Anybody used www.cruisevacationoutlet.com?

[wgeo]

SO we finally decided to go ahead and book our very first cruise!

I just assumed I would use Dreams Unlimited for lots of reasons and filled out their quote form and I haven't heard anything from them yet. Although, they did say it could take 2 days to hear back and it hasn't been 2 days yet! I'm just excited and of course nervous that the category we want would sell out or the price would rise.

So for fun I went to www.cruisecompete.com. We got a quote back from www.cruisevacationoutlet.com that has a very generous OBC offer. From looking at the DU site, this offer is more then twice what we would get from DU. So it makes me kind of tempted. Has anyone used them or heard anything about them?

Thanks!

 

[Holly4]

We used them for our Disney Cruise last August. Great OBC and easy to work with.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks Holly4.

 

[4butlers]

I also went to www.cruisescompete.com and found them this way. I am using them right now for our's! I'm working with Dawn and she's great! And though she specializes in cruises, she did work for Disney Travel for a number of years, so she is familiar with WDW and DCL. I get replies from her within a day. And yes, they offer a great OBC!!

 

[Silstone]

Would they honor OBB? Will be doing our first one on my April cruise and didn't know if they would offer a better OBC.

 

[4butlers]

Would they honor OBB? Will be doing our first one on my April cruise and didn't know if they would offer a better OBC.

I would assume so. Dawn seems very knowledgeable about Disney's OBB procedures and booking dummy dates, etc...
We booked our cruise last fall when Disney was offering reduced deposit and a $25 OBC. She honored Disney's promo and added their own OBC on top of that!

 

[over50visits]

When we used TAs, we had a GREAT couple of experiences with www.vacationstogo.com. They answer the phone, and if your personal TA is out their notes were complete so you could talk to someone else...and they know their business. They offered email if I wanted to do that, although it is much more satisfying to talk with a human that actually gets excited with you!

Had another experience with a TAgency we used once that worked by email only. They refused to provide a phone number to talk with a human, even when I specifically asked because we had a large group and several important questions where the followup depended on the answer. Was not worth any higher OBC they may have offered.

We now go right to DCL. Instant reservations, any answers to questions are from the source, can make changes with a single call...not for everyone, but since we know enough now about cruising on DCL we don't need a intermediary in the form of a TA. However, for many, a TA provides a nice sense of security and support.

 

[dharma517]

Yes and like them very much. Just booked a RC cruise with them. We used Jim.

 

[melissafirsttime]

Thanks for the info on here first time cruiser and I wll check these places out

 

[Meghatron]

If you use vacationstogo.com make sure you get a confirmed reservation number. I know someone who had booked a cruise on the Dream through them and discovered a few weeks later the reservation had not been confirmed with DCL. By the time the mistake was discovered the Dream was sold out and they could only book the Magic, which meant all the flights needed to be changed.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I really planned on using DU, but at least it looks like I have other good options, especially with such nice OBCs.

On a side note - with DU when they say 2 days, does that mean week days? I guess I originally assumed they worked weekends also, perhaps I was mistaken there, in which case I should wait until next week - except we go back to that whole excited to book thing that makes it hard to wait!

Thanks all!
Gina

 

[ajgardner]

This is our first cruise too and we booked it last week through cruise vacation outlet (found it through cruisecompete also). So far they have been wonderful - very fast in replying both with emails and phone calls, knowledgeable, and great OBC ($450 for our cruise, dreams unlimited offered us $200). Happy so far - hope it continues!

 

[SeptBride]

Another big for Dawn at CVO - we've been using her for years and love the OBC!

 

[Subi WRX]

Yup, used them to book a Norwegian cruise. No problems.

To be frank, I'm not sure why DU wouldn't bid through cruisecompete. We've submitted several cruise requests through cruisecompete, and DU hasn't bid once.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Now DU has responded and I have to decide whether to go with them or get twice as much OBC with the other guy. Oh well, feel pretty fortunate to be having to make such tough decisions .

 

[4butlers]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Now DU has responded and I have to decide whether to go with them or get twice as much OBC with the other guy. Oh well, feel pretty fortunate to be having to make such tough decisions .

Honestly, the OBC was a no-brainer for us. We'll be able to do quite a bit with our's! Every little bit helps!

 

[FabFivePA]

Another big for Dawn at CVO - we've been using her for years and love the OBC!

Yep, we use her as well. Haven't seen more OBC anywhere else, that I know about at least.

 

[Princess Bette]

SO we finally decided to go ahead and book our very first cruise!

I just assumed I would use Dreams Unlimited for lots of reasons and filled out their quote form and I haven't heard anything from them yet. Although, they did say it could take 2 days to hear back and it hasn't been 2 days yet! I'm just excited and of course nervous that the category we want would sell out or the price would rise.

So for fun I went to www.cruisecompete.com. We got a quote back from www.cruisevacationoutlet.com that has a very generous OBC offer. From looking at the DU site, this offer is more then twice what we would get from DU. So it makes me kind of tempted. Has anyone used them or heard anything about them?

Thanks!

We have used them before - Dawn Moseley was our agent - she is wonderful! I just talked with her this morning about booking on board when we cruise in 2 weeks. She was very helpful. They honored the OBC when we used them before. FYI - she also does WDW packages and ABD. She informed me she is a prior Disney employee in the reservations dept. and also in administration. She knows her stuff!

 

[irishone21]

Here's a question for you all: We have a cruise booked thru DU already but want a new date/cruise. Out of curiosity, I checked out cruisevacationoutlet.com and got a great OBC offer. Now, here is our issue: Since our ressie with DU is for a concierge level room, we can not just cancel it, cut ties with DU and start again with someone else. However, we can move our ressie do a different date without penalty. Is there a way to do that and take advantage of the great OBC offer from cruisevacationoutlet?

 

[Subi WRX]

Here's a question for you all: We have a cruise booked thru DU already but want a new date/cruise. Out of curiosity, I checked out cruisevacationoutlet.com and got a great OBC offer. Now, here is our issue: Since our ressie with DU is for a concierge level room, we can not just cancel it, cut ties with DU and start again with someone else. However, we can move our ressie do a different date without penalty. Is there a way to do that and take advantage of the great OBC offer from cruisevacationoutlet?

AFAIK, no. Since you are concierge, your reservation # needs to stay the same in order to move your concierge deposit to a new date without losing it. If DU owns the reservation now, they would need to release the reservation back to DCL, and then you'd have to transfer it to the other agency. And then, if you are outside of the new 30 day rule, you can't transfer anyway.