Not much luck with Dreams Unlimited

[katboferguson]

After reading many wonderful posts about DU, I am sorry to say that I was disappointed in trying to work with them. First off, I found it frustrating to just email back and forth and not be able to talk on the phone. Just starting out in the planning stage (10 days to include DW, Universal, and Wonder Cruise) I had many questions, and I had a hard time for some reason understanding the emailed responses I received from the lady who had been assigned to help me. The emails were confusing. I even felt the quotes I received were confusing, and when I would email back with a question, I would just get another more confusing response. Her responses even seemed short, to the point, and curt. At one point I went back to their website and requested another quote thinking that may be I would get to work with someone else. I just got an email from the same lady telling me not to make duplicated requests, etc. She quoted over $3000 for a cat. 6 three day Wonder cruise for me, my ds11, ds10 in July of this year. (I ended up booking the same cruise same cat. 6 else where for $2395.) Before I booked the cruise though I even emailed the lady at DU to see why her price was so much higher. All her emailed response said was that her quote was for " a booked " price. I have no clue what that meant. Then she just stopped emailing me alltogether. Wish I would have had better luck with them.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

Hi katboferguson

I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed with your experience with Dreams Unlimited Travel.

If you feel you would like to discuss it further please feel free to email me at john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com

I would also like to find out who the agent was you were working with so I can address these issues with her as well.

Thanks
John

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Corresponding by email is a real lost art. Most do it far too casually in a business environment when they should be treating it the same as they would write a letter. It is often treated way to informally as you would with correspondence. But once you have lost the ability to use body language and to expand when someone is confused it really does not work. I imagine that is where a lot of your problems are coming from.

 

[jlima]

I had an indifferent experience also; they ask on their website if you have a WDW annual pass but not a DL annual pass; and when I asked my agent if she could book a room at the GC after our cruise in June was told since I booked two cabins they could only sell me two rooms?!?!? This was after some hemming and hawing and hearing "well, I guess I can call them and ask. . . " I just called the CRO in Anaheim & booked the GC room myself. There wasn't a lot of knowledge about the Disnelyand Resort.

 

[mist_e_rose2002]

I found that dreams unlimited was as high and in one case, higher than I could find prices for hotel/cruise stays on my own.

Perhaps, it was just the choices I was making, but I found DU to be a disappointment too.

Then again, I also had a local TA quote me $200 more than DU or I found, so I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. Just remember it is a no obligations quote... I did everytime I applied for one.

 

[my3kids]

I never had much luck with them either.

 

[disneyisfun]

Complete opposite for me...they had the best price by over $800.00 and their service so far has been great. We sail at the end of May so I will keep you posted!!

 

[INeedaVacation]

I have to say that so far, I am really happy with the service I received from DU. They beat DCL's website price by $175 for our 3-day cruise. I also checked several other TA's and the closest one was still $125 more than DU's quote. And my agent has been great to deal with. She got us connecting SPH rooms.
I recommended DU to a friend, and her quote for a 7 day next Aug was $800 better than the DCL website. She also seems happy with her agent, who is different than mine. So far, 2 thumbs way up to DU!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Unfortunatley, I have to agree with some of the others. I was disappointed in the service that I didn't receive. I e-mailed once and never got a reply, so I tried again with totally different dates and for a different cruise and I got that e-mail about not sending duplicate requests. The main thing that I don't like is that you have to e-mail someone just to get a quote. I know there are other sites that you can just go look at the webpage and get an idea of the price.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I too booked with DU...I requested quotes from DCL, AAA and DU..DU came in $300 less than DCL for a better room.
I don't have too many questions because my sister and BIL are DCL cruise experts..but the $300. + a $50.00 on board credit was great!

 

[littlemuffin]

I have used Leigh at small world travels twice and she is great. These have both been WDW trips but she was great to work with and always back to me quickly. I could call her on a 1-800 number or email her.

PM me if you want her info.

Kat

 

[piglet33]

Don't forget there are other places out there to get quotes that are usually less than DU like Costco. They usually save you close to 10% off the rate before port fees.

 

[daisy112878]

I'm sorry you had a not so good experience. We have had an awesome experience so far with Sue Ellen and DU. She's been great about answering my questions and helping my family when we had to move our July 2006 cruise to October 2006. She got me several different quotes in no time. I love the email b/c I hate talking on the phone and would much rather use email. I guess it depends on what you like. Personally I didn't have much luck with All Seasons. I emailed them several times and never heard back from them. But I know others on here like them. You definitly need to use a TA that you feel comfortable with.

 

[jenmack]

We used All Seas Travel last october & we had a great experience w/ them. For our cruise this October 2005 we looked @ both all seas & DU & DU quoted us $200 less. So we decided to try DU. So far our experience w/ Du has been just as great as All Seas. I will admit that I prefer to talk on the phone & to know that if I have any questions I can just quickly pick up the phone & call. Something that you can do w/ All Seas & not DU. But, Kelsie @ DU has been wonderful & very quick to respond to any of my e-mails. So, I would definetly use DU again. I'm sorry that others haven't been as fortunate, but I guess that's the great thing about the DISboard & how we can all offer our experiences, ideas & advice & at least one of them will work.

~Jen

 

[DancingBear]

I got quotes from 4 or 5 TAs (and checked the DCL price online) and DU was the best by $150, because they had rooms reserved at a group rate. If they don't have group rate rooms available on the cruise you are asking for (and if another TA does), DU might not be the lowest. I found their quote to be very easy to follow.

The only TA I know which posts their prices is AllSeasons. That's great, but I was a little confused by them because the website says to send them an e-mail and they will call with a quote, then they called me and gave the same price that was on the website already. I also prefer e-mail exchanges because then I can see everything in writing. Our DU agent Merrie has promptly responded to any e-mail inquiries I have had.

My only disappointment has been not being able to use the $50 onboard credit offer from my Disney Visa because the DU quote is a group rate.

Our first encounter with DU was reserving a special rate at the Dolphin for a short trip this past September. We were very pleased with DU on that trip. At one point the Dolphin tried to charge us more for one night of the trip, but I had the e-mail confirmation from DU and they honored that price.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

For years we used CruisesOnly.com, they were great they couldn't be beat on their prices, they used to be Gold Coast Cruises, before the advent of the internet!!! I saw one of their TV adds and called them! But for my 2 Disney Cruises, Costco has beat them by over $150.00 each.

 

[lilo62]

I am a first time user of DU and have a had great service thus far. I found their price very competative (I saved $1500 for my hubby and I) compared to booking with Disney directyl.

I too find it a little frustrating just to have communication in e-mails, but you hardly get to speak to a person these days anyway with all this phone automated stuff.

If you got an agent you aren't happy with, I'm sure John can help you out as per his post to you. I wouldn't blame DU globally. Good luck with everything!

 

[WDWLVR]

We've used Dreams for 2 past cruises and one past WDW trip. We also have a future cruise and a Disneyland trip booked with them We've worked with a number of different agents and they have all been great. E-mails are answered quickly and they have been able to answer any question I've had. I highly recommend them.

 

[katboferguson]

I do not blame DU "globally". Quite the contrary. Like my post said I looked into using DU after reading many positive, happy reviews about them. I was looking for an agent to help me through the planning, someone to work with me and help make this vacation "special" for me and my family. Unfortunately, in my efforts to work with DU this did not happen. It's to late for me to get into touch with John now as I have already booked with another agency. But for others like me reading this, it is good to know that John is available.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We used DU for two of our cruises and had no problems with them, other than the time when I had a question about the trip insurance and the agent told me to call them myself and ask. I did it, but didn't feel I should have to. I felt that it was her job, as my agent, to check for me instead of telling me to do it myself. But that was my ONLY complaint. Most of the time we communicated through e-mail, but a couple times I did call and speak with Donna on the phone. They do have a phone number to contact them.

If we ever take another Disney cruise I would probably use them again.