Using Costco Placeholder for Wish

[Dugette]

Hi, all. We're Silver, so can book on Weds. morning. We're looking at the 8/22-8/26 sailing. I'm getting nervous, as I see cruises filling and availability going down and I want to come up with a plan to get the cruise/stateroom type we want. We have a Placeholder cruise through Costco and called them to confirm we can use it. They told us to call back the morning Silver can book. However, from what I can tell, they open at 7am PST and bookings start at 8am EST (we're Central, so 9am vs. 7am here) and online may open even a bit earlier. So, do we just miss out on 2 hours of availability vs. other Silvers because we have to wait for Costco to use our Placeholder? If so, is there any way around this, like booking myself online or holding what we want online until Costco is booking for us? We don't want anything crazy hard to get, but would really like a 4C or 4B family verandah, preferably on the bump-outs. Any advice on how this process works or just general reassuring news like lots of the rooms we want are left?

 

[KantLose]

My understanding is that in order to use an OBB placeholder, they have to be booked through the travel agent (Costco). If your exact desired room isn’t initially available, you could always have them book another family stateroom and then keep an eye on future openings and have them move the reservation.

 

[mama&me]

Yes, to use the placeholder you have to go through Costco. This is what I always do. It is frustrating because they open later and wait times can be longer but it is worth it for me for the discount and the Costco card after the cruise. To give you some peace of mind, I checked for you and there are still family veranda rooms available even some in the bump out areas. Good luck!

 

[Dugette]

To follow up on my post, we finally managed to get booked, but having a placeholder through Costco was a terrible idea. There was no magic in booking the Wish, but at least we managed to.

The quick summary: Any savings from having a placeholder 10% discount was eaten up by the fact that it took Costco 11+ hours to reach Disney (and we were one of their first calls of the day). The fare we paid was only about $100 less than what I could have gotten (as a Silver) online myself yesterday morning without using the OBB discount. But it took several hours on hold with Costco, 12 hours of waiting/anxiety, and escalating to a supervisor to even get our cruise booked yesterday at all - Costco was just going to put it off until today (general public booking) and our cruise was totally sold out this morning before Costco even opened! I hate to complain, but thank goodness we did escalate or we wouldn't be on the cruise at all.

Tip: If you are a glutton for punishment like I apparently am and, at minimum, want to get a cabin you're happy with, put it in your Disney cart online and spend your entire day hitting "change" for the room selection, checking all the open cabins (watching them fill as you wait) and then back to your cart without changing. It worked and we got the cabin we wanted (which is good because there was nothing else left that matched our criteria by the time they got a hold of Disney). We didn't get the dinner seating we wanted or the pricing Silver should have gotten us, but at least we have the room.

 

[Winston Wolf]

Yep, that's one of the Costco Travel drawbacks. (I say that as someone who has booked EVERY cruise with them). Pre-COVID they used to open at 5am PST. Hopefully it goes back soon.

 

[mama&me]

Wow! 11 hours is a long time!! I'm glad you got your roomed booked.

 

[Dugette]

Yep, that's one of the Costco Travel drawbacks. (I say that as someone who has booked EVERY cruise with them). Pre-COVID they used to open at 5am PST. Hopefully it goes back soon.

Oh, wow, that actually explains a lot. We've only booked one other cruise with Costco (our 2019 Alaskan, no placeholder to use then) and I don't remember having any issues. But, they must have opened much earlier then. Gosh, if they could have even just had one person start the call to Disney early on these early booking days, they could have had a lot more happy customers. Hope they go back to earlier hours soon!

 

[Dugette]

Wow! 11 hours is a long time!! I'm glad you got your roomed booked.

Thank you! I appreciate your response earlier too! So glad we at least came away with a room we like!

 

[JWG]

Yea, I'd suggest a real travel agent for cruising if you care about the early booking windows.

 

[LovesBelle]

Like you, I have decided that booking on opening day with Costco is just not worth the aggravation, even with an OBB discount. Instead, I've booked online directly with Disney on gold opening day (which takes no time), and then transferred to Costco after so that I still get the Costco gift card (which you can do in the next 30 days). It's a shame to not use the OBB credit, but after wasting so much time just as you describe, watching the prices go up and the cabins disappear, I've decided I just don't want to deal with it. I am thinking I might book onboard in the future if I could actually book something on board (as in, book an actual cruise right then with the discount, but not something I have to phone in to do later), but otherwise, no. I've also wondered if Disney insists on having people call to use the OBB just to make it harder to use. If they ever let us use it on their website instead, that would change everything!

 

[Dugette]

Like you, I have decided that booking on opening day with Costco is just not worth the aggravation, even with an OBB discount. Instead, I've booked online directly with Disney on gold opening day (which takes no time), and then transferred to Costco after so that I still get the Costco gift card (which you can do in the next 30 days). It's a shame to not use the OBB credit, but after wasting so much time just as you describe, watching the prices go up and the cabins disappear, I've decided I just don't want to deal with it. I am thinking I might book onboard in the future if I could actually book something on board (as in, book an actual cruise right then with the discount, but not something I have to phone in to do later), but otherwise, no. I've also wondered if Disney insists on having people call to use the OBB just to make it harder to use. If they ever let us use it on their website instead, that would change everything!

I am totally with you on all of this now! I wouldn't chance doing this again. If only I had just booked what I grabbed online yesterday morning...the stress level in our home was out of control after 12+ hours of this. And, like you said, we still could have gotten the gift card too and had a much better day. We also had a conversation about how the phone requirement seems to be a way to make placeholders worth less than you'd think because you have to wait while prices rise. Disney and Costco both came out better with the higher prices. But we just traded a ton of time for almost no discount.

 

[Dugette]

Quick follow up. When we had talked to Costco Travel's supervisor last week, he indicated that they were unwilling/unable to do anything to offset the price increase that the wait caused. He was very clear that this is Disney's fault. So, I had emailed Disney Cruise Guest Services. They just called me back today. Surprise, surprise - they claim it is Costco's fault and are also unwilling to do anything about it. So, both parties basically said, "tough luck, not our fault." While they both walked away with more money from us because of the systems they set up to prevent us from booking with our discount online/in a timely manner.

BUT, this Disney person told me (and repeated many times) that if I had actually booked the cruise online that I held in my cart all day, they would have (in conjunction with Costco) adjusted the price of the cruise we were booking with Costco to be that fare and placeholder applied. He didn't care at all that I have screenshots galore of the cruise in my cart along with prices - I went through part of the checkout process that morning, but didn't complete because Costco was supposedly booking our cruise and I didn't want to take two rooms out of the pool for other Silvers trying to book. But he told me that is exactly what I should have done.

I don't really believe that they would have done any price adjustments had that been the case, but I really can't tell you for sure, as I can't go back in time and do that. But what I can do is pass on what they told me: go ahead and book your cruise online and then call for your placeholder to be used and Disney says they will adjust the price you had booked for the placeholder, not use the price at the time the call gets through. Again, I don't actually believe him, but if he's willing to say it to me several times, I'm willing to post it here. YMMV. Either way, if I could go back in time, I would book the cruise myself online - either they really would adjust for the placeholder or, if not, at least the final net price would be about the same as what we'd get by the time we got through on the placeholder call with way less stress and time commitment.

Summary: If you like to waste time and money and enjoy stress...book a placeholder and try to get some value from it, following all the rules of how you are supposed to use it (call). If you value your time and money, book online and see what you get.

 

[Dug720]

Summary: If you like to waste time and money and enjoy stress...book a placeholder and try to get some value from it, following all the rules of how you are supposed to use it (call). If you value your time and money, book online and see what you get.

OR use a real Travel Agent at a smaller agency and you can actually get value from that OBB without the aggravation of having to deal with the big box "call us morning of, wait for us to answer, and then wait for us to try and get through after you've given us your information." I don't see how a gift card is worth all the aggravation we consistently hear about with Costso on opening day.

 

[mama&me]

I totally get how frustrating it must have been to wait soooo long and only have the placeholder save you $100 but I thank you for sharing your experience so the rest of us can learn from it.
My experience was a little different. When I booked my EBTA, I was on hold for 5 hours. Luckily for me the price did not go up, I got the cabin I wanted, and the seating I wanted. My 10% saved me $600 and my CashCard will be $500. I booked on Gold Day so maybe that made a difference or maybe the Wish cruises were in such high demand. Anyway, I’m sorry it was such a bad experience and hope you have a great cruise to make up for it.

 

[Dugette]

OR use a real Travel Agent at a smaller agency and you can actually get value from that OBB without the aggravation of having to deal with the big box "call us morning of, wait for us to answer, and then wait for us to try and get through after you've given us your information." I don't see how a gift card is worth all the aggravation we consistently hear about with Costso on opening day.

And that's a valid and reasonable option. In my case, I can't go back in time to that Alaskan cruise and not attach my placeholder to Costco, so I'm posting this as a warning to others that are either obligated to Costco already or considering it in the future. I did research, both back then and recently, and didn't find anyone else sharing what I am or warning against these risks of using Costco/placeholders - that's why I'm posting this - for anyone who is making similar decisions in the future. For those of us that have to maximize the savings options to meet our travel budget, any extra deals are worth looking at, including hundreds of dollars in gift cards that can be used for essentials, like gas (which is what we did with our Costco gift cards from the Alaskan cruise). However, even budget-minded people like me have a breaking point where an entire day of my time is not worth $100 in savings - and I want to make sure others know this can and does happen - it's a gamble.

I totally get how frustrating it must have been to wait soooo long and only have the placeholder save you $100 but I thank you for sharing your experience so the rest of us can learn from it.
My experience was a little different. When I booked my EBTA, I was on hold for 5 hours. Luckily for me the price did not go up, I got the cabin I wanted, and the seating I wanted. My 10% saved me $600 and my CashCard will be $500. I booked on Gold Day so maybe that made a difference or maybe the Wish cruises were in such high demand. Anyway, I’m sorry it was such a bad experience and hope you have a great cruise to make up for it.

Thanks for sharing your experience! So glad it worked out so much better for you - I was certainly hoping for an experience closer to that. I would guess the combination of gold vs. silver and new vs. existing cruise ship may have made the difference. The Disney person that called me specifically said they were overwhelmed with Wish bookings to a level they didn't anticipate, even with both online and phone booking options available, so that may have played into how poorly this went. I am hoping I can clear this experience from my head by 2022 and fully enjoy the cruise...the Wish does sound amazing!

 

[Dugette]

Epilogue: When I talked to the Disney representative the other day, he ended the long, frustrating call by saying they just could not do a price adjustment and, "that's what you're looking for, right?" I replied, exhausted, "At this point, I'd take, like, some cheese in our stateroom." He replied by saying he would escalate it to his leader. I had zero hope, other than maybe a piece of cheese showing up in our stateroom in 2022, lol. Well, I am pleasantly surprised that I got a call back today from both Disney and Costco jointly...and they'd decided to adjust the price to what it was that morning, when I put it in my cart online (plus OBB discount). I am shocked! Obviously, happy with this outcome and glad they actually worked together to resolve this. But still would caution anyone in a similar situation - the risk and the related stress is no joke. And certainly no guarantee that they'd make another "one time exception", as he called it. I just wanted to post this to wrap up a story I was sure was over. Grateful that it has a better ending now.

 

[Winston Wolf]

Epilogue: When I talked to the Disney representative the other day, he ended the long, frustrating call by saying they just could not do a price adjustment and, "that's what you're looking for, right?" I replied, exhausted, "At this point, I'd take, like, some cheese in our stateroom." He replied by saying he would escalate it to his leader. I had zero hope, other than maybe a piece of cheese showing up in our stateroom in 2022, lol. Well, I am pleasantly surprised that I got a call back today from both Disney and Costco jointly...and they'd decided to adjust the price to what it was that morning, when I put it in my cart online (plus OBB discount). I am shocked! Obviously, happy with this outcome and glad they actually worked together to resolve this. But still would caution anyone in a similar situation - the risk and the related stress is no joke. And certainly no guarantee that they'd make another "one time exception", as he called it. I just wanted to post this to wrap up a story I was sure was over. Grateful that it has a better ending now.

Nice. Glad to hear it all worked out. Learning from your experience, I think if I find myself in the same situation, I'll book online to hold *A* reservation at the lowest cost, then get a hold of Costco travel to see if they can work with Disney to move my placeholder discount and benefits. If so, you can always cancel that first cruise booked and get your $ back. If not, at least you can make a decision on which is the less expensive route. It's absurd that this is what you have to do...but it's the system we're working with for the moment.

 

[BrandyMcD]

Here is a further word of warning for those trying to find a workaround: I faced these same challenges in March trying to get a verandah for an Alaska cruise. I finally panicked and placed a "hold" on a room so I wouldn't lose all possible options. But then, when Costco finally tried to make my reservation, they couldn't, because you can't have two rooms reserved with the exact same passengers. AND the Costco rep was not allowed to cancel the hold because they weren't the agency that placed it. And *I* couldn't cancel the hold because it could only be done by phone with Disney and of course the Disney lines were completely tied up. It took forever, but Costco was able to get a Disney rep on the phone with me at the same time so that I could verbally tell them to cancel the originally hold.

It wasn't worth it. I will only give Costco my placeholders if I don't plan on an opening day booking. This isn't a new problem. The long wait times happened in 2019 (there's a thread here if you search).

 

[tinkerone]

I don't really believe that they would have done any price adjustments had that been the case, but I really can't tell you for sure, as I can't go back in time and do that. But what I can do is pass on what they told me: go ahead and book your cruise online and then call for your placeholder to be used and Disney says they will adjust the price you had booked for the placeholder, not use the price at the time the call gets through. Again, I don't actually believe him, but if he's willing to say it to me several times, I'm willing to post it here. YMMV. Either way, if I could go back in time, I would book the cruise myself online - either they really would adjust for the placeholder or, if not, at least the final net price would be about the same as what we'd get by the time we got through on the placeholder call with way less stress and time commitment.

Summary: If you like to waste time and money and enjoy stress...book a placeholder and try to get some value from it, following all the rules of how you are supposed to use it (call). If you value your time and money, book online and see what you get.

NO! Don't do this.
Things got confusing on our next cruise, I was booking three cabins. I booked the cabins I wanted however one of my placeholders didn't get applied. The TA called DCL to have it applied but DCL said they couldn't just apply it, they would have to cancel the sailing and rebook. They made sure I was aware that between the time I canceled and rebooked, maybe 5 minutes, someone else could book that cabin and I would be out of luck. This all took place on Platinum opening day (not for the Wish, for Fantasy) so there was no price difference to it and everything worked out.
If I was anything below Platinum and I wanted a cabin for sure, I would not do what that agent told you because as you get down the line to the lower levels there is so much more competition for the cabins.
YMMV

As a side note, we use Costco Travel and have never had much of an issue. No more wait time then I have had trying to get through on the phones myself on opening day. We book everything with them, we have 5 upcoming booked through Costco, not all DCL but all booked on opening days. I love those Costco GC's.