Why do you think...

[Mainsail Minnie]

...DCL doesn't allow you to change or cancel cruises online? I was just wondering that after being on hold for 2 and 1/2 hours, in an unsuccessful attempt to reach an agent. It's the year 2020. Why don't they just let us do it ourselves? It would save them considerable money in customer service costs.

They must have a strategic reason for not allowing the customer to make changes or cancellations online. What is it?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Disney IT.

 

[SamFaniam]

Do other cruise lines permit this? We use Costco, so not familiar with booking directly through a cruise line page.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do other cruise lines permit this? We use Costco, so not familiar with booking directly through a cruise line page.

Holland America : You may cancel by telephone or electronic advice via a Carrier-approved Computer Reservation System, provided Carrier immediately receives written confirmation of cancellation.

I believe that it would be necessary to call to change a reservation (not just do it online) due to any perks that may be associated with the existing reservation as well as any associated with the new one.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

You can cancel with Carnival online very easily, it does give you 2 “are you sure” earnings though. I think it’s because people can easily do things online but have a harder time doing it talking to someone. They would probably have more cancellations that way. The WDW website allows you to cancel reservations online so Disney certainly has the technology.

 

[Karin1984]

My answer is also Disney IT.
For Disneyland Paris they can't even adjust the opening hours of the callcenter on the website.

 

[CM Dad]

I'm not sure its the case with DCL, but if you make someone call customer service to cancel something, it gives the company the opportunity to try and convince the customer to reconsider, or to switch to another option so that the company can hold onto at least some of the customer's money

 

[MomOTwins]

To save me from myself, lol. I am so indecisive and always itching to tweak my plans. The Disney World website lets me change stuff and the result is I have changed resorts three times and adjust my ADRs every week!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I don't know, but it's one reason I use a TA for DCL, and not for WDW. I'm constantly tweaking things online for WDW trips but am quite happy to let my TA deal with the long hold times for DCL bookings.

 

[AquaDame]

When I cancel on the phone they typically ask me the reason I am cancelling and always give a speech about how long the refund will take. They have never tried to convince me not to. It may be they don't want to have us pick from a preset cancellation reason, don't feel like people read the fine print with refunds (especially if you are within a penalty period), or maybe they feel the personal touch makes people more likely to rebook later rather than walk away.

I don't think it makes people less likely to cancel... if you need to cancel a cruise, you need to cancel it, unless you have severe phone anxiety - and if so that's just mean.

 

[monkeydawn]

Do other cruise lines permit this? We use Costco, so not familiar with booking directly through a cruise line page.

Expedia used to have a "cancel this cruise" button on their website. It was there as late as mid January. It might have been there after but I didnt have occasion to see it after mid January.