DU agent, how long for quote?

[NMPensFan]

I don’t know if this is normal. I submitted a quote request yesterday. The agent made contact very early this morning to which I replied the specific cabins I was looking to book. I have not heard anything since.

Does it usually take a few days to get the quote? I’m a litttle antsy as there were not a ton of available cabins.

I have checked my junk mail as well.

 

[byanks7]

I don’t know if this is normal. I submitted a quote request yesterday. The agent made contact very early this morning to which I replied the specific cabins I was looking to book. I have not heard anything since.

Does it usually take a few days to get the quote? I’m a litttle antsy as there were not a ton of available cabins.

I have checked my junk mail as well.

I know this is their board, but I had to leave them last year due to unresponsiveness. its a shame because these cruises are so important to people and not being responded to is so disappointing.

 

[NMPensFan]

Thanks for replying. Sad to hear. I just don’t know if I should just book it myself or with another agency.

 

[OKW Lover]

John, one of the co-owners of Dreams, has always been good at checking on these things. Send him an email john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com if you aren't getting the service you should be.

 

[NMPensFan]

John, one of the co-owners of Dreams, has always been good at checking on these things. Send him an email john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com if you aren't getting the service you should be.

Thanks for the advice. I might email tomorrow if I don’t hear anything in the morning.

 

[pearljammer]

I don’t know if this is normal. I submitted a quote request yesterday. The agent made contact very early this morning to which I replied the specific cabins I was looking to book. I have not heard anything since.

Does it usually take a few days to get the quote? I’m a litttle antsy as there were not a ton of available cabins.

I have checked my junk mail as well.

I tried them once many years ago after finding this board. I too found them unresponsive and just booked directly with Disney. The basket of goodies (at that time) wasn’t worth it to me. I now book with Disney and transfer to Costco. Good luck.

 

[NMPensFan]

I tried them once many years ago after finding this board. I too found them unresponsive and just booked directly with Disney. The basket of goodies (at that time) wasn’t worth it to me. I now book with Disney and transfer to Costco. Good luck.

That’s a good idea. How does that work? The price does not change?

 

[byanks7]

Thanks for replying. Sad to hear. I just don’t know if I should just book it myself or with another agency.

I know the feeling, other people are literally booking your cabin while you are waiting to hear from your TA. You can book it yourself through Disney so you get your cabin. Then find a TA to take over the booking so you get the on board credit that disney doesn't offer.

 

[pearljammer]

That’s a good idea. How does that work? The price does not change?

I book through DCL website (or over phone) directly and you get a transfer form from Costco Travel. You have a certain number of days to transfer the booking over to them. I believe it’s 30. Now, you can only do this as long as it’s not paid off. You’ll receive a Costco Gift Card I believe approximately a month after you return from the cruise. The gift card is based on the sailings I believe but it’s a decent amount. They send Disney the transfer request, Disney will confirm the transfer is complete and then you pay it off through Costco. Once it’s paid off, you do everything through DCL site as you always would such as onboarding bookings, etc. You can’t pay online through Costco though as for some reason they have issues with online DCL payments so I do have to call Costco to make a payment and they have to call Disney. Small inconvenience but worth it. Hope that helps.

Also, once you have one blank transfer form, hold on to it and use it again if needed in the future.

 

[dreamer17555]

I think it matters who your Dreams agent is. Joy Ferson is mine and she always replies ASAP. She is quick to respond and books the specific cabins I request with no issues. I highly recommend her.

 

[NMPensFan]

Thanks everyone. I think I’m just gonna go book now. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts.

 

[NMPensFan]

I just booked. Price went up $50. But the rooms I had requested were both still available so I guess the agent hadn’t touched the request at all. Disappointed.

 

[unrequited23]

If I'm in the quote phase, I give an agent 36 hours (during the business week) to respond to an email/request for information before I think hmm...this is taking too long. The onboard credit offered by the TA's is the incentive for me to be a bit more patient.

I know I could book through Costco and have a higher return on the cash card, but I would not mentally shift those funds to 'fun' things on the cruise. Plus, it can take Costco awhile to get new cruises loaded into their system...I'm looking at you Fort Lauderdale 2024 merrytime cruises.

 

[OKW Lover]

I just booked. Price went up $50. But the rooms I had requested were both still available so I guess the agent hadn’t touched the request at all. Disappointed.

Did you get a response back from John?

 

[NMPensFan]

Did you get a response back from John?

I didn’t email. I got so bugged that the price went up I just did it myself. Checking my email this morning there was still no response from the agent. I think it is for the best. If just getting the quote is hard I can’t imagine going through the remaining time, getting contact will be worse.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

I am truly sorry that you are still waiting to hear back from your DU agent. This is completely unacceptable and I would like to try to figure out what’s going on and address it with the agent involved. Please email me at john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com with the details so I can look into it.

I would also be happy to honor the price difference due to lack of response by your agent.

I have worked hard to improve our initial response time to clients when they first submit a quote so hearing the follow up is taking so long, or not happening at all, is very disappointing.

For those interested in booking on their own, like the other company mentioned Dreams Unlimited Travel does accept transferred bookings as long as the reservation is deposited and made 30 days or less from initiating the transfer request. For more info write to DCL.Reservations@DreamsunlimitedTravel.com

 

[Anthony Vito]

It's definitely tough when you're able to figure out exactly what you want to book and are afraid it will be booked before you get a chance. We like to look at all the cabins available in the categories on each floor and sometimes even find videos or pictures of that room before pulling the trigger. For that reason I like the option of booking yourself online then just submitting a transfer form to Dreams and having them take over from there. We've only booked a few cruises so far and haven't utilized it for cruises (have also booked two of our cruises with a placeholder credit/discount we purchased on the other two cruises we've been on - so those required asking our agent to transfer them to a booking) - just had our agent book them (and have even sent him requests for specific cabin numbers that we picked out) and haven't had a problem. I actually feel guilty about it though that we want that response so quickly (and usually get it) since I don't believe that anyone should have to be available for work all the time. It's for that reason that I may consider going the transfer route more in the future.

I will say I've transferred bookings that I made online through WDW this way, and it was very easy. While there's more to the cruise line that we like the security of having the agent through Dreams, we've never felt the need for that with WDW and are confident and knowledgeable enough to take care of it all ourselves. However, the last couple times we booked a cash room (we're DVC now, so mostly book that way), we transferred or had our Dreams agent do it - more as just a way of supporting them and a backdoor thank you for all the many questions I ask about our DCL bookings. It costs the same but a small part goes to them at least, so it's nice to do. There is also the added benefit if something ever came up where we needed help and WDW is hard to get through to - they will take care of it. While it ended up being to our benefit in 2020 to handle our reservation ourselves because I was able to talk through options (or the first time, just say I'll think about it, call back and get better options the next call) with the WDW agents in dealing with getting our rooms changed because of all the closures and staggered re-opening, I'm not sure I'd want to go through those hours and hassle of figuring all that out should something on that level ever arise again.

 

[NMPensFan]

I am truly sorry that you are still waiting to hear back from your DU agent. This is completely unacceptable and I would like to try to figure out what’s going on and address it with the agent involved. Please email me at john@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com with the details so I can look into it.

I would also be happy to honor the price difference due to lack of response by your agent.

I have worked hard to improve our initial response time to clients when they first submit a quote so hearing the follow up is taking so long, or not happening at all, is very disappointing.

For those interested in booking on their own, like the other company mentioned Dreams Unlimited Travel does accept transferred bookings as long as the reservation is deposited and made 30 days or less from initiating the transfer request. For more info write to DCL.Reservations@DreamsunlimitedTravel.com

Thank you very much. I’m glad to hear that this is not the expected norm. I will email today. I appreciate your offer to honor the price.

 

[NMPensFan]

Just a quick update in case anyone is wondering. John is making it right and I am in the process of transferring the booking. I want to thank everyone for their help.

 

[RedHead0186]

I will just add that has not been my experience with DU either. Merrie is my agent and she has always been super responsive (way more responsive than I would expect her to be, emailing me outside business hours/etc.). I know it depends partially on who you get, just letting you know that not all DU agents are that unresponsive. I'm glad John is working with you to make it right.