Using Disney Reward Dollars on Cruise

[wendiloveswalt]

Hi All,

This will be our first cruise. I wanted to know the best way to make sure we use our Disney Rewards Dollars for onboard purchases first before having our credit card charged. Has anyone had experience with this in the past? We might not have enough to cover everything, but would like to defray the total bill.

Thanks

 

[lanejudy]

Go to Guest Services when you get onboard and have the Rewards card applied to your onboard account. They will use up that value first before accumulating a balance to charge the credit card.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kcashner]

Correct. DCL will first "spend" any onboard credit that has been applied to your account, then any "funny money" like reward dollars, gift cards, etc., and finally charge any balance to your credit card.

Bottom line--things that can be refunded are spent last.

 

[shandrananette]

Good advice to do it first thing - we waited until the last day and they'd already charged the card. They fixed it no problem, but it just created a bit of confusion. Definitely a good way to defray those expenses

 

[wendiloveswalt]

Thanks for the great advice. so, if i do online check in do I want to choose cash on the part for how I'll pay for incidentals, or credit?

 

[dorkeemn]

Chose however you will pay for the balance left over after your reward $ are spent. Then on the first day of the cruise go to guest services and apply your reward / gift card.

First time we cruised I did the same thing as a PP - waited until the last full day of the cruise - they fixed it, but it took some time as they had already ran the CC through.

 

[lanejudy]

I think they charge the CC whenever you hit $500. So that can occur early if you are doing excursions, or not until the last day if you tend to stay onboard and don't spend a lot of extra. Applying gift cards, rewards cards, cash early in the cruise is always advisable before your account hits the limit.

 

[Brendonsmom]

On our five night cruise I went the morning of the last full day on the cruise. No line and I was able to take care of my rewards transfer no problem. We also had an onboard credit they applied. I tried using some Visa gift cards but the bank wanted to charge $5 out of the balance.