Booking with Costco on opening day

[Sconny]

Finally made it to Platinum so I am looking forward to using this perk for the 1st time for the Fall 2021 bookings come this Monday (7/27/20).

My question is what have people done about the lag in time between Disney (Starts at 8am eastern on Monday for Platinum) and Costco (they open at 7am Pacific) for calling in reservations?

From my calculations Costco is 2 HRS after Disney to start booking. I have 2 place holders I am going to use to book new Fall 2021 cruises that are already with Costco. So seeing if anyone knows any tricks with this? From what I read I think I have to suck it up if I want the Costco Gift Card Perk....

I am OK if I have to wait the 2 HRS as we are not really picky with cabins (just 2 of us) but would be nice to have the ability to try at 8am instead of 10am especially if we were looking at something that sells out quickly some day (The ones I am looking at wont be an issue for this time)

Thanks for your responses...

 

[JM23457]

Finally made it to Platinum so I am looking forward to using this perk for the 1st time for the Fall 2021 bookings come this Monday (7/27/20).

My question is what have people done about the lag in time between Disney (Starts at 8am eastern on Monday for Platinum) and Costco (they open at 7am Pacific) for calling in reservations?

From my calculations Costco is 2 HRS after Disney to start booking. I have 2 place holders I am going to use to book new Fall 2021 cruises that are already with Costco. So seeing if anyone knows any tricks with this? From what I read I think I have to suck it up if I want the Costco Gift Card Perk....

I am OK if I have to wait the 2 HRS as we are not really picky with cabins (just 2 of us) but would be nice to have the ability to try at 8am instead of 10am especially if we were looking at something that sells out quickly some day (The ones I am looking at wont be an issue for this time)

Thanks for your responses...

PSA: Those who don't plan to use a placeholder can just book it online & transfer it to Costco within 30 days (but don't wait until day 29 to initiate the transfer as the process can take a few days). You'll get all of the Costco benefits that you'd get if they had booked it for you.

OP: Since you do have a placeholder to use, you'll have to suck it up and wait. Call in today & practice the steps to get to the Disney cruise part of their phone line, & how long it takes you. Then try to get to that DCL part of their phone line right at opening.

 

[Disneypeach]

I’ve used Costco many times to book and they did open later based on their normal hours but I’d swear they opened at the same time as DCL last time I booked on opening day. I joked around with the agent about how early it was for them and that I appreciated their effort. You may want to check with them directly before the big day to be sure on timing.
good luck!

 

[blondietink]

Is there any advantage to booking a cruise through Costco?

 

[Budzooka]

Is there any advantage to booking a cruise through Costco?

Costco card for approximately 8% of the cost of the cruise. I’ve done it once and decided it wasn’t worth it. I would rather get an onboard credit of a lesser amount from a TA and have them handle it all. It’a a madhouse on opening day.

 

[JM23457]

Is there any advantage to booking a cruise through Costco?

Yes. You get 8.5% of the cruise cost back on a Costco cash card, which you can use at their stores or at their gas station pump. If you're an executive member, you get an additional 2% rebate. If you pay with a Costco Visa card, you get more benefits. This is all in addition to any discount or deal you get from DCL. Costco's benefits apply whether you book the cruise with them or transfer to them within 30 days (allow a few days for the transfer process).

It's a great savings, especially on more expensive cruises. Our New Year's Fantasy cruise is paying my full year's gasoline bill.

 

[o&smom]

I’ve used Costco many times to book and they did open later based on their normal hours but I’d swear they opened at the same time as DCL last time I booked on opening day. I joked around with the agent about how early it was for them and that I appreciated their effort. You may want to check with them directly before the big day to be sure on timing.
good luck!

I agree, I think they open earlier for booking Disney cruises on opening day. My husband calls at 5:00 Pacific time into Costco, and this would be our fifth cruise booking opening day with them.

 

[JM23457]

Costco Travel's call center hours have changed due to Covid. I recommend calling in advance to check what their hours will be on opening day. I did that once, and was given a tip on which extension to dial that day. It helped.

 

[Lauri]

I spoke to Costco yesterday. The agent that I spoke with said they are working from home, and there are no plans to open early. Unfortunately, that means they will not be opening until 10 AM Eastern time, which is 2 hours after Disney opens.

 

[mmackeymouse]

For those of us who have cruise credits from cancelled 2020 cruises....is Costco an option? Or even Dreams?

 

[ajo]

For those of us who have cruise credits from cancelled 2020 cruises....is Costco an option? Or even Dreams?

My understanding is that if you have a previously booked cruise, you have to move or transfer it to a TA within 30 days of booking. So if you already have a FCC, it would be too late to transfer to a TA now.

 

[mmackeymouse]

My understanding is that if you have a previously booked cruise, you have to move or transfer it to a TA within 30 days of booking. So if you already have a FCC, it would be too late to transfer to a TA now.

I am sorry I don't entirely understand...can you clarify?

How can we move or transfer something to a TA that isn't booked yet?

 

[ajo]

I am sorry I don't entirely understand...can you clarify?

How can we move or transfer something to a TA that isn't booked yet?

If you have a reservation number, then you have 30 days from the date you made that reservation to transfer it to a TA.

Since you said you have a FCC from a cancelled cruise (which means you already have a reservation number) it will have already been more than 30 days since you originally booked that cruise so you can’t transfer it.

On the other hand, if you are making a brand new reservation, then you have 30 days from the date you make the reservation to transfer it to a TA.

Hope that helps clarify.

 

[I_love_Cruising]

For those of us who have cruise credits from cancelled 2020 cruises....is Costco an option? Or even Dreams?

If I was in your shoes I would try to contact a TA directly and ask. I would think that a new reservation is a new reservation no matter how it is paid for.

 

[mmackeymouse]

If you have a reservation number, then you have 30 days from the date you made that reservation to transfer it to a TA.

Since you said you have a FCC from a cancelled cruise (which means you already have a reservation number) it will have already been more than 30 days since you originally booked that cruise so you can’t transfer it.

On the other hand, if you are making a brand new reservation, then you have 30 days from the date you make the reservation to transfer it to a TA.

Hope that helps clarify.

Thanks for trying, but no, not entirely....

The cruise we are booking is a new cruise. For example, if we go into the DCL site to make a "dummy" cruise just to test it, when we go to check out, the FCC is on there.

But, what I am hearing is it's technically not a new cruise? Since the FCC is attached to the old cruise, it would be considered an old cruise, even if it's a new cruise.

 

[ajo]

Thanks for trying, but no, not entirely....

The cruise we are booking is a new cruise. For example, if we go into the DCL site to make a "dummy" cruise just to test it, when we go to check out, the FCC is on there.

But, what I am hearing is it's technically not a new cruise? Since the FCC is attached to the old cruise, it would be considered an old cruise, even if it's a new cruise.

Ok - so here is my last attempt!

If the funds are just tied to your Castaway Club number and not tied to a reservation number, then you are right it should be a new reservation and you should be able to use any TA or transfer to a TA within 30 days. I say go for it!

 

[mmackeymouse]

Ok - so here is my last attempt!

If the funds are just tied to your Castaway Club number and not tied to a reservation number, then you are right it should be a new reservation and you should be able to use any TA or transfer to a TA within 30 days. I say go for it!

Thanks, I will look into it....I am pretty sure it is attached to our CC numbers, not a reservation number but....I'll look into all the correspondence we have had and see what I can see.

 

[Sconny]

I spoke to Costco yesterday. The agent that I spoke with said they are working from home, and there are no plans to open early. Unfortunately, that means they will not be opening until 10 AM Eastern time, which is 2 hours after Disney opens.

Figured I would share my experience today with Opening day booking with a placeholder thru Costco...We have never tried opening day booking b4 thru Costco or Disney so all new to us

Called Costco today at Noon (Central Time)...waited 45 min...talked to 1st person who told me about there new procedure with placeholder (to call you back within 24 hrs) after you provide them some information about what you want...called it the GOOGLE Notes sheet...Then received call back around 230pm, So less then 2 HRS later...that person went over the notes put me on hold for about 5-10 min came back and said your all set....

So all went well for us, was worried I not would get the room I wanted but it was no issue...even scored the flag pole room

The one concern I would have if booking opening day platinum thru Costco with a placeholder if it was a popular cruise you would not get the room you wanted and maybe not get the cruise you wanted with the call back situation...

We decided if its a cruise we really want and could not risk this new delay with Costco that we would book directly on Disney Web Site to get what we wanted and transfer to Costco to get the gift card just suck up missing the 10% discount. Your results and solutions may vary...

 

[o&smom]

Figured I would share my experience today with Opening day booking with a placeholder thru Costco...We have never tried opening day booking b4 thru Costco or Disney so all new to us

Called Costco today at Noon (Central Time)...waited 45 min...talked to 1st person who told me about there new procedure with placeholder (to call you back within 24 hrs) after you provide them some information about what you want...called it the GOOGLE Notes sheet...Then received call back around 230pm, So less then 2 HRS later...that person went over the notes put me on hold for about 5-10 min came back and said your all set....

So all went well for us, was worried I not would get the room I wanted but it was no issue...even scored the flag pole room

The one concern I would have if booking opening day platinum thru Costco with a placeholder if it was a popular cruise you would not get the room you wanted and maybe not get the cruise you wanted with the call back situation...

We decided if its a cruise we really want and could not risk this new delay with Costco that we would book directly on Disney Web Site to get what we wanted and transfer to Costco to get the gift card just suck up missing the 10% discount. Your results and solutions may vary...

That does not sound good! We are always particular about our room and wait on hold while Costco contacts Disney. We called in directly to Disney this morning since we were interested in cruises that would not allow our OBB. Will need to talk to Costco about this for future.

 

[Dom262]

We called in this morning directly to DCL, made our reservations and then told the agent we would be transferring to Costco. She went ahead and took care of that for us.