VGT pros and cons- need your help!

[boogabuzz]

We've been in different spots each cruise. I've found every spot we've been to have pros. The only con spot was our deck 10 forward room was quite a haul to oceanears and the district... Where we spend our evenings. The pro to that room was right downstairs from adult pool. We are awaiting a VGT assignment for 6/27. I'm so eager to see what we will get. I am pretty sure I will be ok with anything. We are night owls so ending up above a club wpuldnt bother me too much. i bring white noise anyway. I'd love to try out a 7a aft verandah, but a 4c,b, or a would be fabulous too.

I say yes to travel insurance. Chances are you won't need it. And even if you're still able to go, the insurance covers mishaps as well as having to cancel. If you're booking at a discounted rate, it's a better deal to since its based off a percentage of cruise fare. It's not that much extra IMO worth it just in case!

 

[lbgraves]

Will this board light up the next time they KSF? I have a few families I would love to tell...

Yes. Basically if somehow hears a sneeze come out of DCL corporate headquarters it is posted here. Sometimes it's merely a rumor, but more often than not the opening dates for future cruises, new itineraries, and other information posted here winds up being correct or on the right track. Some posters here make it their mission to research and find anything they can regarding DCL. That is how the last round of new itineraries were discovered prior to DCL releasing them. Port schedules are available online and those posters use their knowledge to figure out which "unknown" ships listed belong to DCL based on listed occupancy and the other known port calendars. When the Dream and Fantasy were being built, we were glued to the webcam updates each week -- some even trying to send messages to the website technician requesting them to update the picture.

I know there is another thread on this, but did you guys get travel insurance? We are booking through Dreams Unlimited and they suggested that we get insurance. We are pretty sure we aren't going to have any changes or want to cancel so I'm hesitant about spending the extra $$. I think I would rather spend it onboard. Any thoughts?

We always get travel insurance, but never through DCL. We get it for medical emergencies that might force us to miss the ship, or have to leave the ship during the cruise. We have used it twice now to be reimbursed after one of the kids was confined to the stateroom for 24 hours. We received the daily cost for that child, as well as for one adult to stay with them. Both times that amount was more than what we paid for the insurance itself. Look for policies where kids are covered for free.

 

[tortoni]

We did VGT on the Magic last fall and it was wonderful. Had a lovely cabin and paid a fraction of the full fare.

We always get travel insurance. Have never needed it, but have seen people injured in port and unable to return to ship. Really matters if that happens.

 

[LuvENDisney]

We always get travel insurance, but never through DCL. We get it for medical emergencies that might force us to miss the ship, or have to leave the ship during the cruise. We have used it twice now to be reimbursed after one of the kids was confined to the stateroom for 24 hours. We received the daily cost for that child, as well as for one adult to stay with them. Both times that amount was more than what we paid for the insurance itself. Look for policies where kids are covered for free.

Can you or other DISers recommend a company? I wonder if USAA offers a policy. We have another trip planned for Apr 2014 and with it so far away, we really should consider getting trip insurance. Thanks to all of you for your feedback. Gotta love the DISBoards.

 

[Silver Queen]

Yes, we got our travel insurance through USAA who works with another company. The cost was very reasonable. Although we don't get travel insurance for our trips to WDW we do get it for cruises, especially when we book VGT which is non refundable. As other posters have mentioned, the medical portion can be extremely valuable.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can you or other DISers recommend a company? I wonder if USAA offers a policy. We have another trip planned for Apr 2014 and with it so far away, we really should consider getting trip insurance. Thanks to all of you for your feedback. Gotta love the DISBoards.

Yes, USAA does offer policies. As do many "regular" insurance and travel companies.

We usually use http://www.insuremytrip.com/ to find a policy. It's an insurance comparison site. You put in the info for what insurance you want and they show you different companies policies for your choice.

 

[mmouse37]

I you take the time and read through the thread was linked to earlier in this thread you will see that the majority of people were very happy with their *GT assignments.

We have booked OGT and VGT many times and never got a bad cabin...not to say it can't happen but we have been very lucky. But, it is a gamble. Once you are assigned a cabin you can't call and say you don't like the location...that is the tradeoff for getting such a great rate.

MJ

 

[mom2aredhead]

We've done it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We ended up in a 5A, deck 10 aft, and liked the location so much we booked the same cabin for our spring break cruise for next year.
It personally didn't care where we ended up because without the discount we wouldn't have been on the ship at all, so any (verandah) cabin was fine with us. Some people care about the location of the cabin a lot and would pay extra to be in a specific one. Others don't care as long as they're onboard. Neither one is right or wrong. Bottom line though...we had a good experience.

 

[ndabunka]

I know there is another thread on this, but did you guys get travel insurance? We are booking through Dreams Unlimited and they suggested that we get insurance. We are pretty sure we aren't going to have any changes or want to cancel so I'm hesitant about spending the extra $$. I think I would rather spend it onboard. Any thoughts?

We don't typically buy travel insurance either but we bought it with our June 13th VGT booking at the recommendation of the Disney agent (yes, we book direct). One line of thought is... If you get a bad cabin assignment, you could always cancel due to travel issues (e.g. car repair, bad weather, or pretty much anything that could cancel the trip as it becomes an insurance issue then). We will be driving 8 hours down to PC the day before and do have a 2012 vehicle so don't expect any problems but you never know, right?

This was a last-minute decision 17 days before sailing and we didn't get our cabin assignment until 9 days before sailing but we got a 04C "Family" cabin with the extra space (7130) so we are extremely happy with the results. The VGT category saved us over $1,100 so this was a GREAT VALUE and we would do it again.

One thing about Disney and GTY or VGT's is that they appear to put a LOT more thought into these cabin assignments than other cruise lines do. We have 17 & 10 year old boys so it's like having 3 adults and a pre-teen and the extra room in the Family designated cabin should really help us enjoy this cruise more than we would if we were "packed" into one of the smaller Verandah cabins. I believe that extra attention demonstrates the value that comes along with the higher prices we pay for a Disney cruise

 

[LuvENDisney]

Yes, we got our travel insurance through USAA who works with another company. The cost was very reasonable. Although we don't get travel insurance for our trips to WDW we do get it for cruises, especially when we book VGT which is non refundable. As other posters have mentioned, the medical portion can be extremely valuable.

Yes, USAA does offer policies. As do many "regular" insurance and travel companies.

We usually use http://www.insuremytrip.com/ to find a policy. It's an insurance comparison site. You put in the info for what insurance you want and they show you different companies policies for your choice.

Thanks so much! I looked online at the insuremytrip.com site and I appreciate that they compare the different policies. I'm gonna still call USAA to see how much it is for this trip on the Dream and my next on the Fantasy.

Our savings with the *GT can be applied to the insurance.

 

[LuvENDisney]

I you take the time and read through the thread was linked to earlier in this thread you will see that the majority of people were very happy with their *GT assignments.

We have booked OGT and VGT many times and never got a bad cabin...not to say it can't happen but we have been very lucky. But, it is a gamble. Once you are assigned a cabin you can't call and say you don't like the location...that is the tradeoff for getting such a great rate.

MJ

Thanks MJ! I did check out the other thread; it was great to read everyone's experience. Ya, we booked what was supposed to be our first DCL cruise for next April, but I couldn't wait that long! I saw the great rate and couldn't pass it up.