What's the point of a dummy date?

[woody73]

After October, 2011, when the 2013 intineraries come out, I can cancel the Dec 13 cruise and re-book for what we really want. I would still only pay 10% deposit, and get a 10% discount on the total cost of the cruise?

Don't cancel the Dec. 13 cruise. Instead, transfer the reservation to another date.

Woody

 

[Deb in IA]

When the 2013 dates come out call DCL or your TA and tell them that you want to transfer your reservation to a new date. They will make the change and you will still have the same reservation number. If the cruise you transfer to is more expensive you will have to pay the difference in deposit at that time.

Don't cancel the Dec. 13 cruise. Instead, transfer the reservation to another date.

Woody

OH!!!

Thanks, got it. TRANSFER!!!

So, I would pay the difference in the deposit at the time of TRANSFER, but it would still be at the 10% rate, right?

 

[True Romance]

Also, you only have to deposit one person, not your whole party. I booked 2 dummy dates on our April Wonder cruise. One under my name and one under my husbands. The onboard booking agent picked the last cruise out, a Dec. 2012 Fantasy cruise. I told him I only wanted to book one adult per room, so I only had to deposit for one person. $179/room. Now I did hear from others on my cruise that they choose a 3 day cruise and their deposit was only $80 or something similar for the one adult.

Just remember, to tell the agent you only want to deposit one person. Once you pick the cruise you really want to sail on, you add the rest of your party and you still get the same benefits.

 

[Deb in IA]

Also, you only have to deposit one person, not your whole party. I booked 2 dummy dates on our April Wonder cruise. One under my name and one under my husbands. The onboard booking agent picked the last cruise out, a Dec. 2012 Fantasy cruise. I told him I only wanted to book one adult per room, so I only had to deposit for one person. $179/room. Now I did hear from others on my cruise that they choose a 3 day cruise and their deposit was only $80 or something similar for the one adult.

Just remember, to tell the agent you only want to deposit one person. Once you pick the cruise you really want to sail on, you add the rest of your party and you still get the same benefits.

GREAT info!! THANKS!!!

 

[mbb]

So, we're onboard our MR cruise next year....

It's a sea day, and DH and I have enjoyed our Palo brunch and perhaps a tequila tasting...

And he says to me:
"Oh, we have to take another Disney Cruise again!"

Where do I immediately Mexican Hat Dance him to onboard?

 

[woody73]

Where do I immediately Mexican Hat Dance him to onboard?

The future cruise sales desk.

Woody

 

[Jecca]

Another question:

I'm sailing for the first time this July and already have one of the Canadian cruises booked for next summer. Is there any way to apply an on-board booking to that 2012 Canada cruise?

 

[Deb in IA]

I'm no expert, but I think the cruise has to be actually booked onboard.

I think the only way is to cancel your 2012 cruise and rebook it onboard to get the perks.

 

[Kathymford]

Also, you only have to deposit one person, not your whole party. I booked 2 dummy dates on our April Wonder cruise. One under my name and one under my husbands. The onboard booking agent picked the last cruise out, a Dec. 2012 Fantasy cruise. I told him I only wanted to book one adult per room, so I only had to deposit for one person. $179/room. Now I did hear from others on my cruise that they choose a 3 day cruise and their deposit was only $80 or something similar for the one adult.

Just remember, to tell the agent you only want to deposit one person. Once you pick the cruise you really want to sail on, you add the rest of your party and you still get the same benefits.

There won't be a problem with adding a person later? I thought I had read on some other threads that sometimes it's hard to add a person later,

 

[True Romance]

There won't be a problem with adding a person later? I thought I had read on some other threads that sometimes it's hard to add a person later,

Its not hard to add a person later when you are changing your date/sailing altogether. What you are referring to is when you are already booked in the sailing you want to take and then you try to add someone. There may or may not be room for them. Does this make sense?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Another question:

I'm sailing for the first time this July and already have one of the Canadian cruises booked for next summer. Is there any way to apply an on-board booking to that 2012 Canada cruise?

As long as your 2012 is not booked through a TA, you simply bring your printout of your res to the future cruise desk and they can re price it for you. Even if you forget the printout, they can find you through your current cruise's cabin #. It's just nice to have the printout for easy comparison. As long as that cat is still available, you will get 10% off the then current pricing for that cat, + the OBC which I think is $100 for the 5 nt cruises. 7 nts or more you get $200. Add your TA to the reservation at the time of rebooking to get max OBCs from the TA too, combined with the OBCs from DCL. There is a chance you can lose early dining when doing this since technically they're cancelling your original res, creating a new one, and moving deposit $$ to new res. This happened to us once and we requested to be waitlisted right away (was still 1 yr prior) and got early dining.

If your original res is booked through a TA, you can still rebook onboard but the future cruise agent can't touch your original res. You would then book another cabin, pay another deposit, assign your TA to new res, then once home just have your TA move your original cabin to the new res & cancel the old one. DCL will refund the deposit from the original res hopefully before the next statement on your cc. Onboard deposits are only 1/2 of the norm.

hth.

Its not hard to add a person later when you are changing your date/sailing altogether. What you are referring to is when you are already booked in the sailing you want to take and then you try to add someone. There may or may not be room for them. Does this make sense?

Right. I have booked just myself onboard for a 3nt just to keep the deposit low, then add the rest once we move to a date we really want to sail.

You can also book onboard on behalf of others not currently sailing with you and they get onboard perks as if they were there booking with you. I have done this several times for friends & family.

 

[Kathymford]

Right. I have booked just myself onboard for a 3nt just to keep the deposit low, then add the rest once we move to a date we really want to sail.

You can also book onboard on behalf of others not currently sailing with you and they get onboard perks as if they were there booking with you. I have done this several times for friends & family.

Its not hard to add a person later when you are changing your date/sailing altogether. What you are referring to is when you are already booked in the sailing you want to take and then you try to add someone. There may or may not be room for them. Does this make sense?

Thank you both for the great tips....now I see why it is so easy to have more than one cruise booked at a time!!

 

[jerseygal]

If say you book a reservation for a future cruise onboard for 2012 and you add a TA..Okay right before the payment is due for the 2012 cruise, you decide you can't go and want to move it to 2013....Does the TA then have control over the reservation? Another words, the named TA then has to transfer the reservation to 2013?

Thanks!

 

[MissReeRee]

Can anyone tell me if this works when booking with a military discount? Our only two cruises have been booked at the last minute with a military discount which is the only way we could have done it! We like to rebook a dummy date onboard but would like to get the military discount if one is offered at a later date...

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Can anyone tell me if this works when booking with a military discount? Our only two cruises have been booked at the last minute with a military discount which is the only way we could have done it! We like to rebook a dummy date onboard but would like to get the military discount if one is offered at a later date...

I was told by a friend who also sails under the military rate, that th two can not be combined. Just like the Florida Rate. It is one or the other. She told me the military discount works great for all "off season" cruises when they are trying to get FL people or Military families on to help fill the ship by making it a great offer, but when they sailed with us over a Holiday, the military offer did not apply and they then used the "dummy date" booking/discount for that cruise. So she always keeps a "dummy date" one booked and takes the military one when it is available.

 

[MrsMa]

So, if I book a 3-day dummy cruise, and then, I changed it to a longer 7-day cruise, will my onboard credit also increase accordingly? I'm still a bit unclear on this front...........Thanks.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So, if I book a 3-day dummy cruise, and then, I changed it to a longer 7-day cruise, will my onboard credit also increase accordingly? I'm still a bit unclear on this front...........Thanks.

Yes, you got it! You could book a 7 nt dummy cruise but you will pay much more deposit. Your OBC will be what ever corresponds to the actual cruise you eventually sail on.
It also increases with each Castaway Club tier you reach. So as a Silver member (cruises 2-5) a 7 nt cruise OBC is $200. For Gold members (cruises 6-10) it's $275 and for Platinum members (cruise 11+) it's $350.
Combined with OBCs from a generous TA (ours gives $200 for a 7 nt) and we'll have $550 OBC for our NY cruise next summer.


It's such a fun game to play!

 

[Deb in IA]

It also increases with each Castaway Club tier you reach. So as a Silver member (cruises 2-5) a 7 nt cruise OBC is $200. For Gold members (cruises 6-10) it's $275 and for Platinum members (cruise 11+) it's $350.
Combined with OBCs from a generous TA (ours gives $200 for a 7 nt) and we'll have $550 OBC for our NY cruise next summer.


It's such a fun game to play!

I did not know that!

So, this is our 5th cruise. When we book our next one, it will be #6 - so we can book it at the Gold level?

 

[Kathymford]

Yes, you got it! You could book a 7 nt dummy cruise but you will pay much more deposit. Your OBC will be what ever corresponds to the actual cruise you eventually sail on.
It also increases with each Castaway Club tier you reach. So as a Silver member (cruises 2-5) a 7 nt cruise OBC is $200. For Gold members (cruises 6-10) it's $275 and for Platinum members (cruise 11+) it's $350.
Combined with OBCs from a generous TA (ours gives $200 for a 7 nt) and we'll have $550 OBC for our NY cruise next summer.


It's such a fun game to play!

This is amazing. I am getting more and more excited about this, and my cruise isn't even until next year!!

So when you book your dummy cruise, do you automatically give them the name of your TA? Is it just the company, or a specific person? My current cruise is with DU, but I don't think I have a person...

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is amazing. I am getting more and more excited about this, and my cruise isn't even until next year!!

So when you book your dummy cruise, do you automatically give them the name of your TA? Is it just the company, or a specific person? My current cruise is with DU, but I don't think I have a person...

Yes, the whole thing is very addicting. We try other things but it always leaves us wishing we had done a cruise instead. Later this month we're going to Williamsburg/VA Beach but I've barely done anything to plan, just enough to be able to go.
I'm too excited to try Poly for the 1st time and sail the Dream this year. Trying not to wish away the summer.

The future cruise agent will have your TA's info attached to the cruise that you're on while booking onboard. I don't have to give her any TA info, she can pull it all up.