Guaranteed rate does not guarantee a room!

[luv2sleep]

Not likely. Check the OP's subsequent posts. There was a contractor (contracted CM) booked in 6094 and his family booked in 6098.

I guess I don't understand the timeline. If they were told that the switch was made the night before then they had to have had tags. If it was due to someone putting their family in a certain cabin then it was likely because they were in GTY status. Unfortunately that can happen

 

[taswira]

I guess I don't understand the timeline. If they were told that the switch was made the night before then they had to have had tags. If it was due to someone putting their family in a certain cabin then it was likely because they were in GTY status. Unfortunately that can happen

The OP has not answered as to whether 6092 and 6094 were on the luggage tags, or even if they were officially GTY, or HOW they were notified of the "change" if it was a change and not an assumption. BUT . . .

My point is that the "contracted CM" was assigned 6094 and his family got 6098, so they too were separated. A simple switch (and I'm sure he'd have been willing) would have remedied that and both the OP and the contracted CM would have had connecting rooms with their families. I don't think DCL ever "instigates" such a change after boarding. Yes, someone somewhere either misunderstood or made an error, but on boarding day the only solution would have been among the Guests themselves, contractor or not.

 

[bumbershoot]

Isn't the op getting the info about the contractor from the same cm whose behavior was rude and info on the reasons for the supposed change wrong? Can the same cm be trusted? Especially since they are giving info that probably was confidential?

 

[taswira]

Isn't the op getting the info about the contractor from the same cm whose behavior was rude and info on the reasons for the supposed change wrong? Can the same cm be trusted? Especially since they are giving info that probably was confidential?

Her first info was from the port CM, but later the room host, who certainly knew who he was and volunteered to ask him if he wanted to switch so they could both have connecting rooms to their families (but OP declined the room host's offer). I would have trusted HIM, and even if the guy hadn't been a contractor I'd still have taken the room host up on the offer to speak to him about switching, because why would he not want to when they would have both ended up with connecting rooms for their families? Sometimes you need to find your own options because other people may think it isn't that important.

 

[bo4uofm]

It's amazing what happens to a customer service person when you bust out your cell phone and start recording the conversation. No one wants to be filmed being rude and/or lying. When something seems suspicious I just calmly take out my cell phone and ask If I can record the conversation so that I can remember what we talked about. Usually that ends up in them excusing themselves for another higher up manager and things get resolved quickly.

 

[Ravenne]

My point is that the "contracted CM" was assigned 6094 and his family got 6098, so they too were separated. A simple switch (and I'm sure he'd have been willing) would have remedied that and both the OP and the contracted CM would have had connecting rooms with their families. I don't think DCL ever "instigates" such a change after boarding. Yes, someone somewhere either misunderstood or made an error, but on boarding day the only solution would have been among the Guests themselves, contractor or not.

Somewhat off topic, but would it have been a simple switch? What about OBBs? Are they tied to the room # or people's names? I was under the impression that it's tied to rooms, at which point people from each of the rooms involved would've had to make a trip to Guest Services to explain the situation and get things sorted out...or at the very least get their KTTW cards sorted out.

 

[PnkRockPrincess]

It seems to me there was no GTY involved.

*Original poster booked a concierge room as an OBB
*Other guests decide to join them for sailing
*Original poster calls and downgrades to a verandah and adds second room. chooses specific staterooms (NOT GTY).
*Someone at DCL moves one of the families to a different stateroom, for this contractor.
*Original poster finds out rooms have been switched the night before the cruise
*Supervisor at port tells original poster that all OBBs are treated as GTYs (not at all in any way correct) and that they could be moved for any reason because they booked OBB, not exactly correct. DCL can move you at any time for any reason, they just usually don't do that when a room has been assigned. (But they can, and if you want to stay put you should always add a "DO NOT UPGRADE" or "DO NOT MOVE" note to your booking)

I would write a very detailed letter to DCL with the supervisor's name insisting that this person receive some "re-training." It seems pretty obvious to me (since they didn't even look at the reservation to determine it WASN'T infact a full fare customer that ended up with the original poster's room) that this supervisor was just trying to get rid of you as soon as possible while doing as little work as possible. The original poster is also correct that it could have been remedied by the supervisor simply looking at the reservations.

DCL didn't do anything out of their scope by moving the original poster, but the supervisor certainly didn't handle the situation correctly and told them at least two separate lies to get rid of them.

 

[taswira]

I don't think OBB/OBC would be an issue at all. That is tied to the name of the person who has the booking (and whatever cabins they are in). If they switched cabins, the info on their account goes with them, not with the new occupants. But of course they WOULD need to do the "transfer" through Guest Services. They couldn't just physically switch and not receive new cards.

And I, too, think it was just a "guaranteed rate" and not a GTY or VGT booking. However, I wish the OP would post again and clarify whether they actually had ANYTHING at any time (including docs/luggage tags) confirming the cabin numbers they thought they had booked. If a TA was involved, that could also explain some of the mix-up.

I agree that it sounds like (as I was not a witness to it) the OP received harsh treatment from the port CM. But I'm just saying that it sounds like the very willing room host could have helped get everything back to the way all parties surely wanted it, including the contractor and his family. I'd have rather done that and then only have the rude port CM as an issue, but still end up satisfied with cabin locations.

 

[The Roses]

I'm the OP.
I don't know what GTY is (or any of those other acronyms). All I know is that we booked concierge, then downgraded to stateroom with verandah and asked for a connecting room with our friends. I don't remember when we were given the room numbers, but I remember calling and reconfirming about a month ago. I don't know when the rooms were changed; we just noticed it the night before the cruise when we met up with our friends.

The port supervisor made us feel like we were being penalized for booking onboard, and seemed vested in making sure we knew it was our fault. I accept responsibility for not being more vigilant about stateroom numbers, and I probably should have gone online and found a ship map to make sure.

I realize that DCL has the right to move people around, and I'm not debating that. I posted the problem because it affects anyone that is counting on connecting rooms for childcare; it really throws a wrench in it when you end up in separate rooms, and I think DCL ought to take that into consideration.

We are over it. It was a delightful cruise. The weather was perfect. We got a cabana, which was awesome. We have decided to stop dwelling on the awkward start to the cruise and just focus on the good times.

Thanks for all of your concerns.

 

[MC0810]

wow OP, thats pretty terrible. Please contact Disney about this. I'm glad the rest of your trip was great.

 

[lanejudy]

... I don't remember when we were given the room numbers, but I remember calling and reconfirming about a month ago. ....

OP, I agree that the port CM was way out of line. I think this is a good reminder to all of us to double-check the confirmation/paperwork when we book or make any changes. I do think it sounds like when you downgraded, you ended up with GTY bookings instead of a choosen stateroom. Not sure if you used a TA to do this, but if so I'd be asking them for explanation.

To explain...a GTY is a "regular" (meaning not discounted) reservation, however a percentage of staterooms in that specific category have already been reserved and therefore DCL is no longer allowing passengers to select a specific stateroom. Requests can be made but not promised on GTY bookings. If connecting staterooms are important, it's highly recommended to book a stateroom allowing you to choose the specific staterooms. When passengers have selected specific staterooms, and link those staterooms, and request "do not change" -- it is highly unlikely the room assignment will change. Always possible in the event of maintenance issues or something, but otherwise unlikely. All bets are off with a GTY reservation.

Again, very sorry you apparently were not aware of the type of booking you made, and that your expectations were not met. I agree that the "mis-informed" port CM should be brought to DCL's attention so more training can be done. Glad you enjoyed your cruise!