Illuminations Cruise Charges

[RatherB@Disney]

I recently reserved an Illuminations Cruise for October. Per multiple online website sources, I thought the reservation would be held with a credit card, but not charged until the day of sailing. I noticed today that my credit card was charged for the full Cruise amount.

I could not find clarification on Disney's website. Maybe policies have changed... Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[JJZMgailey]

As far as I'm aware, any time you book something special like this, you always have to pay in full in order to book no matter how far in advance it is.

 

[jeffbear]

As far as I'm aware, any time you book something special like this, you always have to pay in full in order to book no matter how far in advance it is.

Yeah. Pretty sure this has always been the case unless otherwise stated. I know I've paid in full in advance when I've book tours in the past. It's certainly something you should verify while you're on the phone with Disney making the reservation.

 

[RebelHawk]

We have done six of the Wishes/Illuminations cruises to date. We have always been charged in full when we booked the event but you pay for any catering you may do the night of. I mean talk about making it a special night getting desserts, cheese/fruit plates and some wine catered onboard to enjoy during the fireworks show.

 

[MarkE83]

We did a wishes cruise as part of our honeymoon last year. The food & beverage team will get you pretty much anything you can think of- including Lychee Martinis, if they float your goat! The wife was very impressed.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

Our last Illuminations cruise was in May 2016 and it was definitely not charged until we arrived at the boat dock --- The YC/BC Private Dining charges were done as soon as we confirmed the food order but the cruise itself was not paid for until we were on the boat dock on the night of the cruise. Every group that see saw that night had to pay at the cash window so I'm assuming this was common. We booked at the 180 day window so it meant we booked in Nov 2015 (for the 2016 cruise) --- so it may have changed for bookings made in 2016 though.

I don't necessarily think this is bad as they probably get a lot of cancellations when there's no deposit/payment involved.