disney cruise survey

[RENThead09]

Just got one in my email. Most centered around how I wanted my planning information (email, mail, facebook, website, etc) and what timing I felt I needed that information for my trip.

Also interesting was that they called out Dis-Boards by name as a source options for where you are looking for information.

The main question that stood out was the one about pre-paying from everything from the spa to dining to excursions to cabanas.

They don't always mean anything, but was interesting to see that they are thinking about this option.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I received the same survey. I hope they don't change to pre-pay but I'm sure it's headed that way.

 

[Dug720]

I know RCCL, Celebrity, HAL, and Princess require pre-payment. So it is would really bring DCL in line with the industry. RCCL and Celebrity at least do have it fixed where ship-issued OBC (in other words that OBC that is NOT refundable) can be used.

It really does seem to at least limit the hoarding of "well, maybe I want to do this..." reservations. And IMHO I like having as much paid in advance as possible. Nothing says you HAVE to book when your window opens and when things are pre-paid it might not be as crazy trying to get them.

 

[mhconley]

I received the survey, too, and noticed the same emphasis. I would not mind prepaying for everything. It would be nice to have it all paid for before we cruise.

Martin

 

[jvh4]

I know RCCL, Celebrity, HAL, and Princess require pre-payment. So it is would really bring DCL in line with the industry. RCCL and Celebrity at least do have it fixed where ship-issued OBC (in other words that OBC that is NOT refundable) can be used.

It really does seem to at least limit the hoarding of "well, maybe I want to do this..." reservations. And IMHO I like having as much paid in advance as possible. Nothing says you HAVE to book when your window opens and when things are pre-paid it might not be as crazy trying to get them.

Got the same survey. I support prepaying. Some reservations are so hard to get that you shouldn't be able to tie them up "just in case" unless you're willing to pay. The refund policy should allow you to use the prepaid value toward room charges since plans really do change. Interesting that other lines do this already.

 

[cmwade77]

The prepaying was definitely the heart of the survey and what they REALLY wanted to know about. And I have mixed feelings on it, on the one hand it reduces a lot of dummy reservations, but on the other hand how do you use your OBC to pay for it? For example we will be doing Palo on this upcoming cruise, but it will be paid for with our OBC. But as long as they work that out and you can get a full cash refund or refund to your OBC if that is how you paid if you cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the reservation I would ultimately be OK with it.

 

[Dug720]

As I said, I know RCCL and Celebrity have their system so that the cruise line-given OBC which is not refundable can be used in advance. In most cases I have known, any OBC given by a travel agent is refundable and so you would/could get that back.

 

[mom4fun]

I always pay ahead. You just add up the costs and have them add it as obc when I want to. Why would I want them to force me to on their schedule? And as far as people just booking things and canceling. All they need is a Disney Visa and they can still do it. There is no interest charged for 6 months on these purchases. If Disney is considering it, it is not for your benefit. It is about holding your money longer.

 

[gotomu212]

I personally really dislike prepaying and it would drive me to non-DCL excursions. From a purely financial standpoint I don't like tying my money up any earlier than I have to. While Disney has your money you aren't earning interest on it/able to use it so there's a real opportunity cost for every month your money sits there. There's nothing but upside for DCL as they have acces to your money and can start using it once you prepay.

I would be more in favor of tightening the cancellation period to prevent the overbooking.

 

[bbn1122]

I did the survey too. I would definitely pre-pay for certain things. I just hope that have a liberal and respectful cancellation policy if they do start the pre-pay.

 

[mhconley]

From a purely financial standpoint I don't like tying my money up any earlier than I have to. While Disney has your money you aren't earning interest on it/able to use it so there's a real opportunity cost for every month your money sits there.

Earning interest is no longer a valid argument in 2017 as it was in say 1980. $1,000 sitting in a 2.25% CD will only earn $5.64 in interest in the three months earlier you would spend it to prepay. That's barely enough to cover a cup of coffee.

Martin

 

[clten]

As I said, I know RCCL and Celebrity have their system so that the cruise line-given OBC which is not refundable can be used in advance. In most cases I have known, any OBC given by a travel agent is refundable and so you would/could get that back.

The travel agent OBC is refundable but if you don't use it -- it isn't refundable to YOU. It is refundable to the original form of payment which typically is tied to the agent/agency. So if you don't use it, it goes back to them, not you. So this could be a big change for some people who use that TA credit for items that might become "pre-pay" items.

 

[jvh4]

I personally really dislike prepaying and it would drive me to non-DCL excursions. From a purely financial standpoint I don't like tying my money up any earlier than I have to. While Disney has your money you aren't earning interest on it/able to use it so there's a real opportunity cost for every month your money sits there. There's nothing but upside for DCL as they have acces to your money and can start using it once you prepay.

I would be more in favor of tightening the cancellation period to prevent the overbooking.

That's is a fair point. The survey did provide an opportunity to state which types of services you'd be willing to pre-pay for. For example, I had an opportunity to say I'd pre-pay for the spa, but not excursions. So depending the feedback collected, it may exclude excursions. To me pre-paying and deposits are just the nature of travel and part of budgeting. You will always have the option to hold out paying, but the trade off might be availability. Maybe I need to shop around a bit, but 120 days interest for me on a $600 cabana is less than $5. Better in your pocket than Disney's I suppose.

 

[Dug720]

The travel agent OBC is refundable but if you don't use it -- it isn't refundable to YOU. It is refundable to the original form of payment which typically is tied to the agent/agency. So if you don't use it, it goes back to them, not you. So this could be a big change for some people who use that TA credit for items that might become "pre-pay" items.

Ah. I don't use travel agents, so I didn't know that.

BUT, just as a point to ponder regarding excursions, I have noticed that there seems to be more availability of them on board when they ARE prepaid so there is more of a chance to use any credit for them. Obviously if there is an excursion that is going to ruin your cruise if you can't go on it (which, the cancellation of excursion and/or port is ALWAYS a risk), you would have to decide if it's worth it to prepay. So other than those make-or-break things, in my experience when prepayment is required, it DOES keep more excursion spaces open for booking on board.

 

[Chirple]

I got the survey, and I was okay with the pre-pay option for everything. As @bbn1122 stated, if the cancellation policy is liberal and respectful, then I have no issue. We already pre-pay our tips and add money to our onboard account to cover spa experiences/excursions/adult dining. We aren't big fans of coming home to vacation expenses.

 

[kiford]

Earning interest is no longer a valid argument in 2017 as it was in say 1980. $1,000 sitting in a 2.25% CD will only earn $5.64 in interest in the three months earlier you would spend it to prepay. That's barely enough to cover a cup of coffee.

For many people, prepaying may also be a cash flow issue. If you have to wait until you have the funds, it may sell out before you can book it yourself. And if you put it on a credit card but don't have the money to pay for it right then, you pay interest on that and it's a lot more than $5.64. Waiting on refunds may also be a cash flow issue for some people.

I don't want to prepay in advance - if I have concerns about having everything paid for before the cruise, I would simply put it aside and continue to earn my very small interest payment rather than give it to someone else. It's still my $5.64. I see no reason to give my money to someone else before I have to even if I earn no interest on it (I'm an accountant - I don't pay my vendors early unless I get something in return like a discount and I have that same view personally). And I don't want to have to wait to get my money back if it gets cancelled due to weather or inability to dock.

Although I don't double-book anything or book anything that I don't ultimately plan to do, there have been times when there is a different excursion that I really want but it's full. I keep checking and, if it opens up, I cancel the first and book the second. If it didn't open up, I'd still do the original booking. I don't particularly want to have to pay for two and wait for the refund. It's not a case of not being able to afford to, it's just that it's my money and they haven't rendered any service yet nor is it known if they will be able to. And, yes, I know that's the same situation as paying for the cruise itself in advance but there's a higher probability that they'll render that service than that they'll render the service for the excursion due to unforeseen things such as cancellation for lack of bookings, inability to dock, weather, closures, etc. (yes, I once again reveal my accounting bias here). Cruises have been cancelled but not nearly as frequently as excursions.

I would definitely pre-pay for certain things. I just hope that have a liberal and respectful cancellation policy if they do start the pre-pay.

If the point of having people pre-pay is to ensure that they don't hoard bookings, then having a liberal cancellation policy (if that means being able to cancel for any reason and get all your money back) kind of makes it a moot point IMO. You could pay for a number of things in advance that you don't intend to necessarily do and then cancel on a whim and get your money back as long as you have the cash/OBC float or a credit card. You could effectively hoard in the same way as you could now; you'd only have to worry about whether cash flow is an issue while waiting for a refund or if there would be credit card interest you wouldn't get back that you don't want to incur.

However, whatever they choose to do, it won't impact my planning, booking or scheduling in the least. I'll just grumble to myself for about 5 minutes and then book and pay for what I want if they change policy.

 

[dprincessmom]

I also got the survey which was really strange to me as we are first time cruiser. I understand both sides of the prepay argument. I stated that I would prepay for spa treatments and excursions because I feel like (based on my WDW experience with dining reservations) people are less likely to "hoard" reservations with the prepay or penalty requirement.

Since that went into effect, I have typically been able to get any reservation I wanted as long I was a little flexible with the time (meaning dinner, not dinner at exactly 6:05).

The example of the option 2 excursion vs option 1 where 1 becomes available could be handled with a "change button" on the excursion bookings. I have #2 booked and paid for because #1 wasn't available. I check back and #1 is up for grabs, if there is a change option, I change the reservation and pay/refund the difference (not having to pay the entire new cost and wait for a refund). This is already available on the WDW resort reservation system, so they have the capability to do this.

That being said, there also needs to be a way for the refund to land back in your paying account if the excursion is cancelled by Disney (can't dock, weather, etc) in a very quick turnaround (1-2 days).

 

[FigmentSpark]

What about a pre-pay option to 'hold' the reservation, but once you are on the ship, you can change the payment method (ie: credit original form of payment and debit OBC or other card)?

One issue would be when two people are sharing a room, but not a payment method. One person makes the reservations, but if payment were required at that time, they'd be on the hook for getting payment from their friend or else the friend has to book their own at the same time.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I think I just received the same survey; is it hosted by Blue Kite? I don't like to click on things unless I know it's legit. I don't see the point in prepaying for anything; no need to give anyone my money until they require it (unless there's something in it for me). We use the Disney Visa so we can wait to pay for 6 months interest free to begin with.

 

[Dug720]

I think I just received the same survey; is it hosted by Blue Kite? I don't like to click on things unless I know it's legit. I don't see the point in prepaying for anything; no need to give anyone my money until they require it (unless there's something in it for me). We use the Disney Visa so we can wait to pay for 6 months interest free to begin with.

I honestly didn't pay attention to the company hosting because so many people on here had already said they'd gotten it.