DCL website survey: willingness to prepay for port adventures/adult dining

[ajo]

I was on the DCL website today and a survey popped up. Other than basic website and demographic questions, this was the only question on the survey:

If Disney Cruise Line required payment at the time of reservation of the activity, which of the following, if any, would you be willing to reserve and pay for in advance of your cruise?

Specialty Dining (Palo/Remy)
Port Adventure
None of the Above

I selected both Specialty Dining and Port Adventure. The next question asked me to select why I would be willing to prepay. These reasons included: I know I want to do the activity; I can afford to pay now; I want to know my expenses ahead of time; I want to pay over time; I think I can get a refund if I cancel; and other.

Makes me wonder if DCL is considering offering/requiring prepayment for port adventures and adult dining??

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I was on the DCL website today and a survey popped up. Other than basic website and demographic questions, this was the only question on the survey:

If Disney Cruise Line required payment at the time of reservation of the activity, which of the following, if any, would you be willing to reserve and pay for in advance of your cruise?

Specialty Dining (Palo/Remy)
Port Adventure
None of the Above

I selected both Specialty Dining and Port Adventure. The next question asked me to select why I would be willing to prepay. These reasons included: I know I want to do the activity; I can afford to pay now; I want to know my expenses ahead of time; I want to pay over time; I think I can get a refund if I cancel; and other.

Makes me wonder if DCL is considering offering/requiring prepayment for port adventures and adult dining??

Well, that question has been popping up in the survey for a while now.

Maybe DCL is thinking of "falling in line with other major cruise lines" in that respect.

I think it would open up more spots in the reservation process if people had to pay ahead. I believe there's quite a bit of "just in case" reservations that get released at the last minute under DCL's current process.

 

[DisneyConvert]

We don't do many Disney excursions, but I have no problem paying with Palo in advance as we get the full benefits of the Disney Visa when we do.

 

[Dug720]

I have honestly liked paying for excursions and such earlier as it allows me to spread the cost of the cruise and things AND have as much paid for as possible before stepping on the ship. What I have done with Disney is put that amount on a gift card, but I would have no issue paying for things in advance.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We were on a cruise (not DCL) that required paying for a shore excursion when it was booked. It annoyed me to fork over the funds 6 mos in advance but I did it.

 

[CamColt]

That's interesting. I don't particularly like it and I'd rather pay everything at the end of cruise, however I wouldn't not book something I wanted because of that policy.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

The big issue for me would be cancellation date. Right now, I think you are committed 3 days before sail, is that correct? So if the new policy moved that date quite a bit, I would become more hesitant to book. If it kept the date the same (or heaven forbid improved it to like the day of sail, LOL) then I'd be fine with prepaying. It's not like that money is off somewhere earning big interest in the mean time, and I too like to spread out my expenses around a vacation. After all, I have done the same thing with the airfare and the cruise cost.

 

[jrabbit]

As a skeptic, I assume that if DCL implements this "benefit" it will come with several --- Gotcha's ..

1. Have to Pay In Full even earlier than now (probably 30+ days) - and if you are Platinum the benefit is everything is due 6 months prior to sailing
2. Won't be able to cancel within 30 days of the start of the cruise

But I said that I would be willing to prepay as long as I am able to Cancel the ressie before the cruise without penalty.

On the other hand, if DCL gets people to prepay many of these things the "sticker shock" at the end of the cruise will not be as bad - and Disney is all about you leaving with Good / Happy memories, not the "OMG - Look at the SIZE of That Bill!!"memories. In the end might help more people to participate in the gratuity system.

 

[havoc315]

I was on the DCL website today and a survey popped up. Other than basic website and demographic questions, this was the only question on the survey:

If Disney Cruise Line required payment at the time of reservation of the activity, which of the following, if any, would you be willing to reserve and pay for in advance of your cruise?

Specialty Dining (Palo/Remy)
Port Adventure
None of the Above

I selected both Specialty Dining and Port Adventure. The next question asked me to select why I would be willing to prepay. These reasons included: I know I want to do the activity; I can afford to pay now; I want to know my expenses ahead of time; I want to pay over time; I think I can get a refund if I cancel; and other.

Makes me wonder if DCL is considering offering/requiring prepayment for port adventures and adult dining??

Whether I pay $xxx the day of the cruise, or 90 days before the cruise, doesn't really bother me. And if it makes it easier to get reservations, great.

But I would object if there wasn't a fairly generous cancellation policy.
For example, though I may be committed to doing a Palo/Remy dinner, I may adjust my plans once I get my dining rotation, when on board. Don't want to miss Animator's Palate night, so may want to move or cancel that adult dinner.

And excursions.... Not unusual at times, to re-think excursions. At the 90 day mark, book a bunch for each port. Then as it gets closer, realize you've overbooked and want a day that is more relaxing. Or after having done more research, want to change excursions. Or maybe you've booked for extended family, and as they plans filter out, you discover a couple family members are objecting to a planned excursion.

So I have no problem pre-paying, as long as for dining, you can still cancel on the first day of the cruise and/or 48 hours in advance. And for excursions, as long as you could still cancel up to a couple days before the cruise.

 

[mama&me]

I would be willing to prepay if I would be able to use my Disney Vacation Account. I have paid for previous excursions and Palo Brunch by adding onboard credit to my account from my DVA before our cruise.

 

[tidefan]

I don't like it as this would not allow one to use OBC towards Port Adventures.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Makes me wonder if DCL is considering offering/requiring prepayment for port adventures and adult dining??

No thanks...I'll hang on to my money as long as I can. I don't care if it's offered but don't "force" it.

 

[disneycruisedreams]

I don't like it as this would not allow one to use OBC towards Port Adventures.

This!!!

 

[Dug720]

This!!!

RCCL (and I think maybe some others) DO have it set so you can use OBC for excursions or drink or dining packages. OBC from the cruise line which was part of a booking promotion (OBB or other bookings since they sometimes include OBC with booking).

OBC from a TA would not count as that is considered a gift upon boarding.

But for some OBC there ARE lines that allow it to be used ahead of time

 

[jrabbit]

I don't like it as this would not allow one to use OBC towards Port Adventures.

This!!!

FTW!!!

Thanks, now I will have to rethink my answer. So at the end of the day, they would make it so that the OBC is directed back towards them (buying drinks, junk (er. I mean souvenirs) since they have also started offering us to prepay our gratuities. "Here's some 'money' for you to give right back to us"

 

[mama&me]

If they do happen to change this and at the end of the cruise there is money in our account, we can purchase gift card with our OBC.
Of course it will be a Disney gift card, so eventually it would go back to them anyway, but we can use it for our next cruise or Disney vaca.

 

[Quellman]

No thanks...I'll hang on to my money as long as I can. I don't care if it's offered but don't "force" it.

Yupp. I'd be ok with half the cost of the excursion as a down payment at the time of reserving it as a compromise.

 

[LSUfan4444]

If there's no discount for pre-payment I've got no interest in pre-payment. If there is a discount and it's not 100% refundable, I've got no interest. If there is a discount that's 100% refundable it would have to be fairly significant for me to jump in (like 20%).

I do OBB's with DCL mainly because it's just a deposit prepayment. For the dining activities I'd want something like 20% discount for paid in full or like a 10% discount for a pre paid deposit

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I don't like it as this would not allow one to use OBC towards Port Adventures.

Royal Caribbean does let you spend the OBC in advance to pay for excursions or specialty dining, so I assume if DCL implements this, it will work in a similar way.

 

[oakleycat]

I would love to prepay, as long as you can still cancel up until the cruise starts. I like having everything paid for before I go on vacation!