Cruise Voucher...

[Jr94 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jr94]

We received a 7 day cruise for 2 voucher when we recently purchased our membership. Has anybody used theirs or had experience with DRI on these vouchers?

It makes me nervous when customer service says that we are to book a cruise through DRI online, send them the voucher and they will send a reimbursement check. The 'value' seems to be around $1,000. This takes into account a 7 day low cost inside cabin for two...

How much have any of you gotten back from DRI?

Any problems redeeming?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Jr94 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jr94]

Nobody asnswered this before, so am hoping somebody has tried to use their certificate since...any comments?

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I have not used a DRI cruise voucher but, we do have experience cruising. For the most part, when you book a cruise, all you have to pay is a deposit. Usually around $500 or $250 per person. Are you saying that DRI's travel agency wants you to pay the entire cost of the cruise up front? If so, I wouldn't be to thrilled about that.

I'd have a couple of other questions for them as well. #1 being WHEN will they send the reimbursement check. All cruise lines that I'm aware of allow you to cancel a cruise, generally outside of 90 days before sale date, without penalty. If DRI is actually sending you a check, I'd almost bet you won't get your reimbursement until you are within the cruise line 100% penalty for cancelation period. That would be just a couple of weeks before your cruise.

If that's the case (and that's a big if), it would take a lot of faith and trust that you would shell out all that money on the promiise that DRI would cut you a check. I would want to know EXACTLY and have it in writting how this was all going to play out before making reservations through DRI's travel agency.

[Jr94 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jr94]

...as a followup, we used the certificate. We saved $1,000 off of the price that the cruise line had discounted to and had a great time

We also were reimbursed the full $1,000.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

That's great! Glad that you were satisfied and thanks for coming back and updating. If you'd like to post all the details originally found on the voucher and the exact cruise and costs before and after voucher, many may be interested. Thanks!

[Jr94 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jr94]

That's great! Glad that you were satisfied and thanks for coming back and updating. If you'd like to post all the details originally found on the voucher and the exact cruise and costs before and after voucher, many may be interested. Thanks!

Spence,

We were initially worried that there would be a 'catch' and we would end up needing to pay the whole amount of the cruise, but decided to go ahead and try, since the cruise was a pretty good deal anyway.

According to the certificate, it was good for a 7 day cruise for two. Initially they (DRI) were going to give us a 5 day, but we talked to them and said we wanted a 7 day certificate and they changed it to 7 days.

The certificate covers the least expensive inside room for two people up to a maximum of $500 for each person. You can upgrade to other rooms, but you have to cover the difference.

The reason we were nervous, is because you have to book and pay 100% of the room cost before they will reimburse. We booked, paid in full, sent in the certificate with supporting documents and they sent us a check for $1,000 (about 6-7 weeks later). Think of it more as a rebate than an immediate discount. By the way, the cruise was not refundable, as per the cruise company's discount agreement. We did ask a lot of questions, prior to booking, to make sure that we were jumping through all the hoops.

Please note that we had to book through the DRI website. We could not book with anybody else or the certificate will not work. There was a lot of fine print, so be sure to read it before booking. Sorry, I can't find the copy of the certificate, to post the fine print. We did copy the certificate and all the supporting documentation that DRI required and kept it on file until after being reimbursed.

On our cruise, the discounted pricing on the inside rooms was just over $500, so we were able to get the full $1,000 value of the certificate. We chose a balcony room that at 'normal' price was about $2,300 (with port taxes and fees). The cruise line was running a special that discounted the total to just under $1,700. DRI's cruise site had the same discount, so after we got the rebate from DRI, it lowered the total cost of the cruise to just under $700 (less than $350 each).

It was a cruise deal we couldn't refuse. None of the cruise discount sites ended up with a lower price than DRI had with this specific trip. I do not think we will be getting that good of a deal again anytime soon!

[mas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mas]

Balcony cabin for $350/person on a 7 day cruise is definitely a good deal regardless of what cruise line or destination.

You did very well. Congrats.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

What cruise lines did you use?.

[Jr94 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jr94]

What cruise lines did you use?.

We were close to Baltimore, so used Carnival, since the Carnival Pride was close to home.