Book Direct with Disney or use TA?

[Wanna be Ariel]

We are looking at booking our first cruise for next Feb. I originally planned on booking myself through Disney, but then thought maybe there would be an advantage going with a TA or even through Sams Club or Costco. Any help would be great!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are looking at booking our first cruise for next Feb. I originally planned on booking myself through Disney, but then thought maybe there would be an advantage going with a TA or even through Sams Club or Costco. Any help would be great!

A good TA can be helpful if you have lots of questions. Also some may give some sort of perk for using them to book a cruise - anything from a free bottle of wine to onboard credit.

Personally, I've used a TA twice. I prefer to do my own bookings.

 

[DCLMacro415]

I've booked two cruises myself direct through Disney, and two more with a TA. As mentioned a good TA is helpful, and depending most offer perks of some sort. With most TA's they can be as involved as you want in the planning. For one cruise, I used them to book the cruise and just asked general questions about port adventures and other activities on the cruise. The other cruise, we were booked in one category and decided some time later we needed to change room types for budgeting reasons. It was nice to be able to just reach out the my TA and say this is what we need to do and they handled it giving me several options to choose from before finalizing it.

 

[wombat_5606]

If you want the most bang for your buck, book with Costco. Their cash card, which is sent to you after you return from your cruise, is about 8% of the cruise fare(not including taxes and fees). My Costco then lets me cash the card out. Some clubs make you redeem it for merchandise at the store, which is still a good deal.

 

[jcarwash]

Interestingly, Sam's Club ended their travel services as of January 1, 2017.

I like to use a travel agent, specifically Dreams Unlimited, because of the onboard credit incentive, the pre-cruise gift basket, and the ability to visit their local office in Cape Canaveral before or after the cruise. My agent has also been especially helpful with some specific booking details on past cruises.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't tend to have a lot of questions or issues ahead of time, so I don't need a full service type of TA. Therefore, I go with the one that gives me good perks and that makes it seamless. For me that's been costcotravel.com.

Many here use Dreams Unlimited because they own/sponsor the boards.

The ONE thing that changes when you have a TA is that if you need to change your room or change the people in the room or basically anything that's going to change the price of your cruise, you have to call the TA, not DCL. And with most TAs, that means you can't do this 24/7. So if you think you're going to want to change rooms, *do not check for a new room* when your TA is closed! You'll just frustrate yourself by doing that.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This is our 3rd cruise and we've used the same TA each time and she is AMAZING!!! Quick answer to questions, has helped us with changes and a refund when my parents had to cancel their cruise. I help many families book WDW trips but when it comes to cruising I'm happy for her assistance. Please PM me if you'd like her contact information.

Also, the OB credit and gift in the room is appreciated too!

 

[n2mm]

I've booked several of my earlier cruises myself. I didn't want to give up control. Then I started using dreams unlimited and am extremely satisfied with the process. My agent has not disappointed me ever. She booked my last 6 cruises. DU also offers a shipboard credit which is very appreciated. During the early release date for gold/platinum members requires that you call dcl to book. I'm so happy that my agent has to do this. Keep in mind that not all agencies offer a credit. I can still book my excursions and other activities myself from the dcl website. DU offers me the best of both worlds. Of course the gift basket is always a nice touch too.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I've booked several of my earlier cruises myself. I didn't want to give up control. Then I started using dreams unlimited and am extremely satisfied with the process. My agent has not disappointed me ever. She booked my last 6 cruises. DU also offers a shipboard credit which is very appreciated. During the early release date for gold/platinum members requires that you call dcl to book. I'm so happy that my agent has to do this. Keep in mind that not all agencies offer a credit. I can still book my excursions and other activities myself from the dcl website. DU offers me the best of both worlds. Of course the gift basket is always a nice touch too.

The best of both worlds is how I'd describe it too. I told our TA which rooms I wanted (from the DCL website) which flights we wanted, which hotels we wanted, which company to use for trip insurance and we booked our own rental cars and Disney Excursions, because I LIKE to look around and make the choices. But our TA did everything just like we asked, put together a nice package, and gave us some good advice when we had some questions. I like having them there to backstop me if there are issues, but they also let me handle things when there aren't issues. It was a great choice for us. But to each their own. I can understand some people saying that they don't want to have to call/e-mail the TA every time they wanted to book or change things, but to me it was easy, and they promptly booked everything that I asked for.

 

[Michael2013]

I've booked several of my earlier cruises myself. I didn't want to give up control. Then I started using dreams unlimited and am extremely satisfied with the process. My agent has not disappointed me ever. She booked my last 6 cruises. DU also offers a shipboard credit which is very appreciated. During the early release date for gold/platinum members requires that you call dcl to book. I'm so happy that my agent has to do this. Keep in mind that not all agencies offer a credit. I can still book my excursions and other activities myself from the dcl website. DU offers me the best of both worlds. Of course the gift basket is always a nice touch too.

I was wondering how DU gives out the gift baskets now. At one time about 2 years ago they delivered to the stateroom and then DCL had stopped that. Then DU started mailing them. I'm just wondering if they are still doing these and if I should expect to see one in the mail, if it will be delivered to the stateroom now, or if I need to go by the Welcome center? We may not be in PC before they close on the Friday night before our cruise.

Thanks

 

[n2mm]

I was wondering how DU gives out the gift baskets now. At one time about 2 years ago they delivered to the stateroom and then DCL had stopped that. Then DU started mailing them. I'm just wondering if they are still doing these and if I should expect to see one in the mail, if it will be delivered to the stateroom now, or if I need to go by the Welcome center? We may not be in PC before they close on the Friday night before our cruise.

Thanks

They are still being shipped to your home. At least for US residents. I cruised in October and it arrived to the house a few weeks prior to the cruise. We cruise again next month, so I'll be watching the mail now.

 

[Shanti]

We are looking at booking our first cruise for next Feb. I originally planned on booking myself through Disney, but then thought maybe there would be an advantage going with a TA or even through Sams Club or Costco. Any help would be great!

I like to book direct, have complete control over and access to my reservations, and be able to make changes at will.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I'm with @Anchors Away 2016 . I do everything myself, down to picking the exact rooms, then get my DU TA to book them. ... and get the on board credits! I can't pass up hundreds of dollars on the off chance I might want to change my mind about something at 2am on a Saturday. .. My DU TA is VERY responsive... even if she's away, a colleague will quickly respond and help me. Good luck whatever you decide!

I forgot to add... our TA knows way more "inside info" than we did for our first cruise and I felt like she was able to do the dirty work for us when we had (multiple) specific requests.

 

[MillauFr]

I used Costco because the cost of the cruise was 9% cheaper than booking through Disney directly.

 

[ladybugmommy84]

TAs are nice but my next cruise I will not use one. They take too long to reply and I prefer to do things right away. It has been a struggle using a TA.

 

[jdb in AZ]

TAs are nice but my next cruise I will not use one. They take too long to reply and I prefer to do things right away. It has been a struggle using a TA.

Then you're using the wrong TA. Ours answers very promptly, even when she's on a cruise on the other side of the world. Yes, she delegates to stateside minions when necessary.

The onboard credit is nice too.

 

[DCLMacro415]

I've thought about using Costco a couple times and priced it out, the one locally by me, doesn't cash out the Costco card, so you have to use it for store credit. Which I would, but I like seeing that discount come off the cruise directly. So far booking with a TA from DU has been great. I still can pay with Disney gift cards with them. I was hoping that Target was going to offer their deal this past holiday season like they did in 2015. $5 Target gift card for every $50 purchased, plus using their Redcard was another 5% off. Ended up saving just over 12% total on my last cruise. Of course it was a pain combining all of the $50 Disney gift cards together but worth it in the end. I was looking this past season and didn't see it offered. I used Costco in the past to book rental cars for various vacations and lately I've found their pricing to be higher then going direct to the car rental site. Even for my family next trip in June.

 

[n2mm]

TAs are nice but my next cruise I will not use one. They take too long to reply and I prefer to do things right away. It has been a struggle using a TA.

Not all TAs are created equal. My DU TA answers my emails within 1 hour or less. If she travels she has a backup. I still have control. I can still log onto the dcl website and book my own activities. I log into dreams unlimited website and make my payments and they apply the payments to dcl.

 

[wombat_5606]

I've thought about using Costco a couple times and priced it out, the one locally by me, doesn't cash out the Costco card, so you have to use it for store credit. Which I would, but I like seeing that discount come off the cruise directly. So far booking with a TA from DU has been great. I still can pay with Disney gift cards with them. I was hoping that Target was going to offer their deal this past holiday season like they did in 2015. $5 Target gift card for every $50 purchased, plus using their Redcard was another 5% off. Ended up saving just over 12% total on my last cruise. Of course it was a pain combining all of the $50 Disney gift cards together but worth it in the end. I was looking this past season and didn't see it offered. I used Costco in the past to book rental cars for various vacations and lately I've found their pricing to be higher then going direct to the car rental site. Even for my family next trip in June.

I also charge my cruise to my Costco credit card and receive an additional 3% returned to me in cash at the end of the year. I've never asked Costco to apply any Target gift cards to my cruise reservation, but I'm thinking it would not be a problem. I just prefer to charge the full amount to my credit card to maximize the 3% return.

In the last 4 years, I've rented 24 cars with Costco. They've beaten the price over any direct car rental site every time! That's even when I've tried a multitude of discount codes, corporate or leisure, on their sites. Send me your dates....I can find you a deal! (I don't work for Costco.)

 

[over50visits]

TAs are nice but my next cruise I will not use one. They take too long to reply and I prefer to do things right away. It has been a struggle using a TA.

I suggest a TA who will actually talk to you. Some TAs insist you use email, and that's fine for some, but there's nothing like a human being to make things personal and fast. Interaction, asking their opinion, receiving reassurance, etc. Great