Alleycat48

We just sailed DCL in May with another family and have a second booked in Oct. The May cruise was fantastic as we were able to bring our favorite spirits, liquors and Bourbons (DCL doesn't have). We were able to enjoy them, on the connecting decks, after the children went to bed. We were able to add flavors to our coffee in the mornings before the kids woke up all without paying the 500% markup on alcohol. On a seven day cruise, this could amount to hundreds of dollars in savings. Then the change....though, personally, I'm not necessarily irate regarding the actual policy, I'm freaking furious over the implementation of it. With less than 30 days from being notified of it until the implementation of it is outright the worst customer service I've delt with. I called them and they outright refused any form of compensation and basically said it was a business decision. I emailed their public relations and they offered to refund my money, but refused to offer onboard credit to supplement those of us that had an expectation (that they created) of service. Canceling a Disney Cruise 3 weeks out would make me a rock star to my 4 and 7 year old (sarcasm font)....and they new that. If it wasn't for the kids i would have taken my money and ran....like i will when I get off the boat at the end of this trip. CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS!! But I guess i'm in that percentage of people that your statisticians and accountants say you can do without...

So my wife gets a call from some customer service "executive" who tries to explain why they refuse to compensate those guests/customers that have booked their cruise under one expectation only to be denied. He claimed that there is plenty of beverages on board for her to partake and that they wanted to align themselves with the rest of the industry....which totally avoided the issue at hand. She reiterated the failure of notification in a timely manner and asked why those that were promised a certain level of service when they deposited their money, are now receiving something less than expected. His "frustrated" answer was that they don't want customers over indulging with children on board and that that is not the environment that Disney wants to portray..... i.e. all of us parents that have a beverage, responsibly, are now put in the same bucket as the 1% (or less) that are irresponsible. He went as far as passively calling my wife a drunk, dangerous parent for wanting to bring her favorite liquour on board and that she is not the kind of customer they are now seeking.

So...in conclusion. Disney has lost control of their PR department as they, I'm sure, are being berated daily by unhappy customers and their phone reps are losing their collective minds....I started this whole conversation with them in hopes they would have said, "Yes Sir, you are correct, we'd like to offer you $ on board credit or (compensation) for our untimely decision and extra expenses caused by it. Our future reservations will reflect this new policy".....I would then have continued to investigate their Disney Vacation Club as my kids love everything Disney! But, rewarding a pretentious company to ignore the masses and worship the dollar/ or ego of board members bad decision, is not in the cards.

Is the secret then to email the public relations department? I'd really like my concierge deposit back, but executive guest relations practically laughed in my face at the thought.

dcl.guest.communications@disneycruise.com

I basically shared my thoughts above with them and the next day they called and offered to refund my money....

We just sailed DCL in May with another family and have a second booked in Oct. The May cruise was fantastic as we were able to bring our favorite spirits, liquors and Bourbons (DCL doesn't have). We were able to enjoy them, on the connecting decks, after the children went to bed. We were able to add flavors to our coffee in the mornings before the kids woke up all without paying the 500% markup on alcohol. On a seven day cruise, this could amount to hundreds of dollars in savings. Then the change....though, personally, I'm not necessarily irate regarding the actual policy, I'm freaking furious over the implementation of it. With less than 30 days from being notified of it until the implementation of it is outright the worst customer service I've delt with. I called them and they outright refused any form of compensation and basically said it was a business decision. I emailed their public relations and they offered to refund my money, but refused to offer onboard credit to supplement those of us that had an expectation (that they created) of service. Canceling a Disney Cruise 3 weeks out would make me a rock star to my 4 and 7 year old (sarcasm font)....and they new that. If it wasn't for the kids i would have taken my money and ran....like i will when I get off the boat at the end of this trip. CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS!! But I guess i'm in that percentage of people that your statisticians and accountants say you can do without...