My 9th DCL Cruise May Be My Last

[Ajojo]

Has your paid in full reservation ever been compromised/hijacked/hacked?

I used my on board booking reservation to book 2 specific connecting verandah rooms for my family on the Fantasy. When I got to Port Canaveral I was told that my family had 2 rooms, one was aft and one was forward. I told them that no, I have connecting rooms. I was then asked to move to a different line so I could speak with a supervisor. This was the start of a horrible experience.

Several supervisors/managers tried to explain to me that I booked a "Guarantee" room and that Disney has the right to place you in any room. I told them that I did not book "Guarantee", that I booked 2 specific connecting rooms for my family. I had my paperwork, but they did not want to see it. They told me that they can only go by what is in the computer and that I just didn't understand how "Guarantee" rooms worked.

We went back and forth, round and round. I was crying. I asked them why Disney would split apart my family. They told me that it is the customers responsibility to call and request that the reservations be connected, that there was no indication that my reservations were ever connected. I asked how could we be on the same dining rotation and table if we were not connected. I told them that I had just called days ago to request that birthdays be celebrated and noted on my reservation. They told me that there is no record of me ever calling about my reservations and there is no note about birthdays.

I was told that I didn't understand, my Disney documents were old, incorrect, wrong. Basically, I was called a liar without them ever using the word "liar". Defeated and dejected, we finally boarded. The next day, I went to find someone who could explain to me how I could have gotten this so wrong. Turns out, I wasn't wrong.

I found out that in March, an operator went into my paid in full reservations and changed one of the rooms to "guarantee" status. My family was then moved to several rooms that same day. DCL then began an investigation and later told me that the persons responsible have been identified and will be held accountable. They apologized.

I have 2 more cruises planned but don't feel comfortable booking right now.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Have you ever gotten to the port and found your family split up?

 

[MSPeeler]

WOW! I can not believe that happened, what a nightmare trying to figure that out!

I guess I will be calling up until the day we board to make sure we still have connecting rooms!!

Did they comp you anything for the problems???

 

[terramei]

Wow. So sorry you went through that. That wasn't very Disney service you got at the port. Glad they are following up though.

I'd say in this instance more than an apology is owed.

I wonder what the motivation was to change your reservation?!

 

[eeyorefanuk]

I am so sorry to hear this happened to you and your family

 

[TrySomethingNew]

Has your paid in full reservation ever been compromised/hijacked/hacked?


I found out that in March, an operator went into my paid in full reservations and changed one of the rooms to "guarantee" status. My family was then moved to several rooms that same day. DCL then began an investigation and later told me that the persons responsible have been identified and will be held accountable. They apologized.

I have 2 more cruises planned but don't feel comfortable booking right now.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Have you ever gotten to the port and found your family split up?

The problem for you was your family was split up. The real problem for all of us reading this is how easily your reservation was altered incorrectly.
You didn't say if you were able to get placed in closer rooms, or If DCL compensated you for their admitted mistake. Hopefully your cruise had some bright spots for your family.

 

[hanscarlet]

wow that's shocking! I'm so sorry this happened! I am also curious how DCL rectified the situation, so on board did the move you all to connecting rooms on day 2?

 

[lorimay]

Did you pick room numbers when you booked?
If so, did it list them on your reservation online?
I'm shocked someone took it upon themselves to change it.
You were nicer than me, I would have made them look at my booking documents.
Sorry that happened to you.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Sounds like a disgruntled employee. Makes me think they did it to more than just you.
Because of their initial reaction to you, telling you that you don't understand guaranteed bookings, etc., I'd be done with Disney cruises, too.

 

[MUN]

Weird. What did your packet of information from DCL say your room numbers were?

 

[Markonefive]

I wonder who got the rooms you originally booked? Strange that the employee did this. I hope that Disney offered you more than just an apology once they realized they were totally in the wrong.

 

[RRB]

Terrible. I would expect that Disney would compensate you and not just a minor amount especially when the staff at the terminal treated you like that. I would push for a big cost reduction for the next cruise and go. The chances of this occuring again are very remote plus you know what to look for now.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

I hope you get compensated

 

[RedSox68]

Would love to hear how Disney compensated you for this nightmare! hope the employee lost their job -- messing with someone's paid in full reservation with no notification or anything is unbelievably bad customer service!

 

[quickcat]

That is terrible! I feel so bad for you. I cant even imagine how shocked you were when being told about your rooms!! I really hope Disney fixed the problem.

 

[laceltris3]

Honestly, I have learned not to expect much from DCL regarding a cast member screwup in booking matters.

My first OBB we booked a set of connecting ocean view rooms for my family of 5, but when I received the confirmation from my TA upon return, the guy at the OBB desk had booked only one of them, and someone else booked the connecting room (which was the last set of connecting rooms in the category for the sailing). Instead of contacting us on the ship and give us an opportunity to fix it, he booked the other room (we had 3 kids aged between 2 and 7) on a different deck on the other end of the ship. Disney would do nothing to fix it and accused me of lying about the connecting rooms. They would not even give us the $200 OBC we had to miss out on in upgrading to a Cat 4 so we could be together for our trouble. So I am not a big believer in pixie dust.

 

[Ofinn]

Have you sent a email to guestt relations. It's impossible to get issues resolved with the phone cms. I have had success writing emails. It may take a week to 10 days for someone to get back to you.

 

[Ajojo]

Did they comp you anything for the problems???

Yes, DCL sent us chocolate covered strawberries to our rooms and a large Stitch for the birthday girl. The CM on the ship were very nice to us, so unlike the port staff.

 

[skylynx]

Our experience wasn't as bad as these poor folks having their family split up, but last year we booked a 7 day cruise while onboard a 5-day Wonder, and another couple we travel with each year booked theirs for the same cruise by phone as soon as we returned from our cruise and told them which itinerary we had booked. Two totally separate reservations, only linked for dining purposes. Our friends re-shopped their own fare a couple months later while they were on a family cruise and saved a couple hundred dollars on the cruise we'd take together later in the year. While they were on that family cruise, I was checking my emails and saw two from DCL...one saying our cruise had been canceled, and another saying we had newly booked a cruise. Heart in my throat, I called immediately and the DCL agent told us we'd just canceled our reservation while onboard the Fantasy. I told them we weren't on the Fantasy (easy enough to prove) and didn't cancel our reservation...friends who we had reservations linked with ours for dining did when they re-shopped. Long story short, turns out the onboard booking agent who handled our friends' re-booking canceled BOTH our reservations, then must have realized the mistake and quickly re-booked us...just not in the same stateroom we'd chosen and with our book on-board discount on THAT DAY'S rate, which was a couple hundred dollars higher than the rate we'd originally booked a couple months before. I was panicking because of the higher fare, but the agent said she'd handle it, and we were eventually re-instated at the correct rate and back in our original stateroom. What I suspect, though, is that had I not seen these emails immediately and acted on the situation, our stateroom might have been given to someone else. And while that's not high drama, it was a bit disconcerting that our reservation could be erroneously canceled, then re-made again at a higher price and in a different location, as if we wouldn't notice.

 

[Ajojo]

so on board did the move you all to connecting rooms on day 2?

The port staff offered to put all of us into one room so we could be closer together, but I refused and said that I would keep the 2 seperate rooms. Later that afternoon before the muster drill, the port staff called me in the "new" room and told me that they had a closer room which I accepted. They brought me a set of new key cards and gave me another lecture about purchasing a cheaper rate guarantee room.

Did you pick room numbers when you booked?
If so, did it list them on your reservation online?

Yes, I picked out 2 connecting rooms and purchased them with my OBB. Everything online, my cruise documents, and luggage tags show the connecting room numbers.

Weird. What did your packet of information from DCL say your room numbers were?

All of my Disney Documents and the luggage tags show the connecting rooms that I purchased. I was never informed that there was any sort of change until I got to the port. I had just called to confirm everything a few days before we left and there was no mention of a room change. Once I sailed solo and Disney called me less than a week out to inform me that my room had changed and to write the new numbers on the luggage tags. There was no notification of a room change this time.

That is terrible! I feel so bad for you. I cant even imagine how shocked you were when being told about your rooms!! I really hope Disney fixed the problem.

This is exactly how I felt - shocked! I did ask if I would receive a refund since the room was downgraded to a cheaper rate guarantee room. They said they would check on it and get back with me.

Have you sent a email to guest relations. It's impossible to get issues resolved with the phone cms. I have had success writing emails. It may take a week to 10 days for someone to get back to you.

Not yet, I wanted to post to see if this has happened to anyone else

 

[bumbershoot]

I have never heard of this happening except in one sort of situation. And that sort of situation involved an incredibly vindictive ex who had access to account information. And that wasn't Disney and it wasn't here, but on cruise critic, and it was AGES ago while planning our wedding and honeymoon (which was in Summer of '03 and I planned it for 2.5 years).

Any vindictive people in your life who have access to the relevant info that could have gotten things changed around?

Though I still don't know how it could have gone from a real stateroom number to a GTY, and I don't know how it didn't trigger an email to you. Or a refund. Or an extra charge.