Placeholder questions?

**catlady** · 29 Sep 18, 11:36 AM

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me more info on booking with a placeholder? I got one on our transatlantic cruise and it's valid until 18th Sept 2020. I think(?) it's been transferred to our US TA

I got an email from them saying they had got our reservation? I wasn't expecting to use yet but we are interested in the Hawaii cruise in 2020! So now trying to understand it a bit more!

If I get them to book for us on silver booking day will they automatically take the 10% off?

Would there be more deposit to pay?

Can I book 2 cabins with one placeholder?

Do you get DCL on-board credit and the travel agents?

Many thanks in advance

gismo1554 · 29 Sep 18, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by catlady

If I get them to book for us on silver booking day will they automatically take the 10% off?

So I don't think the placeholder gives you 10% off. As far as I'm aware it gives you a 10% deposit rather than having to pay the usual deposit but you still pay the same full fare in the end. Hopefully someone will correct me on this one if I am wrong?

Would there be more deposit to pay?

More than likely yes. You will have the $250 towards the deposit which will be 10% of the cruise price rather than the usual cruise deposit price but I doubt this cruise will be less than $2500.

Can I book 2 cabins with one placeholder?

nope. Each placeholder is 1 room

Do you get DCL on-board credit and the travel agents?

Yes you do. Depending on the length of cruise will depend on the credit from the placeholder ($100 for shorter than 1 week and $200 for longer) while it tends to be cost wise that travel agents give credit but depends on the company.

Oh and the other thing to note is some cruises are "black out" from the placeholder benefits so don't get the extras. Until release day I'm not sure if we will know whether this one is included or not but as its a special cruise there is a small chance it might not.

Hope that helps

**catlady** · 30 Sep 18, 12:08 PM

Thanks for your reply 😁.

I really thought the guy told me you get 10% off the cruise as long as it's not over a holiday period which are blacked out? 🤔. Maybe I misunderstood him? Mind you a reduced deposit would be good too as I don't have a huge amount in the holiday fund at the moment lol!

mandevillepete · 30 Sep 18, 02:50 PM

We booked our placeholder last year and used it for our cruise next year. We got 10% off the cost of the cruise and we paid a reduced deposit. They put the amount you paid for the placeholder towards your deposit so you may only pay a minimal amount or (like us) have no payment to make. We also got $200 on board credit. Well worth it. Bats is the cruise expert and I am sure she can explain much better than me.

gismo1554 · 30 Sep 18, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by catlady

Thanks for your reply 😁.

I really thought the guy told me you get 10% off the cruise as long as it's not over a holiday period which are blacked out? 🤔. Maybe I misunderstood him? Mind you a reduced deposit would be good too as I don't have a huge amount in the holiday fund at the moment lol!

As said I may well be wrong on this one. I know you get a 10% deposit which is reduced which is what made me think it wasn't a 10% overall discount. I don't remember spotting a discount in the cost I had previously but thats probably just because it was expensive anyway lol. I have however googled and lots of sources do say a 10% discount too so I was more than likely wrong

**Bats** · 1 Oct 18, 01:38 PM

To clarify .. you do get 10% discount (off most cruises). You also benefit from only paying a 10% deposit (on most cruises) and you will receive OBC from DCL as well as your TA (if they operate that way).

The $250 placeholder payment you made goes towards your deposit of the real cruise and it probably means you will need to pay a little more when you go to book that real cruise unless the cruise is less than $2500 of course! Make sense?

Hawaii for 2 adults starts around $4500 so a deposit of $450 would be due, but as you've paid $250 already, it'd be $200 to pay.
If you're adding more people on, the price will be higher of course.

Joa

gismo1554 · 5 Oct 18, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Bats

To clarify .. you do get 10% discount (off most cruises). You also benefit from only paying a 10% deposit (on most cruises) and you will receive OBC from DCL as well as your TA (if they operate that way).

Thanks Joa! See I've never ever noticed the 10% how bad is that?