Northern Sights and Mickey's MAGICal Delights-1st Baltic Cruise-June 12,2010-Pt 2

[cquick]

Connie, I forgot. Is Patrick coming?

NOPE, Patrick is going to "camp" ( that's what he calls it) It's the Comprehensive Care Center in Avalon Park, just east of Orlando. He was there a few days last October, and it worked out ok. He's ready.....we are visiting today after the doctor's visit, and he wanted to take some of his movies to leave there. Also we got the Skype working. He LOVES it! I sure hope we can get it to work when we are overseas. He calls it SKITE, kind of like kite with an S on the front. I figure he can drive them nuts for a couple of weeks, and Chuck and I can just drive each other nuts.

 

[cquick]

And an off kilter cd or two.

OH, for sure! He LOVES Off Kilter! Right now his favorite DVD is Celtic Women...he's in love with the blonde one that plays the fiddle and dances at the same time!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

NOPE, Patrick is going to "camp" ( that's what he calls it) It's the Comprehensive Care Center in Avalon Park, just east of Orlando. He was there a few days last October, and it worked out ok. He's ready.....we are visiting today after the doctor's visit, and he wanted to take some of his movies to leave there. Also we got the Skype working. He LOVES it! I sure hope we can get it to work when we are overseas. He calls it SKITE, kind of like kite with an S on the front. I figure he can drive them nuts for a couple of weeks, and Chuck and I can just drive each other nuts.

I bet Patrick will have a wonderful time. And, I think it is great that you and Chuck are getting a little R and R.

 

[Scott H]

OH, for sure! He LOVES Off Kilter! Right now his favorite DVD is Celtic Women...he's in love with the blonde one that plays the fiddle and dances at the same time!

It seems like we run into Chuck and Patrick on occasion at the Off Kilter Stage.

I always have top drop by and send Debbie a pic or two LOL.

Are you doing a web cam with Skype?

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I just sent this email to the DCL Refund/commission people. I want to post it here also just in case someone with a brain over at DCL is reading. I have a PhD in Business and I know that the No. 1 rule is to take care of your customers. Don't run them off by doing stupid stuff. So here it is.




Hello,

I am writing this letter to complain about the actions of DCL with respect to my booking for the above referenced reservation. I love DCL and all things Disney. I am booked on three back to back cruises departing on 5/26. This is a total of 29 consecutive nights on the ship.

I made a reservation for the first Baltic cruise the first week they went on sale in a category 11. After the final payment date, Disney reduced the price of an equivalent cabin in a Category 12 to less than half the original price when the cruises first came out for booking. Of course, I rebooked and did get a refund of part of the difference in the fare but I was charged a 1200 cancellation penalty to rebook the same room basically for the new lower price.

Considering I have taken 5 cruises, with three more coming up in the next month, I was left feeling unappreciated as a customer of DCL and pretty stupid. I also have every intent of waiting until the last minute to book any cruises. My plan was to book the 11 night Southern Caribbean for this December onboard. However, once I was charged the 1200 cancellation penalty, I changed my mind. I will probably be on this sailing, but I will wait to book it at the last minute to avoid this "my stupidity tax" for booking early. I am willing to take the risk of not being on the ship because if I had to pay this penalty again, I would be doubly stupid.

I understand the cancellation penalty when someone cancels and does NOT rebook, but in this situation it is nothing but a money grab, in my opinion. I think that in these situations, Disney should make an exception to the cancellation policy. The loss of goodwill of loyal DCL customers far outweigh the financial benefit to DCL of imposing this penalty.

Thanks for reading and listening,

Tammy Bahmanziari

 

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Cruisers!

I know we are all trying to pack light and limit ourselves to 1 suitcase or so. But just a reminder that saving space in a big suitcase isn't always a good idea. It has happened to me more than once that my suitcase ends up being overweight!!! The penalties for being overweight in a bag are much more than they used to be, particularly flying internationally. So if you are entitled to check two bags, sometimes it's better to pack two, but not full, to ensure that you have enough weight to be able to buy souvenirs.

The vacuum bags are great space savers, but they can easily put you overweight if you still pack the suitcase full.

Make sure you weigh those bags before you leave the house - I've been the person unpacking in front of the entire airport to avoid the $200 overweight charge!!!!

That is why we always carry a scale!!!! We have a duffle packed inside our cases so that we can have an extra checked bag going home - we just fill the duffle with clothes and other non breakable items. As we are doing a bit of traveling before the cruise, we needed to go with as few bags as possible for the first leg of our journey.

I am supposed to leave on 5/23 but I am booked on British Airways. They are going on strike. I am just waiting to hear if my flight is canceled or not. Just the level of stress I need right now. LOL.

Those who are flying with BA soon will be pleased to hear that our High Court have granted an injunction preventing the cabin crews from going on strike for the moment.

BBC News

We are keeping an eye on this as one leg of our journey is on British Air. Dave, I hope the injunction holds until we get to Paris!

I've been packing also, but just not packing for the cruise! I sold my house and since we will be gone the whole month of June and close in July, I needed to get house packing done.

However, I did get the suitcases into my bedroom over the weekend! Don't know how I am going to get 3 weeks worth of stuff into 1 check in each and 1 carry on each! That is going to be a challenge.

I hope to get most everything in the house finished this week and into the garage except for furniture and then will be ready to move in July.

I need this vacation, that's for sure!

Linda - good luck with the moving!

I have quit my job so for this week I am a "woman of leisure", but I have so much stuff to do, there will not be much "leisure" in my schedule

Have a great day all!

 

[seaulater]

I'm thinking today or tomorrow is a good time to head downtown to the bank to convert my US dollars to Euro. Looks like the exchange rate is just about at its' lowest it has been in a long time!

Hopefully it will stay this low or go lower until we finish our vacation.

We can only hope....................

 

[Scott H]

BA Strike if Off..... yeah

 

[Meum]

I'm thinking today or tomorrow is a good time to head downtown to the bank to convert my US dollars to Euro. Looks like the exchange rate is just about at its' lowest it has been in a long time!

Hopefully it will stay this low or go lower until we finish our vacation.

We can only hope....................

We have to get some Euro also so that when we arrive in Paris we can buy the train tickets to Disneyland. DCL said they would exchange money for each port with a $200 limit if you use a personal check. I forgot to ask if that's a per port limit or for the entire cruise. Does anyone know? I know the exchange rate will most likely be high but it's way more convenient.

BA Strike if Off..... yeah

Great!!!! Now we are just keeping an eye out for volcanic ash?!

I'm finding it hard to work and get ready for this cruise There seems to be more excitement with this one. The past cruises we have taken have been very exciting and fun but with being on this board there's a whole other level of excitement to meeting and getting to know everyone

Okay, gotta get back to the paying job

Marianne

 

[sbell111]

I just sent this email to the DCL Refund/commission people. I want to post it here also just in case someone with a brain over at DCL is reading. I have a PhD in Business and I know that the No. 1 rule is to take care of your customers. Don't run them off by doing stupid stuff. So here it is. ...

A couple thoughts:

1. I'm never swayed when people complain that a company didn't break the rules for them. When people use some version of the argument that the rules shouldn't apply to them because they are a 'good' customer, I get a little offended.

2. Putting you full name in this thread is not an awesome idea, in my opinion. You are already a bit too googlable for my comfort, but now your just making it too easy for the bad guys.

 

[epcotrulz]

Hi All,

Been reading every post on here, but don't post myself much unless I have anything to add/that hasn't already been said . . .

Hopefully we'll still be on the cruise, but my partner's father was just diagnosed with cancer. He is also in our travel party. So we aren't sure how things are going to play out over the next couple of weeks. Hoping some of the great folks on here can send some good vibes our way.

I'm in the secret Mickey, so if we end up not making it, maybe I can ship my gifts to someone else so they can gift them?

Speaking of gifts, does anyone know what the gift will be from DCL? We got a very nice leather bifold case for travel docs on the Med in 07.

 

[3princessMommy]

Hi All,

Been reading every post on here, but don't post myself much unless I have anything to add/that hasn't already been said . . .

Hopefully we'll still be on the cruise, but my partner's father was just diagnosed with cancer. He is also in our travel party. So we aren't sure how things are going to play out over the next couple of weeks. Hoping some of the great folks on here can send some good vibes our way.

I'm in the secret Mickey, so if we end up not making it, maybe I can ship my gifts to someone else so they can gift them?

Speaking of gifts, does anyone know what the gift will be from DCL? We got a very nice leather bifold case for travel docs on the Med in 07.

So sorry to hear about your family. Good vibes heading your way.

 

[cquick]

Are you doing a web cam with Skype?

Yup, we think we are all set up for it. we've been playing around wtih it here at home. Now we are going to try to call some friends who have it.

 

[cquick]

I just sent this email to the DCL Refund/commission people. I want to post it here also just in case someone with a brain over at DCL is reading. I have a PhD in Business and I know that the No. 1 rule is to take care of your customers. Don't run them off by doing stupid stuff. So here it is.
Tammy Bahmanziari

Good Letter, Tammy!

 

[3princessMommy]

Is anyone else having trouble with the Disney site the last couple days?

We keep checking back to see if we have a cabin and if there are any slots open for the glassworks factory in Oslo.

We can log into the ressie and see that we still have a GTY cabin, no number yet. But when we try to see the available excursions the system dumps us back out again! We can't see any of them to reserve or even look at the ones we are already confirmed for!

Very annoying! Anyone have any ideas???

 

[Meum]

Hi All,

Been reading every post on here, but don't post myself much unless I have anything to add/that hasn't already been said . . .

Hopefully we'll still be on the cruise, but my partner's father was just diagnosed with cancer. He is also in our travel party. So we aren't sure how things are going to play out over the next couple of weeks. Hoping some of the great folks on here can send some good vibes our way.

I'm in the secret Mickey, so if we end up not making it, maybe I can ship my gifts to someone else so they can gift them?

Speaking of gifts, does anyone know what the gift will be from DCL? We got a very nice leather bifold case for travel docs on the Med in 07.

So sorry about the cancer diagnosis We will keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers

Is anyone else having trouble with the Disney site the last couple days?

We keep checking back to see if we have a cabin and if there are any slots open for the glassworks factory in Oslo.

We can log into the ressie and see that we still have a GTY cabin, no number yet. But when we try to see the available excursions the system dumps us back out again! We can't see any of them to reserve or even look at the ones we are already confirmed for!

Very annoying! Anyone have any ideas???

I'm gonna go over and check it out but won't be able to share any info about the cabins since we already have ours assigned. I'll see what happens

Marianne

 

[Meum]

Is anyone else having trouble with the Disney site the last couple days?

We keep checking back to see if we have a cabin and if there are any slots open for the glassworks factory in Oslo.

We can log into the ressie and see that we still have a GTY cabin, no number yet. But when we try to see the available excursions the system dumps us back out again! We can't see any of them to reserve or even look at the ones we are already confirmed for!

Very annoying! Anyone have any ideas???

Well I was able to get into our reservation and look around (I can't believe we booked this on October 14, 2008 I looked into the shore excursions and could see that some had no space remaining (one of those was the glassworks excursion) and never got booted out. It was a little slow but don't know if it's because I'm on my work computer or not.

Good luck, I know these computers can be very irritating

Marianne

 

[TammyAlphabet]

A couple thoughts:

1. I'm never swayed when people complain that a company didn't break the rules for them. When people use some version of the argument that the rules shouldn't apply to them because they are a 'good' customer, I get a little offended.

2. Putting you full name in this thread is not an awesome idea, in my opinion. You are already a bit too googlable for my comfort, but now your just making it too easy for the bad guys.

Both good points. I am trying get them to rethink the rule itself not break it. I guess I am so ticked off by their actions that it might sound that way.

 

[epcotrulz]

Is anyone else having trouble with the Disney site the last couple days?

We keep checking back to see if we have a cabin and if there are any slots open for the glassworks factory in Oslo.

We can log into the ressie and see that we still have a GTY cabin, no number yet. But when we try to see the available excursions the system dumps us back out again! We can't see any of them to reserve or even look at the ones we are already confirmed for!

Very annoying! Anyone have any ideas???

yep, happening to me too . . .

 

[sbell111]

Both good points. I am trying get them to rethink the rule itself not break it. I guess I am so ticked off by their actions that it might sound that way.

I guess that I don't understand why you are upset about the rule since you knew about it before cancelling your original reservation. You did the math and calculated that it was in your best interest to make the change and pay the penalty, so you did it.

I did the math for my family's reservation and decided that the cost savings wasn't worth making the change, so I didn't alter my reservation. I never thought of writing an angry letter.