Travel Agent

[BippityBoppity]

Just to clarify... you won't get better pricing - nobody is allowed to discount DCL cruises beyond what DCL may be offering. So the price will be the same if you book with a TA or direct through DCL. However, many TA's will offer some sort of "perk" -- often an onboard credit amount.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for this information.
I thought I read somewhere that you could get a better rate through a TA. I just received my quote through Dreams Unlimited and the cruise price was exactly the same as if I booked it myself through Disney. The only perk they offered was $100 shipboard credit. So, I think that we will just book directly and this way I can manage everything myself. Thank you for the information.

 

[MillauFr]

Thank you for this information.
I thought I read somewhere that you could get a better rate through a TA.

Sure the initial rate you pay is the same but when Costco gives you the biggest discount on the back end that is cheaper in my opinion.

 

[scgustafson]

All rates for DCL are the same no matter the source of booking (unless there is some unscrupulous group raising the prices above what DCL charges, but I don't know how this benefits them). The only reason a TA (including warehouse club ones) would seem cheaper is due to any onboard or other credits they offer, which come directly from their commission.

 

[bumbershoot]

... I think I read here that you can get better pricing through a TA as opposed to just booking through Disney.

I did come across a couple of TA's but I can't find phone numbers for them. It looks like they only do quotes online

As others have said, nope.

I don't do quotes. I book. That's why I use costcotravel.com instead of the others, because I want to simply book the cruise. And get a decent GC back.

I like being able to hand off to a travel agent after I have rebooked on board. They take a lot of the work off me.

See, if I have to already choose the cruise and pay for the deposoit and then later decide what we want to do onboard that requires booking etc, then I'm not sure what a TA can do for me that takes work from me. I've already made the decisions; I might as well just do those things. So I don't require a hand's on TA. Hence costco.

The only perk they offered was $100 shipboard credit. So, I think that we will just book directly and this way I can manage everything myself.

Totally valid thought process. If you're a costco member, though, maybe run it through their system, see what sort of giftcard you'd get. See if that makes it work going through the TA. If you increase the cost (or decrease) of the cruise fare, you go through the TA. But you book dining and port adventures, etc, all through YOUR DCL site, not through costco. They also have a direct portal so when you're paying on the costco site it's going straight to DCL.

 

[MillauFr]

I still wish I could book directly with Disney and get 100% of the commission in the form of a rebate. Why is Costco entitled to any of the commission when they are providing nothing of value? Does anyone use Costco for travel advice? I would guess 100% of the posters here are booking with Costco only because they have the biggest discount.

 

[mike314]

Got a general question here. When you book via a TA, Costco or any other 3rd party they basically will handle any other requests/excursions/reservations you need to make for your cruise correct? Meaning if you want a Palo reservation or request solo dinning or bus transportation to and from MCO you will have to arrange that with your TA correct? You can't book with a TA then deal directly with DCL for any other arrangements?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Got a general question here. When you book via a TA, Costco or any other 3rd party they basically will handle any other requests/excursions/reservations you need to make for your cruise correct? Meaning if you want a Palo reservation or request solo dinning or bus transportation to and from MCO you will have to arrange that with your TA correct? You can't book with a TA then deal directly with DCL for any other arrangements?

No. The TA will handle anything having to do monetarily with the reservation (payments, room changes, dining preference/transfers).

To book excursions/adult dining/nursery hours/spa/etc - you can do that yourself. As well as the online check in.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I still wish I could book directly with Disney and get 100% of the commission in the form of a rebate. Why is Costco entitled to any of the commission when they are providing nothing of value? Does anyone use Costco for travel advice? I would guess 100% of the posters here are booking with Costco only because they have the biggest discount.

While that is a nice wish, it's never going to happen. Disney would never give up their own profit.

As for Costco, I don't use them for travel advice. However, they aren't providing NOTHING of value - it just depends how you see that value. I was able to have them wait on the phone for hours to turn my placeholder into a cruise on opening day - for the first couple of hours, the Costco TA told me she dialed over 800x. Now the system has changed a bit to allow online booking which alleviates some of the phone backup, but I still appreciated that it wasn't me continually dialing and getting disconnected. Further, Costco does set an automatic payment-in-full time. It's nice not to have to worry that I've gotten the date wrong. Put it this way, the value of the ultimate price they can give me, with the small services they provide, make it entirely worthwhile for me. As there is no other possible way i could get that pricing on my own - it makes sense to me. Everyone has different needs.

By the way I would say that many experienced DCL cruisers who use TAs are probably also not relying on them for advice specifically. But those TAs obviously provide something valuable to those cruisers - customized service, OBC, etc.

 

[GuardMusic]

Is it possible to mention a few TA's that specialize in Disney?
I wasn't sure if it's forbidden to do this or not....

Thank you

Transparent post - as I (Gayle Hartleroad) am an agent of www.offtoneverland.com - an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.

The biggest difference I’ve seen as a cruiser and agent is the personal experience an agent can give you. Being Platinum Castaway Club and having experienced all four ships allows me to share tips, tricks, & recommendations that could never be fully included in our trainings.

As most have said, it really depends on what you want to do vs what you want someone else to do for you and any “perks” an agency offers. I personally give onboard credit and referral bonuses.

Best to everyone!

 

[VTNuke]

We've used Dreams Unlimited for all 4 of our cruises. They provide excellent service. I too am a planner and while most of the details, decisions, etc. are planned by me, they still give the on board credit. That's enough for me to keep using them.

The other benefits are the notices of cruises being released. We usually do a placeholder cruise and then end up having to wait for the cruise we want to be released. DU's emails letting me know when the cruises are being released helps me not have to keep checking. It's a little thing, but worth it as the sooner you book it, the cheaper the cruise.

You still have total control over booking everything else. We've done it all ourselves, but I'm sure they'd be willing to help if you needed assistance. They've also sent us a very nice care package/cruise prep package that has some cool cruise related items. Don't know if they'll do that every time or not.

 

[dt14890]

I used Small World Vacations for the backstage adventure trip I just took. On the next to last day, I contacted them because I needed to cancel the extra night as I was coming back a day early due to rashes on my ankles. Was told in the email that the TA would help me with the claim on the travel insurance when I got back. That was Thursday. Today, Monday, I finally went to email my TA to get the ball rolling on that and the entire small world vacation email address (all of it, not just my TA) has me blocked. ***?

 

[oufpat]

Small World Vacations is the one to use!!

 

[Bonnie1222]

We use Magical Moments Vacations. We don't use an agent to get on board credit- we do for the convenience and the service we get. We use Renee G.

 

[Numtini]

We use Dreams Unlimited. We're very happy, but I suspect we'd be just as happy with any of the Disney specific agencies. I was very skeptical of using a TA, but I can be bought and the OBC was enough to sign me up. But I've found I lose very little control. I still pay via a website. We still book activities on the DCL site. But we dump the tedious stuff like calling to beg for early dining or swap a reservation on the TA.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We used Dreams Unlimited for our first cruise, they had a huge OBC at the time. Next cruise we used another TA, I'm not sure she is even in business anymore but we were supposed to have a 100 dollar OBC which we found out didn't exist. After the cruise she found an error and gave us a 100 dollar on line credit. We were not able to use it on the next cruise it had to be used on line. The third cruise we just booked ourselves through DCL. This one we also booked directly with DCL but might transfer it through a TA that offered a good OBC.
I guess for us it is just a matter of convenience. As long as I can make a secure payment I'm good. And for OBC everyone has their preference, obviously more is better but whatever we get for OBC is going to be used towards a photo package anyways.