Price Increase when Canceling due to Hurricane?

[MarcyIn Florida]

I know that Florida is in a state of turmoil over the activities of the last 3 plus weeks, but I also want to comment as an "insider" who has been through these 2 hurricanes. Those of us in Florida, esp. Central Florida, rely heavily on the tourism industry. In fact, we don't pay state income taxes laregly because of the tourism industry. As a result, I absolutely feel for those people whose vacations have been cancelled as a result of the hurricane, and hope that you can rebook your vacations without unreasonable time or added expense. (Emphasis on unreasonable.) The only thing I do want to emphasize is that patience is a hot commodity right now, and, if you can, you might want to wait a few days before trying to change your itineraries. Disney is understaffed right now and reeling from the past 3 weeks. Yes, Disney and DCL are huge corporations which seek to maximize profits for themselves and their shareholders, but they also pride themselves on good customer service. You may not get exactly what you want, but with patience, persistence, and a very nice demeanor, you may get more than you were first offered.

Peace, love and

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by CPM
First of all you don't sound sorry. Second, one has NOTHING to do with the other. I have been through BOTH hurricanes and missed my vacation. I also have family in GA, it's nothing compared to the storms that hit here. I truly hope your family is fine.
Anyone that missed out on thier vacation has every right to be upset, thst doesn't mean they don't care about things going on in the world.

Right on, Cheryl!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by cindalu
But there are so many people who have to rebuild their lives because of the two hurricanes. I have family in GA that are being pounded by Frances.
You all should be grateful that you are able to go on vacation.
JMO

cindalu -- this is not the topic of discussion on this thread...why don't you try another thread where this may be more appropriate because it's the subject of conversation? Otherwise, one of two things are going to happen if you don't. (1) People here are going to get very upset with you because you're assuming we're not grateful our homes are still standing and you're assuming we don't care about Floridians. OR (2) We'll just ignore you and you'll be talking to yourself.

JMO

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by felixdacat
I would agree that a passenger who booked a non-peak cruise should be able to book another non-peak cruise at no extra charge within a reasonable time period which I think should be 15 months (people may only be able to get vacation time during a certain period in their year). They should not be made to pay additional charges, even if the rates the following year are higher, as long as it’s the same type of cruise.

I totally agree.

 

[gonna go cruising]

If I had to cancel due to the hurricane, I would DEMAND to speak to a supervisor and rebook within the same time frame, no added cost. I have found that to be the only way to get anywhere.

Please do not give up until your demands are met.

Frances has messed up alot of things, yes, but this thread is about fair rebooking prices.

My heart goes out to all Floridians right now. My anger goes out to DCL for not accomodating the cruisers who need to rebook.

Good luck to all.

 

[lbgraves]

I am greatful that I am not having to go thru this booking nightmare right now. I just checked the DCL website and the price of our cruise 12/4 has gone up 1600 since we booked it 12/03 for a cat 10. If this happened to us & we tried to book for the next week & were told that we would now have to come up with an additional 1600 if we wanted to go...well, IDK how long I would be polite and I definantly wouldn't accept the situation. I hope that when the dust settles, DCL will realize that someone trying to rebook within the same timeframe should be given the same pricing that existed when they booked the cruise. I hope that more people are able to get a just resolution to this situation.

 

[lbastida1]

I've only read one mention of travel insurance on this post. Does anyone have first hand experience on what, if anything, travel insurance covers in a case like this - ie, the shortened cruises this week? I guess if you're only insured for the cost of your cruise that the price difference Disney wants to charge for rebooking at a later date won't be covered by insurance?

 

[DiaDeGuadalupe]

I, too, was wondering about what the trip insurance would cover. Also, it's pretty obvious that DCL would have their own insurance, so wouldn't they be getting some sort of help with this whole situation, as well?

I was thinking about how a lot of you guys are having to pay the difference to get onto another cruise, and this thought popped into my head: Knowing that this isn't peak season, the ships surely can't be totally full. That being said, why couldn't DCL just allow those who were displaced (no pun intended) a space available statroom, regardless of category? At this point, it doesn't seem like anyone would really care all that much where they would sleep as long as they get to cruise.

Just my dos centavos. BTW, I hope I'm not offending anyone because it isn't my intention.

 

[mrsnesbit]

I and my family and friends were booked on the Sept 5th cruise. We live in Florida and we knew what the hurricane was going to do! We knew by Friday that it was not going to happen. So did several other cruise lines. Disney forced us into a decision by Friday 6pm.

I was told by the cm that if we did not decide and just waited... that the call center would be closed and we would be out of luck no incentives would be applied. Of course the call center never closed. Thanks for lying cm's.

We begged them to rebook us on the Satuday Sept 4th leaving Sept 6th or in a few weeks (not a prime date) just another date like ours and we were told $800 more please. So we cancelled with no hope of incentives. It was difficult to explain to my children.

I don't understand why they wouldn't book us into a ship that has to have empty rooms. We paid for a category 5 so it wasn't like we were going to get an upgrade.

Remember I live in Florida I have lived through the hurricane, I know all the suffering, the trees in the roofs etc... I appreciate the efforts of all on this thread to keep it focused on the issue:
Which is fair treatment of those on this cancelled cruise. Why did some get to rebook with no price increase and yet other like us couldn't???? That is the question. Be assured Disney will hear from me.

btw.. those of you who say: force the issue go to a supervisor...
we did that and it didn't get us anywhere. And we were nice about it. Maybe we didn't sound desperate enough???

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by KYCruiseCrazy
DCL or anyone i known on earth has control of the weather. thats why there is insureance

A little comment about insurance....

IF Disney pays the full refund, you get nothing from your insurance.

IF the Airline makes a refund, you get nothing - they will compensate IF the airline cancels.

IF you used priceline.com for hotels, you are not compensated.

We always get the insurance. For this trip it was $171.

Insurance doesn't cover your vacation, any stress/disappointment or inconvenience - and it certainly doesn't do a darn thing to compensate for the cost of rebooking at a higher rate.

Rae

 

[rae519]

Just got off the phone with DCL Supervisor - says only a "full refund" and make it sound like I should be jumping up and down happy! Then tells me all the wonderful benefits for cruisiers that are sailing this week and expected me to be satisfied. Ohh, I can write Guest Communications and complain, if I want to.

I completely believe TexasGirl but DCL says "no one is getting any booking discounts or avoiding the price increase" who cancelled. Yeah, right.

Somehow I don't quite get it. But I am happy for those who made it to the ship! Enjoy!!!!

Rae

 

[TexasGirl]

This is really making me angry that they are basically lying to you guys.

I have a 4 year old who would have had her heart broken if we had not rescheduled. I'm reading about others that have dissappointed kids. NO ONE should be having to have that conversation with their little children who have been looking forward to this for so long!

Why are they being so greedy? You guys are just asking to be rebooked (within a reasonable period too - within a month period!) and not be asked to pay extra money? Why do they need that extra money? Wouldn't the like to have what you've already paid, and will spend on board, and your goodwill?

It is crazy. Please post here if anyone other than myself is succesful. It is breaking my heart to read some of these posts.

And for those of you who didn't go through all the stress, and multiple canceled flights, and frantic phone calls, and on and on and on...Please stop judging us.

What we are asking is MORE than reasonable.

 

[TexasGirl]

Originally posted by DiaDeGuadalupe
I
I was thinking about how a lot of you guys are having to pay the difference to get onto another cruise, and this thought popped into my head: Knowing that this isn't peak season, the ships surely can't be totally full. That being said, why couldn't DCL just allow those who were displaced (no pun intended) a space available statroom, regardless of category? At this point, it doesn't seem like anyone would really care all that much where they would sleep as long as they get to cruise.

.

By the way, I was going to say that the above was a good suggestion. There has to be more DCL can do (than what they are currently doing) to get these dissappoined families rebooked and onboard without forcing them to 'pay through the nose."

Good luck to you too Rae and all the others in this mess.

 

[rae519]

Texas Girl -
You are now famous! Or infamous!!!!

When I spoke to the Disney Rep - they said they knew who you were because they read the boards.

So if they do read the boards, then they know me - (HI DISNEY CM'S READING!!!!) and why we are all so upset with the policy (POLICY not the CM's).

Still, Disney should reconsider their position about those of us who wanted to cruise but couldn't get transportation down.

Frustrated and looking at other cruise lines -
Rae

 

[TexasGirl]

That's kind of scary.

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by TexasGirl
That's kind of scary.

Not really. I find it refreshing that although Disney does not officially recognize this forum that it does give it enough weight to monitor it and evaluate what is being said.

It's a good company that listens to both the good and the bad about it's policies and service - at least we have their attention.

Rae

 

[CaribGirl]

We were also booked for the Sept 5th Wonder, and living in close to PC, we had no choice but to reschedule, b/c we didn't know what Frances might have done to our house. Talked to Disney after being on hold, and got a very nice person on the line. We re-scheduled for Sept 26 and there was no re-booking fee or increase. Same category same everything. I guess I should feel lucky, b/c of what I've read here on the boards. I can't add anything to the complain line, but actually was grateful to what Disney gave us.
Sorry for those of you who have had no luck yet with DCL. Don't give up. A family vacation is a treasure to remember forever. Pixie dust for all of you and hoping that you can work the dream vacation to your advantage.

P.S. Since we live so close, I also didn't have the trip insurance, so this was all just through DCL.

 

[mrsnesbit]

"We were also booked for the Sept 5th Wonder, and living in close to PC, we had no choice but to reschedule, b/c we didn't know what Frances might have done to our house. Talked to Disney after being on hold, and got a very nice person on the line. We re-scheduled for Sept 26 and there was no re-booking fee or increase. Same category same everything"


When were you able to rebook? Just today? I haven't called back since I am not too happy with DCL right now.

It was hard to explain to my 4 year old daughter with her rolling princess suitcase that we had to unpack all her pretty disney clothes and toys. Do they realize how much money is spent (on Disney) not only on the cruise but all the preparations???

My 8 year old son was even more disappointed since he knows how much fun the kids club is! This would have been our 5th cruise.

 

[CaribGirl]

Rebooked on Friday before the storm hit us. We made it okay through the storm. How about you guys?

 

[lbgraves]

Originally posted by rae519
Texas Girl -
You are now famous! Or infamous!!!!

When I spoke to the Disney Rep - they said they knew who you were because they read the boards.

So if they do read the boards, then they know me - (HI DISNEY CM'S READING!!!!) and why we are all so upset with the policy (POLICY not the CM's).

Still, Disney should reconsider their position about those of us who wanted to cruise but couldn't get transportation down.

Frustrated and looking at other cruise lines -
Rae

Well, to be honest this isn't a good thing for them to be saying right now IMHO anyway. I haven't been directly affected by this storm & the aftermath but have been reading about what everyone else has had to go thru. I would think that with the great level of dissatisfaction with their customers at this moment regarding simply being able to contact a person to find out what is going on, not even getting into the DCL policies, they don't have the time to be reading any internet boards.