On Board Booking

[Twilight Terror]

Be very careful with this. As much as I told the OBB Rep that I wanted to keep the room I had booked, she lost it on me and I was unable to get it back. I didn't find out that she lost it until days after, when I got the email for the booking. DCL was infinitely UN-helpful, taking the too bad, so sad approach. It took months of me stalking the DCL website to get a room that was comparable to the one I lost. As always, YMMV, but just wanted to put it out there that it is not always seamless.

If you book on board, can you still request your cabin number or just the category? Did you lose your room simply because you had already booked, then uncooked and rebooked? Thanks

 

[rantnnravin]

If you know what stateroom you want and it is available, you can book it. We were re-shopping a cruise we had booked on Day 1. She was supposed to book us into the same stateroom but cancelled our original booking without recapturing our stateroom and simply made a new booking. It was a horrible feeling to see the wrong stateroom on our confirmation and not be able to fix it. If I had it to do over again, I would simply have made a new booking and reconciled the two reservations after the sailing when I could get on the phone with DCL myself.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I've heard that the line to book a future cruise can be long. True? False? I'm interested in doing this but I'm not sold on missing vacation time to do it.

It can be long and it can also be very short with the one person ahead of you spending an hour at the desk. I won't wait in line. The earlier in your cruise that you can get to the desk, the shorter the wait will be. They also have cards you can just grab and fill out and put in their box. The card will be delivered to your room the next day with the "offer." I've done that twice and both times, they didn't offer exactly what I was asking for, but since I won't wait in a line, I just return the card accepting what they wrote down and then have my TA change it when I am at home.

 

[ahain]

If you book on board, can you still request your cabin number or just the category? Did you lose your room simply because you had already booked, then uncooked and rebooked? Thanks

When we have booked and then re-shopped/re-booked on-board, while on board we make sure to book the same category that we want, and insure that the same TA is listed on the reservation. Then, when we get home, I promptly contact the TA (who has already received the "new" booking) and ask her to work her magic - she calls DCL and switches out preferred room from the old ressie to the new ressie and has the old ressie cancelled.

One time, we made a general placeholder reservation while on board using the card/drop box. I specifically wrote the TA name, agency name and phone # on the card. I never received any confirmation e-mail, but saw a placeholder reservation # on my Castaway account so was not concerned. Several weeks after we got home, I contacted my TA to set an actual cruise date using the placeholder, but to my horror, she had not received anything on the placeholder booking! In a panic, I contacted DCL with my confirmation number and they told me that since it was more than 30 days after booking, it was too late to transfer to my TA. I argued that I specifically wrote the TA name, agency name and phone # on the card that I left in the drop box and invited them to find it to verify. I got transferred to a supervisor and went through the whole story again. The supervisor said that I should have contacted DCL when I received the confirmation e-mail and noticed the TA was not listed. I told them I didn't receive an e-mail. She put me on hold and a while later came back online and said that she was able to verify that the e-mail that was sent from DCL was never opened by me (maybe caught in spam filter somewhere), so she agreed to transfer the placeholder to the TA. Lesson learned. If I don't see a confirming e-mail within a week after my return, I'll be on the phone to get it resolved long before the 30 day deadline.

 

[Twilight Terror]

We never bother with TAs, so it will be use dealing with everything. We have been debating about booking before we go and rebooking, or just booking on the cruise. I think we have opted for the latter as the room prices have not changed in over a month now. Our cruise is fast approaching, so we will just take the chance, then we don't have to worry about get stuck with the wrong room! We will also do it virtually at the beginning! First timers will be busy exploring the ship, we will be busy booking our next cruise!

 

[CM Dad]

When we have booked and then re-shopped/re-booked on-board, while on board we make sure to book the same category that we want, and insure that the same TA is listed on the reservation.

The only time I re-shopped, the original category was not available, we booked a "close" category and then when we got back after the cruise our TA was able to cancel the original and switch the new reservation to that category and stateroom. This was the second leg of a B2B cruise, so I'm glad she was able to get the same room as the first leg.

 

[Hundredacre]

If you know what stateroom you want and it is available, you can book it. We were re-shopping a cruise we had booked on Day 1. She was supposed to book us into the same stateroom but cancelled our original booking without recapturing our stateroom and simply made a new booking. It was a horrible feeling to see the wrong stateroom on our confirmation and not be able to fix it. If I had it to do over again, I would simply have made a new booking and reconciled the two reservations after the sailing when I could get on the phone with DCL myself.

We have re shopped on board too, but we cancelled the original after the cruise. Will they really cancel it for you right there? Does it matter if it is through a TA?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have re shopped on board too, but we cancelled the original after the cruise. Will they really cancel it for you right there? Does it matter if it is through a TA?

I believe if the original reservation was made through a TA, they have to cancel it. If you booked the original reservation directly with DCL, they should be able to cancel it for you.