B2B with a GTY

[dreamer17555]

So I am curious who has done a B2B with a GTY (actually a VGT) for the second half?

I booked a January cruise for myself and two kiddos and then the sailing after ours offered a really good VGT discount so we decided to book as B2B. We have a family deluxe room for the first half (we were already past PIF when our 1st sailing discounted). As of right now (plenty of time for things to change) our room is still showing available on the second cruise but the savings is worth rolling the dice to our family (an $800 savings).

Has anyone been lucky enough to keep their room booked VGT on a B2B? If we get a different room how does DCL handle luggage?

 

[Dug720]

No promises you'd be kept in the same room. If you don't want to risk having to pack up all your stuff to be moved, pay the difference to keep the same cabin.

Booking a GTY or a *GT means you are giving them the right to place you anywhere in that category (specific or general). And unlike some other lines that allow you to call up and complain and be put back in the pool to be assigned, DCL doesn't. You get what you get.

 

[lanejudy]

B2B in different staterooms happens more than you realize. You'll pack your belongings the last night of the first cruise but leave them in the room the next morning. The room host will move your things to the new room.

I would not have any expectation that DCL looks to the previous cruise and aligns your staterooms.

 

[dreamer17555]

No promises you'd be kept in the same room. If you don't want to risk having to pack up all your stuff to be moved, pay the difference to keep the same cabin.

Booking a GTY or a *GT means you are giving them the right to place you anywhere in that category (specific or general). And unlike some other lines that allow you to call up and complain and be put back in the pool to be assigned, DCL doesn't. You get what you get.

I’m very aware of the risk and the chance, but I’m not spending the extra money. Most of our sailings are GTY and I’m completely fine with being anywhere on the ship. If VGT have been offered for our first cruise before PIF, we would’ve done that as well.

I was just seeing if anybody had been lucky enough to keep their room and find out some information about how luggage is handled which the poster below you answered.

 

[dreamer17555]

B2B in different staterooms happens more than you realize. You'll pack your belongings the last night of the first cruise but leave them in the room the next morning. The room host will move your things to the new room.

I would not have any expectation that DCL looks to the previous cruise and aligns your staterooms.

Thank you!

Do you know if when you move rooms are you still able to get back into your new stateroom earlier or is it with everyone at 1:30 or 2 o’clock?

 

[justafigment27]

I just got back from a back to back on the Dream (4 night + 3 night). We originally booked the 3 night in a standard inside stateroom and then added the 4 night as a last minute when VGT rates got released.

I thought about changing the 3 night to a Vernadah room on the off chance that we would get assigned the same stateroom on the 4 night - but the price had increased quite a bit and we kind of wanted to try an inside stateroom anyway, so I kept it as is.

It definitely would have been more convenient to have kept the same room, but not $600 more convenient. It wasn’t that hard to pack up - there’s no time crunch since you just leave your luggage inside your stateroom and the stateroom attendant moves it to the new location. We used the Castaway Club bag to throw the random bathroom stuff and pajamas the next morning and left that in the stateroom with a luggage tag.

I’d say there were 100+ cruisers doing back to back. Disney has it down pat. We met in Evolution at 9:30 and just waited there until they walked us off the ship. They had orange juice, ice water, coffee and trays of pastries and cookies in Evolution for us while we waited.

Once we got on the ship, we did have to wait until 1:30 to get to our new stateroom, but our luggage was already there (outside the door), so we unpacked and got on our way.

 

[lorimay]

We did this back in Sept. We booked the British Isles on opening day and then 3 months before the cruise we decided to add the 7 night Western European cruise with GTY rate.I knew our room wouldn't be available for the GTY cruise because it was a 'secret verandah room". I watched like a hawk to see all the available rooms near our room (forward) on deck 8. But when were assigned it was a room on deck 10 back of the ship. We knew this was a chance and we hate the rumbling at the back of ship, especially on The Dream. We are Peal CC members, so we had an early POA time. We went to the upgrade desk to see what we could get midship or forward. We were able to upgrade to deck 9 midship for $250. I believe we still saved close to $600 doing it this way.

*There were over 200 B2B guests on this cruise.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Here is my experience one year ago. I was on a B2B when a good deal came up for the cruise after ours but it was a VGT. It would make it a B2B2B. We were in a nice verandah room for the first two cruises. Our TA advised DCL when we made the 3rd cruise ressie that we were in room XXXX for the 1st two cruises and this was our 40th anniversary cruise and the one that would put us into the Pearl CC category. The *GT rooms were assigned 3 days before the cruise embarked. Our current room was still available. Did we get iti? Nope! We were moved to a different room. I was disappointed but not mad because I knew it probably would happen. The thing that made me upset was that twice we were kicked out of our cabin from 8am-4pm for them to do continuous maintenance on our room. I later found out it was for painting the balcony. The ship was not at capacity. Why put is in a room that was going to be out of commission for two days? I later learned on my FB group that another family was given a "day room" cabin so their kid could nap. After complaining to Guest Services about the unavailability of our stateroom, they said they didn't know what was going on and that it won't happen again. Guess what, it happened again the next day. I complained again. They brought a bottle of wine and a trinket from the gift shop as a "sorry" gift. I have to wonder if the room was reduced because of this maintenance. If I knew beforehand that was the case, I wouldn't have taken the VGT rate. And to top it off, someone stole my lollipop holder from our stateroom door on the 3rd cruise.

 

[dreamer17555]

I just got back from a back to back on the Dream (4 night + 3 night). We originally booked the 3 night in a standard inside stateroom and then added the 4 night as a last minute when VGT rates got released.

I thought about changing the 3 night to a Vernadah room on the off chance that we would get assigned the same stateroom on the 4 night - but the price had increased quite a bit and we kind of wanted to try an inside stateroom anyway, so I kept it as is.

It definitely would have been more convenient to have kept the same room, but not $600 more convenient. It wasn’t that hard to pack up - there’s no time crunch since you just leave your luggage inside your stateroom and the stateroom attendant moves it to the new location. We used the Castaway Club bag to throw the random bathroom stuff and pajamas the next morning and left that in the stateroom with a luggage tag.

I’d say there were 100+ cruisers doing back to back. Disney has it down pat. We met in Evolution at 9:30 and just waited there until they walked us off the ship. They had orange juice, ice water, coffee and trays of pastries and cookies in Evolution for us while we waited.

Once we got on the ship, we did have to wait until 1:30 to get to our new stateroom, but our luggage was already there (outside the door), so we unpacked and got on our way.

This is super helpful! Thank you. We are doing a 5 night + 4 night on the Dream.

Do you remember what time you were allowed to re-board the ship?

 

[dreamer17555]

We did this back in Sept. We booked the British Isles on opening day and then 3 months before the cruise we decided to add the 7 night Western European cruise with GTY rate.I knew our room wouldn't be available for the GTY cruise because it was a 'secret verandah room". I watched like a hawk to see all the available rooms near our room (forward) on deck 8. But when were assigned it was a room on deck 10 back of the ship. We knew this was a chance and we hate the rumbling at the back of ship, especially on The Dream. We are Peal CC members, so we had an early POA time. We went to the upgrade desk to see what we could get midship or forward. We were able to upgrade to deck 9 midship for $250. I believe we still saved close to $600 doing it this way.

*There were over 200 B2B guests on this cruise.

This is a good idea to see if an upgrade is available.

Question- Was the GTY cruise the first cruise or the second? Trying to find out if you are able to request an upgrade at port when arriving for your first cruise for the second cruise or not? (Im guessing not but would love if we could!)

 

[justafigment27]

This is super helpful! Thank you. We are doing a 5 night + 4 night on the Dream.

Do you remember what time you were allowed to re-board the ship?

We were back on at 11:10am.

Also - there are back to back videos on YouTube and I found them to be very accurate.

 

[lorimay]

This is a good idea to see if an upgrade is available.

Question- Was the GTY cruise the first cruise or the second? Trying to find out if you are able to request an upgrade at port when arriving for your first cruise for the second cruise or not? (Im guessing not but would love if we could!)

The GTY was the first cruise, I am not sure if they will work with you or not, but definitely worth an ask.

Good Luck.

I will tell you it wasn't as bad as I thought having to pack up and move rooms. Our room host handled it with no issues at all.
I mean the other times we have done B2B we had the same room and that was awesome.

 

[dreamer17555]

The GTY was the first cruise, I am not sure if they will work with you or not, but definitely worth an ask.

Good Luck.

I will tell you it wasn't as bad as I thought having to pack up and move rooms. Our room host handled it with no issues at all.
I mean the other times we have done B2B we had the same room and that was awesome.

Glad to know its pretty easy to move rooms. $800 is just way too much to spend to ensure we keep the same room (especially since I am looking at another B2B in Feb)

 

[holula]

I’ve done it three times but one time I didn’t expect to keep my room as I had a verandah and then an IGT.

My other two are 50/50. Once I wasn’t even close (booked a stateroom and then OGT) and the other on was the next door room (both cruises IGT) BUT they managed to move me to the same room when I was on the first cruise so didn’t have to pack anything!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you!

Do you know if when you move rooms are you still able to get back into your new stateroom earlier or is it with everyone at 1:30 or 2 o’clock?

We've only done B2B once but the reason we could go to our cabin early is due to the CM not having to do the thorough cleaning between families like they do for their other cabins.
So I would assume that you'd have to wait until 1:30, unless by chance that 2nd leg cabin was vacant. In that case, I would ask if you could move into it for the first leg too.

 

[Dug720]

We've only done B2B once but the reason we could go to our cabin early is due to the CM not having to do the thorough cleaning between families like they do for their other cabins.
So I would assume that you'd have to wait until 1:30, unless by chance that 2nd leg cabin was vacant. In that case, I would ask if you could move into it for the first leg too.

As I understand it, even if you're in the same cabin you're not supposed to be in your new cabin until they open for everyone. What I've seen is if you are in the same cabin you may be allowed in as @ruadisneyfan2 was but I've always heard that if you do that you're asked to go in prior to general boarding and remain in until cabins are open for everyone to prevent confusion with new guests thinking they can go to their cabins. At least that was my parents' experience when they did B2B in Europe - they *could* go to their same cabin, but if they did they were asked to remain there until cabins were open for all.

 

[lorimay]

Glad to know its pretty easy to move rooms. $800 is just way too much to spend to ensure we keep the same room (especially since I am looking at another B2B in Feb)

I get it that's why we did the GTY. I want to sail as much as possible so I try to look for the best way to get the best deal. Which we know isn't easy with Disney, but we like what we like.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

we were already past PIF when our 1st sailing discounted

We change two (B2B) Oceanview rooms for last minute VGT after final payment. Each cruise went *GT separately. We saved over $1000 dollars and got a "better" room.

 

[dreamer17555]

We change two (B2B) Oceanview rooms for last minute VGT after final payment. Each cruise went *GT separately. We saved over $1000 dollars and got a "better" room.

Were they VGT with restrictions? Normally those are new bookings only and you get charged the cancellation amount if you cancel. I have been able to turn OGT with Restrictions into a VGT with restrictions and pay the additional but I have not been able to turn a normal booking past PIF into a VGT with restrictions yet.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

As I understand it, even if you're in the same cabin you're not supposed to be in your new cabin until they open for everyone. What I've seen is if you are in the same cabin you may be allowed in as @ruadisneyfan2 was but I've always heard that if you do that you're asked to go in prior to general boarding and remain in until cabins are open for everyone to prevent confusion with new guests thinking they can go to their cabins. At least that was my parents' experience when they did B2B in Europe - they *could* go to their same cabin, but if they did they were asked to remain there until cabins were open for all.

Yes. They specifically said they didn't want other guests to see us going under the rope, in and out. So basically, either hang out in the cabin or go out to public areas from 11:45-1:30pm. We enjoyed a very uncrowded pool, probably 6 other people there. When new guests started to board, they looked all so dolled up, with clothes-pressed and styled hair, wheeling their carry on bags while we were all greased up with sunscreen, wild windblown hair, sprawled out like lizards in the sun. They looked at us a little puzzled, like "How did you get here already?"

We also got to watch them put up the Christmas decorations. It was the Dream's First Christmas but still they worked like a well-oiled machine and got it all put up amazingly fast.