Problems getting rates on DCL online reservations?

[cadburysmom]

I've been trying for the last few days to access DCL's online booking system to check rates and date availability. Although I am able to log onto the DCL web site, it will not let me access the "reservations" . Is anyone else having this same problem or is my computer just too much of a "dinosaur" to enter DCL's system? It seemed to work fine in February.

Thanks for you input.

Mom from NC

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

Seems to be working ok for me.

 

[callahanjulie10]

I have been having the same problem but blaming AOL! My computer is 2 years old but it has worked fine for this up until about a week or two ago. Any computer geniuses out there that can help us?

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

A little more detailed problem statement might help. Saying that "it doesn't work" really isn't much to go on. Does it just "hang" or do you get some sort of error message? Of course if this is an AOL specific issue, I doubt I'll be able to help, since I don't use AOL.

We could start with the other obvious questions

1) Is your computer plugged in?
2) Have you fed your mouse recently?
3) When was the last time you changed its pad (after all, you know how mice are)?
4) Is your coffee cup holder extended or retracted?

 

[CamColt]

Yes! I click on "booking section" and it just sits and sits forever!!!! The little blue line down bottom(Im so technical),does move, but barely.

 

[cadburysmom]

Thanks for your input...feeding the mouse did the trick, you have to give it just the right cheese....just kidding. I was told AOL is experiencing some problems and I was able to successfully access DCL online reservations using Yahoo instead.

Mom from NC

 

[albiats]

It is working well for me at 1:30am.

I have had problems in the past with the Castway Club entrance point, it's relatively new. I always use the First Time Guests entrance since the price will be the same and I can add my Castaway Club membership number by phone, if I have to.

I use the following link to get there, and then I click on the little suitcase icon above Captain Mickey to get quotes.
DCL Rate Quotes

 

[albiats]

cadburysmom -

If you suspect that the problem is within AOL (or any similar ISP with a captive browser like Compuserve 2000 or MSN), you can avoid it by minimizing your AOL window and opening your Internet Explorer. Then you can type in the URL in the Address Bar and you'll be entering outside of AOL.

This method uses AOL to provide an Internet Connection and then uses Internet Explorer as another application. It will also allow you to open multiple instances of Internet Explorer and you can eliminate bouncing back and forth between sites by just selecting the other IE window. It's especially usefull if you use a search engine and then check some of the selections from it. I open Internet Explorer and then I use Google to search for something. Then I open a second Internet Explorer and check one of the selections and I can flip back to the original Google search easily, saving time and mouse clicks.

I use Compuserve 2000 which is owned by AOL and is a clone of AOL 6.0 with the similar problems associated with it.

Hope that helps

 

[callahanjulie10]

I can do it using Internet Explorer! Thanks

 

[MomOf4WONDERgirls]

I had the exact same problem and was also wondering if it was my computer. I'm on CS which is the same as AOL so that was probably the problem. Everytime I would click reservations it would just hang. It seems to be working ok now though.

 

[janone]

I cannot log onto DCL reservations. Nothing seems to work!
Gateway and my ISP both do not know why this is happening. They suggest I contact Disney to see if they know why. Any suggestions?

 

[albiats]

janone -

I'll try to help. It works fine for me at 10:45pm est.

Which ISP do you use? Has it ever worked for you in the past? And I assume everything else must be Ok, since you can get to the Dis boards.

First, after you are connected to your ISP, try not going thru their interface and just start your Internet Explorer and enter http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/disneycruiseline/ in the address box.

If you use Internet Explorer, you can eliminate about 90% of your ISP so you'll have a greater chance of getting through.

From the DCL Website, click on the suitcase icon above Captain Mickey to get to the reservations page. Then go to the 'first time guests' section, even if you have cruised before, and click on 'get a quote'.

Then just go through the steps to select your itinerary and your dates and the number of guests.

Whenever you encounter a situation where it isn't working for you, let us know what you were trying to do and the last point that it worked.

Hope that helps

 

[janone]

Thanks albiats, sorry about the double post. I have tried doing everything that has been suggested so far and still, when I click on the suitcase or reservations, the hourglass appears, the blue line at the bottom of the screen starts (very slowly) and stops halfway. After a while I do control/alt/delete to end task. The last time I was able to reach this site was about 1 month ago. I use RCN high speed modem and as I was speaking to an rcn rep. last night, he was able to connect. This seems to be the only problem I'm having with the internet. I 'm going to try to call disney reservations to see if they can offer some technical assistance. RCN thought somehow I'm locked out due to "cookies"?

 

[albiats]

The theory about cookies could be correct, except that you can use the Dis Boards and they use cookies, so it's doubtful that it's the cause, in my opinion.

It would help if you list your Windows Operating System and your Internet Explorer version.

I checked the Microsoft Knowledge Base and one possibility is listed. It says if you have Windows Millenium Edition software and you're using Internet Explorer 5.5, you could have problems where the computer stops responding when accessing specific Websites. It is caused if you have Headlight Software's download utility, GetRight installed. GetRight software assists users with downloads by adding Pause and Recovery features to the Internet browser. The full text of the article at Microsoft is at this link, Q286228

If that isn't your situation, then I think I should defer to the professionals, as in the people that support the Disney Cruiseline Website, perhaps they've encountered this before.

In the meantime, if you'd like me to lookup some quotes for you, just send me an email with the itinerary, number of people and ages of children, and the dates you're interested in and I'll email the answers back to you. I'm not a TA and I can only tell you what's on the DCL Quote screens.

Good luck with your problem.

 

[stormkrow]

I had the exact same problem. I clicked on reservations and waited ... and waited... and waited. No connections.

So, I minimized AOL and brought up Internet Explorer. It works fine. I had no problems getting through to DCL reservations.

 

[janone]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, nothing seems to help. I am currently running IE 5.0/win98. I have contacted Disney to see if they can solve this problem. Thanks, albiats, for offering assistance, I was hoping to make payments for my trip online. For now I'll just call on the phone. I will let you know when and if I ever find out why this is happening and how it finally gets fixed. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

I've had the same type of problem for the past 24 hours. I'll try the side door route. Thanks. I thought it was a Disney site problem, since I can get around EVERYWHERE else. Just on the 2nd move within the Disney .com page, I get screen freeze and have to shut it down (log off).
These boards are so great.

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

WOW !!!
That not only worked, it was way faster too! I'm still curious as to why getting access thru AOL doesn't work, but I'm so glad to have learned a back-up method. I think I *had* learned this once before, but didn't think to do it this time.
Thank you Albiats

 

[albiats]

You're Welcome!

I believe the reason it doesn't work as well is because they make the AOL programmers create a 'shell' that shows all of their advertising and info 'windows' and they still expect it to do all of the normal functions that the regular IE performs. It must be a very difficult programming job.

Another benefit that most people don't realize is that you can open multiple instances of IE at the same time. For instance, you can have one IE checking the price quotes on DCL and a second instance of IE running on the Dis boards at the same time. You're limited by the available system resources that your machine has, including but not limited to the available Ram memory.

Once you have an instance of IE running, you can open a second (or more) instance by going to the Menu Bar and clicking on 'File' and then 'Window', or by simply holding down the CTRL key and then press the 'N' key, and then release both of them.

I often have 4 or 5 IEs running at the same time without problems.

Please note that this method will not use your 'favorites' from AOL, Compuserve, or MSN and that you should also set up Parental Controls on IE, if necessary. You can set these up on IE using the 'favorites' option and the parental controls using the Tools, Internet Options, and Content dialog boxes.

One more tip with IE - You can enter the domain name on the address bar and then press the CTRL and the Enter key simultaneously and it will fill in the rest of the address automatically for you. For example, when I want to go to the Dis Boards, I just enter 'disboards' on the address bar and then press ctrl + enter and it fills it in so that it ends up being 'http://www.disboards.com' and it also takes me to that address. It only works if the first part of the domain is 'www' and if it is '.com' type address.

Hope that helps.