Large Group Booking Frustrations

[aliceinvunderland]

My husband’s employer is taking about 20 families on a cruise in October—90 people total. We are so grateful and excited, but I have no control over the reservation process and the woman who is doing them does not understand the process at all. She refuses to use a travel agency or to call Disney directly for help, so each reservation has been done separately on the website. I have offered to help and given a little bit of advice, but I don’t want anyone to think I am being critical or ungrateful. The families traveling are all close friends, so the woman booking has put kids all over the place in an attempt to allow them to stay together. She doesn’t seem to understand that having my kids in other staterooms (and other kids in my room) makes checking in, muster drill (or heaven forbid an actual emergency!), getting on and off in ports, and MDR dining a logistical nightmare. Currently, my family of 7 is booked across four staterooms, and I have two kids who are not my own booked in my room. The reservations are not linked, so I can’t even see my kids’ reservations. I am very hesitant to bring up my concerns as I don’t want to come across as pushy or ungrateful. I’m trying to just be calm about it and remember that it might make embarkation day stressful, but it is a free cruise after all and I should just let it go. Right? Right??!! Please tell me it will all work out.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

I was going to say not to worry until I saw the part about the kids. Children should absolutely be in staterooms with their parents/guardians. Having them spread out can lead to waaaaaay too many problems. Your husband should speak to the other families and they should all approach the boss about the situation in a calm, rational manner.

 

[brownmajik]

Does she know that a travel agent will not add to the cost of the cruise and could come with benefits like OBC? That might help sway her towards using one.

 

[cwis]

I don't totally get it. The children in your stateroom are not yours? And their parents are… okay with that?

I don't have children but no way I would let that happen.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

TBH even though allegedly Disney won't talk to you if you don't own the booking, if you say "there are kids in my room who are not mine and mine are elsewhere and I DID NOT CONSENT" I bet they talk.

 

[aliceinvunderland]

Part of the problem is that no one else has cruised, so they don’t understand the process either. They seem to think it’s just like checking into a hotel and you can just show up whenever with whoever. They don’t seem to understand that you have to check in with whoever is in your stateroom. What if one of the adults in the room with my son misses her flight and doesn’t show up? Then my son can’t even get on the ship!

 

[gotomu212]

I would not get involved with booking the travel being handled by your husbands employer -EXCEPT to have him mention that your children must be assigned to your room. It’s a safety issue and you’re all going to have to give permission for other people to make decisions on the minors in your rooms (for example without a special form you can’t even take your own kids off the ship). Let him do all the talking as the employee, but he should raise it to his boss as a very serious issue with the booking.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

so the woman booking has put kids all over the place in an attempt to allow them to stay together. She doesn’t seem to understand that having my kids in other staterooms (and other kids in my room) makes checking in, muster drill (or heaven forbid an actual emergency!), getting on and off in ports, and MDR dining a logistical nightmare.

Oh, no....! that's not going to fly in my house.

As mentioned, I'd be talking to the boss (or my husband would be) and explain to him/her what the issue is. I'd even mention that I have a better knowledge of DCL bookings than the person "handling" things does, and she's not listening to you.

I'd also tell the boss that he'd do better actually hiring a TA to handle a large group registration.

Sadly, if these measures didn't work, I'd have to say "Thanks, but no thanks on the cruise".

Good luck.

 

[Patient957]

Yikes! Maybe suggest having all the kids registered with their parents and then once on board they can decide if they want to switch rooms?

 

[Karin1984]

Pushy or not, ungrateful or not. This is a safety issue. And as you know this is a safety issue, you have to bring it up. You cannot let this go or sit and wait.

Putting the kids all together is a bad idea in itself. Even when kids know each other, they need down time as well.

You might have to bring it up gently, but it is for the best of the entire group.

 

[lklgoodman]

I agree with others, this is something that needs to be addressed. Why in the world is she putting kids in other people's staterooms??? That doesn't even make sense!!!! Bringing up these issues doesn't make you seem ungrateful at all!! You are looking out for the well being of everyone and they should be thankful for that!!!!! Let us know how it works out.

 

[catali150]

Yeah this is something the employee needs to take up with the boss. “Hey boss, my family is excited for the trip and we’re overwhelmed by the generosity. Having cruised Disney before my family knows how complicated making the travel arrangements can be. We noticed that our kids are not booked in our cabin, and that we cannot see their booking and that is a huge concern for us. My wife hasn’t had success with her attempts to reach out to the organizer with offers to help. We don’t want to complicate anything but families should be booked together to ensure everyone gets through the complicated boarding process together. How can we help get this straightened out?”

 

[MarkLT1]

Wow.. Cruise or not, if my workplace was booking any kind of trip, and they were putting my kids with other people, other peoples' kids with me, I would have a huge problem with it, no matter how close we are with the other families. Making that kind of assumption, that people would be cool with separating from their children, is.. well extremely misguided and arrogant in my mind. If families want to swap kids for a hotel room, or on a cruise, leave it up to the families to work out.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would keep this focussed on your family and tell her your family needs to be together and you cannot take responsibility for having other parents' children in your room. They will have to sort out this whole mess at the port for everyone else, but at least you can stand your ground for yourself and make sure it gets fixed for you.

I also am worried that since she does not seem very sophisticated about this, families are going to wind up with rooms that will not fit their party. For example, a family of 4 might have a 3-person maximum room and one of their party is another room, and it won't be possible for them to reshuffle at the port.