What's a "dummy" reservation?

[Sheriff Woody]

I've been waiting, quite impatiently, for the 2011 dates and rates to come out. I have seen threads from others in the same situation, and some mention they have made a dummy reservation. What does that mean?

 

[WDWLVR]

That means you put down a deposit on the currently offered cruise and when the new cruises/rates come out you move it. Last year on our September cruise we wanted to book a 2010 cruise but they weren't available yet. The agent on board was used to this and even said "we'll set you up with a dummy date of 12/5/09". I think a lot of people used that date. The 2010 cruises came out and none of them interested us until we hear from friends that they were doing a 5 day with a wedding involved. So we contacted the travel agent handling that for them and they were able to move our dummy date and deposit to that cruise.

Hope this helps.

 

[kcashner]

It's a date that you have no intention of sailing, but have booked in order to secure an onboard rebooking discount. When the dates you want are released for booking, you'll move from your "dummy" date to a cruise that you really intend to sail.

 

[Sheriff Woody]

OK, I see..... I guess. So it's only useful if you book onboard? Next question would be, what's the benefit? Does it guarantee you a particular room or at least a spot on a future cruise that may sell out? Do you get next year's cruise at this year's price? I can see that maybe you'd get the chance to make a payment or two in advance of when you'd otherwise be allowed to, spreading the expense out over another few months, maybe. What benefit? Thanks in advance.

 

[spectrum-turbo]

Usually, there is some sort of incentive to book another cruise while on board.

We will be sailing in a couple of months on a reservation that we made originally as a dummy booking date while on a cruise two years ago. When this year's dates opened up we switched to our current dates.

The incentive we were given (and that seems to be pretty typical) for a 7 night cruise was a 10% discount and a $200.00 ship board credit. This was available for Cats 4-11. The suites and Cat 12s only received the OBC.

 

[kcashner]

The 10% is for cat 4-11 only. The cat 12 gets the $200 but no discount.

 

[spectrum-turbo]

Ooops, I have corrected my post above.