Disney Magic kicks in for 1 family........they held the Ship for them!

[Tonka's Skipper]

A guest almost missed their Disney Cruise, so Disney held the whole ship for them

There’s good guest service, and then there’s amazing above and beyond guest service. The latter is what recently happened to one family traveling to Florida to catch a Disney Cruise, after everything that could go wrong, went wrong, during their travels.

Gary Spell and his family were on their way to Florida, when their first flight ran into mechanical trouble. After a delay, they finally took off, but this meant there was a possibility they could miss their next flight. While they made it in time, their airline had already rebooked them on a later flight, and one that would leave them little time to actually make it to their cruise. So far, this story is not shaping up to have a happy ending.

“I called Disney Cruise Lines [from the airport]. They were sympathetic, compassionate, and understanding. [The cast member on the phone] took all my new flight info, my cell number, and said she’d do everything she could to help us,” Gary writes on Facebook. “We landed in Orlando with no idea if we would make the cruise or not.”

Gary continues that when he and his family finally hopped off the plane, there was no one in the Disney terminal, and he feared the worst. But that’s when the magic really kicked in.

Disney had arranged for a bus, just for the family, to come and pick them up and take them directly to the cruise terminal roughly an hour away. Oh, and the magic still doesn’t stop there. When the Spell family finally arrived at the port, they were once again the only ones inside—except for the dozen or so Disney cast members waiting for them, ready to check them in at record speed to get them on the ship. They were then escorted onto the Disney Dream by one of the dressed-all-in-white captains.

“And that’s when it dawned on me,” Gary continues. “They’d held the cruise for us.”

The cast members told Gary and his family that the ship wasn’t going to leave without them, so the only thing to do was wait. That right there is some pretty amazing customer service, considering that thousands of other passengers on board also had to wait a little extra time to depart. But hey, pretty sure everyone on a Disney Cruise really loves a happy ending, especially when it concerns a nightmare travel story.

You can read Gary’s whole post below.

The post A guest almost missed their Disney Cruise, so Disney held the whole ship for them appeared first on HelloGiggles.


AKK

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I saw this on another site. I wonder if they booked their airfare through DCL?

 

[thumpie's mom]

This is why we always book everything through DCL and fly in the day before. It is worth the extra cost of a hotel room for 1 night to know we will make it to port on time. So happy they made it!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I saw this on another site. I wonder if they booked their airfare through DCL?

I was thinking there might be a little more to the story, also.

As much as I like them holding the ship (I actually think it was very nice of them to do so), I'm a little concerned about setting a precedence for the next guy who's late saying "Well, they held the ship for XXX, why not for us?" and then it leads to a lawsuit.

 

[allears]

Do we know what time they actually started to sail? Is it possible they held the ship until 5 and just didn't leave a wee bit early?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I saw this on another site. I wonder if they booked their airfare through DCL?

I was wondering about that myself, but I don't think so. My reasoning being that the CM Gary called didn't know about the delay and had to take down all the information. If DCL had booked the flights, I would expect them to be aware of the problem. and aleady had some plans in the works.

I think they had enough time built into the passage time to the first port of call, they could hold the ship. Still DCL went way out of their way to help the family!

AKK

 

[clten]

I was wondering about that myself, but I don't think so. My reasoning being that the CM Gary called didn't know about the delay and had to take down all the information. If DCL had booked the flights, I would expect them to be aware of the problem. and aleady had some plans in the works.
AKK

While you would think that would be how it works, it doesn't. Once the airline has the reservation, they send changes through their system which goes into a queue. Travel agents, including the air/sea departments of cruise lines, have to "work" their flight changes queue to know there has been a change. So most likely the change was in the reservation but the air/sea agents probably hadn't looked at their queue that immediately and there's no way the average res agent at DCL would know about it that quickly.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

While you would think that would be how it works, it doesn't. Once the airline has the reservation, they send changes through their system which goes into a queue. Travel agents, including the air/sea departments of cruise lines, have to "work" their flight changes queue to know there has been a change. So most likely the change was in the reservation but the air/sea agents probably hadn't looked at their queue that immediately and there's no way the average res agent at DCL would know about it that quickly.

You are saying that DCL would not have someone the morning of the vessel departure not checking on these things? Making sure everyone was on schedule / arriving in time to get to the vessel.......when DCL would be responsible to the extra costs of getting the family to the next port?..Seem odd and a easy way to waste money..but I am not a TA and I bow to your expertise!

AKK

 

[onesam319]

Our first cruise was on Fantasy Feb. 6-13. We left Port Canaveral at least an hour and a half late. It was my understanding that they were fixing one of the engines. I read that the previous voyage skipped Castaway Cay in order to get back in time without pushing the other engine too hard. Holding the ship for a late arrival that they were made aware of by the passenger would not inconvenience the passengers already on board. I imagine that there would be a time they would absolutely have to leave to make their scheduled arrival at the next port. Our next port was Cozumel, so there was a cushion of an entire day at sea for us.

I also wondered about this setting a precedent for the chronically late guy who now may think they will hold the ship for him too. I'm also curious as to the category of stateroom booked by this family, and if they were gold or platinum cruisers, and if that had any bearing on the decision to wait for them.

 

[jdb in AZ]

How late can a ship stay in port without being charged extra port fees?

Would it make a difference is another ship is on its way into port and needs to dock there?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How late can a ship stay in port without being charged extra port fees?

Would it make a difference is another ship is on its way into port and needs to dock there?

Don't know the answers, but I'm pretty sure there would be additional costs for remaining in port longer than originally booked for. As to whether another ship would be requiring that dock - I don't know if other ships use the "Disney" dock, but, generally, yes, it would make a difference.

 

[bumbershoot]

I saw this on another site. I wonder if they booked their airfare through DCL?

Im going with "almost certainly". And/or they had transportation booked through Disney.

I hope no one ends up expecting this.

We are flying through the night. Landing at 5:30am next month for a Royal cruise that same day, and we feel really thick-headed for that (I solemnly swear to pay attention to when Easter hits before booking cruises in the future, because airfare for the better flights gets horrendous!), let alone trying to board a plane at that hour.

 

[phinz]

They held the ship for a family on our February cruise last year. We wondered why we hadn't shoved off yet until we watched the bus come in, unload a family of four who ran inside then saw the family board shortly thereafter. We departed about 10 minutes later.

 

[turtle27]

I am guessing there is something to the story we don't know. And also, that they were justthislate. 1.) I bet they booked with DCL air. 2.) DCL probably ran a cost of getting them to next port vs. holding ship for 10-20 minutes. 3.) This is just my opinion. Maybe DCL got the call, looked and thought they could do something nice. It is probably a judgment call each and every time this happens. If the ship has not left or is supposed to be leaving by the time a flight arrives, then it makes DCL look wonderful.

 

[outahere]

Don't know the answers, but I'm pretty sure there would be additional costs for remaining in port longer than originally booked for. As to whether another ship would be requiring that dock - I don't know if other ships use the "Disney" dock, but, generally, yes, it would make a difference.

Only DCL ships use the DCL terminal. Disney has an exclusive lease on that terminal, so I would doubt that the port authority would charge them anything extra for not departing on time.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Only DCL ships use the DCL terminal. Disney has an exclusive lease on that terminal, so I would doubt that the port authority would charge them anything extra for not departing on time.

What about the Harbor Pilot? Would they have to pay them OT?

 

[lillygator]

Would like to know if they had trip insurance or they booked through dcl.

 

[mcd2745]

I wonder if the fact that it was the Dream - and therefore not going very far - played a role in them waiting. If it was the Fantasy, heading to someplace like Cozumel or Tortola, would they have had the flexibility of waiting like that?

 

[Plaid Princess]

I was thinking there might be a little more to the story, also.

As much as I like them holding the ship (I actually think it was very nice of them to do so), I'm a little concerned about setting a precedence for the next guy who's late saying "Well, they held the ship for XXX, why not for us?" and then it leads to a lawsuit.

That was my first thought too. Can of worms.

Do we know what time they actually started to sail? Is it possible they held the ship until 5 and just didn't leave a wee bit early?

I think this is highly plausible... it makes more sense than DCL actually delaying the ship. I say this all the time to guests who are running late for flights and just make it before I close the door (the joke precedes the lecture about them almost missing their flight).

 

[Happy100]

Our last spring break Fantasy cruise was held up for a few families flying in from Atlanta. Storms kept pushing back their flights into Orlando. Of course it wasn't one family but still a very small percentage of the cruise passengers. So holding the ship isn't unheard of but I do agree with PP's that they probably booked their flights through DCL. However, I definitely wouldn't take this as normal and of course fly in a day early. The stress that would come with the possibility of missing your cruise is so not worth it.