Current *GT/MTO/FLR Discounts!

[jenhelgren]

Any guess on what will happen with the Panama Canal cruise out of San Diego in October? The GT rates are double what they have been in the past and there is no VGT rate offered at all. I know cruisefish is not always a good indicator but it appears there is a large amount of cabins left still. Is it common for DCL to sail the repositioning cruise half empty?

 

[houseofduck]

Any guess on what will happen with the Panama Canal cruise out of San Diego in October? The GT rates are double what they have been in the past and there is no VGT rate offered at all. I know cruisefish is not always a good indicator but it appears there is a large amount of cabins left still. Is it common for DCL to sail the repositioning cruise half empty?

In May, the OGT rate went down from its original rate after it was out for a week or two. But, the IGT is $100/night and the OGT is $117/night for October. I'm no expert, but, I don't think the *GT rates will go down for that cruise.

 

[jenhelgren]

Thanks for the input! We are really on the fence about trying a new cruise line other than DCL this fall, but after seeing some of the GT rates on past Panama Canal cruises I was trying too wait out!! We had friends that paid half of what the OGT rates are now in 2013 on the same fall PC cruise so I wasn't sure what typical DCL policy was on the longer cruises to try and fill the ship....

 

[houseofduck]

I feel your pain. We had a great rate on the May 2013 WBPC. We were hoping for something similar in May. But, when the rates came out, we knew we were going to have to pass on it. I was watching that cruise daily. I'm not sure how or if they filled the ship, but there were many veranda staterooms available that suddenly disappeared one day. Then, I looked at the ocean view staterooms. Seemed like there were plenty of those available too. I was looking at a pair of connecting ocean view rooms. I think those particular staterooms sailed empty in May because I checked them up until a week or two before the sail date.

 

[goNDmay9]

Justacruiser, any insight into whether or not there will be any MTO discounts for the Oct. 17th Fantasy cruise? I am booked on that cruise with a PIF date approaching on Aug. 3rd, but am hoping for some MTO discounts so that a military friend of mine and her son could join us on this cruise. TIA

ha ha - we are on the same cruise. dh and i were just having a similar pif conversation. ours is a little different though because my Dad is retired military, but my Mom is deciding this week if she is going to retire now or next year (teacher). we need both parents to get the mto on 2 rooms.

decisions, decisions.

 

[erbie]

I feel your pain. We had a great rate on the May 2013 WBPC. We were hoping for something similar in May. But, when the rates came out, we knew we were going to have to pass on it. I was watching that cruise daily. I'm not sure how or if they filled the ship, but there were many veranda staterooms available that suddenly disappeared one day. Then, I looked at the ocean view staterooms. Seemed like there were plenty of those available too. I was looking at a pair of connecting ocean view rooms. I think those particular staterooms sailed empty in May because I checked them up until a week or two before the sail date.

We were on the 14-nt EBPC in August, 2004, two adults and a kid who turned 4 on the cruise, and we paid 2400 for a 12 at the time, 11C now. All potential cruise prices have been compared to that ever since. We knew we got a great deal, but we had no idea how great. Wish we could go back to that!

 

[Ofinn]

We were on the 14-nt EBPC in August, 2004, two adults and a kid who turned 4 on the cruise, and we paid 2400 for a 12 at the time, 11C now. All potential cruise prices have been compared to that ever since. We knew we got a great deal, but we had no idea how great. Wish we could go back to that!

Yes that is great rate. That's better than today's GT, MTO, interline, and probably even the CM discount that is being offered this year. I can relate our first trip to WDW in 2010 we paid 210.00 a night at the Poly in May. I'll never see a rate like that again. I wish my salary went up as fast as Disney's prices. We've pretty much given up WDW hopefully we won't have to give up DCL too. Even DCL's discounted rates are higher than other lines.

 

[OSUZorba]

For the weeks I am looking at, I can get a Junior Suite on Freedom of the Seas for $700 less than the cheapest balcony of Fantasy, or I could get a balcony for $1500 less. I love Fantasy, but Freedom is also an amazing ship, just can't see paying that kind of premium for DCL. I'm waiting a few more days before I book, so I am still hoping for a VGT, otherwise off to RCL I go.

My first cruise on Magic, Halloween Cruise in 2011, 7-night, I paid $1100 for a VGT interline, looks like those days are gone, at least for now.

BTW: One thing that may be supporting the higher fares this summer is that Allure of the Seas is in Europe for the first time. That removes 6000 beds of capacity from the Caribbean every week on a ship that competes heavily for the family crowd on the exact itineraries as Fantasy. They have left Indy here, which makes up for more than half the beds, but probably doesn't compete for families against DCL as well as the Allure. /speculation.

 

[saleeb]

Hello all. I have a dilemma that I am hoping you all could give insight to. We have been holding out for a year hoping for an MTO on the Sept 5 or Sept 19 sailing of the Fantasy to the Caribean. It will be a surprise for our kiddos, who have begged us about a Disney Cruise for years. We have 5 kids so we would need 2 rooms. This would be a first cruise. Anyhow, as you know, there hasn't been an MTO listed for those sailings and we aren't sure what to do. Keep waiting and hoping and lose our chance? Go crazy and spend $9,000 and just do it!? Or take advantage of the MTO rate for the October 23 sailing for the Panama Cruise, which would basically cost us the same amount of money but for a vacation that is twice as long? That might seem like a no brainer thing to do. Same price for 2 times the amount of cruise! Here are our hesitations....(1) the ship. My one daughter got us all excited about the Fantasy ship. (2) the ports of call. We really wanted to experience Castaway Cay or Key (not sure of the name). (3) Wifi being reliable. We homeschool our kids but they do an online school that requires use of the internet. For a 7 day cruise we could adjust their schedule so that they can just kick back and not do school for those 7 days. However, for a 14 day cruise plus a day earlier for travel etc. I'm not sure if we can not do school work for that amount of time. If my high school aged son could do at least a couple of hours of online work while on the boat, that would make it doable. I know that you have to pay for the wifi but does anyone know how reliable it is? Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[shburks]

Hello all. I have a dilemma that I am hoping you all could give insight to. We have been holding out for a year hoping for an MTO on the Sept 5 or Sept 19 sailing of the Fantasy to the Caribean. It will be a surprise for our kiddos, who have begged us about a Disney Cruise for years. We have 5 kids so we would need 2 rooms. This would be a first cruise. Anyhow, as you know, there hasn't been an MTO listed for those sailings and we aren't sure what to do. Keep waiting and hoping and lose our chance? Go crazy and spend $9,000 and just do it!? Or take advantage of the MTO rate for the October 23 sailing for the Panama Cruise, which would basically cost us the same amount of money but for a vacation that is twice as long? That might seem like a no brainer thing to do. Same price for 2 times the amount of cruise! Here are our hesitations....(1) the ship. My one daughter got us all excited about the Fantasy ship. (2) the ports of call. We really wanted to experience Castaway Cay or Key (not sure of the name). (3) Wifi being reliable. We homeschool our kids but they do an online school that requires use of the internet. For a 7 day cruise we could adjust their schedule so that they can just kick back and not do school for those 7 days. However, for a 14 day cruise plus a day earlier for travel etc. I'm not sure if we can not do school work for that amount of time. If my high school aged son could do at least a couple of hours of online work while on the boat, that would make it doable. I know that you have to pay for the wifi but does anyone know how reliable it is? Your thoughts are appreciated.

That's a tough call. I've done the Fantasy twice and it is a beautiful amazing ship! We're also a homeschooling family (and a military family!) and we're sailing on the Panama Canal in October. We actually chose this sailing because it was longer and lots of time to relax. We only use the internet for one class, and he'll just watch it via video once we're home.

I think the internet can be hit or miss on the ship but could be used for class if you had to. It would potentially be slow though--it is a video class? I'm guessing the streaming/video options wouldn't be good. Feel free to PM me if you'd like!

Also, I use an excellent travel agent who is a military spouse, too, and is always on the lookout for military prices on cruises. Heather is with Wishdrawals Travel (www.wishdrawals.com) or you can PM me for her email address. She's a great source of information having gone on quite a few Disney cruises herself.

Susan

 

[saleeb]

That's a tough call. I've done the Fantasy twice and it is a beautiful amazing ship! We're also a homeschooling family (and a military family!) and we're sailing on the Panama Canal in October. We actually chose this sailing because it was longer and lots of time to relax. We only use the internet for one class, and he'll just watch it via video once we're home.

I think the internet can be hit or miss on the ship but could be used for class if you had to. It would potentially be slow though--it is a video class? I'm guessing the streaming/video options wouldn't be good. Feel free to PM me if you'd like!

Also, I use an excellent travel agent who is a military spouse, too, and is always on the lookout for military prices on cruises. Heather is with Wishdrawals Travel (www.wishdrawals.com) or you can PM me for her email address. She's a great source of information having gone on quite a few Disney cruises herself.

Susan

Thank you Susan. It does sound more relaxing. Do you have any insight into the ship? I know that the Wonder doesn't have the Aqua Duck but does it still have a great kids club? My kids are 3,5,7,9, and 16. My 9 year old really wanted to try the Aqua Duck but I doubt that is a good enough reason to choose that boat/sailing. hahah

 

[shburks]

Thank you Susan. It does sound more relaxing. Do you have any insight into the ship? I know that the Wonder doesn't have the Aqua Duck but does it still have a great kids club? My kids are 3,5,7,9, and 16. My 9 year old really wanted to try the Aqua Duck but I doubt that is a good enough reason to choose that boat/sailing. hahah

This will be our first time on the Wonder--it'll complete our Grand Slam of having been on all four ships--so I don't have first-hand experience on the Wonder. The kids clubs are still great--they're just different than the other ships. They're a little smaller on this ship than the Dream/Fantasy, and the Club and Lab aren't connected unlike the other three ships. They can still go between them--they just need to have a CM take them between--and all of your younger ones can be together. The cabins have recently had a facelift and have the new linens and furniture like the other ships.

There's no AquaDuck, of course, but there will be tons of activities for the kids and families to do throughout the day. We love the AquaDuck, too, and we do want to go back on the Fantasy soon but the Wonder wins out for now!

Because there aren't as many kids on these kinds of sailings, they tend to make friends quickly and find them throughout the cruise! They do have a homework hour in the club, too, set aside for those who need to do some school work!

 

[saleeb]

This will be our first time on the Wonder--it'll complete our Grand Slam of having been on all four ships--so I don't have first-hand experience on the Wonder. The kids clubs are still great--they're just different than the other ships. They're a little smaller on this ship than the Dream/Fantasy, and the Club and Lab aren't connected unlike the other three ships. They can still go between them--they just need to have a CM take them between--and all of your younger ones can be together. The cabins have recently had a facelift and have the new linens and furniture like the other ships.

There's no AquaDuck, of course, but there will be tons of activities for the kids and families to do throughout the day. We love the AquaDuck, too, and we do want to go back on the Fantasy soon but the Wonder wins out for now!

Because there aren't as many kids on these kinds of sailings, they tend to make friends quickly and find them throughout the cruise! They do have a homework hour in the club, too, set aside for those who need to do some school work!

How do I pm you?

 

[shburks]

How do I pm you?

You have to have 10 posts first! Then you just click on my user name and choose Start a Conversation.

 

[saleeb]

Oh ok. Do you happen to know if we will see the decorations go from Halloween to Christmas for that 14 day cruise, since it spans 6 days past Halloween. We can't stand Halloween but we love Christmas.

 

[NDFAN89]

So MTO for the early September cruises this week? To be or not to be?

 

[shburks]

Oh ok. Do you happen to know if we will see the decorations go from Halloween to Christmas for that 14 day cruise, since it spans 6 days past Halloween. We can't stand Halloween but we love Christmas.

You know...that's a great question! I think they'll decorate for Christmas in between our cruises. http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/holiday-cruises/christmas-winter-holidays/

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday but it's mostly very cute Disney-fied Halloween decorations!

 

[Ofinn]

For the weeks I am looking at, I can get a Junior Suite on Freedom of the Seas for $700 less than the cheapest balcony of Fantasy, or I could get a balcony for $1500 less. I love Fantasy, but Freedom is also an amazing ship, just can't see paying that kind of premium for DCL. I'm waiting a few more days before I book, so I am still hoping for a VGT, otherwise off to RCL I go.

My first cruise on Magic, Halloween Cruise in 2011, 7-night, I paid $1100 for a VGT interline, looks like those days are gone, at least for now.

BTW: One thing that may be supporting the higher fares this summer is that Allure of the Seas is in Europe for the first time. That removes 6000 beds of capacity from the Caribbean every week on a ship that competes heavily for the family crowd on the exact itineraries as Fantasy. They have left Indy here, which makes up for more than half the beds, but probably doesn't compete for families against DCL as well as the Allure. /speculation.

We sailed on the Fantasy Dec 5 2014 in a veradah for 2400 fot the 4 of us. You could still get those good rates last year. Im hoping they offer those rates the same week this year. The ship was not full even with discounts. I think thats a week that just doesnt sell. None of my dh's coworkers will sail dcl even with an interline rate. They say its still too expensive.

 

[momof2n2]

How do I pm you?

Saleeb - I'm so glad you found DIS. I've seen your posts on CC and without the ability to PM over there I was really hoping you'd find your way over here.
If you are looking to get your post count to 10, just go to a community type board on the dis and answer some of the questions, like, "What is your favorite Disney counter service." Or go to the introduction board and just greet a handful of people.

We are homeschoolers, too, although we don't have the cruise experience that so many others do.
I think the experience of a Panama Canal cruise would be worth it's weight in gold. Will it matter to you if you can't get adjoining rooms? We have 6 kids and on our cruise last year we did have them, but if we cruise again we will need *GT rates and will be willing to do DH and three kids in one cabin, and me and three kids in another. I don't care if they are on the opposite ends of the ship. I just want to get on the ship.

I hear you about your kids missing some computer time. My oldest starts at the community college this fall doing classes that count for high school and college. For the first time ever we are locked into a school year. If he was able to do more online, we'd not have that issue.

 

[momof2n2]

We sailed on the Fantasy Dec 5 2014 in a veradah for 2400 fot the 4 of us. You could still get those good rates last year. Im hoping they offer those rates the same week this year. The ship was not full even with discounts. I think thats a week that just doesnt sell. None of my dh's coworkers will sail dcl even with an interline rate. They say its still too expensive.

There was a great priced cruise last fall from 11/30, too. I believe it was Magic western. I'm sure it can be found on this thread.