costco vs dcl

[tony3331]

does any one know about booking a trip with costco i just called them and there is a big price difference almost 900.00 for a 7day would i be missing something if i booked with costco please help

 

[hokie5cruiser]

We used Costco for our 6/22/02 Magic cruise and it was much lower than anyone else. I did keep up with price specials on this board, but none applied to the week we went. If they did, I would have called to apply those as I don't think they would have automatically. Our agent, Amy, was great with answers to a couple of questions we had. Costco has since switched travel companies for Disney cruises but their prices are the only discounts I've found.
Many people on this board swear by Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of this board. From what I've heard, they are very responsive to changes in price and will get the new lower price applied to your cruise if it happens. they also run specials with rebates that could be a discount.
Either way, enjoy your cruise!

 

[my3kids]

I booked with Costco and have been very happy. The financial savings were tremendous. Would they automatically reduce my fare if DCL lowered prices?....no. But could I call them and have it adjusted?....yes! I've had no problems and would use them again in a minute. The 5 minutes it would take me to call if a special price break became available is small thing compared the hundreds of dollars in cruise fare I saved. I would definately use Costco!

 

[slindamood]

We had a very bad experience with Costco and would never use them again, no matter what the savings.

They did not mail the documents on time, then sent them to the wrong person just days before the cruise. We received documents for a family in Hamilton, Bermuda just days before the cruise. When we called the agent to try to straighten things out we could only get a recorded message that they were in training (first day) and second day left messages that were not returned. We finally got through to customer relations and spent much time figuring out how to get the documents to Bermuda and how we could get documents at the terminal. The documents arrived the day that we left home.

When we got back from the cruise, we found the packet of information on shore excursions - that we should have received when we made our final payment - had arrived . It was sent fedex at great expense while we were cruising. Would have needed time travel to do us any good.

No amount of savings is worth the aggrevation we went through. We have booked our next cruise through DU.

 

[Wonderwoman1982]

I used Costco on our first cruise, and have booked through them again for our next cruise, next summer. The savings are TREMENDOUS if you book early, and we were obviously VERY happy, or else we wouldn't have used them again. Slindamood had a bad experience, but I think that is very rare. It's always possible you can have a bad experience no matter WHO you use, but the norm is Costco is a great company to book through.

 

[CruellaDuVille]

I booked with Disney after I called Costco, and called, and called, and called. It was either busy or an obnoxious wait. I said "heck with this!" (That's not what I said, but this is a Disney board).

I did use Costco in the past for a RCCL cruise and it all worked out, I even got a stateroom upgrade.

 

[liza]

I already have a reservation booked with Disney and called Costco to see how much it would be if I switched. Costco refused to tell me until I authorized them to take over the booking. I said I didn't want to transfer the booking until I knew what the price through Costco would be. Costco said it was a complicated formula and depended on my cost I had obtained through Disney. I told them I could give them all that information. Costco kept insisting it could not do anything until I transferred the booking. I said on a prior cruise I first made a booking myself through Disney, then months later called a travel agent, and the travel agent then called Disney and obtained all of the information from the booking I had made, gave me the discounted price, and then I authorized the switch. Costco said that cannot be done. It either didn't believe me or just wasn't interested in earning my business.

 

[my3kids]

liza: that is exactly the way I obtained my Costco reservation....How strange they now say it can't be done. I booked with DCL, then called Costco. They got the reservation from DCL and I provided Costco with my info for the deposit which was charged directly by DCL. Sounds like you got a flakey person or they have totally changed their policy.

 

[disney03]

I'm comparing quotes right now for a May 2003 cruise. The TA from Costco told me they take the DCL base fare and automatically deduct 10% off that price. This can reduce your rate significantly.

 

[aseafish]

I also booked with Costco but waited, and waited, and waited on the phone anytime i had a question or considered upgrading. The savings was substantial on a stateroom with a veranda, neglible on one inside. I finally said to heck with it and booked with DLC, then transferred to DU. Now I just call or email and get a quick response.

 

[rae519]

Liza-
I do all my own reservations with DCL then transfer it to a TA who gives me 7% rebate on the cost of the trip. He says he makes 3% off the deal. He has been very responsive to my questions and this is the third time I've had him take over my reservations without any hassle or problems. It's an easy 3% for him and a nice savings for me (a little over $200 each 7 nighter).
I have tried asking other TA's about this "little deal" and no one seems interested in doing it. Obviously, they don't want my business!

Rae

 

[AprilN]

From what I've learned, Costco takes 10% off the DCL price of outside staterooms, and 5% off inside staterooms. My booking is with Costco, and I saved $246 over Disney for a Cat. 6 with 2 adults ($171 saved over DU).

I have been totally satisfied with my Costco experience so far, although I'm continually checking the price with DCL to make sure I haven't missed any new discounts! And I'm certainly not going to wait until I receive the excursions brochure to make my reservations - I've learned enough from the DIS boards to have put a reminder in my calendar for the 60-day mark.

One other point - I don't know when slindamood booked with Costco, but they recently changed travel companies in November 2001, so past problems may have been a symptom of the previous company. Just a thought!

April

 

[debbiebones]

for us it was a toss-up between DU and Costco and Costco won out only for the fact that they automatically bumped us up to a Category 5 from a Category 6 (which I know is a bit of a price difference). The prices were pretty comparable for both.

So far, I've been very pleased with Costco. They've been extremely helpful everytime I've called them. They:

-called DCL to check on the first time cruise credit for me and applied it immediately.

-double checked yesterday when I called to find out if our reservations were linked to my parents who are in the adjoining room (to make sure we had the same dinner seating). They also confirmed for me that we do indeed have the early seating as requested.

-were very helpful when I paid for our cruise in full yesterday over the phone. "Haley" told me she's very detail-oriented and proceeded to read and reread all the information to me over the phone to make sure we had the correct payment amounts to be charged to our credit card. (We had two separate invoices plus charges had been already added and subtracted due to down payments and added insurance).

Bottom line is, they've always been very helpful and friendly everytime I've called them. In regards to our documents, they told us they'd be mailed to us 2-3 weeks before our cruise which I think is standard no matter who you book through.

Deb

 

[rae519]

My cruise is 9/28 and my TA mailed out my docs on 8/16 - they arrived Monday. Some of the 9/28er's haven't received theirs yet and a few received theirs before I did. Guess it's the luck of the draw!

As long as we can all get the best deal going and are happy with our TA's and discounts, that's all that matters! Makes it easier to sail again and again!

Rae

 

[cumickey]

Another thing you might miss.......I have not heard of Costco leaving surprise sailaway baskets/gifts in the staterooms. But I have heard of TA's doing that for a lot of customers. But we saved several hundred dollars going with costco so we could do our own basket for that and still be laughing!, I think I'll live!!. The gift is a very nice touch, and so hence that maybe where some of your money goes with other TA's.

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

We booked 2 connecting rooms with Costco last year for a 7 day in May. We saved about $600 total which was great for us. I was not worried about them checking for discounts etc. as I booked under the Springtime Magic promo so I knew we were pretty much already taken care of. I booked initially through DCL and then transferred to Costco without any real problems. We did have a bit of a problem with our payment but it was all worked out in the end.

I must say that now that DCL has essentially discontinued offering "promotional rates" it has made it easier to book with Costco. With EBS, you pretty much get the rate based on when you book and having someone watch for discounts is a pretty moot point.

BTW, we got nice (and unexpected) stateroom gifts in our room. Each room received the "suitcase" gift package with snacks etc. and I must assume it was from Costco since I can't imagine anyone else who would have sent it (there was no note or anything and no friends or relatives claimed responsiblity). So, you never know, maybe you will get a stateroom gift even if you book with Costco