Disney Cancelled Our Excursion and Didn't Inform Us!

[Grumpy&Goofy]

DH decided to call and confirm reservations made 2 weeks ago, and was informed by Disney that they had cancelled the "Stingray City Snorkeling and Discover Cayman Tour" (G-16). DH was not very happy, and asked when were they going to inform us. They said that they didn't know how we were going to be informed of this, or if we were. If DH didn't call, then we still wouldn't know that our excursion was cancelled. We are traveling with 3 other families and this made things very difficult. Can't imagine if we found this out once we were aboard the ship.

We really expected more out of Disney.

Just wanted to let everyone know so this doesn't happen to them.

Has this ever happened before, and how was it handled?

 

[SlyHubby]

Don't fret - you can do it on your own - reserve/confirm right from your computer at Captain Marvin's

We had a sort of similar experience (not canceled though). We faxed in our excursion request and didn't hear anything for over 2 weeks. Had my wife call and then they mailed the confirmation. Why don't they let you reserve/confirm through the DCL website? If I can pay $4000 for the cruise online, why can't I do the rest?

Enjoy!

 

[tezb]

I kind of wonder about who is scheduling the DCL excursions. According to the brochure the reps are supposed to be experienced/knowledgeable people who can answer any questions about the excursions. When I called the woman on the other end didn't have a clue as to what was what. I think I knew more than her! I didn't feel she knew enough for me to ask her any specifics about the excursion. She even gave me the wrong times at first. Almost like she was a robot just reading the brochure herself. Now after hearing this and their lame response it really makes me wonder if they know what they are doing or have a reliable system. I am surprised that DCL doesn't have this more organized by now. Reminds me, after I booked, I only got one confirmation faxed to me...not one for the 2nd room....better call them..

 

[Grumpy&Goofy]

I agree with you. I wonder about these people with the DCL that are making reservations. DH always says they are not the most friendliest people. Everbody outside of DCL we deal with are very nice and seem to know what they are talking about.

When DH talked to this girl with DCL, she was so clueless as to why DCL cancelled the Cayman excursion. He even told her we received 2 weeks ago our confirmation for the excursion. She said, "I don't know why they removed this excursion from your confirmation now, I think they canceled that excursion." That told us a lot! ha/ha

I just think DCL should have prepared these people for when they received calls about this excursion being cancelled, etc.

 

[Grumpy&Goofy]

tezb - you are cruising same time we are - July 19, 2003

 

[inkkognito]

I'm surprised that they didn't call you. When we had booked the Key West beach excursion, they phoned us at home before our cruise to tell us that it was no longer offered.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[tezb]

Hey Grumpy...are you posting on the July 19 thread? How many in your group? We are family of 5, my husband and 3 sons...17, 15 and 11. This will be our 3rd DCL cruise but first on Western. We have only booked the Stingray City Excursion but might switch to Capt Marvins,...not really sure yet.

 

[bothofus]

tezb-
You might want to give Captain Bryans a look too,have heard very good things about them,their Catamaran looks like lots of fun,we're booked for the AM snorkel.
www.cayman.org/captainbryan

 

[tezb]

thanks I have looked into them too, along w/ Nativeway. Actually Capt Marvins told me they don't use Catamarans, only cabin type boats. Is that true? I also like the variation in times for the private companies.

 

[AnnMorin]

and they were definately not catamerans... we were on a smaller speed boat.. it did have a small bathroom but that was it.
their larger boat is a couble decker but also a motor boat.. we loved captain marvins,,, great people ,. our guide was especially kind carrying a stingray over for my son to feed,, really neat company.. would use them again in a moment!

 

[trishy]

That's surprising. We haven't had a problem with DCL in 2 (soon to be 3) cruises. In fact last year we received a confirmation email for our booked excursions (which went exceedingly well) and this year we had two things happen. (1) We booked Seahorse Snorkel at Castaway Cay - A DCL representative called and told me that this particular excursion was not available due to them having vendor related problems. She also advised they would notify us if this excursion becomes available for our cruise. (2) I faxed my excursion request (last year I emailed it & received an almost immediate email confirmation back) - I didn't receive a written confirmation to my fax so I emailed DCL at around 10 p.m. and received a fax confirmation 6:30 the next morning.

However, I'm glad there are so many different options for excursions out there. (1) the competition will hopefully bring DCL's prices down and (2) the competition will make DCL's less crowded.

 

[Grumpy&Goofy]

tezb -

I think I posted early on in the July 19, 2003 cruise thread. Including my family, there is 15 of us from New Orleans. This will be our 2nd cruise with DCL. 13 years ago, on our HM, we took the Big Red Boat, "Atlantic."

Sorry, I should have mentioned this, we were able to book the Island Tour and Snorkeling which is basically the same tour as the one we had previously booked. There were 3 different times, the 10:45 a.m. time wasn't available, but we were able to get 7:20 a.m. We are just glad they had an excursion similar to the one that we had previously booked.

Sounds like Capt. Marvins is really good. I have heard nothing but good about them, but just hesitant about going outside DCL, in case of any problems. Don't want to miss the boat!!

 

[dizneykids]

we did captain bryan's on the 5/24 magic cruise and were happy we did, as DCL cancelled their excursion that day due to choppy water. capt. bryan's still went out in spite of the choppy water. it was a bit tough swimming in it, and i unfortunately couldn't take my 4yo over to the sand bar to see the stingray as a result, but it was still an incredible experience. i got to hold one of the stingray...WOW! i highly recommend doing this excursion (either with disney or on your own).

about capt. bryan's...one of their boats (the Hannibal) is a triamaran, meaning it has three pontoons (is that the right word?). we did the Golden Eagle in St. Maarten on last year's cruise and wanted to go on a catamaran again this year, so we specifically selected capt. bryan's as they appear to be the only ones that have such an option. however, unlike the Golden Eagle, the webbing on the Hannibal was close-knit and did not cover the whole front end of the boat as on the golden eagle. on the way back, there were five 10-15 yo kids lying side-by-side and they took up the entirety of the webbing (on our side of the boat). the rest of the front end of the boat is solid.

on the issue of going outside disney's excursions and doing one on your own, we started doing this last year when our then 3yo would have been excluded because of disney's age limitations. and, in many cases, they are disney's limitations. the providers we've gone to directly do not impose the age restrictions that disney does. so, last year, while disney would not let us take our then 3yo on the golden eagle, the golden eagle folks had no problem. we signed the usual waiver for him as we did for our older boys.

the second advantage to not using disney (for some excursions) is that the cost is oftentimes lower if you book with the provider directly. we found that with capt. bryan's stingray city in grand cayman this year and with the golden eagle and atlantis last year in st. maarten and st. thomas respectively. however, we booked the dolphin experience with dcl this year because there are so many cruise ships in cozumel on wednesdays that the provider doesn't really take many reservations directly. they are too busy with the cruise excursions. that's for the experience, not the swim.

 

[4cruisin]

On our January 2003 cruise, our party of 4 had booked the ChampagneCatamaran Sail to St. John in advance. We received our confirmation by mail and received our tickets in our cabin once on board. At 8 p.m. the night before the excursion, there was a note stuck to our doors telling us that the excursion had been cancelled for lack of participants. We were bummed because we really wanted to see St. John and at that late date, we really had no way of booking any other excursion for St. Thomas or St. John. We ended up taking a taxi on our own to Magen's Bay for the day. DCL should work on their excursion process. My next cruise, I will handle my own excursions as opposed to booking them with DCL.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Goofy&Grumpy -

I was wondering if they may have just moved you to the G-19 option, or at least offered that to you. They are essentially the same tour and caused a great deal of confusion.

I'm also surprised you had CMs that weren't helpful. In 3 calls to the excursion desk I had 3 different CMs who were all very helpful and knowledgeable. One of the excursions DH & DS wanted to do had been eliminated from the offering but she had that information and was able to explain that there just had not been enough demand as well as suggest an alternative. Didn't need that option as my guys had already given me a second choice.

Interesting point though - when someone does get a less than "perfect" CM it immediately stands out as being out of the norm!

Deb

 

[lovethatdisney]

Trishy -

Your comments are interesting. I also tried tio reserve the Seahorse Snorkel Adventure. Iwas told it was not availabe yet. When I asked why - she didnt know, when I asked if it would come availble she didnt know and I asked what I should do and she said to just keep checking back. She was very nice but not as accomodating as you would expect.

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE SEAHORSE SNORKEL ADVENTURE IS OR WILL BE AVAILBALE?

Thanks to all! Enjoy your cruise!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Grumpy&Goofy,

I feel your pain!!!!!!! I didn't get an excursion cancelled......my whole cruise was cancelled (Nov. 2002). Imagine what you are feeling times 11 whole days!!! Anyways.....I'm not familiar with the pre-booking policies but do you do it thru DCL or thru your TA (if you used one)? When we were cancelled (the night before we were to fly out of chicago) DCL called us directly to inform us. The other couple that went with us booked thru a TA and DCL insisted on notifying the TA first. Just wondering?!?!?

 

[tezb]

That is pretty standard for DCL to contact the TA first if you booked that way. In fact, I think that is the way they have to do it, they cannot talk w/ you and you need your TA to call directly for anything to do w/ your trip. That's why some may book directly if they want more control over the situation.

As I mentioned earlier also, the DCL excursion desk does not seem very informed about the excursions as the brochure says they're supposed to be. They are simply taking reservations and can't answer any specific questions about the excursion itself. At least, this was my experience when calling a few weeks ago. I was supposed to get 2 confirmations via FAX and only got one!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Tzeb,

Whenever I book I have them fax me confirmation while I am on the phone with them. With our rebooking from cancelled Nov. 30 2002 Magic and switched to Dec. 1 Wonder I had my faxed confirmation in hand when we got to WDW Thurs. morning and they had no confirmation in their computers.

 

[Mjasp]

Did they say why they cancelled it? Wonder if they messed up with the original ressie and saw it wasn't there and thought it was cancelled.

Last week I called to book my cruise with a SPR, saw on expedia there was only one available. The woman told me #5520 was available at the beginning of the phone call then said it wasn't available and that #5522 was available. I knew 5522 wasn't available as another DISer has it with the other connecter.
So I said no thanks and called the next day and got 5520.

Just makes me wonder how 5522 was available when it really wasn't. I also kept asking her are you sure (as I knew she wasn't doing something right) . She said while we were talking 5520 was taken and the only other cat 10 on deck 5 is 5522. So go figure. I would maybe call again and speak to another rep. to see if it really was cancelled.

Joanna