Getting ready to book with Dreams Unlimited

[jenanderson]

Next week I am planning on booking our next Disney vacation and it includes our very first Disney Cruise! Here's what we have decided on:

Oct 16th - Oct. 20th (2005) - 4 Day Cruise (2 adults, 2 kids - Cat. 6)
Oct. 20th - Oct. 23rd - WDW (Polynesian LV Concergie)

I am 99% sure that I will be booking this with Dreams Unlimited since they have given the best quote for this time. I have only gotten quotes for the cruise part of the trip so far but the price I got from all of the companies (AAA, Dreams, All Seasons, etc.) seemed to be the same as the Disney website but Dreams had a rebate.

My biggest question is that we want to pay for the whole cruise (including deposit) in cash - does anyone know if Dreams Unlimited will accept a check/money order for the deposit? We are actually planning on paying the entire amount of the trip all at once - not just the deposit.

Also, the quotes that I have gotten do not give me information on room numbers or choices. This confuses me since most people here seem to have a choice of rooms or know their exact room number when they book the trip. Is this something I should be asking about or will they let me know my options once I respond that I am going to book with them?

I have learned so much from coming to this site and thank all of you in advance for any advise you can give me.

 

[KathyTX]

You should be able to choose your room number at the time you actually book, unless you're booking a "guarantee" rate room.

You'll need to talk to Dreams about paying with check... I think they'll have to make special arrangements for that. Remember that DCL has to receive payment before your reservation will be locked in, so if you pay Dreams with a check, they in turn must pay DCL. With a credit card, this whole thing is handled in minutes, but with a check the process will take days.

 

[jenanderson]

I didn't think about the delay in reservation time but if there is anyway possible this is what we want to do. The reason is that we are building a new home and will be closing on it in the next month or two. We do not want to be charging anything right now because we cancelled all but one credit card that has a fairly low charging limit (to help lower our debt ratio and look better for financing the house). However, we have saved the money in a special account for this trip and have the cash ready to go.

If it becomes a huge issue, we will use the credit card and pay it off with our check right away. We just are trying to watch every little thing we do with all that we are doing on our new dream home.

Another question - how would I know if I was booking a guarantee room rate? Will they tell me this? Is this cheaper than being able to choose my room number?

 

[TammyC]

I'm not sure about paying by check, but when I booked with DU, I was told that DCL would give them the cabin info when they called in with my credit card deposit. I wanted a certain cabin so they said if it was not available that they would not make the deposit.

 

[minniemouse71]

Hi! Just wondering if you have a debit card tied to the account you have set aside for your cruise? If you do, you can pay with that. The funds will come out of that account immediately and I know that DCL accepts it just like a credit card. Make sure that it is a Debit card, that has either a Visa or Mastercard logo. Hope this helps.

 

[RellingTwin]

I just asked the same question of DU. I was told to make the check out to: Disney Cruise Vacations.