Ready to Book...

[Bo'sMom]

Okay...I've decided to book the 29th of October Eastern caribbean. Sounds nice and relaxing. Now..who do I go through. I really don't have a TA. But, I checked with Cruisevalue.com and they had a great rate..lower than DCL direct. Anyone ever deal with them? Thanks.

 

[goofymama]

I've never used them ... but may I suggest that you check with several TA's. You never know when one miight have a special or group booking. You can get online quotes from Dreams Unlimited, The Mouse for Less, MouseEar vacations, All Seas Travel, MIdcan and probably others that I'm not recalling right now.

Good luck!

 

[TheWog]

It seems people recently have been having great luck with Costco as well. Definitely check around.

 

[Jsme]

Have to agree here. I strongly recommend checking around. I have read AAA, Sam's and Costco has great prices. If you have a Disney Visa you can use it to pay for your cruise and get a shipboard credit.

 

[DisneyRocks!]

I've never used them ... but may I suggest that you check with several TA's. You never know when one miight have a special or group booking. You can get online quotes from Dreams Unlimited, The Mouse for Less, MouseEar vacations, All Seas Travel, MIdcan and probably others that I'm not recalling right now.

Good luck!

Let me add Small World Travel and Dream Come True Vacations to that list.

 

[Bo'sMom]

I checked AAA...they were more expensive than anyone. LOL!

 

[westjones]

I would start with Disney's online quote system, and use that as a 'base' to compare all other quotes. Just go to http://www.disney.com and find the vacations section, then pick cruise, and then go through the process of booking a reservation up until you get your quote. Print that out and compare all future quotes to that.

Good Luck! You are going to love it!
DJ

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I booked with Sandy at mouseearvacations.com for our Jan. 21, 2006 eastern cruise and she did an awesome job and continues to be very patient with my questions.

 

[Donald Duck]

I found the best price at Berwick Travel after having at least 10 or more quotes from serveral different agencies. Triple A is expensive and DCL direct is a rip-off. This is not intended to be an advertisement they just had the best prices.


Donald Duck

 

[Barbmouse63]

I also agree with checking around.....I have found a wide range of prices for the same cruise, same cat, etc. Be sure to see if the quote includes taxes, etc. So far I have found the best price through smartcruiser.com. Has anyone every used/heard about them?? AAA does seem to be more expensive than a lot of others from my research.

 

[Bo'sMom]

I went on cruisecompete.com and received three different quotes. The best was more than $300.00 less than DCL's price. That is the one I finally went with. I plugged it into smartcruiser.com and it came up slightly higher than the quote I got. She will also give me a price reduction if the price goes down, and also called DCL for me to get me my $50.00 onboard credit for using my visa as my deposit. I think I did well. I hope. LOL!

 

[DisneyRocks!]

I found the best price at Berwick Travel after having at least 10 or more quotes from serveral different agencies. Triple A is expensive and DCL direct is a rip-off. This is not intended to be an advertisement they just had the best prices.

DCL is the baseline - all agencies get their rates at some point from DCL. There are many factors though which can affect the rate offered to the client:

1) did the agency book a block of rooms to lock in an early discount rate and then pass that on to the client? Many agencies do this.

2) many agencies take a large portion of their commission (commission is anywhere from 10-15% of the cruise cost (not counting government taxes and fees) and rebate this commission back to the client up front, or as a shipboard discount, or as a rebate given after the cruise. It all depends on how little profit they want to keep for themselves.

3) Some agencies do both - they secure early booking discounts AND rebate commissions.

So DCL direct is not trying to rip you off - the other agencies are rebating heavily or getting group rates to get you to book with them.

You will see advertised discounts via rebating disappearing in the near future, as many cruise lines are discouraging this practice. They want to level the field.

-Joe

 

[kritter]

I have check out like 20 diff. Ta and dreams unlimted gave the best rate, etc..

 

[Donald Duck]

Joey,

Let me guess you must be a travel agent, right? If not, you spend way to much time studying all these facts. I am well aware of how the agencies work on commissions but my point being is there is no reason to use DCL direct, there is no incentive obviously. If you don't take the time to shop around you stand to lose a lot of money.

Sincerely Yours,

Donald Duck

 

[DisneyRocks!]

Joey,

Let me guess you must be a travel agent, right? If not, you spend way to much time studying all these facts. I am well aware of how the agencies work on commissions but my point being is there is no reason to use DCL direct, there is no incentive obviously. If you don't take the time to shop around you stand to lose a lot of money.

Sincerely Yours,

Donald Duck

Donnie,

I used to work for Rosenbluth Travel in the back office, programming the computers.

I encourage everyone to shop around for the best price, as well as the best customer service - best price isn't always the best value.

Joey

 

[Bo'sMom]

Joe: I believe that this is what happened with Royal Caribbean. They now forbid any of the travel agents who sell their cruises, to discount unless they themselves are offering the discount as well.

 

[westjones]

Joe: I believe that this is what happened with Royal Caribbean. They now forbid any of the travel agents who sell their cruises, to discount unless they themselves are offering the discount as well.

So with RCCL, you would get the same price if you book directly or with a TA? Is that correct?

DJ

 

[Bo'sMom]

That's what I was told. If the TA has a deal, then it was authorized by RCCL.