Interesting new survey just popped up on DCL...

[cruiser21]

Non ship board excursions do have to paid in advance, but they are half the cost. A big reason we don't book with Disney is that a 10 year old pays adult prices. On carnival it's 13. Most European tour providers its 16. I've been looking at tours in Alaska it's also 13. This is why we don't do DCL excursions. My youngest will be 13 this Sept so almost non issue, but still cruise ship excursions are crazy expensive for a family.
I always call DCL about a month before a cruise and put on obc for what I think I'm going to spend. If I don't use it it's refunded. I do the same with Carnival, but there's is unrefundable after the cruise so you have to be exact.
A drink package would be nice if it was tiered like 4 drinks for the price of 3 or something like that. The unlimited drink packages are nice for big drinkers. I think they're expensive, and it would be a challenge to drink that much everyday.

 

[owensamo]

We had done an Alaska cruise with Celebrity last year and, I did not like the fact that you paid for all the excursions as you reserved them. That is a lot of money when booking multiple excursions; just sitting there with Celebrity for a number of weeks. I would rather the money sits in my bank account until the bill is due.

I do like the idea of reserving a tasting in advance.

Our first Celebrity cruise was last summer to Alaska as well, and we did pre-book the one excursion we wanted to make sure we got, then booked a couple of others on OBC once we got on the ship. That worked well, but we were disappointed we couldn't pre-reserve excursions like on Disney, then pay on board with OBC.

Celebrity has recently allowed OBC usage for pre-booking of excursions, which has been awesome for our upcoming European cruise! Their site actually knows how much Celebrity OBC you have, and allows you to use it for payment for packages (drink, internet) or for excursions. We've pre-booked 2 excursions, and may end up cancelling one and rebooking something else, all in advance with no problems. It would be awesome if DCL would allow you to pre-allocate your OBC to things like this, if only to have a better feel for how much you have left to spend on the ship!

As for pre-paying DCL excursions, you always have that option now - by pre-purchasing refunable OBC prior to your cruise. We don't mind having the bill at the end of the trip (plenty of time to pay it off with the Disney Visa) but have considered pre-paying some money on our account in advance in the past. It would be nice if Disney allowed this easily on their site, though - I think now it requires a phone call, either to your TA or DCL.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Does this survey pop up when just browsing Disney cruise line website?

 

[mernin]

Does the survey go out to all CC members, or is it just random?

Does this survey pop up when just browsing Disney cruise line website?

I had the survey pop up while I was on the DCL site yesterday.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Does this survey pop up when just browsing Disney cruise line website?

We have a cruise booked for next year on the Magic. I was on the DCL web site about an hour ago to check out the Disney Magic and some of the excursions available. The survey popped up while I was looking. It gives you the option to continue searching the site if you have not finished then you can go back to take the survey.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

A different survey popped up for me today, didn't have any of these questions..

 

[cruiser21]

We have a cruise booked for next year on the Magic. I was on the DCL web site about an hour ago to check out the Disney Magic and some of the excursions available. The survey popped up while I was looking. It gives you the option to continue searching the site if you have not finished then you can go back to take the survey.

I'll have to try that. I got a survey from Carnival about monthly payment plans. I thought it was odd. If I wanted to make a payment every month I could. I don't need it automatically charged to may cc every month. This survey seems just as odd as the Carnival one.

 

[Dug720]

I'll have to try that. I got a survey from Carnival about monthly payment plans. I thought it was odd. If I wanted to make a payment every month I could. I don't need it automatically charged to may cc every month. This survey seems just as odd as the Carnival one.

You may not need/want it, but that doesn't mean that others don't. For some knowing that a payment is coming out every month can help them realize a cruise really is in their reach.

I might not use it, but I think that the option to set up an automatic monthly payment would be a nice idea.

 

[rantnnravin]

The theater on the Wonder is definitely NOT large enough for all passengers assigned to each seating. The theater itself has only 977 seats - with ship's capacity at just north of 2400 and an assumed even split of early/late - there will still be folks locked out. Case in point: we just got off the Wonder and thankfully, we sailed B2B - because when we arrived to the theater for Frozen, there were NO seats, and we actually sat on the stage-right staircase. Now, I chalked it up to perhaps there being too many young families who had skipped early dining in favor of seeing the early show with their little ones, rather than risking them falling asleep before or during it. That being said, they would do well to offer a sea-day matinee for that show (which was awesome) to absorb some of the demand.
For the second sailing, we made sure to arrive 1/2 prior to showtime in order to be able to choose our seats - but not all guests have that luxury.
As for the other entertainment - I am in agreement: the venues are too small to accommodate demand.

 

[cruiser21]

You may not need/want it, but that doesn't mean that others do. For some knowing that a payment is coming out every month can help them realize a cruise really is in their reach.

I might not use it, but I think that the option to set up an automatic monthly payment would be a nice idea.

That's why they call it a survey. I do realize others have different opinions than I do. I don't need that constantly pointed out every I express mine.

 

[BruinEd03]

That's why they call it a survey. I do realize others have different opinions than I do. I don't need that constantly pointed out every I express mine.

The previous poster may have been referring to your statement that the survey was odd, as in why even bother asking at all? Anyways probably not intended, but just how it may have been interpreted.

 

[cruiser21]

The previous poster may have been referring to your statement that the survey was odd, as in why even bother asking at all? Anyways probably not intended, but just how it may have been interpreted.

????

 

[Dug720]

The previous poster may have been referring to your statement that the survey was odd, as in why even bother asking at all? Anyways probably not intended, but just how it may have been interpreted.

Exactly. It read (and did again on a second reading this morning) as "I don't see the point in this so why are they even asking?"

And the answer is because obviously some people are asking for these things - enough to make these companies consider them.

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

Assuming I could use my DVA to make excursion payments, I'm fine with paying ahead of time. It would save me from worrying that my math is off at the end of our cruise.

 

[cruiser21]

Exactly. It read (and did again on a second reading this morning) as "I don't see the point in this so why are they even asking?"

And the answer is because obviously some people are asking for these things - enough to make these companies consider them.

No my point was why do you need automatic payments when it's something you can already do on your own.

 

[RedSox68]

I really appreciate the fact that DCL allows you to book your excursions and pay for them once onboard. A couple of cruise lines we have done required payment upon booking, not allowing us to use any OBC to pay for them.

 

[Dug720]

No my point was why do you need automatic payments when it's something you can already do on your own.

They already have a system that without you doing anything debits the card? Or it is that you can make the decision to do it each month?

Because the way you stated it reads that they are asking about a system for automatic payments where you attach your credit or debit card and on a certain day each month a set amount is debited. Which is something that I have seen more than a few tour programs have. It is a nice convenience for those who don't want to have to remember to make a payment each month but have the ability to spread their payments out.

You are fine setting your own schedule. Awesome. But an automatic system would be great for a lot of people.

 

[tlprice]

As for pre-paying DCL excursions, you always have that option now - by pre-purchasing refunable OBC prior to your cruise. We don't mind having the bill at the end of the trip (plenty of time to pay it off with the Disney Visa) but have considered pre-paying some money on our account in advance in the past. It would be nice if Disney allowed this easily on their site, though - I think now it requires a phone call, either to your TA or DCL.[/QUOTE]

That's what I do. I figure out ahead of time what all of my excursions and extras (like BBB, etc.) will be minus my OBC and have my TA put it on my Disney Visa card. I do it at least a month in advance so I can earn my reward dollars on the amount and use them for any extras on my trip. It would be nice if I could do it myself, but it's not that big of a deal having my TA do it.