Dreams Unlimited vs. Small World Vacation

[tweis]

Hmm... So I went ahead and booked on board and had them use DU. But response time is typically 48 hours.

Today we wanted to switch itineraries and I called the 800 number listed on their site which says:

"(please note: this number is not for reservations. Existing customers can use this number to make inquiries about, or changes to their current reservations with Dreams.)"

They told me that they could only take payments - so much for the 'make changes to current reservations...'

I expect an answer within an hour or so, or at least an email stating "got your message, give me a few hours or a day". Or if the TA is out, then auto response stating so.

I'm sorry you are not having a good experience with DU. Waiting 48 hours for a response is unacceptable. So far, my agent, has been very quick with answering my emails. I have discussed with her our plans of reshopping our Fantasy cruise onboard and what needs to be done in order for it to be a seamless transition. According to her, it should be no problem. If I was you, I would contact John with DU and discuss the issues you are having. Good luck.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I used Small World. My agent was useless. The only way to get her to do anything was copy the owner on every email.


I will not use any of these Disney agencies again. Too many agents with them view this as a hobby to fund their vacation. So they respond to you after their regular job and all the kids activities are all done.

And if an 800 number can only take payments and not deal with my problems I would be gone

 

[MPS516]

For those who are suggesting costco with the benefit card, the qualifier says only good for reservations initially booked through costco travel, do you qualify by transferring OBB ?

 

[mommy2twingles]

Another negative experience with DU. I am paying for my cruise with gift cards from Target. All weekend I have been trying to make a payment and getting an errror message. Since I have 10 cards (the max they will take per day) to apply I really don't want to do it over the phone. I emailed my agent asking if there was an email address to send the information to for payment, explaining that I had a bunch of gift cards. My response was to call the phone number and leave a message for someone to call me back. Not very customer friendly, especially when many people do work and can't sit waiting for a call back. Needless to say after my experience with her I will not be booking with DU again regardless of any perks they may offer.

 

[sabrecmc]

I've used both agencies and liked both of them (though did not work well with my first Small World agent, though the one who handled my Disneyland Paris trip was great). However, my original DU agent left to go to another agency, so I followed her. She's the best! I'm usually obessive about control of my vacation, but she is so good and has such great suggestions...LOVE her. I can even contact her via Facebook, which is nice. Plus, she emails just to check in and make sure I don't have questions or need help with anything. Really great service.

 

[PegIra]

We have used DU several times and always been happy. Marla is our agent and she always responds to me very quickly, even at nights and on weekends. We just booked our 7th and 8th cruise with her. Our first 2 cruises were through AAA and the TA was no where as good as Marla. The AAA Agent and other AAA agents onboard our second cruise gave very poor customer service on that cruise and that is when we decided to go elsewhere to someone who actually helped us.

I haven't used any other agencies, but on our last cruise in January on the Fantasy we got a wonderful gift basket from DU.

 

[nixieh]

Another vote for DU. Merrie is our agent, she has been our agent for a few years even though we are from the UK and don't travel to WDW every year. I love the on board credit with DU and hoping to get one of the gift baskets on our 7 day Fantasy Cruise in August but it s the quick and helpful service from Merrie that I love. Also I have been using the Disboards for years and am a big fan of the Disunplugged podcast and what they do for GKTW so I feel like using DU is giving back in my own way.

 

[chrisdar1]

We just booked our 2nd cruise (7-night Eastern Carribean) this morning through DU (Tammy is our agent). I priced out other TA's and DU had the highest OBC and offers the stateroom gift.

Like others on this thread, I am usually a DIY vacation planner (I am also a former Cast Member which made DCL a bargain for our first cruise back in 2010), but the OBC and in-room gift made DU a nice option.

So far Tammy has been great, she was emailing me today (Saturday) so no complaints!

 

[thdarragh]

We used Small World and they have been great. Amber has been a huge help answering all of our questions and getting us info. She is very prompt about getting back to us and, most importantly, been VERY patient! I can't say enough good things about her.

 

[Meghatron]

We used Small World and they have been great. Amber has been a huge help answering all of our questions and getting us info. She is very prompt about getting back to us and, most importantly, been VERY patient! I can't say enough good things about her.

We have experienced the same level of service from Tracy at Small World.

 

[CarolyninCO]

I booked our first DCL cruise a few months ago. Prior to that, I requested a quote from DU. Got a very quick response from an agent. Was very impressed with that.

I then followed up a with a couple of questions: one about getting a cabana and the other asking when (typically) VGT rates come out. She replied that cabanas are too expensive and I didn't need one, and that she had no idea when VGT rates come out. I can get more information than that reading these boards (thank you all!)

Having complete control of my reservation and finding the information I want without a filter is worth more to me than an OBC. Plus....I already have 20+ Target gift cards and don't want the experience some others have reported.

I truly believe that great service is agent-specific as many people here get awesome service. This is just my limited experience...