Disney Wonder Thanksgiving Very Merrytime Cruise GTY possibility

[jbcw66]

Hi, first time Disney cruiser here. I have a question whether I should cancel current OGT cabin and wait for GTY status cabin (VGT) opening. Currently, I have a cabin booked at OGT 9C category, sailing out of Galveston on 11/17/2017.

If there is VGT status cabin available to book, I will definitely jump in with that good discount. I think all VGT are nice to our family of four. It is about 113 days before sailing, and I still have about 9 days to cancel the OGT 9C cabin without paying the penalty. VGT are only offered to new bookings. I don't want to take risk paying the penalty in order to swap reservation.

However, I just noticed from the cruise fare tracker, not all cruise offer GTY status bookings if it is pretty full. I am worried that if I cancel the OGT cabin now, I may have no VGT room to book. We may end up going nowhere in this way. Kids don't know the cruise plan yet, and I don't want to disappoint them.

Based on experience, do you think Thanksgiving cruise was usually fully booked fast? It is the second expensive cruise out of Galveston during the very merrytime period. What should I do?

 

[lanejudy]

I think you may be confused by terms. Did you actually book an OGT "restricted guaranteed oceanview" stateroom? Or did you book and select a 9C stateroom (cabin with an oceanview)? If you did book an OGT, I believe those have restrictions and are non-refundable, though you may be able to upgrade it at the port (not to another restricted fare though).

GTY is not necessarily a discounted fare. It simply means you will allow DCL to assign you a stateroom. If a verandah category opens to GTY it's likely to be much higher than your oceanview 9C. But more importantly -- if you actually booked a 9C, you can upgrade to a verandah cabin (assuming availability) at the price that verandah was when you booked the oceanview 9C.

VGT is a discounted fare (as is OGT and IGT). It has several restrictions, including pay-in-full at booking, non-refundable, and no changes.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[jbcw66]

Thanks for reply! I currently have a OGT 9C cabin which can be cancelled or changed or upgraded. I need to wait for the room assignment. Booked through Costco, so it was confirmed by them.

I look forward to VGT with restrictions cabin opens up. The price may be very close to my current OGT. But not sure whether it will definitely open up some time in future.

I guess if couldn't cancel my current booking before penalty period, the only way for upgrades is at the port?

 

[lanejudy]

So just for clarification -- you don't have an "OGT" but are booked into a 9C which is an oceanview cabin. An "OGT" is a restricted fare, like VGT.

You are correct that you would need to cancel your current reservation before the PIF and chance that a VGT is released. A port upgrade may be possible, but be aware that DCL often cruises "full" with no upgrades available at embarkation. It's always best to book a category in which you'll be happy cruising.

Someone else may be able to tell you the likelihood of *GT fares for that particular cruise. There is s thread tracking the discounts and people on that thread may have a better idea.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/current-gt-mto-flr-discounts.3244232/

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Msmit002]

I think there is still a bit of confusion going on. I looked at your sailing and there has yet to be an offering of IGT/OGT/VGT fares. These fares are usually (if at all) offered last minute; certainly after the Paid In Full (PIF) date. What you have booked, it sounds like, is an Oceanview GTY (guarantee) cabin. So, you are guaranteed to get at at least a category 9C cabin or better when they assign you your room closer to the sail date.

The decision to wait for one of these last minute IGT/OGT/VGT fares is a matter of how comfortable you are with the risk of not cruising (at worst) or paying a higher fare than you are currently booked. I have sailed on a VGT fare and I had to be comfortable with the possibility that this fare would not be offered for my desired sailing and I would miss out. In the end, it was offered 30 days before we set sail and my room was assigned 14 days before we sailed but my family new that if the fare wasn't offered, we just weren't going to sail because we were not wanting to pay the price that was being offered. And it was fine. It's what happens when you have no choice but to book last minute, as can be when your husband is deployed.

So, to answer your question, is it worth it to ditch your GTY booking and wait for a IGT/OGT/VGT fare? That's up to you and your risk tolerance. But I can pretty much guarantee you will not see these fares before the PIF date so a calculated risk you must assess.

 

[jbcw66]

So just for clarification -- you don't have an "OGT" but are booked into a 9C which is an oceanview cabin. An "OGT" is a restricted fare, like VGT.

You are correct that you would need to cancel your current reservation before the PIF and chance that a VGT is released. A port upgrade may be possible, but be aware that DCL often cruises "full" with no upgrades available at embarkation. It's always best to book a category in which you'll be happy cruising.

Someone else may be able to tell you the likelihood of *GT fares for that particular cruise. There is s thread tracking the discounts and people on that thread may have a better idea.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/current-gt-mto-flr-discounts.3244232/

Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, you are right. My mistake to call it OGT. It should be a guaranteed 9C oceanview stateroom. I will check out the thread for more idea. Thanks very much!

 

[jbcw66]

I think there is still a bit of confusion going on. I looked at your sailing and there has yet to be an offering of IGT/OGT/VGT fares. These fares are usually (if at all) offered last minute; certainly after the Paid In Full (PIF) date. What you have booked, it sounds like, is an Oceanview GTY (guarantee) cabin. So, you are guaranteed to get at at least a category 9C cabin or better when they assign you your room closer to the sail date.

The decision to wait for one of these last minute IGT/OGT/VGT fares is a matter of how comfortable you are with the risk of not cruising (at worst) or paying a higher fare than you are currently booked. I have sailed on a VGT fare and I had to be comfortable with the possibility that this fare would not be offered for my desired sailing and I would miss out. In the end, it was offered 30 days before we set sail and my room was assigned 14 days before we sailed but my family new that if the fare wasn't offered, we just weren't going to sail because we were not wanting to pay the price that was being offered. And it was fine. It's what happens when you have no choice but to book last minute, as can be when your husband is deployed.

So, to answer your question, is it worth it to ditch your GTY booking and wait for a IGT/OGT/VGT fare? That's up to you and your risk tolerance. But I can pretty much guarantee you will not see these fares before the PIF date so a calculated risk you must assess.

Exactly! As you said, I need to consider whether we should bear the risk of not cruising at all. We will be fine with any balcony stateroom. But it may never give us chances. I know I am greedy now of wanting a better room. My husband is fine with oceanview stateroom. I am the greedy one, lol. Thanks for your reply.

 

[jbcw66]

I checked last year's price, they offered VGT on 11/18/2016 (71 days before cruise), 12/23/2016(91 days before cruise), and 12/23/2016 (7. No offering on 11/25 and 12/9.

On 11/18/2016, there was no OGT offered.

 

[Msmit002]

Yeah, it's all completely dependent on how full the sailing is coming into the PIF date. Our VGT sailing was in the second week of August and I feel pretty darned lucky one was even offered (this was in 2013) as summer is high season for DCL. But, so are holidays.

 

[Cmbar]

Hopping on here. We have a similar situation and I would love some advice.

EDITED>>>>> I posted this as a new thread but would love any advice from anyone on here previously!!

Our Cruise is 12-1-17 out of San Juan. We booked a 09B cabin using a Booked on board Credit of 10% off and $100 OBC. All booked months ago. We have deposit down and PIF date isn't until Sept 17th. HOWEVER, on this sailing they have added various discounts (Military, Canadian, Fla) AND they have released IGT, OGT and VGT. IF we choose to book the VGT we would be paying only about $60 more for a Verandah category. I know the room is not guaranteed but the Verandah category is guaranteed correct?
So my question is this. The "restrictions" read that an existing reservation can't be changed to this.

But I haven't paid in full so can't I simply cancel my Reservation with the booking code from the placeholder credit? and book a new one under this new fare. This is probably unusual as they don't usually put out VGT fare until after PIF date. But this cruise is definitely lacking in filling up since it out of San Juan I guess.

Anyone ever been able to cancel their existing (again only a deposit on it right now as I usually don't pay in full to Paid in full date) and book a OGT, IGT or VGT? Technically we are moving up in category on the reservation so maybe that's a loophole?

One caveat. We are DVC members and my greatest fear is that to entice boarding of the ship they put out a DVC rate which has happened to us before where we were able to get bumped to a Verandah for less money. They usually allow the DVC members to adjust their bookings when they give these special rates out (they did previously). BUT if I switch to a VGT now do I take a risk of screwing myself out of that chance?

Any advice would be appreciated! Anyone done this?

 

[llachance]

I don't know about all the crazy discounts but my family and I are on the 11/17 out of Galveston and in the "basement" so to speak - out the door and off the ship while in port - looking forward to sailing again.