February 17, 2007

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

February 2006

I wish I could lie in that hammmock RIGHT NOW!!

 

[PhotoLisa]

I wish I could lie in that hammmock RIGHT NOW!!

I thought that would be a warm fuzzy to a few of us - especially those of you who live where the temps are rather cold already.

 

[PhotoLisa]

The last one to take the chill out of your Sunday.

St. Maarten

 

[PhotoLisa]

??Were you able to make a reservation?? I basically got nowhere. I hope I am home when/if they call tomorrow, but I doubt I will be. I'll be at parent teacher conferences most of the day.

Sue:

If/when you get a few minutes, I would call their 800# during the day (each chance) to see if you can get them to make the ressies for you since you won't be able to receive calls. It can't hurt to call them.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

It is a rather dismal day today. It's getting cold and it's cloudy too.
Lisa--my 3 boys and I will be parasailing with you at 10:30. It definitely seemed like the better time when I read all the posts and talked with the boys. They are so excited. And when DS15 saw the Capt. Nautica boats, I could swear he started to glaze over, LOL.
Even with today's events, I am getting so excited for this trip!! I put my old DCL photos up as my photoshow screen saver. It is amazing how much my kids have changed in almost 2 years!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

The last one to take the chill out of your Sunday.

St. Maarten

Where in St.Maarten was that taken? Just gorgeous!!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Sue:

If/when you get a few minutes, I would call their 800# during the day (each chance) to see if you can get them to make the ressies for you since you won't be able to receive calls. It can't hurt to call them.

I think I will do that..

 

[PhotoLisa]

Sue:

I just sent my 16 yo daughter some pics from 2004 so she could see how much she has changed since then! It is AMAZING! 2004 was the first time she wore gowns to formal dinner. She was beautiful but looking back -- soooo young! I'll need a bat to keep the guys away this trip!

This is her from this summer in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Where in St.Maarten was that taken? Just gorgeous!!

I don't remember which excursion we did but it was from the beach we went to during that excursion. It was looking back across the water to the hilly area.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Courtney and I are heading out to do a photo session for her. She's been wanting to do that since right before my surgery and we hadn't had the chance. We're off in search of unique backgrounds.

Have a great afternoon!

 

[christinou]

Gorgeous pictures Lisa, all of them including your daughter, she really is stunning.
Sue, when I called I jsut ask if there was anyway that they could make the reservation for me as tomorrow, I will be at work, he took the information down, now that does not mean that they will do it, but at least I figure that I have more of a chance. Generally DCL has very good customer service, so I am hoping that is the case again.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Check out the response I got from my e-mail. It seems like not everyone knows what is going on...

11/19/06

Dear Sue,

Thank you for choosing another Disney Cruise Line Vacation.

We understand your disappointment and regret the challenges you
experienced on our website. However, our Guests love the Palo dining
experience and due to popularity, reservations go fast. At this time
there is no longer any availability for Palo dining.

Since it is our desire to accommodate every Guest, we suggest you
continue to try our site frequently for possible openings. Also,
although we can not guarantee availability, you may check once onboard
for openings.

On day of embarkation, reservations for Palo are made onboard at Rockin'
Bar D.

If you require further assistance in planning your visit, please feel
free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you again. Thank you.

Becca
Reservations Department
Disney Cruise Vacations

 

[christinou]

I keep loosing my messages, I got the same e-mail from Becca with the addition of the following:

We regret the challenges you experienced on our website. Upon reviewing
your reservation, I see that you also contacted our Reservations
Department for assistance. Please be assured that Mohamed, one of our
Reservations Supervisors, will contact our Shore Excursion Coordinator
for you on Monday regarding the Certified Scuba in St. Thomas.

So it seems that they are actually not recognizing that there is a problem with Palo.
This is really getting annoying......

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I keep loosing my messages, I got the same e-mail from Becca with the addition of the following:

We regret the challenges you experienced on our website. Upon reviewing
your reservation, I see that you also contacted our Reservations
Department for assistance. Please be assured that Mohamed, one of our
Reservations Supervisors, will contact our Shore Excursion Coordinator
for you on Monday regarding the Certified Scuba in St. Thomas.

So it seems that they are actually not recognizing that there is a problem with Palo.
This is really getting annoying......

I bet that is a form letter they send out to anyone having problems...

 

[PhotoLisa]

I hate cookie cutter responses.

Here is my reply:

Becca:

I can agree that Palo is popular but I was online at the very moment that
reservations were made available and there were NONE available EVER. I
stayed online and refreshing my browser.

It is my sincere belief that there is/was a problem in your computer system.

Together, my husband and I, have cruised on DCL three times and have another
trip planned for 2/17/2007( DCL Reservation #s 2271xxxx and 2271xxxx). We have funded our trips in the past for all of our children, their spouses and
our grandchildren and have paid for a total of seven rooms - 21 passengers
on those three prior trips (7/2001, 2/2004, 2/2006) and have another two
cabins and four people booked and attributed to others deciding to cruise
with us because we took some of their loved ones with us on our trip.

My Castaway Club # is 2278xxxx and my husband, Edward's Castaway Club # is 2278xxxx.

I am VERY disappointed in this situation. I look for a better remedy to
this problem.

Lisa xxxx​

 

[justhat]

Great pictures! Makes me excited to go!

We've been out much of the day but were hoping the Palo stuff would be up by now too with no luck. We booked our Flounder's times but now just have to hope that we can get Palo to coordinate. We're thinking of Sunday night or Friday night (or maybe both since we have the Flounder's time booked anyway) so maybe we'll see you there Lisa. We're hoping for 6:30 since we found that last cruise Flounder's got pretty busy as the night went on so I'd rather have the kids in there when it's not over crowded. We booked all 10 hours now so we have some flexibility with the Palo stuff so I just hope it all works out!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I hate cookie cutter responses.

Here is my reply:

Becca:

I can agree that Palo is popular but I was online at the very moment that
reservations were made available and there were NONE available EVER. I
stayed online and refreshing my browser.

It is my sincere belief that there is/was a problem in your computer system.

Together, my husband and I, have cruised on DCL three times and have another
trip planned for 2/17/2007( DCL Reservation #s 2271xxxx and 2271xxxx). We have funded our trips in the past for all of our children, their spouses and
our grandchildren and have paid for a total of seven rooms - 21 passengers
on those three prior trips (7/2001, 2/2004, 2/2006) and have another two
cabins and four people booked and attributed to others deciding to cruise
with us because we took some of their loved ones with us on our trip.

My Castaway Club # is 2278xxxx and my husband, Edward's Castaway Club # is 2278xxxx.

I am VERY disappointed in this situation. I look for a better remedy to
this problem.

Lisa xxxx​

Well said.

I also replied to "Becca." Basically I said that I was on line as the window opened, and felt that it was not possible for the small # of cat. 1-3 cabins to completely book Palo. I also mentioned my conversation with the CM who told me there was a problem with the system. I asked "Becca" to please find the correct answer and let me know the outcome.

I think I am more annoyed with the inconsistent customer service than not being able to reserve at this point.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Great pictures! Makes me excited to go!

We've been out much of the day but were hoping the Palo stuff would be up by now too with no luck. We booked our Flounder's times but now just have to hope that we can get Palo to coordinate. We're thinking of Sunday night or Friday night (or maybe both since we have the Flounder's time booked anyway) so maybe we'll see you there Lisa. We're hoping for 6:30 since we found that last cruise Flounder's got pretty busy as the night went on so I'd rather have the kids in there when it's not over crowded. We booked all 10 hours now so we have some flexibility with the Palo stuff so I just hope it all works out!

That's great that you got your Flounders ressies. I was thinking about you, and wondering how you made out. Good luck with Palo! It's definitely a hot topic here today.

 

[justhat]

We had our choice of Flounder's times so that all worked out. My son has been sick all week and not sleeping well so I was tired and no way was I waking myself up at 3am to book. But guess who woke me up at 2:40 to eat? I was honestly exhausted though and even though it seemed like a sign from above I just couldn't pry myself out of the bed so I waited till he got up again at 5:30 (his usual wake up for the day time) and booked then. My husband came on this thread around 8am to see if others had the Palo problems or if we just missed it by being late and we were relieved to see it wasn't just us. I just hope they don't make them available some random time and then we all miss what we want.

 

[PhotoLisa]

This is not my first rodeo with "Becca." See direct content below:

11/3/06

Dear Mrs. xxxx:

Thank you for your email.

We are delighted to know you and your family chose Disney Cruise Line
for your February, 2007, vacation. As you know, we strive to offer our
guests experiences and services that cannot be found anywhere else and
are continuously looking for ways to improve our product. Based on
feedback from our repeat guests, we updated the Castaway Club party and
have made it more interactive with officers from all areas of operation
available for our guests to meet, as well as Disney Cruise Line trivia
and prize giveaways.

Also, please be assured the same standard of appropriate conduct is
expected from all our guests. It is unfortunate if you feel that this
was not the case during someone else's sailing that you read about on an
internet discussion board. However, should you experience any issues,
please report them immediately to our Shipboard Officers at Guest
Services on Deck 3 so they can address them appropriately.

Additionally I truly regret any disappointment you or your family may
have experienced in our dining rooms on your previous cruises. Please
feel free to share any concerns with your service team with the Head
Server or Restaurant Manager, while onboard so we may address them
immediately. Our servers are always willing to resolve any
disappointment you may have.

Again, thank you for sharing your research with us, and I hope that
these concerns will not affect your regard for Disney Cruise Line. We
anxiously anticipate sailing with you this February and providing you
and your family with an excellent cruise aboard the Disney Magic.

Sincerely,



Rebekah Young
Executive Guest Correspondent
Disney Cruise Line



Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Disney Cruiselines Guest Communications:
I am writing to you on behalf of myself (Castaway Club # 2278xxxx) and
my husband, Edward (Castaway Club # 2278xxxx). Together, we have
cruised on DCL three times and have another trip planned for 2/17/2007(
DCL Reservation #s 2271xxxx and 2271xxxx). We have funded our trips in
the past for all of our children, their spouses and our grandchildren
and have paid for a total of seven rooms - 21 passengers on those three
prior trips (7/2001, 2/2004, 2/2006) and have another two cabins and
four people booked and attributed to others deciding to cruise with us
because we took some of their loved ones with us on our trip.
On our second and third cruises, we attended the Castaway Club Reception
and enjoyed the gathering and the delicious items that prior cruisers
were treated. After speaking to several recent cruisers on the Magic, I
have found out that this wonderful gathering has been replaced with warm
sodas and Mickey crispies! This is an absolute insult to have a
gathering that is meant to treat the people that continue to spend their
money with Disney Cruiselines and give them nothing more than they would
get during Halloween trick-or-treating in their own neighborhoods at
their home! The featured items at this gathering are way below the
"excellent service and excellent food" that is the motto and speech we
hear trip after trip in the dining rooms and in other areas of the ship.
I would also like to address the lack of enforcing the courtesy rules
that are aboard the ships. Cruisers are taking advantage the lack of
enforcement and saving seats (that most times remain empty because their
party hasn't shown up to attend the event), chairs and tables on Deck 9
and 10 during festivities and lounge chairs during the day. I've
witnessed cruisers with disabilities being unable to be accomodated for
their disability due to the discourteousness of fellow cruisers refusing
to get up from wheelchair areas because "they were there first" but have
no disability and could sit anywhere with their two good legs! If the
ship CM's would remind rule offending guests of the rules and see to it
that the situation is remedied, it would not take long for everyone to
get the message. If additional training is required, let's get it done.
We have also noted a steady decline in the "magic" of the serving teams
in the dining rooms. On our first cruise in July of 2001, we truly had
excellent service and excellent food provided by Brian of England and
his assistant server Jeevan. Each subsequent cruise was not quite as
good with the last cruise bordering on fair to poor. I do not know if
the training of server teams has changed over the last five years or if
it is the personality of the CMs that are being hired but the magic is
disappearing! Our dining room experience on our first cruise was at the
top of our memories, over the shows and any other aspect of the cruise.
It would be a delight to have it return to its former glamour.
I am so disheartened that if changes for the positive are not witnessed
on our upcoming cruise, we will not be spending our future vacation
dollars with Disney Cruiselines. It is my hope that DCL will listen to
its past guests and take steps to remedy the problems reported.
Sincerely,
Lisa xxxx​