Aussies who do you book your DCL cruise with?

[orion2185]

for all the Aussies out there...wanting to know who do you use to book your Disney cruise?
I'm an American who just moved to Australia and Im Looking for an Aussies based company who can book DCL holidays...with an office that we can visit
Found a couple online only agents..but looking for a retail shop that we can go in and pay.

Trying to avoid those foreign transaction fees and bad conversion rates.

Thanks

 

[LivingforDisney]

Most Aussie travel agents don't know much about Disney Cruises or WDW for that matter.
Someone on here might be able to suggest one.
I was going to book my cruise with Disney on line, but then decided to do it with Dreams Unlimited to get the on board credit.
Haven't had any problems so far, she always answers my emails.
Yeh, know what you mean with the Aussie dollar, but if you book at a TA they are usually much more expensive anyway. Like if you ask them to book a hotel ,get the price in AUD , go online see what it is in US and then go yo currency converter, I have found it cheaper to do online US.
Gotta add in bank charges as we'll

 

[orion2185]

Thanks for your reply
Don't need someone who knows about DCL
Just need someone who can book it/make reservation.

Hummmm
So looks like any Aussie agents won't be offering onboard credits?
That's a bummer

We have used DReams unlimited in the past
But requires credit card payment which equals credit card fees, overseas transaction fees, and conversion fees and bad exchange rates

Looks like online still might be the best deal

 

[aussie shaz]

Orion. Why don't you get a 28 Degrees MasterCard. There are no conversion fees, no overseas transaction fees, no ongoing fees, and the exchange rate is really good.
We've used it for online payments anytime we buy something that's in anything other than AUD. We've also used it in the US twice and in Bali twice. Never a problem.

 

[WearegoingtoAmerica]

Hi Orion,
I booked our cruise through Dreams Unlimited but was asking questions about Disney cruises on another thread, and people were recommending Ainsley from mypersonaltravelplanner.com.au. She is based in Toowoomba. I have never used her though.

 

[Royal Consort]

I'm an American who just moved to Australia

Firstly, welcome to Australia!

Im Looking for an Aussies based company who can book DCL holidays...with an office that we can visit
Found a couple online only agents..but looking for a retail shop that we can go in and pay.

Trying to avoid those foreign transaction fees and bad conversion rates.

Unfortunately there's not too many ways to avoid this. Australians booking anything Disney have long had to pay the conversion fees etc when booking anything from the U.S.
Even with the conversion fees, it works out cheaper than booking through Flight Centre for instance.

 

[orion2185]

Thanks everyone for your messages

Will have to look into that MasterCard..did not know about it
Sounds like a good option

have always found it best to exchange when the rate is good and keep it until needed. As at some point will need the US dollars..and we always get good exchange rate. Plus it's a great way to budget and save for your next trip. Sort of like a piggy bank concept

 

[lffam]

Another +1 for 28 Degrees Mastercard. It has served us well. You get fee free foreign currency conversions and a great FX rate to boot. No Frequent Flyer point earn if thats important to you.

Prior to Jan 2014 it used to be even better as you could withdraw cash from it without cash advance fee, which meant you could preload it with your own funds and then withdrawing cash when you are over there - much like the Qantas/Virgin/travelex cashcard but with none of the fees and better FX rates. Thats all changed now as they treat that as a cash advance, even though it's your own money and charge a fee, but it is still a great card as a traditional credit card for OS currency transactions.

disclaimer : There are some risks associated with preloading a credit card eg you are not usually fraud protected for your own funds so its not for everyone. and Ive heard anecdotal bigger issues, but I have never had a problem doing it.

 

[AussieMumma]

Our travel agent from Flight Centre is able to book Disney Cruises but her prices are dearer then what we can get through DCL and don't include any onboard credit, I don't think any Aussie TA's can get that
We have a Bankwest Platinum credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.

 

[LisaAJ]

We booked through Magical Mouse Holidays and got an onboard credit. They are an online company but based in Sydney. We got a CBA travel card and changed a heap of $USD while the rate was good. Then we used that card to pay for the cruise, WDW etc and didn't pay any extra fees.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Hi Lisa, how was the cruise?
Did everything go to plan with your trip?