Oct 22 Disney Dream cruise now available for MUCH less than I paid...

We just got back from the Quebec to NYC cruise. We were originally booked on the October 13th NYC to Bermuda but *GT rates came out for the September Quebec cruise months before I needed to PIF for Bermuda cruise. I was able to cancel Bermuda with no penalty and book the Quebec one on a discounted rate. That does not always happen but this Fall it seemed to happen more often than last year. There was every kind of discount offered for this cruise.....Canada resident, Florida resident, Military, Travel Agent, CM, etc. There were tons of travel agents onboard.

And I agree about the airline analogy....everyone on an airplane pays a different fare...the guy next to you could have paid way more or way less than you did...all depends on when you booked.

When you book a cruise....don't look back!!! You may be disappointed if you see your cruise went down in price.

MJ
 
Plenty of cruise lines will do that if asked, but not DCL. Plus, in OP’s case, he’s not looking at the same stateroom and the same fare category.

I know, just pointing out an area where dcl falls short. Why not let the market work instead of artificially rigging prices? It is my main complaint with DCL. They always get a portion of passengers to pay insanely inflated prices and then give select groups discounts, often very heavy discounts, discounts not usually posted on their websites in order to make the ship look full. They want the overpaying population to keep thinking that they have to overpay to get on the ship. Other cruise lines let everyone in on the sales. OP, I would press DCL for the upgrade. They will give it to you if you are persistent enough.
 


I agree with some others that you'd probably pay for airfare through the roof if you booked now - we once snagged a quick 3 night cruise in the Magic, only 3 weeks beforehand and ended up paying more for airfare than any other time to Orlando. Like 40 percent more.
Having said that - there are certain Disney cruises now that we won't book unless GT rates are released as we have paid way less this way too. For example we paid $2800 (2a 1c) Jan 2018 on the Disney Wonder 7n Southern Caribbean, OGT. (Ended up deck 2 mid). We tried to book the same cruise on board (for Jan 2019) and same room was $3600 with our on board discount. Lots of cabins end up in GT status especially Dec-Jan (not Christmas) and Sep-Oct, based on checking last few years but you never know. We booked those about 60-80 days in advance, for us plenty of notice and we always check flights first.
The shorter cruises may show up discounted later than that.
You'll know for next time but for now just think you saved on airfare to feel better about the whole situation.
Don't let this ruin your cruise. Hope you have fun!
 
We're on that cruise and booked a few weeks ago solely based on the VGT offer. We also got amazing flights thanks to a Spirit offer. If it helps, you probably got to pick your room whereas I'm still in limbo waiting on the assignment and could end up in an awful room. lol

I've been on both sides of the coin: early booking that ends up going on discount after PIF and getting the offer for last-minute booking. Either way, I booked a cruise that worked for my budget at that time.
 
There are some people who cruise only with these last minute discounted cruise fares. It helps if you live in Florida or wherever the ship is sailing from, and you have unlimited free time to travel on a whim. Also keep in mind that if you do cancel your reservation and change to another room or room category, you will lose all of your bookings. You would have to try and get them all back again, before someone else takes them. Does the reward outweigh the risk? We prefer to cruise where we want, when we want, and for the length that we want. Others choose to just go with whatever is cheapest at the moment. I think that once your cruise is all paid in full and your bookings are done, don't look back. Enjoy the time and anticipation of your upcoming cruise. Most likely there will be another cruise in your future!
 


There are some people who cruise only with these last minute discounted cruise fares. It helps if you live in Florida or wherever the ship is sailing from, and you have unlimited free time to travel on a whim. Also keep in mind that if you do cancel your reservation and change to another room or room category, you will lose all of your bookings. You would have to try and get them all back again, before someone else takes them. Does the reward outweigh the risk? We prefer to cruise where we want, when we want, and for the length that we want. Others choose to just go with whatever is cheapest at the moment. I think that once your cruise is all paid in full and your bookings are done, don't look back. Enjoy the time and anticipation of your upcoming cruise. Most likely there will be another cruise in your future!
Is booking a vacation 1 to 3 months out really last minute? In the real world that's pretty normal. Planning vacations a year or more out is only normal on the disboards.
 
This is all a tradeoff. I knew I wanted to book something in early-to-mid November, but put it off because I was busy at work, and am now cursing myself because even though the cruise rates are good, the airfare has absolutely skyrocketed and no longer makes the trip affordable (it'd be $500 less for the cruise that it was when I first looked, but $1,500 more for the airfare for our family of 5). So I ran the risk OP didn't and lost out.

Plus, remember that if you book at GT rate, you are taking the rooms they couldn't fill. So that increases the odds the location will be sub-optimal (e.g., noisy room, far from everything). Again, a tradeoff of room choice over price.
 
There are some people who cruise only with these last minute discounted cruise fares. It helps if you live in Florida or wherever the ship is sailing from, and you have unlimited free time to travel on a whim. Also keep in mind that if you do cancel your reservation and change to another room or room category, you will lose all of your bookings. You would have to try and get them all back again, before someone else takes them. Does the reward outweigh the risk? We prefer to cruise where we want, when we want, and for the length that we want. Others choose to just go with whatever is cheapest at the moment. I think that once your cruise is all paid in full and your bookings are done, don't look back. Enjoy the time and anticipation of your upcoming cruise. Most likely there will be another cruise in your future!

What bookings?
 
Is booking a vacation 1 to 3 months out really last minute? In the real world that's pretty normal. Planning vacations a year or more out is only normal on the disboards.
Not really. We booked two cruises last November, one of them 11 months out, and the other 16 months out. Both on other cruise lines than DCL. And the latter was already in guarantee status for room selection.

We've also booked a couple of RV caravan trips, both of those at least 1 to 1 1/2 years out.

As well as river cruises, and a China trip, all at least 18-20 months out.

Not just a DCL phenomenon.
 
Not really. We booked two cruises last November, one of them 11 months out, and the other 16 months out. Both on other cruise lines than DCL. And the latter was already in guarantee status for room selection.

We've also booked a couple of RV caravan trips, both of those at least 1 to 1 1/2 years out.

As well as river cruises, and a China trip, all at least 18-20 months out.

Not just a DCL phenomenon.
Well you're on the disboards. I think you proved my point.
 
Well you're on the disboards. I think you proved my point.
All the people who booked up the cruise that we were unable to select a room on are not on DISboards.

All those trips I mentioned are not Disney connected in any manner.

Just because I'm on DISboards doesn't mean it's only me that books a year out.

I don't see how that "proves" your point.
 
"Adult dining, excursions, spa, nursery......etc."

Oh thought I missed something. Don't do any of those...
 
All the people who booked up the cruise that we were unable to select a room on are not on DISboards.

All those trips I mentioned are not Disney connected in any manner.

Just because I'm on DISboards doesn't mean it's only me that books a year out.

I don't see how that "proves" your point.
I'm well aware its not only you. I never said it was a bad thing. I just said it not necessarily the norm. When people book a cruise 3 months out and call it last minute...I don't consider that last minute.
 
Is booking a vacation 1 to 3 months out really last minute? In the real world that's pretty normal. Planning vacations a year or more out is only normal on the disboards.

We also don't consider booking a vacation 2-3 months out last minute- although it seems to be in the cruising world...
We usually travel 2-3x per year and I prefer to book most trips especially to the Caribbean 2-3 months out.
Disney world we book usually 6 months out.
Now - sailings such as Alaska or Hawaii (we are not from the West Coast) we have booked pretty much opening day...
Bahamas or Caribbean? I'm pretty sure we will end up on a sailing this February which we will book in November if they have restricted fares. To me that's plenty of notice for the Caribbean:)
 
This is all a tradeoff. I knew I wanted to book something in early-to-mid November, but put it off because I was busy at work, and am now cursing myself because even though the cruise rates are good, the airfare has absolutely skyrocketed and no longer makes the trip affordable (it'd be $500 less for the cruise that it was when I first looked, but $1,500 more for the airfare for our family of 5). So I ran the risk OP didn't and lost out.

Plus, remember that if you book at GT rate, you are taking the rooms they couldn't fill. So that increases the odds the location will be sub-optimal (e.g., noisy room, far from everything). Again, a tradeoff of room choice over price.

Not really. I booked my last five cruises at a GT rate and have always gotten a great room/location. Last week I got mid-ship on the Magic on the 8th floor...perfect location and a great room with verandah.

MJ
 
This is all a tradeoff. I knew I wanted to book something in early-to-mid November, but put it off because I was busy at work, and am now cursing myself because even though the cruise rates are good, the airfare has absolutely skyrocketed and no longer makes the trip affordable (it'd be $500 less for the cruise that it was when I first looked, but $1,500 more for the airfare for our family of 5). So I ran the risk OP didn't and lost out.

Plus, remember that if you book at GT rate, you are taking the rooms they couldn't fill. So that increases the odds the location will be sub-optimal (e.g., noisy room, far from everything). Again, a tradeoff of room choice over price.
We have done 5 cruises GT rates - booking VGT ended up with 5a, 4a, 5b awesome cabins. OGT we ended up with 9b.
Same with our friends.
It’s true you can end up anywhere within the category but it doesn’t seem to be leftover rooms for the most part.
It’s not for everyone though- some people have to have specific cabins and don’t like the lack of control.
 
We also don't consider booking a vacation 2-3 months out last minute- although it seems to be in the cruising world...
We usually travel 2-3x per year and I prefer to book most trips especially to the Caribbean 2-3 months out.
Disney world we book usually 6 months out.
Now - sailings such as Alaska or Hawaii (we are not from the West Coast) we have booked pretty much opening day...
Bahamas or Caribbean? I'm pretty sure we will end up on a sailing this February which we will book in November if they have restricted fares. To me that's plenty of notice for the Caribbean:)
I cant get vacation time approved that far out.Either can my dh. Booking opening day would be basically rolling the dice. I have a pretty common job and so does he. I dont think this is unusual. There’s always a lot of cancellations right before PIF date for various reasons. Personally I’d rather wait until I know I can go before booking something and getting excited about it. I’ve never experienced the disappointment of cancelling a cruise.
 

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