Best Way To Book A Cruise?

[DisneyCowgirl]

I guess the worry is that you might need to make last-minute changes and the TA won't be available to handle it quickly enough. Or, you want to book a specific room on Platinum booking day, but the TA won't be available early enough that day. Stuff like that.

For specific rooms on opening day, I book online myself and then get it transferred to my Dreams agent.

 

[Kwami]

For specific rooms on opening day, I book online myself and then get it transferred to my Dreams agent.

Yeah, but that doesn't work so good if you're planning to use an onboard booking discount. And, the TA only gets half commission in that case, so I kind of feel bad doing it.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Yeah, but that doesn't work so good if you're planning to use an onboard booking discount. And, the TA only gets half commission in that case, so I kind of feel bad doing it.

I did not know they only got half commission. Rarely do I want one specific room, but will keep this in mind in the future. I want my agent to get her money!

 

[g_ppetto]

We need an accessible stateroom so it has been better for us to look at the deck plans, find the accessible cabins and make a list of where we would like to stay, then call DCL. If none of the staterooms on our list are available, then we move on. We are accustomed to making our own travel arrangements for hotels and cruises and enjoy the planning.

Don't get me wrong, I loved working with TA's when I was traveling for business / work. I had multiple periods of time where I was averaging three cities a week by air. My TA's worked a lot of magic to get me where I needed to go and for that I'm thankful.

 

[Cheburashka]

Do you still get the full 8.5% Costco cash card if using a placeholder or is it a reduced amount?

Same 10% discount from DCL in addition to the 8.5% Costco cash card.

 

[Cheburashka]

Used to use Costco bc of the great gift card deal, but if you ever have any changes, want to make a request, have any issue, you call Costco travel and wait on hold for them to answer and then they call Disney and you wait on hold for Disney to answer and it's a huge PITA... Now I will only use Dreams. Got an issue? Want to make a request? Send one email and it's DONE!

I guess it's just a matter of how much that convenience vs. the extra money from Costco is worth to a person. For me, it's worthwhile. I also like that it has a call center so you can get it taken care of anytime during their business hours, and not have to wait for a particular agent to take care of it.

 

[nikem3]

Have friends who are travel agents. I book through them all the time now. I've saved thousands with them because they get emails from their system when there is a significant price drop and they can usually work with the cruise line to get us money back. Also, its the same price as booking myself, but a lot of times they have OBCs or other small deals added on (and sometimes group rates that are even cheaper than you can book online yourself).

 

[Drfate102]

We also use Dreams. I let my agent know what I want, and poof, all taken care of with some onboard credit.

 

[Punjabi_Express]

Call Costco Travel and they will email you a very simple form to fill out and email back to them. You have to transfer the cruise or placeholder within 30 days of booking (allow a few days for processing, so I wouldn't risk waiting until day 29) to get the benefits, and you also cannot yet be paid in full.

I called Costco regarding a future cruise credit I booked on board the Dream this week. According to Costco, there is no form to fill out, just a phone call will take care of it. They also deny there being a 30 day limit and claim there is no limit on booking. the credit is good for 2 years. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.

 

[Kwami]

I called Costco regarding a future cruise credit I booked on board the Dream this week. According to Costco, there is no form to fill out, just a phone call will take care of it. They also deny there being a 30 day limit and claim there is no limit on booking. the credit is good for 2 years. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.

The credit is good for two years. The 30-day limit only applies when you transfer a reservation to a travel agent. You have 30 days from when you made the reservation to start the transfer.

 

[Cheburashka]

I called Costco regarding a future cruise credit I booked on board the Dream this week. According to Costco, there is no form to fill out, just a phone call will take care of it. They also deny there being a 30 day limit and claim there is no limit on booking. the credit is good for 2 years. Can anyone verify this? Thanks.

You have 30 days to transfer a cruise that you booked independently to Costco and still be eligible for the 8.5% perk.

The last cruise I booked via Costco was over a year ago, so it's possible that they have changed the booking procedure to where you no longer have to fill out a form. My experience always was that you called Costco, they emailed you a very short form, which you then filled out and emailed to the address (at DCL) that they told you to email it to. That could possibly have changed to just a phone call but I think it's unlikely, as you have to sign the form to indicate you do want a travel agent to take control of your cruise. Maybe they now do a 3-way call with DCL so Disney can get verbal verification- that would be possible, I suppose. It could also be that agent was referring to the initial step of calling in to make the transfer, and/or possibly wasn't aware that one of the steps involved filling out a form.

 

[Kwami]

Maybe they now do a 3-way call with DCL so Disney can get verbal verification- that would be possible, I suppose.

That's what I did when I first transferred a reservation to my TA. He called Disney and we did a three-way call to confirm the transfer. No forms necessary.

 

[Punjabi_Express]

The credit is good for two years. The 30-day limit only applies when you transfer a reservation to a travel agent. You have 30 days from when you made the reservation to start the transfer.

Thanks for this. So, hypothetically I could make a reservation a year from now, and the 30 days would be from the date I made the reservation? (As opposed to 30 days from the date I bought the credit?)

 

[HHISand]

We're now using DU as our TA (totally done with using DVC pts.).

Did you use the DVC points through Disney or the new swap program through DVC Rental Store? I am in the process of doing one through the latter and wanted to know if you did and had problems.

 

[Cheburashka]

Thanks for this. So, hypothetically I could make a reservation a year from now, and the 30 days would be from the date I made the reservation? (As opposed to 30 days from the date I bought the credit?)

Whenever you first put down your money, is when the 30 days begins.

 

[Kwami]

Thanks for this. So, hypothetically I could make a reservation a year from now, and the 30 days would be from the date I made the reservation? (As opposed to 30 days from the date I bought the credit?)

No. The placeholder reservation is your reservation, so you have 30 days from when you made the placeholder reservation.

At least, that's how it's supposed to work. I'm not sure that they're always strict about it, though. I made a placeholder back in 2018 and waited many months to book my next cruise and they let me transfer the placeholder reservation to my new travel agent and then make a real reservation through him.

I don't think that the official policy has changed since then, but I can't guarantee that they'll let you do what I did, either.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Did you use the DVC points through Disney or the new swap program through DVC Rental Store? I am in the process of doing one through the latter and wanted to know if you did and had problems.

We own DVC and made reservations thru DVC to DCL. Multiple problems occurred because of the shutdown. The reservations (B2B) were made in March 2019 for the B2B in Sept 2020. The first cruise was to be with family (3-night) and the second cruise was just the two of us (5-night). The family wanted their money back (3-night), and we wanted the 125% FCC (5-night). Dealing with DVC/DCL was a nightmare in July 2020. Maybe going thru DVC RS will be easier on you and a nightmare for them.
DCL treats DVC cruisers like barnacles on the bottom of the ship: have to drag them along with the ride. That's another story we endured with the Fantasy and Hurricane Sandy (2012).
Twice burned, never using points again; besides, it's an extreme waste of money to point value (look at a DVC Fan vlog and Pete W.'s rant on this subject).

 

[Doberge]

I've read too much about DU being difficult or impossible to reach by telephone + wildly different experiences depending on the agent. I've since been scared away from working with DU.

We first booked through Disney and then transferred and later canceled through Costco.

As was mentioned, fully paid reservations cannot be transferred so book IGT/OCT/VGT directly through an agent to receive any credit back.

We've since booked again their Costco over the phone because VGT wasn't pulling on the website. My call was immediately answered and booking was smooth.

 

[SailorsWhyf]

Just wondering, especially for those who cruise often on DCL, which way do you book/make reservation"
1. On line
2. Travel Agent
3. Call DCL directly (hopefully you can get through)

I like to book online. I’m very visual so seeing available staterooms and their location on the ship is a must for me.

 

[Kwami]

I like to book online. I’m very visual so seeing available staterooms and their location on the ship is a must for me.

I also like to see the map of staterooms before I book. Once I've picked a room, I just ask my TA to book that one. Sometimes I'll give him one or two backups, too.