How do you book cat 1-3???

[golfermike35]

When I look online all I see are cruises through Dec 2010 but I can never view cat 1-3....only cat 4-12.

Help!!!

 

[kcashner]

You can contact your TA or you can send a fax to inventory control letting them know what you'd like to book. Cat. 1-3 are never shown on line.

 

[luv that cruise]

cat 1-3 are very hard to get so be prepared. they often fill on the first day of booking. There is a way to wait list for these before reservations open but i am not sure of the details. Good luck.

 

[Olga]

When I look online all I see are cruises through Dec 2010 but I can never view cat 1-3....only cat 4-12.

Help!!!

I have always booked suites by calling DCL directly at the number on their website. I usually book closer to sailing and so far no problem. Good luck to you!

 

[Pudo]

cat 1-3 are very hard to get so be prepared. they often fill on the first day of booking. There is a way to wait list for these before reservations open but i am not sure of the details. Good luck.

Actually with the economy they are much easier to get. If you are sailing in 2010 there are many cat 3s, and a handfull of cat 2s and 1s still available.

Typically they go much faster, but that wasn't the case when I was looking for a 3 last week.

 

[hockeyprincess]

And I would like to also know, just how much are we talking to book Cat 1-3? I would love to do this with my family, but is sticker shock an issue here? I see some prices for Cat 4 and I'm like, "Are they CRAZY??" LOL

 

[kcashner]

A cat 3 will typically be about 30% higher than a cat 4. OUCH.

Yes, in the past cat 1-3 typically filled very quickly. However, don't get discouraged--there are always people who need to change cruise dates, and there have even been reports of rarely being able to upgrade to a suite at port (had to be a last minute cancellation) and even free upgrades to a cat 3! If you want it and it's not available, ask to be waitlisted.

You need to be aware that suite deposits are not refundable--they can be moved to another date, but no refunds. In addition, suites are not eligible for the 10% onboard rebooking discount.

 

[outahere]

A cat 3 will typically be about 30% higher than a cat 4. OUCH.

You need to be aware that suite deposits are not refundable--they can be moved to another date, but no refunds. In addition, suites are not eligible for the 10% onboard rebooking discount.

The 30% rule of thumb may still be true if you book a suite the day they open up the date you want, but our recent experience was that a cat 3 was almost double the price of a cat 4 if you wait to book later. We had to switch an August cruise to April, and even though there were seven cat 3 cabins still available, the price was nearly double the cat 4 price.

The suites do not qualify for the 10% onboard rebooking discount, but they do receive the OBC.

 

[Roveer]

Sticker shock is an understatement.

Example Cat 1 for Tortola April 09, 2 adults, 4 kids 15.5k

2 Cat 4's 10.5k

Is it worth the extra 50%. I'd have to say so. Cat 4's are cruiseline statrooms. Cat 1 is a flipp'n hotel suite (1045 sq ft) plus all the amenities that go with cat 1-3. It's a different experience alltogether.

I've heard the european Cat 1-2's are more in the 25-30k range.

Roveer

 

[Tao Of The Dive]

IS cat 1 the Roy and Walt Disney Suites?

 

[Olga]

IS cat 1 the Roy and Walt Disney Suites?

Yes, that is correct
8030 is the Walter E. Disney Suite
8530 is the Roy O. Disney Suite

 

[hockeyprincess]

SHEW for one week, that's a L O T of do-re-mi. If I had a larger family I suppose it would be worth it, but with 2 adults, 2 kids who don't spend alot of time in the room anyway... nah, not right now, I'll stick with Cat 6 and try and recover from the sticker shock of that!!

 

[Im_A_Princess]

Anyone know WHY they do not show cat 1-3 for online DCL booking?

I also would love to know the prices but prefer to look them up on my own and not ASK someone for them.

Thanks!!!

 

[Im_A_Princess]

Sticker shock is an understatement.

Example Cat 1 for Tortola April 09, 2 adults, 4 kids 15.5k

2 Cat 4's 10.5k

Is it worth the extra 50%. I'd have to say so. Cat 4's are cruiseline statrooms. Cat 1 is a flipp'n hotel suite (1045 sq ft) plus all the amenities that go with cat 1-3. It's a different experience alltogether.

I've heard the european Cat 1-2's are more in the 25-30k range.

Roveer

I would say it is worth it. At least for our family of 6.
To book a cat 8, 7 or 6 with 2 rooms for our family of 6 for April Tortolla would be the same or more.

 

[Rogillio]

RE the cost of the Cat 1 - 3, here's a bit of trivia.

In 1912 first-class passage on Titanic cost the equivellent of 17 year's wages for the typical crewman on Titanic! Ouch! That was when rich was really rich - like Vanderbilt, Getty and Rockerfeller rich!

Shile the Cat 1-3 quite a big more, it's not as big of difference as say flying frist class. Which BTW, first class flights to London are like 3x coach passage. I don't know if this is true of all Europeon trans-Atlantic flights. We got first class air to HI last year for about double coach seats...but 3x is just too much for us.

~Mike

 

[Roveer]

I just did some quick math.

Cat 1 (Walt Suite) for 7 nights (2 adults, 4 kids) to Tortola in April 09 is about 15k. Pricey, but take a look at the alternative.

2 Cat 4's connecting are 7,492.24 each which is 1 adult 2 kids in each. That's 15K.

I don't know if they have Cat 4's that connect to anything other than a cat 4 so that's what I went with.

Now consider cat 4's are 304sq ft of stateroom. That's 708 sq ft total with lots of duplication and seperate balconies. Nice, but not great. I've got young kids which makes this a no go unless we put an adult in each room. Hows that any fun? Same applies when we go to WDW. We presently squeeze into a single Poly room although the kids will age out of that soon. Now looking at Villa stays (tried it and loved it).

Now consider the Walt suite which is 1,029 sq ft with 2.5 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a living room, a library room, a dining room (sits 6), a whirlpool tub & seperate shower in the master bath & whirlpool tub in the 2nd bedroom and a huge balcony and for the same cost as the 2 cat 4's. That's what justified it for me. Is it expensive, you bet. I've debated this since I booked it back in 07 but I already knoced off 3k with the deposit (back in 07) then another 3k from our disney rewards card (4 years to earn those points) so I only had to fight with 9k in the past year (yeah only 9k, am I crazy). It's been a struggle justifying such an expensive vacation, but your talking to a guy who never vacationed as a kid and who's wife went everywhere with her family. I'd say the wife's family had it right. Not to say that I'm not still struggleing with paying 15k for a vacation. When you have 4 kids the word regular doesn't apply any more. Are you getting this, this is my psychotherapy. I'm sure there's a term for this. (resist your reply)

I wont' even go into all the other amenities you get when staying in suites, suffice it to say you feel special from the time you check in at the port and walk right on the ship no matter what time you arrived.

I've learned that some will scoff, but others wouldn't bat an eye, we are all different, but I can justify just about anything when I put my mind to it. Just thought I'd share my thinking when it comes to suites vs regular rooms.

Roveer

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

My attitude has always been - if you can afford it and want to pay for it then go for it. Who am I to say that its a waste of money? Its not my money that's paying for it.

So go and have a great time!! And tell us how everything went when you get back.

 

[stingmom]

i'd do it if i had the extra dough to spare. instead of one expensive cruise (a suite), we take multiple cruises in the lower cat rooms. works for us.

 

[Roveer]

i'd do it if i had the extra dough to spare. instead of one expensive cruise (a suite), we take multiple cruises in the lower cat rooms. works for us.

That is our usual thinking. We've been piling all 6 in 1 room at WDW for years and you know, once you get out of the room, who cares. We stay at the Poly which give the biggest room on property. I'm dreading when they will no longer let me book all 6 of us. We tried 2 bedroom villa's and that was really great except they are pricey as well. I've tried a few times to get rent DVC points and stay in Villas but it's hard for the dates we usually go.

Kind of have a feeling this is our blow out vacation. It's good timing becuase this winter has been cold and dark. We are all needing the warm sun and it's only 60 days away. We are already talking about our usual 2 day drive to FL. We are lots of fun by the end of day 2, but its one of our cost saving measures. 2K+ for airfare usually, so we put that toward the vacation and drive on company gas.

Roveer


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[Andrew DEREK UK]

Can I recommend anyone wanting to book a Suite in advance to contact a specialist DCL TA, they are far better at getting them and giving advice than trying to get it yourself.