Who are the best onboard credit travel agents ?

[Cocolynn]

Hi, I have worked with small world vacations and found them not very good. All in all, in the past 2 cruises with them, different agents were not available when I needed them, gave incorrect information to me, reported incorrect passport information to Disney and refused to get me money back when a disney rate dropped. Told me it wasn't possible and I ultimately went ahead and contacted disney directly and got it done. Using them ended up being alot of extra work for me.

What travel agency do you use? Do you know of any that have more onboard credits being offered than another?

Thank you!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Dreams Unlimited, who sponsor the cruise section here

 

[ArielRae]

We have used Magical Journeys Travel for many years now for both WDW and Disney Cruise vacations. Their onboard credit is a little less then dreams unlimited Tavel but found Magical Journeys more attentive then Dreams. Tried a few times a couple of years ago with dreams to book WDW trips and Cruises before but they never returned our emails or was terribly slow with their communication with us (Weeks before returning emails).

 

[OKW Lover]

Highly recommend www.DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com They are the sponsors of the DIS Boards and I like to give them my business as a show of support. They provide an excellent OBC and great service.

 

[rosiect]

That’s really disappointing to hear. I’ve used Small World for 15 years and have been quite pleased with their services and reliability.

 

[SL6827]

I will say this. Dreams will factor in the taxes and such in when determining your OBC. Haven't found another yet that will do that.

 

[isabellea]

Dreams Unlimited for us. I plan all my WDW trips myself but I like to have a TA for DCL.

 

[grantclaire]

Another vote for Dreams Unlimited!

 

[insureman]

Actually Pete Werner co-owner of Dreams owns the Disboards. They also have a very informative and entertaining podcast, The DisUnplugged.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

We use Costco, which offers a Costco Shop Card for a whopping 8.5% of the base cruise cost instead of onboard credit. You have to spend the shop card at Costco, and since we're not regular shoppers there, we tend to spend it on gasoline at their pump, or electronics.

Since we're executive members, we also get an additional 2% back at the end of our member year. When you add this to the 10% onboard booking discount, it's like getting 20% off the cruise. Worth it for us.

One nice thing about Costco Travel is that you aren't limited to a single agent, so you can call them up at any time you want and talk to someone right away. Their call center is always open when DCL's call center is open. It can add to call waiting time, though, as you have to call them (& wait on hold to talk to them), then they call DCL while you're on the phone (& you have to wait for that). I've heard waits are bad when new itineraries are released, but have never booked via phone with them on a release day myself.

If you ever plan to use them and don't have a placeholder, I recommend just booking online via the DCL website, then transferring the booking (within 30 days) to Costco, as the savings are exactly the same whether you initially book through them or transfer the booking to Costco.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Can anyone share roughly what kind of OBC you get with DU, and do they book other cruise lines? I'm thinking of using them the next time I book.

 

[ArielRae]

Can anyone share roughly what kind of OBC you get with DU, and do they book other cruise lines? I'm thinking of using them the next time I book.

Here is a link to their onboard credit graph. Just scroll down to your cruise price then across to see what your ship board credit would be if it was a new booking or rebooking on board.
https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/disney-cruise-line/discounts-specials.htm
Here are the other cruise lines they book.
https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/dcruise/

 

[cvjw]

Just looked at our upcoming fantasy cruise in May for DU onboard credit. Each cabin is $4350 - we have 2 adjoining cabins.

Per the chart for DU, we would earn $200 per cabin if booking thru their agency.

We booked with Costco. We are getting $330 in Costco rewards per cabin. Plus 2% back for being an executive costco member.

So, a total of $740 back from Costco vs $400 from DU. Almost double back from Costco.

We also get 3% back for using the Costco visa to pay, so another $261 back. $1000 back from Costco on this cruise. Pretty good rewards when you add it all up. We also booked onboard, so disney gave us 10% off the cruise fare and $200 per cabin in onboard credit

Oops, my math was wrong. We will be getting $1100 back from Costco, not $1000. Makes booking with Costco even better!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just looked at our upcoming fantasy cruise in May for DU onboard credit. Each cabin is $4350 - we have 2 adjoining cabins.

Per the chart for DU, we would earn $200 per cabin if booking thru their agency.

We booked with Costco. We are getting $330 in Costco rewards per cabin. Plus 2% back for being an executive costco member.

So, a total of $740 back from Costco vs $400 from DU. Almost double back from Costco.

We also get 3% back for using the Costco visa to pay, so another $261 back. $1000 back from Costco on this cruise. Pretty good rewards when you add it all up. We also booked onboard, so disney gave us 10% off the cruise fare and $200 per cabin in onboard credit

Costco does have a great cashback reward for members. However, if you're not a member (which costs $60 for basic and $120 for that executive membership), then you have to add in the cost of getting a membership to get the rewards.

Also, if you are a person who really just needs a TA that will take care of your booking, and you want someone to talk you through your decisions, because you may be new to sailing (or resorts or whatever you are booking) and you like a person who knows who you are and what your family needs are, then Costco is not for you.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Just looked at our upcoming fantasy cruise in May for DU onboard credit. Each cabin is $4350 - we have 2 adjoining cabins.

Per the chart for DU, we would earn $200 per cabin if booking thru their agency.

We booked with Costco. We are getting $330 in Costco rewards per cabin. Plus 2% back for being an executive costco member.

So, a total of $740 back from Costco vs $400 from DU. Almost double back from Costco.

We also get 3% back for using the Costco visa to pay, so another $261 back. $1000 back from Costco on this cruise. Pretty good rewards when you add it all up. We also booked onboard, so disney gave us 10% off the cruise fare and $200 per cabin in onboard credit

Costco does have a great cashback reward for members. However, if you're not a member (which costs $60 for basic and $120 for that executive membership), then you have to add in the cost of getting a membership to get the rewards.

Also, if you are a person who really just needs a TA that will take care of your booking, and you want someone to talk you through your decisions, because you may be new to sailing (or resorts or whatever you are booking) and you like a person who knows who you are and what your family needs are, then Costco is not for you.

Also Costco is only available to people who live in America. Anyone can book with Dreams Unlimited, no matter what country you live in and receive the onboard credit

 

[MillauFr]

We use Costco. I want the biggest discount and don't need them to provide any advice

 

[Dan1]

We use Costco, which offers a Costco Shop Card for a whopping 8.5% of the base cruise cost instead of onboard credit. You have to spend the shop card at Costco, and since we're not regular shoppers there, we tend to spend it on gasoline at their pump, or electronics.

Since we're executive members, we also get an additional 2% back at the end of our member year. When you add this to the 10% onboard booking discount, it's like getting 20% off the cruise. Worth it for us.

One nice thing about Costco Travel is that you aren't limited to a single agent, so you can call them up at any time you want and talk to someone right away. Their call center is always open when DCL's call center is open. It can add to call waiting time, though, as you have to call them (& wait on hold to talk to them), then they call DCL while you're on the phone (& you have to wait for that). I've heard waits are bad when new itineraries are released, but have never booked via phone with them on a release day myself.

If you ever plan to use them and don't have a placeholder, I recommend just booking online via the DCL website, then transferring the booking (within 30 days) to Costco, as the savings are exactly the same whether you initially book through them or transfer the booking to Costco.

How does one ‘transfer’ a cruise booked directly on dcl’s web site to Costco to get the Costco gift card, etc?

 

[dcassetta]

Email them at cruise.questions@costcotravel.com and they will send you the transfer form. You must have booked the cruise within the last 30 days to transfer it.

 

[cvjw]

You can also call Costco travel and they will email the form. You just fill it out with your cruise info, email it back and the cruise is transferred to Costco travel. Has to be done within 30 days of booking. Very easy process.

 

[Mrlogboy]

Highly recommend www.DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com They are the sponsors of the DIS Boards and I like to give them my business as a show of support. They provide an excellent OBC and great service.

Another vote from me for dreams unlimited travel