My nightmare with Disney cruiseline and irma

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Let me start with I have been going to Disney for 20 years and been on 3 Disney cruises and would have never expected the awful way the cruise line treated us. I was schedulled to go on the Disney dream on sept 8th thru the 11th with a previous resort stay at por 4th thru the 8th. Before we left for Florida the cruise line told me if I cancelled before they made the decision I would only get a 75 percent refund so I decided to wit and see and went to Florida . I called the cruise line repeatery asking for info what was going to happen to the passengers if they chose to cancel and was repeatedly old not to worry Disney will make sure it's guests will be taken care of and safe in that event well that was a fat lie...when they finally decided to cancel I asked them were they going to put us up at another hotel or make some other arrangements since we now we're stranded fir those 3 days with no place to stay for the hurricane the answer was sorry not our problem see what the resort will do for you and no refunds for 7 to 10 business days..so needless to say I was beside myself I did not have enough funds with me for an extende c stay at the resort I planned on being housed and fed on the cruise with just a little spending money. I asked the cruise if thy could give me less of a refund nd pay for the hotel was told nope won't do that. So I spoke to the wonderful hotel manager at por who agreed with me how the cruise handled this was awful and made arrangements for me go stay here and charge my food to the room till my refund comes in whenever that will be he is sending me a bill to my home. He checkedid in with us everyday to make sure we were OK and didn't need anything he was what I have always thought of Disney as to be a great caring company not the money grubbing uncaring company the cruise line side of Disney is. So I will never give Disney Cruise line another dime of my money and will stay loyal as always to Walt disneyworld. Thanks to all that had to suffer my rant lol

 

[awilliams4]

I am sure you are not going to like this answer and no disrespect is meant...with that said, check the contract you signed. It will state what is to be expected in a situation like this. If you wanted to know the worst case scenario expectations, check the contract, call and ask someone as well if desired but if what the person says on the phone contradicts the contract you signed, trust the contract. I was on a cancelled, well shortened cruise. All the folk that used Disney for their transportation and/or insurance, got that extra level of service, all those that didn't, they may have gotten some extra help but then again, depending on the circumstances, they had to figure things out themselves. As far as the cash, that is what insurance is for.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

I am sure you are not going to like this answer and no disrespect is meant...with that said, check the contract you signed. It will state what is to be expected in a situation like this. If you wanted to know the worst case scenario expectations, check the contract, call and ask someone as well if desired but if what the person says on the phone contradicts the contract you signed, trust the contract. I was on a cancelled, well shortened cruise. All the folk that used Disney for their transportation and/or insurance, got that extra level of service, all those that didn't, they may have gotten some extra help but then again, depending on the circumstances, they had to figure things out themselves. As far as the cash, that is what insurance is for.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Funny you should mention the insurance I did have isurance I called the company and they told me that Disney told them that I was being refunded the cruise fare as well as the insurance fees I paid so in essence I have no isurance for me to file a claim..so they screwed me there too

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but I honestly don't see what DCL did wrong. They cancelled the cruise with enough time for passengers to cancel or change their plans. Since you had a prior reservation at WDW, you traveled in sooner than other passengers who were only cruising. Did you try to reschedule your flight home? I don't doubt that it was likely very difficult to do at that point. That being said, it seems to me that if you decided to travel to an area with a hurricane bearing down, you should have been more prepared. I don't see why DCL should be responsible for putting you up in a hotel during what would have been your cruise. DCL will refund your cruise fare, they shouldn't have to pay for an extended stay elsewhere.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but I honestly don't see what DCL did wrong. They cancelled the cruise with enough time for passengers to cancel or change their plans. Since you had a prior reservation at WDW, you traveled in sooner than other passengers who were only cruising. Did you try to reschedule your flight home? I don't doubt that it was likely very difficult to do at that point. That being said, it seems to me that if you decided to travel to an area with a hurricane bearing down, you should have been more prepared. I don't see why DCL should be responsible for putting you up in a hotel during what would have been your cruise. DCL will refund your cruise fare, they shouldn't have to pay for an extended stay elsewhere.

Also, if OP had travel insurance that covered cancellations, it generally will cover any non-refundable expenses, and/or expenses incurred due to the cancellation. Like a new flight. Or an extra night's stay, if necessary.

 

[lanejudy]

I very sorry you had such a challenging time when you had planned to be enjoying vacation! That is a shame. However, DCL can't be responsible for everybody's pre-cruise or post-cruise plans. I believe they did announce the cancellation on Tues. 9/5. Many guests hadn't left home yet, it just so happens that you had pre-cruise vacation plans which you had already started. Some people come into town on embarkation day, others up to 2 weeks prior (thinking of some UK guests) and anywhere in-between. You opted to start your vacation, which wasn't wrong, but you should have planned a contingency in case the cruise got cancelled. By the time you decided to head to Florida, it was already well expected that Irma could have some impact on the cruise.

As for insurance, you must have purchased the DCL insurance. Unfortunately, it only covers the actual cruise and not pre- or post- plans or even your travel to/from (unless booked directly through DCL). A 3rd party insurance likely would have offered you trip interruption or something to help offset your costs -- either fees to change your flights home earlier or costs with staying in FL for the duration of what should have been your cruise. Unfortunately a good lesson to read your insurance policy and know the coverage before purchasing.

I'm sure it was very stressful for you and your family. But I don't think DCL owes any more than they offered -- full refund and a discount off a future cruise. A little more help would have been nice, but DCL and WDW are two completely separate businesses, their systems don't "talk" to each other. Since you were already at WDW, they were in a better position to help find lodging anyway.

So sorry you had to go through that!

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but I honestly don't see what DCL did wrong. They cancelled the cruise with enough time for passengers to cancel or change their plans. Since you had a prior reservation at WDW, you traveled in sooner than other passengers who were only cruising. Did you try to reschedule your flight home? I don't doubt that it was likely very difficult to do at that point. That being said, it seems to me that if you decided to travel to an area with a hurricane bearing down, you should have been more prepared. I don't see why DCL should be responsible for putting you up in a hotel during what would have been your cruise. DCL will refund your cruise fare, they shouldn't have to pay for an extended stay elsewhere.

I didn't mean they should have paid I meant they wouldn't find me a place to stay or work with me on giving g me a reduced refund..the resort manager agreed with me the cruise dropped the ball and didn't give Disney service and he forwarded his own letter to corporate

 

[undertheradar]

Let me start with I have been going to Disney for 20 years and been on 3 Disney cruises and would have never expected the awful way the cruise line treated us. I was schedulled to go on the Disney dream on sept 8th thru the 11th with a previous resort stay at por 4th thru the 8th. Before we left for Florida the cruise line told me if I cancelled before they made the decision I would only get a 75 percent refund so I decided to wit and see and went to Florida . I called the cruise line repeatery asking for info what was going to happen to the passengers if they chose to cancel and was repeatedly old not to worry Disney will make sure it's guests will be taken care of and safe in that event well that was a fat lie...when they finally decided to cancel I asked them were they going to put us up at another hotel or make some other arrangements since we now we're stranded fir those 3 days with no place to stay for the hurricane the answer was sorry not our problem see what the resort will do for you and no refunds for 7 to 10 business days..so needless to say I was beside myself I did not have enough funds with me for an extende c stay at the resort I planned on being housed and fed on the cruise with just a little spending money. I asked the cruise if thy could give me less of a refund nd pay for the hotel was told nope won't do that. So I spoke to the wonderful hotel manager at por who agreed with me how the cruise handled this was awful and made arrangements for me go stay here and charge my food to the room till my refund comes in whenever that will be he is sending me a bill to my home. He checkedid in with us everyday to make sure we were OK and didn't need anything he was what I have always thought of Disney as to be a great caring company not the money grubbing uncaring company the cruise line side of Disney is. So I will never give Disney Cruise line another dime of my money and will stay loyal as always to Walt disneyworld. Thanks to all that had to suffer my rant lol

This is exactly why all travel plans need to include emergency fund availability or an emergency use credit card. Things happen, people get sick, storms, fires, you name it. Better to have a plan and be safe, rather than stressed by cutting a budget too close.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I didn't mean they should have paid I meant they wouldn't find me a place to stay or work with me on giving g me a reduced refund..the resort manager agreed with me the cruise dropped the ball and didn't give Disney service and he forwarded his own letter to corporate

Gotcha. As noted above, DCL and WDW are two distinct entities. Being that you were already in WDW, they were in a better position to help you. I'm glad WDW did well by you.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Gotcha. As noted above, DCL and WDW are two distinct entities. Being that you were already in WDW, they were in a better position to help you. I'm glad WDW did well by you.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Yes the resort really did they were amazing not only to me but several others in my situation from the cruise. I will continue to love Disney and spread the word on what a great company they are but not the cruiseline

 

[OrcaPotter]

Like others have said, it is very unfortunate that your vacation was ruined by the storm. I don't see why you would expect them to make alternative arrangements for you when there was enough notice given, though. Those cruise contracts are very specific. While arranging things for you would've been fantastic, they were under no obligation to. I was stranded in Boston when a computer error shut down the whole eastern seaboard and flights couldn't go north or south, so they cancelled everything. I was at the airport with no options and no help from Delta to make arrangements even though it was a human error and not an act of God. I ended up taking a red eye through Las Vegas just to get home to Orlando; it was that or sleep in the Boston airport. It's great that WDW resorts were able to help you. There's reasons why September cruises are cheaper, though.

 

[bumbershoot]

So I will never give Disney Cruise line another dime of my money

You might want to check out cruisecritic to make sure other lines would do what you expect before changing cruise lines. Plenty of people were unhappy with Royal, for instance.

Funny you should mention the insurance I did have isurance I called the company and they told me that Disney told them that I was being refunded the cruise fare as well as the insurance fees I paid so in essence I have no isurance for me to file a claim..so they screwed me there too

Well, yeah. I think that makes sense.

If you had had third party insurance and had been careful to cover expenses for the entire trip, however, the hotel stays would have been covered.


Well wait. Look at your contract. What does it say about cancellation and hotel stays required because of cancellation? It's possible you weren't being clear OR the rep wasn't understanding. Don't mention the pre and post stay. Just mention the hotel stay caused by the cruise being cancelled. Even with Disney insurance I feel that that could have been covered.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

I can't imagine how frustrating that experience was for you! Like someone else said, never get the insurance offered through Disney, since it only covers the cruise. Not pre or post plans! Lesson learned now I'm sure!! I'm happy that POR was kind enough to bill you for your stay so you can pay after your refund!

 

[mmouse37]

You chose to go to Florida with a hurricane very well predicted with very little excess funds. I don't see how that was DCL's fault. Could they possibly have had more guest service people to help with arrangements...maybe. DCL is not perfect and should be called out when needed but in this case I don't see their blame. You were one of thousands looking for alternate accommodations from the cruise. I don't see how DCL could accommodate everyone with their other plans. I do believe people need to take some responsibility for their own plans (a Plan B) in case things don't go the way they should. Sorry you had to go through the stress of that experience. Maybe next time make sure you have enough available funds to make your own alternate backup plans.

We were in a similar situation back in 2004 with Hurricane Jeanne. We were already in Florida heading to PC when we were notified that Port Canaveral was being closed and evacuated and our cruise would depart Monday instead of Saturday. We had to find alternate accommodations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The cruise was going to leave from Ft. Lauderdale instead of PC. It never occurred to us to expect DCL to find us accommodations. We happened to be near WDW so pulled in and got ourselves a room for 3 nights to ride out the storm. Our trip insurance reimbursed us for 3 nights hotel, extended rental car time and all our meals. I saved all our receipts, took a screen shot of DCL's notice about the cancellation from the website and submitted everything to our insurance. It fell under our "trip interruption" clause. We were very satisfied with how it all worked out. DCL provided comp transfers from WDW to Ft. Lauderdale for the cruise for everyone.

I really don't think another cruise line would have done what you expected DCL to do.

MJ

 

[hanscarlet]

I apologize in advance for my question but I am trying to follow here, you said you decided to wait and see which I take from that is that you would get the full 100% refund - did you get your refund or not get your refund?

 

[Allison]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but I honestly don't see what DCL did wrong. They cancelled the cruise with enough time for passengers to cancel or change their plans. Since you had a prior reservation at WDW, you traveled in sooner than other passengers who were only cruising. Did you try to reschedule your flight home? I don't doubt that it was likely very difficult to do at that point. That being said, it seems to me that if you decided to travel to an area with a hurricane bearing down, you should have been more prepared. I don't see why DCL should be responsible for putting you up in a hotel during what would have been your cruise. DCL will refund your cruise fare, they shouldn't have to pay for an extended stay elsewhere.

This is exactly why all travel plans need to include emergency fund availability or an emergency use credit card. Things happen, people get sick, storms, fires, you name it. Better to have a plan and be safe, rather than stressed by cutting a budget too close.

Agreed.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Others have already covered a lot of the issues I see:

1. When traveling in hurricane season, always be ready to change plans. This means have a credit card available, or cash.

2. No cruise line is going to be able to process several thousands of refunds overnight, or hand you cash. Not a one.

3. DCL and Disney Resorts at Disney World are two entirely different companies within the corporation. They are not set up to coordinate things, let alone transfer refund monies to bills at one or the other.

4. Travel insurance is also not an instant payout, even when you have insurance to cover pre- and post. You need to pay for everything then submit claims.

Please consider these all lessons learned. Other cruise lines wouldn't have done any better in any of these respects, particularly around refunds and insurance.

 

[lorimay]

I'm sorry your vacation didn't play out as you planned, there is nothing worse.
But if DCL had to make arrangements for the 4,000 people on each of those ships, it would be a nightmare. They don;t have cast members to do that.