How Do You Book Your Cruise?

[mhconley]

I design call centers for a living and am curious as to how people book their cruise. I use the Disney Cruise Line website whether I’m booking a new cruise, moving a placeholder booked onboard, or changing cruises.

Thanks,
Martin

 

[Geomom]

I book the cruise through a TA to get OBC, but I have already gone onto the DCL website for research to determine exactly what I want to book and so I already know the likely costs.

 

[EGHopeful]

I went through a TA once but when I want to add things or change my stateroom last min because the one I've been eyeing became available. Well I want to nab it then. My TA may not be available late Sunday evening. I just didn't have the flexibility I'd have doing it myself.

 

[JWG]

TA for the OBC. But we tell her exactly what we want down to the room #.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

We use Tracey from DreamsUnlimited and have since 2011! She has gotten us our favorite stateroom every time and we usually do a back to back every year. I was a little hesitant because it was all done online and we live so far away in Hawaii. Well she surprised me one day and showed up at my work in Kona while on a Hawaii cruise!! Can't beat that for customer service!!

 

[lorimay]

If I'm booking with no placeholder, I will do it online, if I have to transfer a reservation or placeholder, I have no choice but to call.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We use a TA for all our DCL and WDW vacations. We have also booked while on board and learned the hard way that you can/should add your TA to the reservation.
The first time we booked on board we didn't know this and when we went to transfer it over to our favorite TA we found out that you do not get the full on board credit that the TA has to offer. This is a DCL policy not the TA penalizing you for not adding them from the start. Needless to say we now add the TA name to the reservation when booking on board.

 

[Mousemommy1]

For the 2 cruises I have booked, I did it on-line.

 

[DCLDVC1]

TA to get the OBC and then do everything else myself.

 

[cyclenut]

We do all our research online and then we call Disney. We are often booking from an OBB placeholder so we already have an OBC. We have not had good experiences with TAs. We've had them change the wrong cruise and even paid the wrong cruise in full. They fixed it, but we have to pay very close attention to every detail. When we do it through Disney, it just goes much smoother.

We like to call because we've found that they don't always show all the options online.

 

[hcox31]

I do it myself. I enjoy the research and booking part... I like to be able to control my reservation without relying on a TA to do it for me.

 

[ludari]

I usually use my TA for booking future cruises except when I'm on a cruise when I book a place holder cruise. Of course I immediately transfer this place holder cruise to my TA.

 

[Cheerio]

I use a TA for the on board credit but we also tell her what we want right down to the room #'s.

 

[JWG]

We use a TA for all our DCL and WDW vacations. We have also booked while on board and learned the hard way that you can/should add your TA to the reservation.
The first time we booked on board we didn't know this and when we went to transfer it over to our favorite TA we found out that you do not get the full on board credit that the TA has to offer. This is a DCL policy not the TA penalizing you for not adding them from the start. Needless to say we now add the TA name to the reservation when booking on board.

If you transfer your onboard booking to a TA (or assign it right away at booking) the TA only gets 50% of the commission since they didn't actually do any of the work to get you back on board. Disney essentially splits the commission with them.

Because of that, the TA usually only offers 50% of the onboard credit - since they don't get the full commission. However, the $200 OBC from Disney + the 10% discount usually offsets any lost OBC value. For our next cruise, Our OBC from Disney plus 50% of the TA OBC will be $75 more than the full TA OBC. That starts to reverse the more expensive the cruise gets, but likely never offsets the 10% discount. Now, if you book concierge, it's worth thinking through as the 10% discount isn't available (or if you cruise a blackout date).