Fall 2026 itineraries

[Cfabar1]

I haven't booked a cruise on “opening day” ever.. could you please help with these questions..?

A) Placeholder discount. i have a cruise booked (March/26) and I plan to buy the placeholder discount. if I book a Nov/27 trip, can I later call to request price adjustment?

B) I believe the answer is No,

you are correct!

and therefore I would have to quote it with the placeholder discount later on and see if it is truly better place vs “opening day”.. in your experience, are opening day prices always lower than waiting up 3-6 months in advance? (even with placeholder discount) - without considering GTY rates

Thanks!

Depends on the route... a 5 night in September might keep around the same rate for months at a time... A NYE cruise will almost certainly be more expensive...

 

[Skippyboo]

You only get 10% off with the placeholder . Plus you don’t get a discount for cruises over a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving. You could book opening day and see if the price has gone up dramatically by March. If it hasn’t then you could cancel your booking and rebook with your placeholder at the march price with the 10% off

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

You only get 10% off with the placeholder . Plus you don’t get a discount for cruises over a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving. You could book opening day and see if the price has gone up dramatically by March. If it hasn’t then you could cancel your booking and rebook with your placeholder at the march price with the 10% off

If you are Pearl or Platinum, is it that likely that the room category will disappear while you wait on hold to call a live agent to use your placeholder (let's assume for the sake of argument not talking about holiday sailings and once a year itineraries, which often can't use placeholder anyway)?

Am I missing something or can't you just combined placeholder and opening day as long as you are willing to wait to speak to a human when your booking window opens?

 

[Kit21]

Am I missing something or can't you just combined placeholder and opening day as long as you are willing to wait to speak to a human when your booking window opens?

You can use a placeholder on opening day, but you have to have the placeholder already. Which the original question said they wouldn't have.

Also, you dont HAVE (supposedly) to call to book with a placeholder. Our current one doesnt allow online modification for some reason, but I have seen many others successfully use theirs online. Though just be sure to check the price looks right as some reported the discount not fully being applied.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

You can use a placeholder on opening day, but you have to have the placeholder already. Which the original question said they wouldn't have.

Also, you dont HAVE (supposedly) to call to book with a placeholder. Our current one doesnt allow online modification for some reason, but I have seen many others successfully use theirs online. Though just be sure to check the price looks right as some reported the discount not fully being applied.

I have never been able to use a placeholder online nor has the agent when I call to swap it out ever suggested such a thing is possible (and I’m generally concerned about losing the room!)…but I did miss the detail about not having the placeholder available, oops!

 

[Kit21]

I haven't booked a cruise on “opening day” ever.. could you please help with these questions..?

A) Placeholder discount. i have a cruise booked (March/26) and I plan to buy the placeholder discount. if I book a Nov/27 trip, can I later call to request price adjustment?

B) I believe the answer is No, and therefore I would have to quote it with the placeholder discount later on and see if it is truly better place vs “opening day”.. in your experience, are opening day prices always lower than waiting up 3-6 months in advance? (even with placeholder discount) - without considering GTY rates

Thanks!

You're right on point 1. Placeholders can only be used for new bookings, not applied to existing ones. But if you have an existing booking you can call and they will try switch everything over seemlessly to make sure you get the same cabin and funds already paid applied to the booking made with the placeholder.

2) YMMV. It really depends on the popularity of the cruise you want. Couple years ago we booked opening day then got our placeholder. When we went back to check prices the discount with the placeholder was only worth about 5% (when compared current price with 10% to what we paid opening day). We still used the placeholder because it was an expensive cruise so even 5% helped.

You honestly lose nothing by booking opening day and putting a deposit down, then getting a placeholder and checking the prices later. Its worth doing even if it does become cheaper with a placeholder, at least then you will also potentially have a better pick of the cabins available and have one you want. If the placeholder comes in cheaper, they will just move funds paid to the placeholder res when N actual sailing is booked. If it doesnt, you can use it for another cruise or get your $250 refunded.

 

[Kit21]

I have never been able to use a placeholder online nor has the agent when I call to swap it out ever suggested such a thing is possible (and I’m generally concerned about losing the room!)…but I did miss the detail about not having the placeholder available, oops!

The ability to book a placeholder online came out end of March this year

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...re-cruise-placeholder-reservation-management/

ETA: reading the article, I just realised why ours can't be used online, we have 2 cabins for this placeholder. Maybe next time when we'll only one

 

[holula]

ETA: reading the article, I just realised why ours can't be used online, we have 2 cabins for this placeholder. Maybe next time when we'll only one

Yeah, this is really annoying. If you get two placeholders you can’t use it online. If you only get one you can. It’s better than it was previously, but annoying for those of us who need to book two cabins.

 

[Kit21]

Yeah, this is really annoying. If you get two placeholders you can’t use it online. If you only get one you can. It’s better than it was previously, but annoying for those of us who need to book two cabins.

We normally only have one, its just we knew we were planning this year (now next) to go away with friends and MIL, so we'd need 2 cabins. Hopefully they will work out how to allow 2 cabins and foreign currency (as we sometimes book in £ rather than $) to book online too. Also for foreign currency bookings to be able to buy onboard gifts without calling too.

Then again, it is Disney IT, so I wont hold my breath for it ti happen quickly, if at all. Especially as it still has a few issues apparently with not applying the discount properly so people have to check the search before booking and the price given with the discounts to make sure (excluding fees and taxes) the 10% is applied properly

 

[Garyjames220]

I have a cruise booked with a place holder, can I move that to a new booking when it comes out online or do I need to call

 

[Kit21]

I have a cruise booked with a place holder, can I move that to a new booking when it comes out online or do I need to call

Have a look now online or in the app, if you can modify the sailing now (which I think you should be able to, but om not 100% as previously stated our doesnt allow online management due to having 2 cabins), you will be able to modify to the fall 26/early 27 itineraries when your Castaway levels booking day opens online.

 

[WB1971]

I guess will see how that pans out over the next few years, and we can revisit this. Nothing ever increases indefinitely. Markets don't work that way.

Then why are housing prices, stock prices, Disney ticket prices all steadily increasing over the past 50 years? Markets in fact DO work exactly that way. Is your argument that cruises are a fad? Again 50 years of data say otherwise. Why are you arguing against empirical data? You can’t make an assertion that something IS in decline and then say, give me a few more years to see IF it does.

 

[DCLMP]

Then why are housing prices, stock prices, Disney ticket prices all steadily increasing over the past 50 years? Markets in fact DO work exactly that way. Is your argument that cruises are a fad? Again 50 years of data say otherwise. Why are you arguing against empirical data? You can’t make an assertion that something IS in decline and then say, give me a few more years to see IF it does.

There are always corrections in the housing market and stock market..I'm not sure what world you are living in. Maybe you were not alive in 1987 or the dot com bust of 2000 or the great recession of 2007. All bubbles burst and not sometimes, but 100% of the time. Do we need to list all the economic ups and downs over the last 100 years. Cruises are a discretionary expenditure that will follow any decline in the economy.

I never said the cruise industry is in decline, but that prices will adjust to the economic situation.There is a limit to what people are willing and can afford to pay. Salaries are not going up. Majority of people are living paycheck to paycheck, personal debt is at all time high and the average age of first time home buyers is now 38 years old. Check back with me in two years. Inflation is not necessarily the sign of a healthy economy.