DCL carry-on alcohol policy changing Sept. 30 2015

[cgolf]

Got the canned response back from DCL. I am holding out hope that the fact it is a canned response and not personalized at all like they usually do means they are getting buried in complaints. Will be interesting to see what happens, which will probably be nothing.

 

[cgolf]

So what is powdered alcohol? could it be carried in a baby formula can without question

Would probably be mighty suspicious for us though since our baby is now 18!

 

[bumbershoot]

Don't shoot me, but if you are going to use acronyms, you may want to at least let the rest of us in on what they mean. (Maybe everyone else already knows) but I could not follow your post.... TIA!

Totally sorry about that.

Like I was saying to the poster that called me "lady" and thought I was ranting, and worse, thought I was ranting at him, I just do stream of consciousness, thinking through my fingers.

The point of that stream of consciousness is that they are changing things drastically when they could just do a better job at enforcing the rules they already have.



Just noticed you ended with an acronym. Since I'm my mother in law's main caregiver after all of her strokes, "TIA" has a VERY different meaning than the internet meaning. Transient Ischemic Attack isn't quite the same as Thanks In Advance.

 

[bumbershoot]

So what is powdered alcohol? could it be carried in a baby formula can without question

Would probably be mighty suspicious for us though since our baby is now 18!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_powder

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...dy-banned-in-new-york-and-at-least-20-states/


People eat baby food for strange diet purposes; maybe they might eat baby formula.

 

[jahber]

Good for you that you don't have to worry about a budget while on vacation. Most people aren't so lucky.

In just the past few months DCL has gotten rid of dropping things off for characters to sign, significantly limited what drinks you can bring on board, and raised the corkage fee on wine. Not to mention all the changes they made with onboard booking and Palo prices in the last year or two. Yet, the price stays the same or continues to go up. If you think they're gong to stop there, I'd like to point you to all the perks DVC and AP holders have lost and continue to lose in a continuous slow progression over the years.

So the change in alcohol policy doesn't affect you. What if the next change does? What if they start charging for room service? Or meet and greets? Or kids clubs? Are you going to have the same laissez-faire attitude that "relax, it's just vacation?" At what point does Disney get rid of enough perks that it's worthy of being commented on?

For a lot of people, we're not talking about the price of a souvenir. We could be talking about $500-$1000 extra on an already expensive vacation.

I agree completely. The year I had my third child, DCL raised the cost of the nursery from $6 an hour to $9. That's a full fifty percent increase in one go! I get that it's still not a huge amount for babysitting, but I had budgeted for $6 an hour. Oh, and they increased Palo, too. (And then again.). And on and on.
Anyway, I've given up trying to reason with people who think it's no big deal that DCL changed one more thing. They either think we are whiney babies or alcoholics (seriously) who ignore our children on vacation. Or they think we need to just lower our expectations (while paying the same price). Nope. You just can't reason with an attitude like that. But like you said, best of luck to them finding sympathy when the one thing they DO care about is eliminated or is no longer free. I just don't get that mind set at all.

 

[Hamitchell]

Why are they talking about confiscated booze anyway..? The CM took my husband out of context first. My husband was asking about the rum they'll be taking from us at every port stop in the southern caribbean - we are planning on buying many bottles of rare deliciousness that we can't get at home like we did last October. We won't have any yet when we go through those xray machines during embarkation, so it can't be held there.

It seems to me, as others have said, they just don't know what they are going to do at present. If we have to pick up our bottles and repack our luggage in the terminal with thousands of other people swarming around that is going to be a downright mess. Luckily we have plenty of time until our flight in this case...!

It will be a huge mess with people going to whatever area they have set up for re-claiming their booze, at port and on the ship. Do you want to stand in long lines just to get your booze back after a cruise???

 

[turtle27]

So what is powdered alcohol? could it be carried in a baby formula can without question

Would probably be mighty suspicious for us though since our baby is now 18!

This is literally powdered alcohol. It is in powder form, just add water.
http://www.palcohol.com/ - I hope it is ok to link this here, please be aware they are lobbying many states because so many states have already banned the sale of the powdered alcohol and this is the main brand that has been approved for sale, there may be others, just the first one I googled. I don't know that I am willing to try it... I'll take my liquor in liquid form!

 

[littleblackegg]

i think Dcl should instate a mandatory bed time/lights out. That way, it's no big deal that pools and hot tubs close early and no big deal that you can't have liquor in your stateroom. Who needs liquor when you have to be tucked into bed and lights out by midnight?

I like this. It could be sort of a Mary Poppins package for those who enjoy being treated like naughty school children. What happens with that umbrella stays in the stateroom. They could make a fortune.

 

[cgolf]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_powder

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...dy-banned-in-new-york-and-at-least-20-states/


People eat baby food for strange diet purposes; maybe they might eat baby formula.

That just sound like a bad idea and kind of gross, would rather pay for my drink than use that stuff.

 

[godde8ss]

So, someone just called me saying they were representing Karl Holz's office in regards to my email. The jist of the call was, "sorry you are disappointed." Basically, they don't care what I have to say because I cannot cancel and they have my money, and I said that to him. He keep saying he thanked me for sharing my opinions but they are not making any changes, even for those who should really be "grandfathered" in. I reminded him that people booking a DCL cruise today, can review the new policy and factor that into their decision. We, factored the other policy into our decision and is akin to a "bait and switch." The representative said that that is not really bait and switch, to be technical, that would be giving me a different product than I signed up for. It may be the same product, but the price is significantly altered for us, Mickey Mail is gone, Palo costs more, the corkage fee is ridic and babysitting is more expensive. Not bait and switch exactly, but, really, why is he arguing over semantics? The product is not different but it is not of the same caliber. He dared to say that people do not really factor that into their decision. REALLY? REALLY? It convinced my husband and uncle to go on this cruise. To many men, a budget is a HUGE deal, and to my uncle so is Jack Daniels on the Veranda. He did say, I see your point a lot too. all very canned stuff.

I was very annoyed he kept using the word disappointed. NO, I feel cheated, and bummed about my budget being blown. And please, do not thank me for sharing an opinion you do not care about. Disney would care if I could cancel my booking, because that would be money walking away...I did point out that many of us only know about this because we are active on social media. He made the point that it will be going out in cruise docs, IF, we or the travel agent opted for that. I feel really bad for the people that are not active online. I forsee many, many people finding this out at the Port...

 

[over50visits]

Shall we start a new debate on the Oxford comma?

No debate necessary. I am positive, sure, and certain that you should not use the Oxford Comma. Even if you're from Harvard.

 

[littleblackegg]

You can have my Oxford comma when you pry it from my cold, dead, and ink-stained fingers!

Huzzah!

 

[mmouse37]

Since I'm on one of the final cruises, even though I'm not a big drinker I've decided I'm going to stop in PC and pick up a bottle of this Fireball whiskey I keep hearing about, and some hard cider to chase it. Look out world.

If you liked the those fireball jawbreakers as a kid you will LOVE Fireball Whiskey!!! They taste the same. Also, I have a wicked good recipe for Fireball hot toddy for the winter months....yum, yum!!! On a cruise I like my Fireball over tons of ice or with some ginger ale.

MJ

 

[apocalyps3]

So, someone just called me saying they were representing Karl Holz's office in regards to my email.

Thanks for sharing. Too bad it wasn't a more satisfying phone call. After hearing that they've tried this before, my hopes that they'll rescind it this time is very low.

I still can't figure out why they didn't push the implementation date further out (so it wouldn't impact people who were already past their cancellation date). Makes me think there is some legal reason they made the change? Otherwise, why the hurry?

I was hoping they might be willing to issue some on board credits for those in the cancellation dilemma, but I guess that would be potentially thousands of people and they decided the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

 

[godde8ss]

I was hoping they might be willing to issue some on board credits for those in the cancellation dilemma, but I guess that would be potentially thousands of people and they decided the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

I asked about that, he basically said no...

 

[BooToYou7]

It may be the same product, but the price is significantly altered for us, Mickey Mail is gone, Palo costs more, the corkage fee is ridic and babysitting is more expensive. Not bait and switch exactly, but, really, why is he arguing over semantics? The product is not different but it is not of the same caliber. He dared to say that people do not really factor that into their decision. REALLY? REALLY? It convinced my husband and uncle to go on this cruise. To many men, a budget is a HUGE deal, and to my uncle so is Jack Daniels on the Veranda. He did say, I see your point a lot too. all very canned stuff.

Disney thinks that people don't factor in the caliber of the product when deciding where to spend their vacation dollars?

That explains so much.

 

[turtle27]

Don't give up, I'm not (and have not warranted a call, guess I don't rate that high). I think if we all keep pressuring them, including on the cards we fill out, then it may have an impact. Like I said before, it is not as big as an issue for those that can still cancel and make other plans (although with flights being booked and non-refundable, that date is further and further away), but for those of us well past our PIF date that cannot cancel, it just sucks and was dishonest on the part of DCL. What would Mickey say?

 

[mmouse37]

I think part of the confusion here is that DCL has not made any official statement about booze bought IN PORT. The ONLY statements DCL has made pertain to wine and beer at embarkation and allowed to be brought on in port. It honestly sounds to me like the response your husband received was not addressing his actual question -- possibly because DCL has not made official statement yet about such a situation. Most here are assuming that DCL will hold purchases made in port; at this point that is an assumption and DCL has not confirmed or denied it, much less indicated how/when such purchases would be returned to the guest at the end of the cruise. Somethings we probably just need to wait a bit for more information...

I agree with C6PT7 -- "confiscated" booze, as in a bottle of liquor in checked or carry-on bags found at embarkation or "excess" beer/wine above the allowed amount, are likely to be held at the terminal and guests will be required to stop and pick it up themselves, much like any other confiscated item (irons, bottle warmers, power strips, etc.). It will be the guest's responsibility to retrieve their own belongings which were not allowed onboard. How purchases made during the cruise are handled remains to be seen (and it does appear that DCL maybe hasn't fully formulated that plan yet).

DCL at this point is only spitting back the approved company policy. They don't seem to be responding to other scenarios or related questions. As much as we all would like answers immediately, I think it's a bit of a waiting game to see what more info is released in coming days/weeks. I do feel for those who are PIF and plan to cruise this fall.

Bolded above is exactly how I interpreted that email. They may not have all the logistics figured out completely but my guess is they will take your booze if found in carry on and give you some sort of claim ticket. They will take it in the back and hold it until the end of the cruise. Booze found in checked luggage will be tagged with your cabin number and you would be notified with a claim number or something, also to be claimed at the end of the cruise. The hairy part will be if people change cabins (upgrade) at the terminal and the new cabin number not noted.

At the end of the cruise the guest will have to track down their booze and pick it up. I am sure at some point they will let us know where the pick up point is. They are saying if you do have confiscated booze to pick up in the terminal after your cruise you should not use the OAC program because you will have to pack the booze in your checked luggage (if you are flying). At least that is how I read the bolded and italicized portion below.

Guests do not have to bring extra alcohol, although all
alcohol that exceeds the limit that's found packed in checked luggage
will be removed and stored until the completion of the cruise, as a
courtesy. If a guest would like to pack alcohol into their luggage that
has been stored at the cruise terminal, they may wish to consider not
using the Onboard Airline Check-In program or perhaps bring an extra
piece of luggage.

I totally think the first several cruises under this new policy will be chaotic until they get a routine down. Can you just imagine how Mr. Smith will react when he says he had 3 bottle os Jack Daniels but only 2 are found under his name or the alcohol they say is theirs is not what is presented? What proof would the guest have unless they took a pic of the booze they checked.

MJ

 

[godde8ss]

Don't give up, I'm not (and have not warranted a call, guess I don't rate that high). I think if we all keep pressuring them, including on the cards we fill out, then it may have an impact. Like I said before, it is not as big as an issue for those that can still cancel and make other plans (although with flights being booked and non-refundable, that date is further and further away), but for those of us well past our PIF date that cannot cancel, it just sucks and was dishonest on the part of DCL. What would Mickey say?

Not sure what Mickey would say, but Walt would be slappin' some people I'm sure!

I'm deflated, but still trying. I cced Karl Holz and another VP on my email, that is probably why they called. Did you try that?

 

[turtle27]

Not sure what Mickey would say, but Walt would be slappin' some people I'm sure!

I'm deflated, but still trying. I cced Karl Holz and another VP on my email, that is probably why they called. Did you try that?

No, I emailed twice and responded back to them both asking for a real response, no form letter, no patronizing tone, etc. It is probably taking them awhile to form their own grammatical sentences. I want answers, I feel that they should have told us before the PIF date. Or they should allow a more lenient policy for those of us on longer sailings, including allowing us to have a bottle of liquor. This really was a factor in us deciding on DCL vs. another line, so now they have pulled the rug out from under us.

I have been an advocate of DCL, despite people looking at their prices and going, is it really worth it, 2 cruises on another line for 1 DCL, and I have always told them customer service is great. Plus, these other amenities, can make up for some of that. Not to mention the magic of special touches. But now with rising prices and less and less services/amenities being offered, plus their so not stellar customer service, it is getting to be a hard pill to swallow. I am especially disheartened by the latest response you received where they argued with you.