First time DCL…multiple rooms, booking questions

[pigletto]

Hi everyone ,

My extended family has decided that we will all be taking a Disney Cruise to Alaska in the summer of 2024. We have cruised together many times in the past on several different cruise lines and we are really looking forward to trying Disney. I believe we will be trying to book five or six rooms with a mix of inside/ veranda rooms. We are a group of 20.

My very beginner questions …

Better to use a Trip Planner or Costco ? Can a trip planner provide a tentative quote for cruises that aren’t released yet ?

Does anyone know when we might expect summer 2024 Alaska cruises to be available to book ?

Thank you for any information you can provide

 

[Geomom]

Hi everyone ,

My extended family has decided that we will all be taking a Disney Cruise to Alaska in the summer of 2024. We have cruised together many times in the past on several different cruise lines and we are really looking forward to trying Disney. I believe we will be trying to book five or six rooms with a mix of inside/ veranda rooms. We are a group of 20.

My very beginner questions …

Better to use a Trip Planner or Costco ? Can a trip planner provide a tentative quote for cruises that aren’t released yet ?

Does anyone know when we might expect summer 2024 Alaska cruises to be available to book ?

Thank you for any information you can provide

I would probably use a regular travel agent over Costco since you'll want more personalized service when trying to book that many rooms and have the reservations all linked, etc. I would use a TA that gives on board credit (OBC). We use Dreams Unlimited who is a sponsor of these boards. (There are other TAs who also provide OBC) I don't believe they can give you a cost estimate for next summer but you could go online to the DCL website to see prices for the same time of year in 2023 and that will likely be close to opening day prices for 2024. Bookings for Summer 2024 will likely open up sometime between late February -April. They announce the itineraries (with base prices/category on the website/date), then a few days later bookings begin with platinum Castaway club members, following day gold, then silver/DVC, then 1st timers).

We loved our Disney Wonder Alaska cruise in 2016! I have a childless friend who went as part of a large group 2 yrs later who also had a great time (the in laws take all the grand kids on trips when they turn 10 and my friend/his wife were extra adults to wrangle the kids and were pleasantly surprised at how much alone time they got as the kids were fully occupied on the ship.)

 

[Clarkson U]

My cousin used Costco for a DCL sailing this summer for 3 staterooms and had no issues at all and all rooms were close by (on same floor, same side of ship and all forward). He told me Costco gave him the best $ savings after rebates and shop card offers due to the price of the sailing. If you are planning early enough they could do it for you.

 

[lanejudy]

Travel agencies cannot get you a better price, but for a group that size it might help with coordinating everything/everyone. Unless you have 1 person in the group who likes to do all that and has the time. Summer 2024 itineraries will be released sometime this spring - maybe March but could be earlier/later.

 

[Cheburashka]

Hi everyone ,

My extended family has decided that we will all be taking a Disney Cruise to Alaska in the summer of 2024. We have cruised together many times in the past on several different cruise lines and we are really looking forward to trying Disney. I believe we will be trying to book five or six rooms with a mix of inside/ veranda rooms. We are a group of 20.

My very beginner questions …

Better to use a Trip Planner or Costco ? Can a trip planner provide a tentative quote for cruises that aren’t released yet ?

Does anyone know when we might expect summer 2024 Alaska cruises to be available to book ?

Thank you for any information you can provide

To get a "tentative quote", just look at a similar cruise on the Disney website right now. Travel agents' prices are the exact same as Disney prices. The only difference is that most agents give a financial perk for booking with them. Non-Costco agents usually give you an onboard credit that you can use to buy things during your cruise. Costco gives you a cash card that you can use to buy goods and/or gasoline at Costco after the cruise.

Costco's cash card is worth 8.5% of the base cost (before taxes & add-ons such as hotels) of your cruise. That's a much bigger financial incentive than any agent will give you. Plus, if you use a Costco Visa to book, you'll get 3% cash back via your Costco Visa card (real cash back, because you can cash it in for dollars at Costco). And if you're a Costco executive member, you get that additional 2% (real) cash back, as well. That all really adds up. These are all in addition to any discount you might get from DCL.

Another advantage with Costco is that if you need to make a change, you just call in and any agent can help you right then, instead of having to wait for one specific agent to get to your case. This is helpful if you're in a hurry to make a change (like if the perfect room just popped up), but it also means that you have to be on the phone while changes are made.

Costco agents aren't particularly knowledgeable about Disney cruises, so you can only go to them to do things for you (book or make changes), not get advice. But honestly, cruises are pretty easy to plan, much more so than Disney World or a land trip somewhere else. And Disboards is here to get info from and ask questions.

If you shop or get gas at Costco regularly, the cash card is well worth it. I buy most of my gas at Costco, and after a cruise it's nice to get free gas for a while via my cash card. Disney cruises are expensive, so the savings help.

 

[pigletto]

Thank you all for your very detailed replies! That information helps a lot. Especially the Costco discount information. I’m just about to renew my membership so I think I will go with the executive membership this year.
If a discount comes out after we book (and we were eligible) can you call call Costco and have it applied ?

I think I would end up being the chief travel planner on this cruise. We are very familiar with cruising, and I’m very familiar with Disney, but not Disney cruising. I don’t mind doing it all unless it put us at a distinct disadvantage for anything.

 

[sethschroeder]

My extended family has decided that we will all be taking a Disney Cruise to Alaska in the summer of 2024.

Has anyone done some research in to Alaska?

Excursions are expensive but you can get by for less but we were fine with that because will keep going back to Alaska. (been 2x so far both on different cruise lines)

Ports are varied at what they offer and Disney doesn't go to all of them and isn't that varied with options.

Glacier viewing Disney doesn't hit Glacier Bay which is viewed as probably the top Glacier viewing area and unlikely to get cancelled like Tracy Arms Fjord can.

All in all if you decide Alaska I would consider looking at the ports and options then decide on timing and ship.

Another note some other ships are setup better for Alaska as they are designed for cold weather and have indoor observation areas, solariums, and indoor family pools.

 

[Cheburashka]

If a discount comes out after we book (and we were eligible) can you call call Costco and have it applied ?

There are two main kinds of discounts on DCL: restricted rate discounts for general public (GT) or Florida Residents or Military. For GT, you must be doing a new booking. Probably also true for the others, but I've never booked Florida Resident or Military, so I can't say for sure. These rates are not released on every cruise. When they are released, it's usually a handful of months before sailing. If one is released before your paid in full date (PIF), then you can cancel your original cruise and book the GT rate via Costco. They are usually (not always) released after PIF, though.

The other type of discount is the 10% off you get when you book a cruise with a placeholder that you buy onboard. So you can only use this discount after your first cruise. Make sure to buy a placeholder onboard ($250). The money goes toward your next cruise, and it is refundable if you decide not to use it.

Book as soon as you're able after the cruise you want is released. Prices tend to rise over time, especially for Alaska. Since you're not going to use a placeholder to book your first cruise, I recommend you book it independently via the DCL website, then transfer it to Costco within 30 days. That way you won't have to deal with calling during the frenzy of a new release week (waits are much longer then).

You get the exact same benefits transferring to Costco within 30 days that you get booking directly with Costco. Don't wait until day 29 to initiate the process, though, as it can take a couple of days for the transfer to go through, and you want to be within that 30 day window.

 

[Cheburashka]

Has anyone done some research in to Alaska?

Excursions are expensive but you can get by for less but we were fine with that because will keep going back to Alaska. (been 2x so far both on different cruise lines)

Ports are varied at what they offer and Disney doesn't go to all of them and isn't that varied with options.

Glacier viewing Disney doesn't hit Glacier Bay which is viewed as probably the top Glacier viewing area and unlikely to get cancelled like Tracy Arms Fjord can.

All in all if you decide Alaska I would consider looking at the ports and options then decide on timing and ship.

Another note some other ships are setup better for Alaska as they are designed for cold weather and have indoor observation areas, solariums, and indoor family pools.

I'll just put in my 2 cents in response to this, that we cruised DCL to Alaska, had an amazing cruise, and are glad we cruised DCL. Beautiful glacier viewing day at Endicott Arm. Beautiful views from the public decks and from our stateroom verandah, Great entertainment and characters in their Alaska gear.

Also, DCL occasionally goes to the Hubbard glacier (usually once a year), if you're interested in that.

 

[lanejudy]

Especially the Costco discount information.

Just to clarify... there is no discount specifically through Costco. You'll pay the same fares whether you book through Costco, directly through DCL, or with any other TA. The "cash card" offered by Costco comes after you cruise. With a large party, you may want to figure out how that will work because the cash card will go to the person who books. So if grandpa is paying for everyone, will grandpa have need for a humongous cash card? Or if each family unit is booking and paying for themselves, are they all Costco members? Or if you are splitting up across staterooms (for CC level) who will get how much cash card? Things to consider not to answer here.

If a discount comes out after we book (and we were eligible) can you call call Costco and have it applied ?

As PP mentions, most discounts are for a "new booking;" I think only FL Resident can be applied to an existing reservation. If you are within the penalty phase, it may or may not be a savings to take the hit on the penalty by cancelling and rebooking. But keep in mind that if you have booked onboard activities or excursions already those may be lost, and with *GT rates you would lose the actual stateroom or floor (if trying to book near each other).