Better to book next cruise on ship or wait?

[lbrat4]

Hi! I'm going on the Disney Wonder for the first time 1/29 and I need a little advice. For all you castaway club members, could you tell me if you think it is important to book your next cruise while on the ship. One of the deals onboard I heard about was a 10% discount plus a $200 onboard credit. I would really rather not put a $500 deposit down (want to spend it on other things on the cruise, like spa treatments, ahhhh!), but if this is a one-time unbeatable deal, I think I better budget for it. What do you guys think? Does Disney have similar or even better deals for castaway club members later on?
Thanks!!
Lori

 

[IrishCowboy]

If you can afford the deposit, go ahead and book while onboard. I believe it is the only way to get the $200 onborad re-booking credit and you can always later transfer your reservation to a travel agent for a better discount.

Have a great cruise!

 

[Donnainnj]

Lori,
You just got me thinking, does anyone out there know if you can book on board for two adults, and then later add the kids to the reservation? That way you only need to put out a $500 deposit while on board. Anyone know if this would work?
The two possible problems I wonder about are, the size of the cabin (sleeps 3 or 4) and what price the kids would be added on at. Oh well just some more to think about.
Thanks.

 

[kcashner]

I've never seen a better deal than what you get if you re-book on the ship. There is a small chance that the cruise price will drop below what you paid on the ship, but if it does, DCL will give you the lower price. Chances are that the cost will increase.

There are other shipboard credit offers, but not as much as the $200.

As to adding the kids later....you will not get the 10% off on them, you will get the current rate. Also, if you book 2 people, they will put you in a cabin for 3. Yes, if you add 2 kids, they can move you to a cabin for 4 provided that it is available.

You can save additional $ by booking on board and transferring your reservation to an agent who gives their own discount! THen you will get both deals!!!

 

[Lilly's Dad]

?

 

[jrabbit]

If you have a family and are booking on board you may want to book an adult and a child. They only let so many of each agegroup of children on each sailing (for club/lab capacities). Depending upon when you are sailing, the cruise could fill up for a given age group. You can always add an adult later to your room.

 

[kcashner]

Yes, if you cancel more than 60 days in advance, the deposit is refundable.

 

[Donnainnj]

kcashner,
Thank you so much for the quick reply, have to start saving now so we will have enough extra for the full deposit, if we want to book another while on board. With the (very unexpected) trip to Hawaii coming up, it won't be that easy, but I think we can do it.
Thanks again!

 

[dclwdwlover]

If you do book a cruise on the ship - can you change the sailing date at a later time (when you're home with a calendar!) & still maintain all of the discounts? Does anybody know exactly what stipulations there are to changing dates?

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Yes you can change your dates and still keep the discounts as long as it's more than 60 days out. When we rebooked in October people wanted to book into 2005 which wasn't open yet and the reservations girl said to book a late 2004 cruise and just change the date when the 2005 dates open up.

 

[prymsu]

i agree that if you know you want to do DCL again, then book on board so that you get that 200 dollar room credit!

 

[lotsofboys]

If you even remotely think you will go again, even a couple of years out, it is worth the deposit to book on board just to get the $200 per room credit. Plus, as in our case, even with booking on board three rooms, 6 adults, 6 kids, our TA saved us another $500 per room. We also changed the date three times from the original booking!

 

[Marilyn]

I was on the 1/04/04 Wonder cruise (our first!) and we booked on the ship for our next Jan cruise for the 7 nite. I was hesitant at first since we had little$ money left over to give them the full 3 person deposit of $750. Danielle, on board said that I could book the cruise for just me and only put down the $250 deposit and then add my husband and daughter later. I did this and I got to choose the exact room that I wanted...7570. I recently called to phone in my husbands' name and give another $250 deposit and I still had the discounted rate. This was the best way and only way for us to do this. When I got home from our cruise I checked our next cruise dates on the DCL website and the price was $500 more than we paid and now when I check the same dates they have gone up by another $300 so it really does seem to be best to book on board!! Have fun...Marilyn

 

[lbrat4]

Thanks everybody for your inputs!! I guess I better go ahead and budget in the $500!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I'll second Marilyn's post.

We faced the same thing when we sailed in October. We wanted to book another cruise for November of 2004 for a family of 3 but for various reasons, the fall always finds us short on money.

I asked about booking me and my wife and adding child later because of money issues, and she told me we could even book just one person and add the others later and keep the discount.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

Hey HooKooDooKu, You were on the ship with us on the Wonder Oct 26 cruise! I remember your baby was sick and you were afraid you were not going to make it!

We had the best time and we wished that we would have booked while on board...Did you guys??? That is good to know that you don't have to book the whole family at that time...

We have decided to book a short 3 day on the Wonder this fall and while on board book a 7 day. We are just going to pay a dep on the two of us and then add our child at a later date.

This way we only have to stash away $500...Plus we still get to be on the Wonder this fall. I know 3 days will go by fast,but we are still excited about it!

I also managed to get one of the secret porthole rooms again!! Woo hoo!! I hope to get it on the 7 day when we book.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Hey Michelle (BabyJosie98),

Wished we had planned one of these meets I see people talking about on the ship all the time. We tried looking for people that might match the description you gave us of yourselves while we were in line waiting to board.

PM Sent