Tell me about booking another cruise while onboard!?! :)

[SJMommy]

When we were on our first cruise last year--we always wanted to stop by the desk and ask about the cruises...you book and get an incentive?? Butt we were SO busy we never did! so now this time(we sail out Feb 28!) I think we need too!

Thanks!

 

[Aura of Foreboding]

There are some perks:

- 10% off the cruise fare
- A 10% deposit (instead of 20%)
- $100 OBC on a less than 7-night cruise and $200 OBC on a longer cruise

 

[SJMommy]

what is/what about a dummy cruise?

 

[SJMommy]

bump.

 

[mickeyhereicome]

what is/what about a dummy cruise?

From what I understand (never cruised before, but have read a lot on here), people book dummy cruises because they want to take advantage of the deal but don't have anything specific in mind yet. I have read that some people book the cheapest cruise they can find, like a 3 day cruise. They do this because the deposit will be low, not tying a lot of money up in Disney. Then when they have time to think about what cruise they really want to take they can book it and still receive the OBC and the 10% off.

I have also read that people will book a cruise and then if a special rate comes out like kids sail free, they will move their onboard booked cruise out to a dummy cruise and save it for another time. I am not sure how many times you can do that or how far out you can go.

I guess it comes down to how long you want Disney to hold onto your money.

Hope that helps a little. Going to be looking into this on our May 27th cruise to Alaska.

 

[maberlyne]

We just did this onboard this week. I even told the guy I just wanted a "dummy" cruise, and he knew the term, lol! It took probably 5 minutes, and he booked us out at Aug 2014 for a 3 day so all we had to put down was $94. One thing to mention, though - you can't use an OBC towards it.

 

[dsnydaddy]

I always have a dummy date in hand. Even If I have no plans for it. The discount is nice to have and when you're cruise is in the thousands, your savings is in the hundreds!

 

[SJMommy]

So I can change my dummy cruise date--how far out can I change? like no changes after 120 day mark?

 

[FabFivePA]

I'm curious, If you book a 3-day dummy date, but then end up really wanting to take a 7-day in the end, will your onboard credit move up from $100 to $200, or will you only get the original $100 since you originally booked a 3-day?
Also could you just book for 2 adults to save on the deposit and later change the number of people in your party when you switch the dummy date?

THANKS!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

There is no limit to the # of times you can keep moving a dummy date. There is never a fee to do this. When you book onboard, they attach a promo code to your reservation to apply the then-current onboard booking perks. This is why it can't be combined with KSF or Disney Visa OBC. There is only space to enter 1 promo code.
As of right now, the onboard booking perks are those mentioned by pp. They are subject to change, and they recently did. (The OBC used to be in varying amounts depending on CC status. We platinum cruisers are NOT happy that our OBC used to be $350 for a 7 nt and now it's back to $200. grrr...)

Anyway, yes the OBC will be posted according to the cruise you actually take, not the cruise it was originally booked as.

The main thing to remember, especially if you don't cruise often, is to keep an eye on the dummy date's final payment due date. You must move your res to a later date before the FPDD or you will lose your deposit and the entire reservation. This happened to my SIL.

hth

 

[PiMCTaylor]

We just did this onboard this week. I even told the guy I just wanted a "dummy" cruise, and he knew the term, lol! It took probably 5 minutes, and he booked us out at Aug 2014 for a 3 day so all we had to put down was $94. One thing to mention, though - you can't use an OBC towards it.

I think they signed us up for the same cruise! Lol. We just got home a few hours ago from the Fantasy and my partner is already shopping for something sooner. If we left it as is it would be 572 days. Um, no.

 

[FabFivePA]

There is no limit to the # of times you can keep moving a dummy date. There is never a fee to do this. When you book onboard, they attach a promo code to your reservation to apply the then-current onboard booking perks. This is why it can't be combined with KSF or Disney Visa OBC. There is only space to enter 1 promo code.
As of right now, the onboard booking perks are those mentioned by pp. They are subject to change, and they recently did. (The OBC used to be in varying amounts depending on CC status. We platinum cruisers are NOT happy that our OBC used to be $350 for a 7 nt and now it's back to $200. grrr...)

Anyway, yes the OBC will be posted according to the cruise you actually take, not the cruise it was originally booked as.

The main thing to remember, especially if you don't cruise often, is to keep an eye on the dummy date's final payment due date. You must move your res to a later date before the FPDD or you will lose your deposit and the entire reservation. This happened to my SIL.

hth

Thanks!! I would be annoyed by that OBB change a well!!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks!! I would be annoyed by that OBB change a well!!!

Yeah, but what can you do? That's life. WDW doesn't offer anything even if you've visited 50x.

 

[erinsmom03]

Any advice for transferring an already booked cruise (over a year away) to one booked on board, can this be done to get the on board credit? I would cancel before our cruise next month, but I really like the rooms we picked out, don't want to lose them!

Also, do you have to book a cruise on the same ship that you are on?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm curious, If you book a 3-day dummy date, but then end up really wanting to take a 7-day in the end, will your onboard credit move up from $100 to $200, or will you only get the original $100 since you originally booked a 3-day?
Also could you just book for 2 adults to save on the deposit and later change the number of people in your party when you switch the dummy date?

THANKS!

I used to only book myself for a dummy date, then add my family once we find a definite cruise to sail, just to keep the deposit low. Then they created the 100% single supplement which basically means a single cruiser will pay the same as what 2 people would pay for that cabin. So now it's just as much deposit to put 2 of us in a cabin.

Also you are allowed to book 2 cabins per household for same future cruise date and both will get perks. (There used to be no limit at all.) This is good for larger families or older kids like ours that are too tall for the bunk beds.
For our Alaskan cruise it was cheaper to put the kids across the hall in an inside cabin than to put all 4 in a verandah stateroom.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Any advice for transferring an already booked cruise (over a year away) to one booked on board, can this be done to get the on board credit? I would cancel before our cruise next month, but I really like the rooms we picked out, don't want to lose them!

Also, do you have to book a cruise on the same ship that you are on?

I've done that too. Don't cancel it. Just bring the printout to the future cruise desk. They'll re-shop it for you and give you a new price. Keep in mind if you have a TA on that res, they won't touch it. Also the discount is taken off then-current pricing. So you would know by looking online right before you leave if the price has gone up for your category.

When the Dream first entered service we were booked for a March cruise. In mid-Feb, we moved a different dummy date to Sept on the Dream. Later, friends decided to join us for Sept. I planned to rebook their Sept cruise to get them the discount/OBC while we were on our March cruise. By the end of Feb, their cabin went up another $900! Unbelieveable for a 3 nt cruise during school & in peak hurricane season. I knew before we left for our March cruise that there was no point in trying to rebook for them.


ETA: You can book any other DCL ship while onboard.

 

[erinsmom03]

I've done that too. Don't cancel it. Just bring the printout to the future cruise desk. They'll re-shop it for you and give you a new price. Keep in mind if you have a TA on that res, they won't touch it. Also the discount is taken off then-current pricing. So you would know by looking online right before you leave if the price has gone up for your category.

When the Dream first entered service we were booked for a March cruise. In mid-Feb, we moved a different dummy date to Sept on the Dream. Later, friends decided to join us for Sept. I planned to rebook their Sept cruise to get them the discount/OBC while we were on our March cruise. By the end of Feb, their cabin went up another $900! Unbelieveable for a 3 nt cruise during school & in peak hurricane season. I knew before we left for our March cruise that there was no point in trying to rebook for them.


ETA: You can book any other DCL ship while onboard.

Thanks for the info! I will be sure to bring a printout of our booked cruise with us, and I'll double check the prices before we leave. I'm not expecting that the price would go up too much, it'll still be about 14 months out...I can hope anyways!

 

[SJMommy]

GREAT INFO EVERYONE!! THANKS!!