Placeholder help what would you do

[KGmomoftwins]

So I have a cruise booked for Alaska in august with a placeholder that has been extended til may 2022(called yesterday said at this time not extending them further). Do I cancel my Alaska and move it to a spring break cruise or should I wait and see what Disney does. Also could I book the spring break cruise now and then add the placeholder to it later? Thanks!

 

[Starwind]

Placeholder benefits cannot be added to an already booked cruise. The deposit funds themselves can be, but you would lose the OBB benefits.

We had a summer Alaska cruise booked, with placeholder/OBB benefits. We decided as a family that even if it sailed we did not feel it safe to at this time so we would move it to 2022.

The day before Canada extended its cruise ship ban, I called DCL and moved the cruise to a dummy Disney Cream cruise for late May. I was very clear in explaining what I was doing, that the Dream cruise was just to hold our deposit funds with DCL until the summer 2022 cruises are available to book. Because the Dream cruise is a fraction of the cost of the Alaska cruise, no further deposit was needed.

They extended the placeholder until May 31. This may not be far enough for us for Alaska 2022, but I will ask for another extension when it comes to booking the actual cruise and see what they say.

We did the move to a dummy date for a few reasons: we wanted to preserve the OBB benefits; and we are Canadian, so there are foreign exchange rates and fees involved that mean that if our deposit is refunded we lose money overall. Since we plan to cruise again with DCL and relatively soon, I am fine with DCL keeping hold of our deposit funds. OTOH, I was NOT willing to PIF even though that would mean we would get the FCC when the Alaska cruise is canceled, as that for me was too much money for Disney to have right now.

Note that if you CANCEL a cruise booked with placeholder benefits you LOSE those benefits and can't get them back.

If you want to keep the OBB benefits, then what you want to do is MOVE the cruise to a new sailing. You will keep the same reservation number. The placeholder benefits will be retained as long as you are within their use window [or if applicable any extension of that window that DCL is giving right now].

Note that other rules can come into play, such as if you are past PIF date, so if that applies make sure you understand the implications.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Placeholder benefits cannot be added to an already booked cruise. The deposit funds themselves can be, but you would lose the OBB benefits.

We had a summer Alaska cruise booked, with placeholder/OBB benefits. We decided as a family that even if it sailed we did not feel it safe to at this time so we would move it to 2022.

The day before Canada extended its cruise ship ban, I called DCL and moved the cruise to a dummy Disney Cream cruise for late May. I was very clear in explaining what I was doing, that the Dream cruise was just to hold our deposit funds with DCL until the summer 2022 cruises are available to book. Because the Dream cruise is a fraction of the cost of the Alaska cruise, no further deposit was needed.

They extended the placeholder until May 31. This may not be far enough for us for Alaska 2022, but I will ask for another extension when it comes to booking the actual cruise and see what they say.

We did the move to a dummy date for a few reasons: we wanted to preserve the OBB benefits; and we are Canadian, so there are foreign exchange rates and fees involved that mean that if our deposit is refunded we lose money overall. Since we plan to cruise again with DCL and relatively soon, I am fine with DCL keeping hold of our deposit funds. OTOH, I was NOT willing to PIF even though that would mean we would get the FCC when the Alaska cruise is canceled, as that for me was too much money for Disney to have right now.

Note that if you CANCEL a cruise booked with placeholder benefits you LOSE those benefits and can't get them back.

If you want to keep the OBB benefits, then what you want to do is MOVE the cruise to a new sailing. You will keep the same reservation number. The placeholder benefits will be retained as long as you are within their use window [or if applicable any extension of that window that DCL is giving right now].

Note that other rules can come into play, such as if you are past PIF date, so if that applies make sure you understand the implications.

Thank you this was very helpful! Do you think there is any benefit to waiting for Disney to cancel Alaska and then move the placeholder to another cruise or should I not wait and do it now? Thank you again

 

[Starwind]

So I have a cruise booked for Alaska in august with a placeholder that has been extended til may 2022(called yesterday said at this time not extending them further). Do I cancel my Alaska and move it to a spring break cruise or should I wait and see what Disney does. Also could I book the spring break cruise now and then add the placeholder to it later? Thanks!

Regarding the specifics: the below is based on what DCL has been doing with the cruises they have canceld in recent months; there is no reason to expect they would do something different with the Alaska cruises but they always could.

Are you PIF on your Alaska cruise ?

If you are NOT PIF, when Disney cancels it they will automatically refund your money. You will NOT get the opportunity to decline a refund and move it to a new date instead.

If you ARE PIF you will be given the option of a refund or a FCC of 125% of the base fare. I believe the taxes and port fees are refunded but check that.

So whether you are PIF will have a significant impact on your options.

This is why *for our family* we made the decision to proactively move the cruise to a dummy booking. We were not PIF and I was not willing to become PIF [even though all the $ for the cruise is available to do so]. I did not want to receive an automatic refund. So we moved it.

YMMV.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

We are not paid in full. DH wants me to. I wonder if you pay in full can you use the 125% plus a placeholder discount on the same cruise or can you split the 2 discounts up among two cruises