online check in - several ?s

[Fatima1922]

I just completed the online checking process. At first I was going to add our credit card but I noticed there is a cash/other option. We were planning to use Disney gift cards that we have been buying and our obc to cover our costs but should I still add a cc just in case. Or can I add the cc on board if I think it is needed?

When finalizing the bill does DCL charge cost against obc first and cash/gift cards second and cc last? If we don't spend all of the money on our gift cards, will they put the money back on a gift card or send us a check?

 

[ibouncetoo]

I can answer some of this. YES, the OBC gets used first. NO, they cannot refund money to gift cards, so if you are turning in gift cards at the beginning of the cruise, just turn in what you really expect to spend. You can always pay you balance at the end with additional gift cards, and then any remaining balance with a credit card...which they want you to indiciate what card/number on the online form. So if you intend to use the CC for any portion, you have to register it (so to speak) on the on line form.

The cash stuff is the part I'm not sure about. But if you do not give them a CC number, you have to put down a hunk of cash at the beginning of the cruise and then they call and ask for more as your bill increases. I'm sure someone will be by with the details on that.

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[clten]

If you don't want to register a cc now, yes you can register it on board.

The pp is correct, they will exhaust your OBCs first.

If you select the cash option rather than registering your cc, you will have to put down a minumum deposit amount at check-in (I think this may vary based on the length of the cruise but is at least $200) You can use gift cards for this deposit. Once the OBC and the depoist amount is used up, DCL will send you a letter to stop by Guest Services to give an additional deposit (which can be more gift cards or a cc) before making more charges to your room. You can go to GS at any time if you know you will need to put more money on your account.

If you put a cc on file now, you can still give your gift cards at check-in to be applied to your account. Then the order would be OBC, gift cards, cc. DCL just won't keep you updated on the status of your account. But you can always go to GS to see your account and add additional gift cards if you don't apply them all up front.

 

[Fatima1922]

I can answer some of this. YES, the OBC gets used first. NO, they cannot refund money to gift cards, so if you are turning in gift cards at the beginning of the cruise, just turn in what you really expect to spend. You can always pay you balance at the end with additional gift cards, and then any remaining balance with a credit card...which they want you to indiciate what card/number on the online form. So if you intend to use the CC for any portion, you have to register it (so to speak) on the on line form.

The cash stuff is the part I'm not sure about. But if you do not give them a CC number, you have to put down a hunk of cash at the beginning of the cruise and then they call and ask for more as your bill increases. I'm sure someone will be by with the details on that.

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Thank you very much. We weren't planing on using cash, just gift cards and cc if necessary. I will go ahead and add the cc.

 

[Fatima1922]

If you don't want to register a cc now, yes you can register it on board.

The pp is correct, they will exhaust your OBCs first.

If you select the cash option rather than registering your cc, you will have to put down a minumum deposit amount at check-in (I think this may vary based on the length of the cruise but is at least $200) You can use gift cards for this deposit. Once the OBC and the depoist amount is used up, DCL will send you a letter to stop by Guest Services to give an additional deposit (which can be more gift cards or a cc) before making more charges to your room. You can go to GS at any time if you know you will need to put more money on your account.

If you put a cc on file now, you can still give your gift cards at check-in to be applied to your account. Then the order would be OBC, gift cards, cc. DCL just won't keep you updated on the status of your account. But you can always go to GS to see your account and add additional gift cards if you don't apply them all up front.

Thank you so much. I just didn't want to charge the cc if I put down gift cards. I will so exactly what you mentioned and just check on occasion on my balance at GS.

 

[ibouncetoo]

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. But you can always go to GS to see your account

Always a good idea for anyone to do during the cruise. Mistakes happen and it's easier to get them taken care of sooner than later. Guest Services gets pretty busy the last night of the cruise!

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[tjbole71]

We did cash a few years ago because we had received so many gift cards (anniversary cruise). We did not have to give any chunk of cash, but only had a $200 line of credit. Once your account reached $200, you could no longer charge anything until you went to guest services to pay your balance. We simply had all of the gift cards applied to our account at the beginning to avoid running back every so often. We had no problem spending all of our gift cards on the cruise, between the spa, Shutters and excursions.

 

[scootch]

I would think they would just put the amount on the gift cards that you use, just like if you bought something at a store, they would just take off what you used. anyone know for sure?

 

[Mmketeer]

On my Thanksgiving cruise I had a ton of gift cards to use. I also gave them a CC during the online check-in process. FYI you can not use your onboard account to purchase another cruise while onboard. The agent told me they had to use the CC that was on file. Wonder what they would have done if I didn't have one on file? Anyway, rebooking onboard was an excellent deal it saved me $300 on this upcoming 3 night Dream cruise, plus since I am a Gold member I got $150 in onboard credit. I highly reccomend re-booking onboard and your Travel agent can get credit for the booking.

Now for the gift cards. The Guest Service agent advised my husband that the GC's were non-refundable after they were applied to our account. But, we didn't use them all. So, what we did after speaking with a supervisor was we went to the onboard gift shop and used our onboard credit (which consisted of the rest of the GC's that we gave them after sail away) and purchased more Disney Gift Cards, so we didn't lose anything. Matter of fact ,the GC's they have onboard are a Disney cruiseline exclusive design, but they can be used anywhere the other cards are accepted. So, no worries.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Now for the gift cards. The Guest Service agent advised my husband that the GC's were non-refundable after they were applied to our account. But, we didn't use them all. So, what we did after speaking with a supervisor was we went to the onboard gift shop and used our onboard credit (which consisted of the rest of the GC's that we gave them after sail away) and purchased more Disney Gift Cards, so we didn't lose anything. Matter of fact ,the GC's they have onboard are a Disney cruiseline exclusive design, but they can be used anywhere the other cards are accepted. So, no worries.

Excellent soloution, and glad to know you can do that!

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[scootch]

On my Thanksgiving cruise I had a ton of gift cards to use. I also gave them a CC during the online check-in process. FYI you can not use your onboard account to purchase another cruise while onboard. The agent told me they had to use the CC that was on file. Wonder what they would have done if I didn't have one on file? Anyway, rebooking onboard was an excellent deal it saved me $300 on this upcoming 3 night Dream cruise, plus since I am a Gold member I got $150 in onboard credit. I highly reccomend re-booking onboard and your Travel agent can get credit for the booking.

Now for the gift cards. The Guest Service agent advised my husband that the GC's were non-refundable after they were applied to our account. But, we didn't use them all. So, what we did after speaking with a supervisor was we went to the onboard gift shop and used our onboard credit (which consisted of the rest of the GC's that we gave them after sail away) and purchased more Disney Gift Cards, so we didn't lose anything. Matter of fact ,the GC's they have onboard are a Disney cruiseline exclusive design, but they can be used anywhere the other cards are accepted. So, no worries.

Thanks for the info. Our school get 5% back on gift cards to our local supermarket. We are allowed to buy Disney(or any other) gift cards with the supermarket gift card, so I was going to buy mine for the cruise that way. We are going to WDW in November, so figured I would use the rest then. I pretty much know how much our bill will be, so I think I will buy the $100 ones and then not worry about having 'extra' on them.