Costco Travel - Cannot get through

[KevinFL]

We have a final payment due today for August 2020 cruise and are booked through Costco Travel. We are going to reschedule the cruise for a later date. I have called Costco Travel 10 times this a.m. and their message says "they have unprecedented call volume and to call back later".

So unable to make any changes to sailing date with final payment due today; not sure how to deal with this one. Anyone else running into this?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Is there any way you can get your credit card to block the charge? If final payment isn't made, your cruise will automatically be canceled and you'll get a refund for what was already paid (at least that's what I've read happens).

 

[KevinFL]

I do not have the booking set to auto pay so they should not try to charge the credit card. Just wondering what will happen to my deposit. It is a Concierge stateroom and they always let me move these to future sailing dates before final payment is due but if I cannot reach anyone to make the change this will go past final payment date. I tried calling many more times and there is just no way to get through to them.

 

[MillauFr]

Another great example on why Disney needs to get rid of their system that requires calling a live person to make changes. The OP should be able to make all of the changes online without calling someone.

 

[ahain]

Also another great example of why not to wait until the very last day....

Hope you are able to get through soon.

 

[cvjw]

Also another great example of why not to wait until the very last day....

Hope you are able to get through soon.

The Disney phone lines have been swamped for days - it isn’t just today. Disney needs to hire more cast members to handle all the cruise cancellations and rebookings. It isn’t fair to those of us who need to get thru to cancel before a deadline or make a payment before a deadline. This is Disney’s fault for not being able to handle the demand on their phone system.

 

[ahain]

The Disney phone lines have been swamped for days - it isn’t just today. Disney needs to hire more cast members to handle all the cruise cancellations and rebookings. It isn’t fair to those of us who need to get thru to cancel before a deadline or make a payment before a deadline. This is Disney’s fault for not being able to handle the demand on their phone system.

PP was working to get through to Costco, not DCL

 

[monkeydawn]

I do not have the booking set to auto pay so they should not try to charge the credit card. Just wondering what will happen to my deposit. It is a Concierge stateroom and they always let me move these to future sailing dates before final payment is due but if I cannot reach anyone to make the change this will go past final payment date. I tried calling many more times and there is just no way to get through to them.

Is there a reason you prefer to rebook rather than cancel and book at another time? I'd prefer the refund/ rebook option since we really dont know what the next several month to a year hold.

Also another great example of why not to wait until the very last day....

Hope you are able to get through soon.

To be fair this has been a highly dynamic time. I understand wanting to wait until the announcement to decide what the OP wanted to do. And since the announcement the phone lines have been swamped. Its not like the OP let a lot of time lapse.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Unrelated question, but similar enough to not start a new thread...
Does anyone know if Costco is accepting emails for already booked cruises now?
I want to cancel my October one. It's not urgent to cancel it, but since I have to rebook my April cruise, I don't want the October one. I know their phones are out of control and was hoping that they could just cancel the October one and let me know when it's done.

 

[Gentry2004]

PP was working to get through to Costco, not DCL

Right, but Costco is swamped because they are on hold with DCL!

 

[wombat_5606]

Unrelated question, but similar enough to not start a new thread...
Does anyone know if Costco is accepting emails for already booked cruises now?
I want to cancel my October one. It's not urgent to cancel it, but since I have to rebook my April cruise, I don't want the October one. I know their phones are out of control and was hoping that they could just cancel the October one and let me know when it's done.

They will allow that for some cruiselines, unfortunately Disney is not one of them.

 

[jmelan]

called costco travel exactly at open time, put on hold for exactly 3 hours, then received message they cannot take calls today, call disconnected

disney is able to put cruise in placeholder status without costco but costco needs to rebook another date

right now, dealing with costco is impossible

if you cannot call exactly at open and get through, then it seems they are not taking any disney calls at all right now

 

[wombat_5606]

For people who have immediate need to cancel/rebook, possibly try to direct message Costco Travel on twitter. I have seen some requests on their feed for people to use that route.

 

[TreeFalls]

This is worrying me, our cruise leaves 3/23 and we are waiting to decide whether to rebook... we want to wait as late as possible so we can be informed. I guess I'll watch the next few days and see if they get their act together...

 

[KevinFL]

Is there a reason you prefer to rebook rather than cancel and book at another time? I'd prefer the refund/ rebook option since we really dont know what the next several month to a year hold.


To be fair this has been a highly dynamic time. I understand wanting to wait until the announcement to decide what the OP wanted to do. And since the announcement the phone lines have been swamped. Its not like the OP let a lot of time lapse.

I am rebooking instead of cancelling because it is a Concierge stateroom. The deposit is non-refundable but they let you move it to a future sail date if you make the change before the final payment due date.

Yes, we have been waiting to see fullest possible unfolding of Coronavirus events before having to make the decision to push the sailing date back. Like so many folks here I have been hoping daily for the best but since there has been no break in bad news I am having to make the decision for our family to push the vacation out. Thank you for your covering my back on this when another poster tried to tell me I should not have waited until the last day to do this!! You are ok in my book!!

 

[ahain]

Right, but Costco is swamped because they are on hold with DCL!

I suspect that Costco does business with many cruise lines and tour companies - not just DCL

 

[lanejudy]

I suspect that Costco does business with many cruise lines and tour companies - not just DCL

Exactly! This isn't a DCL issue - it's a TA issue. Pretty much every cruiseline has cancelling and rebooking issues right now, and TAs handle them all. ALL kinds of customers are trying to get through to TAs for rebooking or cancelling, not just DCL guests. Add to that the number of people who are opting not to travel for any variety of domestic or international vacations as well, and yeah, TAs are just getting slammed right now.

 

[cvjw]

PP was working to get through to Costco, not DCL

OP can’t get thru to Costco because they can’t get thru to Disney. I waited on hold for 3.5 hours on Saturday with Costco while they tried to get DCL on the phone. They couldn’t because Disney doesn’t have enough cast members to handle the flow of changes and cancellations right now.

The agent at Costco told me she was able to help 4 people the day before with DCL changes because they couldn’t get Disney to answer the phone. This is on Disney.

 

[KevinFL]

Exactly! This isn't a DCL issue - it's a TA issue. Pretty much every cruiseline has cancelling and rebooking issues right now, and TAs handle them all. ALL kinds of customers are trying to get through to TAs for rebooking or cancelling, not just DCL guests. Add to that the number of people who are opting not to travel for any variety of domestic or international vacations as well, and yeah, TAs are just getting slammed right now.

Not sure anyone is disputing this.

 

[monkeydawn]

I am rebooking instead of cancelling because it is a Concierge stateroom. The deposit is non-refundable but they let you move it to a future sail date if you make the change before the final payment due date.

Yes, we have been waiting to see fullest possible unfolding of Coronavirus events before having to make the decision to push the sailing date back. Like so many folks here I have been hoping daily for the best but since there has been no break in bad news I am having to make the decision for our family to push the vacation out. Thank you for your covering my back on this when another poster tried to tell me I should not have waited until the last day to do this!! You are ok in my book!!

Ah, youre fancy! I dont know about fancy concierge stuff. LOL I hope you can get through soonish and that you enjoy your cruise whenever you get to go.

Personally I cant bring myself to try calling Expedia yet because I just cant summon the will. I keep telling myself that I am really just waiting for my doctors appointment on Thursday but at this point even if the dr said go there are too many other reasons not to go. So, yeah, just dont wanna be on hold for hours. The 19th is when it will start costing me more to cancel and I already know I need to start trying a few days before that. Ugh.