Pay Off & Check In Date Requirement Changes?

[ChicosWife]

Our payoff and check in date were 75 days out and happened on the same day (pre-COVID). After we had to move our cruise out to April 2022, I noticed that our payoff date is now early December 2021 (four months before sailing) and the check in date is early January (three months before sailing). Why/when did this change? Anyone else notice this?

 

[Cheburashka]

Nvm

 

[AquaDame]

Were your cruises like for like, or did you switch to one departing from an international port...?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Cruise length, destination etc all affect paid in full/check in date

 

[lanejudy]

Your online check-in date is dictated by Castaway Club status and may be before or after the official PIF date.

The official PIF date depends on the cruise - embark/debark port(s), length, holiday time, etc.

 

[ChicosWife]

Were your cruises like for like, or did you switch to one departing from an international port...?

Cruise length, destination etc all affect paid in full/check in date

Your online check-in date is dictated by Castaway Club status and may be before or after the official PIF date.
The official PIF date depends on the cruise - embark/debark port(s), length, holiday time, etc.

Our cruise is literally the EXACT same cruise/itinerary/everything. The only that changed was the date. We are silver status and the PIF date and check-in date were previously on the same day, only about 60-75 days prior to cruise.

 

[churros&cupcakes]

for silver castaway club guest check in is 90 days prior to sail, which is the same final payment date for most sailings 5 nights or less. right now, with everything being up in the air, the new final payment date for sailings through the end of november is 60 days prior to sail.

for sailings 6 nights or longer, final payment date is 120 days. the 90/120 days have been that for awhile now.

 

[ChicosWife]

for silver castaway club guest check in is 90 days prior to sail, which is the same final payment date for most sailings 5 nights or less. right now, with everything being up in the air, the new final payment date for sailings through the end of november is 60 days prior to sail.

for sailings 6 nights or longer, final payment date is 120 days. the 90/120 days have been that for awhile now.

That seems odd. It wasn't that far out when we had this year's cruise scheduled.

 

[lanejudy]

That seems odd. It wasn't that far out when we had this year's cruise scheduled.

A cruise for 2021? It may well have been listed with the PIF extension that was put in place early in the pandemic (60 days prior to embarkation). I believe that is for sailings through November 2021. So when you pushed out your cruise to next spring it falls into the "regular" policy -- which is 120 days PIF for a 7-night closed-loop cruise from a US port, with online check-in based on your CC status (90 days for silver).

Depending on how long ago was your first cruise, there was a time the PIF policy was different.

 

[ChicosWife]

A cruise for 2021? It may well have been listed with the PIF extension that was put in place early in the pandemic (60 days prior to embarkation). I believe that is for sailings through November 2021. So when you pushed out your cruise to next spring it falls into the "regular" policy -- which is 120 days PIF for a 7-night closed-loop cruise from a US port, with online check-in based on your CC status (90 days for silver).

But why would they be different dates? They were previously the same.

 

[lanejudy]

Because there has been a temporary policy in place for cruises from spring 2020 thru Nov. 2021. (and that has adjusted during the past year as the pandemic continued)

Prior to that, I believe there was a change in PIF policy sometime in maybe winter/early spring 2019. That is the "standard policy" under which your 2022 cruise now falls. I believe it's 120 days out for cruises of 7+ nights.

Prior to that was a PIF policy change in maybe 2017 (?) that was very convoluted based on length of cruise, embark/debark port(s), time of year, etc.

So...depending on when you booked and/or made changes to your reservation, there have been changes.

To my knowledge online check-in has remained consistent, other than you have to be PIF to book onboard activities (Palo, port excursions, etc.). That is 75 days for new cruisers, 90 days for silver, 105 days for gold and 120 days for platinum. But official PIF may or may not correspond to the online check-in date, and that has been true for a decade or more.

 

[ChicosWife]

Because there has been a temporary policy in place for cruises from spring 2020 thru Nov. 2021. (and that has adjusted during the past year as the pandemic continued)

Prior to that, I believe there was a change in PIF policy sometime in maybe winter/early spring 2019. That is the "standard policy" under which your 2022 cruise now falls. I believe it's 120 days out for cruises of 7+ nights.

Prior to that was a PIF policy change in maybe 2017 (?) that was very convoluted based on length of cruise, embark/debark port(s), time of year, etc.

So...depending on when you booked and/or made changes to your reservation, there have been changes.

To my knowledge online check-in has remained consistent, other than you have to be PIF to book onboard activities (Palo, port excursions, etc.). That is 75 days for new cruisers, 90 days for silver, 105 days for gold and 120 days for platinum. But official PIF may or may not correspond to the online check-in date, and that has been true for a decade or more.

Thanks for the info!

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

Online check in is still not open for our August 9 sail date. The app and web page both say DCL will send an email when they are ready for us to check in. At first it was “system upgrades”. Now the app just refers to the UK staycations check in 30 days before sailing with no mention of our check in.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Hoping that PIF policy for sailing with confidence is extended through the end of the year. I have PIF for my Galveston cruise coming up at the end of August. I'd really like to see/hear how things are going to be. I hate to cancel, but the unkown may push me in that direction. If they extend the current cancellation policy, I will be more inclined to wait it out.