Frustrated!

[sayhello]

I am new to DCL and am planning on just booking the trip myself, so any perk offered above what I receive directly through the DCL website sounds great to me. Since I selected my rooms and plan on selecting my own excursions based upon feedback from this forum, how important is it that my agent attend Disney training or agency hours? Given the factors that you recommend that I consider, is Costco a good choice to transfer my reservation to since I do shop there and I plan on managing the details of the cruise myself?

Just remember, there's the potential for an un-knowledgeable TA to mess up or ruin your reservation. You've turned over control of that reservation to them. I'd want to know they're at least familiar with how DCL works. A lot of TA's will also keep their eyes out for price reductions and other deals that may end up saving you money down the line. Again, I'd want someone who was familiar with DCL for that.

Sayhello

 

[lbgraves]

Just remember, there's the potential for an un-knowledgeable TA to mess up or ruin your reservation. You've turned over control of that reservation to them. I'd want to know they're at least familiar with how DCL works. A lot of TA's will also keep their eyes out for price reductions and other deals that may end up saving you money down the line. Again, I'd want someone who was familiar with DCL for that.

Sayhello

Exactly! Has the TA ever set foot on a DCL ship, or any ship for that matter? [Yes you can be "trained" by Disney but never get see the inside of a DCL ship.] Do they know how the dining rotation works to explain that to someone? How about how the PAT works and is assigned with the various booking windows? I want a TA who knows at least as much as I do having cruise 9 times on DCL, and preferably more so that if something unexpected comes up they will be right there with an answer and a solution. Last cruise when our window opened the night before we were moving back home 5 months after Irene there was a glitch in the system and I couldn't check in and get a PAT. I was up all night checking. My TA saw my FB post about being frustrated and told me not to worry about it, that she would handle it. For the next 24 hours she monitored the DCL website and when it was fixed got us an 11:00 PAT and emailed me. After the long weekend, seeing that email meant a great deal to me.

 

[Bonniec]

I guess it depends on what you need. For me, all I needed was the perks. I already knew why I wanted and how much it was. I HAD planned to book myself until I saw the OBC deals. So other than needing someone reputable with OBC, I had no other needs. It's great to have a TA who is available 24/7 with a Disney degree, lol, but that may not be for everyone.

I've been happy with DU. Beth had been great and answered any questions I've had in a reasonable time an the OBC was nice. That's all I needed.

 

[Bonniec]

Sorry for typos. Can you not edit on the ap?

 

[Fabooliss]

Sorry for typos. Can you not edit on the ap?

Use the little blue arrow in the top right corner of your post... Same place as to quote.

 

[bigtony777]

I recently transferred our 2 cabins to Costco. I booked while on board to receive the 10% discount and OBC. I waited until about 3 weeks from final payment to transfer over the reservations.

I asked and was told that there is not difference in the cash card price for booking directly with Costco or transferring it over. The one thing I will warn everyone is that at first they were not going to transfer over the reservations even though I had about $50 left on each to pay. They stated that if the full cruise fare is paid in full, then they will not transfer the reservation. So make sure to subtract off port fees and taxes to know how much to leave before transferring.

One last thing to save some money you can buy Disney gift cards from Target with a RED card and get 5% off. If you use the pharmacy you get another 5% off after 5 filled prescription and these can be added together. So you can save just about 10% off your cruise. You will need to input each card in online which takes some time, but well worth the roughly $1600 savings for the gift cards and transferring to Costco.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

I think that booking directly with DCL was brought up because there are some TAs who no longer accept transfers due to the reduced commission paid to them by DCL. I thought that Costco was one of those...but their policy may have changed.

I recently spoke with a rep at Costco Travel as well. I was told that Costco would give the same cash card amount whether the cruise is booked directly through Costco or through DCL and then transferred.

I'm in the same boat as the OP as I learned about this right after I had paid in full! I will not make the same mistake again.

For the person who asked to be pointed to a thread with more info, search "Questions about using Costco Travel." I started that thread a week or so ago.

 

[wallawallakids]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I did book directly thru Disney (am I the only one to do this? What is it that I don't know? ).

I did the same thing! Stinks. Not sure it will help you but you are not alone! Sorry though.

 

[kcashner]

I am new to DCL and am planning on just booking the trip myself, so any perk offered above what I receive directly through the DCL website sounds great to me. Since I selected my rooms and plan on selecting my own excursions based upon feedback from this forum, how important is it that my agent attend Disney training or agency hours? Given the factors that you recommend that I consider, is Costco a good choice to transfer my reservation to since I do shop there and I plan on managing the details of the cruise myself?

Whether extended hours matters to you or not is sort of up to you. Whether your TA knows what they are doing is another matter. Someone posted on the boards tonight that she booked a cruise thru Costco and a WDW stay thru DVC. She was trying to add DCL transfers.

Costco refused to do it because they hadn't booked the WDW stay and DVC said it had to be done on the cruise booking....so OP was stuck and seeking help on the boards. The correct answer is that transfers are part of the cruise booking and must be booked thru the agency that has the cruise booking. SO...how much frustration has this OP endured at the hands of an agent who doesn't know Disney procedure?

I'm not saying Costco is bad or that this agent is bad; just that they didn't know what they were doing.

Most of the time, we can book and never need to call the TA again...but then there are "those" times....

 

[Bonniec]

Use the little blue arrow in the top right corner of your post... Same place as to quote.

TY! lol