Anyone on the Sept 26, 2004 Wonder??

[Dcanoli]

You know, it is such a shame, that you guys (that went on the cruise), cannot vent (or feel free to) on this thread.

This is the thread for our cruise, and you should feel free to say the things you want to about it, including venting.

You've got to have an outlet, and this thread seems the natural place to go.

I, for one, support your right to vent on this thread. I am interested in hearing what happened on your cruise.

As a person who has never cruised before, I now know what to look for and be aware of because all of you are sharing your--good and bad--experiences.

Please don't feel like you will be "slammed" or "flamed" because you have something to say. Just keep it honest and in perspective (and clean), and you feel better and you will be doing the rest of us a favor!

Thank you for sharing your stories on these boards!

 

[TheGottis]

Please don't think I was referring to anyone on this thread... some others on the main boards were downright NASTY (and that is being really nice) to those that posted their feelings and experiences.

 

[Dcanoli]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up! I thought you meant on this particular thread, and that would be NASTY too!

 

[TheGottis]

Everyone on here (the 9/26/04 thread) has been GREAT... I just wish we could have met up! I still can't get over Maureen (lookingforward) was only 6 doors down from me and I didn't know it... Sheesh?!?!

 

[jeeper9]

Hi everyone ~ finally got a chance to be online. We too had a horrific time getting to the ship.
We spent the night before flying in Harrisburg and missed the call by DCL to our home that our Phila. to Orlando flight was cancelled although they had our cell phone # also. We found out at 5am at the airport. Many calls to DCL on what to do. Flew to Phila. anyways, stood in line for 2 hrs. and finally got a flight to Palm Beach. At Palm Beach, 3 pcs. of luggage were missing, but luckily were picked up mistakenly and turned in. No bus for us, called DCL and told to take a taxi and we would be reimbursed. Ended up with a limo (5 of us) and 2 seats not working. The driver was rude about the belts but we were off anyways. Too tired to argue. The drive was horrible and GDD (5) threw up on the way. Finally reached the ship, changed her clothes before boarding and we picked up some excitement on the gangway. It was now 5:30 pm. Just a hello upon boarding (no family announcement), picture taken (who wants a picture after travelling all that way (up since 3:00 am)? We had just enough time to get to our room wash our face, etc. and went off to dinner w/same clothes on! At dinner, we got over the travel part of the day and were really excited. Out waiters were very attentive and did an excellent job. A bit hard to understand their english though. Was there a sail away party????

Our room was always neat and had towels and candy each night.
Loved the location, Deck 8 just a few step to the stairs leading to the pool and free drinks. Spend alot of time at the kids pool. They didn't want to go to the labs!!! Got off the ship at Nassau and only spent 1 hr. there. Wished we would have stayed on board! Wanted to go to Blue Lagoon but after seeing the overcrowded boats taking you there decided against it. I am a real safety freak!!!

~ I have just a few complaints ~ everytime we wanted to get pictures w/characters it seemed we were rushing off to be somewhere else. Maybe the characters should be available all day/evening???? ~ The first day on board was a waste since we didn't get there until 5:30pm. ~ The last day is also a waste since you leave the ship sooooo early. ~ Nassau (the actual town) was terrible! ~ The fumes were terrible and very unhealthy as was the waiting in line to where the busses were parked! Way to much carbon monoxide in the air!!!!!

Overall I had a very enjoyable vacation, DH who really didn't want to cruise was pleased and went with the flow. The children were thrilled and didn't want to leave the ship.

I do think we should be reimbursed more and wished we would have rescheduled. Four days in not near enough time!!!

Sorry I didn't have a chance or time to seek you all out. PS: Our door sign was the only one we saw on Deck 8.

Diana

 

[mcraft17]

Shmora- We parked at AKL too, it seemed that nobody knew what was going on. You'd ask person after person and the answers would all be different. We were supposed to leave at 9:45 then 1:45 then when they finally found the buses it was 3:00 and then we stopped for a 30 minute break. If I had known it would take so long we would have drove!

TheGottis- We actually live near Dade City but just say Tampa Bay cause people know where that is. I wish we could have met too. Luckily we got home and our house survived, and I found out that we were without power for a few days. I am glad we were on vacation, I don't think I could have taken being without power again!

 

[zeke11]

I also received incorrect information from DCL --

First of all, even though we were on the land & sea package, our TA called our home and sent emails to our home to notify us of changes.

Of course, since we were already in Florida, we never got these messages.

Then, the woman at the DCL deck at Port Orleans never even told us we had another option -- which was to cancel the cruise altogether.

Just many many discrepancies and problems.

I still feel cheated and wish I could book another DCL cruise just because I feel like I wasn't there --- know what I mean? Didn't feel like I had the true experience that is out there.

But I'm hesitant to risk the big bucks. I wish DCL would have at least given us that 25% discount on future booking that the 9/4 cruisers received. At least I would consider trying again at a discounted price.

I'm also sad that I didn't get to meet up with all of you. After the drill, we had to rush to our dinner. We were a mess - sweaty and tired.

I had called guest services and they told me that there had been a sailaway party, but that we missed it. I don't know how they could have had a sailaway party since we didn't "sailaway" until way past 10 PM -- ???

Kris

 

[shmora]

The Sail Away Party was still at the regular time of the other cruises. You know when there was only a hand full of people on board because we were still waiting for the buses to depart from all the different locations. I also do understand about some of the problems were from the hurricane but the inconsistencies and the misinformation was horrible. I wish I would have known who everyone was especially who the people were that met at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I only saw my room sign on Deck 7, I looked for others. What was the reason why they couldn't have held the sail away party for later in the night after everyone was on ship and fed? What was that smeel onboard that smelled like burned rubber?

Shmora

 

[zeke11]

Shmora -

I was very sad at missing the sailaway party. I had even made a cd with songs on it that people from the boards here said were played at the party.

My kids and I listened to the cd a lot before our trip and I told them that we would be hearing these songs on the ship. What a disappointment. I feel like breaking that cd in half now.

That burning rubber smell was awful. We got off the elevators and were greeted by it. I thought the ship was on fire or something at first.

Kris

 

[zeke11]

Heads up!

Have you checked your 40% refund?

Our cruise total cost (NOT including taxes, port charges, government fees, etc.) was $4,394.04.

Our "40%" credit amounted to $555.83. That is less than 15%.

Two emails to Disney customer service has yielded absolutely no response.

There is no phone number to call.

What type of credit did you folks receive?

Kris

 

[TheGottis]

Kris -

I think I remember people saying they had a few credits posted to their cards to make up the full fare. It may take a few days to get it all back, if this is the case.

Also, did you go thru a Travel agent? If so, they may have added fees on to the 'fare' price... check on that (most people I have talked with have had round numbers as fares - like $450 / $199). DCL would not tell me what to expect back because I booked thru an agency and suggested I call them to get a refund amount. Also, if a TA was used, you might want them to work with DCL on your behalf (less headaches on your part and if they did add a fee, let them earn it!).

I will keep everyone posted with how refund worked out on my end...

Let us know what happens.

~Mary

 

[lookingforward]

Zeke, they are most likely only refunding 40% of your cruise fare and not the land portion. We paid $2500 and they said our refund wo uld be abotu $700. I have not gotten anything yet, though. Also, we cancelled our romance package so I am expecting EVERY penny back from that $299 charge.

 

[zeke11]

Hi folks -

I got the breakdown of the cost of just the cruise for the six of us and that amount was $4394.04. So we still have quite a bit of refund coming to equal 40%, I'm afraid.

Kris

 

[lookingforward]

Kris,
I hope you work it out, I was just guessing why your amount would be so small. I too was surprised when they said approx. $700. Our cruise fare was $2500 but he stated that port charges and tax were not included in the refund. Hmm. Cause if you refund money then don't you have to refund the taxes on that money? And then he said that they would not be refunding travel agent fees, either. I have not gotten anything yet. They told me it could take two months!

 

[TheGottis]

My TA told me to look in each ticket/document book and go to the "cruise information" page - on there for us it's broken out into
these categories :

FARE
INSURANCE
GVMT TAXES & FEES
AIRPORT TAXES & FEES
TOTAL CHARGES

She said take the FARE and apply the 40% to that only. That is the way I thought to do it before she confirmed.

Is it different if you did Land/Sea? Is everything all mixed in? Or am I just being totally naive?

Still no credit back to the card yet - not expecting anything for a few weeks.

~Mary

 

[zeke11]

On mine (3 people per cabin) the amount for combined port charges, government fees and taxes equals $32.85 per person.

I would assume that all of ours would be same for a 4-night cruise.

Kris

 

[TheGottis]

Hmmm...

GVMT TAXES & FEES on our tickets are :
$131.85 x 2 and $116.85 = $380.55

Port charges were $99 of that amount for each passanger (per my TA). So taxes for adults would be the $32.85 and kids $17.85 (at least at our fare/rates). We still stopped in Nassau so any thought of port charge money ($99) being refunded is gone... from what I understand (per TA) Castaway Cay didn't have any charges since it's Disney owned.

Interesting tho - the way this is playing out.

I'm not going to persue with DCL or TA until I see what kind of credit I get back.

 

[lookingforward]

My cruise fare was $2600 and I received, yesterday, four refunds to the same account, totaling $1046.00. They still need to refund my romance package and when I called they said they would begin that process. I was surprised at how quickly the money was refunded to me for the cruise. Still wish we had gotten what the other four night cruise had gotten when one day was taken off, (shipboard credit and 25% off future cruise, plus 40%). I would rebook right away if I had that, but definately not during hurricane season!

 

[TheGottis]

Cool - glad it came back right for you Maureen!

Still haven't checked the credit card yet.

Figured I spent too much time worrying about the cruise while hubby was home - will deal with it next week once he leaves.

 

[lisa702]

Recieved my refund........exactly 40% of our cruise fare, paid in 3 payments on my CC.