what is the discount for IGT OGT or VGT

[julie1218]

That savings percentage is based on the current rates. The opening day prices have been lower than any *GT rates that have been released. Combine the 10% discount to the opening day release from a dummy date that was moved, and it goes even lower. There were a couple DVC offers that were below the opening day release rate.

but since i'm not dvc and have never cruised before (no 10% discount--i think that's where that discount comes from-not sure), and opening day for this cruise (may 20, 2013) is long gone, my best shot at a discount for this sail date is *gt. is that right?

 

[Msmit002]

That is correct. Your TA would have to book the *GT for you for them to have it.

That's what I thought. Since we always have to book vacations last minute, we're good candidates for these cabins. When we finally can take a vacation, we just look to see what is left and jump on it.

Jump being the operative word... something I am finding difficult to do with a TA since just about all TAs I've encountered online doesn't have a phone number to call. They operate on e-mail only. Well, if I see a *GT cabin I want, I don't want to be waiting for a TA to get back to me via e-mail and risk missing out.

Ah well, I can book direct through DCL. I just like to help out small business when I can - especially if it doesn't cost me a nickle to do so.

 

[Meghatron]

That savings percentage is based on the current rates. The opening day prices have been lower than any *GT rates that have been released.

Depends on the cruise. Several people who had booked opening day for the WBPC got thousands back, even after losing the deposit, by rebooking a *GT rate after PIF.

 

[Docmom]

How do you find the GT rates? Do you put GT under the special codes or do they show up in some other way?

 

[Meghatron]

Jump being the operative word... something I am finding difficult to do with a TA since just about all TAs I've encountered online doesn't have a phone number to call. They operate on e-mail only. Well, if I see a *GT cabin I want, I don't want to be waiting for a TA to get back to me via e-mail and risk missing out.

My http://smallworldvacations.com agent has both an email and a phone number. She got us three VGT cabins on the WBPC first thing the morning after I left her a voicemail at some ungodly hour of the night when I had no expectations she would answer her phone. The rate sold out less than a week later.

 

[lbgraves]

but since i'm not dvc and have never cruised before (no 10% discount--i think that's where that discount comes from-not sure), and opening day for this cruise (may 20, 2013) is long gone, my best shot at a discount for this sail date is *gt. is that right?

Yes, just didn't want someone to think that they could wait for a *GT rate and be able to save that much while the prices continued to rise while they were waiting.

Depends on the cruise. Several people who had booked opening day for the WBPC got thousands back, even after losing the deposit, by rebooking a *GT rate after PIF.

True, but didn't one of the more recent PC repos drop in price pretty quickly after the opening day? Those are the exception though since only two are usually offered in a year and they are twice as much as a regular 7-night cruise to begin with. The *GT rates were insane this past one since we could have cruised for 50% of what we paid for the 2008 EBPC.

I was referring to the majority of cruises.

seems like that is good to know since ta give you on board credits. i would hate for the discount to vanish while i waited for my ta to call me back.....

You would need to have a TA who you could get in touch with easily and have them know exactly what you would want to book for that to work. I like that my TA is on FB chat most of the day and easily accessible, so for me that would work.

 

[lbgraves]

How do you find the GT rates? Do you put GT under the special codes or do they show up in some other way?

You have to go to where you can select which category you want to book to see if there are any *GT rates available for a cruise. You don't need a code.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Could you put a 3-day hold on a cruise with a *GT rate and have a TA somehow complete the booking in order to get their OBC?

 

[lbgraves]

Could you put a 3-day hold on a cruise with a *GT rate and have a TA somehow complete the booking in order to get their OBC?

I don't believe you can put a hold on any cruise that is past the PIF date.

 

[jahber]

I don't believe you can put a hold on any cruise that is past the PIF date.

We put a hold on a GTY cabin within the PIF date. We've also had a hold on a FL resident rate cabin. (Both through TAs.) In fact, we've only ever booked within the PIF window. However, it was NOT a *GT rate, just a regular category GTY. But if we can hold a FLR cabin, why not a *GT? I wonder.

 

[julie1218]

May 20th is around 84 days away, so I would start checking after the 75 day mark. Looks like alot of categories still available.

So in the interest of not developing OCD....
When should I give up on getting a *gt rate for a may 20 sail date? Lol.

Seriously, at some point, I have to bail and plan a non-cruise vacation for the may 20th timeframe. While I know there are no guarantees on when *gt discounts are no longer offered, do the chances of a *gt rate go down dramatically at some point?

Like chances are highest 75-50 days out? Then after 49 days out, chances are slim? Or something like that?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don't know if DCL considers a hold a "booking", but the restrictions say "•Full payment is required at the time of booking for all Guests and is non-refundable."

If a hold is considered booking, I take that to mean that you must pay then. If a hold isn't considered a booking, then it might work.

 

[MattMatts-Momma]

So in the interest of not developing OCD....
When should I give up on getting a *gt rate for a may 20 sail date? Lol.

Seriously, at some point, I have to bail and plan a non-cruise vacation for the may 20th timeframe. While I know there are no guarantees on when *gt discounts are no longer offered, do the chances of a *gt rate go down dramatically at some point?

Like chances are highest 75-50 days out? Then after 49 days out, chances are slim? Or something like that?

The ones that I currently have on my spreadsheet were available 46, 50 and 67 days prior to sail. But they may have been available early too before I started tracking.

 

[neg58]

We put a hold on a GTY cabin within the PIF date. We've also had a hold on a FL resident rate cabin. (Both through TAs.) In fact, we've only ever booked within the PIF window. However, it was NOT a *GT rate, just a regular category GTY. But if we can hold a FLR cabin, why not a *GT? I wonder.

You can hold the reservation for like 24 hours. I've booked FL rates w/i the 75 day window and the TA put a hold on it but I had to PIF within 24 hours, and then send my confirmation of residency within another 24 hours.

The difference might be that with a FL hold, a cabin is actually on hold whereas with a *gt, no cabin. Maybe they won't do them because the system can't 'hold' without a cabin?

Nancy

 

[Msmit002]

The difference might be that with a FL hold, a cabin is actually on hold whereas with a *gt, no cabin. Maybe they won't do them because the system can't 'hold' without a cabin?

Nancy

Bingo!

With a *GT, you are saying that you do not care what cabin you get, where on the ship it is etc. So you will not know until just before sailing (usually) what cabin you end up with. You will get, at least, the category (Inside, Outside, Verandah) you booked, but no other guarantee.

The rates are great because they are HEAVILY restricted. You MUST have all names and birthdates of EVERYONE in your travel party at the time of booking. Reservation must be paid in full. No cancellations. none. (Get trip insurance) and you CANNOT change any of the names on the reservation. Grandma is coming along but suddenly had a stroke? Too bad. You can't put anyone in her cabin (again, get trip insurance.)

But, for some (like me) going last minute is the only way we can go and its nice to know we can and not get scalped in the process.

 

[jahber]

You can hold the reservation for like 24 hours. I've booked FL rates w/i the 75 day window and the TA put a hold on it but I had to PIF within 24 hours, and then send my confirmation of residency within another 24 hours.

The difference might be that with a FL hold, a cabin is actually on hold whereas with a *gt, no cabin. Maybe they won't do them because the system can't 'hold' without a cabin?

Nancy

Hm. But they let us hold a GTY, with no cabin assigned. And since, say, an IGT can literally be assigned any cabin on the ship, all they have to do is save one cabin of any type. If you book they can then play with upgrades to give you the room they want you to have.

The FLR rates are also non-refundable and we have booked GTYs and PIF immediately upon booking, so they are very similar to the *GT rates in essence.

Anyway, I have no idea. It's just fun to speculate about the mysteries if DCL

 

[Docmom]

So in the interest of not developing OCD....
When should I give up on getting a *gt rate for a may 20 sail date? Lol.

Seriously, at some point, I have to bail and plan a non-cruise vacation for the may 20th timeframe. While I know there are no guarantees on when *gt discounts are no longer offered, do the chances of a *gt rate go down dramatically at some point?

Like chances are highest 75-50 days out? Then after 49 days out, chances are slim? Or something like that?

I know you were looking for a different itinerary but the May 18th transatlantic has GT rates...and pretty decent ones too. I've been playing around on the DCL site to try to figure all this out.

Question for all you veterans. Seems like the transatlantic rates are similar or cheaper than the 7 day Caribbean rates. Why? Are these less popular because they are longer and are at sea so long? Is it they factor in that people have to pay for more expensive airfare? I was looking at the 7 day Southern Caribbean for next year but saw the WBTA was about the same price for 2 weeks.

 

[lbgraves]

The TAs are usually cheaper and come out with a lot of discounts because of the timing and the airfare. We had a cat 8 booked for 2A2K in 2010 on the WBTA for under $4000. Would have cost more than that for the airfare and hotel before the cruise. It's also not easy to find a hotel room there that will hold four people. We ended up not being able to go.

 

[aprincessatlast]

The opening day prices have been lower than any *GT rates that have been released. Combine the 10% discount to the opening day release from a dummy date that was moved, and it goes even lower.

I am confused.

So is that always the case? I am curious cause the GT rate for 4/27 sailing is really low. From what I gathered the original price was around $1300 11c and is now down in the $900 range. Seems like a big difference. I have also seen other Alaska gt rates in the past that the gt rate is lower. You seem to know your stuff so curious what your thoughts were.

 

[lbgraves]

I haven't seen any of the *GT rates this year. I was going on what happened last year. The only rates that I remember being lower than opening day were the DVC offers. Those were for June 2012 on the Fantasy and several friends rebooked at AMAZING rates. They had booked oceanviews on opening day with OBBs and were able to upgrade to verandahs. I think they got a small refund when they did that. Opening day prices for the late June cruises were around $4200 for an oceanview.