So Frustrated...

[ajgardner]

I used a TA for my 2020 August cruise, so my placeholder FCC is attached to her. I’m Gold and can book today - I want a B2B with the same cabin (Family Veranda). She finally got in touch with me and said that after being on hold for a couple hours they would only let her book one room per family, even On a different sailing and even using a different castaway number, that I would have to wait until Thursday. I know this is not correct because I’ve seen dozens of families booking back to back cruises. I can see 4 rooms on both cruises right now that are exactly what I want but I can’t grab them myself because then I lose my FCC. She said she would go online through the TA site and see what she could do. I am so frustrated and feel like crying, I just want to do this myself and get it taken care of before I lose these rooms. Anyone else run into something like this?

 

[princesscinderella]

I’m so sorry that you are having a hard time getting your sailings booked. Luckily there’s a lot of verandas available and you aren’t trying for concierge so for you!! I did a back to back wish booking but I’m doing the DVC one which is a chartered sailing and just booked the other half today when my gold window opened. The FCC definitely makes it more complicated.

 

[ajgardner]

I’m so sorry that you are having a hard time getting your sailings booked. Luckily there’s a lot of verandas available and you aren’t trying for concierge so for you!! I did a back to back wish booking but I’m doing the DVC one which is a chartered sailing and just booked the other half today when my gold window opened. The FCC definitely makes it more complicated.

Thanks, I just needed to vent. I just want to take care of it myself but I can’t because of the travel agent situation. My stress/anxiety levels are so high right now.

 

[MichelleCanada]

Can you not put them on hold online and then call to get your FCC attached to the booking? Honestly, I don’t know I’m just trying to think of a solution.

 

[pangyal]

Yes, my TA was told the same thing and that was around 1pm today that this started being enforced for some bizarre reason. However, the DCL agent was able to do some sort of workaround and book our B2B, so it might be worth a try?

 

[ajgardner]

Yes, my TA was told the same thing and that was around 1pm today that this started being enforced for some bizarre reason. However, the DCL agent was able to do some sort of workaround and book our B2B, so it might be worth a try?

Just got off the phone with her and she did find a kind of work around - she has my 4 night cruise booked and my 3 night cruise on hold until Thursday at which time she will complete the transaction. But she is also going to try calling them back this evening and tomorrow. Fingers crossed it all works out!

 

[ajgardner]

Can you not put them on hold online and then call to get your FCC attached to the booking? Honestly, I don’t know I’m just trying to think of a solution.

It gets complicated when a travel agent is involved and then the FCC on top of it. I can’t have access to anything of mine that she has worked on and she can’t take over anything I started on my own. She just called me back and it seems she thinks she found a work around and has a couple rooms on hold for me - it’s not official yet but she sounds confident. Fingers crossed!

 

[DisneYE]

Isn't it possible to just book your desired rooms/sailings and then have your TA call them and apply the FCC to those bookings later?

 

[Sakura1017]

I agree with the other person, can't you book on your own and then have ta call and apply FCC.

 

[Husker Mike]

I'm pretty sure FCC is not tied to your travel agent. My agent switched agencies last fall, so while another agent with that agency handled my April attempt at a cruise the last few months before it was cancelled, my original agent was able to book my next cruises with her new agency without any issues whatsoever.

Now, your placeholder might be something completely different. But the FCC belongs to the customer, not the agent.

 

[ajgardner]

I agree with the other person, can't you book on your own and then have ta call and apply FCC.

I'm pretty sure FCC is not tied to your travel agent. My agent switched agencies last fall, so while another agent with that agency handled my April attempt at a cruise the last few months before it was cancelled, my original agent was able to book my next cruises with her new agency without any issues whatsoever.

Now, your placeholder might be something completely different. But the FCC belongs to the customer, not the agent.

I was told I couldn’t because the credit was attached to a cruise she booked, but that could be incorrect. The TA was able to at least purchase one room and put a second room on hold while she tries to straighten things out. Now the issue is that they are saying the FCC can only be applied to the first cruise and not spread out to the second. I swear others have said they used the leftover credit in the second cruise

 

[Geomom]

I was told I couldn’t because the credit was attached to a cruise she booked, but that could be incorrect. The TA was able to at least purchase one room and put a second room on hold while she tries to straighten things out. Now the issue is that they are saying the FCC can only be applied to the first cruise and not spread out to the second. I swear others have said they used the leftover credit in the second cruise

You should definitely be able to use the FCC on multiple cruises before 9/30/22. Right after we got our FCC, I started doing a dummy booking just to see how much FCC each of us had and for each person it asked me how much of their FCC I wanted to apply to that booking..

Good luck getting your B2B! Sorry DCL just started applying that policy on Gold day!

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Can you book it online yourself using a courtesy joke?

 

[OpieDoodle]

Yikes, I hope you get it all worked out. Crazy that DCL would start enforcing something so far into booking but not at the start.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Can you not put them on hold online and then call to get your FCC attached to the booking? Honestly, I don’t know I’m just trying to think of a solution.

This is what I do. Usually it can be taken care of without even having to put a deposit down. I put them on a 3 day hold and quickly fax the form to DCL to give control of it to my TA. It's not a guarantee that someone won't swoop in and grab it. After all, she has to cancel the hold on the desired cabin, then quickly change cabins on the original reservation. If your TA refuses to cooperate, I'd book the 2nd half of the B2B on my own, not put the TA on it, and find a new TA for future sailings.

I'm sorry you're having such a bad time getting this done. A TA should make life easier for you, not more difficult. It sounds like they're treating like an OBB booking perk, where the perk follows the reservation # and that needs to remain valid for the perk to remain. Based on what other posters say, this doesn't sound like it's meant to be that way.

 

[ajgardner]

Yikes, I hope you get it all worked out. Crazy that DCL would start enforcing something so far into booking but not at the start.

I do not know if it is actually a policy they are enforcing or if the Disney agent was wrong.

 

[ajgardner]

This is what I do. Usually it can be taken care of without even having to put a deposit down. I put them on a 3 day hold and quickly fax the form to DCL to give control of it to my TA. It's not a guarantee that someone won't swoop in and grab it. After all, she has to cancel the hold on the desired cabin, then quickly change cabins on the original reservation. If your TA refuses to cooperate, I'd book the 2nd half of the B2B on my own, not put the TA on it, and find a new TA for future sailings.

My TA ended up being able to put my second cabin on hold (the same cabin as my first cruise), but I’m still nervous until it’s actually secured. And Now I’m hearing that in order to use my fcc, they have to cancel the hold and rebook it under prevailing rates? This is so much more complicated than I thought it would be...

 

[wideeyedwonder]

I was told I couldn’t because the credit was attached to a cruise she booked, but that could be incorrect. The TA was able to at least purchase one room and put a second room on hold while she tries to straighten things out. Now the issue is that they are saying the FCC can only be applied to the first cruise and not spread out to the second. I swear others have said they used the leftover credit in the second cruise

To confirm, we had a rather large 125% FCC from a cancelled Med sailing, and we were able to apply it to 2 cruises + airfare + insurance etc., with any remaining to be used as cruise credit on the cruise(s).