Moving reservation from DCL to Dreams Unlimited?

[all4myboyngirl]

I have just booked our first Disney cruise (or any cruise for that matter) for a 7 night western caribbean cruise at the end of October (wooohhoooo). I have a question though that concerns transfering the reservation to a travel agent like dreams unlimited and if this is a good thing to do or not. I have emailed them and been told that I would qualify for additional onboard credits by switching the reservation to them once the downpayment was made( which it has ) and the final payment is still made through disney. Has anyone done this in the past? Is this truly a perk that I need to consider?

 

[HallsofVA]

After booking our first two cruises on our own, we've moved all of our subsequent cruises to TAs to take advantage of the additional onboard credit that they offer, along with the additional service that they provide. If you're a major control freak, and want to be able to call DCL for every question about your reservation, then you probably don't want to move it to a travel agent.

The additional on board credit is free money basically in exchange for a little loss of control, but no other major downsides that I've seen.

Some travel agents will only give you their highest on board credit amounts if you book the reservation with them initially. DU assesses each reservation separately to determine what OBC they can offer. If you literally just booked your reservation with DCL, and that same category is available to book still at the same rate, you might check about just having DU book your reservation from the beginning if they aren't able to give you the full onboard credit offer on your transferred reservation. (Yes, that means you'd have to pay your deposit again, and then wait for the credit from DCL on the original deposit, but it generally doesn't take too long for it to post.)

 

[all4myboyngirl]

anyone else had experience doing this?

 

[4disneykids]

We just transferred our reservations to DU. Had booked onboard last week to receive discounts, etc., then had the reservation transferred to get additional OBC. Not sure what is in it for DU, but I like the extra OBC.

 

[HallsofVA]

We just transferred our reservations to DU. Had booked onboard last week to receive discounts, etc., then had the reservation transferred to get additional OBC. Not sure what is in it for DU, but I like the extra OBC.

Travel agents get paid a comission from DCL. I think they get a full comission if the cruise is booked through them initially (or assigned to them at the time of onboard booking), and a reduced comission on a transferred reservation.

 

[kcashner]

What's in it for the TA is relatively little effort (unless you suddenly want changes made, etc), and a partial commission, along with the hope that you will book with them to begin with next time--thus giving them a full commission.

Why transfer to a TA? Great service if you pick a good one, possibly some onboard credit or other thanks for using us sort of gift. It has been reported that some TAs won't accept transferred ressies and some will give a reduced OBC for a transfer. Be sure you have in writing exactly what you will be getting before the transfer!

Other thoughts--some TAs computer track all their ressies so that if a better rate or special that they can get for you comes available, it will be done. Then there are the "what if" situations--the flight cancellations, bad weather situations, etc. Your TA is a huge advantage to have in your corner when bad things start happening--you may book a few cruises or vacations, but they book many each day; use their expertise if needed! Of course, that assumes you have a TA that you can reach when you need them.

 

[lakerz5]

We not only booked our Med cruise through DU, we had our July 11 double dip trip transferred to DU and then the DU agent transferred the deposit from the July cruise to the Med cruise and cancelled the July cruise completely. I didn't think it was possible, but she handled it quickly and we were so happy!