Best way to book early

[OffToDWD]

What's the best way to book during opening day (try to get better pricing!)? Online? Travel agent? Call Disney directly? I believe DVC members get to book a day before the general public. I've heard that it can be an extremely long wait to get through to an agent to book during opening days. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[otten]

If you don't have a placeholder you want to use, the easiest is doing it yourself online.

If you have a placeholder you'll need to do it by phone, either yourself or a travel agent.

 

[Trera]

This ^^^

 

[Rob1872]

Never heard of DVC members being able to book early: Platinum books 3 days early, Gold books 2 days early, Silver books 1 day early.
I don't remember an ability to book online during the pre-open booking period; the only way I remember of seeing prices was reports of DIS members on what they were paying.
Yes, it can be a long wait; I've been lucky and only waited about 30 minutes on my one opening day attempt. If you have a travel agent, they can wait for you.

 

[lklgoodman]

The price will be the same regardless if you call or do it online. If you use a TA the price will still be the same, however many TAs will give you some onboard credit. I usually book myself online (because I'm a control freak) and it's very easy. If you know which cruise and what cabin you want, then you could use a TA to get the OBC and they can be on hold instead of you.

 

[Geomom]

Never heard of DVC members being able to book early: Platinum books 3 days early, Gold books 2 days early, Silver books 1 day early.
I don't remember an ability to book online during the pre-open booking period; the only way I remember of seeing prices was reports of DIS members on what they were paying.
Yes, it can be a long wait; I've been lucky and only waited about 30 minutes on my one opening day attempt. If you have a travel agent, they can wait for you.

Dvc members can book the same day as silver members.

If you are not using a placeholder, you can book online on your booking day or just look at prices. This change was in the past couple of years. You need to be logged in to see the prices on your booking day.

 

[lanejudy]

Itineraries are usually released a few days early so you can see the dates/ports/ships, just no prices. If you contact a TA in advance, and know what you want, they will put you on their list. Where you fall on that list may depend on how many other clients want to book that day as well.

If you haven't cruised DCL previously and want to book early as DVC, you probably need to contact Member Services. I don't know how that all works with cash vs points.

As others have said, price will be the same. Only if you are interested in a very unique itinerary might the prices rise considerably over the course of the day, though by Silver booking date that may be less so.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

If you are not using a placeholder, you can book online on your booking day or just look at prices.

I didn't know CC could book early online! How does that work with DVC? Do they have to book through Member Services?

 

[Geomom]

I didn't know CC could book early online! How does that work with DVC? Do they have to book through Member Services?

Yes. We haven't booked that way as we use a TA (and had a placeholder to use), but I did login on silver day to check the prices before telling our TA what cruise we wanted to book. So maybe it was in the past 12-18 mths that option opened up, as I logged in last February.

DVC...I 'think' they need to book through member services as it's a day early. I haven't taken advantage of that perk as we were silver castaway members by the time they started giving DVC members that benefit.

 

[OffToDWD]

Thanks everyone! I saw there's a rumor that the next set of itinerary will be released at the end of this month so trying to figure out the best way to approach this. I'll have to check out travel agents and on board credits! Thank you!

 

[disneyholic family]

can you book online and then transfer the booking to a TA?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

can you book online and then transfer the booking to a TA?

Yes. You have 30 days to transfer. I'll also point out that many TAs reduce their booking perks on transferred reservations.

 

[disneyholic family]

Yes. You have 30 days to transfer. I'll also point out that many TAs reduce their booking perks on transferred reservations.

i book with dreams...
i'm gold now....do you think that the price will change on gold day?
i'm just thinking that i'll be faster than my TA will be (since i'm sure she has LOTS of clients)
.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

i book with dreams...
i'm gold now....do you think that the price will change on gold day?
i'm just thinking that i'll be faster than my TA will be (since i'm sure she has LOTS of clients)
.

Whether a specific cruise price increases within a short time or not depends on the uniqueness of that specific cruise. Also, if it's a themed cruise, or a special time of year.

Generally, prices increase as the space onboard fills up on any given cruise. Some cruise prices have risen dramatically within days (even hours) of opening. But usually the increases are more gradual, over a period of weeks.

 

[disneyholic family]

Whether a specific cruise price increases within a short time or not depends on the uniqueness of that specific cruise. Also, if it's a themed cruise, or a special time of year.

Generally, prices increase as the space onboard fills up on any given cruise. Some cruise prices have risen dramatically within days (even hours) of opening. But usually the increases are more gradual, over a period of weeks.

thanks
this time it's going to be a regular run of the mill cruise on the disney dream, unless there happens to be a double dip available..
it will be some time during july/august 2021, so kind of regular i guess...
i have to see the itineraries, but we're just trying to tack on a 3 or 4 day cruise onto a 3 week WDW holiday...
that is, we'll be at WDW for 3 weeks and in addition to that, we'll do a quickie cruise..
we'd prefer a 7 night of course, but we're not willing to sacrifice time from WDW....

.