Upcoming port/itinerary changes HERE

[Cliffside]

It seems like DCL has changed the 11/18 and 12/2 Eastern sailings to Westerns. I hope they let us know soon about the Magic 11/26 repo from NYC to San Juan that has a stop in Tortola.

 

[Jen B.]

Yea I saw the updates about the Fantasy cruises. I'm hoping to hear about our 1 Dec cruise on the Magic soon.

 

[godde8ss]

yes, they changed 12/2 sailing. I'm on that one...

 

[Linda67]

I'm on the 11/18 are got the email about our changes today. DCL must be running round like crazy trying to get on top of all this

 

[Cmbar]

Yea I saw the updates about the Fantasy cruises. I'm hoping to hear about our 1 Dec cruise on the Magic soon.

Were on this one too. I feel like the Dec 1st cruise is still almost 60 days out and there could be a great deal of changing to go on for the San Juan port. But DCL has a problem with the SJ port needed to do the NYC to SJ re-positioning due to the "distant port" rule or something like that. Our trip could be a closed loop Miami to Miami and since we leave on a Friday I wonder if this would be an option. I just wish I knew because the hotels and flights need to be changed. I stupidly talked my whole crew into booking the VGT fare because we were sure we were going. Now I have no recourse should they change the entire cruise. I am really curious about the SJ ported cruises. Hope they have some information out soon.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

More changes into December for Eastern Caribbean cruises. I’m guessing we will hear about the Puerto Rico cruises on the Magic very soon.

Shoooo, I am sure glad I didn't change my 10/7 to that 12/2.

For those of u waiting for San Juan info...rccl is still gung hoe about sailing the AOS from San Juan this Saturday. I'd watch for reports to come in from those customers and maybe that will give you an idea of how things are coming along.

 

[KdKyA]

Shoooo, I am sure glad I didn't change my 10/7 to that 12/2.

For those of u waiting for San Juan info...rccl is still gung hoe about sailing the AOS from San Juan this Saturday. I'd watch for reports to come in from those customers and maybe that will give you an idea of how things are coming along.

I am on the 12/2 sailing. This is beyond frustrating. I get why we can't go. DCL thinks they are doing us a favor by "giving" us Costa Maya. We only get 5 hours there. Most excursions are 6 hours. The ones that can be shorter, we still have to pay the same price for less time. Grand Cayman is going to be ridiculously packed and with the full ships that were already sailing the Western already able to book all of their excursions, we are now getting scraps. I could deal with all of this if there was some type of compensation. There is nothing. If we have stuff booked on a day that was supposed to be a sea day, too bad, now you have to choose between those activities or getting off the ship for an excursion. Then to add to the madness, they are releasing excursion bookings for 2 cruises at the same time at midnight on the same night. 8,000 people are going to be trying to book activities at the same time. We all know that the DCL page already gets stupid and bogs down with just one club level trying to book. Now everyone is going on all at once. Again, nothing to compensate. No discounts on bookings, no extra activities, nothing. Yet we still have to pay the same. After looking at excursions for the last several hours, my kids are too young for over half, most of the rest are not something any of us would be interested in, then the limited time at the port at Costa Maya. We got a crap deal and DCL doesn't even care. I understand logistics and they had to come up with something for the cruises. However the communication has been awful. They aren't offering any better incentives to book a future cruise, which after this hot mess, that number of people that would have will go down. Even if they offered $50 onboard credit for the crap we are dealing with, at least that would show some effort on their part. We paid hundreds more for this cruise over the Western, still got stuck with a Western, and no refund for that difference in the end. This is so messed up.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am on the 12/2 sailing. This is beyond frustrating. I get why we can't go. DCL thinks they are doing us a favor by "giving" us Costa Maya. We only get 5 hours there. Most excursions are 6 hours. The ones that can be shorter, we still have to pay the same price for less time. Grand Cayman is going to be ridiculously packed and with the full ships that were already sailing the Western already able to book all of their excursions, we are now getting scraps. I could deal with all of this if there was some type of compensation. There is nothing. If we have stuff booked on a day that was supposed to be a sea day, too bad, now you have to choose between those activities or getting off the ship for an excursion. Then to add to the madness, they are releasing excursion bookings for 2 cruises at the same time at midnight on the same night. 8,000 people are going to be trying to book activities at the same time. We all know that the DCL page already gets stupid and bogs down with just one club level trying to book. Now everyone is going on all at once. Again, nothing to compensate. No discounts on bookings, no extra activities, nothing. Yet we still have to pay the same. After looking at excursions for the last several hours, my kids are too young for over half, most of the rest are not something any of us would be interested in, then the limited time at the port at Costa Maya. We got a crap deal and DCL doesn't even care. I understand logistics and they had to come up with something for the cruises. However the communication has been awful. They aren't offering any better incentives to book a future cruise, which after this hot mess, that number of people that would have will go down. Even if they offered $50 onboard credit for the crap we are dealing with, at least that would show some effort on their part. We paid hundreds more for this cruise over the Western, still got stuck with a Western, and no refund for that difference in the end. This is so messed up.

Believe me, I feel your pain. We sail Saturday and fly down tomorrow. I'm not even excited. I considered changing my sailing but the only thing that would've worked was wait til May or do the 10/6 from nyc to Bahamas. I decided against those for various reasons. Had they offered a refund I would've taken it. As it stands we are going and will make the best of it....3rd time at these ports is the charm. Haha

 

[mmouse37]

When I get home from my weight watchers meeting I am going to price it all out with all options. I have never stayed at the Poly, but it is my dream resort! I love AKL also.

We had our honeymoon (and several stays since) at the Poly back in '79 and MK/Lagoon view room was only $65.00 per night....I still have the receipt!! My fav resort on property.

MJ

 

[fredandkell]

I am on the 12/2 sailing. This is beyond frustrating. I get why we can't go. DCL thinks they are doing us a favor by "giving" us Costa Maya. We only get 5 hours there. Most excursions are 6 hours. The ones that can be shorter, we still have to pay the same price for less time. Grand Cayman is going to be ridiculously packed and with the full ships that were already sailing the Western already able to book all of their excursions, we are now getting scraps. I could deal with all of this if there was some type of compensation. There is nothing. If we have stuff booked on a day that was supposed to be a sea day, too bad, now you have to choose between those activities or getting off the ship for an excursion. Then to add to the madness, they are releasing excursion bookings for 2 cruises at the same time at midnight on the same night. 8,000 people are going to be trying to book activities at the same time. We all know that the DCL page already gets stupid and bogs down with just one club level trying to book. Now everyone is going on all at once. Again, nothing to compensate. No discounts on bookings, no extra activities, nothing. Yet we still have to pay the same. After looking at excursions for the last several hours, my kids are too young for over half, most of the rest are not something any of us would be interested in, then the limited time at the port at Costa Maya. We got a crap deal and DCL doesn't even care. I understand logistics and they had to come up with something for the cruises. However the communication has been awful. They aren't offering any better incentives to book a future cruise, which after this hot mess, that number of people that would have will go down. Even if they offered $50 onboard credit for the crap we are dealing with, at least that would show some effort on their part. We paid hundreds more for this cruise over the Western, still got stuck with a Western, and no refund for that difference in the end. This is so messed up.

Have you considered changing your cruise to a later date instead of sticking with 12/2? That's what we did when DCL changed our 9/23 Eastern to a Western. They worked with us, no problem, and our travel agent did a lot of the "behind the scenes" stuff for us. I was like you, I did not want to do a Western again, so now we're going to Europe next summer.

 

[Dug720]

Not that it will do any good, but when I got the DCL website survey just now I answered "no" to the question about were you able to accomplish what you wanted (I knew I wouldn't be able to...I was just looking at various options) and when it asked what I was not able to accomplish I typed "plan for my February cruise that was supposed to be an Eastern, but I have no clue what port adventures to even look at because I don't know where it's going".

MAYBE they'll get the hint and let us know more in advance? A girl can dream, right?

 

[eva]

I am on the 12/2 sailing. This is beyond frustrating. I get why we can't go. DCL thinks they are doing us a favor by "giving" us Costa Maya. We only get 5 hours there. Most excursions are 6 hours. The ones that can be shorter, we still have to pay the same price for less time. Grand Cayman is going to be ridiculously packed and with the full ships that were already sailing the Western already able to book all of their excursions, we are now getting scraps. I could deal with all of this if there was some type of compensation. There is nothing. If we have stuff booked on a day that was supposed to be a sea day, too bad, now you have to choose between those activities or getting off the ship for an excursion. Then to add to the madness, they are releasing excursion bookings for 2 cruises at the same time at midnight on the same night. 8,000 people are going to be trying to book activities at the same time. We all know that the DCL page already gets stupid and bogs down with just one club level trying to book. Now everyone is going on all at once. Again, nothing to compensate. No discounts on bookings, no extra activities, nothing. Yet we still have to pay the same. After looking at excursions for the last several hours, my kids are too young for over half, most of the rest are not something any of us would be interested in, then the limited time at the port at Costa Maya. We got a crap deal and DCL doesn't even care. I understand logistics and they had to come up with something for the cruises. However the communication has been awful. They aren't offering any better incentives to book a future cruise, which after this hot mess, that number of people that would have will go down. Even if they offered $50 onboard credit for the crap we are dealing with, at least that would show some effort on their part. We paid hundreds more for this cruise over the Western, still got stuck with a Western, and no refund for that difference in the end. This is so messed up.

I suggest the same thing Fredandkell suggested. DCL is allowing cruisers to reschedule to pretty much any cruise they want to in the future with no penalty. Some are even getting some money back if the cruise they choose is less. I know some people have plane tickets involved. But they need to consider whether the dollar loss is worth it. If someone is that frustrated, I think I would look into it. You can reschedule for anytime next year even. Saw one person changed to a Med cruise for next summer even. I am jealous that people even have the ability to change or even upgrade. We are sailing 12/2 and using DVC points that we were going to lose February 1. We can't reschedule at all. So I am just going to make the best of it.

 

[Cliffside]

I didn't realize DCL was allowing changes without penalty. We are on the NYC repo to San Juan. I think I would like to change to a Miami sailing in December. There is just a lot of uncertainty on our cruise. I have not looked into since I thought they would not allow it without penalty.

 

[NH Disneyfan]

I am on the 12/2 sailing. This is beyond frustrating. I get why we can't go. DCL thinks they are doing us a favor by "giving" us Costa Maya. We only get 5 hours there. Most excursions are 6 hours. The ones that can be shorter, we still have to pay the same price for less time. Grand Cayman is going to be ridiculously packed and with the full ships that were already sailing the Western already able to book all of their excursions, we are now getting scraps. I could deal with all of this if there was some type of compensation. There is nothing. If we have stuff booked on a day that was supposed to be a sea day, too bad, now you have to choose between those activities or getting off the ship for an excursion. Then to add to the madness, they are releasing excursion bookings for 2 cruises at the same time at midnight on the same night. 8,000 people are going to be trying to book activities at the same time. We all know that the DCL page already gets stupid and bogs down with just one club level trying to book. Now everyone is going on all at once. Again, nothing to compensate. No discounts on bookings, no extra activities, nothing. Yet we still have to pay the same. After looking at excursions for the last several hours, my kids are too young for over half, most of the rest are not something any of us would be interested in, then the limited time at the port at Costa Maya. We got a crap deal and DCL doesn't even care. I understand logistics and they had to come up with something for the cruises. However the communication has been awful. They aren't offering any better incentives to book a future cruise, which after this hot mess, that number of people that would have will go down. Even if they offered $50 onboard credit for the crap we are dealing with, at least that would show some effort on their part. We paid hundreds more for this cruise over the Western, still got stuck with a Western, and no refund for that difference in the end. This is so messed up.

Travel Insurance?

 

[RedStars]

I would encourage anyone who is not happy with their revised cruise to call DCL and their airline: I was able to switch to a new cruise and dates without any penalties (and even got a refund from both DCL and Jetblue).

Having said that, people don't need to be lectured that they're 'selfish' because they're planned cruise is no longer what they were expecting. It's frustrating.

Everyone you meet is going through something that you don't know about. Have some compassion and empathy. Best part: it's free.

 

[wombat_5606]

I would have a hard time telling my 5 year old granddaughter that the cruise we have been planning for more than a year is not going to happen, especially since this is part of her Christmas present.

I don't buy "cancel for any reason" insurance and I don't think most people do. It's not necessary unless you have a major reason that it's possible you would have to cancel. It's much more expensive and you should be weighing your odds before it would be worth it. In all of my traveling since the 1970's, I have only purchased it twice, when I was out of the country for trips lasting several months.

So my scenarios are:

"I rescheduled it for next spring, having to wait another 5-6 months and it's not going to be a Christmas cruise."

"I rescheduled for next Christmas, having to wait another year and you will have to miss some school."

I can sympathize with @KdKyA. If I don't get the Meet and Greets for my granddaughter, I'm going to have a pretty stern conversation with Guest Services.

But, I think some people need to calm down on the criticism. This was an extraordinary event. People have a right to vent, on this forum especially. Do I think Disney could have done a better job? Yes. Why did they turn a 2 port cruise, into a 3? Why is the 3rd port not long enough to do anything? Why are they opening the rescheduling to everyone instead of staggering the days or even time of the day? Why not offer some OBC if you are unable to reschedule your onboard fun?

If you think Disney is doing the best they can, then, in my opinion, you are sadly mistaken. They've probably done the minimum the contract and maritime law require.

 

[eva]

I didn't realize DCL was allowing changes without penalty. We are on the NYC repo to San Juan. I think I would like to change to a Miami sailing in December. There is just a lot of uncertainty on our cruise. I have not looked into since I thought they would not allow it without penalty.

Only if their itinerary is completely changed. If your itinerary has not changed yet, you will not be able to reschedule without penalty.

 

[eva]

I would have a hard time telling my 5 year old granddaughter that the cruise we have been planning for more than a year is not going to happen, especially since this is part of her Christmas present.

I don't buy "cancel for any reason" insurance and I don't think most people do. It's not necessary unless you have a major reason that it's possible you would have to cancel. It's much more expensive and you should be weighing your odds before it would be worth it. In all of my traveling since the 1970's, I have only purchased it twice, when I was out of the country for trips lasting several months.

So my scenarios are:

"I rescheduled it for next spring, having to wait another 5-6 months and it's not going to be a Christmas cruise."

"I rescheduled for next Christmas, having to wait another year and you will have to miss some school."

I can sympathize with @KdKyA. If I don't get the Meet and Greets for my granddaughter, I'm going to have a pretty stern conversation with Guest Services.

But, I think some people need to calm down on the criticism. This was an extraordinary event. People have a right to vent, on this forum especially. Do I think Disney could have done a better job? Yes. Why did they turn a 2 port cruise, into a 3? Why is the 3rd port not long enough to do anything? Why are they opening the rescheduling to everyone instead of staggering the days or even time of the day? Why not offer some OBC if you are unable to reschedule your onboard fun?

If you think Disney is doing the best they can, then, in my opinion, you are sadly mistaken. They've probably done the minimum the contract and maritime law require.

I so understand your frustration. This will be our 4th Western. And to be honest, I wouldn't have gone on the last 2 Westerns we were on if we weren't with a group of people that chose them. Definitely not my favorite cruise. I only suggested the reschedule because you seemed so upset. I know how disappointed children can be. We've had to cancel/reschedule trips when our kids were young too. Not fun. But sometimes for the best. Just didn't want that to aggravation spill over into your trip. That wouldn't be fun either. Good luck. Hope all goes smooth on your cruise.

 

[Cliffside]

Only if their itinerary is completely changed. If your itinerary has not changed yet, you will not be able to reschedule without penalty.

I realized that after I posted. It's just a waiting game now. Although I have read some things on cruise critic saying that the airport was back to normal and the Marriott is in good shape waiting for guests. I hope that is all true and that the citizens are getting the help they need all over the island. You just don't know what is an accurate assessment of the situation. My mother in -law and sister in-law are on the Celebrity repo out of NYC on the Summit. If they sail I guess then I will really have a first hand account.

 

[wombat_5606]

I only suggested the reschedule because you seemed so upset

I think you have me confused with someone else. I would only be upset if I had to reschedule. I'm not going to disappoint my granddaughter at this date, unless I have to. We will make the best of the cruise as we can. The only place I'm going to flip my lid is the day we have Frozen meet and greet. I think Disney should reschedule that because it is now a port day, instead of the sea day originally.

I was responding to a post blasting @KdKyA, but it looks like it has since been altered.