Please advise - Book now, re-shop later?

[Silverfox97]

OK, just how quickly do you guys think the 2012 schedule is going to fill up??? Reason I am asking.....we are interested in booking a 7-night eastern for Summer 2012, which will be on the Fantasy. We want main dining, and also the cheapest cat 5E (between June 16-Aug 11), which looks to be June 16. DH wants to wait until our Jan 3rd cruise to book to get the 10% discount and the OBC. I know a lot of you book now and re-shop your reservation on board. I would book thru DU and I think this would complicate things on board, as the TA controls the reservation. Or, do you just book thru DCL, then on board, cancel the reso, re-book, then name your TA then??

Seriously, in all honesty, do any of you think this is really necessary to do now? I mean, it's almost 2 years away. Do you think that between now and Jan 3rd, it is going to fill up that much???? (Especially a verandah room, not an inside room).

TIA!!!

 

[itutorfortravel]

If it were me, I would book it now and take your reservation with you when you go on your cruise. That is what I have done in the past.

They will re-process your reservation and apply the 10% discount and OBC credit.

The one thing to keep in mind is that while onboard they will base your price on current availability and pricing. So, if your cat costs more by then you will pay the higher fare, but with a discount it may still come out less AND you will get an OBC.

On the other hand, if you wait until January to book and your desired cat is not available, you will have to make a choice of another cat or not going if you are not pleased with the options.

The only downside I can see to booking now is that you would have to pay a 20% deposit vs. 10% while onboard. That might be more $ than you want to tie up right now. But I have had luck in the past getting DCL to refund part of my deposit when switching a reservation to a shorter cruise and dropping ppl. from the reservation, thus making the amount I had to have down less...

Just my 2 cents...others may have differing opinions.

 

[itutorfortravel]

If it were me, I would book it now and take your reservation with you when you go on your cruise. That is what I have done in the past.

They will re-process your reservation and apply the 10% discount and OBC credit.

The one thing to keep in mind is that while onboard they will base your price on current availability and pricing. So, if your cat costs more by then you will pay the higher fare, but with a discount it may still come out less AND you will get an OBC.

On the other hand, if you wait until January to book and your desired cat is not available, you will have to make a choice of another cat or not going if you are not pleased with the options.

The only downside I can see to booking now is that you would have to pay a 20% deposit vs. 10% while onboard. That might be more $ than you want to tie up right now. But I have had luck in the past getting DCL to refund part of my deposit when switching a reservation to a shorter cruise and dropping ppl. from the reservation, thus making the amount I had to have down less...

Just my 2 cents...others may have differing opinions.

Oops...just saw that you will be booking through a TA. That might be another issue entirely. I always book on my own so I can have control over my reservation. Hopefully someone who has done what you are asking can come along to help. Good luck!

 

[Silverfox97]

Thanks. That is why I am wondering if it's even necessary -- when we went on our Aug cruise, we waited to book our Oct 2011 cruise. The price was still the same, and we even got our secret verandah room. We booked, named our TA, voila -- double up OBC, 10% off and it's all good HOWEVER, we booked for off-peak time (DD will be in pre-school and can miss 5 days of that!!).

I suppose I could book on my own, then re-shop on board and name my TA at that time??

Confused!!! I guess I could just see how quick the ship is filling??

 

[itutorfortravel]

I remember when I had them process my reservation online they did ask if I was working with a TA, so maybe you could name your TA at that time, though I'm not sure how that would work with the TA perks since it would not be a new reservation (assuming you book it yourself now).

 

[Silverfox97]

BUMP. Any one else ever done this?

 

[AmandaRG]

I just finished booking with my TA for March 2012. On our 3/2011 cruise, I will check to see what is available and will book on board if it is a better deal. If it is I'll book it and come home and cancel the first. I might have two ressies for a bit, but since it will be before any penalties any little "hassle" is worth it to us as we do get OBC with TA and I know that prices are low now. If prices stay low, we still win.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

OK, just how quickly do you guys think the 2012 schedule is going to fill up??? Reason I am asking.....we are interested in booking a 7-night eastern for Summer 2012, which will be on the Fantasy. We want main dining, and also the cheapest cat 5E (between June 16-Aug 11), which looks to be June 16. DH wants to wait until our Jan 3rd cruise to book to get the 10% discount and the OBC. I know a lot of you book now and re-shop your reservation on board. I would book thru DU and I think this would complicate things on board, as the TA controls the reservation. Or, do you just book thru DCL, then on board, cancel the reso, re-book, then name your TA then??

Seriously, in all honesty, do any of you think this is really necessary to do now? I mean, it's almost 2 years away. Do you think that between now and Jan 3rd, it is going to fill up that much???? (Especially a verandah room, not an inside room).

TIA!!!

What do you mean reshop????
Can you just take a rezy along and ask them to replace it ,like cancel that and rebook it if it is going to be cheaper, will they do this?
Seems like a win win situation.

 

[NancyIL]

I booked the Feb. 2011 Dream last November with a travel agency, then rebooked it onboard the Wonder in December. It's not a problem to do so - even when already booked with a travel agency. You might get charged the deposit again (as I was), and then have to cancel the original reservation to get the first deposit credited.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

I booked the Feb. 2011 Dream last November with a travel agency, then rebooked it onboard the Wonder in December. It's not a problem to do so - even when already booked with a travel agency. You might get charged the deposit again (as I was), and then have to cancel the original reservation to get the first deposit credited.

Thanks,

 

[Silverfox97]

I booked the Feb. 2011 Dream last November with a travel agency, then rebooked it onboard the Wonder in December. It's not a problem to do so - even when already booked with a travel agency. You might get charged the deposit again (as I was), and then have to cancel the original reservation to get the first deposit credited.

Thanks Nancy!

 

[HallsofVA]

If you can afford paying the higher deposit now, I'd recommend booking it now, since you are talking a summer cruise, and then try to rebook it while onboard. And if your plan is to ultimately use a TA, then you may want to book through the TA now as well, though you'll likely have to pay the deposit again (though at 1/2 what you'd pay now) and then get your original deposit refunded back to you.

My recommendation is based on my own experience. I had my TA book the 8/16/11 Dream cruise for me the day bookings opened at the beginning of November 2009. That cruise was especially popular because it was the cheapest 5nt cruise during the summer. I booked one of the 9A rooms at 7:45am, and that category started selling in GTY status by 8:30am since there are so few rooms in that category. That category continued to be available in GTY status until 12/10/09. We sailed on the Magic on 12/12/09. By that point, the cruise had sold out of oceanview cabins, and all that was left were verandah cabins. I wasn't able to rebook my reservation onboard, because it didn't make financial sense to rebook it since I would have had to pay more and take a different category than I would have saved. 10 months and 2 more cruises later, and that cruise is sold out to cat 4, and prices have risen, so I still can't rebook it (though I did make a dummy booking should prices ever come back down.)

Also, had I waited until after I cruised and was unable to rebook the reservation to transfer the reservation to a travel agent, there's no guarantee that the TA would accept the transfer and offer me their full OBC since it wouldn't be a new booking eligible for full commission.

We have no idea if the cruise you are looking at will sell out, or have a price increase before your next cruise. If you don't want to pay the 20% deposit cost in full now, you could try to hedge your bet by reserving the room you're interested with just 1 person in advance, and then rebook when onboard adding the rest of your party at that time.

 

[Silverfox97]

I can tell you all a lesson that I learned on our Aug cruise - from now on, we will book dummy dates!!!!! Then, this won't be an issue again!!!

We cruised in August, and booked our Oct 2011 cruise on board, naming our TA (getting full OBC, plus TA benefits!). We toyed with booking another cruise on board, but didn't, as the line at the on board booking desk grew and grew and grew. We got home, 3 days later, booked our Jan 2011 cruise with our TA. Worst part is, we knew then that we'd book a 7 night if available in the summer 2012. This is why dummy dates are so important!!!

I am not really concerned about paying the 20% deposit. I am not even worried about the date so much -- it just happens to be the cheapest of the 5 summer break eastern cruises. We'd prefer a cat 5E room, but if it wasn't available, we'd be OK with a different cat. I am just more concerned with 1) main dining, and 2) receiving full OBC from my TA, because that really helps us with tips, Palo, etc. (Plus, I love using a TA -- help at your fingertips.) So, I guess I can book now with our TA (who happens to be a DU TA), then re-shop in Jan. DH is telling me no no no........wait until Jan....it's 74 days away.....

 

[Suz D]

BUMP. Any one else ever done this?

We're planning to do the very same thing as you are thinking of. I booked the 6/9/12 Fantasy this morning for the four of us. I sent my TA an e-mail and told her I wanted to check onboard when we sail (with you!) on the 1/3/10 cruise.

She told me that we should book today to hold the early booking price. Then to check onboard and see how the price after the discount and OBC compares to what we got for our 6/9/12 cruise. If it's a better deal to rebook onboard then she said to do that, name her as the TA and contact her when we get home and she'll cancel the one we made today & refund the deposit to my CC. Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

Incidentally, our price today was $3979 for a 10A for 2A 2CH (5 & 16 at the time of sailing).

See you soon!

 

[catzle]

We did this last year. It worked perfectly. They even asked us on board if we already had a TA. They want to make sure it gets to the people you always use. So we booked today for June 29, 2012 and then when we cruise in May we will rebook to get the on board credit etc.

 

[HallsofVA]

I can tell you all a lesson that I learned on our Aug cruise - from now on, we will book dummy dates!!!!! Then, this won't be an issue again!!!

We cruised in August, and booked our Oct 2011 cruise on board, naming our TA (getting full OBC, plus TA benefits!). We toyed with booking another cruise on board, but didn't, as the line at the on board booking desk grew and grew and grew. We got home, 3 days later, booked our Jan 2011 cruise with our TA. Worst part is, we knew then that we'd book a 7 night if available in the summer 2012. This is why dummy dates are so important!!!

I am not really concerned about paying the 20% deposit. I am not even worried about the date so much -- it just happens to be the cheapest of the 5 summer break eastern cruises. We'd prefer a cat 5E room, but if it wasn't available, we'd be OK with a different cat. I am just more concerned with 1) main dining, and 2) receiving full OBC from my TA, because that really helps us with tips, Palo, etc. (Plus, I love using a TA -- help at your fingertips.) So, I guess I can book now with our TA (who happens to be a DU TA), then re-shop in Jan. DH is telling me no no no........wait until Jan....it's 74 days away.....

I hear you about the dummy bookings! When all the new bookings opened up last year, I found myself with no onboard bookings I was willing to sacrifice at the time (turns out I could have used one or both of our existing bookings, since we ended up losing our onboard booking benefits on the WBTA when we rebooked to military rates, but I digress!) So when we cruised in Dec and January, I booked 2 dummy bookings and assigned them to my TA (DU at the time), one to hold for 2012, and another to try to rebook our Dream cruise should availability and prices change enough to make it worthwhile. On the WBTA, I booked several additional dummy bookings with only 1 person on each reservation, since we were switching TAs to get more personalized service after our agent left DU and we couldn't get the original dummy bookings back from DU. Now I wish I'd booked a few more than I did!

If you're looking to just book a dummy date while onboard, you can always fill out the request card and drop it in the agent's box rather than wait in line. That works out very easy and there's little wasted effort on your part.

In your case, I might consider the option of at least booking 1 person in the room you want now and assigning it to a TA. That will secure the room and TA OBC for you and minimize the amount you need to pay in advance. There are some TAs out there offering very attractive OBC offers this month!

 

[HallsofVA]

Silverfox - completely off topic, but I just noticed you're in Tampa. I'm writing this from Tampa as well, having been down here on business most of this month! Just wanted to wave hi!!

 

[Silverfox97]

Silverfox - completely off topic, but I just noticed you're in Tampa. I'm writing this from Tampa as well, having been down here on business most of this month! Just wanted to wave hi!!

Hi back Hope you are enjoying our weather

I'd really love to book the 2012 cruise.....DH says, "Well, if a 5E cabin isn't available, then we can just book a 6A or 6B.....no big deal." Ugh! Yes it is!!! I even told DD today (3 1/2) that she's going to book a dummy cruise on our Jan trip. She said, "Mom, I can't book a cruise. I am just a little kid." Little does she know, she can!!! At least I know it can be done. I like the idea of booking myself for 2012 with DU (we use and love Beth Fejer), and then re-shopping in 74 days. Thanks HallsofVA

 

[discorsner]

I have to admit that I am a little confused on on-board bookings. Can anyone help with these questions? (so sorry if repeats!)

When you book on board do you usually just do it for one person?

When you want to add more people later do the extra people get the same rates as the first person?

When you know you are going to book a full out dummy cruise what do you normally pick? The cheapest cruise hence the lower deposit? or the cruise that is furthest out so you have time to get things situated?

Do most TAs give you less OBC when it is made on board and then transferred to them or do they give you the same?

What kind of OBC does Disney usually give you when you book onboard? I know it probably changes but what are some usual amounts?

Is there a limit of how many bookings you can make? I saw a post above saying that someone was going to have their DD book. Wasn't sure what the benefit of that would be (other than it would be cute )

If I am following this thread right I think what I understand is that I could book a 2012 through a TA then on 2011 cruise I could re-shop it and see if it is a better deal. Then if it is and I make another booking on board I would get the benefits of the 10% deposit and whatever OBC Disney offers.... then I would cancel my first ressie that was made with the TA which means I would get my 20% refunded to my card. When I do the on-board booking I would mention the TAs name so I would still be working with my TA. Does all of this look correct so far?

So in the above scenario would most TAs still give an OBC on the new ressie? Would it be whatever OBC I originally get with them or would it be likely to be less from them because it is now a transferred ressie? Or would it not be considered a transferred ressie because I mentioned them at time of booking?

TIA so much for answers to any of the questions. I have read several things on this and was never 100% confident that I understood all my options!

 

[mickey0930]

Does dcl work like Disney resorts, meaning if a better deal comes out once you are already book can you call and apply that discount with no problems? We are first time dcl guest and I know they offer kids sail free on occassions.