Soooo UPSET Wonder 12/30

[SeaSpray]

I would like to respectfully disagree with the posters who said that the view through the plexiglass is not very good, while recognising that everyone's experience of course can be different even in identical category cabins.

Maybe we just had a good cabin steward who kept our plexi clean or something, but our view through the plexi was EXCELLENT. In fact, when we first entered our stateroom we could see the water (still docked in Port Canaveral) right through the room, through that plexi. We were immediately drawn to the verandah!

We spent a LOT of time on our verandah and being relatively short people (5'6" and 5'4"), we really were appreciative of the view afforded to us by that plexi.

Having said all that, it sounds like the particular cabin that you were assigned has some "pros", such as larger cabin size and larger verandah size. Personally, I'd think it was a trade-off and be content with that cabin, but normally I wouldn't be happy with a solid wall verandah either.

Please let us know how DCL responds, as to whether or not they were able to change your cabin

P.S. Just found some pics from our cruise where you can see just how crystal clear our plexi was. We were able to sit in the chairs relaxing and watch flying fish through the plexi, that's how clear it was

 

[pfishgirl]

See exactly my point, the room we had last time with the plexiglass was always clean so we always were able to sit and watch the ocean go by. Matter of fact we spent 3 hours out there on our day at sea while eating lunch and enjoying the view. When we had the solid wall we hated it because we needed to stand and hardly spent time out on the veranda at all. I am only 5'3" so I am a short people who needed to stand on the chair and lean on the railing to see which really stunk in my opinion..

But YES, I do see how eveyone would go for the Bigger Room..

I NEVER knew you could reserve a specific room or else we would have. I guess that is what I get for not asking the right questions....

I am friends with my travel agent and she is going to call on Monday and let me know what DCL says. She called Friday night but was asked to call again Monday and talk with a specific person. She said she will fight for an upgraded room or an onboard credit..but I doubt we will get either..I guess it depends on whom she gets to speak with...I WILL post Monday night and let you ALL know what happens...

Thank You ALL for your concerns and comments and posts...

 

[lrodptl]

I know what you mean about feeling bummed...we were assigned 6648 which has the solid metal railing and I too am very upset. The cabin is no bigger than ususal and the verandah is not much deeper than one with plexiglass, so we don't even get a positive tradeoff.

I have a 3 year old who will see nothing but sky unless I lift her up - which I don't really want to do. Also I believe that the plexiglass would give you a more open feel to the cabin regardless of how smudged it is.

The ship is fully booked (sailing 12/28) and Disney says there is nothing to be done. I started a thread on this (Solid white wall verandah vs plexiglass) and it seems to me that first time cruisers with a guarantee (not an assigned cabin) get stuck with these verandahs! Grrrr!

Sorry,but none of that mattered 1 iota. DD3 and DD4 could not have cared less about the view and as already stated looking through the salt stained plexi was awful.

 

[crisi]

pfishgirl,

Chances are, if you weren't offered room numbers when you booked, they had moved to only selling GTY rooms. At that point, generally, the plexiglass veranadas have been booked.

How far out did you make your reservations? Did I catch this being a holiday cruise?

 

[mmouse37]

not to sound pessimistic...but I doubt your TA will have leverage to get you an upgrade or shiboard credit.... DCL did not did no do anything wrong. A GTY is just that...a guarantee that you will get a cabin at least in the category you booked. If they had an upgrade to offer they probably would have upgraded you when they assigned your cabin number.

I am surprised you did not know that you could reserve a certain stateroom, especially after being on these boards and sailing twice before.

Good luck to you!!

MJ

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I would be happy being in either (or any) room on that cruise! I still have over a year and a half 'til my cruise. At least I picked the exact cabin I wanted and have all the time in the world to plan out everything else.
Good luck but try to be happy with whatever you end up with.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

To the OP...

It would seem that this particular cabin is very popular. If you are not pleased with it, I would think that either you or your TA should be able to contact Disney about your desire and find someone willing to switch with you.

Or perhaps through this forum, you can find someone specific that is on the same cruise with the same catagory of cabin. Together, the two of you should be able to get Disney to swap cabins, even if there isn't time for new documents.

Good luck and hope you have a Wonderful Cruise.

 

[TnRobin]

Here is a view point from the shortest DIS moderator and a 5'3" cruiser. (Well almost - 5'2 1/2") We had the cabin right above the cabin you were assigned. I loved it. The wall came up to my chest, so no I didn't have to stand on a chair to see over. I simply lean on the wall and let the breeze blow. Which was alot easier as I was not boxed in by other people'e veranda. Also the view off the aft end of the ship is awesome. Watching the wake of the ship is so peaceful. Especially if you have a sun set too.

In addition, we always brought breakfast back to the room. Since we had a full table and chairs on the veranda, we always had private dining in the open air. Further, there was no need to look for an empty chaise lounge at the pool. I had my own private chaise lounge on my veranda. So again, I got a great place to relax, sun and read my book.

I have had plexiglass verandas and metal wall veranda. I would rank the aft metal vernadas the best ones on the ship. I just wish they would let me book one up front. But they can't as they have to reserve them for persons who need the handicap accomadations.

 

[chrisn]

We never looked through the plexiglass.

 

[lvmymcky]

DH and I honeymooned on the Wonder on 12/5 and one day while exploring the ship we came upon the secret aft decks (deck 7 and 8). When we saw the verandahs on these staterooms, we both said it at the same time "wow, they have bigger verandah's, lets see if can have those next time". At first I thought they were the suite verandahs since they were pretty big, then I realized they were the handicapped staterooms. Just my opinion, I think I'd be happy whether I ended up with a plexiglass or a metal verandah. We had category 6 staterooms and had the plexiglass verandah on deck 6.

Oh and I'm 5'2" and I don't recall having to stand up on a chair just so I can looked over the railing. Hopefully DCL can help you before you sail and if they can't I hope you won't let this upset you any further since you will after all be ringing in the new year on DCL!

 

[pfishgirl]

Thank You ALL very much for your opinions and suggestions. I never thought this topic would become such a debate.

My TA called and spoke with DCL and she was told that they can not switch our room yet, however, they are very sorry for our concern and worries. She also told my TA that IF we still feel the same AFTER we see the room that they are willing to pull some strings and switch our room. It seems that there are people on a waiting list for this type of room. We were also told to expect a "surprize package" in our room to help ease or worries..I guess I will let you know what the surprize is when we get back....

Thanks again to ALL of you!!!
9 days til we are off for the

 

[my3kids]

She said she will fight for an upgraded room or an onboard credit...

I'm sorry for sounding rude, but I guess I don't understand why you or the TA would think you should get an upgrade because you don't like the GTY cabin you were assigned......

 

[Doctor P]

I, too, find it incredible that someone who has cruised with Disney before, spends time on these boards, and uses a travel agent they trust did not know that they could reserve a specific room ahead of time. IMHO, with due respect to the OP, the problems lie with one of the following: 1) not having done one's homework OR 2) having an incompetent TA OR 3) not having booked far enough in advance. I hope things get worked out to the OP's satisfaction, but, I'm sorry, I just don't think there is any beef with DCL on this issue.

 

[logan1_2000]

I booked the 1/16 Wonder, including the MLK holiday, the first week of November, so it was relatively late compared to my 4/2005 Magic that I booked in October 2003. I booked Cat. 8 GTY, because there were no confirmed room bookings available at the time. And it was exactly the last Cat. 8 available. I did not want a 9 just because I like being on a higher deck,so I was pleased, and I have been in 8's my two previous DCL cruises. And I wondered if the GTY would give me a chance for an upgrade--but I wasn't counting on it and as I said, I love Cat. 8's.

The next follow up call to the agent she informed me that I had just been placed into 7502. Okay, no upgrade, but I was happy and looking forward to that side of the ship, having been in 7004 and 7014 on my previous two trips, and 7012 coming up in April. Good deal for a late GTY booking, I thought!

Then last week, 5-6 weeks after I booked, and email shows up (and a confirming phone message at home) that I am now in Cat. 5 7132. So I was psyched to have a verandah upgrade! I checked the deck plan, and saw that I have a solid wall. And I asked a Q or two elsewhere on the board about it, and searched out some other threads. And I guess in a perfect world I would have the crystal clear plexiglass wall shown in the photos earlier on this thread. In that same perfect world I would weigh 40 pounds less, too, and my income would be several times larger. But I live in a real world, a world that gave me an upgrade, my first verandah, easy access instead of a length of the ship walk to the Deck 7 aft overlook deck (have only been there 5 minutes during a first cruise explore the ship walk) and I am also spared the length of the ship walk when I scoot up two decks to the beverage station on Deck 9. So I am pretty darn pleased and happy.

So take a deep breath, appreciate all that is right with the concept of taking a peak holiday week cruise--something I have never done for budget reasons. I have the solid wall but no extra room--I'm happy--would you rather be in my office on 12/30, as I will be? Of course not--now Happy Holidays, have a great cruise, and remember there are NO bad staterooms on DCL--just try the 108 square foot stateroom on RCCL's Nordic Empress with an obstructed view that is sold as "oceanview" and then you shall appreciate everything on DCL a bit more.

Look at it this way--though I will second the expression of surprise from an earlier poster that after a couple of cruises and your apparent "veteran" status on the Boards,you explained that you were not aware you could book a specific stateroom, well, now you DO know, now you will also be an authority on Handicapped Access staterooms when occupied by normally abled individuals, and you can advise others, and you will be a more skilled stateroom booker on your NEXT DCL cruise!!

 

[pfishgirl]

I am sorry for NOT being an expect disney cruiser and NOT knowing I could ask for a specific room but there is NO need to Jump down my throat about it...

Anyway, we were given the cruise itself as a Gift so I guess they were never told either that they could pick a room. What I was told by the person giving us the cruise was that when they booked this cruise for us, IN ADVANCE by 7 months or so, they were told there was NO room number assigned to our reservation, that it is just a Cat. 5 with a Veranda. So how were we suppose to know if noone told us or them you can request a room when they were told they couldn't give a room number to the reservation yet??? When I called DCL directly I was told because I have a TA I couldn't get any information about this reservatuion and was told by DCL to call the TA.

Maybe the TA didn't think to tell them, like I said it is a friend of the family so maybe she neglected to tell them since it was their cruise but ours...I don't know..I guess NOW I DO know...The TA has made all the arragements and has all the paperwork so I couldn't even tell you what any of our documents say. We are meeting up with her Christmas Eve and she will hand over all information she has for us.

As for the boards I just started to read these cruise boards, I normally don't read any of these cruiseboards but when I knew we were going on the DCL I figured I may as well start. I have posted to other boards here instead.

We have only been on 2 cruises before this one and each cruise I booked myself by calling DCL directly and was told a room number right away. So again how was I to know I could ask for a specific room? If DCL doesn't tell you on the phone By the way you can request a specific room do you have a preference THEN I would have known....

Ok so anyway...I am sorry to everyone reading these posts, I didn't mean for it to get so outta hand and all. Next time I will just post a questions post on the boards BEFORE I try and book anything so I will have the answers ahead of time...

Wow I am still in from one of the last posts...geesh....

 

[Dreamer04]

Stacy, what a great gift! Congratulations.
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Just one thing, though. Ask at check in for any available rooms. Sometimes this works, too.

Last August, my DD 7 and I were upgraded to cat 6 from a cat 9. Yes, I was thrilled with the upgrade, but I did not care for the solid walled verandah. But it was lovely having the verandah.

 

[my3kids]

and 2. there is a solid wall all around our Veranda that we paid so much extra $$$ for to have....uuuggghhhh.....

But if it was a gift, why did you have to pay more? I'm sorry you have a solid balcony, but I guess I'm still not clear why the travel agent tried to get you upgraded because of it. I wouldn't want a solid one either, but on a guarantee....

Honestly, I think they need a different category. The clear verandahs are one classification, the navigators another, and the solid ones still another. Like a 5, 6, 7, and maybe a 6S for solid for all the steel ones. There isn't any reason the solid steel 5's should be rated more highly than the plexi 6's.

 

[Doctor P]

pfishgirl,

No one is trying to be harsh, IMHO. We are just pointing out that we don't think it is reasonable to be upset about the room assignment you received. That said, I do very much hope that whatever will make you happier does happen so that you can get as much enjoyment out of your cruise as I know you expected. Good luck, and may you have the happiest of holidays.

 

[coleland]

OP don't be so sensitive - I didn't take any of these last posts as harsh, and certainly not jumping down your throat. I agree with others that have said we're sorry you're disappointed, but you certainly aren't entitled to an upgrade or shipboard credit - that's just working the system a bit too much in my opinion.

 

[pfishgirl]

(my3kids) When I stated that "we paid so much more $$" I meant in general for anyone that books the veranda has to pay so much more $$ for the veranda and if the veranda can't be enjoyed then why bother if a solid wall is going to be blocking the view. not that we as in me paid extra but my family who are sending us did.
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This is a celebration cruise for my DH and Me. His bday is Jan 28th and he will be 35 Mine is Feb 1st and I will be 32 so it was their way of saying Happy Birthday and it is the 1 year anniversary of my DH owning his new business.

And of course with New Years too the cruise itself should be great.

ok ok so I will stop my whinnig about the solid wall and again I am sorry it became such an ordeal. I honestly did NOT intend for this conversation to get so intense.

I am sure my family and I will still have a wonderful time because DCL's are always alot of fun!!!