Trip insurance question - rebooking

[lbuher]

OK, so we are booked on the Dream for December 2011, but I only booked for DH and I. When are on the Wonder in late January, I will do what has been suggested here and "re-shop" the reservation, and will add my kids to the reservation to get the 10% discount and hopefully the 1/2 off deposit. Here's my trip insurance question.... when we rebook on board, will they cancel our current reservation and give us a new one? So that we THEN have 14 days or so to get our trip insurance in place to be covered for pre-existing conditions? Or do I have to go ahead and get that trip insurance in place NOW since we made this Dream booking last week? I'd really like to wait but wasn't sure what I needed to do to be safe?

Thanks...

 

[kcashner]

Yes, if you reshop your reservation while on board, you will be issued a new reservation number and it is a totally new reservation. If you need to change the dates at a later time, you'll keep the same number--thus is is the same reservation. You are right; you'd start the clock to book and have pre-existings covered on the date you book on the ship.

Do remember that your plan to rebook on board will only work if they are still selling your category and rates have not increased. If you book a category now, there's no guarantee that the same category will still be available in a few months, or that it will be booking at the same price!

Most private insurance companies allow you to change a date once and retain coverage.

 

[lbuher]

Do remember that your plan to rebook on board will only work if they are still selling your category and rates have not increased. If you book a category now, there's no guarantee that the same category will still be available in a few months, or that it will be booking at the same price!

I did take that into consideration, though we aren't booking one of the holiday sailings so I don't THINK the rates will increase between now and then. Regarding the category being available...I requested a specific stateroom in the category we wanted (and yes, it is a category with limited staterooms!) However.... based on what I've read on these boards, I THINK I can have the DCL agent on board contact our TA to have her cancel our current reservation and release the room, and the DCL agent on board can then "grab" that same room? Is that right?

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

We are facing a similar issue, booked the Dream online and want to cancel and rebook it onboard our December cruise and hopefully get the discount and OBC. I did purchase private trip insurance already as we have lots of pre-existing issues =( and wanted to make sure that isn't an issue should we retain the original reservation.

I'm not too sure that the DCL agent onboard is going to contact your TA for you. I booked and kept ours with Disney directly to eliminate this step. Whatever reservation we end up with, the current one, or hopefully a new, cheaper one I will then transfer to a TA.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I did take that into consideration, though we aren't booking one of the holiday sailings so I don't THINK the rates will increase between now and then. Regarding the category being available...I requested a specific stateroom in the category we wanted (and yes, it is a category with limited staterooms!) However.... based on what I've read on these boards, I THINK I can have the DCL agent on board contact our TA to have her cancel our current reservation and release the room, and the DCL agent on board can then "grab" that same room? Is that right?

I would just recheck prices/availability before your next cruise. If still good to rebook, just ask your TA to release the ressie back to DCL, then the onboard CM can easily rebook it and keep your same stateroom selection. Then name your TA so he/she gets full commission. If the cruise your then sailing on was booked by your TA, you won't need to bring his/her address, etc. They will have it in their computer and you can simply say, apply my current TA to this new ressie.

 

[kcashner]

I posted that while onboard the Wonder, Leslie sent an e-mail to my TA, asking her to "release the deposit" for our previously booked reservation. This enabled her to cancel that reservation and rebook the "new" one onboard keeping the same stateroom, etc. She did caution me that the only possible glitch would be if the TA didn't respond during the cruise. In that case, she offered to notify me so that I could book a different room while on board (pay another deposit), and do the coordinate the reservations after arriving at home.

The TA told me after the fact that there is no problem with doing that (coordinating the reservations) had there been a problem, but it was easier for everyone to do it with the "releasing the deposit." If your booking is thru DCL originally, there is no problem at all, and you can name the TA at the time of rebooking on board so they'll get full credit.

As long as you are rebooking the same dates, it doesn't affect your privately purchased travel insurance at all. Just a thought...I always add a day at the beginning and the end of my travel insurance dates so that if a flight is delayed, I decide to drive down, or whatever, I still have coverage.