Placeholder

[4 mickey]

Explain to me place holder
I used to go sit down with cast meme de of dcl to book my next cruise
well that is over tgey say and you have to buy a placeholder

sonif I got this right
you pay 250$
you get 10% upon your booking
you get two years to use it
so if I book a for example a 4000$ cruise
They give me 400- offf that cruise ?
and take the 250- as a deposit ?
thanks

 

[Aby]

Yes, you pay $250 to book a placeholder. When you decide what cruise you want, you call DCL and you will get 10% of the cruise fare only (not the port fees). The deposit for that cruise is only 10% of the cruise fare instead of the usual 20% - if your $250 dollars that you already paid covers the whole deposit, then you won't owe anything else, but if it doesn't, you will just need to pay the difference.

So in your example your cruise fare was $4000, you would get $400 off, for a total of $3600 + port fees. The deposit due would be $360, and so you would need to pay the addition $110 to cover the remaining bit of the deposit.

And yes, you have 2 years to use the placeholder - you just have to BEGIN the cruise before the 2 years is up.

Make sense?

Aby

 

[Skippyboo]

You can book the placeholder in the DCL navigator app while on the ship. They send you a confirmation email. You have to call DCL to book the cruise you want to take.

 

[Mommb]

If you have booked the current cruise through a travel agent, a placeholder you book will be assigned to that travel agent. I can’t remember if there is an option to opt out of that. You would then need to book the actual cruise through that travel agent.

As of now, you can’t book a specific cruise with the onboard booking discount while you are onboard — you can only book a placeholder and convert to an actual reservation later.

 

[plutolovr]

Yes, you pay $250 to book a placeholder. When you decide what cruise you want, you call DCL and you will get 10% of the cruise fare only (not the port fees). The deposit for that cruise is only 10% of the cruise fare instead of the usual 20% - if your $250 dollars that you already paid covers the whole deposit, then you won't owe anything else, but if it doesn't, you will just need to pay the difference.

So in your example your cruise fare was $4000, you would get $400 off, for a total of $3600 + port fees. The deposit due would be $360, and so you would need to pay the addition $110 to cover the remaining bit of the deposit.

And yes, you have 2 years to use the placeholder - you just have to BEGIN the cruise before the 2 years is up.

Make sense?

Aby

The 10% deposit is only applicable to cruises of 7 nights or longer. Shorter cruises still require the 20% deposit.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Explain to me place holder
I used to go sit down with cast meme de of dcl to book my next cruise
well that is over tgey say and you have to buy a placeholder

sonif I got this right
you pay 250$
you get 10% upon your booking
you get two years to use it
so if I book a for example a 4000$ cruise
They give me 400- offf that cruise ?
and take the 250- as a deposit ?
thanks

Generally yes, except the $250 is applied toward the deposit. The total deposit will be either 10% or 20% of the base cruise fare: 10% for cruises of at least 7 nights and 20% for cruises shorter than 7 nights. So in your example of a $4000 cruise, the total deposit would be either $400 or $800 depending on cruise length and you would pay the balance of the deposit after deducting the $250 at the time of booking the cruise.

 

[RedHead0186]

If you have booked the current cruise through a travel agent, a placeholder you book will be assigned to that travel agent. I can’t remember if there is an option to opt out of that. You would then need to book the actual cruise through that travel agent.

Yes, when you book the placeholder it asks if you want to have it assigned to the same travel agent that booked the cruise you're currently on.

 

[CarolynFH]

New question - the $250 placeholder is per cabin, not per person, right?

 

[Aby]

New question - the $250 placeholder is per cabin, not per person, right?

Yes, per cabin.

 

[Bonnie1222]

New question - the $250 placeholder is per cabin, not per person, right?

Correct, however the app now gives you the chance to book 2 rooms ($500). But I believe both must be booked at the same time for the same cruise. We just got off the Fantasy and MIL went with us - we each had a room but our reservations were combined. I am not sure if that is why I had the option for 2 rooms or if that is just the new way to do it. MIL had the same option on her app as well.

 

[lanejudy]

I am not sure if that is why I had the option for 2 rooms or if that is just the new way to do it.

That's been the placeholder/OBB rules for years now -- 2 staterooms per address (represented on the current cruise) with both expected to be used on the same future cruise. So assuming you and MIL live at different addresses, you could have made a combined 4 placeholders.

 

[Bonnie1222]

That's been the placeholder/OBB rules for years now -- 2 staterooms per address (represented on the current cruise) with both expected to be used on the same future cruise. So assuming you and MIL live at different addresses, you could have made a combined 4 placeholders.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[71 Truck]

If you are going to book a place holder do not wait till the last day. Even tho you do it on the app instead of the desk that was on deck 4 or 5 you cold have a problem.

When we went to book it on the app, at first it was not giving the button to confirm it. Then the button popped up but it still did not let us book it after trying several times.

It told us to go to guest services. While there they were not able to reset something on the app that would have let us book the placeholder. If it had worked we would have been able to book it but it didn't.

The guest service cast member sent a email to shore side to take care of it for us.
The next day we received an email letting us know the place holder was done but we had till a certain date to call DCL to make payment or they would cancel it.

 

[n2mm]

Placeholder question. I’ve used them for years, but now have a question. If my daughter and I share a cabin can we both buy our own placeholder? Different addresses. We are both adults. Im the lead on one cabin and my husband is the lead on a different cabin. Pretty sure my husband can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins and I can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins. but my adult daughter wants to buy her family a single placeholder. With the 4/5/6 nights on the fantasy, we’ve been using more placeholders than usual For b2b cruises. My daughter doesn’t travel with us all the time. Usually once a year.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Placeholder question. I’ve used them for years, but now have a question. If my daughter and I share a cabin can we both buy our own placeholder? Different addresses. We are both adults. Im the lead on one cabin and my husband is the lead on a different cabin. Pretty sure my husband can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins and I can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins. but my adult daughter wants to buy her family a single placeholder. With the 4/5/6 nights on the fantasy, we’ve been using more placeholders than usual For b2b cruises. My daughter doesn’t travel with us all the time. Usually once a year.

The policy says:
The offer is valid for up to 2 staterooms on one sail date per household onboard regardless of the number of adults in the household.

I understand this to mean you may make 2 placeholders to be used on the same future cruise, but your husband may not. If your daughter has her own address, she can book up to 2 placeholders to be used on the same future date. Not necessarily the same future day you book.

 

[n2mm]

The policy says:
The offer is valid for up to 2 staterooms on one sail date per household onboard regardless of the number of adults in the household.

I understand this to mean you may make 2 placeholders to be used on the same future cruise, but your husband may not. If your daughter has her own address, she can book up to 2 placeholders to be used on the same future date. Not necessarily the same future day you book.

Thanks for posting. My husband and I are in separate rooms on two separate reservation numbers. I know only one set of two if we are in the room together on the same reservation. Ill check with my TA too. We’ll certainly try. This will be on our March 2024 cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks for posting. My husband and I are in separate rooms on two separate reservation numbers. I know only one set of two if we are in the room together on the same reservation. Ill check with my TA too. We’ll certainly try. This will be on our March 2024 cruise.

I'm fairly certain it means "per household onboard" (or address) without a further stipulation of "per reservation". Please let me know what they find out.

 

[n2mm]

I'm fairly certain it means "per household onboard" (or address) without a further stipulation of "per reservation". Please let me know what they find out.

I certainly will pass any info on. I usually book my placeholders on my phone, and they are always in my name, but in November I used my husbands phone to book our placeholders and they were both still in my name. So guessing it books the lead guest on the placeholders. My daughter may have to go to guest relations to book hers so it comes in her name. We are both Pearl members so started booking our two cabins in each of our names so that both rooms get the free picture perks and early boarding.

 

[RedHead0186]

Placeholder question. I’ve used them for years, but now have a question. If my daughter and I share a cabin can we both buy our own placeholder? Different addresses. We are both adults. Im the lead on one cabin and my husband is the lead on a different cabin. Pretty sure my husband can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins and I can buy a placeholder for 2 cabins. but my adult daughter wants to buy her family a single placeholder. With the 4/5/6 nights on the fantasy, we’ve been using more placeholders than usual For b2b cruises. My daughter doesn’t travel with us all the time. Usually once a year.

You and your daughter can both book up to two placeholders, since you have different addresses. My parents and I do this all the time.

 

[Bruce66]

Be aware that when booking a placeholder if you assign it to TA you may not be able to change that option after the fact (even within the 30 day period). You will need the cooperation of the TA. Some TA's will not release them back to you. In the app its a simple yes/no question but can have potentially a large ramifications for you if you need to change it later. The app does not explain those implications to you.

Edited: Removed rant.