DCL to get rid of Placeholder Booking Perks?

[DisUniversal]

DW and I are on the October 28th sailing on the Dream.
With the revised onboard booking promotion occurring October 30, guessing there will be lots of activity October 28th and 29th.
Family is planning to book 2 rooms for a cruise during DD winter break. DW and I plan to give DD and her best friend the OBC. DD(age 17) is working hard to earn\save money and pay for the cruise herself. Talking about a proud parent moment when DD told me she wanted the cheapest cabin available since she was paying.
Hope there are plenty of servers hanging around the desk October 28th and 29th. Business should be good. Not so much on October 30 and after.

The change goes into effect September 30th.

 

[71 Truck]

I really hope people do not take this out on the crew by either removing the automatic gratuity or not tipping extra if they deserve it. They have nothing to do with the decision Disney has made. We have always looked at the onboard credit for our gratuity then add extra to the tip envelope. We will still tip the same amounts as in the past maybe just not shop as much in the gift shops.
To my wife and I loosing $200 on board credit is not the end of the world it just means we might not freely spend as much as in the past.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

In the past, I believe you would get the OBC. Since they apparently still give OBC for friends and family, I was wondering if a blackout date would be treated the same.

I've sailed on blackout dates and can confirm that you currently get the OBC, but no 10% discount. In the future you'll only get the reduced deposit (& only if it's a longer cruise), which is basically like getting no benefit at all.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

You know, I'm wondering (no pun intended) if these problems are (currently, at least) specific to the Wonder. We've had one disappointing experience on a DCL ship in recent years, and it was on the Wonder. I posted about it here.

I don't think so. We've sailed on every ship in the past 5 years, and the most lackluster service we've had was on our two Magic cruises. Our 2018 Wonder cruise was the only cruise where we got a lot of personal attention and had a dining team do magic tricks, etc. We had good, though less personal, service on the Fantasy & Dream.

I think it's really a crapshoot how good your servers are going to be, on any ship. That's why some people try to request certain servers in advance. On our most recent cruise (Magic), our server really tried, but the assistant server obviously couldn't have cared less.

 

[Happy99]

Not quite true. You could book a second for friend or family and still get the full benefits of OBB for both, as long as they were used for the same future cruise. On one cruise, we booked 3 staterooms. Two got the full benefits, and the 3rd got the friends and family benefit, which was just the OBC

I was only referring to the 10% discount and using it as an example to answer the other person's question on friends / family.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

The long term potential problem for them if they do finally turn up the heat too high, parks and cruises, is were we all burned enough to not come back when they need us.

There will always be plenty of people wanting to take a Disney vacation if the prices are reasonable, so I don't think that scenario holds water. When/if they really "need us", they'll lower prices/offer big discounts, and the crowds will be back.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

A little off topic, but this announcement also showed up today:

WALT DISNEY WORLD NEWS TODAY:

“For those of you who enjoy the convenience of using Instacart or Amazon Prime to deliver groceries and other last-minute necessities (lookin’ at you, phone chargers) to your Disney resort hotel room, as well as essentials like strollers and ECVs or other mobility devices, you will now have to budget in additional vacation time to retrieve your goods, as Resort Bell Services is no longer holding goods for guest pick-up or in-room delivery. Drop-off or pick-up of items prior or after guest arrival will also no longer be permitted.”

https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...r-accept-deliveries-at-disney-hotels.3771744/
Guess mailing packages to ourselves isn't going to happen any longer. Unless you mail it the day you fly down, and are there to receive it when it gets there.

The Site Which Cannot Be Named is (as he almost always is) wrong. This only applies to mobility devices (i.e. ECVs, wheelchairs, strollers). All other deliveries are unchanged. Numerous local vendors (Storage Locker, Garden Grocer, various supermarkets, etc.) have contacted Disney and confirmed this.

 

[Numtini]

I don't think it's so much that DCL doesn't care about repeat guests, as much as it is they are confident that their core repeat business is sufficiently loyal as to be effectively immune to price increases.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

DCL has amassed more Platinum and Gold passengers than they have the capacity to handle. I've heard a lot of stories about the Platinum check-in line at the port being twice as long as the general public line, it's often impossible for Silver and new cruisers to get Palo reservations because the Platinum members booked all the slots for free, the CC party got cancelled on most cruises and moved to the theater on longer cruises, etc. It's only going to get worse when they've got three more ships. They did this to themselves by making CC status too easy to acquire (most cruise lines have long since moved away from a simple "number of cruises taken" metric), and I think they've decided that the solution to the problem is just to alienate enough Gold and Platinum cruisers that they've got room for new members. Not sure that's the choice I'd have made, but they certainly seem to have the ability to attract new cruisers in droves each year despite their prices and lack of perks. Even so, it's only a matter of time before they have no choice but to restructure the Castaway Club completely (I don't think just adding a Diamond level above Platinum will be effective), and hopefully they'll have perks that make it worth aiming for the higher levels again.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Duplicate post

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I've heard a lot of stories about the Platinum check-in line at the port being twice as long as the general public line

I have never seen anything remotely like this. You've heard about it? Have you ever seen it for yourself?

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Maybe this is the beginning of a new CC plan. Perhaps OBC will come with status, so it’s been removed as an incentive for all repeat cruisers. I don’t know. I’d like to think there’s a grander plan than to simply continue to remove benefits while increasing prices, but I may very well be wrong.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Just spend less on the ship.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

I have never seen anything remotely like this. You've "heard" about it? Have you ever seen it for yourself?

Seen it myself on the 2019 WBPC. Can't recall what it looked like on our previous cruise. Heard this complaint from a number of 20+ cruise Platinum cruisers grumbling on that voyage.

ETA: I meant that they were grumbling that this was a problem on multiple cruises they'd been on, not just that one.

 

[Numtini]

Somehow, I don't think doubling overall passenger capacity with the new ships is going to make the percentage of Gold/Platinum worse. Math. It's a thing.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Seen it myself on the 2019 WBPC. Can't recall what it looked like on our previous cruise. Heard this complaint from a number of 20+ cruise Platinum cruisers grumbling on that voyage.

ETA: I meant that they were grumbling that this was a problem on multiple cruises they'd been on, not just that one.

I see. Panama Canal is a rare itinerary and platinums tend to be overrepresented in those. For typical Bahamian & Caribbean sailings that make up the bulk of DCL's cruises, that is not the norm.

 

[tinkerone]

There will always be plenty of people wanting to take a Disney vacation if the prices are reasonable, so I don't think that scenario holds water. When/if they really "need us", they'll lower prices/offer big discounts, and the crowds will be back.

I'm not sure I would agree with this. We transitioned a few years ago to RCCL because the value of the DCL cruise had dissipated, it just was no longer there. Now we find that we enjoy what RCCL has to offer. There is so much more for us that we just didn't know about because we were loyal DCL clients. They lost us mainly due to their ever increasing prices. At this point, even if they were to lower prices/offer big discounts, I just don't see us going back on a regular basis. We have learned that other cruise lines are just as good if not better, something we didn't know before DCL widened the price gap and would never have known had they not done that. By sending some people on their way they showed them that DCL is not the only fish in the sea......see what I did there??? Anyways, I'm sure we are not the only ones who feel this way.

We are taking a cruise on the Fantasy soon mainly because DH wanted to see what it was we actually enjoyed about DCL compared to RCCL. After that we are taking our family on DCL in April of 2021 for my grandsons 5th birthday. Its a tradition in our family that once you turn 5 you get your first Disney vacation and as WDW has become so big we decided that this birthday would be the cruise which is a little more confined. After that I doubt we will be seeing DCL for many many years however that could change. What will not change is that RCCL is now in our lives and will remain so. We have a B2B booked on the Symphony for next October which used to be a B2B on the Fantasy. Yes, DCL has bit their selves in the a**. They are looking for short term gain and not looking toward the future. JMO.

ETA--We would normally do a B2B on the Fantasy but have decided that we will spend one night at WDW and a week at Universal before the cruise instead of a second week onboard. We have even started to boycott WDW because the value has left there as well. Disney has lost a lot of our vacation $$s.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I'm not sure I would agree with this. We transitioned a few years ago to RCCL because the value of the DCL cruise had dissipated, it just was no longer there. Now we find that we enjoy what RCCL has to offer. There is so much more for us that we just didn't know about because we were loyal DCL clients. They lost us mainly due to their ever increasing prices. At this point, even if they were to lower prices/offer big discounts, I just don't see us going back on a regular basis. We have learned that other cruise lines are just as good if not better, something we didn't know before DCL widened the price gap and would never have known had they not done that. By sending some people on their way they showed them that DCL is not the only fish in the sea......see what I did there??? Anyways, I'm sure we are not the only ones who feel this way.

We are taking a cruise on the Fantasy soon mainly because DH wanted to see what it was we actually enjoyed about DCL compared to RCCL. After that we are taking our family on DCL in April of 2021 for my grandsons 5th birthday. Its a tradition in our family that once you turn 5 you get your first Disney vacation and as WDW has become so big we decided that this birthday would be the cruise which is a little more confined. After that I doubt we will be seeing DCL for many many years however that could change. What will not change is that RCCL is now in our lives and will remain so. We have a B2B booked on the Symphony for next October which used to be a B2B on the Fantasy. Yes, DCL has bit their selves in the a**. They are looking for short term gain and not looking toward the future. JMO.

I said that Disney will have no problem attracting customers when prices are reasonable, not that every disaffected former customer would go back to them.

 

[tinkerone]

I said that Disney will have no problem attracting customers when prices are reasonable, not that every disaffected former customer would go back to them.

And I didn't say I was only talking about disaffected former customers. I said I was not sure I would agree with your statement and I stand by that. If people are already using RCCL or Princess or NCL because DCL is to expensive for them they may not want to even try DCL as every cruise not taken with said company is a cruise that does not count toward the level they have on their chosen line.
They may not have issues but they just may.

 

[Pooh2]

This will inspire me to wait and watch for last minute discount sailings. If nothing comes up, we'll go elsewhere.