Payment due reminder for July 2021 cruise. Seriously DCL?

[we"reofftoneverland]

If this were actually true, COVID rates would be a fraction of what they are right now. And people actually getting sick is the driver of releasing restrictions.

Have you looked at the rates? They are incredibly low. And the death rates are minuscule at this point. That’s what’s really important.

Yeah I'm aware of the FCC mechanics.
It's just that I think DCL is being a bit shady about asking for payment in full when they know they won't sail in July, and likely the rest of 2021. My opinion.

you are free to cancel, right?

 

[DCLMP]

Yeah I'm aware of the FCC mechanics.
It's just that I think DCL is being a bit shady about asking for payment in full when they know they won't sail in July, and likely the rest of 2021. My opinion.

They are not forcing you to pay. A lot of people are booking cruises they know will cancel to get the 125%. I guess you could say that’s shady too. Whatever you decide you're not out any money.

 

[ford91exploder]

They are not forcing you to pay. A lot of people are booking cruises they know will cancel to get the 125%. I guess you could say that’s shady too. Whatever you decide your not out any money.

Yes and what is the breakage here from elderly and inexperienced travellers who dont realize that in many cases cancelled cruises can be refunded or rescheduled. Or those with the ‘cabin class’ only fares which are non changeable, must be paid in full and in the event of you canceling well DCL keeps all the money and i’d bet if DCL cancels DCL keeps a chunk of the fare as well.

My personal bet on the ‘breakage’ is probably about 1/3 of any booking.

 

[DCLMP]

Yes and what is the breakage here from elderly and inexperienced travellers who dont realize that in many cases cancelled cruises can be refunded or rescheduled. Or those with the ‘cabin class’ only fares which are non changeable, must be paid in full and in the event of you canceling well DCL keeps all the money and i’d bet if DCL cancels DCL keeps a chunk of the fare as well.

My personal bet on the ‘breakage’ is probably about 1/3 of any booking.

When you go to book your cruise it very clearly says you will get a refund if your cruise cancels. It clearly states the deposit is refundable. They also send out emails after the cruise is cancelled with your options. I'm sorry, but I don't for one second believe that 1\3 of the people that fork over thousands of dollars for a cruise are incapable of grasping the refund policy. Regardless, DCL would still get around to refunding their money.

 

[Livelovedance]

I’m fairly new to cruising, and I have a July cruise booked with Costco Travel. My paid in full date is rapidly approaching as well (Costco’s deadline is 2 weeks before DCLs), so I’m trying to figure out what our best option is. The reason I didn’t want to cancel is because we have a 10% discount with this booking. We’re not paid in full, so the future cruise credit doesn’t apply.

I’d like to reschedule to a similar cruise next summer, but we don’t want to cruise out of Miami. After speaking with Costco, I’m waiting for the Wish announcement and then making my decision. We’ve already rescheduled this trip, and I don’t know how likely it will be for us to be able to reschedule to the Wish, so it seems our placeholder benefits will be forfeited soon...

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I’m fairly new to cruising, and I have a July cruise booked with Costco Travel. My paid in full date is rapidly approaching as well (Costco’s deadline is 2 weeks before DCLs), so I’m trying to figure out what our best option is. The reason I didn’t want to cancel is because we have a 10% discount with this booking. We’re not paid in full, so the future cruise credit doesn’t apply.

I’d like to reschedule to a similar cruise next summer, but we don’t want to cruise out of Miami. After speaking with Costco, I’m waiting for the Wish announcement and then making my decision. We’ve already rescheduled this trip, and I don’t know how likely it will be for us to be able to reschedule to the Wish, so it seems our placeholder benefits will be forfeited soon...

Will Costco extend their due date to closer to dcl’s? They have done this for us before (not dcl but another line). Also, 10% is a lot, but it is not a lot. At this point we have like 15k tied up in cruise credits (more than one line). We were pulled in by the deals, but I wish we had just gotten refunds because it is all such a mess. We won’t be cruising, for example, if there is a vaccine mandate. When we took the cruise credit option, vaccines were not even on the table. And all these other limits dcl is imposing? Forget it. Our only hope is CCL. For anyone that can get a refund, I personally would.

 

[Livelovedance]

Will Costco extend their due date to closer to dcl’s? They have done this for us before (not dcl but another line). Also, 10% is a lot, but it is not a lot. At this point we have like 15k tied up in cruise credits (more than one line). We were pulled in by the deals, but I wish we had just gotten refunds because it is all such a mess. We won’t be cruising, for example, if there is a vaccine mandate. When we took the cruise credit option, vaccines were not even on the table. And all these other limits dcl is imposing? Forget it. Our only hope is CCL. For anyone that can get a refund, I personally would.

They extended it by 1 week, and said if I needed it extended further it would require a supervisor’s approval. If I had to make the decision today, I would’ve just taken the refund. The only reason I’m waiting is because I have a little more time to think it through without losing any money. This cruise was booked with one of the old placeholders (discount + on board credit), so I’ve been holding on to avoid losing it, but I’ll probably end up cancelling anyway to avoid the fine print complexities before next September. As much as I want the perks, it would probably be a lot easier to just cancel, get the deposit back, and book when we’re definitely ready to cruise again. Good luck with your credits!

 

[deliela999]

They extended it by 1 week, and said if I needed it extended further it would require a supervisor’s approval. If I had to make the decision today, I would’ve just taken the refund. The only reason I’m waiting is because I have a little more time to think it through without losing any money. This cruise was booked with one of the old placeholders (discount + on board credit), so I’ve been holding on to avoid losing it, but I’ll probably end up cancelling anyway to avoid the fine print complexities before next September. As much as I want the perks, it would probably be a lot easier to just cancel, get the deposit back, and book when we’re definitely ready to cruise again. Good luck with your credits!

That was the conclusion we came to. We also had one of the older placeholders, but were booked over Christmas so no 10%, just onboard credit. It was stressful and heartbreaking to have to decide to cancel, but we decided to get a refund and we'll book something last minute (in the cruise world anyway) once we feel comfortable going. Silly thing is it's all on Disney gift cards since I was working the discounted gift cards to save on our extra expensive Christmas cruise. The cards are in our safe and ready to go as soon as we decide we're ready. We didn't want to be tied to their rules or deal with the heartbreak of cancelling again.

 

[Livelovedance]

That was the conclusion we came to. We also had one of the older placeholders, but were booked over Christmas so no 10%, just onboard credit. It was stressful and heartbreaking to have to decide to cancel, but we decided to get a refund and we'll book something last minute (in the cruise world anyway) once we feel comfortable going. Silly thing is it's all on Disney gift cards since I was working the discounted gift cards to save on our extra expensive Christmas cruise. The cards are in our safe and ready to go as soon as we decide we're ready. We didn't want to be tied to their rules or deal with the heartbreak of cancelling again.

I’m sure that was a tough decision, but it sounds like the best one for your family. I’ve never used gift cards to pay for a trip, but I’ve purchased many discounted gift cards to pay for all of the extras on our trips (meals, souvenirs, runDisney races, etc). I’m sure when you’re able to use them it’ll be worth it!

 

[DCLMP]

They extended it by 1 week, and said if I needed it extended further it would require a supervisor’s approval. If I had to make the decision today, I would’ve just taken the refund. The only reason I’m waiting is because I have a little more time to think it through without losing any money. This cruise was booked with one of the old placeholders (discount + on board credit), so I’ve been holding on to avoid losing it, but I’ll probably end up cancelling anyway to avoid the fine print complexities before next September. As much as I want the perks, it would probably be a lot easier to just cancel, get the deposit back, and book when we’re definitely ready to cruise again. Good luck with your credits!

You can always move the deposit to a cruise farther out even if you have no intention of sailing on that cruise. It will give you more time if the Wish sailings aren't released in the next two weeks.

 

[ford91exploder]

When you go to book your cruise it very clearly says you will get a refund if your cruise cancels. It clearly states the deposit is refundable. They also send out emails after the cruise is cancelled with your options. I'm sorry, but I don't for one second believe that 1\3 of the people that fork over thousands of dollars for a cruise are incapable of grasping the refund policy. Regardless, DCL would still get around to refunding their money.

How many people actually READ that stuff, All of us who comment here do, I was waiting for a disney trip at airport when flight got cancelled, We were flying a refundable fare, so rebooked no price change, There was Karen in the next line who flipped out because we got put on next flight out with no price change. The ticket agent tried to explain that there were different classes of tickets and hers were low fare tickets with lots of restrictions. Whereas ours were unrestricted tickets so we were entitled to fly any empty seat available. I bring this up as ‘Karen’ apparently never read any of the small print and im equally sure most cruisers NOT GOING THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT dont either. As such the cruise lines reap the rewarsds.

 

[DCLMP]

How many people actually READ that stuff, All of us who comment here do, I was waiting for a disney trip at airport when flight got cancelled, We were flying a refundable fare, so rebooked no price change, There was Karen in the next line who flipped out because we got put on next flight out with no price change. The ticket agent tried to explain that there were different classes of tickets and hers were low fare tickets with lots of restrictions. Whereas ours were unrestricted tickets so we were entitled to fly any empty seat available. I bring this up as ‘Karen’ apparently never read any of the small print and im equally sure most cruisers NOT GOING THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT dont either. As such the cruise lines reap the rewarsds.

Disney is not stealing peoples money. They refund the money if the cruise cancels end of story. Unless you have proof that DCL is committing some kind of fraud you no basis to make those kind of claims.

 

[Husker Mike]

To me, it comes down to whether you can afford to let Disney hold onto your money and whether you will be able to take advantage of the 125% offer if you pay in full. I'm on the six night part of the cruise, and it's an expensive cruise... so 125% of that would be a very large credit. Also, if you already have a 125% offer, you won't get another - in which case, you'll get a refund.

Also impacting it is whether you think that if this cruise somehow happens, you might change your mind about going because of the COVID restrictions that will be in place. (Either not enough or too much.) Obviously after the PIF date, you will incur a cancellation charge for cancelling it and likely if you move the dates, you might end up spending more than you need to for a future cruise (because Disney isn't going to credit you back the difference if you reschedule to a cheaper cruise).

I think the best idea is to look over future schedules, and take your best bet to move your cruise to a future date to retain your credits and discounts. You can always change it again down the line. Like I said, I'm on the 6 night, and I have been fully expecting to reschedule for next April ever since booking it. But I took a chance on scheduling this cruise three months ago, in the hope that vaccination progress would make this cruise possible and it would be a better cruise for our family, if it were to happen. I'm not in any hurry to make that decision for another four weeks or so - when my PIF date is just about there, we'll make that call.

 

[Livelovedance]

You can always move the deposit to a cruise farther out even if you have no intention of sailing on that cruise. It will give you more time if the Wish sailings aren't released in the next two weeks.

Thank you for this! I was a little nervous to try this (we’re pretty new to cruising and the ever-changing rules are confusing), but I spoke with Costco Travel today and the same idea was given. Now we’re booked on another cruise for next summer, while we wait to see how the Wish bookings go.

 

[erik3dis]

I got the email asking for payment in full for a July 4 cruise.

I called DCL.

Since we booked concierge, deposits are non refundable. If you miss the payment deadline, you go into "penalty" and forfeit a portion of your payment.

So only choice is pay them in full (knowing full well cruise gets cancelled at which time you will get your money back) or move out the date of your cruise.

That doesn't seem quite right to me.

 

[SailorsWhyf]

We have an Aug cruise booked. I went ahead and PIF hoping it will sail or willing to move the FCC to a June ‘22 cruise if it doesn’t.
I’m even more hopeful it might happen now considering the Dream was in port all day Friday, presumably getting crew vaccinations.