DCL shows that they CAN cancel cruises for no reason - Wonder's 12/9/12 and on

[danfromca]

The flip side...

While I certainly feel for those whose plans for next December now have to change, and don't want to minimize at all their frustration - there are two other factors to consider:

1. DCL made the announcement about a year ahead - which means that while cruise plans must change, hotel and air plans are likely not impacted - as those reservations typically can't even be made that far in advance.

2. There is another group of future cruisers for whom this change was actually an early present from DCL. At least one of the dates effected was a "placeholder" date for those booking onboard - people just holding a reservation to keep their onboard discount who never intend to actually take the cruise. These people just got a bonus $250 cabin credit towards their next cruise (which is what DCL is offering everyone impacted by the change).

So though they've remained largely silent, I'm sure not everyone is unhappy with this turn of events.

 

[danfromca]

The flip side...

While I certainly feel for those whose plans for next December now have to change, and don't want to minimize at all their frustration - there are two other factors to consider:

1. DCL made the announcement about a year ahead - which means that while cruise plans must change, hotel and air plans are likely not impacted - as those reservations typically can't even be made that far in advance.

2. There is another group of future cruisers for whom this change was actually an early present from DCL. At least one of the dates effected was a "placeholder" date for those booking onboard - people just holding a reservation to keep their onboard discount who never intend to actually take the cruise. These people just got a bonus $250 cabin credit towards their next cruise (which is what DCL is offering everyone impacted by the change).

So though they've remained largely silent, I'm sure not everyone is unhappy with this turn of events.

 

[RedSox68]

While I am not affected by this because we did not have a cruise booked during the time in question, I can completely understand how people are worked up over this. It is not just the disappointment, but the incredibly poor way in which Disney handled this. As I said above, I was told they decided to change the Wonder's itinerary because of poor sales and pulled all the December cruises, NOT because Mexico was a problem.

Yes, I agree with PP that some will make out quite good from this and end up on the plus side dollar wise. However, I just feel that Disney dropped the ball big time in not offering all those affected a chance to book another cruise at opening day prices. ANY cruise these people try to book now (even for 2013) have gone up hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars already. Yes, Disney is allowed to do whatever they want with their itineraries, including adjusting them for the good of their bottom line. But as said by a previous poster, it is Disney, and people expect way more from Disney than any other cruise line when it comes to customer service.

The offer of the onboard credits is all well and good, but Disney is more than aware how bookings work and how far in advance their loyal customers plan to get the pricing they can afford. Forcing these customers to either completely lose their holiday vacation or in the alternative pay big bucks to find something else is unfortunate and truly bad customer relations!

 

[Wadekind]

Um, hate to argue with you, but surely you can see that peoples' vacations HAVE been ruined by this. Peoples' holidays HAVE been ruined. Yes, it's nice to have a year's notice, but DCL's prices get over-inflated WAY before a year out. I totally agree with PPs who have suggested that the least DCL could do is allow people to book another cruise at the same rate they had booked the cancelled cruise - not at today's going rate. Even with that, though, the stipulations that DCL set forth for the offered compensation (i.e. the replacement cruise must be the same length as the cancelled one), people have extremely limited options for the same time frame - especially since DCL still hasn't even announced what's taking the place of those cancelled cruises. Why not give the folks affected the first opportunity to book one of those replacements??

What would be fair? Let these folks book another cruise at the same per person daily rate they had booked their MR cruise, and don't dictate that it MUST be the exact same length cruise. I don't even think any additional OBC would be necessary - just the opportunity to still cruise during the same frame for a similar amount of cost. WHY IN THE WORLD is that asking too much from DCL???

For people who plan literally years in advance for the opportunity to take a Disney cruise, the rug HAS literally been pulled out from under them.

ETA: I am sure that EVERYONE who has been affected will indeed survive, and will indeed have a wonderful 2012 Christmas. But I sure can't blame anyone for coming here to the DISboards to vent about how this has affected their current plans.

Why does their vacation plans HAVE to involve DCL? You seem stuck that they HAVE to involve Disney as part of the vacation or holiday this year or else it is ruined. No one is entitled to go on a Disney cruise no matter how long you save or how far ahead you plan.
They wanted to go to DCL and planned to go but now they can't. It's not good but you make new plans with what you've got and move on.
If people are so sensitive that not going on a Disney cruise will ruin their vacation and holiday, I would be willing to bet that if they were able to go on DCL there would be something on board that would ruin their vacation and holiday.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

If people are so sensitive that not going on a Disney cruise will ruin their vacation and holiday, I would be willing to bet that if they were able to go on DCL there would be something on board that would ruin their vacation and holiday.

This is an obvious non sequitur.

Being unhappy that DCL cancelled one's planned vacation =/= being the kind of person who would complain about anything.

The answer to your question is fairly obvious. Disney is at its core a business that markets itself to kids. They put commercials on the air showing children overcome with something akin to religious ecstasy at the thought of going to Disney World. Young children do not understand such niceties as supply and demand. The daughter of the poster in Australia who is unable to go on the Disney cruise she has been dreaming of did what a normal 8 year old would old would do when confronted with this reality: she cried.

If Disney made my kids cry by cancelling their vacation and offered to "compensate" me by allowing me to pay an extra $1500 to cruise on a different itinerary, we would not do business ever again.

It is telling that RCCL, a company that is much closer to marketing itself as "a fun vacation" than "dreams come true" did so much better by their potential customers than DCL.

In conclusion, I said it once and I'll say it again. This episode (and DCL's shoreside customer service in general) demonstrates that the real company motto is: "We don't care. We don't have to. We're Disney Cruise Line."

 

[Wadekind]

This is an obvious non sequitur.

Being unhappy that DCL cancelled one's planned vacation =/= being the kind of person who would complain about anything.

My logic is if you are so sensitive that a change in plans (a year ahead of time) will ruin your vacation or holiday then you are as likely to be just as distraught while actually doing something you did plan, if everything does not go your way or as expected.

The answer to your question is fairly obvious. Disney is at its core a business that markets itself to kids. They put commercials on the air showing children overcome with something akin to religious ecstasy at the thought of going to Disney World. Young children do not understand such niceties as supply and demand. The daughter of the poster in Australia who is unable to go on the Disney cruise she has been dreaming of did what a normal 8 year old would old would do when confronted with this reality: she cried.

It's your responsibility as a parent to temper your kids expectations when it comes to advertising. I have no doubt the child cried but how much more this affected them was totally up to the parent

If Disney made my kids cry by cancelling their vacation and offered to "compensate" me by allowing me to pay an extra $1500 to cruise on a different itinerary, we would not do business ever again.

Your reaction to the cancellation and how you presented it to your kids would have more to do with whether they cried or not than any thing Disney could have done

It is telling that RCCL, a company that is much closer to marketing itself as "a fun vacation" than "dreams come true" did so much better by their potential customers than DCL.

I disagree. The two are unrelated and I hope that Disney continues to see through this hyperbole

In conclusion, I said it once and I'll say it again. This episode (and DCL's shoreside customer service in general) demonstrates that the real company motto is: "We don't care. We don't have to. We're Disney Cruise Line."

I for one would be glad to see Disney take a harder line with the people that are always trying to get some sort of compensation by over reacting and taking offense every time they don't get their way

As a company, I would not care if I lost customers that acted like this.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

As a company, I would not care if I lost customers that acted like this.

You might not care if you had a line of customers willing to pay premium prices for a service that is currently in high demand--which, at present, they do. If you were more prescient, you might realize that losing (previously) loyal customers may have unexpected impacts in the long term. There are a lot of businesses that were extremely popular only a few years before they weren't businesses at all.

Again, your "logic"--isn't logical. Claiming that people who aren't willing to accept major disruptions in their vacation plans are intrinsically unreasonable is not a tenable position.

 

[Wadekind]

You might not care if you had a line of customers willing to pay premium prices for a service that is currently in high demand--which, at present, they do. If you were more prescient, you might realize that losing (previously) loyal customers may have unexpected impacts in the long term. There are a lot of businesses that were extremely popular only a few years before they weren't businesses at all.

Again, your "logic"--isn't logical. Claiming that people who aren't willing to accept major disruptions in their vacation plans are intrinsically unreasonable is not a tenable position.

I don't see any profit in keeping high maintenance customers happy when there are others who will fill their shoes. You don't have to please every customer just most of them. Not every customer is a good/profitable one and sometimes as a company you do have to say we decline your business. This is not short sighted but good business practice.The quality of the product will keep demand high.

Logic? We are not talking about a kidney transplant or something that really matters. We are talking about people who can not accept a change in their VACATION plans 12 months ahead of time. I don' t see this as a "major disruption" and think that it is unreasonable to start petitions and threaten media campaigns. Why shouldn't I expect the same behavior when other things don't go right for this same mindset?

 

[Yokelridesagain]

I don't see any profit in keeping high maintenance customers happy when there are others who will fill their shoes. You don't have to please every customer just most of them. Not every customer is a good/profitable one and sometimes as a company you do have to say we decline your business. This is not short sighted but good business practice.The quality of the product will keep demand high.

Logic? We are not talking about a kidney transplant or something that really matters. We are talking about people who can not accept a change in their VACATION plans 12 months ahead of time. I don' t see this as a "major disruption" and think that it is unreasonable to start petitions and threaten media campaigns. Why shouldn't I expect the same behavior when other things don't go right for this same mindset?

I'll agree with you that writing petitions and trying to stir up a consumer watchdog is misguided and extremely unlikely to have any effect-DCL won't care about the petitions and a consumer reporter isn't likely to run this story-DCL did all that they were legally obligated to do and more.

None of that means that the affected parties will, or should want, to do business with Disney in the future. I'm not sure why you find it irrelevant that one of the industry behemoths came forward with better compensation than DCL in a similar situation. Fulfilling one's legal obligations to customers and meeting an industry standard are not the same thing.

DCL obviously made the decision to write off the customers who were booked on these itineraries (outside of those who were using it as a placeholder and confirmed pixie dust huffers who will take anything The Mouse dishes out and say "Thank you sir, may I have another?"). They feel that the profit they will make from whatever they are planning for the four weeks in question will more than offset any losses--and in the short run I'm sure they're right.

Whether DCL will have any long term success getting out of their Caribbean "home base" and growing the company if they keep pulling these kind of shenanigans every time an itinerary doesn't sell well is another question.

 

[lbuher]

Why does their vacation plans HAVE to involve DCL? You seem stuck that they HAVE to involve Disney as part of the vacation or holiday this year or else it is ruined. No one is entitled to go on a Disney cruise no matter how long you save or how far ahead you plan.
They wanted to go to DCL and planned to go but now they can't. It's not good but you make new plans with what you've got and move on.
If people are so sensitive that not going on a Disney cruise will ruin their vacation and holiday, I would be willing to bet that if they were able to go on DCL there would be something on board that would ruin their vacation and holiday.

I've been away from the board today, and this is the last time I will post on this thread/subject.

I stand corrected in the wording of my response. It's not necessarily that their vacation/holiday is ruined, but their PLANS for said holiday certainly are.

I'm done.

 

[Kidlette]

I guess it's a matter of interpretation of the posts. I didn't just go back and re-read all 20 pages, but my overall impression is that the people who have been affected and that have posted here have expressed their disappointment and frustration and what they WISHED DCL would do or what they would LIKE for DCL to do, but I no shape, form, or fashion interpreted anybody to say that they were ENTITLED to anything more than they were getting.

And I agree, aggravation and frustration are normal and expected. However, on the same page you posted this note someone said, "is anyone interested in maybe signing a petition of some sort to send to Disney....It sounds like many have been affected, either by these cancellations or previous ones, with unfair compensation. We had a Christmas week cruise planned that has just been destroyed....I Have already written letters to Disney, but I am really really wanting to spread the word further. I had a poor car sale once...(I was a teen, new to driving and was totally taken advantage of) and got a consumer advocate on my side....Lots of poor news media etc...and eventually got a fair compensation for my troubles. (was given a demo Honda for a lemon used Hyundai....not bad...it took a lot of work and effort, but paid off in the end.) Thoughts?????"

It frustrates me because they are EXACTLY saying that they are entitled to "fair compensation". Others have even agreed to join them on their petition quest. It's difficult to tell a person's tone in posts, so please know that I am not saying any of this in an angry manner. I am also not discounting anyone's frustrations. As I said before, although I was not booked on this sailing, I too have had my cruise plans changed by the cruise line. Yes, I was furious at first, BUT, I dealt with it and moved on. NEVER would I start a petition and try to "spread the word further" to receive "compensation" that wasn't owed to me.

If Disney made my kids cry by cancelling their vacation and offered to "compensate" me by allowing me to pay an extra $1500 to cruise on a different itinerary, we would not do business ever again.

Part of my point is that no one knows a new sailing will be $1500 more because no one knows what the new sailings will be. Granted, it is likely that West coast passengers will now have to purchase some sort of airfare instead of being able to drive (sadly, a cost I imagine many won't be able to afford), but no one actually knows what the sail prices will be because the itinerary possibilities haven't even been released yet. Also, people keep talking about "initial pricing" for a sailing. Well...seeing as how the sailings haven't even been announced, the prices are inherently "initial pricing." Everyone is assuming that they will start out high, no one is considering that they might start the same as they "normally" do and that people may be able to book the same or similar pricing as they had before.

Either way - I hope everyone's holiday plans work out in the end.