What are your thoughts on the new online pre-booking?

[SueEllen]

Now that pre-booking of Palo and the Spa, as well as shore excursions and pre-registering for the kids clubs has been available online for almost a month now, what are some of your thoughts on it?

Do you like it, love it, hate it? What would you change about it if you could.

I'm interested to get some feedback on this for those of you who have used it.

Sue Ellen

 

[TDC Nala]

I loved being able to prebook for Palo - since prior to this you had to be on the REAS package and that is limited to couples.

 

[Honu]

Love it! The only downfall is not knowing your dining rotation in advance.

 

[MagicalPins]

I agree with Honu, I love it! Only downside is not knowing the dining roatation to judge which night might be better to go to Palo.

 

[DenverVal]

I love knowing that I won't have to rush around when I board the ship. I was able to book Palo and register the kids for the kids' clubs quickly and easily, but had to pick up the phone to book my excursions. It was wonderful to see my reservation confirmations online. I like instant gratification! Knowing which nights are theme/formal/semi-formal nights for the 8/20 repositioning cruise would have made it easier to choose an appropriate night for Palo for us. I love this new capability!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

i look forward to doing the online ressies for our cruise in october...there is almost no way to make it fair but i do feel that in some ways the first time cruisers might not get to experience everything because they are the last to get a chance to sign up, especially for Palos. I was a first time cruiser last november and at least i thought i was on almost equal footing with everone else trying to get those coveted palo brunch ressies on the 4 day because i showed up early and was about 15th in line to board the ship...as the system is now, i might not have been aboe to get brunch ressies...

however, membership has its priviledges and repeat customers deserve some perks too! And maybe this will encourage first cruisers to buy the REAS package in order to get earlier ressies! I for one and glad that i am not facing long lines to register my kids, get palo ressies, and spa ressies. last cruise i missed about 1-2 hours with my family that first day running around to get my ressies! in fact, my 5 year old daughter got lost before we registered for the kids club so i did not yet have my pager so they could page me when another REALLY NICE mom found her and brought her to the kids club! I am glad i can get my pager first thing this time so that won't happen again!

I wish we could get our dining rotation by the time we need to make ressies...especially 7 day cruises when i do not want palo brunch the same day as the character breakfast!!! we all need to write into disney and have them at least give us a tentative dining rotation when our cruise is paid for so we can make these critical decisions!

for now, i am going to make the ressies based on the rotation i requested and hope to get, esp since we have the last dining option this time!

 

[DisneyTart]

I'm a first time cruiser and just booked Palo brunch and dinner AND excursion for 7/17 West Coast Cruise on Sunday. Our cruise is just 6 weeks away and I had plenty of options for day and times. Love being able to book everything online.
Did have trouble booking with my Mac, so had to use a friends PC.

Do agree it would be nice to get dinner rotation ahead of time.

 

[MrsJobba1]

I have just booked the scuba dive excursion for my hubby and 2 spa treatments for me. We were able to do our activities the same time.
I think being able to book in advance is wonderful. It now means I can enjoy the afternoon we board.
This year we are using DCL transport from Wilderness lodge. I had read it is one of the last to pick up and therefore last to ship. I was worried (I am a worrier) about not being able to get any reservations. Worry over !
I now can not wait !!

 

[KEH]

I am interested that you all seem able to book excursions. We were able to do Palo and spa but every time we try to do excursions all we get is an error message.

 

[laurenk]

I Had A TON of problems using it for our August Repo. cruise. I did eventually gt everything I wanted, or so I thought. When I checked my on-line ressies last night, my Palo High Tea was gone(I had it booked for August 29th) and when I tried to rebook a tea it kept saying that I have used up my Palo allotment!?!?!? When they open up today, I will be calling.

Once the kinks are out it will be a great feature. Already great to know that we don't have to go running around once we board.

 

[mmouse37]

I love the new website and booking options but I also was not able to book shore excursions...I tried on a few different days with no luck...it would give me an error message....had no problem with booking Palo. I finally called DCL to book the shore excursion.

What a nightmare the website was, though, on the day that many of us could prebook ressies for the August repo...there were tons of problems with the website that day and long wait times on hold with DCL on the phone....I just waited a day or two after being frustrated...didn't get exact times I wanted but was still able to book some things.

I am editing to add that I just tried the DCL site again to book another shore excursion and got this message (same as before)

We're having a problem with our reservation system that will prevent you from booking your vacation package or retrieving your reservation right now. We're sorry for any inconvenience. Please call your travel agent or call (800) 951-3532 weekdays 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. ET or weekends 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET and our agents will gladly assist you with all your Disney Cruise Line vacation planning needs.

Status Code: 500

I was able to pull up my ressies with no problem but got the above message when I was trying to book a shore excursion.

 

[SamR]

I think it is great that DCL implemented this, effectively eliminating the "ressie scramble." I'm still just over four weeks away from being able to do my online bookings, but I've poked around "My Cruise Plans", added some excursions to my "wish list", etc., and it looks like a very nice tool.

I have a question for those that have done online booking: How early have you been able to make your reservations on the day you are allowed to start? That is, on the 75th/90th/105th day before embarkation (whichever applies), what time does the site begin accepting reservations? 8:00 AM EDT? 6:00 AM? 12:01 AM?

 

[StuartMI]

Love it! The only downfall is not knowing your dining rotation in advance.

I can't wait to try it but yes - this would be my only initial complaint.

But hey, it's better than it was!

 

[starwood]

The only problem we had was with the time frame in which you can book your excursions. We are Castaway Club but the people we are traveling with are not. We booked our excursions at 90 days but couldn't book them until 75. The Dolphin Swim was no longer available and we had to adjust our excursions to the Dolphin Encounter so we could all go together. I think if the reservations are linked you should be able to book all excursions at 90 days out.

 

[StuartMI]

I think if the reservations are linked you should be able to book all excursions at 90 days out.

Yes!

 

[castlegazer]

I also have a bit of envy going on over the new system. I was planning on being at the terminal right away to get my bookings for Palo and Flounders, now I have to wait until 75 days out as I have not cruised DCL before.

Its a good thing for Castaway Club Members, but I am completely envious. I am not hell bent on getting those Palo ressies so I will not be crushed about not getting it if that happens, and I can deal with Flounders because most people say they have no trouble getting their times when needed.

Overall, I am excited about - it completely alleviates all stress when first boarding. That is a very cool thing.

 

[goofymama]

The only problem we had was with the time frame in which you can book your excursions. We are Castaway Club but the people we are traveling with are not. We booked our excursions at 90 days but couldn't book them until 75. The Dolphin Swim was no longer available and we had to adjust our excursions to the Dolphin Encounter so we could all go together. I think if the reservations are linked you should be able to book all excursions at 90 days out.

I'm going to have the same problem- were are CC members but our friends are not. Were you able to book Palo ressies to include your friends? In other words, will I be able to make Palo reservations 90 days out for 4 people at the same table even tho there are only 2 adults in my state room?

 

[smilingmouse]

CC members can do this 90 days out, right?

 

[Thunderrd]

Is this option for anyone or did you have to book directly thru Disney?

 

[jrabbit]

I think part of the Aug repo booking was due to the number of us that were trying to book online at the first possible moment (I know you east coasters were up at midnight trying to make your ressies:yes: )

I like being able to book everything in advance - will make the first day on board less stressful.

General comments about the new web site.
Its very pretty and has some neat graphics
Seems to be easier to find wanted information
BUT the descriptions of the shore excursions have been chopped from a very informative paragraph to two sentences of description that really doesn't give a lot of info (or the times of the excursions). I'm glad I printed off the descriptions of most of the excursions that I was interested in before the web site change over.