Tink23

Any TA will get a commission from the cruise line. DCL do not allow TA's to offer reduced fares, however they may share their commission with you in the form of onboard credit, or gift voucher for a store.

 

Some also offer other little incentives such as gift baskets that they send to your home address pre cruise.

 

 

 

If you are a first time DCL cruiser, a DCL TA specialist can be of great help explaining how everything on DCL works that is a little different from some other lines, and they have the hassle of making your reservations.

 

 

 

ex techie

Thank you!

I am a first time DCL cruiser, of will be. We are DVC members, but have only cruised with other lines until now.

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The advantage of booking thru an educated agent who has tons of DCL experience is just that--their expertise. And a good agent will want your future business' date=' so will do their very best for you. But not all agents or agencies are created equal, so shop carefully. I would not use an agent who has not personally done the DCL training (there are multiple levels; I'd certainly look for one who has more than the on line level!), who has personally cruised on at least one of the DCL ships, and has appropriate business certifications. An agency can call itself a DCL specialist if only ONE agent in the whole company has training!!!

 

 

 

In terms of actual "stuff," many agencies give an onboard credit or other "thanks for booking with us" group. DCL does not allow any agent or agency to undercut any other on price; the price of the cruise is set by DCL with no "wiggle room."

 

 

 

You may hear people talk about giving up control of their reservation by using an agent. We have never found that to be true. DCL won't talk to you aout any financial issue if you used an agent, but they will discuss basic info questions if you phrase them right. Wrong phrasing = refer you to your agent. You can still do your own on line check in, book excursions, make reservations, etc.[/quote']

 

 

Thank you! Any suggestion on how to find the right TA?

 

If I already know which ship and itinerary I want, is there still a benefit to that expertise?

 

 

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Is there any benefit to booking our upcoming cruise with a travel agent vs on our own directly through Disney?

I know with other lines, TA sometimes get extra perks or better pricing.

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In addition to what Ashland posted- most hotels will store your luggage- as they fully know the patterns that customers get on and off the boat for.

 

 

 

Last Saturday, we got off the Adventure, put our stuff in Barrichinas, and then walked around town. Funny thing is- we had to wait for about an hour before the shops opened up... They were all waiting for the passengers to get off the other ships that were in the port.

 

 

 

BTW, if you are not looking for a beach resort hotel, as laura suggested, there are some cool places in Old San Juan, too. While there are hotels near the PanAm port, I'd much rather stay there. Basically, finding a good hotel isn't a problem- you need to figure out what you want to do in San Juan- beach, history, go driving someplace, etc. Everyone has their preference- and if you share what you like, I'm sure someone here likes doing the same thing and can suggest a great hotel.

Thank you!

We already have our hotel booked, staying at the Marriott Stellaris because we had points.

We were going to go straight to our hotel with hopes we can get into our room, but our actual check in isn't until 4. We didn't wanna have to rush off the ship if we aren't trying to make a flight like most people.

Did you find the same to be true on the times?

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No....boarding usually starts around 10:30am-11:00am.... We ended up having only approx one hour of the ship to ourselves on our B2B turnaround day this past May.

Any chance you recall what time you had to be out of your room? And off the ship? We are staying in San Juan, so we aren't in a rush.

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I have just started looking. Trying to decide between a tour post cruise or just take our time and be last off the ship that morning.

Wondered if you knew what time you have to be out of your room by and off ship by if we "take our time" like you were saying.

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If you choose traditional seating, do they not charge the gratuities? I would assume it would be the same.

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I honestly have no idea if you can view from an app (which is why I don't use the apps on my phone, such as taptalk). Most say they can't see them unless they are on a computer. Hopefully someone else can confirm that uses the apps.

I actually figured it out after I posted! In case anyone else reads this, click the dots on the top right and choose web view.

Mitsgirly your reviews are amazing! Thank you so much for posting so much detail. One thing I've gotta know, did she ever hear back on the monkey???

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We recently went to Carambola (had a nice day) and also walked all the way down to Ship Wreck (to check out the black sand beach) and wanted to check out all of South Friars in case we ever returned. Don't rule out Discovery, which is in between Carambola and Ship Wreck. It looked like an awesome place to relax and there was hardly anyone there the day we were at Carambola (which ended up pretty packed that day after a few hours of being there). Next time, we will head to Discovery for the day.

 

Check out my St Kitts Carambola review in my signature line...TONS of pictures of the place AND the entire beach, including Discovery and Ship Wreck.

Wondered if you could possibly tell me how to view those reviews from the app?

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Thanks!!!!

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Thank you! No beach? We are looking for a beach day. Heard mixed things about going to the local free beaches.

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Janedoe, would you mind sharing where you went in St Kitts. Antigua and St kitts are our two days with nothing planned yet and we are thinking a resort might be the way to go.

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