I paid $250 on our last cruise for a 10% discount on next....can I not complete on line?

[DSLRuser]

I can find no way to apply that deposit and discount to a new cruise. And of course, now that the itinerary we want is out, the estimated wait time is 1,118 minutes.

Any work arounds?

 

[lanejudy]

No, unfortunately a placeholder can only be converted to a real cruise date by calling.

 

[o&smom]

I can find no way to apply that deposit and discount to a new cruise. And of course, now that the itinerary we want is out, the estimated wait time is 1,118 minutes.

Any work arounds?

Aren’t upgrades great?!

 

[Lillebelle]

Holy moly! I'm gonna start sending my Dreams agent a bottle of wine on release days, good grief.

Highly recommend going through a Dreams agent though! I believe you can book through them even with a placeholder.

ETA: Apparently placeholders can only be transferred to DU within 30 days of purchase :-/

 

[Geomom]

Holy moly! I'm gonna start sending my Dreams agent a bottle of wine on release days, good grief.

Highly recommend going through a Dreams agent though! I believe you can book through them even with a placeholder.

A placeholder has to be transferred within 30 days of purchase, so it's likely too late for OP unless they bought it in the last 30 days.

 

[Lillebelle]

A placeholder has to be transferred within 30 days of purchase, so it's likely too late for OP unless they bought it in the last 30 days.

Ahhh I did not know this. Apologies OP, sounds like you don't have a lot of options then.

 

[nancipants]

I really, really, really wish they would allow you to use placeholders online!!! I would imagine that a good majority of Castaway Club guests have one to apply!

 

[Mommb]

Holy moly! I'm gonna start sending my Dreams agent a bottle of wine on release days, good grief.

Highly recommend going through a Dreams agent though! I believe you can book through them even with a placeholder.

ETA: Apparently placeholders can only be transferred to DU within 30 days of purchase :-/

Yep. Until DCL allows placeholders to be converted to cruises online and/or fixes the excessive wait times, it will be very helpful to use a travel agent, so they can wait on hold instead of you.

If you are on a cruise booked by a travel agent and purchase a placeholder while onboard, you can assign the placeholder to that travel agent. If you didn't use a travel agent, or if you want to change travel agents, you can book the placeholder directly through DCL and then move it to the agency of your choice within 30 days of the date you booked the placeholder. I haven't done this, but I think you just need to give the agency your placeholder number and they can call to get it assigned to them.

When you are ready to book a specific cruise, you can ask your travel agent to take care of it. I just send my travel agent an email with the cruise and stateroom category I want and mention that I want to use my placeholder, Then she calls in, waits as needed, and emails me the booking confirmation by the end of the day. I don't know if all agencies work this way, but large Disney-experienced agencies (including Dreams Unlimited) should.

 

[Kwami]

Yep. Until DCL allows placeholders to be converted to cruises online and/or fixes the excessive wait times, it will be very helpful to use a travel agent, so they can wait on hold instead of you.

If you are on a cruise booked by a travel agent and purchase a placeholder while onboard, you can assign the placeholder to that travel agent. If you didn't use a travel agent, or if you want to change travel agents, you can book the placeholder directly through DCL and then move it to the agency of your choice within 30 days of the date you booked the placeholder. I haven't done this, but I think you just need to give the agency your placeholder number and they can call to get it assigned to them.

When you are ready to book a specific cruise, you can ask your travel agent to take care of it. I just send my travel agent an email with the cruise and stateroom category I want and mention that I want to use my placeholder, Then she calls in, waits as needed, and emails me the booking confirmation by the end of the day. I don't know if all agencies work this way, but large Disney-experienced agencies (including Dreams Unlimited) should.

The downside is that you might not be able to get a specific room on platinum day if there's high demand for your cruise. TAs have to wait on hold, too.

 

[Mommb]

The downside is that you might not be able to get a specific room on platinum day if there's high demand for your cruise. TAs have to wait on hold, too.

That is true. I haven't ever wanted a specific room, but I understand why people who do have specific requests might want to book on their own.

It's only been for a few years that Castaway Club members could book newly posted cruises online before the general public -- previously, even that required calling -- so DCL is moving in the right direction, but very, very slowly.

 

[DSLRuser]

was able tp connect after about 130 minutes. No big deal. Cast Member was super pleasant to deal with.

 

[MrKopec]

I called at 2:30pm. Booked two cruises and canceled one. Off the phone at 3:35pm.

 

[Lillebelle]

Oh good, glad it didn't end up being 1000 minutes!

 

[n2mm]

Bookings started at 8:00am, my DU TA had my placeholder booked before 8:30am. i was looking online and saw my room disappear at 8:15am and kept saying, “I hope that’s me” and it was!