Costco cruise cost controversy finally figured out!

[Billinaz]

For our first cruise I made a huge mistake and used Expedia. What a nightmare. They were terrible to deal with. They got out cruise docs to us the day AFTER we sailed. Trying to talk to them was another terrible experience.

Our next cruise I used Dreams Unlimited. Very good experience and never had any problems. The OBC was a nice thing to get as well.

I stumbled on Costco and found that they did not give an OBC but you got a Costco cash card that was worth 8-9% of your cruise cost. In our case with 5 people in a one bedroom suite that came out to $900 or so.

These three travel agents had one thing in common. The prices are all exactly the same as DCL.

Recently I have been having discussions online where people were stating that the Costo price was higher and they used the online price quote as their proof.

So just now I looked at a sample.

And now that DCL charges different amounts for different locations on the ship (couldn't let the airlines get all those fees and not tap into that market...) you have to make sure you are comparing apples to oranges.

I then checked Costco and used the same date, people, room type, and deck and got this:

So how can DCL be $6200.70 and Costco be $6409.40?

I called Costco and asked for a quote on this exact same itinerary and they said it was $6200.70.

I was trying to understand where their website was off then I realized that the difference in the price ($208.70) is the exact price of the Taxes, fees and port charges.

So the bottom line is that Costco is the exact same price as DCl, just like every other TA. Their software has an error in the code that increases the taxes PER PERSON instead of PER CABIN. When you actually book they use a different system that calculates the price correctly.

 

[Sandbtwmytoes]

I had this exact issue today! We usually book through Costco, but when I priced it out online, Costco was more expensive. DH called Costco today and they quoted the same price as DCL, but then I get a cash card to make it cheaper. There is a glitch, because if I completed the costco booking (hit continue after selecting the room), then the price would have been the same as DCL. The person I spoke to at Costco said she would mention it the the supervisor.

 

[Ofinn]

I posted this like 6 to 8 months ago. I cant believe they haven't fixed it. I even wrote Costco and told them.

 

[Billinaz]

I got into some big conversation on FB with a person going off on how she was a TA and knew that Costco charges more to offset the cash card.

 

[KalamityJane]

The cheaper price doesn't show up until you get to the page where you input your name/address etc.

 

[Ofinn]

Ive gone through the whole booking process . The price never changed.

 

[MSPeeler]

I wish I would have called, I just looked online, saw it was more and decided to book directly with DCL. My cruise is in 1 week, so no going back now, LOL. Next time....

 

[Billinaz]

Ive gone through the whole booking process . The price never changed.

When you call them, it will be exactly the same as DCL (except you get the cash card).

 

[brisem]

FYI, I work with a cruise company and all Travel agents and travel companies get the same price. The pricing difference comes from Travel Agent using part of their commission to buy the price down.

 

[Ofinn]

When you call them, it will be exactly the same as DCL (except you get the cash card).

I know and you know this, but imagine the people shopping cruises on Costco that are new to cruising. Disney cruise prices are shocking enough without a few hundred dollars tacked on.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

It's silly NOT to book through them to be honest ...

 

[FigmentSpark]

See, all I saw was the increased price and felt that was slimy advertising. If their site had been fixed, first, I wouldn't be spreading what turned out to be false information and second, I would have use them. Very poor business on their part to not fix this glitch.

 

[MSPeeler]

Same! I wish I'd known, but this is my first cruise, and I had no idea... just figured they were upping the cost to cover the cash card.

 

[Billinaz]

FYI, I work with a cruise company and all Travel agents and travel companies get the same price. The pricing difference comes from Travel Agent using part of their commission to buy the price down.

I thought DCL would not allow their authorized agents to do this.....

 

[brisem]

An authorized agent is typically an agent or agency that gone through the Disney Training course.

 

[bumbershoot]

FYI, I work with a cruise company and all Travel agents and travel companies get the same price. The pricing difference comes from Travel Agent using part of their commission to buy the price down.

Do you mean literally making the price lower, or do you just mean giving back OBC or a bottle of wine, etc?

By the way, your signature might not appear the way you want it to or think it's appearing. It's all just code. Randomly copy/pasting some: "theFunction += "var d = new Date();";else var theFunction = "var d = new Date();";theFunction += "var c = new Date('" + eval("CDTDate" + rndNum) + "');";theFunction += "var diff = (c - d)/1000;";theFunction += "var days = Math.floor(diff / 86400);";theFunction += "var rem = diff - (days * 86400);";theFunction += "var hours = Math.floor(rem / 3600);";theFunction += "rem = rem - (hours * 3600);";theFunction += "var minutes = Math.floor(rem / 60);";theFunction += "rem = rem - (minutes"

 

[jillbean78]

I always wondered this!!! So I tried last night and sure enough the price drops down once you get to booking.

 

[brisem]

Do you mean literally making the price lower, or do you just mean giving back OBC or a bottle of wine, etc?
/QUOTE]

The larger Agencies will reduce cost. They could also give obc or gifts, but that's usually by the smaller agents

 

[Billinaz]

which agency will reduce cost? I have not found one yet.

 

[brisem]

which agency will reduce cost? I have not found one yet.

Check out the larger internet companies