Online check in on payment due date

[swedemeatball]

I just made made my final payment on the due date and followed it up with my online check in. So I am 75 days out and all the PAT choices were available, is this normal? Does this mean this could be a less crowded cruise?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I just made made my final payment on the due date and followed it up with my online check in. So I am 75 days out and all the PAT choices were available, is this normal? Does this mean this could be a less crowded cruise?

No. Many first time cruisers can select the first PAT. Not everyone wants to be (or can be) there as soon as the port opens.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I just made made my final payment on the due date and followed it up with my online check in. So I am 75 days out and all the PAT choices were available, is this normal? Does this mean this could be a less crowded cruise?

Possibly. It could also mean a lot of other newbie cruisers.

 

[Silstone]

My due dates today and I can't check in till 8-26.

 

[*Flower*]

When is your cruise?
My cruise date is 11/30 and my pif date is 9/15, but if I pay sooner- I can check in almost a month earlier.

Be patient- you'll get there!

 

[Bear3412]

I just made made my final payment on the due date and followed it up with my online check in. So I am 75 days out and all the PAT choices were available, is this normal? Does this mean this could be a less crowded cruise?

Which ship? How many nights? What itinerary? Which port?
All these may affect the desire for early PAT IMO.

Well this is exciting news. I recall this wasn't possible in the past. So DCL's IT team has a done something well, and seamless.

Pay the day of online check-in, then check-in online. Nice. Thank you DCL.

So what time did you pay? What method of payment? TA or direct?
Curious minds like to know.

We always pay a few days early just in case. But we book with a TA.

Thanks for sharing.

TIA

 

[Silstone]

When is your cruise?
My cruise date is 11/30 and my pif date is 9/15, but if I pay sooner- I can check in almost a month earlier.

Be patient- you'll get there!

That's odd!! Cruise date 11-24 and needed to PIF 7-20 per travel agent.

 

[stmize]

That's odd!! Cruise date 11-24 and needed to PIF 7-20 per travel agent.

Are you on the dream? We are. There's 10 of us in 3 cabins. My family's cabin and my baby brothers family were booked within a few days of ea other and our pif date was sept 10. Then my middle brother asked for details and he and my mom was booked maybe a month later and his pif date was aug 14. I booked all 3 cabins thru my trusty aaa ta We've already pif several months ago. Didn't realize we had diff pif dates til I saw this thread and looked at docs

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[swedemeatball]

Which ship? How many nights? What itinerary? Which port?
All these may affect the desire for early PAT IMO.

Well this is exciting news. I recall this wasn't possible in the past. So DCL's IT team has a done something well, and seamless.

Pay the day of online check-in, then check-in online. Nice. Thank you DCL.

So what time did you pay? What method of payment? TA or direct?
Curious minds like to know.

We always pay a few days early just in case. But we book with a TA.

Thanks for sharing.

TIA

We're on the Oct. 3rd Dream cruise out of PC. I could have checked in on 6-20 if I had paid then but I chose to save my money until the last possible day. I booked through Disney on my last cruise.

 

[*Flower*]

We're on the Oct. 3rd Dream cruise out of PC. I could have checked in on 6-20 if I had paid then but I chose to save my money until the last possible day. I booked through Disney on my last cruise.

I'm kind of cheating on my PIF- my preferred card has already closed for the month of July. If I do my payment anytime between now and my targeted window of check-in, excursions and dining, I won't have to pay the card off until sometime in September.
So I'll have about two months of interest free $$ to set aside for the card payment.
These PIF and arrangement dates shouldn't be varying this much.... it should depend on if you're a returning cruiser or a new cruiser, and what level you are of returnee.
MY PIF date is 75 days prior to cruise- which is standard. My check-in/booking window is 105 days IF I'm PIF. So I'll be doing my PIF payment prior to my booking window to ensure that I have a better choice of excursions/diversion that I'd like to book.

HTH!!

 

[lbgraves]

That's odd!! Cruise date 11-24 and needed to PIF 7-20 per travel agent.

Are you on the dream? We are. There's 10 of us in 3 cabins. My family's cabin and my baby brothers family were booked within a few days of ea other and our pif date was sept 10. Then my middle brother asked for details and he and my mom was booked maybe a month later and his pif date was aug 14. I booked all 3 cabins thru my trusty aaa ta We've already pif several months ago. Didn't realize we had diff pif dates til I saw this thread and looked at docs

Unless you are concierge or sailing from outside of the U.S., your PIF date is 75 days out like everyone else. Both of you are being told when your TA would like you to pay, which is not the same as DCL.

Stimize, have you checked your reservations online at www.disneycruise.com? I have to wonder if you are actually booked on the same cruise. I have known it to happen before that a TA booked family members on two separate cruises in error. If you are on the same cruise, unless one of you is in concierge, your PIF dates are the same.

Now, your booking window could be different if either stateroom has a returning cruiser in it -- which would require you to be PIF in order to be able to book reservations, spa, Palo, etc at that point.

 

[stmize]

Unless you are concierge or sailing from outside of the U.S., your PIF date is 75 days out like everyone else. Both of you are being told when your TA would like you to pay, which is not the same as DCL.

Stimize, have you checked your reservations online at www.disneycruise.com? I have to wonder if you are actually booked on the same cruise. I have known it to happen before that a TA booked family members on two separate cruises in error. If you are on the same cruise, unless one of you is in concierge, your PIF dates are the same.

Now, your booking window could be different if either stateroom has a returning cruiser in it -- which would require you to be PIF in order to be able to book reservations, spa, Palo, etc at that point.

We are. I checked right aaa booked us. Lol. Me and baby bro are castaway club members other bro and mom aren't.

 

[Silstone]

Are you on the dream? We are. There's 10 of us in 3 cabins. My family's cabin and my baby brothers family were booked within a few days of ea other and our pif date was sept 10. Then my middle brother asked for details and he and my mom was booked maybe a month later and his pif date was aug 14. I booked all 3 cabins thru my trusty aaa ta We've already pif several months ago. Didn't realize we had diff pif dates til I saw this thread and looked at docs

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Nope, the Magic for Thabksgiving. Initially she said PIF was August then was changed to July. Oh well, booked now.

 

[lbgraves]

Nope, the Magic for Thabksgiving. Initially she said PIF was August then was changed to July. Oh well, booked now.

That isn't right. Your PIF would be 75 days from your cruise date, which would be in August and not July.

We are. I checked right aaa booked us. Lol. Me and baby bro are castaway club members other bro and mom aren't.

That makes NO sense whatsoever. If your other brother and mom aren't CC members, their booking window would be later than yours. Sorry but your AAA agent isn't giving you accurate information. Check disneycruise.com to see what your actual PIF dates are and when your booking window opens so you don't miss out on that.

This thread has made me appreciate my TA even more, though after 10 cruises with DCL I know the date info myself.

 

[bumbershoot]

That makes NO sense whatsoever. If your other brother and mom aren't CC members, their booking window would be later than yours. Sorry but your AAA agent isn't giving you accurate information. Check disneycruise.com to see what your actual PIF dates are and when your booking window opens so you don't miss out on that.

This thread has made me appreciate my TA even more, though after 10 cruises with DCL I know the date info myself.

I booked for something that's coming up, and I went through Costco this time. They were having computer issues but blaming it on me not knowing DS's Castaway number, and chose to leave that info off of our reservation.

So disneycruise was telling me that I could only checkin and book things at 75 days out. Even though it was on my account, and my account has a Castaway number. It did NOT show in the Castaway pages. Thankfully the Disney rep was able to put our proper info onto the cruise (I expected I would need to call Costco but she was a sweetheart and did it for me), and in an instant my booking/checking in date changed. Whew.

And then at around 8pm pac time the date before checking in/booking stuff, I made final payment through costcotravel.com, and at 9:01pm pacific time it showed up on disneycruise and I was able to do everything I wanted to do.



anyway, I'm getting a little confused by what people are saying, and I agree that it doesn't sound right or make sense, and I'm wondering if the TAs didn't put Castaway numbers onto accounts and that sort of thing.

 

[lbgraves]

...anyway, I'm getting a little confused by what people are saying, and I agree that it doesn't sound right or make sense, and I'm wondering if the TAs didn't put Castaway numbers onto accounts and that sort of thing.

That might be the problem for one, but doesn't explain why they are telling some that their PIF date is earlier than it actually is. Does the payment show up as to DCL or to AAA when you give the AAA TA your payment information? It should show as DCL. Sorry, I haven't heard good things about either Costco or AAA when it comes to their TAs being knowledgeable over the past 11 years on this board so it makes me suspicious.