Book next cruise aboard or with TA??

[WONDER26FEB06]

Hi!

We are going on our first Disney cruise (4 night) in February. We are planning the 7 night for November 2007. Is it better and/or cheaper to book while on the February cruise with the discounts they give or to book with a TA?

Thanks!

 

[Big MacK]

Definitley book your next cruise while on board the previous cruise.
We skipped it, and regretted we did.
They offered a large percent discount, and a 200 dollar credit to be used while on board for purchases.

 

[poohssmum]

I say book on board ... DCL will transfer your reservation to your TA if you have one with all of the discounts and credits.

 

[ivanova]

When you book onboard they'll ask you if you want the ressie to stay with your current TA - you still get the discount and stateroom credit - you can say yes, no, or give them new TA info.

 

[jel0511]

DEFINATELY book on board. DCL will offer you a 10% discount and a $200 per stateroom credit for booking on-board. You can then transfer to any TA you want to get their perks. A lot of the on-line or high volume agencies offer a certain $$$ off based on the amount of the cruise. I just rebooked onboard for 11/04/06 and with the DCL discount the discount my TA offered I got about $1,000 off DCL's current price.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

Yup, we booked on board then dropped the ressie down to our AAA agent. Works out well. We get the benefits of both, DCL and AAA.

 

[WONDER26FEB06]

Thanks everyone. I did not know you could book on board AND then transfer to a TA for their discounts. Any recommendations on a TA?

 

[staceymerrill]

is the 10% discount that DCL gives for rebooking onboard off an already discounted fare, or their overinflated standard pricing....please give me your opinion, as it has been my experience that my discount TA has consistently beat DCL by a wide, wide margin....I dont think that even with the 10% discount, DCL will even come close

 

[Joan1]

We are planning on doing the same thing while onboard next month. We are going to book for late in 2006.

The TA we are using is Small World Vacations and we are pleased with them

 

[Cleo41]

Do they also give you the onboard credit and 10% discount if you book a 3 night cruise while onboard?

 

[jel0511]

Do they also give you the onboard credit and 10% discount if you book a 3 night cruise while onboard?

No, it's only for the 7 day bookings.

 

[26555]

is the 10% discount that DCL gives for rebooking onboard off an already discounted fare, or their overinflated standard pricing....please give me your opinion, as it has been my experience that my discount TA has consistently beat DCL by a wide, wide margin....I dont think that even with the 10% discount, DCL will even come close

Who do you use? I notice you've sailed some when FL resident discounts would be available. I guessed only FL resident rates would beat booking early with the 10% discount + credit. Are onboard discounts based on prices currently available on the DCL site?

For specifics, if I price the 9/2/06 western cruise online today for 2 adults/2 kids (6,7) for Cat 12, no transfers, no insurance, I get $2593. I'm assuming if I were on a cruise today, I could book it at 10% off, $2334 and get $200 credit making my net "cost" -- $2134. After that, maybe transfer to a TA to get some sort of cash back, $50 or $75. Is there a way to beat that price? I'd love to know.

 

[jel0511]

Who do you use? I notice you've sailed some when FL resident discounts would be available. I guessed only FL resident rates would beat booking early with the 10% discount + credit. Are onboard discounts based on prices currently available on the DCL site?

For specifics, if I price the 9/2/06 western cruise online today for 2 adults/2 kids (6,7) for Cat 12, no transfers, no insurance, I get $2593. I'm assuming if I were on a cruise today, I could book it at 10% off, $2334 and get $200 credit making my net "cost" -- $2134. After that, maybe transfer to a TA to get some sort of cash back, $50 or $75. Is there a way to beat that price? I'd love to know.

Just a note the 10% is off the cruise fare only, not the total. The total usually includes port charges and taxes. Those are usually $175 pp. So, for 4 people you're paying approx $700 in port charges, etc. So, using that is a baseline, your 10% savings is $190 making your cost being $2403, and then the $200 credit. You don't save anything off the port charges. Personally, having taken 3 (my 4th is booked) DCL cruises, I haven't found a better deal than booking on-board with the 10% off and transferring it to a TA. I saved $500 from DCL using the 10% off and my TA saved me an additional $400. With the $200 off, I'm saving well over $1000 on this cruise. Not a bad deal if you ask me!!!

 

[lbgraves]

It really all depends. If you book far enough out before your cruise you may be able to find a TA that has space available in their group booking. For us doing this saved almost 1000 from DCL's current price. We don't cruise until 12/10 so I know that the cost will go up by then. If it did stay the same we would still only save around 275 with the 10% and the 200. We did much better doing this than waiting until we cruise AND we got early seating!!!!

 

[hbg4]

We booked a cruise on board during a 3 night sailling last year April 2004 and still got the 10% discount and $200 credit for our next cruise. This was then applied to a different date when the repo cruise was announced.
So yes you are still entitled to discounts on the short cruises.

 

[lbgraves]

I understand that you were on a 3 day when you booked but did you book another 3 day or a 7 day? The 10% + $200 credit are available when you book a 7 day cruise, no matter what cruise you are currently on when you rebook. If you booked another 3 day it would have been a lesser credit and no discount.

 

[hbg4]

I understand that you were on a 3 day when you booked but did you book another 3 day or a 7 day? The 10% + $200 credit are available when you book a 7 day cruise, no matter what cruise you are currently on when you rebook. If you booked another 3 day it would have been a lesser credit and no discount.

Thanks lbgraves.
Yes you're right I did book for a 7 night cruise while on my 3 day cruise and this discount was then finally transferred to the 14 day repo cruise.

Since you seem so knowledgable re these things,myself and I'm sure others on this board would be interested to know:
If I was to make a reservation for a future DCL cruise prior to sailing with an independant TA, how could the discount be then applied after sailing?
Or in other words any idea how to combine a TA discount with a new disney cruise booking discount ?

 

[jel0511]

DCL can not add the 10% discount to an existing reservation that you already have. It has to be a new booking made on board. So, if you make a booking prior to sailing, you can check what DCL is offering in terms of their onboard offer. You can then, after getting off the ship, transfer this booking to a TA to obtain whatever rebates, deals they are offering. That's what I did, though if you aren't sailing in a long time (though since you said you're on the Repo, I doubt it) it can be more advantagous to book now, since with DCL's tiered pricing you can sometimes do better booking before your cruise than DCL's offer tied with your TA's. Also, if a TA offers group pricing on a certain sailing, you can not combine that offer with DCL's offer. For a TA to book group space, they have to reserve the cabins in advance and then sell them. These prices aren't elegible to bet the 10% discount and room credit. If you can find one of those, they are always better than the on board offer. Most TA's offer a rebate based on what the cruise costs, minus port charges/taxes. Those are usually $175 pp, so you can get a good idea on what type of rebate you'd get before leaving home.

 

[starwood]

Does the 10% apply to 4 day cruises? I thought you could get the 10% and $100 on board credit for a 3 or 4 day also. We were planning on booking a 4 day for April next year while on our 7 night cruise in 2 weeks.

 

[jel0511]

The 10% currently only applies to the 7 night cruises. I believe with either a 3 or 4 night you get only a $100 room credit and with a land/sea you get only a $400 room credit. I'm pretty positive about the 3 or 4 night incentive, but the land/sea might have changed.