Booking early or booking on cruise

[mamalle]

hi- Im looking into a cruise for 2006 and wondering if I should go ahead and take advantage of booking early or wait until our cruise in feb 2005? If I take the chance and wait the rates could go up correct? it would be for a 7 day cruise in Oct 2006.

thanks for any advice

 

[Scratch42]

You Book Early!

Then when you are on your cruise you check the price. If that price is cheaper then you book that then cancel the other!

Scratch

 

[mamalle]

guess I could do that- thanks!

 

[4formickey]

we booked on board and got a 200 room credit after we got homei switced the res to another company ,kept the credit and saved more money

 

[geekmom]

I'm a cruise newbie ~ we'll take our first Disney cruise on the 28th of December this year.

How would I make a reservation on ship but then transfer it to another agent to save money? I thought when you make a reservation that that was it - you were committed.

Thanks for helping out a newbie as I learn the ropes.

nmr

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by geekmom
I'm a cruise newbie ~ we'll take our first Disney cruise on the 28th of December this year.

How would I make a reservation on ship but then transfer it to another agent to save money? I thought when you make a reservation that that was it - you were committed.



nmr

Take the DCL reservation number and give it to the agent that offers you the best price. They will call DCL and transfer the reservation. You will get to keep any savings and credits that you were offered by DCL at the time you booked with them plus get any benefits offered by the new agent.... You cannot do that with an agent-to-agent transaction, though...Agents have a thing about not stealing other agents' customers...

 

[4formickey]

When you rebook , you will get a choice to keep your agent or leave it TBA. I left it TBA and shopped my qoute. This way you can get a better price

 

[geekmom]

Thank you 4formickey & videogal!

Great tips!

(trying not to think about how much I might have saved if I knew better when I booked this first cruise)



geekmom

 

[mamalle]

so basically you tell them you want control of your reservation?

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by mamalle
so basically you tell them you want control of your reservation?

As long as you have a reservation number you have control. If you book with DCL and, miraculously enough, can find no better deal you can leave it with them, too.

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by geekmom
Thank you 4formickey & videogal!

Great tips!

(trying not to think about how much I might have saved if I knew better when I booked this first cruise)



geekmom

It's the NEXT one you'll save the money on... If you book the next cruise while on your first cruise you'll get a 10% savings plus an (up to) $200 stateroom credit from DCL. (The current offer) Then, if you find a better deal with, say, Dreams Unlimited, you can benefit from their incentives as well..(In some cases you cannot "stack" stateroom credits but that's all fine print and you'll have to ask....)

You could save enough on the second cruise to make you forget your sorrow over the first...besides, any way you slice it, the cruise will be GREAT!

 

[Red71]

I'm a little confused.

We haven't taken our first cruise yet. I want to book a second cruise and give the deposit before we go. Then when we are on our first cruise if the second one shows as more expensive then we booked , do we still get to apply the room credit to our 2nd trip, or is an all or nothing deal?


I was thinking of going a school holiday week for the next time, I know those book up fast.

 

[4formickey]

just wait to book your second trip

 

[Ginny]

Red71 -

I believe what Scratch42 offered at the beginning of the thread is a good suggestion. IMHO, I would not wait to book.........especially if it is a popular week.

If you book early and receive early-booking savings, you will have secured the early-booking price and the week you would like. Once on board, you can check with the DCL agent and see if the same week you want is available. If it is sold out, you already have a reservation at an early booking rate in the category you would like.

But, if it is still available and if the "rebooking onboard" savings plus any shipboard credits would be lower, you could secure the lower priced reservation and, then, cancel the first. If you wait to book on board, depending how far away your cruise is, the highly popular week you want may no longer be available.

From our recent experience, the 2005 Cat 3 Christmas Cruise that we booked onboard in 12/03 will cost us less than the 2003 Cat 3 Christmas Cruise that we booked in August of '01. So, for us, booking onboard was a significant savings and we were still able to secure one of the most popular weeks. Plus, we always use Dreams Unlimited, so we received their shipboard credit for the '05 cruise, as well.

Good Luck

 

[shmora]

What does Dreams Unlimited offer? I booked on board last month for Sept. 2005, should I try DU and then switch my reservation over to them?

Shmora

 

[4formickey]

we saved about $250 booking with DU, mouse ears vacation was $1000 more than DCL

 

[JC Butterfly]

Okay so, I've never done this before and it's all starting to sound a little confusing.

Let's say that I book an Oct 2006 cruise now and my total cost is $2000. Okay so I'm locked into the category I want and a price I'm comfortable with.


Then I go on my June 2005 cruise and try to book on board. I assume that if they offer me the same category for $2000 or more, I'm better off just keeping my original booking.

but let's say that they could offer me the same category at $1800.

Then I could cancel my original $2000 reservation and book a new sailing for $1800.

Then you're suggesting that I contact an agency like Dreams Unlimited (or other) and they may be able to knock off an additional amount on that $1800 plus I keep the $200 on board credit I would have received.

Does that sound right?

 

[4formickey]

that sounds about right. make sure that the frist booking is with dcl. travel agents do not like taking others customers and they will not rebook some one else res.

 

[Red71]

Ginny and Scratch,

Thanks, I get it now!