Agent vs. Direct booking

[Sabeking]

We have always booked directly with Disney cruise line and are considering using Dreams Unlimited due to the shipboard credit. Any thoughts? Can you still manage your reservation online with Disney. Can I make my own reservations, excursion bookings? Any pros and or cons for both. Thanks in advance!

 

[tweis]

We have always booked directly with Disney cruise line and are considering using Dreams Unlimited due to the shipboard credit. Any thoughts? Can you still manage your reservation online with Disney. Can I make my own reservations, excursion bookings? Any pros and or cons for both. Thanks in advance!

I just used DU for a short 3 night cruise and I am also using them for our upcoming 7 night. I can still go online and book excursions/spa/Palo/etc but I can not call DCL if I have a problem. I simply let my agent know and she takes care of it. So far, we have had no problems and the OBC really helps out.

Working with an online agent is not for everyone. I always know what I want before I request a quote.

 

[Rogillio]

I have booked on-line with DCL and got an OBC for booking on-line and then transferred my res to DU and got their OBC too. There have been some rule changes so I'm not sure you can still do this but maybe you can.

I think the only thing you can't do at the DCL website is make a payment or modify your reservation. You can still do on-line check-in, book excursions and such.

 

[su_A_ve]

I have booked on-line with DCL and got an OBC for booking on-line and then transferred my res to DU and got their OBC too. There have been some rule changes so I'm not sure you can still do this but maybe you can.

I think the only thing you can't do at the DCL website is make a payment or modify your reservation. You can still do on-line check-in, book excursions and such.

This doesn't work any more. You can only transfer a res within the first 30 days of booking it and you will not get the full amount of OBC promised as if booking directly.

Bottom line, if you are already familiar with the procedure on selecting a cruise, deck, category and stateroom, do your homework, look for availability, have a couple of backup options, and send a message to a TA with all the information.

I found that DCL was actually much easier to work with than parks CRO when you use a TA. DCL has no issues in answering all your questions except for any financial related ones. Parks CRO basically tell you - call your TA.

Some other tips, contact your TA a few days prior to your PIF date to process payments - you don't want to wait till the last second. Also, you will still do all of the online check-in and port adventures booking yourself in any case. Again, the only thing you cannot do is make payments.

TA will process all payments - including Disney Rewards or Disney Gift Cards. If using a Disney Visa, you'll also be able to use the 6 months no finance option and potentially get the $50 OBC credit as well.

My .02..

 

[jennylyn_b]

We have always booked directly with Disney cruise line and are considering using Dreams Unlimited due to the shipboard credit. Any thoughts? Can you still manage your reservation online with Disney. Can I make my own reservations, excursion bookings? Any pros and or cons for both. Thanks in advance!

This is exactly why we went with DU. I knew what we wanted but I wanted DUs OBC. So we did the quote request and we are all set. My TA at DU is wonderful and she answers all my emails quickly. I even sent one on a Sunday so she would see it Monday and she answered me within an hour on the Sunday!

 

[JimGA]

We have always booked directly with Disney cruise line and are considering using Dreams Unlimited due to the shipboard credit. Any thoughts? Can you still manage your reservation online with Disney. Can I make my own reservations, excursion bookings? Any pros and or cons for both. Thanks in advance!

We used Dreams Unlimited for our first cruise back in May and now for our upcoming second cruise. We made all of our payments through them, we also got occassional emails from DCL, and I also had a reservation number through DCL that I could log in on the DCL site and see our reservation, we already had a room # assigned. When it came to booking port adventures and dinners when our window opened up, I logged right onto the DCL web site at midnight and booked and reserved away.

No problems or worries at all. Go for it, we got $150 of free moneu from them, plus we booked when DCL was offering $25 OBC, so we got a total of $175 for using the travel agent.

 

[donalduck]

I have never been on a cruise before. I got a quote from dreams for 2 people for this January and it was a little over 3K. Does this rate usually drop because of specials that they come out with? Or are we going to be paying this much?

 

[jennylyn_b]

I have never been on a cruise before. I got a quote from dreams for 2 people for this January and it was a little over 3K. Does this rate usually drop because of specials that they come out with? Or are we going to be paying this much?

The quotes I got from DU were to the penny the same as direct thru dcl. The closer the cruise gets I've been told the more expensive they get.

 

[feelthenspeak]

I have never been on a cruise before. I got a quote from dreams for 2 people for this January and it was a little over 3K. Does this rate usually drop because of specials that they come out with? Or are we going to be paying this much?

We booked through a TA and it was maybe $100 cheaper but we also got a $50 on board credit. I cannot believe cruise is that much for two people! We booked a year in advance and it was only $2800 for 2 adults and 3 kids. Note to self. ..book in advance.

Happy sailing!

 

[Bear3412]

I have never been on a cruise before. I got a quote from dreams for 2 people for this January and it was a little over 3K. Does this rate usually drop because of specials that they come out with? Or are we going to be paying this much?

Price depends on cabin, ship, itinerary, # of pax, ages of pax, and season. Play around with dates and categories on the DCL site; http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/reservations/booking

Sometimes they release discounted *GT rates after paid in full date, 75 days out. Also occasionally available are Military and FL resident rates. Check Specials on the DCL site.

This may be helpful. GTY and *GT definitions.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2914256

HTH

 

[JAMWDW]

We used Costco as our travel agent for our June 2013 3-day Dream cruise and it was very easy. Prices they quoted were exactly what DCL was offering. We did however receive a $190 Costco gift card for booking through them which just came in the mail this week. We were also able to use our Disney Chase Visa which got us a $50 OBC. And as another poster mentioned, when you use your Chase Visa to pay for your trip, you have six months to pay off your vacation at zero interest. As everybody else has said, we too were able to use our DCL reservation number to go on to the Disney website and make our port reservations etc.