Guarantee Status vs. IGT/OGT/VGT

[JamieDen]

Based on dates of post, they aren’t sailing until late January, possibly after you?

I'm sailing late January. I think they sailed in June. Could be wrong though.

 

[GOOFY D]

Have never booked the guaranteed with restrictions, but have a chance to on an upcoming cruise. The savings over what we have booked would be nearly $2,000. We have 2 rooms. A little nervous about the no-cancellation or change restriction and the unknown of where the rooms will be assigned. However, reading through, it seems most do not have very bad experiences. Anyone have any issues that were not covered by insurance if cancelled or rooms that were just unbearable?

 

[n2mm]

Have never booked the guaranteed with restrictions, but have a chance to on an upcoming cruise. The savings over what we have booked would be nearly $2,000. We have 2 rooms. A little nervous about the no-cancellation or change restriction and the unknown of where the rooms will be assigned. However, reading through, it seems most do not have very bad experiences. Anyone have any issues that were not covered by insurance if cancelled or rooms that were just unbearable?

I’ve read a few posts, but not Sure what the posters were expecting. You have to go into this knowing you could get the lowest room category available. Anything higher is icing on a cake. I did read recently that 2 rooms were on different floors. We were a couple of doors away from our second room once. We book alot of multiples and always have an adult in the second room because we don’t want 18 year olds that far away. We have been pretty lucky though. We had 2 oceanview rooms a few months ago. it was a b2b. The first one was an upgrade to a 8A (larger room on deck 9). The second cruise we were moved to deck 2 in a 9B — a basic OV room. I set the bar low and find pros in every assignment.

 

[tntstults]

I'm 74 days away from sailing and booked GTY Verandah 07A. I checked today and there are only 9 verandah rooms that you can book thru the site unless you book concierge. There is also still GTY Verandah 07A offered. They are no longer allowing bookings for groups of 4 or more. Based on this, I feel like there's a good chance I may get my room assignment sooner rather than later. What do you all think? Thanks!

 

[dreamer17555]

I'm 74 days away from sailing and booked GTY Verandah 07A. I checked today and there are only 9 verandah rooms that you can book thru the site unless you book concierge. There is also still GTY Verandah 07A offered. They are no longer allowing bookings for groups of 4 or more. Based on this, I feel like there's a good chance I may get my room assignment sooner rather than later. What do you all think? Thanks!

I wouldn’t bet on it but it might happen. Earliest I have seen it is still 45 days out with many being assigned 10 days out from sailing.

 

[dreamer17555]

Have never booked the guaranteed with restrictions, but have a chance to on an upcoming cruise. The savings over what we have booked would be nearly $2,000. We have 2 rooms. A little nervous about the no-cancellation or change restriction and the unknown of where the rooms will be assigned. However, reading through, it seems most do not have very bad experiences. Anyone have any issues that were not covered by insurance if cancelled or rooms that were just unbearable?

A lot of times even with insurance with cancel for any reason there are some fine print that might not allow you to cancel simply due to not liking a room location.

I would go in assuming you will be separated on to different part of the ship and in the least desirable rooms and most likely you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm surprised at the number of people reporting receiving an assignment with an oversized verandah. That would be great!!

I just took a quick look at what's left re: availability on our cruise and it appears only regular verandahs remain so I will fully anticipate receiving a room assignment with an averaged sized verandah and hope it's not small/obstructed although I know that can happen too.

 

[GOOFY D]

Is there some place to see a listing of GT rates available on future cruises or do you just have to go into each cruise and look for them?

 

[Chereya]

Is there some place to see a listing of GT rates available on future cruises or do you just have to go into each cruise and look for them?

Yes, this, plus as supply and demand changes over time, the GTY rates can fluctuate as well.

 

[n2mm]

Goofy D —
I can tell just by the opening prices. If I pull of the summer months and am expecting to see lowest price for 2 is around $4k, but I see $2600, I go to the lower price cruise and open it. I’ve been doing it so long, those lower prices stand out amongst the higher prices. I do generally set some filters by departure port and choose the length of cruise. Now only if the DCL website would work better, it would be easier

 

[tntstults]

I would be great if when everyone lists their room assignment they also list how many are in their sailing party in case that makes a difference

 

[GOOFY D]

Goofy D —
I can tell just by the opening prices. If I pull of the summer months and am expecting to see lowest price for 2 is around $4k, but I see $2600, I go to the lower price cruise and open it. I’ve been doing it so long, those lower prices stand out amongst the higher prices. I do generally set some filters by departure port and choose the length of cruise. Now only if the DCL website would work better, it would be easier

So, it sounds like you actually have to go through each to find them. I seem to recall a thread a while back where someone was tracking them by month.

 

[Flossbolna]

So, it sounds like you actually have to go through each to find them. I seem to recall a thread a while back where someone was tracking them by month.

DCL has a list on their website under Plan a Cruise -> Special Offers -> Save up to 35% on Select Sailings: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/special-offers/domestic-special-rates/

I don't think it is always perfectly up to date and I noticed that it currently only lists VGT rates for a number of cruises, but if you actually look at the cruise there is IGT and OGT available, too. But if you use the link on that page, it will only take you to the VGT rate.

 

[n2mm]

So, it sounds like you actually have to go through each to find them. I seem to recall a thread a while back where someone was tracking them by month.

yes, there use to be a member who would keep an ongoing post of discounts. I often wonder if he is still here or just left disboards. i Loved following those post. I pretty much do the leg work myself with the help of filters on dcl. i go with the fact if the price looks good it must be a sale, you can click the upper left corner on dcl page and choose specials, but it doesn’t show everything

 

[aswmammoth]

1. What category GTY cabin did you book? IGT
2. What category and room # did you get? 11B Deck 6 Forward
3. How many days before the cruise were you assigned your room? 18
4. Are you happy with your assignment or do you feel like you got a "leftover?" Pretty satisfied. Sideways room, reviews say spacious and not noisy. Glad to not be on decks 1 or 2!
5. If you booked more than one room, are they close together? N/A
6. What ship are you sailing? Magic
7. What day of the week was your cabin assigned? Thursday
8. What time of day was your cabin assigned? Afternoon
9. What month is your cruise? February
10. Castaway Club? Silver
11. How long ago did you book 4 months ago

 

[DisneeRunner]

I've seen a lot of confusion about the difference between a Guarantee Status Stateroom and IGT/OGT/VGT bookings.

What is Guarantee Status?

Guarantee Status means that when you book a particular category, Disney is not able to assign you a stateroom number at the time of booking. As you get closer to your sail date, Disney will assign you a room number. You can end up in any stateroom that is in the category you booked. However, at their discretion, Disney may upgrade you. It's not necessarily likely that you'll receive an upgrade - but it is possible.

If you try to book a stateroom and you want to be next to or near (or maybe, even - far away from) a particular stateroom, you may wish to book a the next highest category so you can confirm a particular stateroom number where you need it.

This is just like any other Disney Cruise Line booking. There's nothing special about; other than the fact that you won't know which particular stateroom you're in. All the normal deposit, change and cancellation policies will apply.

On some confirmations/documentation, you'll see this referred to as "GTY". That's an abbreviation for Guarantee status.

Guarantee status is similar to a room assignment. Suppose you book category 8A. You go to pick a room, and you must select "guarantee status". You would then talk about this as "category 8A, guarantee status".

What is IGT/OGT/VGT?

IGT/OGT/VGT is a special type of discount program. In return for some very strict cancellation/change policies, Disney will sell you a stateroom that is an Inside Stateroom (IGT), and Oceanview Stateroom (OGT) or a Verandah Stateroom (VGT). You can end up in ANY category on a particular ship that is within the those types of staterooms.

Categories for staterooms on the Wonder/Magic:
Inside (IGT): 10A, 10B, 10C, 11A, 11B, 11C
Oceanview (OGT): 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D
Verandah (VGT): 4A, 4B, 4E, 5A, 5B, 5C, 6A, 7A

Categories for staterooms on the Dream/Fantasy:
Inside (IGT): 10A, 11A, 11B, 11C
Oceanview (OGT): 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D
Verandah (VGT): 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 6A, 6B, 7A

IGT/OGT/VGT staterooms are not available on every sailing. If they're available for the sailing you're looking at, it will be the first option listed when you click on "Inside Staterooms", "Oceanview Staterooms" or "Staterooms with Verandah" on the Disney Cruise Line booking engine.

When you book one of these rooms, you can end up in ANY of the above listed categories that falls into the class you booked (Inside, Oceanview or Verandah). In exchange for the lower price, you give up not only knowing where your stateroom will be, but also which category it will be. Further, no changes are permitted to one of these booking. Payment is due, in full, at the time of booking. Once it's booked, THAT'S IT. No changes. No sail date changes. No passenger changes. No name changes. Nothing. It is also completely non-refundable. You will lose everything if you try to cancel one of these. Additionally, once you are assigned a stateroom, again - that's it. You have no recourse to change the room.

The only way one of these staterooms is similar to Guarantee Status is that you don't know where the room will be located.

IGT/OGT/VGT is a stateroom CATEGORY. If you book one of these, you refer to it as OGT, IGT or VGT. (Or, if you're speaking of them in general terms, people will sometimes say *GT or XGT)

There's a lot of posts on the board that confuse the two. If you're wondering when you'll get out of Guarantee Status and have a stateroom assignment, you can refer to "guarantee status", "guarantee", "gty" or "GTY" in your question or post.

If you're wondering when you'll get your stateroom assignment based on an IGT/OGT/VGT, reference it as IGT, OGT or VGT.

Hopefully that will help clear up the confusion between the two.

I’m finding myself in an interesting situation & am hoping someone may have had some luck/been in a similar situation.

We’re booked in a VGT room on an upcoming cruise. We booked through Costco. At the time of booking, I asked the Costco agent 3 times to confirm that we could add someone to the room later. I was well aware that we could not change/cancel any of the names we booked, but was curious about an addition to the room. I was told we absolutely COULD add someone to a VGT room. I explained that I’d wait to book if that wasn’t the case. Again I was told I could add someone.

Now, I’m being told, by Costco (obviously a different rep), that this isn’t possible. Costco clearly states that they record all conversations so I’m confident that they know they made the error.

Anyone ever had a negative experience with Costco that they were able to fix? Or anyone actually added someone to a VGT room successfully?

 

[tntstults]

I’m finding myself in an interesting situation & am hoping someone may have had some luck/been in a similar situation.

We’re booked in a VGT room on an upcoming cruise. We booked through Costco. At the time of booking, I asked the Costco agent 3 times to confirm that we could add someone to the room later. I was well aware that we could not change/cancel any of the names we booked, but was curious about an addition to the room. I was told we absolutely COULD add someone to a VGT room. I explained that I’d wait to book if that wasn’t the case. Again I was told I could add someone.

Now, I’m being told, by Costco (obviously a different rep), that this isn’t possible. Costco clearly states that they record all conversations so I’m confident that they know they made the error.

Anyone ever had a negative experience with Costco that they were able to fix? Or anyone actually added someone to a VGT room successfully?

I don’t know about Costco but maybe your cruise is too full? The cruise I’m booked on is pretty full and they are not letting anyone book a room with more than 3 people.

 

[DisneeRunner]

I don’t know about Costco but maybe your cruise is too full? The cruise I’m booked on is pretty full and they are not letting anyone book a room with more than 3 people.

I can still book a cruise with 4 people online so that’s not it, I don’t think!

 

[Flossbolna]

I’m finding myself in an interesting situation & am hoping someone may have had some luck/been in a similar situation.

We’re booked in a VGT room on an upcoming cruise. We booked through Costco. At the time of booking, I asked the Costco agent 3 times to confirm that we could add someone to the room later. I was well aware that we could not change/cancel any of the names we booked, but was curious about an addition to the room. I was told we absolutely COULD add someone to a VGT room. I explained that I’d wait to book if that wasn’t the case. Again I was told I could add someone.

Now, I’m being told, by Costco (obviously a different rep), that this isn’t possible. Costco clearly states that they record all conversations so I’m confident that they know they made the error.

Anyone ever had a negative experience with Costco that they were able to fix? Or anyone actually added someone to a VGT room successfully

This thread has the info you need: https://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-a-guest-to-a-gt-reservation.3894944/#post-64272566

According to several reports there it’s possible to add a person to VGT if they still sell the VGT rate. Convince the Costco agent talk to Disney about this.

Good luck in getting your reservation!!

 

[cinderella97]

We have two 9B booked on the Dream on deck 2, with the GTY rates out, I am seriously thinking of moving to the GTY. We could save over $5000! I don't need connecting room. but I am scared of the non-refundable. Thoughts?