Major Policy Change in DVC/DCL Trade Policy UPDATE ON POST #193

[Mineu]

I don't think it is a policy change-it is availability. I'm upset with myself-because I had started the process to change over and was told they needed a letter from my travel agent releasing the reservation back to me first-DVC has all of this in my file-I emailed the travel agent asking her to send in the letter-and but was not in a rush as I was waiting for my son's senior trip dates so I wouldn't have to pay the $95 fee if I had to change the dates-and did not follow up with the travel agent to make sure she sent the letter to DVC. I just wish DVC had mentioned that there was limited availability last week when I was doing all of this...

 

[CarolAnnC]

I understand the concern if DCL has pulled all the inventory from DVC. But how is this different than when all of the resort inventory for DVC is gone and only cash ressies are allowed?

Sorry to anyone that has been (or will be) impacted by this.

Hi - the difference is that we have been told that we cannot book DCL on points until at least October 2011 or possibly later. Whereas, DVC resorts 11 month booking window is a given. So you can book a DVC resort 11 months ahead for your home resort, but you cannot book a DCL cruise 11 months out, or 12 or even 13 months out. Nothing at all.

 

[LimoFam5]

Yesterday you were fine. I would have been fine mid week when I last called. But as of today, this is no longer an option for DVC members. That is what I was told. This is a "new policy" and they are booking cruises differently..according to the CM's.



Yes but I dont think it is a "new policy" in all the years that I have been a DVC member and booked cruises I have always been told that DVC is only given so many rooms that they are able to book on ALL cruises except the SS Members cruise. Maybe the CM worded the explanation wrong.......either way happy to know that all remains the same and all we really have to worry about is availability........happy sailing!

 

[csharpwv]

DW (bluemoon1070) just checked - and DVC's site is back up - and the cruises are still there.

So who knows -

Let's all hope this was a temporary computer glitch!

 

[DebbieB]

As my husband and I discussed this over dinner, we recalled how the Baltic Cruise we were on last month was chock full of DVC members, most of whom had booked on DVC points.

We are wondering if the DVC points that DCL turns over to CRO to book and provide them with cash, are not being converted so easily to cash reservations. Perhaps with all the AP discounts, free dining, etc., they may not be renting out regular DVC rooms at CRO prices as often as they used to.

That would explain why DCL may not want to participate in allowing so many DVC members to book on points.

I think you might have hit the nail on the head there. They are having difficulties renting rooms through CRO. Once again this year we heard about people being upgraded free from values or mods to SSR or OKW. They just couldn't fill those rooms even with discounts. DVC rooms are going for 40%-45% off through CRO.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Since booking a DCL trip is an "exchange" of points, and since all exchange options must be negotiated annually with the individual venues we are allowed to trade into.....I'm going to guess this is the result of negotiation breakdown between DCL and DVC. My guess is that too many of the "favorite" booking catagories are being booked up by DVC and taking reservations away from DCL cash reservations.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Yesterday you were fine. I would have been fine mid week when I last called. But as of today, this is no longer an option for DVC members. That is what I was told. This is a "new policy" and they are booking cruises differently..according to the CM's.



Yes but I dont think it is a "new policy" in all the years that I have been a DVC member and booked cruises I have always been told that DVC is only given so many rooms that they are able to book on ALL cruises except the SS Members cruise. Maybe the CM worded the explanation wrong.......either way happy to know that all remains the same and all we really have to worry about is availability........happy sailing!

The supervisor was very clear in his explanation. Particularly when I told him who I was and that this was to be posted on our website today.

It is a new policy, and it started today. The "allotment" of cabins to DVC members has always been in effect. That is not a new policy. The new policy today stated there would be no new bookings nor rebookings for any cruise date through at least September 2011, as of today.

Perhaps you when you called DVC, they were either uninformed, or more disturbingly trying to "sugar coat" the information. But, I am here with two staterooms totalling 1500 points that I cannot rebook to any other cruise date.

I asked the Supervisor what was I to do with 1500 reservation points when I cancel, and if I cannot rebook another Disney Cruise? He had no answer for me...

 

[kamgen]

This is sad news....

To the poster who mentioned Jim Lewis, good for you. I agree...those who think he has done well as head of DVC are sadly mistaken. It is too bad....let's be optimistic and hope that DVC will hear our concerns and actually listen.

 

[Disfamoffour]

Just some more two cents but could this "policy change" only be affecting the Disney Wonder and it's Alaska destination? the OP stated after Sept 2011 bookings will be available again, coincidentally the last Alaska booking is August 30-Sept 6. My gut tells me that the problem is that since this is Disney's first trip to Alaska the DVC rooms were sold out a long time ago. If the OP wasn't trying to change the trip date there would not be a problem.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Just some more two cents but could this "policy change" only be affecting the Disney Wonder and it's Alaska destination? the OP stated after Sept 2011 bookings will be available again, coincidentally the last Alaska booking is August 30-Sept 6. My gut tells me that the problem is that since this is Disney's first trip to Alaska the DVC rooms were sold out a long time ago. If the OP wasn't trying to change the trip date there would not be a problem.

When I spoke to MS last Sunday and then again mid week (I think on Wed.) there were plenty of selections of categories and staterooms for a couple of Alaska dates that I was checking into for rebooking. All that changed today with the "new policy" unfortunately.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think you might have hit the nail on the head there. They are having difficulties renting rooms through CRO.

Reading between the lines, this is my guess too.

DCL's cruise fares have gone up in 2011 vs. 2010. In some cases, way up, and the ships are booking at those higher prices. I'm sure DVC has to pay DCL rates based in some way on the average fare DCL is able to obtain. At the same time, the more expensive rooms at WDW have been going for fire-sale prices for almost two years now---the Resorts have had to discount Deluxe-cateogry resorts much more aggressively, and they *still* aren't booking full. That means the effective price that can be obtained for DVC rooms as cash rentals is going down.

Cruise fares going up, revenue from renting DVC rooms going down...if the books get too imbalanced between DVC and DCL, you could imagine a moratorium placed on cruise reservations to figure out what to do.

Now, this is entirely speculation on my part. I have no data to back it up. But, it fits the facts we have pretty well. After all, if DVC *could* pay DCL the going rate for cruises, DCL would be happy to take the money. Who cares where the money comes from as long as it is green?

Edited: If this guess is at all accurate, I'm not sure it is Jim Lewis' fault that Walt Disney World has to fire sale their deluxe hotel rooms.

 

[Sammie]

As my husband and I discussed this over dinner, we recalled how the Baltic Cruise we were on last month was chock full of DVC members, most of whom had booked on DVC points.

We are wondering if the DVC points that DCL turns over to CRO to book and provide them with cash, are not being converted so easily to cash reservations. Perhaps with all the AP discounts, free dining, etc., they may not be renting out regular DVC rooms at CRO prices as often as they used to.

That would explain why DCL may not want to participate in allowing so many DVC members to book on points.

Now this is the part we will truly never know. Are bookings really up for DCL and they are responsible for the change. Or are bookings down for the DVC resorts in the rooms traded out. So it is possible DVC had a hand in this too.

Call me synical but I am not willing to totally excuse either party. I just don't buy at any time that DVC is not totally aware of what the heck is going on.

I might not agree with everything JL does but he is most definitely not stupid or unaware.

DVC does not pay the going rate for the cruise rooms they get them at discount. So I guess DCL could want to sell more at full rate, than trade them out.

 

[mike9950]

I feel really bad for you and hope DVC will make this right. I do want to add, also that recently (in the past year or so) they have also placed limits on Concierge Collection bookings. Previously, I would book a basic room at the Grand Wailea resort a week before arrival. Now, I'm told that by middle of the year they are all "booked up" for the entire year. They never used to place this kind of restriction on these reservations.

Since you've got 1500 points on the line for this deal, and this is a recent change.. there has to be something you can do to get this done. I would talk with anyone (manager, supervisor, etc) to get this done.

Good luck!

 

[Petraman]

I understand the concern if DCL has pulled all the inventory from DVC. But how is this different than when all of the resort inventory for DVC is gone and only cash ressies are allowed?

Sorry to anyone that has been (or will be) impacted by this.

I guess the key difference is that they have essentially said every single cruise from now until September 2011 is booked out.... all at once.

This is definitely something that could and does happen with resort inventory, but it would be just as strange if they suddenly said "noone can now book at our resort for the next year.

In the end, I think this is just a supply and demand issue. With the new ship and all the new choices, there may have just been a big increase in DVC people using points to cruise.

Time to go start one of those threads telling DVC'ers how dumb they are for using points to cruise with (that will leave more openings for us).

 

[Petraman]

Here's a thought... maybe they should offer to return points to original status to those people who are going to be caught by this unanounced change. It would stink to not be able to cruise, but at least then your points wouldn't be in "non-DVC resort" limbo

Just a thought....

 

[Brian Noble]

For those wondering why it isn't all "just Disney"---it's important to remember that the various business units in the company are each expected to turn a profit *on their own*. For example, Parks & Resorts is judged separately from the Studio division. A really good year at the box office doesn't mean that it's okay that the parks have lost attendance this year. What's more, that happens *within* business units too---Disneyland resort has to be profitable independently of Walt Disney World, and vice versa. One consequence of this arrangement is that DCL has to be "paid" by DVC for each DVC member who takes a cruise. That is a "cost" that goes against DVC's books, which must be offset by rental receipts from the rooms turned over to CRO for reservation-point bookings.

This isn't (as much of) a problem for booking at other WDW or DLR hotels, because they, too, have been renting for lower prices. The problem only shows up when one price (DCL cruise fares) goes in the opposite direction of another (WDW hotel rates). But, that's absolutely what is happening. The Wonder is getting *much* more per night for Alaska than it ever did out of Florida. And, now that the Dream is coming on line, a lot of people who did the Bahamian cruises before are thinking they might want to try the new ship---my wife is paying about 35% more in 2011 for a 4-day Bahamian than she did in 2010, and that cruise now only has verandah staterooms left, more than 9 months prior to sailing.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I feel really bad for you and hope DVC will make this right. I do want to add, also that recently (in the past year or so) they have also placed limits on Concierge Collection bookings. Previously, I would book a basic room at the Grand Wailea resort a week before arrival. Now, I'm told that by middle of the year they are all "booked up" for the entire year. They never used to place this kind of restriction on these reservations.

Since you've got 1500 points on the line for this deal, and this is a recent change.. there has to be something you can do to get this done. I would talk with anyone (manager, supervisor, etc) to get this done.

Good luck!

Thank you. I have written today to Member Satisfaction, so I will let you all know here what the response is from them.

What upsets me is that there were computer issues last Sunday, which caused me to be on the phone with them 45 minutes, most of it I was holding on. If not for that, I would have rebooked then, but they were closing.

 

[Brian Noble]

maybe they should offer to return points to original status to those people who are going to be caught by this unanounced change.

This is feasible. If CRO really is having a hard time moving inventory, you could imagine calling some of it back into DVC's bucket.

 

[DebbieB]

I was disappointed a couple of years ago when I planned an early December trip to DL. The DL website showed rooms available at the GCH. I called to book it with points, not available. Only a certain number of rooms allotted for points. I was able to get into PP.

 

[Mineu]

Too bad we can't tell member services that if we can't use our points until 2011-we won't pay our note until 2011