RCL Oasis "guaranteed balcony"

Hi all! Last week I started a thread about guaranteed balcony staterooms on the Oasis for an eastern Caribbean cruise I have booked for 6/2/12. The thread got to a couple of pages long, and had some really great info and advice from fellow board members. Unfortunately I unknowingly made the mistake of mentioning the TA's name (or in this case website), which I know fully understand was against board policy. Then to my complete surprise, not only had the post(s) been deleted, but so had the entire thread (no idea why the whole thread had to be wiped, but I digress). At any rate, since it was turning into a very productive and informative thread, and one that I honestly wanted to keep updated, I thought I'd log back on and sort of recreate it (minus the TA names, my bad on that one), as I thought it would be in the best interests of current and future board members who seek info on this topic to have it available to them should they search for it. Anyways below is the gist of the thread, as pasted from my email subscription...thanks to everyone who had contributed! :D

Original post, my me:

 

So this afternoon I happened to do a little price check on RCI's site (and ***********, where I booked my 6/2 Oasis eastern) and apparently RCI has now started the guaranteed balconies for my cruise. But here's the deal for me:

 

1) I currently have booked a Central Park View cabin on the 9th deck, right on top of the Park Cafe (nice quiet location from what I've read)

 

2) The guaranteed balcony rate is $200 cheaper altogether ($100/person) than the CV cabin I have booked.

 

3) I have already paid in full for the CV cabin.

 

While I have read in other places/threads that one can technically bump up to an upgraded cabin if that upgraded cabin drops to the same price or below what one has already paid (in a paid-in-full scenario like mine), my question now is, would it be worth it in this case? I mean if it were a scenario where I could get a balcony AND save the $200, then great, but as I understand it I couldn't get any $$ back since I've paid in full. And the other thing is, it sounds like most likely the guaranteed balcony would turn out to be a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony, with the odds of it being ocean view being slim to none. So would it seem like I should just disregard the guaranteed balcony option altogether?? Thanks to anyone in advance who might have an opinion, experience, or advice! :cool:

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Posted by: jsteinberg

On: March 7th, 2012 06:44 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by joeski27)---

So this afternoon I happened to do a little price check on RCI's site (and ***********, where I booked my 6/2 Oasis eastern) and apparently RCI has now started the guaranteed balconies for my cruise. But here's the deal for me:

 

1) I currently have booked a Central Park View cabin on the 9th deck, right on top of the Park Cafe (nice quiet location from what I've read)

 

2) The guaranteed balcony rate is $200 cheaper altogether ($100/person) than the CV cabin I have booked.

 

3) I have already paid in full for the CV cabin.

 

While I have read in other places/threads that one can technically bump up to an upgraded cabin if that upgraded cabin drops to the same price or below what one has already paid (in a paid-in-full scenario like mine), my question now is, would it be worth it in this case? I mean if it were a scenario where I could get a balcony AND save the $200, then great, but as I understand it I couldn't get any $$ back since I've paid in full. And the other thing is, it sounds like most likely the guaranteed balcony would turn out to be a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony, with the odds of it being ocean view being slim to none. So would it seem like I should just disregard the guaranteed balcony option altogether?? Thanks to anyone in advance who might have an opinion, experience, or advice! :cool:

---End Quote---

 

I would def take the guarantee. and save the $200. you are before final pmt so you should be able to do that.

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 07:14 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by jsteinberg)---

I would def take the guarantee. and save the $200. you are before final pmt so you should be able to do that.

---End Quote---

 

So it really isn't that I've already made the full payment, but more importantly that the final payment date (in my case 3/9) has not yet passed (barely)??

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Posted by: PH8

On: March 7th, 2012 07:18 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by joeski27)---

So it really isn't that I've already made the full payment, but more importantly that the final payment date (in my case 3/9) has not yet passed (barely)??

---End Quote---

Correct!

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 07:33 PM

 

So it sounds like from the logistical standpoint, the deal could work for us and we'd get $200 back. However, I still remain concerned with where we might end up, cabin-wise, in this scenario. I mean I don't know what the experience of others is with this (particularly on the Allure or Oasis) but it would seem to me that one obvious benefit to the cruise line with this pricing strategy is that it would allow them to fill what some folks (i.e. experienced cruisers and/or those who have done their cruisecritic.com homework) might consider less desirable locations on the ship, such as noisier or more trafficked locations below a bar/nightclub, or near a pool deck. And needless to say, if it were a guaranteed ocean view then I probably wouldn't need to continue this conversation. But to that end we're really on the fence with what to do. :confused:

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Posted by: Daghis

On: March 7th, 2012 07:41 PM

 

If I were in your situation, I'd go with the balcony guarantee.

 

I had a Central Park View on the Oasis of the Seas and I wasn't thrilled with it. The light into the cabin was nice, but the view was boring. I'd much rather have had an outside (ocean-facing) balcony to hang out on. Even if it were a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony, that'd still be better, IMHO. Plus, $200 could be easily spent onboard to make up for any potential inconvenience.

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Posted by: PH8

On: March 7th, 2012 07:43 PM

 

If you think for one minute,you may not be happy in some scenario,don't do it........guarantees are for those who want to save some money,while not caring really where they wind up..

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http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=32779702#post32779702

Posted by: CAsunnyA1

On: March 7th, 2012 07:43 PM

 

I'm a bit confused from this thread...what does guarantee balcony mean? I have booked a balcony room way back in August of 2011 for our cruise for July 2012...I am assuming this will be my balcony room that I book...is this correct? They can't take this away from me, can they? I would think that would be just crazy of them to do that.

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Posted by: PH8

On: March 7th, 2012 07:46 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by CAsunnyA1)---

I'm a bit confused from this thread...what does guarantee balcony mean? I have booked a balcony room way back in August of 2011 for our cruise for July 2012...I am assuming this will be my balcony room that I book...is this correct? They can't take this away from me, can they? I would think that would be just crazy of them to do that.

---End Quote---

When they want to sell more cabins(in a category that isn't selling as well as they hope),they will offer guarantees.......you take a chance and get whatever they assign you,in return for a cheaper deal.

 

They wont take away your assigned cabin(well,there have been some exceptions,but it's not the norm)

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 07:50 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by PH8)---

When they want to sell more cabins(in a category that isn't selling as well as they hope),they will offer guarantees.......you take a chance and get whatever they assign you,in return for a cheaper deal.

 

They wont take away your assigned cabin(well,there have been some exceptions,but it's not the norm)

---End Quote---

Wait, what do you mean when you say "they won't take away your assigned cabin"? You mean the one I've already booked (in my case the CP view)?

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Posted by: DonnaK

On: March 7th, 2012 07:55 PM

 

I would go with the balcony guarantee...I think that it's a good risk.

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Posted by: PH8

On: March 7th, 2012 08:00 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by joeski27)---

Wait, what do you mean when you say "they won't take away your assigned cabin"? You mean the one I've already booked (in my case the CP view)?

---End Quote---

I was answering CAsunny(thats why i quoted what they asked):)

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 08:02 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by PH8)---

I was answering CAsunny(thats why i quoted what they asked)

---End Quote---

Ah, duh, lol that makes more sense now

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Posted by: DMickey28

On: March 7th, 2012 08:06 PM

 

I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this but it might help you. I just checked our cruise for the end of March, 2.5 weeks away.

 

They had two balcony guarantees available now. "Neighborhood Balcony Stateroom" and "Stateroom with Balcony" Guarantee. I have no idea what it actually means but in my mind I would think the neighborhood balcony would be the Central Park or Promenade balcony and the other would be the outside balcony. The second one is listed on the site for $500-800 more than the Neighborhood Balcony.

 

Just food for thought ... maybe someone can respond on if my theory is at all close to accurate!

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Posted by: linznjody

On: March 7th, 2012 08:18 PM

 

Either way come join our roll call! We'd love to have you!

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 08:29 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by DMickey28)---

I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this but it might help you. I just checked our cruise for the end of March, 2.5 weeks away.

 

They had two balcony guarantees available now. "Neighborhood Balcony Stateroom" and "Stateroom with Balcony" Guarantee. I have no idea what it actually means but in my mind I would think the neighborhood balcony would be the Central Park or Promenade balcony and the other would be the outside balcony. The second one is listed on the site for $500-800 more than the Neighborhood Balcony.

 

Just food for thought ... maybe someone can respond on if my theory is at all close to accurate!

---End Quote---

 

Yeah I see something sort of similar to this with my Oasis eastern cruise. If you pull up the cabin options for that 6/2 cruise, under the Balcony options at the bottom there are "Neighborhood Balcony Stateroom Guarantee" and then after that "Stateroom with Balcony Guarantee". The Neighborhood guarantee is currently $1,199/person, and has nothing listed for deckplan codes. The second option has "X" for the deckplan code (probably means nothing but thought I'd mention it) and is $50 more per person, coming in at $1,249. So obviously this begs the question, what's the difference?? I mean if one were to assume that the "neighborhood" designation pertained to balcony staterooms overlooking the "neighborhoods" of Central Park & the Boardwalk, as DMickey said, then what might the second option translate to? I mean it must be something better given that it is fifty bucks more per person, right? You don't suppose this could mean oceanview, could it??

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Posted by: Daghis

On: March 7th, 2012 08:30 PM

 

X is the category code for a balcony cabin (presumably ocean-view) guarantee. (Z is interior guarantee, Y is ocean view guarantee, and W is suite guarantee.)

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Posted by: will773

On: March 7th, 2012 08:31 PM

 

Go for it!!

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 08:46 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by Daghis)---

X is the category code for a balcony cabin (presumably ocean-view) guarantee. (Z is interior guarantee, Y is ocean view guarantee, and W is suite guarantee.)

---End Quote---

Thanks, and perhaps to shed a bit more light on it (or maybe confusion!), when you pull up the comparable results in crui$e.com (where I booked the cruise originally), it lists the "Neighborhood guarantee" as having a deck code of "XN", while it lists the "Balcony guarantee" (the one that is $50 more/person) as having a deck code of "X". So perhaps it does appear that the slightly more expensive - though still $200 less than my current CV cabin - X guarantee cabin is an oceanview?

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Posted by: sr4mjc

On: March 7th, 2012 09:03 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by joeski27)---

Thanks, and perhaps to shed a bit more light on it (or maybe confusion!), when you pull up the comparable results on my TA's website it lists the "Neighborhood guarantee" as having a deck code of "XN", while it lists the "Balcony guarantee" (the one that is $50 more/person) as having a deck code of "X". So perhaps it does appear that the slightly more expensive - though still $200 less than my current CV cabin - X guarantee cabin is an oceanview?

---End Quote---

That would be my assumption. I would go for it!

 

I had a Central Park View on the Oasis and outside balcony on the Allure. Liked them both for different reasons. But I would take the chance on the X guarantee, I'd be shocked if it wasn't an ocean view.

 

If I were to said either Oasis or Allure again, I'd pick an ocean view.

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 7th, 2012 10:05 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by sr4mjc)---

That would be my assumption. I would go for it!

 

I had a Central Park View on the Oasis and outside balcony on the Allure. Liked them both for different reasons. But I would take the chance on the X guarantee, I'd be shocked if it wasn't an ocean view.

 

If I were to said either Oasis or Allure again, I'd pick an ocean view.

---End Quote---

And at this point its sounding like it would at the very least cost nothing for me to make a phone call to RCI tomorrow AM, and I'm sure they can at least confirm what exactly those XN vs X designations mean. But really if I can come out upgraded to a guaranteed ocean view AND get $200 back then it would be a no brainer

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Posted by: Daghis

On: March 7th, 2012 10:17 PM

 

Near as I can tell from the censored part of your original post, you booked through a travel agent. While you can call Royal Caribbean to discuss the difference between X and XN, if you want to make changes to your reservation, you'll have to go through your agent.

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Posted by: joeski27

On: March 8th, 2012 12:06 AM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by Daghis)---

Near as I can tell from the censored part of your original post, you booked through a travel agent. While you can call Royal Caribbean to discuss the difference between X and XN, if you want to make changes to your reservation, you'll have to go through your agent.

---End Quote---

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to give my TA a call tomorrow instead of RCI itself. However I'm sure once I'm on the phone with them that something will prevent me from doing this, either that I've misinterpreted the RCI policies (given that I've already paid in full, etc), or that it won't work because you can't upgrade to a "guaranteed" cabin level, or that the TA's policies won't allow it for some reason. But anyways its worth a call, so we'll see what happens, and I'll report back either way

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Posted by: Daghis

On: March 8th, 2012 12:36 AM

 

My guess is that the thing that's going to prevent you from doing this is that the price that you see would be marked as being for "new bookings only". That's a common restriction that you see when Royal Caribbean drops prices closer to sailing.

 

Hopefully, though, it's not a Tuesday special when those usually pop up, you will be able to get this deal! Good luck!

And to now finally update the story, I did contact my TA and I did end up going with the guaranteed balcony.

 

Also they did confirm the difference between the two guaranteed balcony categories. Cat "XN", or Guaranteed Neighborhood Balcony, means (not surprisingly) and guaranteed balcony only in either the Central Park or Boardwalk interior areas (no chance of oceanview balcony there). However, Cat "X", which was $50 more per person, is such that one could potentially land an oceanview balcony, though it is still possible that one could get a balcony anywhere else, including interior. In other words, for $50 more you buy yourself a "chance" to get an oceanview vs an interior balcony. Lots of oceanview balconies still available, so at least a pretty good chance we'll get one. I'll post an update once my room assignment gets posted, whenever that might be. :cool:

 

Oh and we are getting back the $200 bucks difference since it was 1 day before our final payment date :)

So late last night I decided to check to see if by chance we had been assigned our cabin yet (been checking daily), and to my surprise the assignment had been made - #6206, a D5 oceanview balcony! From what I can tell and from what I've read in a few other threads, this is a very decent room and location, mid ship right near the middle of the Promenade. And by the way, the refund they gave us from our original CV room (after switching to the guaranteed balcony) ended up being $240, which for some reason was even more than my TA thought it would be.

 

So anyways, it really looks like the guaranteed balcony move was a very wise choice in my case, as I upgraded from an interior Central Park View w/o balcony to a mid ship oceanview with balcony, AND they gave me $240 bucks back! SCORE. :cool:

I also now wonder, are there typically switches/changes/upgrades that could happen in our situation between now and when we sail in 9 weeks? I thought I read that that can happen, but I'm wondering what others' experiences might be...(thought I'm MORE than happy sticking with what we've got!)

From my experience, a few weeks (or days) before sailing, if they get someone who wants your type of room they may call you to see if you want a better upgrade. I've know people who have been offered Junior suites before with no cost upgrade. They call that the upgrade fairy. Unfortunately they've never visited me!

Went with the neighborhood balcony stateroom guarantee for a cruise on the Oasis Nov. 3, 2012. (Booked in Aug. 2012)

 

Took about a month but was assigned a Boardwalk View with Balcolny room on deck 8 toward the back of the boat. With the $200 Diamond discount it was a must do.

Went with the neighborhood balcony stateroom guarantee for a cruise on the Oasis Nov. 3, 2012. (Booked in Aug. 2012)

 

Took about a month but was assigned a Boardwalk View with Balcolny room on deck 8 toward the back of the boat. With the $200 Diamond discount it was a must do.

 

We just got off of the Oasis this Saturday. We had a Boardwalk Balcony cabin on Deck 8 aft #8319..If you get Ryan as a cabin steward, he's the BEST!

 

Joe<-------Has the Post Cruise Blues...:o

What is a cv cabin?

What is a cv cabin?

 

Believe it to an Central Park View Balcony which on the RCCL's Oasis and Allure