notice/email from DCL showing the refund offer?

According to @starry_solo the email was 7/23/2021 and I think the wording is in post #15:

Why didn't you cancel by early August? Disney offered an out to everyone (even concierge guests) of a full-refund (for Dream passengers) if canceled by early August.

Disney Dream Guests sailing through March 28, 2022 may modify their sail date or cancel their sailing and receive a full refund without Disney-imposed cancellation fees back to the original form of payment by contacting our reservations team at 1-866-352-6685 or 407-566-7797 by August 6, 2021. Standard cancellation policies and terms and conditions apply for any cancellation requests received on or after August 7, 2021.

I know, coulda, shoulda, woulda....

The only thing I can suggest is what someone else did above, move it to Wonder or Fantasy and see if they offer a similar deal that they did for Dream passengers. Every DCL passenger booked on the Dream received an email (I received one from DCL and another one from my TA).

By chance did you again ask your TA to cancel for you this past Thursday or Friday (9/2 or 9/3) when DCL opened a brief cancellation window? If so and she refused, at the very least I’d file a complaint with DCL asking to have the TA removed from your reservation because she is refusing to provide service.

 

[starry_solo]

@WheresWalt = go to the test board (or reply here) to make sure you get your 10 posts in. This way, someone can send you a PM with any information about refunds (if we find any alternatives for you).

 

[starry_solo]

Oh and @WheresWalt = see if you can get your settings set to email you notifications if people quote you, tag you, etc. if we find any other options for you.

One other possible option is this = if you have any children under 12 that don't get tested as required, the whole traveling party is denied boarding and refunds will be provided in the original form of payment. This is certainly possible, given that Disney decreased the amount of time from 5 days to 2 days to get the PCR test done and results in....

 

[erik3dis]

It really depends on the date/ship of your cruise. We have concierge booked on Wonder in mid November and as of now, we have no ability to cancel.
Same with Fantasy for next summer.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Our cruise is Feb 7th on the Dream, which I had moved from our original January 2021. I was going to change our cruise again to 2023, because of the current restrictions (ie spending $200 for 2 hours in the Rainforest). Called Costco on Monday and was told that I couldn’t move the cruise more than once and should have just let Disney cancel it. I had cancelled it because we have a very small window of availability for ourselves and was afraid that the concierge rooms would be unavailable for our timeframe.

Waited on hold for 5 days (ok, maybe it was only 30 minutes) while she double checked with DCL. They said they could move the cruise again but we had to sail by September 2022, which doesn’t work with our schedule.

But eh what can you do, other than go on the cruise and enjoy ourselves. It’s my fault for not reading the emails and asking more questions about moving the original cruise. I truly did think (back in Oct 2020) that the restrictions would be gone by 2022.

 

[erik3dis]

Our cruise is Feb 7th on the Dream, which I had moved from our original January 2021. I was going to change our cruise again to 2023, because of the current restrictions (ie spending $200 for 2 hours in the Rainforest). Called Costco on Monday and was told that I couldn’t move the cruise more than once and should have just let Disney cancel it. I had cancelled it because we have a very small window of availability for ourselves and was afraid that the concierge rooms would be unavailable for our timeframe.

Waited on hold for 5 days (ok, maybe it was only 30 minutes) while she double checked with DCL. They said they could move the cruise again but we had to sail by September 2022, which doesn’t work with our schedule.

But eh what can you do, other than go on the cruise and enjoy ourselves. It’s my fault for not reading the emails and asking more questions about moving the original cruise. I truly did think (back in Oct 2020) that the restrictions would be gone by 2022.

Yeah Disney is saying the future cruise credits must be used by September 2022. But I do wonder if that will get changed as it gets closer. DCL has not been very proactive in providing a bunch of advance notice.

We cancelled our Thanksgiving cruise because the current restrictions don't sound like great fun for our family, but kept a concierge cruise booked for July 4 week. We'll see what happens with that.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Yeah Disney is saying the future cruise credits must be used by September 2022. But I do wonder if that will get changed as it gets closer. DCL has not been very proactive in providing a bunch of advance notice.

We cancelled our Thanksgiving cruise because the current restrictions don't sound like great fun for our family, but kept a concierge cruise booked for July 4 week. We'll see what happens with that.

I SO wish that I would have read my DCL emails about canceling but that is clearly filed under “shoulda, coulda, woulda”. We didn’t even have FCC. I just wanted to move our cruise again.

 

[lanejudy]

We didn’t even have FCC. I just wanted to move our cruise again.

This doesn't make sense. If you didn't have a FCC, and it isn't yet the official PIF date for your Feb. cruise, you should be able to move it. Unless there's something new, DCL allows cruise dates to be changed multiple times and as far out as they are selling. Do you possibly have an OBB discount that will expire?

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I don’t, but now I’m talking to DCL direct, instead of through Costco. I’m on hold so we will see……

 

[JulieBeeRN]

This doesn't make sense. If you didn't have a FCC, and it isn't yet the official PIF date for your Feb. cruise, you should be able to move it. Unless there's something new, DCL allows cruise dates to be changed multiple times and as far out as they are selling. Do you possibly have an OBB discount that will expire?

I’m SO glad that you responded because I called DCL direct and was able to switch my cruise. The DCL cast member had to change the coding (whatever that means) and put notes on the reservation which made it easy for Costco to change it.

I owe you big time!!

 

[lanejudy]

I'm so glad you got it resolved! Enjoy your cruise!

 

[starry_solo]

@WheresWalt = what ended up happening?