There are discounts available, but not in the same way you would see them at the parks.
Basically, the cheapest price on any given cabin on any given sailing is the price on the day that sailing is released for sale to the public. This can be 12 to 16 months in advance. As the cruise fills up the rates for a given category go up (they can go up 4,5,6 times) until that category sells out.
Sometimes you will see what is called a GTY fare-these fares basically guarantee that you will get a cabin that is at least as "good" as the GTY category listed. You don't pick a specific cabin-they assign one to you once they see where they stand. The "savings" is really more in the potential to get a better cabin than the one you paid for.
People who reserve early and pick their cabin specifically have to pay in full roughly 75 days prior to sailing. Some people will simply not pay in full or they will cancel on day 75-that frees up a cabin that was already reserved.
Once that date comes and goes,
DCL will make decisions about how to get that sailing as close to full as possible. This is where the best deals are, but they require compromise.
The three categories of discount that show up after the 75 day window are FLR (Florida Resident), MTO (Military), and *GT (Guarantee).
Everyone qualifies for a *GT rate-the other two discounts are specific and obvious. A *GT rate can be made available for inside cabins (IGT), outside cabins (OGT), and/or cabins with verandahs (VGT).
A *GT rate can be a really good deal (our last *GT rate saved us nearly 40% over what it would have cost to book that specific cabin the day the sailing went on sale). Here are the catches-
You must pay in full when booking. No refunds or cancellations. You can purchase insurance when you book and the cancellation policy under the insurance is the same as it would always be (we have had to cancel a VGT fare and we got our money back).
You don't get to pick your cabin-you are essentially stuck with what you get. Most people seem content with their assignment even if it was not a location they would have picked-you can make the argument that there is no "bad" cabin at the fare you are paying. Having been assigned a VGT cabin on Fantasy that is directly under the fitness room, I can tell you that there is at least one "bad" cabin.
If there are upgrades available at the port, you can pay to change a *GT room assignment just as you could with a room you selected.
Most discounts occur on sailings that are at off-peak times.
Hope this is helpful...
