YIKES, first Disney cruise, NOW WHAT?!?

[zealandsmom]

Yesterday we met with our travel agent and booked our first ever major family vacation. We will be spending Christmas 2013 aboard the Disney dream! The wife's and I have been on Cruises before but this will be the first time for the kids. I know booking is the major part but beside read, read, and reread this board what else should we do? Anything to keep out eyes out for? Our agent didn't see any shipboard credits, are there any? We are convincing friends to go and so far we at up to 10 people. We are in cabin 6124 (I think), anyone know anything about this cabin? what kind of weather are we looking at, I know it will be warmer than the cold Midwest! I'm sure I will have many more questions as its 22 months away! Tha is ahead of time!

Exciting...YES!!
No onboard credit???..... I would think that ESPECIALLY with the price of that cruise your OBC would be hundreds??

 

[Keurigirl]

I'd say read through the FAQ first, and then read a ton here before you start asking questions. You will find that pretty much everything you think to ask has already been asked.

 

[QCTodd]

Exciting...YES!!
No onboard credit???..... I would think that ESPECIALLY with the price of that cruise your OBC would be hundreds??

Is there any other way to find out what OBC is available than through our travel agent? She told us that if between now and then that if we wee to see any offers or anything at all to give her a call and she would check into it for us.

 

[Silverfox97]

Is there any other way to find out what OBC is available than through our travel agent? She told us that if between now and then that if we wee to see any offers or anything at all to give her a call and she would check into it for us.

OBC from a travel agent is basically them giving you part of their commission in the form of OBC as a thank you. Here is an example of one:

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/cruise/specials.htm#sbc

Also, if your travel agent booked your cruise online, you will get $25 OBC from Disney. Or, if you used a Disney Visa to pay the deposit and will also use it to pay the balance, you will get $50 from them and you can combine both of the above (and any from your travel agent as well).

Hope this helps!

 

[zealandsmom]

OBC from a travel agent is basically them giving you part of their commission in the form of OBC as a thank you. Here is an example of one:

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/cruise/specials.htm#sbc

Also, if your travel agent booked your cruise online, you will get $25 OBC from Disney. Or, if you used a Disney Visa to pay the deposit and will also use it to pay the balance, you will get $50 from them and you can combine both of the above (and any from your travel agent as well).

Hope this helps!

Use cruisecompete.com you will immediately get quotes from handfuls of agents competing to give you the best obc. We got $150 for an $1800 cruise!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

The wife's ...

More than one!!

hehe that was how i first read it

Join the club I am going on my first Disney Cruise the November, I'm so excited

 

[QCTodd]

So it sounds like my first mistake was booking with this travel agent. Should or am I able to cancel or transfer from agent to one that does have so e sort of OBC

 

[SallySkelington]

I would just keep researching but most of all I would be getting ready to have fun and see if you have your cruise is in the Disney Cruise Meets section (Probably not just yet). Don't worry, you have plenty of time to prepare.

 

[zealandsmom]

So it sounds like my first mistake was booking with this travel agent. Should or am I able to cancel or transfer from agent to one that does have so e sort of OBC

Try cruisecompete and see what kind of OBC you get offered. It is totally free to get quotes and you will have them within the hour (most are automated)
If you haven't paid in full you should get your refund and can rebook with someone else. As long as the price hasn't gone up I would TOTALLY overlook your options!

 

[QCTodd]

Try cruisecompete and see what kind of OBC you get offered. It is totally free to get quotes and you will have them within the hour (most are automated)
If you haven't paid in full you should get your refund and can rebook with someone else. As long as the price hasn't gone up I would TOTALLY overlook your options!

Doing that now, thanks! How would I go about this then? Do I contact my current agent and say "hey I'm ditching you for some OBC!" then request a deposit?

 

[zealandsmom]

Doing that now, thanks! How would I go about this then? Do I contact my current agent and say "hey I'm ditching you for some OBC!" then request a deposit?

That is exactly what I would do. As long as your cruise price hasn't gone up. Keep up posted on how much money you're getting extra now! (Should be about $100 per thousand)

Good luck

 

[CMJeanae]

I've done cruises where I haven't spent a penny more than the cruise itself and tips. It takes willpower! But you can still have a very full, very satisfying, very fun trip and not feel like you really missed out. I mean, you don't have to skip meals or anything.

With that, a partial list of things that cost:
- Spa treatments (including the wonderful Rainforst Room pass - totally worth it)
- Specialty beverages (alcoholic, specialty coffee, sodas at some locals [though there's a free soda fountain on the pool deck])
- Room service (tips only, food's free)
- Boxed snacks for the theater
- Excursions (duh)
- Bingo
- Pictures
- Shopping (obviously)
- Laundry service
- More shopping!
- The art auction (they do this on the Dream as well, right?)
- Nursery for the itty-bitties.
- Palo's (worth it)
- Remy's (ditto, so I've heard)

So if you like your specialty drinks and love your spa treatments and want to do excursions and brunch at Remy's and shopping - start saving. But really you can make the trip just about as budget or as lavish as you wish and have a fantastic time.

 

[mellers]

On our first cruise, we booked our excursions ourselves, and booked our pre-cruise hotel and pre-cruise transportation to the port ourselves--saved quite a lot over Disney by doing it that way, and got to the cruise terminal in plenty of time.

On the ship, we didn't do Palo (and we LOVED! the dining room, so we didn't feel deprived), we didn't do any spa treatments, and if we wanted a snack, we got fruit or ice cream from the quick service places by the pool. We also got non-alcoholic drinks at the free drink station, and didn't drink any alcohol.

My daughter and I did the character tea, and we all did games, movies, shows, and generally had a wonderful time on the ship. We did great excursions that we really liked. We ate all of our meals on the ship.

When we left, all that was on our bill were the laundry fees from the laundromat, and the gratuities--most of it was covered by our OBC.

I suppose we could have had a more luxurious trip, but we all felt like we had a wonderful time, and felt quite pampered.