Tastings so popular..

DisneYE

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 7, 2013
So today they opened up bookings for gold members for our upcoming 14 night wbpc in march 2020
We booked a couple of tastings & other than 2-3 available, nearly all of them are fully booked... that's 15-20 tastings (!!)
All the ones I really wanted are gone. So I'm a bit upset but hopeful we can snag a couple more when we're onboard the ship.

That's more than 3 months out. Pretty much all the tastings were snagged by platinums. thankfully after this cruise we're platinum ourselves but my oh my have tastings become popular.
So the silvers will get nothing (online). And that's unfair, but life's isn't fair as it is.
Clearly they're hugely popular now. DCL should do something to make it more democratic, but I can't think of anything they can do.

I remember 5-7 years ago tastings were almost unknown...maybe 3-4 'official' ones and to get more available you had to organize with fellow cruisers & request DCL arrange a private one.
Crazy times we live in.
 
Ah, the platinum effect - so strong on these long cruises. On our EBTA there was a similar issue, not much left for Silvers. That said there were a TON of tastings available on board, I didn't rush to get to the booking point but still got whatever i wanted on board.

Oh good to hear.. you're making me trust Andy Dufresne on Shawshank Redemption when he said: "hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things...."
Thank you!
 


I do think it's too bad that DCL doesn't do a bit of a timed release of slots, leaving a few open for golds and silvers and newbies.

Ah no, this will be our first DCL cruise so in a month's time there'll be nothing at all left for us to book :(

I won't lie, it's totally possible that very few of these extra bookings will be available when your booking window opens. Palo brunch was sold out a few minutes after silver booking opened on the EBTA. That being said, things change all the time. People cancel, people re-book. Quite a few tastings opened up at various times when I checked (which I did every day for fun), I booked a couple that way. But definitely check when you are on board too.
 
Ah no, this will be our first DCL cruise so in a month's time there'll be nothing at all left for us to book :(
When you check in for the cruise at the terminal, you will get a copy of The Navigator (schedule) for the day. There will be a place on that schedule that tells you where to go to make dining reservations, changes, and book tastings. On the Wonder a few weeks ago, it was in the adult nightclub Azure. We went there first thing after being announced onboard and there were still several openings. Go there first and you should be able to get a few. Good luck!
 
I’m silver and was able to grab Palo brunch and two tastings on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean. Not sure what all the fuss is about.
 


I’m silver and was able to grab Palo brunch and two tastings on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean. Not sure what all the fuss is about.
You were on a 'normal' cruise. I had no problem as Silver having my pick of Palo/Remy/basically everything except cabanas on my last cruise too.

This is a Panama Canal cruise where it is top heavy with people who have cruised a lot on DCL. So since there are so many people making reservations in the first booking windows, there is not much if anything left for silver/first time. And since getting the first chance on bookings is one of the only perks you get for your status, I can live with that. If you think your cruise will be ruined without a Palo brunch, don't go to Hawaii or Panama Canal as a Silver.
 
You were on a 'normal' cruise. I had no problem as Silver having my pick of Palo/Remy/basically everything except cabanas on my last cruise too.

This is a Panama Canal cruise where it is top heavy with people who have cruised a lot on DCL. So since there are so many people making reservations in the first booking windows, there is not much if anything left for silver/first time. And since getting the first chance on bookings is one of the only perks you get for your status, I can live with that. If you think your cruise will be ruined without a Palo brunch, don't go to Hawaii or Panama Canal as a Silver.
Got it. Personally I find the system is just fine. I can live with it too.
 
Not sure why they don't increase the price and add more tastings

The have increased the price recently. And remember to add more tastings, more cast members are needed which means those who run it will loose their very limited personal time off to get some sleep to hold a tasting. You can also go to one of the bars, make friends with a bartender and ask them to make you some of the drinks that they make at the tastings. You get a full size drink, get one on one treatment and will probably get a better drink if it is a mixed cocktail. On our last cruise our friends booked last minute and when we got on board they checked and there were tastings open and she was able to get the one she wanted.

I also have no issue on how the system works. The OP mentioned they are turning Platinum. So would you be willing to give up your chances at getting a cabana, Palo and the excursions you want on a popular cruise? Disney is taking more and more away from their loyal cruisers. PLEASE don't give them any more ideas on things to take away.

We are going on a new cruise line next year to try something different and I have zero expectations of getting any kind of perks over those who have been loyal customers. It's how the game is played. Sorry, just my opinion but not everybody should get treated equally. Those who are loyal repeat customers should be able to get a few perks.
 
I do think it's too bad that DCL doesn't do a bit of a timed release of slots, leaving a few open for golds and silvers and newbies.



I won't lie, it's totally possible that very few of these extra bookings will be available when your booking window opens. Palo brunch was sold out a few minutes after silver booking opened on the EBTA. That being said, things change all the time. People cancel, people re-book. Quite a few tastings opened up at various times when I checked (which I did every day for fun), I booked a couple that way. But definitely check when you are on board too.
When you check in for the cruise at the terminal, you will get a copy of The Navigator (schedule) for the day. There will be a place on that schedule that tells you where to go to make dining reservations, changes, and book tastings. On the Wonder a few weeks ago, it was in the adult nightclub Azure. We went there first thing after being announced onboard and there were still several openings. Go there first and you should be able to get a few. Good luck!

Thank you, yes I anticipated this when we booked and I will definitely try onboard when we embark! We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary during the second half of the cruise, so I was hoping for Palo dinner and maybe brunch too for another day. I know my husband would like to do the beer tasting and I had my eye on the tequila tasting so we'll see if we can get these and the couple of excursions that we would like to book.
 
The have increased the price recently. And remember to add more tastings, more cast members are needed which means those who run it will loose their very limited personal time off to get some sleep to hold a tasting. You can also go to one of the bars, make friends with a bartender and ask them to make you some of the drinks that they make at the tastings. You get a full size drink, get one on one treatment and will probably get a better drink if it is a mixed cocktail. On our last cruise our friends booked last minute and when we got on board they checked and there were tastings open and she was able to get the one she wanted.

I also have no issue on how the system works. The OP mentioned they are turning Platinum. So would you be willing to give up your chances at getting a cabana, Palo and the excursions you want on a popular cruise? Disney is taking more and more away from their loyal cruisers. PLEASE don't give them any more ideas on things to take away.

We are going on a new cruise line next year to try something different and I have zero expectations of getting any kind of perks over those who have been loyal customers. It's how the game is played. Sorry, just my opinion but not everybody should get treated equally. Those who are loyal repeat customers should be able to get a few perks.

No, I totally agree with you that loyal customers should get more perks. I was just expressing my frustration at almost all the tastings being gone (now only 1 available out of about 25).. tastings are a good way to spend some time during the day at an adult activity, since there are almost none. At night its different, as you mentioned above, you can go to a bar and befriend the barkeep and have him make you some drinks (we do this), then there's shows, entertainment, etc.

Cabanas at cc never appealed to me and I'm puzzled as to why ppl are so obsessed about them... I've no interest in them. imo its a total waste of money to spend $500-600 for a few hours of quiet time.. Palo, we do go almost every cruise for brunch but I don't consider it a huge must do since I'm not a foodie, but I admit, they do have an amazing spread for all kinds of tastes. Palo is totally worth it.

You are correct, it's how the game is played and we all agree to play it.
 
I’m on this sailing too and booking silver. Honestly with the number of sea days there should be enough tastings for everyone to do one or two IF they limited people to only booking one or two instead of being able to book one of each. There really is no reason for platinum and concierge to be able to book up every tasting.

It is possible for Disney to spread it out a little more and still give priority to their most loyal guests. They choose not to which is their prerogative.
 
We are on the March 2020 Panama sailing as well and are gold. Most of the group we're sailing with are platinum and have booked tastings here and there, but there was no availability for us at those times when our booking window opened. I know DCL holds back reservations for the various on board activities and am fairly confident that we'll be able to book our preferred times once we board the ship.
 
Keep checking back. I suspect, as is human nature, that many slots for the tastings are booked because the guests wanted to have their choice, and then *might* decide that they don't need to do all 6 (or however many) tastings they signed up for and will drop some. Sort of like ADRs at WDW-- people book dinner reservations ahead because they want to secure a spot just in case, then drop/modify closer to the actual dates.

Also, if there is a social media group for your cruise (and there undoubtedly will be an active one for the Panama Canal cruise), join it. People who drop tasting or Palo reservations sometimes will post what they are cancelling, and with good timing, you might get a spot.

Matter of fact, we dropped a Palo Brunch at the last minute for a shorter cruise (only 1 sea day)-- the crew member told us there were 85 people on the waitlist, so you never know when someone's change of plans will benefit you!
 
I’m on this sailing too and booking silver. Honestly with the number of sea days there should be enough tastings for everyone to do one or two IF they limited people to only booking one or two instead of being able to book one of each. There really is no reason for platinum and concierge to be able to book up every tasting.

It is possible for Disney to spread it out a little more and still give priority to their most loyal guests. They choose not to which is their prerogative.

I agree they could limit it. I frankly felt the same about the sea days on the TA, we had 7 full sea days so Palo brunch on 7 days, yet first timers and many silvers didn't get Palo brunch at all. I heard even availability on ship was tough.
 
I’m on this sailing too and booking silver. Honestly with the number of sea days there should be enough tastings for everyone to do one or two IF they limited people to only booking one or two instead of being able to book one of each. There really is no reason for platinum and concierge to be able to book up every tasting.

It is possible for Disney to spread it out a little more and still give priority to their most loyal guests. They choose not to which is their prerogative.

I agree.
If it was a regular 7 night sailing with 3-4 poc's I'd have no problem not being able to go to a single tasting because you have many things to do during the day.
But with 8 sea days they should offer more tastings or give ppl a chance to attend regardless of status. your suggestion to limit them to 2-3 even 5 tastings per room would solve this problem almost entirely.. someone was bragging on another site that they booked 15 tastings on this sailing :mad:
 
Wow-- I agree that booking 15 tastings is excessive. I know we certainly find much more to do than go to tastings all the time. :)
As for the comment about Palo-- it is quite limited (and passengers can only book one brunch and one dinner), with a seating capacity of about 120. So even with 7 sea days, that's still less than half the passengers getting to go to brunch.
I thjnk we only got into one tasting on our PC cruise last year. Seems like one opened up (or we did a privately arranged one?) eventually. However, the privately arranged ones (if they still allow it) are now tending be scheduled on port days.
For our recent 5 day cruise on the Magic, there were spots at a Mixology on embarkation day. They may have opened a second session, as we switched our time to match those of our cruise friends. Other tastings may have been available, but with only 1 sea day, we didn't look any further.
 
I remember 5-7 years ago tastings were almost unknown...maybe 3-4 'official' ones

There's been many more than 3-4 official tastings on 7+ day cruises for a long time. We've been doing tastings since 2005 and each cruise there were more and more to choose from. It was just that you had to go to the Guest Services desk or a designated location on embarkation day and ask about them. I think we did about 4 different ones in 2011 and couldn't do 2 others that conflicted with other activities. I think they are offering more than they used to but they have offered more than 3-4 on a cruise since 2005. I do understand that they may be offering more than the online ones once you board so check at Guest Services
 

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