Cancelled 7 day Magic cruiser, still no responce from Disney, anyone else??

[LAMPSKIES]

Yes, my family was one of the many cancelled and had no choice but change plans the night before, we got "the call" nine hours before we were to leave the house Thanksgiving Eve. We stayed at The Swan Thursday-Sunday, did the 4 night Wonder Dec 1 and 2 days at the Dolphin afterwards. Everytime there was a mix-up and there were many we were giver "a buisness card" and told "write a letter to this address not everyone gets these cards, this will get you a responce". 32 days later still no responce.

 

[Michelle]

You might try e-mailing them at:

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

I'm sure they will be able to assist you. Good luck!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Thanks, I did jan 1st with a copy of the mailed letter copied and pasted because they don't open attachments. I also resent it Jan 9th all I got was the automatic answer "we are busy and will get back to you in 5 days. Thanks

 

[mac_tlc]

Hi Ron,

I sent you a PM today..... We also wrote a rather long letter to DCL on Dec. 13th. After five weeks, we received an e-mail response today. I am not going to go into the sordid tail again (I can hear the cheers about that already !!!) . I will charaterize the response as unsatisfactory, disappointing, and very "form letter" like. Little or no recognition of specific circumstances affecting the guests..

Our response to it was to book the Navigator of the Seas for Feb 15, 2003.. I can think of no better way to show my displeasure with their response ..

mac_tlc

 

[mac_tlc]

Bump ... for some reason my earlier post had trouble "posting" ...

mac_tlc

 

[SweetCaroline]

We have been battling to rebook our cruise since early December. We got the 50% off deal because of the cancellation and that is okay, but we want to pay 50% of what we were paying in November. We wrote a letter and sent it to DCL through our travel agent. We have been put off and put off. Does anyone know how to get in touch with the DCL President's office? Does anyone have a phone number for the executive offices?

 

[mac_tlc]

SweetCaroline,

The response we received specifically said (among other things)..

"Concerning the cost of any new voyage fares, unfortunately, I am unable to protect your original rate. I hope you understand it would be unfair of us to act in a manner inequitable to the consideration offered other guests who were also affected by the cancellation of the November 30 cruise. We feel that
50% discount, in addition to the full refund, is fair and equitable for the cancellation. "

We were just seeking to reschedule at the Nov. price, not even 50% off of that...

I wouls suggest you ask your TA to go through their District Sales Manager.. We pursued that (my wife and I are TA's) and finally got a response, however unsatisfactory it may have been...

mac_tlc

 

[LAMPSKIES]

I was given a name of Weiss (I can't remember the first name and I am not at home). I forewarded a copy to him also I believe he is pres. of WDWCL. I will post the full name tonight when I get home.

 

[SweetCaroline]

Thanks everyone, although I'm a bit depressed after reading your post re: DCL's response to you. I just found the phone number for Mr. Matt Ouimet, the President of DCL. He was the one who did the press conferences during the whole ordeal. My TA has until the end of today to get an answer from her DCL rep and then I will go to the top. Worse case scenario, I have a contact at Channel 5 news in Boston who wants to run our story. Although I'm not ready for my 15 minutes of fame, I will go that route if I have to.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

When I was on one of the busses we were with a couple who was at Disney the Sunday before the cruise got cancelled and when the started to get the runaround they called CNN. Cnn wanted to interview them before the 4 night cruise, the told Disney about it and were given a suite on the ship. I am going to start there the go to the Chicago news stations. All I want is a callback. I've been pricing other cruiselines because I owe my kids an Easter cruise. When I do book I am going to send Disney a copy of that confirmation and every other cruise we take forever. Maybe if the other 2500 people did the same they would think about it.

 

[SweetCaroline]

Lampskies,

Go for it. I have every intention of going to the newstations if we don't get an answer and depending upon what the answer is, I may still go to the newstations. I don't feel like we are asking for alot. The cruise rates should be the same no matter when you book anyway. Peak/Off-peak is all a bunch of nonsense. It doesn't cost them any more to run the ship if it is November or April. I wonder how many people from the cancelled cruise are contacting DCL complaining?

 

[Doctor P]

I think it is unreasonable to expect to be able to switch seasons or to be necessarily discounted off of the exact fare that one originally paid. It is ridiculous, IMHO, to argue that all seasons should be priced the same and therefore one should be able to go at the November rate at a high peak holiday time. IMHO, Disney has bent over backwards to try to be fair about something that really they appear to have had little culpability for.

 

[Cruise]

Originally posted by SweetCaroline
I wonder how many people from the cancelled cruise are contacting DCL complaining?

Probably a lot of them

Please note that I am in no way condoning the way Disney is handling this situation - they really need to step up the pace and step up to the plate after they made a decision that affected so many people in so many different ways.

That being said - if the ship was at capacity, approximately 2500 guests...figure family of 3 average to make up for the singles, couples, and larger families... you've got about 833 bookings to rectify. Disney claims to be giving each case individual attention. If this is the case, it might just be taking them a little longer to deal with than they thought it would. After all, this is the only sailing they've ever cancelled and probably had no solid plan in action to deal with it.

Like I said - not to condone how they're handling it.. but the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Hopefully you'll hear something soon!

Julie

 

[SweetCaroline]

Doctor P,

How can you say you don't think it is fair to honor the November rate for people whose vacation was abruptly cancelled? We are not talking about rescheduling a movie date. We are a family reunion group of 21? We are talking over $30k in vacation dollars, lots of arranging mutally agreeable vacation time, and many broken hearts (small children and grown adults). Isn't DCL still going to make money if they charge us all a November rate? I really don't want to get into it, but let's remember that DCL cancelled on us. I do understand that the circumstances were difficult, but if I had cancelled on them at the last minute under similar difficult circumstances, they would have gladly kept my money. I know this brings up the insurance issue, but shouldn't DCL have insurance to cover their losses?

I am a huge fan of Disney and all its associations, but I just want what is fair for everyone. They are in the business to make smiles and happy memories. All we want is our family reunion vacation back without refinancing the farm!

 

[Doctor P]

I am not going to hijack this thread by starting a debate. I hope that every cruiser gets the satisfaction they want, but also recognize the notion of reasonableness. The argument about Disney having insurance unfortunately also applies to the cruisers themselves. Good luck, and I hope the all get taken care of quickly and personally.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

First of all I don't believe the ship was full, my in-laws were concidering going 2 weeks before and there was availability. It was off peak. If to go online to disney.com vacations all rates are similar accept holidays and a few other dates. Sepyember and January being the least expensive. I asked Disney to "take care of me" on one of those off peak times. I'm not asking for a free cruise or even 50% off. Just a good faith responce. Let me "believe" they care. Give us a last minute voucher like a stand by airline ticket That has to be used in 18 months or so. Every catagory on the Feb 8th 7 night Eastern is still available. Wouldn't you think booking a room at half price and me spending a couple thousand $$$$ on the trip would be more profitable for them yhan having an empty state room?

 

[4nana]

Originally posted by LAMPSKIES
Just a good faith responce. Let me "believe" they care.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

I recieved my letter from Disney today, very Disney-like. Professional and apologetic. I'm a little confused, they told me about a discount offer mailed Dec 11, 2002. I never got one. Has anyone???

 

[SweetCaroline]

My letter is supposed to arrive via Federal Express tomorrow. Is the discount they are referring to the 50% off? I think that is around when we got our coupons. If you booked through a TA they would have received the 50% off coupons. I'll post tomorrow when we get our letter, but I'm not too hopeful.

 

[LAMPSKIES]

I talked to three people and they wouldn't tell me what it was. Like they weren't supposed to. But yes, that is what it is supposed to be, and the origional letter is what must be submitted with the booking deposit. The letter I recieved dated Jan 15, 2002 offered me an "upgrade" if I cruise by Dec 20, 2003, "in addition to my offer dated Dec 11, 2002. I never got that origional they said was dated Dec 11, 2002