That feeling when you skipped booking a cruise on board

[BlovesC]

...only to book your next cruise online 3 days after disembarking.

DH will never let me live this down. I feel SO stupid thinking about the money we could have saved. It didn't really hit us until our third night on the Wish how much of an incredible time we were having and how we'd definitely want to do it again! We just booked a 7 night trip on the Treasure so 10% of that could have been huge!

I hope no one else on an upcoming cruise makes this mistake! But most of you seem to be cruise veterans so you all surely know better. A colossal rookie mistake!

 

[ZerasPride]

...only to book your next cruise online 3 days after disembarking.

DH will never let me live this down. I feel SO stupid thinking about the money we could have saved. It didn't really hit us until our third night on the Wish how much of an incredible time we were having and how we'd definitely want to do it again! We just booked a 7 night trip on the Treasure so 10% of that could have been huge!

I hope no one else on an upcoming cruise makes this mistake! But most of you seem to be cruise veterans so you all surely know better. A colossal rookie mistake!

This would totally be me!!! I keep saying we will probably not cruise again within the 2 year period but then you never know. It's not like you loose anything by booking the placeholder. Thank you OP for this sage reminder. Book a placeholder on board!

 

[Erica1016]

We have always done a placeholder, just for this reason. One time we didn't, thinking we wouldn't use it and ended up booking a couple months later. We were kicking ourselves for sure!
That said, I'm glad you loved your cruise and have already booked another!

 

[brentm77]

...only to book your next cruise online 3 days after disembarking.

DH will never let me live this down. I feel SO stupid thinking about the money we could have saved. It didn't really hit us until our third night on the Wish how much of an incredible time we were having and how we'd definitely want to do it again! We just booked a 7 night trip on the Treasure so 10% of that could have been huge!

I hope no one else on an upcoming cruise makes this mistake! But most of you seem to be cruise veterans so you all surely know better. A colossal rookie mistake!

I've done that more than once. Now, I always book one just in case, since you get your money back if you don't use it. I have used it every time so far. Excited for you to go back! 7 nights is so much fun, because you can really unpack, unwind, and get comfortable on the ship.

 

[happycamper47]

I've done that more than once. Now, I always book one just in case, since you get your money back if you don't use it.

And if you forget you have it DCL credits it back automatically.

 

[BlovesC]

This would totally be me!!! I keep saying we will probably not cruise again within the 2 year period but then you never know. It's not like you loose anything by booking the placeholder. Thank you OP for this sage reminder. Book a placeholder on board!

Happy to be an example to others - "don't be like BlovesC"

That said, I'm glad you loved your cruise and have already booked another!

Thank you so much! We'd been on only a handful of cruises before but this was the FIRST time we didn't want to leave a ship!

I've done that more than once. Now, I always book one just in case, since you get your money back if you don't use it. I have used it every time so far. Excited for you to go back! 7 nights is so much fun, because you can really unpack, unwind, and get comfortable on the ship.

I'll try to be smart like you next time. And thank you! We're a little intimidated by the idea of 7 full nights on a boat (we don't get seasick, but it just seems so long!) but REALLY excited to have time to explore all the things we feel like we couldn't get to this time.

And if you forget you have it DCL credits it back automatically.

Even better. I'll definitely never make this mistake again.

 

[tvguy]

I guess now we are retired we could do that. When we were working insuring that we could get the time off first would be the concern. At my wife's employer vacation requests may need to be submitted 15 months in advance to lock in the days.

 

[BlovesC]

I guess now we are retired we could do that. When we were working insuring that we could get the time off first would be the concern. At my wife's employer vacation requests may need to be submitted 15 months in advance to lock in the days.

Oof, that's rough. I'm just now giving my employer 15 days' notice for a short trip I'm taking next month, I can't imagine 15 months!

 

[tvguy]

Oof, that's rough. I'm just now giving my employer 15 days' notice for a short trip I'm taking next month, I can't imagine 15 months!

Well, this was a policy proposed by the Union because employees were having problems getting time off for "life events".........Weddings........kids graduations......and big trips like cruises where it is common to book a year or more in advance.
I never worked anywhere where 15 days notice would be enough simply because schedules are normally put out 30 to 60 days in advance.

 

[o&smom]

We made this “mistake” on our first cruise. Luckily, we received a bounce back offer, so we only missed out on the $200 OBC that they used to give.

 

[Mom2Anna&Elsa]

I plan on doing this for our cruise in March-- what's the best way to book a placeholder? Is there a desk to go to or do you do it on the app? And how do I make sure to reference my travel agent (because she's been awesome and I'd want to go through her again)?

 

[princesscinderella]

I forgot to do a new one when we sailed this summer because I already had two booked. I looked up the placeholders the other day I thought you had two years to book it but it said you had to sail within the two years. So mine expires in April but I wanted to book next year on the treasure so it looks like no discount to me either.

 

[FastPasser.]

I’ve not done any place holders because we’re GTY, space available type cruisers. Which means that our DCL cruising plans are subject to whatever DCL offers. It works well for us but it’s not for everyone.

 

[brentm77]

I plan on doing this for our cruise in March-- what's the best way to book a placeholder? Is there a desk to go to or do you do it on the app? And how do I make sure to reference my travel agent (because she's been awesome and I'd want to go through her again)?

These days, you do it in the app once onboard. You don't even pick a future cruise date when buying the placeholder like you used to. Just book a "placeholder" in the DCL app while cruising and you will be charged the $250. In the future when you have an actual cruise picked out, you must call Disney Cruise to book and they will the $250 and give you the 10% discount. You can then transfer the cruise to Costco or a travel agent if you want. If you don't use the placeholder within 2 years, they send the money back to your card. Note that there are a handful of cruises that are blacked out, where you can't use the placeholder.

 

[brentm77]

I guess now we are retired we could do that. When we were working insuring that we could get the time off first would be the concern. At my wife's employer vacation requests may need to be submitted 15 months in advance to lock in the days.

You don't (and can't) pick a future cruise date anymore when booking the placeholder. You are basically just buying the 10% discount onboard in the app and applying it later when you are ready to book. So you could still use it last minute.

 

[Mommb]

I plan on doing this for our cruise in March-- what's the best way to book a placeholder? Is there a desk to go to or do you do it on the app? And how do I make sure to reference my travel agent (because she's been awesome and I'd want to go through her again)?

If you have booked your current cruise using a travel agent, the booking section of the Navigator app onboard will ask if you want to use the same travel agent for your placeholder. Your agent should receive notification that you booked a placeholder, so you can call that agent to book a specific date.

If your current cruise was not booked using a travel agent, or if you don’t want to use the same agent, you can book directly through DCL and then transfer to an agent of your choice within 30 days of booking the placeholder.

 

[Girl of the South]

Is the $250 used as part of your deposit??

 

[brentm77]

Is the $250 used as part of your deposit??

Yes. The apply it when you book and it reduces the deposit.

 

[Girl of the South]

Didn’t mean to repeat myself - thanks!!

 

[Erica1016]

These days, you do it in the app once onboard.

We make sure to do it on the last day, since the 24 month window starts on the day you buy it. That way we have a week longer of a window to use.