No Discounts on the "Special" Cruises

[justmestace]

Here's what a Castaway Club reservationist told me today:

"DCL will not be offering or honoring any discounts on the Panama Canal cruises, or the California cruises. They know that they will have the ship completely booked at full-fare prices (and even higher) and they are in the business of making money, after all"

Just thought I'd pass that along.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Hmmmm... This info must exclude those who book while onboard. When we booked the CA to FL repositioning cruise Donna on the Magic gave us the 10% off the total as well as the $200.00 onboard credit.

There has also been mention (and I don't know how true this info to be) that they are no longer going to allow any discounts or onboard credits to be transfered once the original date is booked. That means, if you want to keep the discounts/credits you have to keep the date you booked for while onboard.

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by ThreeCircles
There has also been mention (and I don't know how true this info to be) that they are no longer going to allow any discounts or onboard credits to be transfered once the original date is booked. That means, if you want to keep the discounts/credits you have to keep the date you booked for while onboard.

Well that just blows

 

[MrsPete]

As a stockholder, I have agree with them. If they can get full price, why would they accept less? People are signing up in droves, throwing money at them, saying, "Please, please take me on this once-in-a-lifetime cruise!" Given those circumstances, would you really discount -- especially considering that the entire travel industry has just taken that big 9-11 hit?

 

[moocow35]

Then they NEVER should have promised it in the first place. It was clearly stated that you book a bogus date now, and the discounts can be moved once the bookings open up NO problem!

Robin

 

[MrsPete]

Well, if they said it, they should honor it. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if there's some disclaimer about special cruises; Disney is known for hiring the best lawyers and finding all the financial loopholes.

 

[moocow35]

I'm sure about that, and I am not holding my breath. I just feel like I was mislead and even lied to. None the less, I am still going and very very excited about it. Discount or no discount.

Robin

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by moocow35
I'm sure about that, and I am not holding my breath. I just feel like I was mislead and even lied to. None the less, I am still going and very very excited about it. Discount or no discount.

Robin

That's probably what they're counting on

 

[Juli]

DCL can have whatever policy they like, they should just be consistent in it's application. I personally wasn't expecting the discount, but now that it has been allowed I expect DCL to allow it uniformily. Their decision as to this particular cruise and future cruises will impact our continuing business with DCL.

I've let DCL know how I feel about this. You should do the same.

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

 

[MarkRG]

The bottom line is they learned how the incentive was being stretched outside it's intended parameters and tightened it up.

An onboard booking discount is just that: an ONBOARD discount, not a holding account that you can then book offboard later and still get it. There was a huge loophole in the rules governing it, which they have obviously removed.

 

[markmyboy]

If that is the policy DCL wants to go with, than great. Implement the change for on board discounts from "x" date on. Don't take back a promise you made to so many. They are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of MANY loyal customers. I'm afraid that our Aug. 20th Panama Canal cruise will be our last with DCL. We have already taken our business to three other cruise lines because DCL's prices are not at all competitive. Aside from the great Disney shows we have found ALL other lines we have sailed with right on par with DCL , but paid a LOT less money for it!!

I totally understand that DCL is in the business of making money and I am sure they will continue to do that for years to come, they just won't be getting any more of my money after our Aug. 20th cruise!!

 

[hayesktrm]

Not only that, but we couldn't book the date we wanted while on board--it hadn't been released yet! If it had, we would have booked that cruise and wouldn't have had to change it later. That is why the reservationist told us to put in a bogus date. Disney was the one encouraging us to do this. If they let us put in bogus dates, they knew we would be wanting our 10% and $200. If they didn't want us to do that, they should have said at that point that they weren't honoring the discounts on those cruises. THEY DID NOT SAY THAT. Therefore, I want my discount and we won't be sailing with them if they don't give it to us. The kids are already excited about going on a different cruise--excited that we can now afford a oceanview room instead of an inside--and still have money to spare. We had a wonderful time on our DCL cruise and would love to do it again, but not at that price--and not after they went back on their promises.

 

[natdencro]

CM's or their families will not be offered ANY discounted cruises on the repositioning trips. On usual cruises,they only get a discount at very short notice, and ONLY if there are any unfilled cabins which cannot be filled by full-fare paying passengers.Needless to say, they all knew that the ship would be sold out within hours of the cruises being offered, so were not expecting any discounts. Sadly, we cant afford the full fare and the expensive plane travel, so Im afraid we will just have to put up with the Caribbean! Gosh, how hard will THAT be?!!! Nat

 

[Grumbo]

Ah you live in the "Caribbean of England" as it is
Is Gemma going to be there in August for the Eastbound repostioning Nat?

We'd loved to have seen you guys again. Maybe when you're in Canada though

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by natdencro
CM's or their families will not be offered ANY discounted cruises on the repositioning trips. On usual cruises,they only get a discount at very short notice, and ONLY if there are any unfilled cabins which cannot be filled by full-fare paying passengers.Needless to say, they all knew that the ship would be sold out within hours of the cruises being offered, so were not expecting any discounts. Sadly, we cant afford the full fare and the expensive plane travel, so Im afraid we will just have to put up with the Caribbean! Gosh, how hard will THAT be?!!! Nat

Not entirely true. We get a substantial discount for the space available program, but there are also smaller discounts for the guarenteed space program which will apply if any room is available.

There are also some severe restrictions on onboard activities (no palo reservations can be made the first day, no spa reservations can be made the first day, and a bunch of other stuff)

Other then that I really can't say too much about these discounts as they are among the most jealously guarded disney discounts (Everyone in the world knows how much we get off on disney hotel rooms) and there is a LONG list of rules that apply to CM's using them, including the discussion of them.

 

[natdencro]

Well, having just had our 4th cruise, - we will have to agree to disagree Tigfanjeff. Every time we have had to wait until just before our vacation to see if the ship is fully booked. We take a chance and book our flights before the discounted dates are released. With regard to Palo bookings, etc., there are NO restrictions. Maybe CM who are crew have different arrangements to those CM in the theme parks.

Sorry Grumbo: you will just miss her! She will be on the Westbound trip, but not the Eastbound. Naturally, she wants to be home in the "Caribbean of England" during our summer!hehe.

As for Canada....................... we are counting down the days to retirement and saving our £'s!!!(Need extra for a shopping trip with Mrs Grumbo)! Nat

 

[Grumbo]

She will be here with car, credit card and map in hand when you arrive
Tell Dave we can sit by the pool have a beer and relax

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[natdencro]

Cant wait! Now, just got to persuade Dave to part with his credit card!Nat

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by natdencro
Well, having just had our 4th cruise, - we will have to agree to disagree Tigfanjeff. Every time we have had to wait until just before our vacation to see if the ship is fully booked. We take a chance and book our flights before the discounted dates are released. With regard to Palo bookings, etc., there are NO restrictions. Maybe CM who are crew have different arrangements to those CM in the theme parks.

There are two programs (at least for us land lubber CMs) - Guarenteed Space and Sail away.

The sailaway is the one with the limited space that they only open a short time out and then they can still technically cancel you up until the cruise.

They have a lot of information on the cast portal if you have access to it. And you are right, it may be different for the two of us. But since a majority of us are land based thats the rules I'm familiar with.

A quick snippet from the cast portal site - regarding cast discounts (ALL, including the guarenteed space)

May I dine at Palo?
As always, while we want our Cast Members to enjoy their cruise as much as possible, we want to ensure full-paying Guests have ample opportunity to fully experience our product on their Disney Cruise Line vacation. Therefore, only after 3 p.m. on embarkation day are Cast Members permitted to request priority seatings for our adult-only restaurant, Palo. Requests should be for dining on the first night of the cruise only; however, priority seatings are not guaranteed. Requests for priority seatings for any other nights will be added to the Palo waitlist. A $10 per person service charge will be automatically added to your stateroom account for Palo dinner priority seatings.

So I might have been wrong about the first day, but by 3pm you can pretty much say you won't be getting a reservation anyway.

 

[MrsPete]

We all know Disney's intention in giving onboard discounts: They want to catch you while you're still blissfully happy onboard the cruise, and they want to entice you to re-book another cruise in the fairly near future -- a situation that benefits them financially.

Unfortunately, as someone else said, they left a loophole with unintended possibilities.