Would you cancel and re book?

[Jon G]

We have booked day 1 for the June 1st Med 7nt cruise and the paid in full date is less than 1 month away.

We paid $2300 for an 11B sideways cabin for 2 adults including on board booking discount. We also have $275 on board credit.

There is so much availability that I am guessing there will be some offers to fill the ship. You can guarantee that these will come out after we have paid in full.

I am considering cancelling and taking a chance. We already have booked and paid for the flights so we are going to Barcelona whatever happens.

Has anyone else done this or do you think the price is ok and I should stop looking.

Thanks for any thoughts

Jon.

 

[lanejudy]

I wouldn't cancel the current reservation with the HOPE of something better - you could end up worse off. You are correct that sometimes there are really good *IGT deals that come out after PIF - sometimes good enough to absorb the penalty and re-book. I'd do that if such a good deal were to come out. But I'm not big on gambling for a better deal and prefer the security of what I've already booked.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kcashner]

You are not the only person thinking about this.

 

[disneypoor]

We were in the same dilemma with our upcoming cruise. Our PIF date was Dec. 31st. Some of the offers they come out with can still be applied to your cruise without any penalties. I've called DCL three times to confirm this. For example, I'm fairly certain our cruise is going to end up having a Kids Sail Free promotion, and that is something we can have applied to our cruise even though we've paid in full without any penalties. So, it depends on what promotion you're looking for, but I'd call and ask before you cancel. Hope this helps.

Susan

 

[mkmommy]

I would not cancel, but move your current OBB to a future date, so that if no discount comes out you at least have the 10% discount you can use, to move your reservation back to.

your OBC will go from$275 to $200 though if you move your reservation.

 

[NoodlesMom]

I agree with pp. I wouldn't cancel. I actually did that for my upcoming cruise. I moved my ressie and when the *gt rates came out, my booking with the 10% discount plus obc was cheaper than the IGT rate. I simply moved my ressie back to my chosen date. Keep in mind though that my cruise price had not increased since day one pricing so I knew worst case, I would still be able to get my original price back.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We were in the same dilemma with our upcoming cruise. Our PIF date was Dec. 31st. Some of the offers they come out with can still be applied to your cruise without any penalties. I've called DCL three times to confirm this. For example, I'm fairly certain our cruise is going to end up having a Kids Sail Free promotion, and that is something we can have applied to our cruise even though we've paid in full without any penalties. So, it depends on what promotion you're looking for, but I'd call and ask before you cancel. Hope this helps.

Susan

Kids sail free- you can?
I just today rebooked a cruise we already had booked (but wasn't PIF yet) and we were told we couldn't just apply it to the rooms we already booked. we had to cancel and rebook and take a chance on getting the same room we had booked already. Turned out that the one (with verandah) that we wanted to keep didn't sleep 4 so we had to switch rooms anyway but I wasn't told we could just apply the special to our current reservations.... ?

 

[disneypoor]

Kids sail free- you can?
I just today rebooked a cruise we already had booked (but wasn't PIF yet) and we were told we couldn't just apply it to the rooms we already booked. we had to cancel and rebook and take a chance on getting the same room we had booked already. Turned out that the one (with verandah) that we wanted to keep didn't sleep 4 so we had to switch rooms anyway but I wasn't told we could just apply the special to our current reservations.... ?

Hi! The first CM I talked to told me we could do this "no problem". Then, I had to call for something else, so the second CM I talked to said there would be penalties but that I could do it. I asked if he was sure because I had been told there wouldn't be any penalties and that they could just adjust my reservation. He put me on hold to talk to a supervisor, came back, and told me I was correct. The third time I again called for something else but thought I'd ask again just because , and the CM also said I could keep my reservation, pay no penalties, and they would adjust the price of my reservation. Hope this helps and I hope they are right! If anyone else has firsthand experience with this, please let us know.

Susan

 

[cruisecrasher]

Kids sail free- you can?
I just today rebooked a cruise we already had booked (but wasn't PIF yet) and we were told we couldn't just apply it to the rooms we already booked. we had to cancel and rebook and take a chance on getting the same room we had booked already. Turned out that the one (with verandah) that we wanted to keep didn't sleep 4 so we had to switch rooms anyway but I wasn't told we could just apply the special to our current reservations.... ?

KSF is technically "new bookings only." Sometimes you run into a helpful castmember who can make it happen. Sometimes not. It's more likely before PIF dates, though.

 

[disneypoor]

KSF is technically "new bookings only." Sometimes you run into a helpful castmember who can make it happen. Sometimes not. It's more likely before PIF dates, though.

I hope I get one of the three CM's I talked to then. Our cruise is not filling up at all, so even if we had to cancel and rebook, we'd be fine. However, I will be upset if there are penalties when I've been told there won't be. Actually, saving any money will make me happy, but since three people have told me there wouldn't be penalties even after PIF, I will be a little irked. Let's just hope they come out with KSF for my cruise VERY soon, so I can report back on this thread. If they're going to offer it, it should be sometime in the near future. I'll let everyone know what happens if they do. Thanks!

Susan

 

[kcashner]

The issue of penalties depends on whether you are into the penalty period of not. If you are not in the penalty period and get a helpful CM, they'll make it happen. Technically they cancel and rebook, but they do it as an internal transaction. The less helpful will actually do the cancellation and hope no one takes the room in the next 2 minutes--that's a pain because you'd lose any reservations you made as well.

 

[mkmommy]

Has there been any IGT/OGT/VGT for 2013 cruises?

DCL seems to be on a KSF kick, which would not help the OP, as they are 2 adults. The Fall discounts is a new type of promo , so I think DCL is on a new marketing kick, who knows what will be the promo for slow selling summer cruises.

 

[luv that cruise]

We have 3 rooms that we are letting go of before final payment. did the med a few years ago and spent a lot of time doing research on tours and what my family was interested in and not. My heart is just not into it so i can't see spending the $$$. I predict prices dropping as people drop their reservations. Disney is priced too high and it used to be service that kept me coming back. however the last few cruises had been a let down - the last in the Walt Disney Suite on the Magic. Just feeling that disney has lost the edge. very sad! We are diehard DCL fans with more than 20 cruises. It has changed from a magical vacation to a typical vacation. confirmation with a week in the walt - the worse service ever. They told me that disney doesn't use ice buckets anymore. yet our friends on deck 6-7 got twice a day ice service in the regular ice buckets. don't get me wrong - the room was great but service was lacking. didn't meet the stateroom hostess until day 2. requested ice - didn't get it. the fruit tray rotted and i has to take it to the trash on deck 9 (stench in the suite that housekeeping ignored) as the stateroom hostess didn't empty our trash even once. I could go on and on - but bottom line - No med for us this year.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

The issue of penalties depends on whether you are into the penalty period of not. If you are not in the penalty period and get a helpful CM, they'll make it happen. Technically they cancel and rebook, but they do it as an internal transaction. The less helpful will actually do the cancellation and hope no one takes the room in the next 2 minutes--that's a pain because you'd lose any reservations you made as well.

The latter of which is what we would have done, had the room we already had booked and wanted to keep been able to sleep 4. Your last sentence is how it was described to us- that we'd have to cancel and try to get the same room again, but then I saw it only slept 3 and so that nixed that idea and we just rebooked (and moved our 2 rooms with OBB/OBC to dummy bookings again)
Maybe it's different if it's before PIF date or after. Not sure

 

[clukas]

We have 3 rooms that we are letting go of before final payment. did the med a few years ago and spent a lot of time doing research on tours and what my family was interested in and not. My heart is just not into it so i can't see spending the $$$. I predict prices dropping as people drop their reservations. Disney is priced too high and it used to be service that kept me coming back. however the last few cruises had been a let down - the last in the Walt Disney Suite on the Magic. Just feeling that disney has lost the edge. very sad! We are diehard DCL fans with more than 20 cruises. It has changed from a magical vacation to a typical vacation. confirmation with a week in the walt - the worse service ever. They told me that disney doesn't use ice buckets anymore. yet our friends on deck 6-7 got twice a day ice service in the regular ice buckets. don't get me wrong - the room was great but service was lacking. didn't meet the stateroom hostess until day 2. requested ice - didn't get it. the fruit tray rotted and i has to take it to the trash on deck 9 (stench in the suite that housekeeping ignored) as the stateroom hostess didn't empty our trash even once. I could go on and on - but bottom line - No med for us this year.

I agree 100%, DCL is quickly losing the magic. I just go off the December PC cruise and noticed a drop in quality and service. This was my 7th cruise and it has been falling consistently but has now gotten to a point that I do not see the reason for booking DCL without waiting for a great deal.

I noticed the ice bucket issue, a note at the end stating that anything missing from the room would be added to the onboard charges, lack of customer service, CM's who were not up to the usual DCL standards, lots of cost cutting measures that just seemed to bring down the level of service we expect from DCL.

OK, I'm done. Sorry for going off topic.

As for the original post....decide how upsed you will be if there is a *GT rate that becomes available and you paid $xxx more than those who booked last minute. The other thing I noticed is that the last minute *GT rates seem to have a better chance of upgrade versus a pre-assigned cabin.

 

[kcashner]

I agree 100%, DCL is quickly losing the magic. I just go off the December PC cruise and noticed a drop in quality and service. This was my 7th cruise and it has been falling consistently but has now gotten to a point that I do not see the reason for booking DCL without waiting for a great deal.

I noticed the ice bucket issue, a note at the end stating that anything missing from the room would be added to the onboard charges, lack of customer service, CM's who were not up to the usual DCL standards, lots of cost cutting measures that just seemed to bring down the level of service we expect from DCL.
.

YUP. We cancelled a spring cruise for no reason other than we just weren't excited about going. Never thought I'd say that about a Disney cruise. Rude CM at airport check in last time (Susan), overall reduction in service on the ship, lots of little cost cutting things, decrease in food quality.....just not up to previous standards.

If DCL is "just another cruise line," then we can save about 1/2 of a typical DCL cruise fare by choosing another line.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

ugh! I hope that's not the case on our upcoming Magic cruise.
our first cruise with fiance/his kids was on Fantasy last summer and while we still had a fabulous time... I found myself thinking (and sometimes saying) that I hate that this was their FIRST disney cruise experience. It wasn't quite the same as previous cruises in a variety of areas where CM service was lacking or attitude from CM's for no good reason and such. I shouldn't have to spend the cruise telling newbies in my party the entire time that this isn't the norm, this isn't how it usually is. I was hoping it was just a newer bigger ship though.
If Magic is like that- then yes.. we probably will stop cruising DCL much as it pains me to say that. We were paying extra for the extra that DCL offered (namely the awesome customer service/friendliness/etc.), if that's gone.... then why pay extra for what we can get from another cruiseline? As it is... we're cruising because it's out of Galveston and I'm not sure if at this point right now we would have booked another cruise that included flights for all of us to Florida or whatnot. If this cruise is up to par, then we will incur the flight costs in the future -but we'll see.

 

[Floridagram]

YUP. We cancelled a spring cruise for no reason other than we just weren't excited about going. Never thought I'd say that about a Disney cruise. Rude CM at airport check in last time (Susan), overall reduction in service on the ship, lots of little cost cutting things, decrease in food quality.....just not up to previous standards.

If DCL is "just another cruise line," then we can save about 1/2 of a typical DCL cruise fare by choosing another line.

WOW, I hope someone who cares from DCL is reading this post. I never thought I would hear you say that. I guess as long as they keep getting a lot of first timers that don't know any better they will be fine. But it a lot of frequent cruisers quit going eventually it wll catch up with them.

On a side note, my opinion is that because there are so many ships now (on all lines) and they are so big that they need so much more help that has caused a lot of the lack of service. I think in the past they could have been more selective on who they hired, but now they may have to take who ever they can get to fill the slots. That, couple with they give them too many tables to wait on or too many staterooms to clean.

 

[Sflanigan1110]

I lucked out on finding a less expensive cruise. The day I paid my final amount (which luckily was a week before I deadline) I decided to look online just to see what the current pricing was for our cruise. To my surprise, it was over $1,000 cheaper for our family of five on a four night cruise. I emailed my TA and was able to get the current pricing and got the difference refunded. However, if that had been after my final payment was due I would have had to pay the penalty (which I believe in this case was about $800, so it still would have been worth it to a certain degree).

As pleased as I was that I was able to get my refund, the more I thought about it after reading posts on here the more irritated I have become with the fact that had I not looked I would have never known they were cheaper. After reading everyone else's comments about how their TA is supposed to keep an eye out for cheaper fares makes me irritated that I had to find it.

But when it's all said and done, I saved $1,000 and am still getting a $100 OBC AND am going on a Disney Cruise... LIFE IS OK!!!

 

[kcashner]

WOW, I hope someone who cares from DCL is reading this post. I never thought I would hear you say that. I guess as long as they keep getting a lot of first timers that don't know any better they will be fine. But it a lot of frequent cruisers quit going eventually it wll catch up with them.

On a side note, my opinion is that because there are so many ships now (on all lines) and they are so big that they need so much more help that has caused a lot of the lack of service. I think in the past they could have been more selective on who they hired, but now they may have to take who ever they can get to fill the slots. That, couple with they give them too many tables to wait on or too many staterooms to clean.

I never thought I'd say it. There have just been an increasing number of little things that have been less than wonderful on our last cruise. I know that sounds silly, but it just kinda hit a point where we looked at each other and all came to the same conclusion--we just weren't excited about the cruise. I can't point to one particular "because of this" thing, but there are a bunch of little things that I just find sad--they got rid of my favorite menu item, they don't carry Splenda on the ship so I have to bring my own (don't tell me about NutraSweet yellow; it is nasty), the decreasing service aspects (yes, there are exceptions). It's not that they CAN'T do it because last summer we cruised a different line for a hair over 1/2 the cost of the same cruise on DCL and found better food, etc. The service on the other line was different...I won't call it better or worse because it wasn't. It was just a different system.

We're not canceling DCL to cruise another line at this point....we just weren't feeling the "I can't wait to get back to the ship" emotion that we were used to. So we are just not doing it. We do have future cruises booked on DCL.