Booking cruise through Disney or Costco?

Not having a Costco nearby, I looked at SAMs and found out they no longer do travel!

Went online and looked at what my 3 night would give me. $190 cash card. I know dreams unlimited would only give us $100 I currently have 25 online book, $75 visa and a $100 photo package thru AAA. A little more and would have bought a membership!
 
We had booked onboard and kept moving the date until the date we wanted was released. I kept reservations with DCL until about 4 months prior to cruise then after a lot of shopping around found that Costco hands down had the best incentive. Everyone offered between $75-$125 obc. Costco offered $380 cash card. We rec'd the card 2 days after we got back. We could have easily spent the card there but decided to "cash" it out. No issues whatsoever.

I do find that they are not as knowledgeable but it's only a phone call for them to call DCL and get an answer.

We rebooked but did not place Costco as our TA. We will probably book in 2014 so we want the flexibility to call DCL directly. As soon as we confirm our date we'll transfer it then to get add'l $.
 
If I call and book directly with DCL on opening day can I then transfer my reservation to Costco and still receive the cash card?
 
If I call and book directly with DCL on opening day can I then transfer my reservation to Costco and still receive the cash card?

We did just that. As long as your reservation is not paid in full. For us we had only paid the deposit. DCL did not let Costco do this before. I heard maybe about a year ago could you again book initially with DCL then transfer to Costco and get whatever perks they offered.

You will have to fax in a transfer form stating Costco is your new TA.
 


I just hung up with Disney. I had another TA for my 2013 sailing. They told me I had to have them release my reservation back to me. Once that is done I need to complete a form and fax it to disney and then Costco can be the new agent. I'll still get my 10% off and $200 OBC as well as whatever Costco has to offer. I feel bad taking it away from my current Ta as I've used them for the past 4 years. Unless they can match Costco, I have no choice.
Thanks everyone!
 
I just hung up with Disney. I had another TA for my 2013 sailing. They told me I had to have them release my reservation back to me. Once that is done I need to complete a form and fax it to disney and then Costco can be the new agent. I'll still get my 10% off and $200 OBC as well as whatever Costco has to offer. I feel bad taking it away from my current Ta as I've used them for the past 4 years. Unless they can match Costco, I have no choice.
Thanks everyone!

I doubt most will match. Costco gives back almost the entire commission. My TA that I use for Carnival cruises (Costco no longer sells Carnival cruises) says it's hard to compete with them.
 


I agree with you. How can they compete with $500?
It's a shame, for the TA because I'm pulling 4 cabins from them. However, it's way too much money for me to give up.
Another reason I LOVE Costco.

By the way, has anyone ever used their travel insurance? The prices seemed great for my parents since you are not paying based on age.
 
I agree with you. How can they compete with $500?
It's a shame, for the TA because I'm pulling 4 cabins from them. However, it's way too much money for me to give up.
Another reason I LOVE Costco.

By the way, has anyone ever used their travel insurance? The prices seemed great for my parents since you are not paying based on age.

I have never used theirs. We've always purchased ours through insuremytrip and it's worked out very well. I am sure Costco's is good as well. They usually stand by their products/services.

4 cabins that a lot of money to save!
 
I just hung up with Disney. I had another TA for my 2013 sailing. They told me I had to have them release my reservation back to me. Once that is done I need to complete a form and fax it to disney and then Costco can be the new agent. I'll still get my 10% off and $200 OBC as well as whatever Costco has to offer. I feel bad taking it away from my current Ta as I've used them for the past 4 years. Unless they can match Costco, I have no choice.
Thanks everyone!

Wow! What a fantastic deal for you! It's too bad about your previous TA, but it seems in this situation the benefit of switching is clear. I'm really impressed with both Disney and Costco for working together, and allowing people to get the maximum savings. It seems now a days that's a rare thing. This entire thread has made me more convinced than ever that I want to book with Costco.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences.
 
I am thankful Disney let's Costco do this. Apple wasn't as nice and ended up pulling all of their product from Costco's shelves because Costco was putting too big of a discount on it.
 
I don't see why how it would affect Disney. The credit Costco gives in the form of a gc is for their store. It really has nothing to do with Disney.
Actually, I would be more willing to book another cruise knowing that I won't have to buy groceries for a month due to the Costco gc.
 
I don't see why how it would affect Disney. The credit Costco gives in the form of a gc is for their store. It really has nothing to do with Disney.
Actually, I would be more willing to book another cruise knowing that I won't have to buy groceries for a month due to the Costco gc.

It is a cash card which can be traded for cash even if you aren't a member. If you give someone a cash card from Costco they don't even need to be a member to exchange it for cash. So it is slightly different than a gift certificate that you can only use in one place.

The reason why it can effect Disney is if Costco undercuts all of the other TA's then it is possible that Disney could loose the backing of TA's that actually help promote the Disney cruises. From what I can tell is Costco doesn't promote the disney cruises much beyond having a little spot for them in their travel brochure you can pick up in the warehouse.

You wouldn't think it would hurt Apple either but they were threatened that it would drive the price they were collecting for their products.
 
It is a cash card which can be traded for cash even if you aren't a member. If you give someone a cash card from Costco they don't even need to be a member to exchange it for cash. So it is slightly different than a gift certificate that you can only use in one place.

The reason why it can effect Disney is if Costco undercuts all of the other TA's then it is possible that Disney could loose the backing of TA's that actually help promote the Disney cruises. From what I can tell is Costco doesn't promote the disney cruises much beyond having a little spot for them in their travel brochure you can pick up in the warehouse.

You wouldn't think it would hurt Apple either but they were threatened that it would drive the price they were collecting for their products.

I agree with the other poster, this has nothing to do with DCL and I don't see it as a threat to undercut other TA's. I was going to use Costco one time and didn't like the long hold times on the phone - this was before internet booking a big part of business. I prefer to use the same person for all correspondance and not be bounced around from operator to operator every time I call. Plus now that Costco charges for reservation changes it makes me want to use them even less.
Plus, I want to use a TA that has firsthand knowledge of the product they are selling and has a good repoir with DCL or any other cruiseline that I want to sail.

Also, I believe you have to be a Costco member to use their travel services and there are many people around the country that aren't members. So it's not like just anyone can call up Costco Travel and book a cruise like you can with other TA's.

Of course, this is all my opinion which may or may not differ from others.
 
PPs are correct, you must be a member to book with them, you talk to a different person every time you call- I even requested just one person to deal with and they said - NO - no biggie for me, they know nothing about DCL - so keep that in mind, basically as stated they put you on hold then call DCL, longest hold time to get through to Costco for me was 15 minutes - shortest 7 minutes, as stated you can cash out your Costco Card for cash, they are pleasant though every time I have called fwiw.

My latest call I was trying to prepay my tips. I actually was trying to tweak the tip amounts above the recommend and have a nice round #. Different amounts for each position and different amounts than DCL suggests. They said if I prepay tips it can only be the suggested/what gets charged automatically amount. I just placed that round # on my on board account instead of technically prepaying the tips. I figure that's where they get charged to anyway.

ETA; I am not an Executive Costco member. I believe those members get 2-5 % cash back @ store. Anyone know if that applies to cruises too + the healthy Costco Cash card? I suppose the answer is no just like DCL combining offers.
TIA
 
Do you get the cruise docs and all when you book through Costco? I don't know why I am worried about those but it just seems official when you get them. Also I tried booking through Costco and didn't see an option for transfers. Can I call Disney to get those added?
 
Thanks to this board I was able to transfer 2 cabins to Costco. :worship::cool1: Nice savings w/ the Cash Card. I paid w/ a Disney Visa, would I stll get the $50 OBC for paying my deposit and remainder w/ the Disney Visa?
 
The insurance Costco offers can be added at the time of final payment and includes pre existing conditions, so it is pretty unique in that regard.
 
Do you get the cruise docs and all when you book through Costco? I don't know why I am worried about those but it just seems official when you get them. Also I tried booking through Costco and didn't see an option for transfers. Can I call Disney to get those added?

If you mean the booklets with the luggage tags then yes you still get those documents.
 

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