How do you book cat 1-3???

[Olga]

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.

Hi Andrew, had not seen you on in awhile, glad you're back.
I only book suites and have never had a problem getting booked directly with DCL, perhaps it is because I book last minute, my dates are flexible and there may have been cancellations. Of course it never hurts to have more than one source if someone is having difficulty booking.
Hopefully the newer ships will have more suites.

 

[Roveer]

I will second Andrews post. I've called DCL on many occasions and their systems are not really set up to search the way we want. Working with a TA (I use All Seasons Travel), is the way to go. And that's coming from a guy who would rather book everything I can on the internet. It wasn't until my wife started getting better pricing and special events and perks that I realized that it's better to deal direct with a person or work with a TA.

This past November Keith at All Seasons got us a room at the Yacht Club for $800.00 less than the advertised rate on the WDW website. Don't know how he did it, but he did and we were grateful. He said something about using a special website for TA's and finding "special rates". It's somewhat unfortuante that us regular folks don't get access to those rates, but heck, I've got Keith and he's pretty on top of things for me. That I can live with.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hi Andrew, had not seen you on in awhile, glad you're back.
I only book suites and have never had a problem getting booked directly with DCL, perhaps it is because I book last minute, my dates are flexible and there may have been cancellations. Of course it never hurts to have more than one source if someone is having difficulty booking.
Hopefully the newer ships will have more suites.

Hi

Yes been posting a lot less recently, I have a look around, but only get involved in a few, I find there are a few people who like to 'argue and flame' over my posts. I say it, as it is, but some people like to make a point of disagreeing on anything I post.

Suites are a funny thing, you have to start up on the basis its going to be very hard to get one, yes the Economic situation will effect, but with wait-lists of over 100 on Baltic cruises the money is still around.

Non peak, non school or holiday season cruises may have suites available but you have to 'expect' they have gone quickly, ( also see below)

I will second Andrews post. I've called DCL on many occasions and their systems are not really set up to search the way we want. Working with a TA (I use All Seasons Travel), is the way to go. And that's coming from a guy who would rather book everything I can on the Internet. It wasn't until my wife started getting better pricing and special events and perks that I realized that it's better to deal direct with a person or work with a TA.

This past November Keith at All Seasons got us a room at the Yacht Club for $800.00 less than the advertised rate on the WDW website. Don't know how he did it, but he did and we were grateful. He said something about using a special website for TA's and finding "special rates". It's somewhat unfortunate that us regular folks don't get access to those rates, but heck, I've got Keith and he's pretty on top of things for me. That I can live with.

There are two main DCL specialist TA's, I concur with your post on one, ( not supposed to post name here, but Chcuk is great) and the other is of course Dreams.

If you are intent on getting a suite room for a cruise, book via one of these two TA's do not do it yourself.

I could not post this at the time, but I knew I had a Cat 3 for 2010, a week before the release date of the cruises, I 'had' confirmation. No person booking direct could have had that.-An that means they might have all gone before booking even opens!

TA's know the systems, the best rooms, etc, its not all about stateroom credit, although thats helpful, its about service, and the two top TA's for DCL are fantastic.

 

[Olga]

Yes, Andrew, I noticed and understand. Thought perhaps you were under the weather or traveling.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Yes, Andrew, I noticed and understand. Thought perhaps you were under the weather or traveling.

I am around

 

[cindy18]

Andrew, can I ask how you know that there are over 100 people waitlisted for the Baltic cruises? And are those suite waitlists?

 

[MinnieMouses1969]

Roveer,
My thinking is you only live once so why not make the most out of it. Also, have you looked into becoming a DVC member. My husband and I just became members this past Nov due to our kids getting older and needing more space. We have gone on one vacation since at SSR and stayed in a two bedroom and LOVED it. Just a thought.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

IM MY DREAMS




Hi Andrew,

 

[dizneykids]

My husband travels a LOT, so he thinks of the suites on DCL as sort of "making up" for not being around as much. He likes to pamper me when we travel.

We are a family of 5, with two of the kids being older teenagers. We are in a cat 3 (waitlisted for 1 or 2) on our June Tortolla cruise. We briefly considered downgrading to a cat 4 when we found one unexpectedly for $4500 recently (we think that was a goof on someone's part), but our senses got the best of us. We like the extra room, the bigger verandah, and all the other perks that go along with being concierge. It makes the vacation that much more hassle-free.

Does it mean we go less? Yes. But with two boys in high school, we don't have as many opportunities to go as we have in the past. So, we make the most out of it.

 

[Roveer]

Roveer,
My thinking is you only live once so why not make the most out of it. Also, have you looked into becoming a DVC member. My husband and I just became members this past Nov due to our kids getting older and needing more space. We have gone on one vacation since at SSR and stayed in a two bedroom and LOVED it. Just a thought.

I've done the numbers inside and out and keep coming up with 30K to join DVC in a 2 bedroom villa. That with maintenance fees just does seem cost effective for us.

The best value for us is to rent points and stay 2 bedroom but I always have a very hard time getting a seller and schedule to work out. We did 2 nights rack rate at beach club 2 bedroom (800/night) and it was great. Problem is it's too pricey to do rack rate so points rental is the way to go.

 

[MiknMinMouse]

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.

Okay just to give you an idea - we're sailing on the 7 night Western in a week. There are 5 of us, 3 considered adult. We're paying over $10K, a little over. I booked it before the economy tanked but for us it was cheaper for a suite than it was for 2 cat 4's. We shall see if it was worth it.

 

[ljm23]

Okay just to give you an idea - we're sailing on the 7 night Western in a week. There are 5 of us, 3 considered adult. We're paying over $10K, a little over. I booked it before the economy tanked but for us it was cheaper for a suite than it was for 2 cat 4's. We shall see if it was worth it.

What size suite did you book?

 

[HallsofVA]

That example posted above of $15k for the Cat 1 vs $10k for 2 Cat 4's definitely makes a good case for booking the Cat 1. However, if you look at connecting Cat 6's instead of 4's then I'd image the price difference is much greater, and therefore makes the decision a bit more uncertain. There are also a limited number of connecting Cat 7 rooms, which are even cheaper, and would still accommodate 6 people total (3 in each room).

On our Eastern cruise in December, we'd booked 2 connecting Cat 6's for our family of 4 (1 adult, 1 child in each room) for about $5k total. We'd priced out a Cat 3 at the time of booking, and it would have been $8k. We were lucky enough to upgrade at the port to a Cat 1 for an additional $3k, making the total cost of the Cat 1 $8k (so twice the space for a Cat 3 price). But you certainly can't count on it being available for an upgrade like that. So if you want the space and all the benefits that come with it, and your second choice is to book the Cat 4's, then I'd say go ahead and book it ahead of time.

(FWIW - The upgrade would have cost the same if we'd booked only 1 Cat 5, 6 or 7 room, so the total price could have been lower if we'd booked only 1 room instead of the two. An upgrade to the Cat 2 would have been $300 less, so about $2700)

 

[MiknMinMouse]

What size suite did you book?

It was the 3. I didn't even think to check for a 2 or 1