We're now hooked!! & thoughts on why we got upgraded

[dkis4nu]

To all 1st time cruisers out there - beware! You will get hooked! We were very skeptical of the whole cruise thing, but love Disney. So, we gave it a try and loved it. But, I have a theory about this. Disney sees that you are a 1st time cruiser and applies extra magic to pull you in!! We paid for a gty category 11 inside stateroom and got upgraded to a cat 8 handicapped end room with a porthole. It was big! Room 6500 forward, no hall traffic, no ship movement, great elevator access. I think we got upgraded for several reasons. We reserved our vacation within 1 1/2 months, so cat 11 was sold out. There are just 2 of us, so we did not need rooms with murphy beds, bunk beds, pull-outs, etc. So, we got an upgrade!
Everything went perfectly - great weather, good staff, good entertainment.
Did Disney know we were 1st timers and threw this pixie dust our way to get us to keep coming back? Even after a month has gone by, we still think about it all the time. Anyone else feel this way after your 1st cruise?

2 tips: 1)Get room service coffee every morning(put your little menu on the door handle at night)what a luxurious way to start the day. 2)book your next cruise while on board. We are now in the process of doing that, 1 month after we've been back - wish we had done it while we were on the Wonder to get the onboard credits!

So, 1st timers, beware! You, too, will be officially hooked!!

dk

 

[GenieDana]

Our party has 4 staterooms for the June 7 Western. My parent's cabin just got upgraded by DCL from an outside stateroom on Deck 5 to a veranda stateroom (#6632) for $700 less (Florida resident's discount)!

I hope I'm next!

 

[AspiringCindy]

I think the upgrades have to do with the time of sailing(how booked the ship is) and what travel companies make the ressies. If you have a huge company like Dreams Unlimited or Liberty making many bookings, Disney probably would upgrade those customers. I could be wrong, but that is how I got upgraded on another cruise line.

 

[taswira]

dk - Although upgrades seem to be totally unpredictable, I think there may be some truth in your "first time cruiser" statement. On my first I was booked Cat. 11 GTY but was upgraded to Cat. 5 midship. Wow! It was obvious they were out to impress, and they succeeded. But even if I had not been upgraded, the DCL experience itself was enough to get me hooked!

VERY good advice to re-book while aboard. Although I do that, my problem is that a few weeks after the cruise I book yet another one or two! I wish DCL would go back to giving a certain timeframe for rebooking for the credit instead of only onboard, but I don't think that will happen unless bookings drop considerably.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! How were your servers? Who were they and from what countries? I am trying to build a list of the better servers.

 

[tecdavidt]

We have to agree, you either love to cruise or hate it. If you love it, well, it is going to cost you alot of money because you just can't stop at one! Kathy

 

[dkis4nu]

Our servers were Sasa and Sinnie from Croatia. Excellent! Also, Ashley from India in the Cadillac Lounge. Extremely helpful and friendly.
dk

 

[taswira]

The Croatians are <a href="http://www.magicaldisney.com/pages/10/index.htm" target="index">my favorite</A>! There are several Sasa from Croatia though. What did yours look like? Was he one of the younger ones?

 

[GenieDana]

Didn't have to wait long for the Florida residents discounts! DCL upgraded my parent's room yesterday (saving them $700), so I called today and now mine is upgraded to a veranda (category 6) and the price was reduced $1000. Woo Hoo!

I was told my brother's rooms are on the waitlist, and the TA said to call back 60 days before sailing, as there will be cancellations.

Haven't even sailed yet and DCL has made my day!

Genie

 

[dkis4nu]

Our Sasa was one of the younger ones - blondish, 25-28 years old. Very knowledgeable and friendly.
dk

 

[UKANGEL]

thanks fort he idea of room service coffee every morning...great idea!

 

[hilltopfamily]

we are also booked on our first-ever cruise....but I don't know how to "check" on our booking as I went through Cruise.com and don't have the "number" you have to enter when accessing the DCL website. Any ideas on how I check the status of our cruise booking without continually calling my TA? I am really anxious for this as we were wait-listed for the early dinner and am wondering if we have gotten this yet but I hate to keep calling the TA that helped me (seems like a minor item to continually call her about, though not such a minor item to me!)

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by GenieDana
Didn't have to wait long for the Florida residents discounts! DCL upgraded my parent's room yesterday (saving them $700), so I called today and now mine is upgraded to a veranda (category 6) and the price was reduced $1000. Woo Hoo!

Genie,

Did you say you called and they upgraded you? We are FL residents and didn't know there was a discount for us. Should we be calling DCL? (We have 2 adults on DVC points and 2 teens on cash).

 

[GenieDana]

I read on this board about the Florida resident's discount a month or so ago. My family originally booked 4 outside staterooms together on deck 5 with DCL (not a separate travel agency) in January 2003.

I decided to give the advice I read a try. We are close to 75 days out (see the sig line below for certain), so what the heck. I called DCL first about my parent's cabin, and the TA said they would apply an upgrade for them (gave them a category 6 (regular verhanda), assigned them a guanteed room, and took $700 off their price. I think I confused her when I asked about my cabin, as the TA said she couldn't help me further.

I tried again the next day, and got a different TA. He upgraded me to guaranteed category 6 (regular veranda), but I do not have an assigned stateroom yet. He took $1000 off my balance (sort of shocked me when he said my balance owed was that much less, in fact I called back just a few minutes later to double check).

I also tried for my brother and his family (also a Florida resident), but was told there were no more upgrades left, and he would be #1 on the waiting list (whatever that means). He said call back after April 7 (60 days) as some folks cancel, and maybe he would have some good news. My other brother (and family) are South Carolina residents, so no Florida discount, but he is #2 on the wait list for an upgrade (according to the DCL TA).

I hope this helps....good luck!