Free cruise upgrade info...

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

So we got a free cruise when we added on at BLT. I was pricing the 7 day magic Jan 30th of next year. The online price difference from our free cruise to a room with a verandah is less than $1000.

I called DCL. Told them I didn't have a voucher yet, but we were going to book this and wanted to book another room and wanted them connected. The price to bump them up PER PERSON (there is going to be 4 in our room) is over $800. They're obviously pricing the upgrade on rack rate and not the going price of the cruise.

So to go from a Cat 9 to a Cat 6 for a party of 4 would cost over $3200. No thanks. I can go online right now and add an entire second cruise with a balcony for under $4700.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Oh...so disappointing!
That's even worse than I thought!

I'm really disappointed since we HAVE to upgrade or get a second a room since we have 5 people when you count the baby. I can't believe a ten month old is essentially going to cost us thousands of dollars!

I'm trying to think of this incentive as a discounted cruise, rather than a free cruise, but I wonder if will even be much of a discount.

Questions...
Can you book the cruise now, even though you don't have a voucher?

If you book and put a deposit down, and for some reason when we get the voucher it doesn't apply to what we booked, is there a penalty for canceling?

 

[auntsue]

They didn't even ask for the voucher code since it looks like they are pretty much all the same. They must be able to find you through DVC. You have to send your voucher in anyway, so if you really don't have a voucher, I am sure they would just cancel the whole thing. If your contract closed, I imagine you could book even if you don't have the voucher in your hands.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Oh...so disappointing!
That's even worse than I thought!

I'm really disappointed since we HAVE to upgrade or get a second a room since we have 5 people when you count the baby. I can't believe a ten month old is essentially going to cost us thousands of dollars!

I'm trying to think of this incentive as a discounted cruise, rather than a free cruise, but I wonder if will even be much of a discount.

Questions...
Can you book the cruise now, even though you don't have a voucher?

If you book and put a deposit down, and for some reason when we get the voucher it doesn't apply to what we booked, is there a penalty for canceling?

What I personally would look at in your case is two connecting rooms in the category you get free. I'd guess full price on two in the second room would be cheaper than upgrading 4 to a family suite and paying full price for the 5th. You'd have two real beds and two bathrooms. No balcony but there are plenty of places on a ship for that.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

So we got a free cruise when we added on at BLT. I was pricing the 7 day magic Jan 30th of next year. The online price difference from our free cruise to a room with a verandah is less than $1000.

I called DCL. Told them I didn't have a voucher yet, but we were going to book this and wanted to book another room and wanted them connected. The price to bump them up PER PERSON (there is going to be 4 in our room) is over $800. They're obviously pricing the upgrade on rack rate and not the going price of the cruise.

So to go from a Cat 9 to a Cat 6 for a party of 4 would cost over $3200. No thanks. I can go online right now and add an entire second cruise with a balcony for under $4700.

I feel for you......This is precisely why we didn't look at the current incentives (RCI trip we don't want) and this cruise "option" as a value to us. We are a family of 5. We'd rather cruise WHEN we like to, have first dinner seating, and pay about the same price that we would have to if we chose the incentive!

With the DVC resale market is as it appears to be right now, and the state of the economy, we'll wait a bit to add on and see if better pricing and/ or incentives come along.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Just got off the phone with DCL and asked about our situation. They said our upgrade cost to go from our 4 free in Cat9 to 5 of us (free infant) in Cat4 would be a little over $900 including the fees for the infant. (This is for the 9/12/09 7night Eastern.)

I hope he's right! He didn't sound completely sure and he couldn't book it without the voucher. (We haven't closed yet-so we're not even in the system.) He said you can't apply the voucher to an existing reservation. This is going to drive me crazy until it's actually done!

Don't you wish you could just get a straight answer!

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Hmmm...I'm wondering if I was misquoted then and it isn't $800 per person but total. He was pretty confused about the whole thing and didn't know for sure.

 

[amyup]

From what I was told it would be the $800 for the entire party to upgrade. I don't have my voucher yet but I think I'm just going to get a connecting room for our family. We were already going on a cruise in 2010 and so this incentive will pay for one of our rooms The voucher can't come quick enough.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

Can anyone confirm for sure.......

I heard voucher only good for second dinner seating.

Upgrade to category 4 (for 5 people) as much as $2k+ depending on cruise date (according to our guide).

Can you "hold" a cruise date that is part of the incentive with the $500 deposit, and then have that credited back when you call w/ voucher in hand?

 

[drewmisha]

There seems to be alot of misinformation going on. I booked two cat4 cabins (7 day cruise) prior to the cruise incentive coming out. I was told it was okay to convert one of the cabins to the free cruise and pay an upgrade fee. Now I am hearing via disboards that you get a guarantee room and you cannot select the room. These rooms I booked previously are side by side (not connecting).

It would be nice to able to keep the room and not have to have 2nd dinner seating. I'm still waiting for my cruise voucher but this is making me feel nervous. Anyone get definitive information from your guide/dcl for those that actually booked? (upgrade price/person, room selection, seating time, etc..) Thanks.

From what I was told it would be the $800 for the entire party to upgrade. I don't have my voucher yet but I think I'm just going to get a connecting room for our family. We were already going on a cruise in 2010 and so this incentive will pay for one of our rooms The voucher can't come quick enough.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I won't know anything 'official' until sometime next week at the earliest. I just called accounting and they said all of my paperwork was in and my 10 day waiting period ends on the 9th so my contract should close sometime next week.

Since the bookings just opened up yesterday, I'd guess there will start to be reports of people who booked these things and have dealt with DCL so we can get a better idea of what's really going on.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Can you "hold" a cruise date that is part of the incentive with the $500 deposit, and then have that credited back when you call w/ voucher in hand?

We were told definately NOT. The voucher is not good on previous bookings which is how they would classify that.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

I heard voucher only good for second dinner seating.

That would be terrible. I'm sure a lot of us have little kids! In our case, a 3yr old, 4yr old, and a 9 month old. Can you imagine a late dinner with them?

I would rather change cruise dates or itineraries than have late seating. I sooo hope this is not true!

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

So patience isn't really my strong suit. I wrote an e-mail to DCL and asked some questions. I prefer to get these answers in writing anyway. I also threw in some questions people have been asking here.

What I was told:
To bump up to a Verandah the cost is $80 per person for a 3 day, $100 for a 4 day and $175 for a 7 day.

Stateroom assignments will be completed 30 days prior to sailing so I guess you can't pick the room. I was going to try to add another room connecting to the verandah.

When you book you can request main dining if it's not available you can go on a waitlist. I don't know if the early seating is the main one or not, but it doesn't sound like it's restricted.

The voucher can not be used for a preexisting reservation.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Oh, thank you so much for getting some info in writing! That was a good idea! Good news about everything, I think. (Better than the rumors.)

I'm going to send them an email too asking about our fifth person and thus upgrade to a Cat4. I'll let everyone know when I get a response.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

I'm going to send them an email too asking about our fifth person and thus upgrade to a Cat4. I'll let everyone know when I get a response.

Thanks! I'd love to know about the category 4 thing. Our guide said up to $2k+ for the upgrade to category 4 depending on the season we "chose". Even she was very unsure about details of the current incentives. How can Disney offer incentives w/o having all the details hammered out ?

 

[toocherie]

How can Disney offer incentives w/o having all the details hammered out ?

If you do a search under my name you will see that in my opinion DVC "flies by the seat of its pants" on incentives. It's the flavor of the day--and many times the guides don't even know that a change has been made.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

If you do a search under my name you will see that in my opinion DVC "flies by the seat of its pants" on incentives. It's the flavor of the day--and many times the guides don't even know that a change has been made.

Unfortunately, I am not surprised by your assessment.

I think people hear "free" this or that and they automatically think...great incentive. Once you get into the fine print...not so "free" or even great.

I'm not complaining, just saying the incentives aren't "all that" and we will wait.....no "need" for points now.

 

[mmcculloch]

Here is what I experienced yesterday. There was major computer problems and was not able to book my cruise until 11:30. I booked the 4 day Thanksgiving week cruise. Originally when I was doing my research I was told it would cost me approx $2500 to upgrade and add a 5th person. Way too much. In the end it cost the original 4 people $100 each to upgrade and the 5th person was around $700. So in the end I paid around $1200 for the upgrade. I was pleased with this. Not free but the cruise during this week is almost $8000! I was assigned late dining which is a bummer. She said she would do her best to get me an early seating but I think we are all..."dvc incentive" people...defaulting to late dining. I will not know my cabin until shortly before we depart. I have a guaranteed room but no room #. Now I am hoping for decent airfare.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Well, unfortunately, the email response I received to my very specific questions re: adding 5th person and of course upgrading to Cat4 room, was answered very generically. (The response follows in blue print.)

I guess between the call we made (although they seemed unsure) and the other posts, we can guess that the upgrade will be relatively reasonable. I'll just have to wait and see until we get the voucher I guess!

BTW, for those who have received theirs, how long did it take from the time you signed the contract to the time you got the voucher?


Copy of the email response...
I would be happy to share information regarding the Disney Vacation Club
special offer.
Guests who sign a contract and/or upgrade their membership with Disney
Vacation Club will receive a certificate for a 'free' cruise.

The Disney Vacation Club special offer is:
*Valid for a 3- or 4-Night Bahamian Cruise or 7-Night cruise on select
dates including gratuities and government taxes & fees
*Up to 4 Guests free per stateroom
*Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom

Upgrades to a verandah stateroom, motor coach transportation, round-trip
air (from select U.S. and Canadian cities), and Vacation Protection Plan
can be added for an additional cost. Parties of 5 can book a Category 4
Deluxe Family Stateroom with Verandah; however, the 5th Guest pays the
prevailing rates and upgrade costs apply to all Guests.

If you are interested learning more about this offer, please contact our
Reservations Department at 800-939-2784 or 407-566-7000, Monday - Friday
8:00am to 10:00pm (EST) or Saturday - Sunday 9:00am - 8:00pm (EST). Our
reservation agents will be happy to assist you.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further
assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.