Dreams Unlimited vs. Small World Vacation

[AlexandNessa]

Originally Posted by ekatiel

Have you tried www.cruisecompete.com? They will send you quotes from about 5 different agencies, then you can compare and choose. The prices will be the same (unless an agency is unaware of a particular discount like Kids Sail Free), but the OBC usually differs. --Katie

This is a GREAT FREE SITE! Set up an account. Pick your cruise (ship and date), # of people going and ages, what type on room you want (be specific and use category room names (eg. Use cat4a vs. balcony). Put in your past pax#. Fil in anything you want in the comment field. Quotes will come in and they are to include your "all in" price (taxes,fees, etc. However, your price will NOT include insurance or transfers). They will also list your incentives they are able to offer (eg, OBC, free gratuities, free excursions, etc).

Just used this to book a cruise (not Disney) & saved 1100$ over current brochure rate. With Disney, your bang for your buck will be with the incentives.

[bats]

We used to use DU but no longer .. We use a company who are apparently not allowed to be named on this board. Have used them almost since the day they set up due to the bad behaviour from DU.

We have personally met our TA and she understands what we want ..we don't need to remind her of dinner seating nor about transfers, insurance or the like.

We are getting married in 2015 and she is not only handling all of the bookings, but she is invited too!!!

Each person will have a different view on each agency, but I think it's wise to ask them all for a quote and although you can ignore the price, it's what the customer service is like for me, then the onboard credit.

It seems that all are equal but some are more equal than others. Such a shame that suspensions are given to those who name their agency.

[pershing]

I have used DU for several cruises. They are fabulous. I have had 2 TA's. Both were great. I have Kelsie now and she is wonderful. Especially as I have switched things a million times (rooms, dates, etc). So patient with me.

I have not had the new room gift baskets yet from DU. I hear they are wonderful. I thought the past ones were wonderful!

I also like that the Dis Welcome Center is at Port Canaveral. I feel that if I had a last minute crisis, I could just show up there and ask for help. Or maybe I could call them from the terminal and they could come down the street.

I haven't tested that one out, thank goodness, but it's in the back of my mind as a nice security blanket!

btw DU is more than email. There is a phone number on your client service page if you needed to talk to someone right away. I have used it before as I tend to pay with Disney Gift Cards and pay last minute. Mostly I email.

[JimGA]

We are currently using DU and have had no problems.

[AudreyKThompson]

We are "using" www.SmallWorldVacations.com, but they haven't done anything for us to date since we rebooked online. I had heard they gave in room gifts - - - does anyone know? What kinds of things have you gotten?

[sjlnv]

Tracy Desjardin at Small World Vacation. She is the best. In the last week I have changed my cruise 4 times, and she did all the work. She got us a better deal then our onboard credit, so she pushed that resi to next yr, and then booked us our new cruise. She is amazing to work with! Also Small world puts a gift in your stateroom on return. So if you book with them this time, your next cruise, even if you book and transfer to them, you get their gift on that cruise! Mouse Saver also recommends Small World!

[hoff41]

I always wonder this: why are certain travel agents not allowed to be posted about on this site (they are blocked with *** when mentioned)? Because obviously DU allows competition since there SOME that are allowed.

[buggysmom1218]

I used Anne Cook for my cruise in April 2012 and loved her!! She answered all my questions even if I asked the same one more than once (I was really concerned about whether or not we needed passports)!! I would recommend her to anyone. I will actually be using her to book my next cruise for next spring.

[MND]

Originally Posted by everythingdisneyfan1

Hi there- we are looking to get the best rate possible on our cruise, and have considered quotes through Dreams Unlimited, Small World Vacations and Costco. What experience do you have with any of these agencies? All quotes are relatively the exact same with the same offerings, so I'm wondering how to choose on (literally two of them have the exact same quote & OBC offerings). Is OBC negotiable? Will TAs add on upgrades or extra OBC for booking with them over another one to secure business? I typically do my own bookings, but was considering a travel agent this time around.

Thanks for any info you can offer!

I got a quote from Dreams Unlimited once and they were horrible! Slow to respond and tough to deal with. I'm sticking with my AAA TA.

Mike

[sham10299]

Originally Posted by MND

I got a quote from Dreams Unlimited once and they were horrible! Slow to respond and tough to deal with. I'm sticking with my AAA TA.

Mike

That's interesting. I did the opposite. After a disaster when booking one of our trips to WDW with our local AAA TA, I chose DU for our cruise. The AAA TA, was extremely rude and incompetent. I made out better booking myself on previous trips and seemed to know more about the process than she did. I only used AAA during the Disney month for the perks which I found out were the same perks I previously got from Disney, except the AAA logo was added to them. I wrote an email to complain about a month before our trip, and the main office called me as I was getting off Splash Mt. and wanted to discuss the matter. Their fix was to send me a free photo album and a $50 coupon for another booking with their agency that expired in 6 months. So in other words, I had to give them more money and time to "save" $50. I vowed never to use AAA again. So far, DU has been wonderful! Fingers crossed.

[CBEB]

DU has been awesome for us. We've booked 8 cruises and 3 Adventures By Disney trips using DU and all has been flawless. When I want to make a change, add an extra night, just have a question, whatever... they respond very quickly - always within 24 hours, almost always within just a few hours!

We've never tried another agency - started with DU because of these fantastic DISBoards. We really appreciate their sponsorship as each of our vacations has benefited from all of the pre-info we gather from the DCL and ABD boards. Also can't complain about the nice on board credit they give us!

[AudreyKThompson]

Originally Posted by sjlnv

Tracy Desjardin at Small World Vacation. She is the best. In the last week I have changed my cruise 4 times, and she did all the work. She got us a better deal then our onboard credit, so she pushed that resi to next yr, and then booked us our new cruise. She is amazing to work with! Also Small world puts a gift in your stateroom on return. So if you book with them this time, your next cruise, even if you book and transfer to them, you get their gift on that cruise! Mouse Saver also recommends Small World!

Hi! Perhaps I will request Tracy, then . . . I am still confused about the gifts, though- do we get one for this cruise? or only for the next cruise if we rebook onboard? What kind of gift is it? My parents are first time Disney cruisers, so I want it to be extra special . . .
Thanks for the info!

[lucky1]

Originally Posted by AudreyKThompson

Hi! Perhaps I will request Tracy, then . . . I am still confused about the gifts, though- do we get one for this cruise? or only for the next cruise if we rebook onboard? What kind of gift is it? My parents are first time Disney cruisers, so I want it to be extra special . . .
Thanks for the info!

If you are talking about a castaway club gift, you on receive that on your cruises after the first. As for gifts from a travel agent that really depends on the travel agent. When we booked our very first DCL in 1999, the travel agent (not sure they exist any more) sent us an in room gift. (I don't believe they had Stateroom credit). That is generally no the norm, most offer stateroom credit based on the length of the cruise and the class of stateroom. When we booked our next cruise with Tanya as SWV, we just received Stateroom credit, but the next 3 cruises we have received a stateroom gift. That might just be something she does but not sure it is something that SWV does.

[mommy2twingles]

I am a little annoyed with DU. This is our first cruise but I did use them years ago on a WDW trip. I am using gift cards to pay for my trip that I purchase at Target. I use my red card combined with my pharmacy rewards to get a discount. Of course since they only come in $25 or $50 increments I usually have 20 at a time ($1000). I felt like I was being reprimanded the other day by my agent for using this many. She is stating that Disney only allows 10 cards a day. I have never been told this by any one else and know that there are quite a few people on the boards who also pay with gift cards they also get from Target.

Just puts a bad taste in my mouth and I don't see using them in the future

[Steve BWV'99]

Originally Posted by eemaxx

We have used Dreams Unlimited many, many times and our agent, Merrie Thomas, is the best! She answers emails at night and on weekends and finds things out for you if she doesn't know off hand (silly things- like "is the hair dryer on the wall in the bathroom or in a drawer?") Also, we've gotten OBC both times we've booked cruises with them and even a complimentary bottle of champagne on our first cruise. Also fabulous for WDW trips. If a lower room-only rate is released, they will credit your reservation.

ITA Merrie has been a great agent, very responsive and great to work with. We recently booked our 2nd cruise with Merrie again!