dreamsunlimited nonresponsive

[Jadeey]

This seems to be a trend lately with DCL -- only allowing very few bookings to initially book main dining, then using a waitlist to fill it. Make sure you get on the waitlist.

Oh cool, I’ve added myself to the wait list so maybe there is hope!

 

[freshmanjs]

I am not on EST and never have seen this before when paying my balances either. It may be time to spam addresses if you don't have much time... I would shoot your question to Webmaster@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com, Reservations@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com and of course John directly at john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com. Not every agent is in Florida..!

None of us are on EST right now.

 

[KEK1]

I’m glad you got a quote!

We have ended up with late dining too which I’m annoyed about. My agent requested main dining, but a glitch in the Disney system put us to second seating instead. I‘m waitlisted for main dining and I’m guessing space will open up in a few days when heaps of the people who have holds for quotes decide not to pay the deposit.

At worst, I figure we will grab something to eat earlier (I’ll have a 2.5 year old and an 8 year old) to hold us over and see how the late dining goes.

I hope your research on the room ends up with it being a decent one. Or maybe you can switch when people release their holds. I’m sure there were so many people who will change their minds after seeing the quote.

Thank you, me too! I emailed the form to pay the deposit. Hopefully we can both get switched to the early /normal dining time. Which sailing are you doing?
I might send my agent a message to ask re the room.

 

[squirk]

I just want to reiterate what was said prior; of everyone saying they did not get the service they expected, have you taken John up on his offer..? It is honestly the best way to vet their agents - they need this feedback if you have a moment to spare!

I did have a problem with my TA the one and only time I used DU. The problem got fixed (without needing John’s input) by me asking to be reassigned to a new agent, who was much better.

Still, it was a frustrating process with the first TA, and when John posted here (in a similar thread several years ago), inviting people to contact him about problems with agents, I took him up on his offer.

He responded very promptly, and was a complete professional and total gentleman. He apologized for the issues that led to my dissatisfaction, and shared some behind-the-scenes info that explained - without attempting to excuse - the poor service. I was very impressed.

The one thing that bugged me and still bugs me - after that cruise (but before I contacted John), I took the DU post-trip survey and clearly expressed my dissatisfaction with the service I initially received. And I heard ….. nothing back.

No apology from anyone at Dreams, much less any acknowledgement that my issues had been recognized and addressed. I wasn’t fishing for a refund or anything like that; I just thought I would have heard something, y’know? “Thank you for bringing this to our attention….” or “We are sorry your experience with Dreams was less than exemplary…”

Again, I got all of that acknowledgement, validation and contrition from John directly, but only after I had reached out to him - many, many months after I had submitted my survey.

That felt like a shortcoming in the guest feedback process, and I hope DU has changed their survey policies since then.

 

[Jadeey]

Thank you, me too! I emailed the form to pay the deposit. Hopefully we can both get switched to the early /normal dining time. Which sailing are you doing?
I might send my agent a message to ask re the room.

I’m doing the 4 night Auckland one. Super excited!

Have you seen the stateroom reviews link here on the boards? You should check and see if your room has any reviews.

I suspect my agent chose our room specifically for us - a bonus of the fact that Dreams agents only sell products they regularly use themselves and therefore know really well - because when I checked the reviews it said it is a great room if you have toddlers who still require naps since it is in a very quiet part of the ship.

 

[KEK1]

I’m doing the 4 night Auckland one. Super excited!

Have you seen the stateroom reviews link here on the boards? You should check and see if your room has any reviews.

I suspect my agent chose our room specifically for us - a bonus of the fact that Dreams agents only sell products they regularly use themselves and therefore know really well - because when I checked the reviews it said it is a great room if you have toddlers who still require naps since it is in a very quiet part of the ship.

I'm excited too I guess you are in Auckland? We are in Perth so have to fly.
My agent already replied, she said the room was super quiet as not too many cabins on that deck. So that sounds good! I don't mind walking further if it's quiet. This is my one chance to impress OH with both cruising and specifically disney cruising so I hope it goes well

 

[Jhondy]

I’m using a DU agent for this trip. I basically used them to get OBC and I’m not sure what a TA is all supposed to do. I thought they’d help point me in a direction about travel insurance but she said she didn’t know anything about that. I didn’t take that as a negative because I literally have no idea what is part of TA’s job and what isn’t and that part isn’t.

But my TA has been very responsive and dealt with my ever changing booking (I went from one cruise ocean view to then a balcony room to switching the cruise to a different one ocean view along with multiple switches of pre and post hotel stays so she had to switch my DCL transportation details a bunch). I felt like a pain but she was very nice and got it all done for me.

I would have liked a bit more “tips” or an email like a day or two before I had to reserve things like excursions or check in but I’ve been fine without that.

Idk about anyone else but I know my expectations for what a TA does might have been too high for what their job really is. Overall, my experience with DU has been fine and I’ll probably use them again in the future but really I’m really just using them for the OBC.

 

[Geomom]

They replied! with a quote so that is great. However 1st dining was already fully booked and I'm really not sure about late dining for us. Need to do some research on the room number too as concerned about noise- deck 1 , right next to tender lobby (?)
But importantly they were not non responsive

If you have an Oceanview room, deck 1 has the 2 small portholes vs the very large one on deck 2 (and above.). Deck 1 should be very quiet though.

 

[lanejudy]

The one thing that bugged me and still bugs me - after that cruise (but before I contacted John), I took the DU post-trip survey and clearly expressed my dissatisfaction with the service I initially received. And I heard ….. nothing back.

One note about such surveys in general (I don't know specifically about the DU survey). I used to work with similar surveys. These are usually handled by a 3rd party company who collates and analyzes the survey responses; responses are intended to be anonymous. The company (DU in this case) never actually receives anything that ties a response to a specific customer. Unless the survey says something like "if you would like to be contacted please give your email" then do not expect that your responses will be tracked to you. Could the survey company do that? Yes, they could trace back responses, but that's not how it's set-up and the intent is usually to keep responses anonymous. Often even if you give demographics such as state or zip code, they can only tie that back to a level with a minimum number of responses.

Anytime you want acknowledgement, be sure to contact the company directly with your feedback and not rely on a survey.

 

[tinkerone]

I did have a problem with my TA the one and only time I used DU. The problem got fixed (without needing John’s input) by me asking to be reassigned to a new agent, who was much better.

I tried to switch agents, twice, before I left DU and both times my booking was rerouted to the original agent to book. The first time it just happened and no one told me until the booking was complete. The second time I did receive an email from my requested agent to explain she was not my assigned agent so she sent it on. When I explained I didn't want that, she told me the next time just send her an email ahead of the booking to explain and then she could do it. Nice gesture but to late and I shouldn't have to take that extra step. I found another agency I now deal with.

It shouldn't be that hard to change agents. If I send my request off to someone else in the list they should just follow my request, maybe understand there is something not right. Even contact me by email to ask if I understand but don't just assume I am making a mistake and send it off to the TA just because she once booked me a cruise. If I'm not happy with her service and you still want to force me to deal with her I'm not coming back.

It's a great company, I really wish it had worked out but for us, it didn't. I'm still cruising. I'm still booking cabins for our children and their families. I'm not having to deal with someone who is not a good fit.

 

[Anthony F2]

I haven't given up. I emailed John to see if he could help. I wasn't able to transfer my OBC to DU or get a quote on the cruise I wanted so I booked it myself, but it's only been 9 days so I should be able to transfer it. So long as they make good on the onboard credit I didn't get on the last sailing, I think we'll be back to business as usual.

I didn't mean to make a bash thread. They were so responsive in the past I was really wondering if something was up.. fingers crossed for the future..

 

[byanks7]

I haven't given up. I emailed John to see if he could help. I wasn't able to transfer my OBC to DU or get a quote on the cruise I wanted so I booked it myself, but it's only been 9 days so I should be able to transfer it. So long as they make good on the onboard credit I didn't get on the last sailing, I think we'll be back to business as usual.

I didn't mean to make a bash thread. They were so responsive in the past I was really wondering if something was up.. fingers crossed for the future..

I tried to switch agents, twice, before I left DU and both times my booking was rerouted to the original agent to book. The first time it just happened and no one told me until the booking was complete. The second time I did receive an email from my requested agent to explain she was not my assigned agent so she sent it on. When I explained I didn't want that, she told me the next time just send her an email ahead of the booking to explain and then she could do it. Nice gesture but to late and I shouldn't have to take that extra step. I found another agency I now deal with.

It shouldn't be that hard to change agents. If I send my request off to someone else in the list they should just follow my request, maybe understand there is something not right. Even contact me by email to ask if I understand but don't just assume I am making a mistake and send it off to the TA just because she once booked me a cruise. If I'm not happy with her service and you still want to force me to deal with her I'm not coming back.

It's a great company, I really wish it had worked out but for us, it didn't. I'm still cruising. I'm still booking cabins for our children and their families. I'm not having to deal with someone who is not a good fit.

Great companies dont let this go on and on without a resolution

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I took the DU post-trip survey

I didn't get a post-trip survey from Dreams, at least none that I saw come through email? Is this just for DCL or is this post-trip survey for any vacation through Dreams? If you know.

 

[DLgal]

I haven't given up. I emailed John to see if he could help. I wasn't able to transfer my OBC to DU or get a quote on the cruise I wanted so I booked it myself, but it's only been 9 days so I should be able to transfer it. So long as they make good on the onboard credit I didn't get on the last sailing, I think we'll be back to business as usual.

I didn't mean to make a bash thread. They were so responsive in the past I was really wondering if something was up.. fingers crossed for the future..

You should not have to work this hard for any company's business. They clearly don't need it that badly.

 

[squirk]

I didn't get a post-trip survey from Dreams, at least none that I saw come through email? Is this just for DCL or is this post-trip survey for any vacation through Dreams? If you know.

No idea. Sorry.

This was probably back in 2016, so I can’t speak to what they’re doing lately, survey-wise.

 

[condorthb]

I've used DU 4 times. 3 out of 4 were for cruises and were great. I guess that is because I had Beth.

This last time, the communication started great, but ended non-existent for my UO trip.

My original TA ended up taking a medical leave (not a big deal), but no one sent me an e-mail explaining he would be out. After numerous e-mails not responded to, I did in fact contact John. He apologized and told me my new TA name and e-mail address.

After our initial contact with each other, the new TA couldn't bother responding to a question I had.

I would use DU again if I had Beth, but not anyone else.

 

[Mango7100]

You should not have to work this hard for any company's business. They clearly don't need it that badly.

Exactly. I will try one other time at communicating with a business just in case the email or message was lost the first time. But if no response after the second one…that’s it, sorry. I don’t understand people advising others with issues to keep emailing or calling or try to get a higher up. If you are a new customer and you are having to do that right off the bat…not a good sign. Now if they already have booked something for you I understand the need for repeated attempts. But that would be the last booking from me…

 

[malba2366]

You should not have to work this hard for any company's business. They clearly don't need it that badly.

THIS!! I do not understand why people keep going out of their way to the point of being inconvenienced to do business with this agency. As far as I can tell, they give a 5% OBC which is pretty average and on top of it seems that their service is horrible if you are not a long time repeat customer. Many of the agencies provide the ability to book online, and when you call an agent helps you on that call vs having to wait for someone who never calls you back and on top of that, some offer a higher rebate/OBC.

 

[KEK1]

If you have an Oceanview room, deck 1 has the 2 small portholes vs the very large one on deck 2 (and above.). Deck 1 should be very quiet though.

Thanks! The TA said that too. Wonder if the room is darker with the 2 smaller portholes.