Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is a Guarantee Rate?
Guarantee Rates are one of the best opportunities to save money on a Disney Cruise Line fare. You give up on selecting your specific stateroom when you book, and in return, Disney gives you a significant discount on your cruise price. There are a few gotchas attached to these bookings, also known as restricted rate fares. So let’s take a quick look at how they work.
What Kinds of Disney Cruise Line Guarantee Rates Are There?
Most of the time, when you book your cruise, you’ll select your stateroom at the same time. With a ‘Guarantee’ booking, Disney chooses your stateroom for you. There are four types of Guarantee bookings.
- IGT (Inside Guarantee) – You’ll get an inside stateroom.
- OGT (Oceanview Guarantee) – You’ll get an oceanview stateroom.
- VGT (Verandah Guarantee) – You’ll get a verandah stateroom.
- GTY (General Guarantee) – You’re guaranteed a specific category but not a specific room.
Only IGT, OGT, and VGT are special rates. The General Guarantee (GTY) is a regular booking, but there is no discount for selecting it. You’ll see it when a category is almost sold out and Disney wants to avoid any issues. The restricted rate categories, IGT, OGT, and VGT, are different. If you play games, you can think of them like a gacha box. When you book a VGT (Verandah Guarantee) rate, you will get a Verandah. But, taking the Fantasy as our example ship, you could get
- Category 4A: Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah on deck 9 or 10
- Category 7A: Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah on any deck from 5 through 9; enclosed verandah with limited views
- Or anything in between!
The risk you take: You could get assigned to a 7A stateroom, the least desirable category with a verandah. The reward Disney gives you: your stateroom will cost less than booking any specific stateroom with a verandah, including a 7A. And, you could easily be assigned to a higher, more desirable category. The one thing you will not get: a stateroom that does not have a verandah.
There are a couple of other things you’ll give up to book an OGT, IGT, or VGT rate. You must pay in full at the time of booking, and your fare is non-refundable. You also won’t be able to make changes to your sailing party at a later date. But, you’ll still be able to make choices like dinner seating time, port arrival time, etc.
Got more questions about Guarantee Rates? See The Hidden Gem of Disney Cruise Line Pricing – Guarantee Rates
Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is for first-time Disney cruisers looking to learn about the DCL experience. Got a Disney Cruise Line term that you want to see explained? Suggest it in the comments below!
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If there’s no discount for booking a “GTY”, why does that reservation type exist? What’s the incentive to book a “we choose the room for you” reservation, if it’s the same price as choosing a room yourself?
Hi Andy, the answer is that it allows you to book that category when it’s not available any other way. What I didn’t dive into here (because it’s too much detail for a “jiffy-sized” article) is that if I had selected “Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom With Verandah” and proceeded, I wouldn’t be able to book a 7A – the lowest category I could book would be a 6B. I can’t get that $7,265 – which is just the regular price of a 7A – without booking GTY, because the category is almost sold out. (I’ve updated the article to clarify that you only see it when the category is close to selling out.)
You might then say, well if all you can get is GTY and it’s the bottom category, why not just book the VGT and get the extra savings? And the answer to that is that GTY is a ‘normal’ reservation; I can change my sail date or the people in my cabin, or even cancel completely without penalty if I’m outside the payment window. VGT is final sale, and I might not be able to make the commitment to that.