Are there EVER any true last minute cruise deals on Disney ships?

ngl

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 1, 2009
We have been on three Dream sailings over the years but well planned out since they were all holiday cruises. We only live 1.5 hours from Port Canaveral port and got me thinking does Disney ever truly have last minute deals to fill ships like other lines do? We could always find a reason to slip in a long weekend cruise! Knowing how far we had to plan ahead with our cruises my guess the answer is no but thought I would ask in case anyone has any insight. Thanks so much in advance!
 
Not really. Definitely not like other lines. It seems if a ship isn't full, they will offer really good last minute deals to cast members rather than to the general public. My very first cruise was a 3 night on the Dream in October 2014. I booked it 45 days out and there were not even any *GT rates available. A cast member was at my table at dinner and said he booked the cruise at an amazing CM discount about 5 days before sailing.
 


In general, no, but there are usually more options for FL residents and if they do have *GT rates, a FL resident is more likely to be able to take advantage since they'll come out after PIF dates which will be much closer to sail date than when people typically book. Keep an eye on those FL resident discounts and you might be able to slip in a few short ones here and there and they require much less planning!

Once I'm retired (2 years and counting down), we intend to take advantage of our ability to take off whenever we feel like it (as long as furbabies can be taken care of) so I'm hoping to be able to get some 3, 4 or 7-day cruises in with less than a month's notice and we're a 2.5 hour flight away. I don't even need to get off the ship so once the cruise and a flight is booked, it's pretty done in terms of planning for us. We won't get any great deals (although there are occasionally deals for Canadian residents) but the ability to say "I hate the weather/I'm bored, let's go on DCL in a week or two" is something I'm looking forward to.
 
I did get a pretty smokin last minute deal one time. I bought it 7 days out through Expedia and I paid half what my tablemate reported paying. Of course I had to PIF at time of booking and you have to educate the Expedia call center on how to get Disney transfers added, and you have to hang on hold with them while they call Disney (though, if that ever happened again, I would just add a rental to the airfare I had to purchase separately, also via Expedia. SMH). They also offered OBC with that booking.
 
Maaaaaaaany years ago I got a great deal on a 7-night sailing to Mexico on the Wonder (I think) when they first started sailing out of CA (where I live). It was like $600 per person or something ridiculous like that about a month before embarkation.
 


Typically you’ll see the GT rates be the best rates for last minute but being a Florida resident you’ll have more options than most. Also I think the Dream has the least “ good deals”. I think the Miami and certainly the San Juan departures offer the better GT rates. I can almost always do a 5night out of SanJuan or Miami for less than a even a discounted Dream trip. And I see plenty of GT rates come out prior to PIF dates. I’ve changed my category on a couple cruises because I could now get a balcony for what I was paying for ocean view. Of course you have to be ok with them assigning cabin! Last time we sailed it was stressful because they assigned my cabin 2 days out!
 
We just came home from the Disney Dream cruise. We got a beautiful stateroom VGT (deluxe family with veranda) for only 2400 family of 3. Just before we actually left the same deal was even better at 1965. We missed that one by grabbing the deal too early. We are not cast members and live in Texas. The IGT OGT and VGT deals can save you hundreds of dollars if you don't care where your stateroom is located.
 
We just came home from the Disney Dream cruise. We got a beautiful stateroom VGT (deluxe family with veranda) for only 2400 family of 3. Just before we actually left the same deal was even better at 1965. We missed that one by grabbing the deal too early. We are not cast members and live in Texas. The IGT OGT and VGT deals can save you hundreds of dollars if you don't care where your stateroom is located.

4 or 3 nights?
 
If you don't need to plan your vacation several months or more in advance, and aren't picky about stateroom location, then GT rates (forvthe general public), military rates, or Florida resident rates are the way to go. We've sailed GT twice and gotten respectable deals. (Not really good deals, as this is still mega-overpriced DCL we're talking about.) One of those cruises was a Christmas week cruise Dream that I'd been following since opening day, but never booked as it was too pricey imo. I noticed the ship never seemed to fill up (GTY availability indicates fill-up), and then a few months before the cruise, GT rates opened up and we nabbed one. Got a verandah for cheaper than an inside was on opening day. That said, it still wasn't cheap or comparable to other lines in terms of cost.

One issue with GT rates is that you cannot choose your stateroom, so if you're at all picky, forget about it. I've seen people whine about the GT room they got: "Why would they put a couple with a baby over a nightclub?" Well, if you're GT, they'll put you wherever they have space. However, DCL has very few "bad" rooms.

The other issue with GT is that they don't show up for every cruise, and there is no way to know for sure when they'll pop up or how long they'll be available. So you need to be able to plan for the cruise just a few months before, and be able to pay for it all at once.
 
Best deal I ever got was for a 3 night VGT fare - 7 days before it’s sailing in January 2012. Paid $1759 (don’t have the original breakdown but it was $440pp) after tax/fees for our family of 4 - and ended up in a Category 4D on deck 6.
 
I just found a 12 night transatlantic for less than my 7 night in the same month. One is Canaveral and one is Miami
 
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Thanks all! Yes, I am probably too picky re the stateroom to ever take advantage of the deals. Much appreciate the replies!!
 
We just came home from the Disney Dream cruise. We got a beautiful stateroom VGT (deluxe family with veranda) for only 2400 family of 3. Just before we actually left the same deal was even better at 1965. We missed that one by grabbing the deal too early. We are not cast members and live in Texas. The IGT OGT and VGT deals can save you hundreds of dollars if you don't care where your stateroom is located.
We were on the same cruise. Booked at the end of October and it was about $2900 for a family of 4 also from outside of Florida. We also did VGT and got the same class of room. It really was a great deal compared to some other prices I've seen. I didn't see that it dropped even lower. Biggest disadvantage is that most of the popular things are already booked and you have to keep checking back.
 
I really have a hard time seeing how you could not come out ahead with the last minute rates with restrictions verses booking within the first weeks that cruises are released. (if the cruise you want come out with these sale prices of course) I may be completely wrong but by looking at some of these last minutes rates and what TPlans has down as very early fares, the rates with restrictions are much lower on some of the ones I was studying on the Dream.

But I really don't know if my family could deal with the possibility of a forward stateroom and feeling the motion. I really like to sail in May and generally we haven't had rough seas during that time so I really wonder if we were to take the chance on a forward stateroom on a 3 or 4-night cruise, just how bad could it be?

I was looking at the 3-night cruise that was on May 3, 2019 and Touring Plans had the early release pricing at $1894/2 people in a 11C, and the VGT Inside rate was listed at $1541/2 people. The early release pricing for a 7A was $2044 and then VGT-Veranda rate was listed as $1751. If I am somehow wrong on this or something, please let me know. Let me know what I am doing wrong so I will know. So from what I have been seeing and calculating correctly ( I think) there is a nice savings with the last minute sales. It really makes me think about taking a chance on a possible forward stateroom for a short cruise.
 

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