Do you book "guarantee" cabins? Why or why not?

DH and I usually book guarantee cabins. I study the deck plans, find the category that is the minimum acceptable to us, then we book a guarantee in that category. Knock on wood, we've always gotten acceptable cabins, sometimes even outstanding ones :D We like the "adventure" or the "gamble" in some ways.

Best cabin we've ever gotten was on a guarantee booking. Worst cabin we've ever gotten was one we chose ourselves :eek:

So we do the guarantee route. What about you? Do you choose and book your own cabin, or do you book a guarantee? Why? :D

We never go with a guarantee. Why?

Very simple. We care where our room will be located on the ship so we want to pick it out ourself.

We want a room mid deck and we do not care to be very far forward or very far back.

Keith

On a TA I want to wake up to sunrise at sea. So I select starboard for EB, port for WB. A guarantee doesn't give me the choice. It also means that I must be willing to book early and pay more since late promotions are often guarantees only.

We never booked a guarantee cabin. I like to choose exactly which cabin we will occupy.

I really want to be mid-deck.

Both my darling and I have health problems, mine pain and mobility based her to do with dizziness, so we want mid deck, mid ship close to elevators so we always choose.

What really amazes me with Guarantee is that the lines let you go back and say "I don't like that one lets try again" it seems to defeat the whole concept to me.

We did it once and ended up in a HC cabin up forward. We won't book a guarantee again, primarily because it doesn't save that much and we like to know exactly where we are going to be.

We normally want to pick our balcony cabin. But on our last cruise we booked a balcony guarantee because it was so darn cheap!:D

But we did look into which balconys were still unsold and most looked to be in agreeable locations for us.

In the end 'you pays your money and you takes your chances' with guarantees.

I would love to try a GTY, OH no( big time)

Last cruise we booked our favourite OV near the bar only to have the upgrade fairy put us in a concierge in the middle of nowhere. I am hoping at some point that I can use that as leverage to trying a GTY.

Sent from the nether world using magic

All staterooms are not created equal. Although they may have an identical floor plans and amenities, they aren't all located in the same ideal location. Some people look carefully at the deck plans and chose staterooms that are easy to get to, don't have obstructions, aren't under or over noisy public or mechanical areas, or aren't directly opposite a crew only door in a hallway that may see lots of traffic day and night.

We never take the chance on a guarantee to save a few bucks. Instead, we chose specific rooms in locations that our research has revealed to be in ideal locations for our needs. I would never potentially spoil an expensive vacation by ending up with poorly located stateroom just to save a few dollars.

We like to pick out the EXACT cabin we want so doing a "guarantee" would not work for us.

LuLu

Sure - we will book a GTY and have always had good luck with them. Unlike many, we tend to book later and often that is the only choice in the cat we selected. We also don't really care where we are on the ship... just happy to be on her. Pricing is sometimes better as well esp since the price is the lowest in that cat and we've always gotten better cabin locations than those indicated for the GTY price. One day we will get assigned that cabin in the undesirable location, but like I said - don't care.

We've done quite a few guarantee cabins and quite frankly it is because of cost. So far, we've never had a bad cabin; one was a little more forward than we like to be, but it worked out fine. Neither of us is prone to seasickness or has mobility problems either.

Except once, on Carnival, when we were upgraded to a mini from a balcony, we have always gotten the kind of cabin we booked (balcony) or a slight upgrade, which we don't particularly care about, as an A3 to an A1 (making numbers up here). Never a 'real' upgrade except the one above.

We tend to book late-2-4 months out. We have gotten some stellar deals and yes, that does matter to us. I imagine some time we will get stuck in a 'bad' cabin, but we'll take that chance to save hundreds of dollars. We don't always do guarantees, only if there is a big price difference.

Some of the time, after you get your assignment, you can change to any available cabin that is the same rating. On our upcoming Celebrity, we changed from a far aft cabin to one still aft (we like aft), but closer to the stairs/elevators.

We never book a guarantee.

We like to pick our cabin and we usually book b2b or longer and want to stay in the same cabin for the trip

We never book a guarantee.

We like to pick our cabin and we usually book b2b or longer and want to stay in the same cabin for the trip

That's also another reason for us too! :)

LuLu

We never book a guarantee.

 

We like to pick our cabin and we usually book b2b or longer and want to stay in the same cabin for the trip

That raises an interest [to me at least] point.

There must be 100 threads on here about moving cabins half way through b2bs, why is that, I would have thought that both the ship and the PAX would prefer that they keep the same cabin.

I book inside guarantees sometimes because the cost is so much cheaper especially last-minute that even if the room was under a dance club, for under $500 it still a good steal. It also depends if one can tolerate alot noise, movement and/or smells - some people can't and others don't mind up to a point.

ALWAYS!!!!! We are particular about the category, but not so much the location. I think once we got the category we booked as the "minimum" we wanted. All other times we got an upgrade and a few times a very substantial upgrade......like oceanview to a concierge class balcony. We're on the ship for a couple of weeks, it's not like it's our retirement home that we're going to live in for the rest of our lives where the EXACCT location is that critical and in that case, would make a difference.

We normally select where we want to be. Twice we have had to book gty and it turned out perfect. So we have had a good experience.

Sure - we will book a GTY and have always had good luck with them. Unlike many, we tend to book later and often that is the only choice in the cat we selected.

Ditto. I often book after the final payment date and frequently GTY is the only option available at that time. I've always been happy with the cabins I've received, but I fully understand that it's a crap shoot. :-)

We always book a guarantee cabin - no matter when we make the booking. We usually get an amazing upgrade and have never been disappointed. I think we do it for the anticipation of seeing what cabin we actually get!:)

Won't book a guarantee. We only book rare facing afts.

While I'd love to save money, I can't book a GTY. I can get sea sick, so for me the location is most important. If we can't get a cabin by location, we cannot go on a cruise. Missed a few interesting cruises for this reason.

That raises an interest [to me at least] point.

 

There must be 100 threads on here about moving cabins half way through b2bs, why is that, I would have thought that both the ship and the PAX would prefer that they keep the same cabin.

Unfortunately, it may not be available. I am doing a B2B Oct/2015....the 1A I wanted was available for the first leg, but not the second leg. However, since I booked Early Saver, I booked another 1A for the 2nd leg. That way, if my cabin for 1st leg becomes available, I can switch without any issues.

I would love to keep the same cabin, but not everybody can do B2B's or longer. And I booked next years cruise 15 months in advance.

DH and I usually book guarantee cabins. I study the deck plans, find the category that is the minimum acceptable to us, then we book a guarantee in that category. Knock on wood, we've always gotten acceptable cabins, sometimes even outstanding ones :D We like the "adventure" or the "gamble" in some ways.

 

Best cabin we've ever gotten was on a guarantee booking. Worst cabin we've ever gotten was one we chose ourselves :eek:

 

So we do the guarantee route. What about you? Do you choose and book your own cabin, or do you book a guarantee? Why? :D

We mostly book GTY rooms. Most of our cruises are on DCL, and, unlike some other cruiselines, GTY rooms are not a lower rate. A category goes GTY once a certain percentage of rooms within it have been booked. You still pay the same rate, but cannot select a specific room. On some cruises, DCL does do a last minute restricted guarantee that is cheaper than the prevailing rates.

5 of our cruises we booked specific rooms, so a little less than half. The others were all guaranteed rooms of one sort or another. I guess we've been lucky, but we've not really had a bad room yet. Or maybe we're just not as sensitive as others as to ambient noises or other issues.

I have no objections to booking a guarantee, but it doesn't work for us. We need two cabins, and we want them near each other.