Maybe it's just me...

[maxiesmom]

Syndrome syndrome?

But honestly, how hard is it to notice a kid's pin and wish him a happy birthday? He got more birthday acknowledgement on a three night Disney cruise before his birthday and without the pin than a six night stay in WDW with the pin. That's kind of sad dontchathink?

Not given the level of personal service on a cruise compared to a trip to the parks.

The more people wearing pins (and it is highly encouraged on these boards to just wear one) the higher the odds a person's pin won't be acknowledged. It is much easier to make a few hundred people a day feel special than it is a few thousand. I'm guessing the numbers of course. But I can easily see it went from "Oh look we have a guest with a birthday! What can we do to make them feel extra special?" to "Oh look, yet another guest with a birthday button. Bet they want something."

It sucks that it happens to children, but I blame the parents who want to celebrate a birthday that was 5 months ago or 5 months in the future. The more pins out there, the better the odds your specific pin won't be acknowledged.

 

[revdon64]

I think you missed the part where I said he didn't even have the pin on the cruise.

Nevertheless, we've never been those people who just wear a pin to be seen celebrating something that isn't actually happening while we're there or right before we got there (DW and I did a second honeymoon at CR a couple years ago). DD's 10th BD in Dec 2015, DS's 8th BD in January of this year, etc. I mean, I get what you're saying but I'll reserve my right to disagree that it's all the fault of the guests. I think that it's still indicative of a decline in customer service, at least for Disney standards.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I think you missed the part where I said he didn't even have the pin on the cruise.

Nevertheless, we've never been those people who just wear a pin to be seen celebrating something that isn't actually happening while we're there or right before we got there (DW and I did a second honeymoon at CR a couple years ago). DD's 10th BD in Dec 2015, DS's 8th BD in January of this year, etc. I mean, I get what you're saying but I'll reserve my right to disagree that it's all the fault of the guests. I think that it's still indicative of a decline in customer service, at least for Disney standards.

Another thing to keep in mind is that DCL is arguably a luxury brand. I am not sure if it pans out when looking at pricing for other lines; but I do know it is a huge price increase over RCL.

It seems you only get the high quality service anymore unless your willing to pay through the nose.

 

[disneyseniors]

Aren't those gifts from the travel agency and not Disney? Why would Disney give someone a gift that books through and agent where they loose money on commission instead of giving a gift to someone who books directly?

I don't know for sure. I only know that they used to give very nice gifts to those who booked Magic My Way or similar package trips with Disney.
I guess I just assumed that the gifts were okayed by Disney (as it is a Disney certified TA), and the TA was reimbursed for these gifts. That seems to make sense to me. But, I will ask her when we book next year

 

[disneyseniors]

Just out of curiosity did you book with the same TA each year?

Yes, we book with the same TA. Another poster suggested that this was sponsored by the TA herself, and had nothing to do with Disney reimbursing her.
I never thought of that. I still feel that Disney reimbursed the certified Disney TA for booking package trips. Why would there, all of a sudden, be no gifts at all? If the TA was paying for them, why did she stop?
I will ask her when we book for next year, but it might be somewhat awkward to ask why there are no more gifts!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, we book with the same TA. Another poster suggested that this was sponsored by the TA herself, and had nothing to do with Disney reimbursing her.
I never thought of that. I still feel that Disney reimbursed the certified Disney TA for booking package trips. Why would there, all of a sudden, be no gifts at all? If the TA was paying for them, why did she stop?
I will ask her when we book for next year, but it might be somewhat awkward to ask why there are no more gifts!

Yeah I would ask the TA. If it's mostly or all on the TA's dime as far as gifts it could be that costs were getting too high maybe even that the TA wasn't getting much in return (like number of bookings, types of bookings, retained bookings--meaning that they weren't cancelled after receiving the gift), etc so the gifts were scaled back.

I know what you mean though when you get nice things and then the quality declines sharply. New people booking with the TA wouldn't notice a difference (they would probably think it's great to just get something even if that something was a low quality document holder) but repeat customers would notice the decline in quality.

I didn't book through a TA but what I got from Disney was just a smallish booklet that had brief information regarding my upcoming staying (like what was at my resort, my important dates to remember, a bit about ADRs and FPs, etc):


Even that I've heard is a wishy washy thing at best where some people, especially repeat visitors, don't get that.

 

[disneyseniors]

Yeah I would ask the TA. If it's mostly or all on the TA's dime as far as gifts it could be that costs were getting too high maybe even that the TA wasn't getting much in return (like number of bookings, types of bookings, retained bookings--meaning that they weren't cancelled after receiving the gift), etc so the gifts were scaled back.

I know what you mean though when you get nice things and then the quality declines sharply. New people booking with the TA wouldn't notice a difference (they would probably think it's great to just get something even if that something was a low quality document holder) but repeat customers would notice the decline in quality.

I didn't book through a TA but what I got from Disney was just a smallish booklet that had brief information regarding my upcoming staying (like what was at my resort, my important dates to remember, a bit about ADRs and FPs, etc):
View attachment 312101

Even that I've heard is a wishy washy thing at best where some people, especially repeat visitors, don't get that.

Yes, I understand that. But this particular TA is extremely busy, so much that she gives referrals to another regular TA at times. She just can't handle all the business she gets. She is a remarkable person who goes the extra mile, whatever it is, to get you the best deal there is. But I will ask her and report back; however, our next trip will be in about 11 months......

 

[maxiesmom]

I think you missed the part where I said he didn't even have the pin on the cruise.

Nope. But cruises are a totally different animal from a theme park.