Surprised by DCL Customer Service Response

[tinkerone]

The art cards (as well as the magnets) are really hit or miss. We did a Dream cruise followed by a Fantasy B2B (3 cruises total) last year, and we received 2 art cards (both the same picture). Don't know if they were considering the B2B as one cruise or not.

doesn't really matter, I actually do not like the cards. there a bit to 'artsy' for my taste. they end up in the file folder I keep for each trip. I do like the ones we get from wdw though. there very cute and are personalized with your family name.

 

[phinz]

We never got a magnet at all for Silver, but the friends who have cruised with us since (we do all the booking, and their paperwork comes to our house) have.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Art card? Huh. I'd like to have one of those.

I got one after my last cruise. It was the first time I got anything after a cruise. It is actually quite ugly.

 

[jetskigrl]

slight OT, for these magnets do you get 1 magnet per person or is it stateroom/cabin?

I was just looking it up and it says one per stateroom. But even that has been hit or miss if they even send them at all

I did not receive my Gold magnet, and when I called they pretty much said "too bad...but we will send you the silver one to compensate." I was like WTH? Whatever. So when I hit platinum, I will receive that one, but the gold will still be missing.

See - I just don't get these responses. Why in the world would it be an issue to send the items that they advertise they will be sending. Why would you want the silver if you are already gold???

Well, that never happened after our cruise. I just had no idea I was supposed to look for it. We just finished our second. I guess I should have expected a post card of some sort for that?

The things you learn here.

Here is what is advertised on the CC home page (for anyone that wasn't familiar with the CC gift). They just started it in 2014 so maybe your first cruise was before that. We turned Gold before they started so we never received a Gold magnet, only the art cards. So I was looking forward to receiving the Platinum magnet.

A New Way to Show Our Thanks
We value our Castaway Club members. And beginning in February 2014—to show our thanks—you'll receive a small token* of our appreciation when you return home after each cruise.

We commissioned 5 artists to create a series of Castaway Club-exclusive art cards. Collect one after each cruise.* There are 5 cards that you can collect. Each card was designed by a different artist using our Disney ships as inspiration—and showcasing the artist's unique medium and creative vision.

And if you're celebrating a Disney Cruise Line milestone—like your first Disney cruise or your Castaway Club status turning to Gold or Platinum—you'll receive a special car magnet* (in lieu of the art card) to celebrate your milestone and show off your new Castaway Club status.

The designs are a secret for now, so you can look forward to a fun surprise in the mail after your cruise.

*Limited to one gift per stateroom.

Ha....34 DCL cruises and I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A MAGNET.....I get the Art cards after each cruise but since they started the magnets I have never got one. Granted I was Platinum long before they started sending the CC magnets but heck I want one!!! I think I earned it.

MJ

You definitely deserve one!!

 

[aggiedog]

jetskigirl, we first cruised 6 months ago, so definitely inside the time frame. I will say that while we did receive the in-room gift this last cruise last week, I have never been able to get into the CC section of the website. It always tells me there is a problem with my CC ID and I should call them. I called once or twice and the error message kept showing up, so I just gave up.

 

[wcw57]

You are supposed to receive a Silver magnet after your 1st cruise, Gold after your 5th and Platinum after your 10th. For your other cruises they send you an Art Card (postcard with an artist's rendering of one of the ships, etc).

Since it was my 9th and 10th cruises (B2B), I should have gotten the art card for the 9th and the platinum magnet for the 10th. They are supposed to arrive about 6 weeks after the cruise, I think. I waited until 8 weeks after the cruise to ask them about it (and only asked at all because I have never received a magnet before and I wanted the platinum magnet).

But it seems like it is hit or miss if they actually send them out since quite a few people report that they never got them.

silver magnet?!?!?! NOW you tell me. never received even a postcard (which ds got from same cruise)...is it too late to email? it was 5 years ago. hmmmmmm, maybe it is to late but WTH?! (what the heck)

 

[wvdcl cruisers]

No Art cards here either....and only a silver magnet after our 5th cruise a few years ago. Give them credit, at least they're consistent at inconsistency.

 

[KT2038]

@jetskigrl i am very sorry this has happened to you. AS a CM I will follow up on this issue so that it hopefully will fix it for the future. I hope this won't stop you from cruising with us!
Have a magical day!!

 

[jetskigrl]

silver magnet?!?!?! NOW you tell me. never received even a postcard (which ds got from same cruise)...is it too late to email? it was 5 years ago. hmmmmmm, maybe it is to late but WTH?! (what the heck)

They just started the CC gift (after cruise) in February 2014. But I remember reading at that time that they were sending out magnets and cards somewhat randomly to people that had not cruised in quite a while.

I turned Gold in 2012 so I was only eligible for the Art Cards until my 10th cruise. So I was looking forward to that Platinum magnet.

 

[jetskigrl]

@jetskigrl i am very sorry this has happened to you. AS a CM I will follow up on this issue so that it hopefully will fix it for the future. I hope this won't stop you from cruising with us!
Have a magical day!!

Thanks so much for looking into it. I would hate for others to get that same response. It was such a silly little thing that could have been a great opportunity to show customer appreciation by just resending the items. And in the case of the art card for my 9th cruise, at least an explanation of why they couldn't resend it. But I did finally receive the magnet and I am still happy to display it

I admit, I was thinking about cancelling our cruise for next year when I first read it (not so much out of spite but out of concern that I could not depend on Guest Services in the future). But the only people I would be hurting if I did that was DS (he is looking forward to it). DCL would love it if I cancelled because they could resell the room easily at a higher price since that cruise is nearly full already

 

[KT2038]

Thanks so much for looking into it. I would hate for others to get that same response. It was such a silly little thing that could have been a great opportunity to show customer appreciation by just resending the items. And in the case of the art card for my 9th cruise, at least an explanation of why they couldn't resend it. But I did finally receive the magnet and I am still happy to display it

I admit, I was thinking about cancelling our cruise for next year when I first read it (not so much out of spite but out of concern that I could not depend on Guest Services in the future). But the only people I would be hurting if I did that was DS (he is looking forward to it). DCL would love it if I cancelled because they could resell the room easily at a higher price since that cruise is nearly full already

I am glad that you will still cruise with us and I look forward to welcoming you onboard in the future °o°

 

[Ware Bears]

Someone on my last cruise meet thread posted a photo when they received their art card consequently bringing it to the attention of the rest of us. One fellow cruiser contacted DCL to be told it was for random guests only so I decided to contact them to be told I wouldn't be getting one because it wasn't available for non-US guests! Oh well, no great loss but DCL should be consistent and make the conditions clear who it's available to on their website.

 

[Sytrace]

What a bummer.
We got the silver and gold magnets and got the art cards with the exception of one time. I am so sorry you got the brush off from a company you have been so loyal to.
And MJ...HECK YES, you have certainly earned those magnets . Disney has some explaining to do.

 

[tinkerone]

Someone on my last cruise meet thread posted a photo when they received their art card consequently bringing it to the attention of the rest of us. One fellow cruiser contacted DCL to be told it was for random guests only so I decided to contact them to be told I wouldn't be getting one because it wasn't available for non-US guests! Oh well, no great loss but DCL should be consistent and make the conditions clear who it's available to on their website.

i'm from canada and i get them…….sometimes. i think it depends on their mood.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Interesting - the information on the Castaway Club page that talks about the art cards and magnets has been removed. I guess the program was too unmanageable for DCL to handle it.

In case anyone's interested, here's what it used to say:
A New Way to Show Our Thanks
We value our Castaway Club members. And beginning in February 2014—to show our thanks—you'll receive a small token* of our appreciation when you return home after each cruise.

We commissioned 5 artists to create a series of Castaway Club-exclusive art cards. Collect one after each cruise.* There are 5 cards that you can collect. Each card was designed by a different artist using our Disney ships as inspiration—and showcasing the artist's unique medium and creative vision.

And if you're celebrating a Disney Cruise Line milestone—like your first Disney cruise or your Castaway Club status turning to Gold or Platinum—you'll receive a special car magnet* (in lieu of the art card) to celebrate your milestone and show off your new Castaway Club status.

The designs are a secret for now, so you can look forward to a fun surprise in the mail after your cruise.

*Limited to one gift per stateroom.

 

[jdb in AZ]

They just started the CC gift (after cruise) in February 2014. But I remember reading at that time that they were sending out magnets and cards somewhat randomly to people that had not cruised in quite a while.

I turned Gold in 2012 so I was only eligible for the Art Cards until my 10th cruise. So I was looking forward to that Platinum magnet.

We got our gold magnet after our October 2012 cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We got our gold magnet after our October 2012 cruise.

Yeah, we went Gold in 2011, but received our Gold magnets in 2014, when the program started. Then in late 2014, after our 3 cruises that we did in September we got 2 art cards, same one.

 

[jetskigrl]

Interesting - the information on the Castaway Club page that talks about the art cards and magnets has been removed. I guess the program was too unmanageable for DCL to handle it.

In case anyone's interested, here's what it used to say:
A New Way to Show Our Thanks
We value our Castaway Club members. And beginning in February 2014—to show our thanks—you'll receive a small token* of our appreciation when you return home after each cruise.

We commissioned 5 artists to create a series of Castaway Club-exclusive art cards. Collect one after each cruise.* There are 5 cards that you can collect. Each card was designed by a different artist using our Disney ships as inspiration—and showcasing the artist's unique medium and creative vision.

And if you're celebrating a Disney Cruise Line milestone—like your first Disney cruise or your Castaway Club status turning to Gold or Platinum—you'll receive a special car magnet* (in lieu of the art card) to celebrate your milestone and show off your new Castaway Club status.

The designs are a secret for now, so you can look forward to a fun surprise in the mail after your cruise.

*Limited to one gift per stateroom.

View attachment 142139

OK WOW!!! When I posted the same thing earlier today (8:30 this morning), it was a direct copy and paste from the CC home page on the DCL website. It was just taken down today

 

[PrincessShmoo]

OK WOW!!! When I posted the same thing earlier today (8:30 this morning), it was a direct copy and paste from the CC home page on the DCL website. It was just taken down today

Makes you think DCL is looking over our shoulders, huh?

 

[jetskigrl]

Makes you think DCL is looking over our shoulders, huh?

It sure does

Well, if it was because of this thread, I hope they removed it so that they can update the information. The wording was a bit obsolete.

Maybe Ware Bears experience with being told it was meant to be random is more accurate. But again, if that was the case, it probably should never have been on the website at all (as a "new way to show our thanks" to all Castaway Club members). I guess by removing it from the website, now they can say that it is meant as a random surprise (rather than improving the system to make sure the cards go out to everyone).