Dine w/Shamu - anyone try it recently?

[Lindy Loo]

I did ask about seats. The lady said we were in a group of 20 so all seats were good . I hope shes right. Good luck to everyone !!

 

[mrebuck]

Just got the call to rebook us from Debbie at Sea World. There were about 50 people already booked, so I cancelled.

I am beyond frustrated. If I would have been given accurate information on 7/27 (when I first called about this), we would have likely been at the front of the list for the 12:15 show, and I would have simply rebooked it. But because I was given the complete runaround, and basically told that I was an idiot for even being worried about the 2:45 show being cancelled, my family will not get to experience Dine with Shamu. This clearly was an instance of information not being given to the call center when it should have been, and frankly some very rude people at the call center handling my calls very, very poorly.

If this is an indication of how Sea World runs its business, I am doubting my decision to even come to Sea World on this trip. 8/13 is supposed to be our first visit to Sea World (although we go to Orlando every year on vacation). This episode has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am second guessing whether to even give Sea World a try.

Luckily I hadn't told my kids about this, so at least they won't be disappointed.

 

[Lindy Loo]

Just got the call to rebook us from Debbie at Sea World. There were about 50 people already booked, so I cancelled.

I am beyond frustrated. If I would have been given accurate information on 7/27 (when I first called about this), we would have likely been at the front of the list for the 12:15 show, and I would have simply rebooked it. But because I was given the complete runaround, and basically told that I was an idiot for even being worried about the 2:45 show being cancelled, my family will not get to experience Dine with Shamu. This clearly was an instance of information not being given to the call center when it should have been, and frankly some very rude people at the call center handling my calls very, very poorly.

If this is an indication of how Sea World runs its business, I am doubting my decision to even come to Sea World on this trip. 8/13 is supposed to be our first visit to Sea World (although we go to Orlando every year on vacation). This episode has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am second guessing whether to even give Sea World a try.

Luckily I hadn't told my kids about this, so at least they won't be disappointed.

Im so sorry for you.

 

[mrebuck]

Im so sorry for you.

Thanks. I knew this was coming, but still am very disappointed. I think what frustrates me the most is the way they treated me. I don't expect great customer service from anyone anymore, but they made me feel like an idiot for even suggesting that the 2:45 might be cancelled.

I sent Sea World an email. I'm not holding my breath that they respond, or if they do, that it will be any more than an form response. But I thought I shoudl at least try to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Have fun at the event. I'm sure your family will have a great time.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

If this is an indication of how Sea World runs its business, I am doubting my decision to even come to Sea World on this trip. 8/13 is supposed to be our first visit to Sea World (although we go to Orlando every year on vacation). This episode has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I am second guessing whether to even give Sea World a try.

Luckily I hadn't told my kids about this, so at least they won't be disappointed.

I am sorry there has been so much confusion surrounding your Dine with Shamu reservation.

I can only speak for myself when I say that I think SeaWorld (and its customer service) are generally wonderful. On par with Disney, in my experience. I would guess there has been much confusion with the return of Dine with Shamu as they find their "new normal" after being closed for such an extended period of time. That's not an excuse for how things were handled in your case, but simply a reason where I can definitely see why it happened.

SeaWorld is a great park. Its my favourite in all of Orlando. I think your family would have a great time there, and encourage you to still give it a try.

We are hoping to secure a reservation for Dine with Shamu for our Christmas trip. Hopefully by then, they will have their schedule firmly ironed out and we will not have any of the frustrations you have experienced.

Hopefully this wrinkle will not colour your entire trip. Enjoy your vacation .

 

[reelmom]

I hope they get all the kinks out and everybody has a great trip. We are considering Dine with Shamu in October. I can't book just yet but I am kinda scared to when I can.

 

[Pinkgirl]

I've had a message on my phone from Seaworld to ring them about the time change as well. I'm in the UK so bit stuck with the time difference to ring them back. Will be straight on the phone later to make sure we still get a seat!!!

 

[mrebuck]

II can only speak for myself when I say that I think SeaWorld (and its customer service) are generally wonderful. On par with Disney, in my experience.

I wish I would have shared your experience. Not only did I get very poor customer service from 4 CMs on 3 separate calls, but I sent them an email yesterday explaining what happened. I at least expected to receive a form "sorry for your bad experience" response from them. Over 24 hours later, I've received no response. And they did not even process my refund yet. (I called this morning, and they said the request for a refund was noted but not yet processed.)

 

[Pinkgirl]

I'm just in from work and have rung. The 12.15 was full. Good job that after some debate this morning we had finally decided to opt for 5.30 as it was a more appropriate time to enjoy the free beer.

Still, I think its bad that they have obviously been allowing new bookings to be taken before sorting out the original ones that they have already had the money for.

 

[Pinkgirl]

oh - and the spiel you get about the trainers have changed the schedule - PLEASE - we all know that its Seaworld adding in another show because obviously the bookings are going well and they can make more money.

 

[mrebuck]

A quick update. Last Saturday, I recieved a response from Sea World to my email. A very nice manager from Shark's Underwater Grille called, apologized for the problem, and told me that although he couldn't get us into the Dine with Shamu event, he would offer us a meal on the house at Shark's Underwater Grille. Fast forward to today . . .the day of our Sea World visit. We had a really great meal. They sat us right by the shark tank. The food was really yummy (as was the Dolphin Punch) and all of the staff was really great.

We had not only a great meal, but we also had a great day at the park. The only hiccup was that a storm closed down Kraken before we got to ride it. But we rode Manta twice, saw Turtle Trek, One Ocean and Blue Horizon, fed the dolphins and the sea lions, and visited multiple aquariums. In spite of the heat, we had a great time. And every cast member we came across was very helpful. We will defnitely be visiting Sea World again in the future (we need to ride Kraken!)

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

A quick update. Last Saturday, I recieved a response from Sea World to my email. A very nice manager from Shark's Underwater Grille called, apologized for the problem, and told me that although he couldn't get us into the Dine with Shamu event, he would offer us a meal on the house at Shark's Underwater Grille. Fast forward to today . . .the day of our Sea World visit. We had a really great meal. They sat us right by the shark tank. The food was really yummy (as was the Dolphin Punch) and all of the staff was really great.

We had not only a great meal, but we also had a great day at the park. The only hiccup was that a storm closed down Kraken before we got to ride it. But we rode Manta twice, saw Turtle Trek, One Ocean and Blue Horizon, fed the dolphins and the sea lions, and visited multiple aquariums. In spite of the heat, we had a great time. And every cast member we came across was very helpful. We will defnitely be visiting Sea World again in the future (we need to ride Kraken!)

Now that's the kind of customer service that I would have expected from SeaWorld . Glad to hear all worked out well in the end!