Getting the onboard booking credit for a cruise two years away

[ChrisnSteph]

Here's just a little tip for those who would like to take advantage of the onboard booking credits for a cruise more than a year away.

We just took our third cruise last month. We wanted to take advantage of the credits and discounts you get for booking another cruise while onboard, but we wanted to do our next cruise in 2007. Typically you have to book your next cruise for the following year, but when we explained our situation to the Disney rep onboard, she said all we had to do was book it for sometime in December 2006, and then in August or September when the 2007 itineraries come out, we can change our reservation to a 2007 date, and still keep the stateroom credit and 10% discount. So that's what we did! And because there are five in our family (2 adults plus 3 kids) we booked two adjoining rooms. That gives us 400.00 in credit. We didn't have a lot of extra money, so we just put the deposit down (250.00 pp) for me in one room and my dh in the other, we'll add the kids later, and it gives us almost two years for us to pay off the cruise. My only question now is whether or not we'll be able to transfer the reservations later to a TA or go through Costco AND still keep the credits? I guess we'll see. Anyhow, I'm excited and looking forward to Feb or Mar 2007!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Great Idea, thanks for the info. And welcome back!

 

[lbgraves]

If the TA will be switching you to a group rate with their agency, then you will not be able to keep the credits, however, since you will be getting the current rate at the time they open & then book right away, it may be cheaper for their booking rate that far in advance of the sailing. Hope that makes sense.

 

[cntkg1]

While we're on the subject....I just read through our cruise papers from TA and read that we get a $150.00 onboard credit. I know I should be asking our TA, but what does that mean exactly?

TIA
Nancy and Chuck

 

[MrsMork]

Dec 2004 we book for Dec 2005 and Dec 2006 and got on board credit for both. We moved them to Dreams Unlimited and kept the on board credit. Now we are just waiting....

 

[lbgraves]

We booked 10/03 for Dec 2005 & when I called DU to transfer them in 12/03 I was told that they could not transfer any of the credits from rebooking onboard because they had this great low group booking rate. Well, that rate was NOT lower than with our onboard discount so we went with someone else who was able to keep the discounts & give us additional savings. I wish that the stories from DU were consistant. We had great service from them last time but were not willing to book for a higher total this time.

 

[debm]

Keep in mind that you will not want to wait too long to add the kids to the rooms. I believe I'm correct in saying that DCL does limit the number of kids in each age group because I've heard some people say they tried to add someone a few months before sailing and were unable to do that. And then if you moved the date of your cruise you wouldn't keep your rate if they have gone up. It is good that you didn't have to put a down payment down on everyone but just remember that they are not guaranteed a spot right now---even though you have space in your room. Just don't want you to be surprised later. I love looking forward to future cruises! Have fun!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Keep in mind that you will not want to wait too long to add the kids to the rooms. I believe I'm correct in saying that DCL does limit the number of kids in each age group because I've heard some people say they tried to add someone a few months before sailing and were unable to do that. And then if you moved the date of your cruise you wouldn't keep your rate if they have gone up. It is good that you didn't have to put a down payment down on everyone but just remember that they are not guaranteed a spot right now---even though you have space in your room. Just don't want you to be surprised later. I love looking forward to future cruises! Have fun!

Thanks for the info! That's good to know. I'm not too worried about the kiddos maintaining their spots right now because we're rebooking for 07 anyways. I'll be sure to put their deposits down then!

 

[1princessesmom]

That is EXACTLY what we did! We were on the Jan. 22 Eastern and wanted to rebook for Jan. 07 (Ya know a girl has to fit WDW in there for 06). Jocelyn, the rebooking lady, told us to book for Dec. 06 and then switch the ressie to Jan. 07 this fall when the 07 dates came out. She swithched our ressies to DU right there on the ship. She said that we would be able to keep the onboard credits and 10% discount. When I got home I emailed DU and explained the situition and was once again assured that we would be able to keep the perks of booking onboard when we changed the ressies. I"m still not sure we will be able to, but that is what we were told.

 

[gottaluvdisney]

Also keep in mind that when you add people to your reservation it is at the prevailing rate. So if you were quoted a rate now, it may be a higher rate when you actually add the people to the reservation.

 

[R&J]

We did the same thing...we were on the 29 Jan Western and are thinking of cruising again in 2007, maybe March-ish. We put down our deposit $250 x4 people for Dec 2006 and got our 10% discount plus $200 stateroom credit.

OK, here's where things get a little fuzzy for me

Once the new sailing dates come out do we call DCL first and advise them that we want to change our original date? If we then transfer to a TA, do we get 10% off the TA's rate even if it's cheaper? How do they determine whether we get to keep the credit or not? If the TA offers credits/rebates of their own, do we get that in addition to the $200 from DCL? Or does that depend on the TA?

And finally - we don't necessarily have to keep the itinerary we booked for 2006, do we? We put down the Western, sort of randomly - it was a matter of booking just to keep the discount & credit - but if there is a new special itinerary that comes out in 2007 we might like to try that instead of doing the Western again. DH especially would like to be able to do CC twice, given that our day at the island on Feb 4 was cold, windy & rainy.

Hope all this makes sense....thanks for any advice.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

And finally - we don't necessarily have to keep the itinerary we booked for 2006, do we? We put down the Western, sort of randomly - it was a matter of booking just to keep the discount & credit - but if there is a new special itinerary that comes out in 2007 we might like to try that instead of doing the Western again. DH especially would like to be able to do CC twice, given that our day at the island on Feb 4 was cold, windy & rainy.

Hope all this makes sense....thanks for any advice.

You can change it to whatever, but if you choose a 10 day cruise or special itineraries, the discounts don't apply.

 

[starwood]

That's great. I didn't realize you could only book for 1 person per room. So if I booked 1 room for myself, DH and DS I could only put down deposit for myself and add DH and DS later or do I have to deposit for myself AND DH at time of booking.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

That's great. I didn't realize you could only book for 1 person per room. So if I booked 1 room for myself, DH and DS I could only put down deposit for myself and add DH and DS later or do I have to deposit for myself AND DH at time of booking.

Nope. You only need to book one adult in the room to reserve it.

 

[starwood]

When I add DH and DS to the reservation do they also get the 10% booking discount or do they pay full fare?

 

[ChrisnSteph]

When I add DH and DS to the reservation do they also get the 10% booking discount or do they pay full fare?

I'm guessing that they would pay full fare, but I'm not sure.

 

[R&J]

You can change it to whatever, but if you choose a 10 day cruise or special itineraries, the discounts don't apply.

Uh-oh...so anything with a double dose of CC is considered "special"? Which means unless DCL makes it a regular itinerary, say, once every month, we wouldn't get the 10% off plus credit???

We mentioned to Jocelyn (sales person on board) that we'd like to vist CC twice in one cruise but she just said that if all we're interested in was being able to move the dates & keep the discount & credit, it didn't matter which date we picked for now. Perhaps she didn't hear us....

 

[1princessesmom]

It seems that a lot of people have booked a trip with plans to move the date ....and keep the discount and onboard credit. I really would like to know how this is going to work out. We have ressies (with 2 other families) for sometime in Dec. 06, but plan on moving it to Jan. 07 (when the 07 dates come out.) Jocelyn and DU have said it would all work out fine, but for some reason I'm a bit worried............

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

We are cruising in April and I am interested in a 2007 cruise as well. Let me see if I have this right. If I book on board and pick a random date in 2006 - and let's say the fare is 4000, less 10%, or 3600. If I then want to move to a 2007 cruise - do I pay the same rate? What if the week I want to go on is higher or lower? Do they take the new rate and then deduct 10% or do I still pay the rate I locked in for 2006? I can see if I book a lower fare week (like early December 2006) and then want to move to April vacation 2007, there will probably be a fare difference. Can someone explain to me how this works? Thanks.

 

[1princessesmom]

The way I understood it when we rebooked onboard last month was that we would get 10% off the going rate of the 2007 cruise....whenever that may be.