Booking cruise through Disney or Costco?

[UmmGooD]

If you click on the link in post #7 it takes you to another thread discussing Costco as a TA. As someone posted, per Costco's website you have to do the booking completely thru them to get the cash card, you can not transfer an existing reservation to them. This info is provided on their website.

This is incorrect. I just did this. I booked a March 2012 Wonder cruise through costco and got >300 gift card from Costco. While onboard the Wonder I booked again for the Magic spring break 2013 cruise out of Galveston. You tell the onboard person who books your cruise to list Costco as the travel agent.

I then called up Costco when I got home and they were able to successfully move my reservation over since it was already listed as having them as the agent. I am still going to receive my >500 dollar gift card. Now with that said you might want to call Costco ahead of time and ask them what name/address the onboard agent should use for your booking. He asked me when booking and because I didn't know he used the agent's name and address that was on my booking for the cruise I was on and there were no problems. If you didn't book the cruise you are on through Costco then you might have issues when they don't know who to list on the booking.

Another note based on someone else's comment above about the gift card. All Costco cash cards are exchangeable for cash. Go into the warehouse and go to the customer service counter and tell them that you would like cash for your cash cards. They will have to go to a register to get you cash but they will do it. I got our gift cards the week we returned home and I went down and exchanged them for cash so I could buy my wife a new iPad. Since Costco doesn't sell them I took the money to the Apple store and bought one there.

 

[UmmGooD]

One more thing. Since I wanted a good rate on the 2013 cruise I booked through Costco a 4E stateroom the day the reservations opened so I could lock in my price. When I was on the cruise they were unable to apply the onboard booking incentives to my existing reservation since Costco had made the booking . The issue was that the category 4E rooms were sold out when I was onboard so my only option was to book a 4B. I still would save $400 by doing this plus get a onboard discount so it was ok. When I got home I had to call Costco and cancel the previous reservation. The guy on board told me that when I did that I would probably lose my 4E room because often Disney holds back rooms or someone else could grab it out of inventory quickly out from under me. Thankfully Costco called Disney and the guy who released my previous reservation was able to grab the same room and cat 4E from inventory and so I ended up saving about $700 plus I got the $200 OBC and the $500 gift card from Costco.

I just wanted to bring this up because I recommend people book as soon as possible and then try to rebook onboard to see if they can save money but you don't want to risk prices going up more than 10% while you are on board.

 

[jilljill]

This is incorrect. I just did this. I booked a March 2012 Wonder cruise through costco and got >300 gift card from Costco. While onboard the Wonder I booked again for the Magic spring break 2013 cruise out of Galveston. You tell the onboard person who books your cruise to list Costco as the travel agent.

I then called up Costco when I got home and they were able to successfully move my reservation over since it was already listed as having them as the agent. I am still going to receive my >500 dollar gift card. Now with that said you might want to call Costco ahead of time and ask them what name/address the onboard agent should use for your booking. He asked me when booking and because I didn't know he used the agent's name and address that was on my booking for the cruise I was on and there were no problems. If you didn't book the cruise you are on through Costco then you might have issues when they don't know who to list on the booking.

Another note based on someone else's comment above about the gift card. All Costco cash cards are exchangeable for cash. Go into the warehouse and go to the customer service counter and tell them that you would like cash for your cash cards. They will have to go to a register to get you cash but they will do it. I got our gift cards the week we returned home and I went down and exchanged them for cash so I could buy my wife a new iPad. Since Costco doesn't sell them I took the money to the Apple store and bought one there.

I've never booked thru Costco myself. I was just posting what someone else posted and what I read on Costco's website.

To receive your Costco Cash Card, you must book directly through Costco Travel.
Bookings made through Disney Cruise Line or the Disney onboard cruise consultant are not eligible for this Costco Travel benefit.

https://www.costcotravel.com/?h=5&c...976274_650.6008532610722#9_disneyCruiseLine__

 

[UmmGooD]

I've never booked thru Costco myself. I was just posting what someone else posted and what I read on Costco's website.

To receive your Costco Cash Card, you must book directly through Costco Travel.
Bookings made through Disney Cruise Line or the Disney onboard cruise consultant are not eligible for this Costco Travel benefit.

https://www.costcotravel.com/?h=5&c...976274_650.6008532610722#9_disneyCruiseLine__

Yeah from what I understand that used to be their policy. I think Costco got shafted by Disney because of complications with booking onboard and a reduced kickback for the travel agency when someone books onboard. I think either Disney changed their policy recently or they have worked out something so Costco gets the same payment from Disney so now Costco allows for this. Their website might be out of date but as of March I was able to do this specific thing and get almost the same credit I got from my original booking (It was slightly less because the amount I was spending on the cruise was reduced by %10).

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Yeah from what I understand that used to be their policy. I think Costco got shafted by Disney because of complications with booking onboard and a reduced kickback for the travel agency when someone books onboard. I think either Disney changed their policy recently or they have worked out something so Costco gets the same payment from Disney so now Costco allows for this. Their website might be out of date but as of March I was able to do this specific thing and get almost the same credit I got from my original booking (It was slightly less because the amount I was spending on the cruise was reduced by %10).

I think the other issue is that when you name a TA (such as Costco) when booking on board a different set of rules applies than if you don't name any TA and then want to transfer the reservation to a TA.

I had this issue come up when we booked onboard and the TA I named on my booking request was omitted. I couldn't just transfer the reservation to the TA and still get the same OBC. I had to work through DCL to correct the error in naming the TA in the initial booking. I was glad I had kept the paperwork to show I had named the TA onboard. -- Suzanne

 

[blessdmommy]

Yeah from what I understand that used to be their policy. I think Costco got shafted by Disney because of complications with booking onboard and a reduced kickback for the travel agency when someone books onboard. I think either Disney changed their policy recently or they have worked out something so Costco gets the same payment from Disney so now Costco allows for this. Their website might be out of date but as of March I was able to do this specific thing and get almost the same credit I got from my original booking (It was slightly less because the amount I was spending on the cruise was reduced by %10).

I hope Costco's website is wrong on this. I would like the discount and the giftcard.

Well I'll give it a try next month. I booked through Costco for our upcoming cruise and will try onboard booking using Costco as travel agent. I'm glad to hear that there is a chance or else I wouldn't have even tried it.
Thanks!

 

[UmmGooD]

I hope Costco's website is wrong on this. I would like the discount and the giftcard.

Well I'll give it a try next month. I booked through Costco for our upcoming cruise and will try onboard booking using Costco as travel agent. I'm glad to hear that there is a chance or else I wouldn't have even tried it.
Thanks!

Try calling before you get onboard. I would hate for them to put down Costco and then when you call to transfer it doesn't work out. I know for sure mine transferred no problem plus when they cancelled my prior booking for the same cruise they were able to transfer my room. I would ask them their policy and ask them what address/name should be listed on the contract. I know for me the name wasn't simply "Costco" it was a specific name of an employee at Costco.

 

[IFlossU]

This is incorrect. I just did this. I booked a March 2012 Wonder cruise through costco and got >300 gift card from Costco. While onboard the Wonder I booked again for the Magic spring break 2013 cruise out of Galveston. You tell the onboard person who books your cruise to list Costco as the travel agent.

I then called up Costco when I got home and they were able to successfully move my reservation over since it was already listed as having them as the agent. I am still going to receive my >500 dollar gift card. Now with that said you might want to call Costco ahead of time and ask them what name/address the onboard agent should use for your booking. He asked me when booking and because I didn't know he used the agent's name and address that was on my booking for the cruise I was on and there were no problems. If you didn't book the cruise you are on through Costco then you might have issues when they don't know who to list on the booking.

Another note based on someone else's comment above about the gift card. All Costco cash cards are exchangeable for cash. Go into the warehouse and go to the customer service counter and tell them that you would like cash for your cash cards. They will have to go to a register to get you cash but they will do it. I got our gift cards the week we returned home and I went down and exchanged them for cash so I could buy my wife a new iPad. Since Costco doesn't sell them I took the money to the Apple store and bought one there.

This is an old thread, but in researching booking through Costco I found your information incredibly helpful. I love when ALL my questions are answered in a single post.

Thank you for this information!!

 

[Green Tea]

Costco gives you a gift card after you take the cruise, not an OBC.

It must vary by cruise then because I am getting an OBC (around $600 I think) and it can be refunded to me if I have not spent the entire amount at the end of the trip.

 

[Green Tea]

If you click on the link in post #7 it takes you to another thread discussing Costco as a TA. As someone posted, per Costco's website you have to do the booking completely thru them to get the cash card, you can not transfer an existing reservation to them. This info is provided on their website.

The reservation I mentioned in the previous post was transferred to Costco. No problem and everything stayed the same except for the OBC.

 

[kristinfly2]

We booked our 11/03 dcl cruise through costco and we are getting the $500 costco gift card. I did all my own research by calling disney and asking them a TON of questions. Disney was very helpful and answered all of my questions then helped me pick out the best connecting staterooms in our category. Then I called costco and had them book those rooms. When disney offered the special for our galveston cruise i called costco and they got us the discount from disney and we kept all of our original reservation. Same rooms, dining etc. It saved us $1600 but we did have to pay a $25 change fee. I would rather have the costco cash than an obc. We have a family of 8 and will spend the costco cash in a couple of trips!

 

[UmmGooD]

We booked our 11/03 dcl cruise through costco and we are getting the $500 costco gift card. I did all my own research by calling disney and asking them a TON of questions. Disney was very helpful and answered all of my questions then helped me pick out the best connecting staterooms in our category. Then I called costco and had them book those rooms. When disney offered the special for our galveston cruise i called costco and they got us the discount from disney and we kept all of our original reservation. Same rooms, dining etc. It saved us $1600 but we did have to pay a $25 change fee. I would rather have the costco cash than an obc. We have a family of 8 and will spend the costco cash in a couple of trips!

One thing I don't understand is how they do the change fee. I haven't had to pay one yet. I wonder if it is due to how long I have been a member or my membership level.

I wonder if they wave the fee for executive members?

 

[UmmGooD]

It must vary by cruise then because I am getting an OBC (around $600 I think) and it can be refunded to me if I have not spent the entire amount at the end of the trip.

I would call back and make sure you are actually getting an OBC. I have booked many vacations through Costco and have only seen this if they advertise a special cruise.

 

[Nikki'sMommy]

We use a TA I found on cruise compete and have booked our last 3 cruises with them- they offer free travel insurance and a on board credit- my suggestion is to shop around and see what works best for you..

 

[Green Tea]

I would call back and make sure you are actually getting an OBC. I have booked many vacations through Costco and have only seen this if they advertise a special cruise.

Unbeknownst to me when I booked it, they did have group space on the cruise. So I transferred my reservation, got the $600 or so refundable OBC, a $25 OBC and a free photo, I believe.

 

[UmmGooD]

Unbeknownst to me when I booked it, they did have group space on the cruise. So I transferred my reservation, got the $600 or so refundable OBC, a $25 OBC and a free photo, I believe.

That is awesome. I haven't seen one of those yet.

 

[emmebear]

I'm getting a $710 costco gc. very exciting!

 

[kristinfly2]

We are executives members with costco and they still charged us the $25 rebooking fee. We only had to rebook because disney was offering an awesome special on our cruise. We still saved $1600 (2 rooms) and i felt the $25 was worth it to keep our rooms and dining rotation!

 

[Billinaz]

If you click on the link in post #7 it takes you to another thread discussing Costco as a TA. As someone posted, per Costco's website you have to do the booking completely thru them to get the cash card, you can not transfer an existing reservation to them. This info is provided on their website.

You can book onboard, or on your own as long as youname costco as yor travel agent at the time of booking.

I did this on my last booking. I wanted to masure I got the cabin I wanted, and I booked it and named Costco the agent. When I called Costco later they entered the reservation and I paid my deposit with them.

 

[IFlossU]

This is all extremely helpful information. I want to book on opening day, and want to book 2 specific cabins. My only concern is that Costco doesn't open until 7AM PST and I don't want to miss out. I realize it's only a couple of hours after opening, but I'm a nut and want to book ASAP.