Veranda Guarantee

[mountainmare]

Please put my mind at ease!! After cruising for several years and always researching and planning for months in advance we have just booked the O on Jab 9 with a guarantee instead of picking a cabin. Our TA got a pretty nice price, and in general we don't generally care where we are as long as you can open the door and see out. She also suggested that the chances of the upgrade fairy coming are greater of you have not picked a specific cabin. So I would appreciate a vote of confidence for giving up some control in favor of maybe doing more cruising. After all how bad can things be in the warm sunshine in Jan???

[jhannah]

Well, at least you'll have a veranda. It could be any one, anywhere. You may be "upgraded" from a VE to a VC which would be just a different location. Getting an upgrade won't necessarily mean you'll get an SS, S, or PH. If you're okay with that, then good deal.
No, having a guarantee doesn't give you a better chance of an upgrade. At least not in my experience. We always select a specific cabin and have received several upgrades.

[Orcrone]

There may not be many bad cabins on a ship, but there are some. You probably don't want the verandah cabins right next to the outside elevators located mid-ship. Anyone riding the elevators can look right into the verandah. That's one reason I never book a guarantee. I want to avoid those gotchas.

[tommy]

We have done guarentees 4 times and have been upgraded everytime,We pick the highest balcony guarentee we can get but not a suite.We have gotten as high as a Family suite on RCCL,and on CELEBRITY,on Holland we were given a Deluxe from a CatA GUARENTEE.Maybe we were lucky but I think it helped.Good Luck TOM

[Sea Air]

;) Good Luck! I think you'll be very happy. We recently sailed to Alaska on the O-Dam. We booked a guarantee in order to save several hundred dollars per person. Even thought the HAL website showed the trip as fully booked 4 weeks prior to departure, we were upgraded 3 categories and were very happy with our cabin. From my experience your TA is correct and in my opinion, you have a very good chance at getting an upgrade. Maybe not all the way up to a suite, but remember you saved a lot of money by taking the risk. The only bad part...you must wait until one week prior to departure before you learn your final cabin number. I will book a guarantee the next time I sail....pay less, take the risk, and have fun anticipating my upgrade.

[ASM]

It worked for us on the Zuid. Booked a BB guarantee, received upgrade to A about 10 days ( I think) prior to cruise. HAL called the next day or so and offered upgrade to SS for $150pp. We took it and loved it!

[Navy_Chief]

How does HAL notify you about your cabib assignment? Do they notify your TA and the TA calls or e-mails you? or Does HAL call or e-mail you directly?

[Roz]

The cabin # is on your documents, or you can go to the online immigration form or shore excursion booking form. When you booking in your booking #, your cabin assignment (if one has been made), will show up.

Roz

[mountainmare]

Thanks everyone. As I said, even with elevator peeping Toms, it's better than snow and breaking ice out of horse buckets!

[Southbound]

ROZ, Does the cabin # show up on the immigration form only when it's a guarantee booking? We booked a BB with a specific cabin # for a Dec. sailing of the Rotterdam and when I plug in our booking #, there is no cabin # indicated on the form. :confused: