military discount question

[armywife2001]

Does anyone know when military discounts usually come out? Right now the website says only sailings through December 2012.

I asked my travel agent and she said she thinks they only offer them Oct/Nov/Dec...is this true?? Seems odd that they would only have military discounts for 3 months out of the year!

 

[our2disneygirls]

We used the military discount for our first cruise in June 2009, so it is offered other dates. I think it depends on how well cruises are selling. If Disney releases them, it seems to be anywhere from 2 to 4 months out. If you already have a reservation, you may not save any money because the discount is based on the current price.

Good luck!

 

[snickerdodo]

we are retired air force and we check the mto on dcl all the time. they have discounts whenever they can. we are going on a ny cruise in a week via military discount.. just keep checking .. they change all the time..

 

[ADandBsmommy]

They have them all through out the year and are an amazing deal. We were going to use it for our California Coast cruise but then dh was not able to travel with us due to something coming up at work and unlike theme park tickets you can only use the discount if the member is traveling with you.

 

[sinnika]

We have used the military discount on the DCL Med cruises in May 2010 and June 2011. Both times, we had the cruises booked but were able to change to the military rate. We just booked the 7 night Haloween cruise on the Magic out of Galveston. For some reason that cruise has a cheaper MTO rate than the other MTO rates offered on the other October Magic cruises. The MTO discount is now for new bookings only, but may be worth paying the penalty and rebooking depending on how much the savings are. The military member must sail, but may also book 2 additional cabins for friends or family using the MTO discount. . Disney limits the discount to a certain number of cabins so I have seen the MTO rate quickly go on some cruises.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

oops

 

[sissy_ib]

I have been told that dependents, with ID, can also use the military rate. I am using it next month for a Pacific Coast cruise, and my DH is not going.

Make sure to put MTO in the special offers available box on the bottom left.

From DCL's website

Special Military rates are available to all retired and active U.S. Military personnel, including U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, U.S Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Department of Defense personnel. Active and retired members of the U.S. military must provide valid identification at time of check-in. This offer is limited to a maximum of 3 staterooms per military member, per sailing. A U.S. Military service member is required to sail to take advantage of this offer. Activated members of the U.S. National Guard or the U.S. Army Reserve must also show active duty orders (active duty papers must be dated as of January 1st of the previous year to qualify).

I hope it works out for you!

We are trying to go on the November 3th cruise out of Galveston. We are still waiting on DH's unit to give him the ok on his leave! I am very impatiently waiting! I keep checking the DCL site to make sure the discount is still there!

 

[Camonkeygirl]

From DCL's website


I hope it works out for you!

We are trying to go on the November 4th cruise out of Galveston. We are still waiting on DH's unit to give him the ok on his leave! I am very impatiently waiting! I keep checking the DCL site to make sure the discount is still there!

I am double checking on it with my friend and her travel agent.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I am double checking on it with my friend and her travel agent.

The military person definitely must sail. Dependent ID's are not sufficient.

Does the average person that checks you in know the difference between a Dependent ID card and a military member ID card? No. So I'm sure people have sailed before without the military member, but that is definitely not DCL's rule.

Whomever told you it was okay may have been confusing the policy with WDW's policy where the spouse's ID will work for the military salute tickets.

 

[jilljill]

I am double checking on it with my friend and her travel agent.

You could call DCL and ask so you don't have to wait for them to get back to you with an answer.

 

[shburks]

You could call DCL and ask so you don't have to wait for them to get back to you with an answer.

Hope you report back! I'm a military spouse whose dh is prepping to deploy for a year. Planning a cruise for midtour but would like to know that I could book/sail in case I am able to book a mil rate but dh's plans get messed up, etc

 

[armywife2001]

Yeah, our TA told us when I asked about the military rate that if one came out before we paid in full, we could rebook with it and she really emphasized the fact that DH would have to be with us. Not that we would ever go without him! We made sure our insurance would cover us if his leave was revoked at the last minute (they can't put in leave until a month out)

I check the MTO code daily but still nothing past December. All sailings in 2013 say 'sold out' which I'm pretty sure just means 'not available yet'.


Another question though....if AFTER I'm paid in full and a discount comes out, can I cancel and rebook using the new discount? How much do the cancellation fees usually cost? I'm pretty sure it would be worth it because the codes for this November cut the fare about $1000.

 

[jilljill]

Yeah, our TA told us when I asked about the military rate that if one came out before we paid in full, we could rebook with it and she really emphasized the fact that DH would have to be with us. Not that we would ever go without him! We made sure our insurance would cover us if his leave was revoked at the last minute (they can't put in leave until a month out)

I check the MTO code daily but still nothing past December. All sailings in 2013 say 'sold out' which I'm pretty sure just means 'not available yet'.


Another question though....if AFTER I'm paid in full and a discount comes out, can I cancel and rebook using the new discount? How much do the cancellation fees usually cost? I'm pretty sure it would be worth it because the codes for this November cut the fare about $1000.

Check DCL's cancellation policy on their website. The amount you would forfeit would depend on how far out you would be cancelling. The least amount you would lose would be the 20% deposit.

 

[ADandBsmommy]

I have heard of multiple occasions where spouses have attempted to travel with their ids and at port have had to pay the difference which would totally stink... I personally think it is a bad rule and it should be the same across the board one way or the other for all their military discounts (wdw, cruise,etc...) but I would sure hate to get to the port and have to spend more money to cruise after thinking one thing.

 

[calygirl724]

Yeah, our TA told us when I asked about the military rate that if one came out before we paid in full, we could rebook with it and she really emphasized the fact that DH would have to be with us. Not that we would ever go without him! We made sure our insurance would cover us if his leave was revoked at the last minute (they can't put in leave until a month out)

I check the MTO code daily but still nothing past December. All sailings in 2013 say 'sold out' which I'm pretty sure just means 'not available yet'.


Another question though....if AFTER I'm paid in full and a discount comes out, can I cancel and rebook using the new discount? How much do the cancellation fees usually cost? I'm pretty sure it would be worth it because the codes for this November cut the fare about $1000.

We had this happen to us on our Alaska cruise in May. After we were paid in full, they released the military rate and we were told that in order to get the discount we had to cancel (forfeiting the 20% cancellation fee) and rebook. That also meant losing our dining spot (which first dining was already full), palo reservations, and all booked port excursions. Since we had booked an inside room, and the MTO rate was only available on verandah rooms and higher, we decided to forgo the military rate and stick with our original booking, but we were not at all happy with DCL's policy.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

arghhh
I just read this thread and I'd never looked at military rates before- fiance is veteran marine though. so I just checked and it says can book thru Sept 2nd? REALLY? I barely missed it..... what a bummer LOL

well wait that's thru Dec 2012. so I wonder when they might offer military rates for 2013? do y'all check daily to find out when or is it usually like this one a few days in the middle of the year that you can book military rate cruises?

 

[bpokornik]

I have also been watching for Military rates---
I have not seen any dates for December like someone else has mentioned.
Where did you see Dec dates That are out of TX?

 

[sinnika]

I have also been watching for Military rates---
I have not seen any dates for December like someone else has mentioned.
Where did you see Dec dates That are out of TX?

No MTO rates for December out of Galveston. I think I saw an MTO rate for the beginning of December on the Mexican Riviera cruise out of LA. Don't depend on what DCL posts under specials for military discounts. It is often not up to date and sometimes does not include all eligible cruises. The discounts can be very random and if you are looking to sail a few months out or already have a cruise booked and are eligible for a military discount, check frequently on your own by plugging in the code.

 

[llqool]

I have found that the DCL site does not always update their "Special Offers" page with all the dates for the military rates. I have found the rates sometimes just by trial and error (trying all sorts of different ports/dates/ships with the MTO code). I wish they had a better search engine so that you could just input the MTO code and see everything that is out there.

The rate for our Nov cruise out of Galveston was something like 66% off. I checked back and it beat a KSF offer that we used last year to go to Alaska. *And* we have a verandah.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I watch these all the time. We sailed the Med last summer 7/11 with an MTO. The trend I have seen is they offer a discount once the PIF date has passed for a particular sailing. I feel certain it's based on how well the cruise is selling.

They do not always offer them of course. Last spring they were offered on the first few Alaska sailings but then none were offered for Alaska during June, July or August.

And I find as others have said it's almost easier to just plug in MTO in the search on their site and see what comes up because they don't always update the offers page. I also read and found to be true that they update on Tuesdays with new offers. But I literally watched the special offers page daily when waiting for the Med discount last summer and sure enough it the Tuesday the week after the PIF date.

Good luck! Those current Galveston discounts are insane! I wish we were closer to Texas! My fingers are crossed for next year July Med dates. But who knows!