DU reservations

[woody73]

. . . My TA (allseas) . . .

That's our TA, too. We got exactly what we wanted, and it cost over $1,000 less than the price on the DCL website.

Woody

 

[tomshortridge]

I put in my request WEEKS ago.

Sue Ellen from DU got exactly what I wanted, a great deck, early seating and all for about $500 less than I could have on the DCL web site (and only had low decks and later dinner there).

I think the system worked fine for me! I put in my $1000 deposit today and it was quickly and efficiently noted on my account.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know why my DU confirmation page say I'm sailing on the WONDER???

Tom

 

[ivanova]

Does anyone know why my DU confirmation page say I'm sailing on the WONDER???

Tom

Hmmmmm, since the Wonder is staying in the Bahamas, that could be an issue.

 

[tigger137]

Does anyone know why my DU confirmation page say I'm sailing on the WONDER???

Tom

Probably for the same reason my quote said that the WESTBOUND Panama repo started from Los Angeles!

But given how hard Sue Ellen was working for us these last few days, I'm sure we can allow her a few typos.

 

[ded4025]

I had requested a quote from DU and All Seasons Travel for a cat. 8. I had no intention of trying to book it myself, planned on waiting for the quotes to arrive that afternoon. At 8AM, I jumped on the Disney website and had no trouble getting price info. The price quote for 2 adults and 2 kids at 8:15 was $7,912. I left the Disney site and called my brother who was also waiting for a quote from All Seasons. He jumped on to see what the price would be for his family in a cat. 9. While on the phone, I went back to the site and looked up a cat 9 for us. The price was $6,812 so because the price difference from a cat. 8 to a cat. 9 was $1,100, I booked the cat. 9 on the Disney site around 8:45AM.

Now I was waiting to hear what the TA's could get for a price. I received an email from All Seasons at 7:30PM, they quoted me $7,912 for a cat. 8, this was the same price I saw at 8:15AM on the Disney website. I received a email from DU at 12:12AM the next day with no quote, saying the cruise was sold out.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I had requested a quote from DU and All Seasons Travel for a cat. 8. I had no intention of trying to book it myself, planned on waiting for the quotes to arrive that afternoon. At 8AM, I jumped on the Disney website and had no trouble getting price info. The price quote for 2 adults and 2 kids at 8:15 was $7,912. I left the Disney site and called my brother who was also waiting for a quote from All Seasons. He jumped on to see what the price would be for his family in a cat. 9. While on the phone, I went back to the site and looked up a cat 9 for us. The price was $6,812 so because the price difference from a cat. 8 to a cat. 9 was $1,100, I booked the cat. 9 on the Disney site around 8:45AM.

Now I was waiting to hear what the TA's could get for a price. I received an email from All Seasons at 7:30PM, they quoted me $7,912 for a cat. 8, this was the same price I saw at 8:15AM on the Disney website. I received a email from DU at 12:12AM the next day with no quote, saying the cruise was sold out.

So how many potential reservations was this? Three? No wonder the prices escalated so fast and the ship sold out. Even if you had not done it yourself, it would have been a potential double booking.

And this is not sour grapes, I am booked and received a fantastic price (thanks to my TA, Fairytale Dreams &Destinations). Just sad that people felt the need to do this.

ETA: I don't mean to pick on just this poster, this is for everyone who double or triple booked. If you want control over a situation, then do it yourself next time.

 

[ded4025]

So how many potential reservations was this? Three? No wonder the prices escalated so fast and the ship sold out. Even if you had not done it yourself, it would have been a potential double booking. QUOTE]

Don't whine to me because of how the system works. I'm looking for the best price for my family vacation. If is takes requesting two quotes to save $500 to $1,000, how can you blame a person? Plenty of people received quotes that were much higher then what they saw in the AM when looking at the Disney site. If I did it your way and just stayed with DU only, we wouldn't have received a room.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Don't whine to me because of how the system works. I'm looking for the best price for my family vacation. If is takes requesting two quotes to save $500 to $1,000, how can you blame a person? Plenty of people received quotes that were much higher then what they saw in the AM when looking at the Disney site. If I did it your way and just stayed with DU only, we wouldn't have received a room.

I'm sure everyone understands why you felt the need to book several cabins. However, you have to admit, that has a huge impact on the quotes that others received.

It's only natural that those who were priced out, those who are paying a much higher price, or those who couldn't even book, are upset with those who booked 2 or 3 cabins.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Again, I wasn't priced-out and I feel I did great. I feel bad for the people who WERE priced-out because of the selfishness of others. I guess all the posts with entitlement issues I have read over the past couple of days is getting to me.

 

[KimberlyC]

So how many potential reservations was this? Three? No wonder the prices escalated so fast and the ship sold out. Even if you had not done it yourself, it would have been a potential double booking.

And this is not sour grapes, I am booked and received a fantastic price (thanks to my TA, Fairytale Dreams &Destinations). Just sad that people felt the need to do this.

ETA: I don't mean to pick on just this poster, this is for everyone who double or triple booked. If you want control over a situation, then do it yourself next time.

Just out of curiosity, how many people get more than one quote for regular sailings? I know that for our cruise I checked DCL, e-mailed my favorite TA, called Costco and contacted DU for a quote (though never got a response from them). I went with the best price, of course. I wouldn't buy a new car without checking prices and some people here could almost buy a car with what they are paying for a cruise. And the fact that prices weren't released in advance...well how can you know what you can afford, if you dont know what something is going to cost. Sure double and triple bookings drove up the price, but that's DCL's fault for the way they do their pricing and the frenzy they deliberately create. I don't think you can fault people for covering themselves and requesting multiple quotes. People do this all the time with the regular sailings, why should the special sailings be any different - gotta do what you gotta do! If people are bitter, blame Disney (unless of course your TA totally screwed up then blame them both).

 

[vossjemi]

Getting quotes from multiple sources isn't technically double booking until you've paid the deposit. All this poster did was shop really. Who could get her the best deal? And, as it turned out, she got herself the best deal. What is wrong with that?

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Again, my TA didn't screw up. She did great and I am onboard. The special cruises are different in that there are limited sailings (in this case TWO repos). There are MANY eastern & western cruises, there are many 3 and 4 day cruises. There are only two repositionings. Multiple quotes on a cruise that may not be popular is different than multiple quotes on a cruise that is known to be popular. Sorry but to me it is.

Also, I don't shop around for quotes as in the end I usually end up with a Florida Resident Rate. I know this won't be the case with the the repo cruise, so I instead chose to leave my reservation in the hands of a TA I felt comfortable with, that I knew would do everything in her power for me. And she did! Thanks again, Christine of Fairytale Dreams and Destinations!

I am just upset for the people who weren't even able to get a quote or were outpriced when there will be mass cancellations because of double, triple and who knows how many else boookings. I understand every man for himself and such, but either trust someone or do it yourself!

The problems with getting multiple quotes is that you are holding multiple rooms driving the cost up and causing the ship to appear sold out even if it is not (and the ship appeared sold out even with the rumor of DCL taking 150% capacity on the Eastbound repo, well knowing that people would be double booking and would also have sticker shock).

 

[KimberlyC]

Again, my TA didn't screw up. She did great and I am onboard. The special cruises are different in that there are limited sailings (in this case TWO repos). There are MANY eastern & western cruises, there are many 3 and 4 day cruises. There are only two repositionings. Multiple quotes on a cruise that may not be popular is different than multiple quotes on a cruise that is known to be popular. Sorry but to me it is.

Also, I don't shop around for quotes as in the end I usually end up with a Florida Resident Rate. I know this won't be the case with the the repo cruise, so I instead chose to leave my reservation in the hands of a TA I felt comfortable with, that I knew would do everything in her power for me. And she did! Thanks again, Christine of Fairytale Dreams and Destinations!

I am just upset for the people who weren't even able to get a quote or were outpriced when there will be mass cancellations because of double, triple and who knows how many else boookings. I understand every man for himself and such, but either trust someone or do it yourself!

I wasn't referring to your TA. I was stating that as a generality because some people are upset with their TAs.

As for your feelings (shared by many I'm sure), I think people will just have to agree to disagree. You (and others) are entitled to your opinion. I just don't happen to agree with it and think the poster you called out did nothing wrong and is totally entitled to get multiple quotes before spending $$ on a cruise, especially one that didn't list prices in advance. The previous poster had an excellent point, its not double booking unless deposits were placed, it was getting quotes. The fact that Disney drives prices up the way they do, well blame Disney.

 

[Flip]

So how many potential reservations was this? Three? No wonder the prices escalated so fast and the ship sold out. Even if you had not done it yourself, it would have been a potential double booking. QUOTE]

Don't whine to me because of how the system works. I'm looking for the best price for my family vacation. If is takes requesting two quotes to save $500 to $1,000, how can you blame a person? Plenty of people received quotes that were much higher then what they saw in the AM when looking at the Disney site. If I did it your way and just stayed with DU only, we wouldn't have received a room.

Yes, but All Seasons DID get you exactly what you requested, AND at early pricing.

Apparently I was much further down their list than you were, because while they were able to secure rooms for me, they were both gty status, one was not the catagory I requested, nor were either of them anywhere near the early pricing tiers.

I also checked the website 1st thing - however I did not book because I already had a request in with just ONE TA.

So do realize that while the folks at All Seasons were working on your request (with you busy booking your own room at the same time) my request sat in a stack waiting. Yep, have to admit it does upset me.

BTW, my quote for 2 rooms was $4,000 and change OVER what people who got in on the early pricing paid. I guess I'm just not a big enough person to say oh well, at least we're on the ship and still be happy for those of you who saved a bit of money by playing the system.

While I agree that ultimately the responsibility lies squarely with DCL and that the system really stinks - my guess is they don't care. If reports are true... they anticipated the double and even triple bookings and oversold the ship by a significant margin and are most likely laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

I understand everyone's frustrations, and yet sometimes a double quote can really save your bacon...take me for example.
Originally asked for a quote from DU for an 11. talked about it with the other person going with me who was open to splurging on a 9. unfortunately by the time she told me, DU had closed reservations. So I had to get a different TA. went to mouse ears, got a great rate for a cat 9, also got a great rate for the original DU quote.

but when I went to pay my deposit today for the 9, I was told that the names on the hold got screwed up and disney wouldn't allow a name change without rebooking at todays prices- an extra $2000. For a wrong name !!!

thankfully, I had the DU booking as a backup. I understand that people got priced out, but Disney's to blame for that, not everyone else. had I not double booked so to speak, I would be completely s.o.l. right now...thanks to Disney

 

[kimerinc]

I understand everyone's frustrations, and yet sometimes a double quote can really save your bacon...take me for example.
Originally asked for a quote from DU for an 11. talked about it with the other person going with me who was open to splurging on a 9. unfortunately by the time she told me, DU had closed reservations. So I had to get a different TA. went to mouse ears, got a great rate for a cat 9, also got a great rate for the original DU quote.

but when I went to pay my deposit today for the 9, I was told that the names on the hold got screwed up and disney wouldn't allow a name change without rebooking at todays prices- an extra $2000. For a wrong name !!!

thankfully, I had the DU booking as a backup. I understand that people got priced out, but Disney's to blame for that, not everyone else. had I not double booked so to speak, I would be completely s.o.l. right now...thanks to Disney

Wow, that's a new one! Can you imagine how awful if you had to pay $2000 to change your name to the right name? Yikes!

 

[Flip]

Just out of curiosity, how many people get more than one quote for regular sailings? I know that for our cruise I checked DCL, e-mailed my favorite TA, called Costco and contacted DU for a quote (though never got a response from them). I went with the best price, of course. I wouldn't buy a new car without checking prices and some people here could almost buy a car with what they are paying for a cruise. And the fact that prices weren't released in advance...well how can you know what you can afford, if you dont know what something is going to cost. Sure double and triple bookings drove up the price, but that's DCL's fault for the way they do their pricing and the frenzy they deliberately create. I don't think you can fault people for covering themselves and requesting multiple quotes. People do this all the time with the regular sailings, why should the special sailings be any different - gotta do what you gotta do! If people are bitter, blame Disney (unless of course your TA totally screwed up then blame them both).

I'm speaking specifically about the Panama Canal cruises here since those are the ones I referenced in my post above.

Yes, people do get more than one quote... but since DCL changed their pricing structure; when you're getting quotes from different TA's on a regular cruise you're looking for whatever an agency is offering in the way of onboard credits (or gift card in the case of Costco) or possibly trying to snag a group rate.

We all know that DCL was NOT going to offer group rates on the special itineraries and all the agencies I know of were very upfront about what they were offering in the way of onboard credits before booking opened. No need to get quotes to compare those.

So what people who got multiple quotes were doing was hoping that someone, whether it be them or one of the agencies they had a request in with, would be able to score 1st tier pricing.

So yes, people did what they felt they had to in order to secure the best deal for themselves - but lets be honest, it was at a price to others and it WAS different than shopping around on a regular itinerary.

As I said, I agree the fault lies with DCL - but I'm sure the extra money they made on these cruises, due in large part to double and triple bookings, is more important to them than the frustration some people experienced trying to secure bookings.

 

[jerry112]

Hi all,

I was also involved in the frenzy on Wednesday morning and am still trying to come to terms with Disney's poor, poor management of the situation. Don't get me wrong, we love all things disney. They have acquired lots of our hard earned dollars over the years.

I have not really turned on these boards since Wed. because I really needed to unwind from it all. I am booked on the EB repo, so I guess you can't feel too bad for me, but I am really sick over it all and am not sure we will wind up going.

I, too, gave my ressie transfer to DU thinking it might be the better way to go. At 8:10 am I got online just to get an idea of the possible cost. A cat. 9 for 2A 2K was 7012. I did not book figuring DU would probably come in cheaper since they would get me the 10% extra off. I also did not want to double book and mess things up for others. I watched all the craziness unfold then , finally at 11:00 pm , I got my price. $8343. for a cat.9 GTY only and that includes the 10 % discount. (I guess the rooms real cost without the discount was over $9,000.00 )

What bothers me the most is that I am paying so much more and don't even know what room I'll be in (noisy? steamer trunk?) and we are on late dining, not something I can live with for 15 days. I know, Disney is a business but they get greedier and greedier as time goes on and they are truly pricing out the average joe! Next time, I will shop around like others have suggested, and definately handle my own bookings, for better or worse!

Sorry this is so long, but I guess I just had to vent! Congrats to everyone who got what they wanted at a FAIR AND REASONABLE RATE!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I agree that some blame lies on DCL, no doubt. However, I also think that large travel agencies got in over their heads on this one. It seems the people who booked themselves or used a smaller travel agency came out better. Maybe just something else to think about if this all happens again.

 

[KimberlyC]

I'm speaking specifically about the Panama Canal cruises here since those are the ones I referenced in my post above.

Yes, people do get more than one quote... but since DCL changed their pricing structure; when you're getting quotes from different TA's on a regular cruise you're looking for whatever an agency is offering in the way of onboard credits (or gift card in the case of Costco) or possibly trying to snag a group rate.

We all know that DCL was NOT going to offer group rates on the special itineraries and all the agencies I know of were very upfront about what they were offering in the way of onboard credits before booking opened. No need to get quotes to compare those.

So what people who got multiple quotes were doing was hoping that someone, whether it be them or one of the agencies they had a request in with, would be able to score 1st tier pricing.

So yes, people did what they felt they had to in order to secure the best deal for themselves - but lets be honest, it was at a price to others and it WAS different than shopping around on a regular itinerary.

As I said, I agree the fault lies with DCL - but I'm sure the extra money they made on these cruises, due in large part to double and triple bookings, is more important to them than the frustration some people experienced trying to secure bookings.

Sounds like we agree that the fault lies with Disney.
The problem I have is that people are being scolded (for lack of a better term) for getting multiple quotes for these very expensive cruises. Yes, these are "special" cruisies, but so what. I don't see why the rules (I use this term loosely) should be different for these cruises, rather, people are entitled to get multiple quotes especially since they had no idea in advance what the pricing would be. I understand people who lost out are upset, but I don't think its fair to be upset with or bitter against fellow disers when we can agree the fault lies with Disney. As I stated earlier, I have the feeling people are going to have to agree to disagree on this.