Thanks Aquadam, and thoughts on opening day

[DisneySisters]

First, I really want to thank Aquadam for the enormous task of compiling opening day prices for us. I can't imagine how much work it must be. I depend on this thread to help me figure out how to afford my DCL fix. As in other years, I am surprised at many of the prices, but by searching through the thread, I am able to find some itineraries that work for us. Applause for Aquadam!

 

[AquaDame]

First, I really want to thank Aquadam for the enormous task of compiling opening day prices for us. I can't imagine how much work it must be. I depend on this thread to help me figure out how to afford my DCL fix. As in other years, I am surprised at many of the prices, but by searching through the thread, I am able to find some itineraries that work for us. Applause for Aquadam!

Times does fly on these days... but I am happy to do it! Thankfully you all bring it down to a matter of copy/pasting - it's totally a group effort and I appreciate you all sharing your experiences on the boards with everyone too!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Thanks for your service, AquaDame! We appreciate you!

 

[Laundress]

I appreciate your time and energy to keep us all informed.

 

[Dug720]

Thank you!!

 

[JWG]

Agreed! Kudos and thanks. We changed itineraries becaus of it.

 

[Naterfan]

The work you do is greatly appreciated. And because of the threads, I've learned that TAs don't have dedicated lines to Disney...always just assumed they did.

 

[DWillowBay]

Thunderous applause and undying admiration!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you!

 

[Trera]

It’s a great service you provide! Thank you.

 

[mmouse37]

Ditto the thanks!!!!!

MJ

 

[JWG]

Also, it sounds like today was a disaster. Why more so than the last itinerary release where Silver has its own day I don’t know, but our TA said Disney was not prepared for today at all.

Thanks for consolidating pricing!

 

[dcassetta]

The work you do is greatly appreciated. And because of the threads, I've learned that TAs don't have dedicated lines to Disney...always just assumed they did.

There are dedicated travel agent lines, they just don't let them jump the queue. When the cast member looks at the incoming call they can tell if it's coming from a travel agent, a castaway club member who's calling in on the castaway line, or someone calling in on the general cruise number.

 

[dtrain]

All hail AquaDame!

 

[Trera]

There are dedicated travel agent lines, they just don't let them jump the queue. When the cast member looks at the incoming call they can tell if it's coming from a travel agent, a castaway club member who's calling in on the castaway line, or someone calling in on the general cruise number.

The cast member I spoke to this time said that the opening days are getting harder and harder as people call in with numerous cruises that they want the check prices on or put holds on. Sometimes they want the price for two cabins vs all piling in one cabin. They want to also check prices between various levels of cabins or concierge.

She said she used to serve 4 or 5 guests per hour years ago and now she is lucky to serve 2 guests an hour. She picked me up at 8:41 am and she had only had one other caller since the lines opened at 8:00 am.

So I think it is easy to see how they get backed up more now than before. I would guess that first thing in the morning on opening day that there are 500+ people all trying to call in at the same time plus travel agents.

 

[hanscarlet]

Thanks Aquadame. I think Trera's news is interesting and makes sense. It's probably mostly TAs that call in on behalf of numerous clients. It would be interesting to see if they ever move to a system that just allows me to access the online booking system based on CC level. I am sure it would be big a big $ investment for the site.

 

[lorimay]

The cast member I spoke to this time said that the opening days are getting harder and harder as people call in with numerous cruises that they want the check prices on or put holds on. Sometimes they want the price for two cabins vs all piling in one cabin. They want to also check prices between various levels of cabins or concierge.

She said she used to serve 4 or 5 guests per hour years ago and now she is lucky to serve 2 guests an hour. She picked me up at 8:41 am and she had only had one other caller since the lines opened at 8:00 am.

So I think it is easy to see how they get backed up more now than before. I would guess that first thing in the morning on opening day that there are 500+ people all trying to call in at the same time plus travel agents.

This is why their IT dept. needs to work on a way for people to book online instead of 500 callers. I don't understand how in this day and age they can't let us put in our CC number and maybe a security question and book and look ourselves.......

 

[Dug720]

The cast member I spoke to this time said that the opening days are getting harder and harder as people call in with numerous cruises that they want the check prices on or put holds on. Sometimes they want the price for two cabins vs all piling in one cabin. They want to also check prices between various levels of cabins or concierge.

She said she used to serve 4 or 5 guests per hour years ago and now she is lucky to serve 2 guests an hour. She picked me up at 8:41 am and she had only had one other caller since the lines opened at 8:00 am.

So I think it is easy to see how they get backed up more now than before. I would guess that first thing in the morning on opening day that there are 500+ people all trying to call in at the same time plus travel agents.

I really feel for the phone agents. I used to work in room reservations at a large "convention" hotel that also did a big Christmas show and dinner and we had room packages for it. We always staffed every possible phone on "opening day" and breaks were managed around the airing of commercials about it for the first week or so because it was CRAZY. And this was in the days before phone packages didn't include unlimited long distance, so you can imagine how happy people were after holding for over 30 minutes. (And inevitably they would fuss for a few minutes to begin the call, just adding to the time.) So I can only imagine what the phone agents must have felt yesterday.

 

[JWG]

The easy solution is stop allowing multiple holds, especially on overlapping sailings. You likely don't want 7 different staterooms for your party of 4 and you probably can't be on the Magic and the Dream at the same time. Limit the # of holds to 2 per sailing and no more than 4 total UNLESS you pay the deposit up front. I am curious how many rooms came available today that Platinums didn't ultimately book. I'm more curious how many will become available after Silvers (the big group) expire.

I get the need to understand prices for multiple itineraries since the only way to know is to call during pre-sale days. I get a call may take longer as DCL has to give you pricing for your various potential options. So, this may not resolve the wait times and call queues, but maybe it at least doesn't falsely book a cruise that many others really do want to take - especially the specialty cruises such as Panama Canal.

 

[Trera]

It will be years before we look at taking a Panama Canal cruise but that one definitely seems to attract the most attention on opening day(s)