Disney Cruise activities and incidentals Disney Visa discounts

[gelatoni fan]

So our 4 day cruise on the Dream is now booked and I have a few questions about paying for things.

1. I have a Disney Visa so I should get a discount on merchandise and some activities on Castaway Cay. But there are also relatives traveling on separate reservations which we can link to my app to make sure we are on the same dining rotation. Am I able to book activities for everybody using the discount even if they paid for their cruise separately and are in different rooms from me?

2. It's almost 75 days to the cruise but I paid for the cruise in full using a different credit card for more points and travel protections. Will I need to update a payment method or something in the app before 75 days to get the price of the activities on Castaway Cay to include the Disney Visa discount?

3. If I also have Disney gift cards, is it possible somewhere to split up all these payments? Ideally, I'd like to only pay for things that have a discount with the Disney Visa, use up 2 Disney gift cards and then pay for all other incidentals with my regular credit cards.

4. Which things do I have to book at 75 days out because they get fully booked up and which things can we wait a bit on? Do they require payment for the activities at booking or after the cruise is over? With multiple families, we may want more time to talk and change our mind. For example, if we want snorkel rentals but aren't sure how many, should we book them now and cancel later without penalty if things change or should we wait till we finalize how many people want to do things before booking them?

Thank you in advance!

 

[auntlynne]

4. Payment for anything during the cruise - specialty dining, drinks, shore excursions (port adventures), rentals at Castaway Cay - are NOT paid Pre-cruise.

If you cancel excursions after the stated timeframe, you may be charged.

Drink tastings and Specialty Dining, and cabana rentals on Castaway Cay are most likely to be unavailable.

Snorkeling equipment, bikes, and floats on CC are usually still available when you are on the island.

 

[auntlynne]

1. The VISA discount will apply to those to whom you have granted charging privileges.

 

[auntlynne]

2. When you do online check-in (the 75 day mark), you will be asked what form of payment you want to use for onboard charges. Then you can enter the VISA card number.

 

[auntlynne]

3. This will take work, but is doable.

Plan of Action

(You can have your VISA card on file as your payment. You can also apply Gift Cards to your account. Gift Cards and onboard credit is used before credit cards. This does not negate your discount.)

You can use those leftover gift cards to pre-pay your gratuities (if you didn’t include them in your purchase). Call DCL to do this.

-OR- Apply them to your stateroom account online (can be done as an onboard gift). 2 cards = 2 transactions unless you combine them first. This saves you time onboard.

-OR- Apply them to your stateroom account upon boarding.

If you do all your shopping early in the cruise - you also have a better chance of getting merchandise. Your card will have a “V” on it to designate your card is attached - and you should verify you are getting the discount. Then you could switch cards.

The above is not really much work; it’s the timing of getting discounts on CCay equipment rental and then using the other credit card.

Will you have a significant amount of other incidentals? If so, could you estimate it and pre-gift yourself using your other card?

Trying some creative thinking here.

 

[Mommb]

In order to get the Disney Visa discount, you must select the Disney Visa as your form of payment when you do online check-in, which currently begins 30 days before your cruise. The discount will apply to anyone for whom that card is listed as the form of payment.

If you want to use gift cards, you can either “buy” credits in advance as auntlynne described, or bring the cards to guest services shortly after you have charged more than the amount that is on the cards. You can also pay part of the charges on your bill with a different credit card, if you want to. You just need to leave the Disney Visa as the method that will be used to settle the bill if anything remains at the end of the cruise or once charges reach a certain amount mid-cruise. I think the amount at which credit cards are charged is at least $750, but I am not sure.

Activity rentals on Castaway Cay are unlikely to sell out in advance, though onboard activities such as beverage tastings and specialty dining might. You can cancel bookings with no penalty up to 3 days before the cruise. You will not be charged until the cruise begins (and possibly not until the activities occur).

 

[auntlynne]

@Mommb makes it sound easier than I did. Follow her plan. (The charges to a credit card may begin at $400).

 

[AZMermaid]

We did not get the CC discount. I didn't realize it till later and never followed up, but watch that one!

 

[CountyMounty]

What if we have enough gift card balance to cover everything. Do we still get the Disney Visa discount as long as it's the card listed on the account.

 

[onesam319]

but I paid for the cruise in full using a different credit card for more points

I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that we have to pay our entire cruise fare using the Chase Disney Rewards card in order to get the 10% discount on merchandise purchases onboard. I didn't think there was any discount for excursions or onboard activities.

 

[CountyMounty]

There are definitely discounts for the Castaway Cay package, some of the photo packages, and merchandise purchases over $50. I just dont know if you actually have to pay off that portion of your account (or any portion of your onboard account) with the card or if you just have to have the Disney Visa listed as your main card to charge.

 

[auntlynne]

From the Disney Rewards website:


I’m fairly certain this is not tied to using your Chase VISA to book the cruise - (for example, not everyone might have the credit line to cover cruise and onboard spending. You have to enter your credit card number again when designating form of payment for onboard charges.). I am know to mix and match payment, depending on which rewards are more important to me at the time. (I like the 5% savings when buying Disney Gift Cards from Target and using them for cruise fare.)

And if your gift cards cover all your spending, with no balance left needing to be charged to card on file, I have not seen them go back and modify charges.

Just be sure to verify your discounts at time of purchase. That part gets overlooked, despite the little “V” on your KTTW card.