When 2010 dates are released...

[NejTheLion]

You should book as soon as dates become available. When you go on your cruise in November, stop by the booking desk and see what the current price is (with the onboard discount and shipboard credit). You can go with whichever is cheaper--your original booking or rebooking on the ship. But any incentives you get for booking onboard will be applied to the current price, not your original price. It's always worth it to check and see.

 

[HitbyaDumpTruck]

What happens went you're on the wait-list for a specific cruise for one of the suites? I know I'm on the wait-list for a Cat. 2 or 3. Should I call DCL to confirm, and if so, when should I call?

 

[NejTheLion]

What happens went you're on the wait-list for a specific cruise for one of the suites? I know I'm on the wait-list for a Cat. 2 or 3. Should I call DCL to confirm, and if so, when should I call?

When we've waitlisted in the past, we've been called by DCL prior to the dates becoming available for booking. I don't know if that process has changed any in the last couple years. As for calling to confirm being on a waitlist, I would think you could do that any time, but I'm not 100% certain. I'm sure someone else out there has dealt with this more recently.

 

[kaseyC]

What happens went you're on the wait-list for a specific cruise for one of the suites? I know I'm on the wait-list for a Cat. 2 or 3. Should I call DCL to confirm, and if so, when should I call?

If you faxed in your Suite request through Inventory Control, you should have received a post card letting you know they got your request. That's about it in terms of confirmation. I don't even know if there is a number to call IC available to the general public. Since, Inventory Control is a separate department, I'm not sure the regular DCL Reservation line could confirm IC waitlists.

When we've waitlisted in the past, we've been called by DCL prior to the dates becoming available for booking.

That has been our experience the last few years as well.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hey Andrew...what about this question?

We are cruising this year on November 29th. If 2010 dates open up Oct. 7th to mid October are we out of luck for the Tier-1 pricing if we wait and rebook onboard in November or should we book as soon as the dates open up in Oct and then have it switched onboard? I thought I read that you usually get the better pricing when booking onboard. Now I don't know what to do. We do use a TA by the way. Please help me .... I'm so confused !

I would book in October as soon as you can and on whatever price you can get, then when you get onboard, get a quote ( if still available some trips will sell out) and if its a better deal, cancel and rebook on board, if its gone up and wipes out the 10% discount keep your first booking.

That way you win/win.

 

[mickeyluv]

Thanks Andrew and thanks to everyone for helping me understand this. By George, I think I finally got it !

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Thanks Andrew and thanks to everyone for helping me understand this. By George, I think I finally got it !

Good luck.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Thanks Andrew, we will still be on internet on release dates, on the cruise seeling date!!
How lucky is that??

 

[LAWalz23]

If you need more than 1 cabin, we need 3, is it better to book them all at one time or have three people trying (via phone or internet) for 1 cabin each at the same time?

And is it better to use a TA or try ourselves?

We would love to sail the Baltic! Thanks for any info!

 

[nzdisneymom]

How do we know what to book though if we don't know what's available? I'm thinking of booking for August of 2010 for my DD 13th B-day but don't know really what cruise will be offered during that time. I would really like to go on her actual b-day which is August 1st.
... <snip> We do use a TA by the way. Please help me .... I'm .

What we've done has been to prioritize our travel dates with our TA based on the announced itineraries/dates. We also prioritize our category of stateroom (and if we have a specific cabin we want, we also let our TA know that as well). We have found this works well because it saves a lot of back-and-forth with the TA and gets us booked a bit quicker. Pretty much all we have to do is say "ok" so she can put our deposit down with our credit card.

For example, for the Med, we let her know that we preferred the 10-nights, the which sail dates would work, and then, because we knew we would take an 11-night if a 10-night wouldn't work, we listed out the 11-night sailings that would work for us as well. Then we told her what category cabin we wanted - and so on.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Of course it would be more sensible for DCL to release the cruises on different dates to avoid a panic, so the may Repo one day, the August repo the next, the Baltic's one day, the Wonder 3/4 nights a different day and the rest of the Magic schedule the following day to avoid website crashes and phone queues and crashes.

You'd think they'd get it, wouldn't 'cha!

I wonder if we could convince all our DIS friends who are looking to book regular 3/4 day or regular Eastern/Western 7 days for 2010...to just hold out for a day! (Though I'm sure many will if they experienced the madness that was 1/31/07)

.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

You'd think they'd get it, wouldn't 'cha!

I wonder if we could convince all our DIS friends who are looking to book regular 3/4 day or regular Eastern/Western 7 days for 2010...to just hold out for a day! (Though I'm sure many will if they experienced the madness that was 1/31/07)

.

I think anyone will want to try ot get first tier pricing, however Wonder cruisers should feel no need to panic a unless its at a holiday time that shouldnt happen quickly.

DCL just need to stagger the rlease dates for the cruises by type day by day.

 

[NancyIL]

If I were going to book one of the summer 2010 cruises (and I won't know until I see the itineraries), I would book it myself, unless I was willing to be content with whatever rate my travel agent secured. There was far too much complaining in the past from DISers who were unhappy with the price they were quoted by their travel agents, because they didn't get first-tier pricing. If it's that important to you - BOOK IT YOURSELF!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

If I were going to book one of the summer 2010 cruises (and I won't know until I see the itineraries), I would book it myself, unless I was willing to be content with whatever rate my travel agent secured. There was far too much complaining in the past from DISers who were unhappy with the price they were quoted by their travel agents, because they didn't get first-tier pricing. If it's that important to you - BOOK IT YOURSELF!

Nancy, If i can I will respectfully disagree, I am aware of a few people having issues with travel agents on the last release, most with the smaller TA's. the Specialist Disney TA's were very good.

I know of a considerable number of people who have secured first tier pricing through their TA's, I have been pleased with The Price and room obtained each year myself via a TA.

However in the end each person should choose one route that they prefer to do, book on line or by phone or by TA, just do not do more than one.

I understand the rules concerning USA TA's have changed and if you book yourself and then transfer to a TA, they will now get less commission, therefore they will have less OBC to pass onto you, than if you book through them in the first place, or if on the ship nominate a TA when secureing your OBC.

 

[NancyIL]

Nancy, If i can I will respectfully disagree, I am aware of a few people having issues with travel agents on the last release, most with the smaller TA's. the Specialist Disney TA's were very good.

I know of a considerable number of people who have secured first tier pricing through their TA's, I have been pleased with The Price and room obtained each year myself via a TA.

However in the end each person should choose one route that they prefer to do, book on line or by phone or by TA, just do not do more than one.

I understand the rules concerning USA TA's have changed and if you book yourself and then transfer to a TA, they will now get less commission, therefore they will have less OBC to pass onto you, than if you book through them in the first place, or if on the ship nominate a TA when secureing your OBC.

Don't make me dig up old threads! Someone will be first on a travel agent's list and someone will be last. There were a number of griping people who didn't get in at the lowest price for the PC cruise, because their request was at the bottom of the stack.

As far as travel agents getting a smaller commission for a transferred reservation - they still get a commission after the client has already done most of the work.

 

[kaseyC]

Nancy, If i can I will respectfully disagree, I am aware of a few people having issues with travel agents on the last release, most with the smaller TA's. the Specialist Disney TA's were very good.

Andrew, I will have to respectfully disagree with you regarding this issue. It was not mostly a problem with smaller TAs. There were plenty of complaints from posters not getting first tier pricing who had DU and All Seas (two of the largest Disney Specialists) booking for them as well.

Don't make me dig up old threads! Someone will be first on a travel agent's list and someone will be last. There were a number of griping people who didn't get in at the lowest price for the PC cruise, because their request was at the bottom of the stack.

Very true!

 

[becca-becca]

We want to book a Magic cruise on January 30, 2010. We are booking one room on points (WHEN WILL THAT COME OUT) and these are our other rooms:
2-3 catergory 10 rooms and 1 cat 10 that we previously booked onboard. We would prefer 5th deck cat 10 rooms. We have a group going, so I am probably going to transfer all of the cash rooms to DU, however I can't decide when. Since my cruise is probably not in high demand like some of the repo, should I just transfer my one room to DU and have them book all 4? What are the chances of getting 5th deck cat 10? We would like 5th because of kids clubs. Any suggestions?

How may cat 10 are on deck 5? Are all secret porthole (that is our main preference, however, in the end, we just want to be on board!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Don't make me dig up old threads! Someone will be first on a travel agent's list and someone will be last. There were a number of griping people who didn't get in at the lowest price for the PC cruise, because their request was at the bottom of the stack.

As far as travel agents getting a smaller commission for a transferred reservation - they still get a commission after the client has already done most of the work.

(Both) There are 'some' horror storys true, but I think the majority are happy, its true someone is first on the list therefore someone else will be behind them, such is life.

We want to book a Magic cruise on January 30, 2010. We are booking one room on points (WHEN WILL THAT COME OUT) and these are our other rooms:
2-3 catergory 10 rooms and 1 cat 10 that we previously booked onboard. We would prefer 5th deck cat 10 rooms. We have a group going, so I am probably going to transfer all of the cash rooms to DU, however I can't decide when. Since my cruise is probably not in high demand like some of the repo, should I just transfer my one room to DU and have them book all 4? What are the chances of getting 5th deck cat 10? We would like 5th because of kids clubs. Any suggestions?

How may cat 10 are on deck 5? Are all secret porthole (that is our main preference, however, in the end, we just want to be on board!

96 Cat 10's the special porthole ones everyone raves about only have 6 on deck 5, I would do in one booking with DU, with only s SIX chances are not great but try.

 

[LAWalz23]

Thanks for the replies! We have used DU in the past for both WDW and Disney cruises and have been very happy with them. I guess some of it will depend on the day and the time that one can start booking.

 

[becca-becca]

So, to go with DU, I just give them my onboard booking and transfer it to them and have them book the three other rooms. I work on the DVC points room separately, correct?