Disney Cruise line cancels Oct 28th cruise for more $$$

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Disney Cruise Line has CANCELED the Oct 28th 3 day cruise so a private company can rent the whole ship. This was done at 6 months out.

I feel badly for all the families that had this cruise booked from 18 months to a year out. This shows no class by DCL and I am sure Eisner gave the OK to this as well. This will turn into a PR nightmare for DCL and WDW.

Here is a link to the DCL forum below............

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?s=&threadid=552364

 

[erikthewise]

Am I the only one that thinks this would never have happened while Matt Ouimet was running DCL?

 

[Bob O]

Another action done purely for the money, screw the guests who already bought tickets, we dont care about them if we can get more!!!
Anotehr example of a acxtion done by a comapny that has lost or is losing its soul!!!!

 

[safetymom]

Yes it is bad that families lost out on a cruise but I am sure they will be taken care of

Disney is a business and I think most of us will agree that a full boat is better for business than a partially filled one.

If Disney doesn't keep an eye on the bottom line the price could be more expensive for everyone.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I don't believe DCL ever has a problem filling their ships. Why couldn't they just have booked the ship before the dates were released to the general public? So many people buy plane tickets and make other arrangements (jobs, school, etc) that I find that no matter what the compensation is, DCL could have done better by preventing this situation to begin with.

 

[40plus]

I can't believe that all those who were booked are quietly taking this. I would be on the phone to my lawyer. Aren't you signing a contract when you book one of the cruises? Also doesn't it state that they are not responsible for acts of god, war declared or not. I know that cruise itineraries can be changed but completely cancelled because someone wants to rent out the whole ship, thats a jury I would love to sit on.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by 40plus
I can't believe that all those who were booked are quietly taking this. I would be on the phone to my lawyer.

How do you know they're not?

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Is there any actual proof of this?

 

[JoNo]

I hope this isn't completely true b/c that is my b-day and Tanya & I were planning to go on THAT cruise...

 

[WDWguru]

Originally posted by OnWithTheShow
Is there any actual proof of this?

We were on that cruise and have been rebooked. Is that proof enough? DH, MIL, two nephews and I booked it along with a DVC stay using our points back in November. Last Tuesday afternoon I came home to a voicemail from DVC member services asking us to call them asap regarding our cruise. They were closed, so DH called the next morning. We were told the cruise had been "chartered by a private company" and they worked with him to rebook our plans.

Long story short, we are getting a four-day cruise earlier in the week and our BWV stay is now after the cruise, rather than before. We lost our guaranteed Boardwalk View that we got for booking at our 11 month window, but we're on a "priority waitlist" to get it back. DVC also will not waive the extra points we need to stay for the weekend, so DCL gave us $100 credit in each of our two staterooms. It doesn't entirely make up for it, but we're okay with how it turned out. Still sucks, though.

Thank goodness we hadn't yet booked airfare and that our plans are flexible. There were others who had requested specific time off from work that can't change it, who had nonrefundable plane tickets and hotel rooms booked, etc. Ours was relatively easy.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Thanks for the confimation WDWguru. This is truly dissappointing. I would certainly put up much of a fight. If you do not get the view that you would like when you check in I would ask for the manager and tell them your story. You are definitely not being properly taken care of and I know that the Boardwalk managers are good people and have been know to give the Presidential Suite to guests on occasion.

 

[PJesse25]

I am a travel agent and can tell you that all cruise lines have, occasionally, in the past chartered out their ships, resulting in having to reaccommodate previously booked guests. It definitely stinks, but it's a business decision (and, no, that explanation rarely works when I'm speaking with an affected guest). My experience is that the cruise lines are very fair with compensation and do what they can to rebook affected guests. I'm sure if DCL's analysts thought they could fill that boat, they would have never agreed to charter it out.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Do they cover changes in airfare too?

 

[PJesse25]

Not sure if you mean in general or in this case specifically. I looked up the details we were given on this situation and DCL is refunding any airline change fees. They also protected the rates if the affected guests change to just about any other fall date and will give them a 2 category upgrade and $50 shipboard credit. They also have the option to cancel with a full refund.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Wow bookings must have been really soft for them to sell of the whole cruise and offer these makeups.

 

[WDWguru]

Perhaps it's because we booked with our Vacation Club points, but that's a far cry from what we were given. We were not upgraded, but they did put us on the 4-day cruise for the same points. They also did not cover our extra points needed for our DVC room stay since we moved to a weekend, but they did give us $200 total shipboard credit to try and make up for that (which doesn't entirely, but it's not bad). We were never given the option to cancel and have our points and fees refunded.