Anyone booked their cruise through Costco?

[flounder8]

Hi All,

We went on a fantastic Disney cruise in 2002 and are planning another for this year. Just wondering if anyone has had any experience good or bad booking their cruise through Costco travel. Please let me know. Thanks!

 

[yourtravelpro]

They have the absolute best prices and service. If their hold times are long, just hang in there, it's worth it.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

We booked one of our cruises through Costco, back in 2000. Actually, we booked it through DCL and then transferred it to Costco. At that time, they gave a 10% rebate on the price of the cruise, credited to you the week you sail. I don't know if they still do this or not.

We had no problems with Costco. The main problem was with DCL dragging its heels when we tried to transfer the reservation. The Costco agent was good: very knowledgeable and courteous, and very prompt in returning my calls.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I recently booked through Costco and have been extremely pleased with their price, customer service and knowledge. DU is usually pretty inexpensive compared to the other TA I shop but Costco even beat their price by more than $200! I was on hold for awhile this week but that was due to some ice storm they had and not many came into work. Everyone I have spoken with were very friendly too!

 

[my3kids]

Great experience with Costco. Terrific price and even got a gift in my stateroom.

 

[lauravk]

I'm hoping to hear more - this is our first Disney Cruise (first time to DW) and we booked Costco... got the land/sea package with cat 4 verandah fmily suite and upgrade on hotel to GF for about $4500.00 for 4 people (2 adults/2 kids) I am thinking this is pretty good... but am wondering what people think???? I've been happy with my service so far - excursion documents came Fed Ex and everyone I have talked to has been really nice..

Going in FEb, 2004

Thanks all!

 

[lotsofboys]

We used Costco for our July 4, 2002 Magic cruise and are using them again for our upcoming Feb 7th Magic trip. I researched prices of just about everyplace and Luckymommy is correct, Costco beats them all and the closest one was $200 higher. Both times I booked through DCL and then transferred it to Costco without any hassle at all.

I really don't think DCL cares who you book through as long as you are going. Kind of like making hotel reservations. It used to be that you could save 50% going through the internet instead of booking directly with a hotel (the hotel chains have wisened up to that these days!) and if you called a hotel to ask them to match the price they would tell you to book through the internet.

 

[yourtravelpro]

I am so happy to hear all these positive comments about Costco Travel because I work there as a Cruise Agent and absolutely love my job. We really do have the best prices.

 

[starwood]

We booked both our cruises through Costco. The best price we could find and no problems whatsoever. They even checked when I found different deals to see if the price would be better.

 

[Scott5150]

What if you are not a Costco Member??

 

[my3kids]

You have to be a member. The annual membership fee is $45. You will save MUCH more than that on your trip.

 

[uromac]

I wanted to add my 2 cents to say that we also saved a great deal on our cruise - at least $800 from the nearest competitor for a cat. 3 on the 10 cruise in December! I heard about costco on these boards and joined them even though they are the nearest on is located about 45 minutes away and in another state! To me it was well worth the investment and so far they've been great!!!

Good luck and Happy Cruising!!!

Melissa

 

[CheapMom]

I will be joining Costco tomorrow. Thanks for the great tip!

 

[mouse attack]

I have been hearing Disers changing reservs from DCL to Costco but not from anywhere else. Has anyone changed it form another agency to costco?

 

[ArthurAmish]

I don't know how kosher this is with the costco membership rules, but I'm having trouble paying the membership fee without having an idea of the savings. There is no costco in my area, so I wouldn't really use it for anything else. Would it be possible for one of you dvcer's who are also costco members to call and get a costco quote on my specific request and email me the response? I talked to costco, but they wouldn't give me a quote without first becoming a member.

I'm needing a quote for April 24th, 2004 Western Caribbean on Magic. 2 adults, category 11, no insurance, no transfers, no air.

Thanks in advance.

 

[starwood]

Originally posted by ArthurAmish
I don't know how kosher this is with the costco membership rules, but I'm having trouble paying the membership fee without having an idea of the savings. There is no costco in my area, so I wouldn't really use it for anything else. Would it be possible for one of you dvcer's who are also costco members to call and get a costco quote on my specific request and email me the response? I talked to costco, but they wouldn't give me a quote without first becoming a member.

I'm needing a quote for April 24th, 2004 Western Caribbean on Magic. 2 adults, category 11, no insurance, no transfers, no air.

Thanks in advance.

I have been told that if you get a quote and are not happy that you can cancel the membership and get a full refund.

I don't know how true that is you may want to ask them. I've been a member for years because we have one fairly close by.

 

[bostonlass]

Hi MouseAttack

Have you tried cruisetraveloutlet.com? Bill was the person I dealt with and he beat both DU and Expedia by about $100. I did not end up switching to him only because Expedia actually penalizes you $50 for cancelling and I would have lost my dinner seating had I switched so I didn't think it was worth it but I will definitely go to him next time. He was so very patient with all of my questions and definitely gets the best prices in my opinion.

If you are looking to switch for the April 18 cruise that we're on, then I think he could help since that's the one he quoted me on, but I'd just check with whomever you originally booked with first to see if there's a penalty.

Good Luck and see you in April!

Bridget

 

[Tiger926]

I called this week and got a quote for DH, myself and infant daughter, cat.11, no insurance or transfers for May 2 on Wonder (4 day) for $1118.00. DCL was $1200.00 and DU was $1150.00 (rebate). In order to book through Costco I have to pay $30.00 fee to have my docs mailed to Canada - I'm not sure why, so this makes the price the same as DU.

The problem is that I booked with DCL directly and then because I felt loyal to my TA, I switched the booking to her. She won't beat either price as she says that the agency won't make any money. My DH and I are really struggling with this as we could use this money towards something else - it's not a huge amount, but every little bit helps.

The Costco agent who I spoke with was very helpful!

Tiger

 

[bostonlass]

Tiger,

How much would you be saving with Costco? (I wasn't sure what your travel agent quoted you). Just make sure that the Costco price includes everything that your travel agent is including such as taxes, transfers to/from airport if you bought that, etc.

If the bottom line is that you can save money then I'd switch. Loyalty to a TA is nice but when push comes to shove.....this is business and money is money. They get people cancelling with them all the time and this is your money, not theirs that you're putting out.

That's just my opinion.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks for your opinion. As I stated, Costco is $1118.00 and our price through TA (who took over my booking from DCL) is $1200.00. I asked her about matching DU and she said, "No," so I know she won't be able to match Costco's price either. If I had to pay the mail fee of $30.00 to use Costco, I would save $52.00 USD, if I didn't have to pay that and could have my docs mailed to a friend in the US, I would save $82.00 USD.

My husband and I are going to discuss this further today. By the way, all cruise prices are for the same thing (no transfers, no insurance and port charges included). Also, does anyone know what Costco's cancellation policies are? Do they differ from DCL's at all?

Thanks, Tiger