Quick question HA Rooms

[mom2thebest]

I don't know how full our cruise is and if that contributed to the reason the DCL rep booked the HA cabin for us when we clearly did not have a need. I believe a call to DCL is in order. I would in no way want to prevent a family that needs the accommodations from having them.

 

[southerngirl528]

Mom2thebest, I'm curious. How far out are you booking? Was your cruise kind of last minute too?

Also, Disboards are a wealth of information and helpfulness…..I wonder if those of us that get assigned an HA room we neither need nor want could post it here to see if there's anyone that really needs it. Then maybe we could figure out a way to give them our room?? Sounds crazy, but hey people work out all kinds of things. Seems like if both parties could get DCL on the phone simultaneously, maybe just maybe, it could work out?? Or am I just being a Pollyanna…….

 

[justmestace]

Mom2thebest, I'm curious. How far out are you booking? Was your cruise kind of last minute too?

Also, Disboards are a wealth of information and helpfulness…..I wonder if those of us that get assigned an HA room we neither need nor want could post it here to see if there's anyone that really needs it. Then maybe we could figure out a way to give them our room?? Sounds crazy, but hey people work out all kinds of things. Seems like if both parties could get DCL on the phone simultaneously, maybe just maybe, it could work out?? Or am I just being a Pollyanna…….

That has been tried in the past, among members of the same Meets thread, and it wasn't successful.
Once a room is released, it goes back into inventory, and once a day, someone at DCL goes through the waitlist and if there's an opening requested, it's filled that way.
Also, once that room goes back into inventory, if someone else, anywhere in the world, happens to go online to book a room, they could nab it before the people who look at the waitlists even see it.

 

[justmestace]

I think it is a crying shame when laws are put into place without considering all ramifications. Seems dreadful that folks who need an HA room can't get one because it was given to someone whose party doesn't have special needs.

As for my rez, we were only about 3 weeks out when I booked (I have never done a cruise this last minute!), and it's apparent by my frequent visits to DCL's website that our 2/16/14 cruise is going to be quite booked. So perhaps it's mostly when they get down to only a small number of rooms onboard that they give away the HA's??? I surely hope so…..

Having worked for Disney (not DCL though), I can advise this…..if you DO have special needs in your party, PLEASE ALWAYS ADVISE when making any kind of reservation. Disney will do its best to accommodate whenever possible.

And for those of us who prefer (for whatever reason) NOT to have an HA room, looks like we need to be very specific when booking to request a non-HA room…..

In the case of the HA rooms on the ships, DCL will do nothing to help someone with needs get a room, if all of them are already booked.

On the Dream and Fantasy, one room that gets booked usually on the very first day that new bookings are opened, is 5552....the most affordable balcony HA stateroom. In fact, it's the only balcony stateroom that really IS affordable to most, being a Cat 5E....the others are all Cat 4 and higher. Once the deck plans for the new ships came out, people discovered this "gem" of a room, with its nice big, fairlly private balcony, and *voila* it disappears like magic immediately.

IMO, DCL should have several HA rooms in each category, not just one or two in the higher categories.