DCL cancell cruise due to charter???

[kcatoir]

I just heard on the cruise meet forum that DCl may be cancelling the 9/24/05 western due to a charter.
Anyone out there with this experience that can tell me what usually happens to your reservation???
We just booked Flight yesterday due to using Frequent flyer miles, we need to book well in advance. If we have to change the date United will charge us a fee. I think DCl should pay this fee, since we have had our reservations since this past summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does DCl really bump all previous reservations off???? Thats HORRIBLE to those of us who have been planning our vacations in advance.

I guess those that have LOTS of money take priority!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dzneprincess]

This did happen to some Wonder cruisers this past October. There was a big hub bub about it, and a lot of angry cruisers, but yes, to answer your question they do bump off previous reservations. I have booked 09/18/05 for DH and myself sans kids, feel free to join

 

[kcatoir]

Thanks dzneprincess,
I would love to join you, we did pick the end of Sept to somewhat avoid as much of the Hurricane season as Possible. We are pulling our 2 dd's out of school for the trip so I have to consider that timing as well. They start school the Tuesday after Labor Day.
kim

 

[dzneprincess]

Kim
FYI I am pretty sure hurricane is not officially over until Dec 1st. We went at the same time this year, on the 09-19 Wonder, and we had an awesome cruise. One of the few September cruises to not have any port changes due to a hurricane ( well we witched what day we went to Nassau). Although hurricane Jeanne was out at sea, she did not make herself know to us! Just make sure you get trip insurance and all will be well. As long as we are able to get on the ship, the Captain will take care of us ;-p

 

[kcatoir]

Amanda,
What does the trip insurance cover as far as Hurricanes' go???
We did not get it on our last cruise. I didn't think it covered that. At least not the policies I saw.
kim

 

[dzneprincess]

Fortunately I have never had to use it, you may want to start a new thread questionin claims on the insurance specifically claims this past Sept when things were so bad. you can use www.accessamerica.com but I know that severaL DISers made claims due to this horrible hurricane season, and were paid.

 

[CamColt]

Oh no! I dont have any advice for you but I want to say I feel for you. We were booked on the 10/8/05 cruise which they cancelled on us due to dry dock. Before it was officially announced there was talk that it was being charted and "may" be cancelled so I know just how you feel right now.
The good news is after giving us a bit of a run around, DCL came through in a huge way for us. They really made it up and brought back the Magic to us.
Good luck! I hope it works out as well for you.

 

[MarkLem]

Who charters a whole cruise boat?

 

[floridaminnie]

Who charters a whole cruise boat?

Big companies with lots of money that treat their employees well.

 

[SeaSpray]

I just checked on DCL's web site and do not show 9/24, 10/1, or 10/8 as availabe dates to book a cruise. I wonder if the Magic will be undergoing a 3-week drydock? Unless the Magic really is being chartered for that last week before drydock...??? Either way, they really should know/plan these things before taking anyone's deposit!!

kcatoir, I hope they reimburse you for any extra expenses due to these changes. Please let us know!!

 

[kcatoir]

Everyone thank you for your support!!
I recieved an email from Penny at D/U (who has our reservation).
She contacted DCL today and the CM she spoke with could not confirm the charter but did state they have stopped taking reservations for that cruise.
There is no official notice from DCL at this time, so it becomes a wait and see game. DCL made a note of my request for payment on the air fees.

Rich companies should plan farther ahead and book when the dates come out just like the rest of us, Its just RUDE to bump people off because you can flash wads of cash.

 

[crazy4cruises]

We're also on the 9/24/05 western. I haven't booked air so I won't be out any money, but what about rebooking? I booked this cruise because it was the least expensive time to do the western. For those of you who have been bumped before, did Disney offer to rebook you on a different date for the same price or offer any other perks? I won't be upset about changing dates as long as they're fair about it, but I can definitely see how it will create a hardship for some of you.

 

[christianweecare]

We are on the 9/24/05 western, too. We got a call from allseas this week giving us a heads up that something is brewing. Now we just watch and see, I guess. We will be driving down so air arrangements are not a factor for us. As I am sure is the case with everyone, we need to make vacation arrangements from work as far in advance as possible. I guess the ball is in DCL's court right now. We'll see what they do next.

 

[mmouse37]

We were one of the folks that had our cruise altered because of Hurricane Jeanne. We were supposed to sail on 9/25/04 but did not leave until 9/27/04 from Ft. lauderdale instead.

We had purchased trip insurance from Access America and I put in a claim under Travel Delay to them for our 2 hotel nights at WDW (that were not orignally planned) all our meals for those 2 days and our rental car for the two days before we actually boarded the ship. Our claim was for $633 and I received a check for $600.00. We were very happy with Access America's service. Not sure how they would have handled it if we cancelled completely or were not able to get to Florida. We happened to already be in Florida when the decision to delay the cruise was made.

As far and the the Magic cruise being chartered....all cruiselines do this from time to time and although very unfair for people already booked...it is a fact of the cruise industry....if they can get the whole ship guaranteed to be sold to a charter....they will do it. I hope DCL does offer some compensation of some sort for airline fees, etc. Good luck. I know there were tons of unhappy people last time. I guess for whatever reasons companies cannot book as far out as we would like them to when they charter a ship.

MJ

 

[bbowers]

Even DISNEY doesn't act as fast as it should when they charter one of their own ships. As soon as we got home from our 9/9 Wonder we made reservations through a TA for the 9/4/05. At the time I had tried to get some comparison pricing for that particular sailing to compare against our TA and it kept coming up not available. Asked the TA about this and he asked Disney and DCL said it must be a glitch because they were still taking reservations.

About a week or so later they announced that DVC was taking over that entire ship. I immediately called my TA, who called DCL, who assured him all was well for us on that cruise (we do happen to also be DVC members). The official reservation date wasn't until later in October for other DVC members. As we got to the Friday before (reservations were taken on a Saturday), I was sure we would be OK because SURELY they would not wait until the last minute to bump us. (And not let me know so that I could call in on Saturday.)

I did, however, call DCL and add my cell phone numbers to my reservation that evening, since we had not had those on our 9/9 and should have had. Still, all was OK. But then when I played back the messages on our answering machine, there was a message from someone at DVC who was enquiring about our cruise!

Needless to say, I didn't sleep that night. And sure enough, in the morning our cell phones started going off, and as first mine rang, then my husband's (we were still in bed), I said "It's Disney - they're the only ones that have both of our numbers." And when they finally got to our house phone - sure enough.

Thankfully, Disney came through for us and it all worked out, but I spent a miserable weekend and Monday until we found out for sure on Tuesday what was going on. I just could not believe that they told our TA everything was OK even after the DVC cruise was announced, and that they waited until Friday before reservations to let us know that they were, indeed, planning to boot us off the boat.

 

[Amberle3]

There is really nothing a cruise line (Disney or otherwise) can do to appease passengers displaced by a large group. If you bump them off the cruise then they complain about it. If you allow their reservations to stand then they often get treated like 2nd class citizens because a large group gets so many special concessions.

I've often read complaints from people saying "there was a huge group of <whatever> on the ship, and they acted like they owned the place" or "If I had known I wouldn't have booked on that sailing, why can't the cruise lines tell us if a group has 90% of the space".

It can be very uncomfortable to be one of the very few people on the ship that's not part of a group booking. There will be special events on that you're not eligible to participate in. Some of the lounge acts may alter their routines to include comments etc relevant to the group that mean nothing to you.

So cruise lines have 3 options - bump existing bookings and accommodate those passengers as best as possible; allow the existing bookings to remain knowing that the passengers will receive a less than satisfactory cruise experience; or don't book large groups at all.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

Just thought I would add my 2 cents. I know you said you are trying to avoid hurricane season, end of september is prime time. Aug and Sep are the time when most hurricanes occur. This is year Ivan hit us on Sep 16 and Jeanne hit us in FL 9/27 and then Matthew hit us Oct 10. But if its really important to you about not having to worry about hurricanes I would go another time. IMHO I would still go then but some people dont want the worry.

Also I hope DCL doesnt cancel your cruise, if there is a charter they will though. We were invited to the Navigator of the Seas next july, it was already book and we know people who were going but since my dads company chartered they canceled to everyone else. Hope somthing works out though.

Matt

 

[MickeyB426]

Rich companies should plan farther ahead and book when the dates come out just like the rest of us, Its just RUDE to bump people off because you can flash wads of cash.

Why are you blaming the "rich companies"?

It's DCL that's doing this to you. They're the ones that booked your trip, then chartered the whole boat to someone else.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

I wouldnt blame the "rich" companies. They cant probably book stuff like this as far in advance as some disers do. I dont think the purpoe of the cruise is flash around wads of money either lol

Matt

 

[kcatoir]

I realize hurricane season spans more than Sept, that is not our only scheduling perameter, we cruised the same weekend as Isabell in 2003.

I'm sorry if I feel companies that can afford to charter should do so well in advance, some of us have to save for years to afford a cruise, we don't complain doing this we just plan ahead. Companies that can afford to charter a cruise can afford to plan ahead and inquire when they can schedule a cruise that won't have to displace others in the process. They aren't even scheduling out a year in advance.

Those of you who are in the same boat will understand the frustration.