Computers are supposed to make everything easier, right? Maybe I shouldn’t have expected everything to work perfectly with the mouse, but they proved to be a problem when planning my Disney cruise.
If you’ve ever been frozen out while purchasing airline tickets and lost that great fare, or realized after the fact that you bought two hotels rooms instead of one on Travelocity, you know technology sometimes complicates matters. With Disney, my expectations were perfection. Reality proved that Disney can suffer from many of the same glitches as other online booking sites.
I registered online months in advance to complete all the required travel forms. It took awhile and the site froze often, but the registration was finally listed. It was a frustrating process, but when it works, it speeds your way onto the ship. Just remember to actually print, sign, and bring all those forms with you. If you forget — you’ll have to do all the documents over again at the port.
I also planned to book excursions and dining options online, so I tried for the highly sought after Palo reservations which go fast. I tried numerous times without success. Every time I hit the send button, the site froze. Then the screen came back with a notice that Disney’s reservations system was experiencing a problem — check back later.
Determined, I sometimes tried a dozen times a day with no success. How bad was it? For a month, the first greeting on the Disney toll-free number was an automated voice stating the site was ‘currently’ experiencing difficulties. There are Broadway shows that haven’t run as long as this computer problem.
Then, I thought I had a magical moment. Palo had a reservation! The anticipation was great. The reality, not so good. Despite sending the data more than a dozen times, it wouldn’t go through. The system said my request didn’t match the required number of persons, yet I was submitting the right number and when I tried every other combination, that didn’t work either. Sensing a computer glitch, I called Disney.
The agent apologized, but said the reservation was gone. I persisted, citing the computer issues. A supervisor promised to put me on the wait list.
I offered Disney a chance to comment on this issue and received no reply before press time. It’s still disappointing to me that Disney knew the system had some serious flaws but didn’t do more to inform and assist the traveler through the site. I’m happy to note, though, that the old advice to call when in doubt works. When we boarded the ship, we were told someone at Disney had gotten us a reservation.
I always thought Disney was on the top of their game, but until this web cruise reservation system is fixed, it allows for customers to be confused, frustrated and disappointed before the boat even sails.
Let’s hope they resolve this quickly. Some might wonder if they can’t get their technological infrastructure working, what might go wrong on the actual ship?
