Would you give up $250 Onboard credit to control reservation?

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We used a TA for our last Disney cruise and other than her making the actual reservation, i had full control of everything. In fact, couple of times i called DCL to make some changes myself and they had no problem helping me or answering my questions. I'd take the OBC. It keeps the travel agents employed and perks for travellers...win-win

 

[perditax]

Hit my first snag in booking with Costco: after a weekend of reading about DCL, decided to splurge and upgrade to concierge cabin. Saw a room number I really wanted (Modify is greyed out with TA, I guess, so can't change that). Can't call Costco till the morning. Created a dummy booking on a whim, number I really wanted seemed to be gone, selected a different concierge room. Drat. Checked again later, original number I wanted is back. However, new dummy booking has that same note that I have to call TA to modify. So either way I have to call Costco in the morning and hope they can sort it out, AND that the room I want is still there.

(for the record, I knew the dummy booking wasn't a great idea in the first place, but I figured in worst case scenario Costco could cancel the old one and take over my new CL booking, or otherwise sort it out. I'm drawing the line at creating a second dummy booking. I figure if the "holy grail" room I want is gone by tomorrow morning, it's a sign to save that money for something else.)

 

[alldiz]

Hit my first snag in booking with Costco: after a weekend of reading about DCL, decided to splurge and upgrade to concierge cabin. Saw a room number I really wanted (Modify is greyed out with TA, I guess, so can't change that). Can't call Costco till the morning. Created a dummy booking on a whim, number I really wanted seemed to be gone, selected a different concierge room. Drat. Checked again later, original number I wanted is back. However, new dummy booking has that same note that I have to call TA to modify. So either way I have to call Costco in the morning and hope they can sort it out, AND that the room I want is still there.

(for the record, I knew the dummy booking wasn't a great idea in the first place, but I figured in worst case scenario Costco could cancel the old one and take over my new CL booking, or otherwise sort it out. I'm drawing the line at creating a second dummy booking. I figure if the "holy grail" room I want is gone by tomorrow morning, it's a sign to save that money for something else.)

I hear ya. When one obsesses about vacation planning like I do and change things on a whim....waiting for that call back in torture
Kerri

 

[perditax]

I hear ya. When one obsesses about vacation planning like I do and change things on a whim....waiting for that call back in torture
Kerri

I actually have to give Costco some props here:

I checked Disney's site first thing this morning, the room # I wanted was available. I called Costco travel when they opened, they got on the phone with Disney ... room number not available. Since I'd seen it pop in and out a few times already, I didn't give up all hope, and they mentioned that just by clicking it (without booking) on the Disney site I might have put a temporary hold on the room. We waited a bit to see if it would pop back up, but it didn't, and I had to leave to drive to work. I figured at that point that I would just book the room the next time I saw it come up (if it ever did) and then let Costco sort out the mess once I had a confirmation # for the target room.

...but, five minutes later, the TA from Costco called me back to say she'd stayed on the line with Disney even after I'd regretfully told her I had to leave for work, and that the room I wanted DID show up just a few minutes later. Within two minutes (part of which I was driving and talking on bluetooth), the Costco rep had me upgraded and my deposit balance applied, and by the time I walked up to my office from the parking lot, the email with the new room number was in my inbox.

Lessons learned:

--If you get the right TA, seems they really will go the extra mile

--Perhaps don't transfer your booking to a TA until you're positive you know what room you want. (I thought I was positive, to be fair.) If you get itchy about another room, either do not call your TA immediately after you've been poking around on the Disney site, OR if you see the room you want and your initial booking is still cancellable, just reserve it now, let your TA sort it out. (The former option is probably better.)

--Rooms go in and out of availability on the system a lot.

Also: I was told that the new room (Concierge) had a non-refundable deposit (which I knew), but if I needed to downgrade later they would apply the deposit to the new booking. I guess the Disney rep told the Costco rep this. (Maybe this is already a known thing, but thought I would share it anyway.)

Since I'm now up to a savings of about $230 (in the form of a Costco cash card, which we will definitely use), so far the TA experience has been worth the ~10 minutes or so I've spent on the phone, and the one form I had to fill out and send to Costco to transfer it in the first place. Most of the stress has been of my own doing.

And: I now have a cat 00V with a bump-out verandah near the concierge lounge. WHAT HAVE I DONE?

 

[alldiz]

I actually have to give Costco some props here:

I checked Disney's site first thing this morning, the room # I wanted was available. I called Costco travel when they opened, they got on the phone with Disney ... room number not available. Since I'd seen it pop in and out a few times already, I didn't give up all hope, and they mentioned that just by clicking it (without booking) on the Disney site I might have put a temporary hold on the room. We waited a bit to see if it would pop back up, but it didn't, and I had to leave to drive to work. I figured at that point that I would just book the room the next time I saw it come up (if it ever did) and then let Costco sort out the mess once I had a confirmation # for the target room.

...but, five minutes later, the TA from Costco called me back to say she'd stayed on the line with Disney even after I'd regretfully told her I had to leave for work, and that the room I wanted DID show up just a few minutes later. Within two minutes (part of which I was driving and talking on bluetooth), the Costco rep had me upgraded and my deposit balance applied, and by the time I walked up to my office from the parking lot, the email with the new room number was in my inbox.

Lessons learned:

--If you get the right TA, seems they really will go the extra mile

--Perhaps don't transfer your booking to a TA until you're positive you know what room you want. (I thought I was positive, to be fair.) If you get itchy about another room, either do not call your TA immediately after you've been poking around on the Disney site, OR if you see the room you want and your initial booking is still cancellable, just reserve it now, let your TA sort it out. (The former option is probably better.)

--Rooms go in and out of availability on the system a lot.

Also: I was told that the new room (Concierge) had a non-refundable deposit (which I knew), but if I needed to downgrade later they would apply the deposit to the new booking. I guess the Disney rep told the Costco rep this. (Maybe this is already a known thing, but thought I would share it anyway.)

Since I'm now up to a savings of about $230 (in the form of a Costco cash card, which we will definitely use), so far the TA experience has been worth the ~10 minutes or so I've spent on the phone, and the one form I had to fill out and send to Costco to transfer it in the first place. Most of the stress has been of my own doing.

And: I now have a cat 00V with a bump-out verandah near the concierge lounge. WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Thats great that it worked out for you!!

Am I understanding you correctly.....I can book my trip....then transfer it to a TA...ie Costco or Dreams unlimited and get the OBC or cash card??
Thanks
Kerri

 

[perditax]

Thats great that it worked out for you!!

Am I understanding you correctly.....I can book my trip....then transfer it to a TA...ie Costco or Dreams unlimited and get the OBC or cash card??
Thanks
Kerri

Yes, but I think it needs to be within 30 days of your original booking.

You call up Costco Travel, tell them what you want to do (and your Costco membership number). They will email you back a form to fill out and sign. (It's a pretty short form.) You fax or email it back to them. It then takes them about three days to take over the reservation, and then you will get all their documents. You can then log into costcotravel.com and see your trip, as well as the total amount of your cash card (which you receive after the trip). You can also still open up the reservation on Disney's site and poke around, and from what I understand you will be able to make Palo/Remy/Excursions etc, but the "Modify" button gets grayed out. So you have to contact Costco to make changes to cabin #, class, dates, etc. You also have to make payments on your cruise through costcotravel.com, not the Disney site, but it works the same (i.e., I've made a few intermediate payments to test the system, and they show up on my credit card as "DCL CRUISE RESERVATION", which incidentally counts as travel spending on my travel rewards card).

 

[alldiz]

Yes, but I think it needs to be within 30 days of your original booking.

You call up Costco Travel, tell them what you want to do (and your Costco membership number). They will email you back a form to fill out and sign. (It's a pretty short form.) You fax or email it back to them. It then takes them about three days to take over the reservation, and then you will get all their documents. You can then log into costcotravel.com and see your trip, as well as the total amount of your cash card (which you receive after the trip). You can also still open up the reservation on Disney's site and poke around, and from what I understand you will be able to make Palo/Remy/Excursions etc, but the "Modify" button gets grayed out. So you have to contact Costco to make changes to cabin #, class, dates, etc. You also have to make payments on your cruise through costcotravel.com, not the Disney site, but it works the same (i.e., I've made a few intermediate payments to test the system, and they show up on my credit card as "DCL CRUISE RESERVATION", which incidentally counts as travel spending on my travel rewards card).

Thanks I believe I am in that window ... Something to think about
Kerri

 

[lanejudy]

Thats great that it worked out for you!!

Am I understanding you correctly.....I can book my trip....then transfer it to a TA...ie Costco or Dreams unlimited and get the OBC or cash card??
Thanks
Kerri

Note that some TA's will not offer the same OBC for transferred reservations. Be sure to ask so you are aware of what you'll be getting.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[alldiz]

Note that some TA's will not offer the same OBC for transferred reservations. Be sure to ask so you are aware of what you'll be getting.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks I will check it out
Kerri