Track a Future Cruise Deposit

A client just got off a Disney cruise and put down a Future Cruise deposit onboard (DCL calls it a placeholder). There's no ship or date yet, but the deposit is real money with a deadline: a DCL placeholder expires 24 months after it's bought, and if it isn't used by then the client loses it.

Don't bury it in the client's notes. Give it its own trip, so it has a countdown and you get a reminder before it lapses.

Add one in a single step

1. Open the client and go to the Trips tab.
2. Click Future cruise deposit.
3. Pick the cruise line. Disney Cruise Line is selected for you.
4. Enter the reservation number, if you have it.
5. Check Bought on (it starts at today). For Disney, Expires fills in 24 months later. For other lines, enter the expiry from the line's terms.
6. Add the sailing it was bought on (e.g. Disney Wish, Bahamas, Oct 3–7 2026) and any notes, then click Save deposit.

JourneyFuse creates a trip called "Anderson DCL Future Cruise" with one placeholder cruise booking on it and opens it for you.

What it does not do:

• No client emails. Automations are switched off on the trip, so the client never gets a "your trip is booked" welcome or a payment reminder for a cruise they haven't chosen.
• No invoice. The client paid the cruise line onboard, so no price goes on the booking and nothing is billed.
• No inflated counts. Placeholders stay out of your dashboard's active booking numbers and the daily digest.

Reminders before it expires

You get a task on the trip at two points:

• 90 days before the expiry date
• 30 days before (marked high priority)

Each task tells you whose deposit it is and the exact expiry date, so you can get them onto a sailing in time. If you change the expiry date, the reminders start over for the new date. Once the placeholder is cancelled, or turned into a real sailing, the reminders stop.

The trip page also shows "Expires in N days" on the booking. It turns amber inside 60 days and red once it has expired.

When they pick a sailing

Open the trip, edit the cruise booking, fill in the real ship, dates and cabin, and untick "This is a Future-Cruise placeholder". It becomes a normal booking from then on, and you can rename the trip.

Already made one by hand?

You can also mark any cruise booking as a placeholder yourself. Open the booking, scroll to the bottom of the cruise section and tick This is a Future-Cruise placeholder. Placeholders made that way get the same reminders, as long as they have an expiry date.