VGT - will the price drop?

[AEmgee]

I'm new to Disney Cruise Line but have cruised extensively with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises. Thank you to everybody who contributes on these forums as I have learned a lot.

I am looking at Disney Wonder November 4, 2012 Mexican Riviera. Needless to say, this itinerary is not very popular. Category VGT is available for $898.94pp. The sailing is 5 weeks away. Does anybody have any input about whether these Last Minute Restricted Stateroom Discounts drop in price as the sailing gets closer, and if so, what day of the week price drops tend to occur? For example, Princess Cruises releases Flash Specials typically on Thursdays, and Royal Caribbean has its Sales Event on Tuesdays.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm new to Disney Cruise Lines but have cruise extensively with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises. Thank you to everybody who contributes on these forums as I have learned a lot.

I am looking at Disney Wonder November 4, 2012 Mexican Riviera. Needless to say, this itinerary is not very popular. Category VGT is available for $898.94pp. The sailing is 5 weeks away. Does anybody have any input about whether these Last Minute Restricted Stateroom Discounts drop in price as the sailing gets closer, and if so, what day of the week price drops tend to occur? For example, Princess Cruises releases Flash Specials typically on Thursdays, and Royal Caribbean has its Sales Event on Tuesdays.

Thanks for any assistance.

The last minute restricted fares are the final drop in price that DCL does. They are only put out on those cruises that are not selling well, about 45-60 days out from the cruise. There, in all likelyhood, will be no further reductions in prices.

 

[TifffanyD]

I'm new to Disney Cruise Lines but have cruise extensively with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises. Thank you to everybody who contributes on these forums as I have learned a lot.

I am looking at Disney Wonder November 4, 2012 Mexican Riviera. Needless to say, this itinerary is not very popular. Category VGT is available for $898.94pp. The sailing is 5 weeks away. Does anybody have any input about whether these Last Minute Restricted Stateroom Discounts drop in price as the sailing gets closer, and if so, what day of the week price drops tend to occur? For example, Princess Cruises releases Flash Specials typically on Thursdays, and Royal Caribbean has its Sales Event on Tuesdays.

Thanks for any assistance.

Hi there!! I hope you enjoy Disney cruises as much as the other lines!!

VGT are SUPER discounted... I really don't think it ever drops from that. The only rates I've heard that are lower are resident, military, travel agent, or castmember. If you don't qualify for those then you will get the lowest poss with VGT! That is an AWESOME price!

 

[sissy_ib]

I'm new to Disney Cruise Lines but have cruise extensively with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises. Thank you to everybody who contributes on these forums as I have learned a lot.

I am looking at Disney Wonder November 4, 2012 Mexican Riviera. Needless to say, this itinerary is not very popular. Category VGT is available for $898.94pp. The sailing is 5 weeks away. Does anybody have any input about whether these Last Minute Restricted Stateroom Discounts drop in price as the sailing gets closer, and if so, what day of the week price drops tend to occur? For example, Princess Cruises releases Flash Specials typically on Thursdays, and Royal Caribbean has its Sales Event on Tuesdays.

Thanks for any assistance.

I would say the price you are seeing now is as low as it will go. I have not seen or heard of the *GT prices dropping.

 

[kcashner]

OK, I could be dreaming....but I was tracking one particular cruise. They came out with *GT rates...and less than a month before the cruise they had what I believe to be a lower VGT (only) rate. No IGT or OGT at that point.

Most of the time, the cruises sell out pretty quickly after the *GTs are announced. They aren't like some other lines where the price fluctuates every week.

 

[AEmgee]

OK, I could be dreaming....but I was tracking one particular cruise. They came out with *GT rates...and less than a month before the cruise they had what I believe to be a lower VGT (only) rate. No IGT or OGT at that point.

Most of the time, the cruises sell out pretty quickly after the *GTs are announced. They aren't like some other lines where the price fluctuates every week.

Thanks to everybody for their reply! Kcashner - I don't think you are dreaming. Here is one example from these boards where the price of VGT did drop: disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2925829. Sandgrace booked VGT 70 days from the sail date of June 2. Then on May 13 she posted about a price drop. The drop in price was about three weeks prior to sailing. My TA mentioned that for her client's September 30 sailing on the Wonder there was a price drop on September 9, which is 21 days from sailing.

 

[jetskigrl]

I had a VGT on the Sept 23rd Wonder sailing (Pacific Coast Cruise) that I booked about 6 months out. I have no idea why they had it so early, but we jumped on it. Then the VGT was removed and didn't show up again until PIF date when it was about $350 less for the two of us. DCL refunded the difference to us.

 

[su_A_ve]

If you see a LOT of verandahs available, and OGT is available, I would gamble with it, specially if there's a big price difference.

This past August, I booked OGT as the difference was over $500 to go VGT on a 5night double dip. Needless to say, I was upgraded to a verandah...

Of course YMMV...

 

[luv2sleep]

I had a VGT on the Sept 23rd Wonder sailing (Pacific Coast Cruise) that I booked about 6 months out. I have no idea why they had it so early, but we jumped on it. Then the VGT was removed and didn't show up again until PIF date when it was about $350 less for the two of us. DCL refunded the difference to us.

Automatically or did you have to call and point it out to them?

 

[jetskigrl]

Automatically or did you have to call and point it out to them?

Automatically. A friend on the same cruise emailed me and said she got a credit on her credit card from DCL and didn't know what it was for. Then I got an email from my TA saying that she had received an email from DCL stating that they had adjusted the price for the VGTs and I would be receiving a refund. A couple days later, it showed up on my CC statement

But I do wonder if the first VGT rate was issued in error. It was way to early (6 months) to be running the discounts and it was pulled after just a week. So mine may be a special case anyway.

 

[AEmgee]

Just a quick follow-up to this thread - the VGT price never dropped, and we are sailing in 2 days. However, new IGTs did become available about 3 weeks prior to sailing which cost $300 less per person.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Automatically. A friend on the same cruise emailed me and said she got a credit on her credit card from DCL and didn't know what it was for. Then I got an email from my TA saying that she had received an email from DCL stating that they had adjusted the price for the VGTs and I would be receiving a refund. A couple days later, it showed up on my CC statement

But I do wonder if the first VGT rate was issued in error. It was way to early (6 months) to be running the discounts and it was pulled after just a week. So mine may be a special case anyway.

I'm amazed to hear this! Does that mean if my IGT rate for my upcoming cruise drops they will give me a credit? I would be (pleasantly!) surprised if that happens. I mean, it is a non-refundable, non-changeable rate that I am locked into...

 

[jetskigrl]

I'm amazed to hear this! Does that mean if my IGT rate for my upcoming cruise drops they will give me a credit? I would be (pleasantly!) surprised if that happens. I mean, it is a non-refundable, non-changeable rate that I am locked into...

If for some reason they release the IGT at a certain rate and then reduce it later, I assume they would. But again, I think mine may have been a unique case because the VGT rate showed up so early (6 months before the cruise which was, what, 4 1/2 months before the PIF date?). And it was only available for about a week. So 1) I think it was a mistake and 2) I think the number of people that booked using that rate was probably not very big and it was easier to just refund the difference to those people than deal with the fall-out when people found out the new VGT was lower.

And I do admit, I was very surprised that they issued us the refund of the difference, because of the restrictions on the fare. When I saw the new VGT show up at a lower rate, I was bummed thinking I rolled the dice booking it so early (and lost) So when I found out they gave us the refund, I was doing the happy dance for sure It was a very nice surprise because given the terms of the fare, they didn't have to do it

 

[kcashner]

I'm amazed to hear this! Does that mean if my IGT rate for my upcoming cruise drops they will give me a credit? I would be (pleasantly!) surprised if that happens. I mean, it is a non-refundable, non-changeable rate that I am locked into...

DCL no longer makes price adjustments if a lower price is available AFTER the penalty date. If the new rate is released one day before the penalty date, you can get an adjustment.

There are exceptions--for instance, if a FL resident rate becomes available, guests are allowed to move to this rate.

 

[goeva]

It's good to know that DCL will do a price adjustment before the penalty date.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

DCL no longer makes price adjustments if a lower price is available AFTER the penalty date. If the new rate is released one day before the penalty date, you can get an adjustment.

There are exceptions--for instance, if a FL resident rate becomes available, guests are allowed to move to this rate.

Okay, good to know for future reference! Thanks for the info

I booked the cruise (12/8/15 Fantasy) less than 60 days out, so no chance that I will get any kind of price adjustment then. The rate I booked (IGT) went away right after I booked, but the VGTs came out (but no regrets as I wanted to try an inside room this time as the boys have wanted to do an inside on the Fantasy/Dream for a while). Then the VGTs left, and the IGT came back (same rate). Then the VGTs were available yesterday, but as of today, no GT rates!! I'm glad I booked when I did!

Funny thing is, I did have a 5e GTY booked on this cruise for a long time, but cancelled it when I decided to go on the September Pixar cruise. Since then, taking into account our 10% discount, the 5e GTYs have gone up about $400. Then the IGT came out and I couldn't resist! I feel I got a FANTASTIC rate - $750 pp for a 7 day Fantasy cruise!. My only hope is that I get one of the bigger inside rooms - 169 sq ft sounds pretty small compared to what we're used to on DCL.