How does it work if price goes down

[goterps1986]

If you book an 11C GTY and you notice that the price goes down, how does that work? If you go into your reservation and it still says 11C, for instance, but it doesn't say GTY, do you still have a chance for an upgrade?

Or if you ever notice a price reduction and it doesn't say GTY will it take you to a screen to pick an assigned room? I hope that makes sense. We wouldn't mind a credit for a lower price but don't want to mess with a chance for some pixie dust. THanks.

 

[nenner1]

The prices don't ever go down.



Seriously I haven't ever seen that in the past 4 or 5 years we have been DCL cruisers. Instead they offer incentives or promotions to boost bookings. IE- kids sail free, Florida Resident's Rates, etc. Should you want to take advantage of an offer whatever it may be it is my understanding you would have to cancel your reservation and re-book. That I have done and it is pretty simple. You would be paying the current tier pricing level at the time you change your reservations though.

To better understand: DCL operates on a tier pricing system, meaning the cheapest prices are when sailings first become available for booking, which is at Tier 0. When a certain percentage of bookings have been reserved then that sailing moves up to Tier 1 and the price raises. This continues with the prices going higher as availability gets lower. It has been very rare that Disney has had such low demand for sailings that incentives have to be offered.

If you book a GTY you don't get an opportunity to select a stateroom at any time, it is assigned to you. But they say having a room selected does not prevent random pixie dust upgrades (we have never had it happen to us though, we have had both GTY bookings and selected room bookings). To have the option to select a room, however you would have to not book a GTY category.


Hope that is helpful!!

 

[goterps1986]

Thanks nenner1! That's a big help. It;s a little confusing now with the new GTY. We booked an 11C GTY but now you just see it listed as 11C. But the new category is IGT for insided GTY or OGT for outside GTY, etc. So I'm not sure how it all works now.

And the strange thing is on a Dream dummy cruise for next year, we booked using DVC points in an 11C GTY but they assigned a room.

Very confusing but what you said makes sense. And I haven't really seen price drops but figured I would be prepared just in case.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Purdue Mouse]

I'm pretty new to DCL, so I am not qualified to answer for sure. I believe if DCL needs to fill a ship, they still offer the lower category stateroom cost even if the cheaper cabins are already assigned. Which means, they will reassign some families to a higher cat. I got reassigned from Cat. 9C to 5A AFTER I recieved my cruise docs. So... pixie dust can happen.

 

[kcashner]

The prices DO sometimes go down. If it is before your penalty date and you see the price reduction (same category, same dates), you or your TA can rebook the cruise at the lower price.

In past years, DCL would give a price adjustment even after the penalty date, but they discontinued that about 2 years ago.

This is one of the benefits of a TA who computer tracks all of their reservations. They will catch it and get the lower price for you. We've had small adjustments (a couple hundred dollars) at least twice.

If you (or your TA) don't catch it, DCL won't give you the lower price.

If there is a change in the port charges/government fees, DCL will refund those automatically. That's why you sometimes get a really odd refund--like $3.70!

 

[kshtiggy]

I booked our cruise in Jan of this for 2012. I talked to a DCL rep and was told if the price goes down to call and they will adjust it. I don't know if I was misinformed, but that is what they told me. The price of our cruise has only increased, but I still check it.

 

[runskyhy]

Thanks nenner1! That's a big help. It;s a little confusing now with the new GTY. We booked an 11C GTY but now you just see it listed as 11C. But the new category is IGT for insided GTY or OGT for outside GTY, etc. So I'm not sure how it all works now.

I also noticed these IGT & OGT categories last month when I was (wishfully) looking at Med cruises. These are a type of 'Special Offer' DCL has made available for certain itineraries to fill up the ship. They are much less expensive than other categories of that type (inside/oceanview/etc.), but they make it clear that additional restrictions apply. Below is a list of the restrictions noted on OGT offer for a 07/2011 11-nt. Med cruise.

When booking this restricted-fare category stateroom, please note the following:

- You are reserving a stateroom within the selected stateroom type: Inside, Oceanview or Verandah.
- Disney Cruise Line will assign your specific stateroom at a later time, based on availability.
- Full payment is required at the time of booking for all Guests and is non refundable.
- Sail date and stateroom category changes are not permitted.
- The stateroom offer cannot be combined with any other discounted or promotional offer.
- Full legal names of all Guests are required at time of booking and no name changes are allowed.

Hope this helps.