been2marceline
Fish are Food, not Friends!
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
- Messages
- 3,201
Just a few tips to help avoid what we just went through.
If you book DCL on points - be double sure to ask about travel insurance, DVC uses a different company and they do not include ( and in our experience even mention it ) when booking the cruise.
When you book directly through DCL - either on the phone or the website, insurance is always offered and discussed. In fact they make sure that you decline it - not DVC - they just don't give a whip one way or the other.
In our experience, whenever we have booked DVC Resort stays, this travel insurance was detailed in an inclusion with the confirmation letter.
In this case, no information on our cruise was ever sent to us at all, zip zero nada - which we thought was odd - DVC is blaming DCL and DCL refuses to discuss it as it is DVC whose is responsible for DCL cruises when booked through DVC. Come on....
We also made the mistake of booking a Cat 3. on points - WARNING - the second you make the reservation - you are looking at a 57 points per person loss if you have to cancel or make a change to a reservation for any and all reasons - which is not what I was told when I inquired when I made the reservation. Sigh.
If you book a Cat 4 or lower - you can get all of your points returned in reservation status if you have to cancel or change prior to 75 days out.
DCL will allow the transfer of a suite booking to a different date, thereby allowing you to not lose the suite deposit, if booked through DVC - no such luck.
Great way to treat concierge customers!
I had to find all of this out as we may have a potential surgery coming up that would prevent us from going - which is why I called to find out how the travel insurance I assumed we had would work - only to find out that the only way we could have been protected was to purchase it on the day the reservation was made - wish we would have known!
Again - DVC says that Cat 4 and lower can buy insurance up until the 75 day mark - Cat 3 only has a single day window on the day the reservation was made.
Good job DVC!
NOT.
I can not recommend using points to book cruises - if you pay cash and stay away from the Cat 3 you can protect yourself up to 75 days before departure and suffer no loss.
Points & Cat 3. ? Forewarned is Forearmed.
It saddens me to even have to talk about this - it could have all been avoided by having a consistent policy - after all it is all Disney!
If you book DCL on points - be double sure to ask about travel insurance, DVC uses a different company and they do not include ( and in our experience even mention it ) when booking the cruise.
When you book directly through DCL - either on the phone or the website, insurance is always offered and discussed. In fact they make sure that you decline it - not DVC - they just don't give a whip one way or the other.
In our experience, whenever we have booked DVC Resort stays, this travel insurance was detailed in an inclusion with the confirmation letter.
In this case, no information on our cruise was ever sent to us at all, zip zero nada - which we thought was odd - DVC is blaming DCL and DCL refuses to discuss it as it is DVC whose is responsible for DCL cruises when booked through DVC. Come on....
We also made the mistake of booking a Cat 3. on points - WARNING - the second you make the reservation - you are looking at a 57 points per person loss if you have to cancel or make a change to a reservation for any and all reasons - which is not what I was told when I inquired when I made the reservation. Sigh.
If you book a Cat 4 or lower - you can get all of your points returned in reservation status if you have to cancel or change prior to 75 days out.
DCL will allow the transfer of a suite booking to a different date, thereby allowing you to not lose the suite deposit, if booked through DVC - no such luck.
Great way to treat concierge customers!
I had to find all of this out as we may have a potential surgery coming up that would prevent us from going - which is why I called to find out how the travel insurance I assumed we had would work - only to find out that the only way we could have been protected was to purchase it on the day the reservation was made - wish we would have known!
Again - DVC says that Cat 4 and lower can buy insurance up until the 75 day mark - Cat 3 only has a single day window on the day the reservation was made.
Good job DVC!
NOT.
I can not recommend using points to book cruises - if you pay cash and stay away from the Cat 3 you can protect yourself up to 75 days before departure and suffer no loss.
Points & Cat 3. ? Forewarned is Forearmed.
It saddens me to even have to talk about this - it could have all been avoided by having a consistent policy - after all it is all Disney!
