10 & 11 Night Southern Fantasy cruises in June

[lorimay]

I hope The Fantasy and The Dream get some new itineraries in late 2018. Show off those beauties.

 

[NJTwinsdad]

I just got a very good GTY verandah rate for the 7 day Magic Southern Caribbean cruise. Paid $6300 vs. $9200 current rate for a high level verandah. I don't think any of the S. Caribbean cruises are selling too well.

 

[lorimay]

I just got a very good GTY verandah rate for the 7 day Magic Southern Caribbean cruise. Paid $6300 vs. $9200 current rate for a high level verandah. I don't think any of the S. Caribbean cruises are selling too well.

Whats your sail date? How many people is your reservation for?

 

[lanejudy]

Just fact-checking myself here, because I have never done GTY before: am I correct in saying that GTY rates are rarely, if ever, better than opening day rates? In other words, given a choice between the two, you should book on opening day if possible, because waiting for GTY is not going to give you a better deal and your cabin choices will be far more limited.

Did I get that right?

"GTY" is not a special rate, it is essentially the highest tier rate because it comes out after a certain percentage of staterooms have already been booked (possibly with tier-increases between opening day and the GTY). So by default, "GTY" isn't going to be a better rate than opening day. You do not get cabin choice with a GTY but are guaranteed a cabin of that specific level (i.e. 11A, 9B, 7A, etc.) or higher.

What causes confusion is the "*GT" rates -- IGT, OGT and VGT which appear on confirmations noted with stateroom "GTY". It's the *GT rates that are special offers, typically reduced rates with restrictions. These rates may or may not be lower than opening day fares. As with GTY, you do not get cabin choice but will receive something in the broader category of interior, oceaview or verandah.

Most people knew it was coming but thought it will be after the pif date not before the pif date.

It is unusual for FLR rates to be released prior to PIF since DCL typically waits to release them. However, I believe FLR rates are the only special offers that can be applied to a current booking without penalty (unlike MTO or *GT). So DCL isn't particularly loosing much if anything by releasing them before PIF and the penalty period.


Enjoy your cruise!

 

[NJTwinsdad]

Whats your sail date? How many people is your reservation for?

April 16, 4 people

 

[lorimay]

Double post

 

[squirk]

"GTY" is not a special rate, it is essentially the highest tier rate because it comes out after a certain percentage of staterooms have already been booked (possibly with tier-increases between opening day and the GTY). So by default, "GTY" isn't going to be a better rate than opening day. You do not get cabin choice with a GTY but are guaranteed a cabin of that specific level (i.e. 11A, 9B, 7A, etc.) or higher.

What causes confusion is the "*GT" rates -- IGT, OGT and VGT which appear on confirmations noted with stateroom "GTY". It's the *GT rates that are special offers, typically reduced rates with restrictions. These rates may or may not be lower than opening day fares. As with GTY, you do not get cabin choice but will receive something in the broader category of interior, oceaview or verandah.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

To my larger point, though - let's say cabin choice was not a priority for you, and all you were looking at was price.

If and when *GT rates beat opening day prices, do they historically beat them by an appreciable margin? Or just a little bit? Or is it all over the place?

 

[Tulip2796]

If you can wait another few weeks the 6/17/17 11 day and 6/28/17 10 day southern Fantasy itineraries have a 120 day PIF date. I would not be surprised to see *GT/MTO offers not long after so keep an an eye out in late February / early March for restricted offers.

I'll apologize in advance bc I still haven't been able to figure out all the rate terminology (only 1 cruise for us so far). But, are you saying that the rates could go down more even for Florida residents or did you mean for people who don't get the FLR? I really want to do the Southern Caribbean cruise but even at $9K, it's steep for our family of 4

 

[Flossbolna]

I'll apologize in advance bc I still haven't been able to figure out all the rate terminology (only 1 cruise for us so far). But, are you saying that the rates could go down more even for Florida residents or did you mean for people who don't get the FLR? I really want to do the Southern Caribbean cruise but even at $9K, it's steep for our family of 4

Usually the *GT rates are the only discounts available to the general public. However, they are usually slightly higher than the Florida resident discount.

If you are thinking about seeing if a discount becomes available, you should check after February 17 for the 6/17 and after February 28 for the 6/28 cruise. Those are the dates when the people who booked so far have to pay in full. Any *GT rate will most likely be released after that PIF date as otherwise those who are booked could cancel without penalty and just rebook at the lower price and with that cause Disney to lose out on money. When I am hoping for a discount on a specific cruise, I just quickly check the price once or twice a day. Usually *GT rates are loaded into the system in the second half of the week, but it is not a strict rule. Most likely you will also see someone posting here on the DIS, there is even a thread that regularly lists current discounts. However, if you are really keen, check yourself and be prepared to jump when you see the discount as availability might be limited, especially if you need a stateroom that sleeps 4.