an assigned cabin vs a guarantee?

Those of you who are experienced O cruisers.

If you have a cat G or F and are hoping to do better with an upsel, who is better off, someone who has an assigned cabin or someone who was given a cabin guarantee?

Need your patience here as I have no real experience with Oceania.

IMHO, I would not book a cabin if I were not happy with it, regardless of an upsell offer. On O there is no guarantee than an upsell will be offered to anyone, but there are many factors involved (i.e., how many cabins in that category are requested, how much they expect movement, how many cabins in other categories are available, is the cruise sold out?) But if you are happy with your cabin location, upsells offered in our experience are for those booked already, not guarentee, but YMMV.

If a cabin were available I would choose it

O is not like other lines where booking a GTY will get you an upgrade

Either senario can get you an upsell as CRUSEFORME posted

Others will have differing opinions

We have been on 26 cruises in the past 15 years. We have sailed on Carnival, RCCL, Princess, Regent and our go to line, Celebrity.

Not once during all that time did we ever get a phone call asking us if we want to upgrade. We have never been asked to move from our cabin due to occupancy restraints. We always pre-select our cabin.

Are we missing out on something good?

We have done one Oceania cruise, so not much experience here. We had a cat F and were offered an upsel to a balcony, yes considerably more than we paid for F but was still worth it. We had a cabin assignment however, not a guarantee, so dont know which would have been better.

On our upcoming transatlantic on Sirena--our fourth with Oceania--we booked a guarantee PH3 because nothing else was available in that category. We would much rather have chosen a particular cabin, but didn't want to pay the difference to get a PH2 or PH1. Our rationale was that all the PHs are nice and we would be happy in any of them. So, wish us a good cabin!

 

Are we missing out on something good?

Depends on your POV :D

this is how I see it

Some cabins do not book up as quickly as others & O also will take bookings on a waitlist basis as sometimes people have to cancel late in the process

Oceania will try to offer upsells to free up cabins to help clear the waitlist

You may not know the location of the cabin when offered an upsell so may not work for everyone

I like to stay clear of the bow cabins but others do not have a problem up front ;)

On our last O cruise we booked an inside and moved in. We asked the concierge if a balcony might be available. The next day we were offered one at only $100 pp over the price of the inside. We accepted and spent the next 26 days enjoying the upgrade. Our TA was amazed (or dismayed?). It does happen if they have room.

Yes, I would also not take a chance on aft or in the nose. Need mid ship. So would have to know where the upsel is before giving up a mid ship inside.

If a cabin were available I would choose it

O is not like other lines where booking a GTY will get you an upgrade

Either senario can get you an upsell as CRUSEFORME posted

 

Others will have differing opinions

As you said, others will have differing opinions. I can tell you from very recent experience an upgrade does happen with a guarantee. Not an opinion, a fact.

Getting back to the OP's original question. There is no real way of knowing, and that's the way that the Revenue Dept likes to keep it.

This is purely a guess.

I think they need to move the gty more "urgently" than an assigned cabin as the latter is already accommodated while the gty is not yet accommodated.

It certainly makes it interesting.

We have been on 26 cruises in the past 15 years. We have sailed on Carnival, RCCL, Princess, Regent and our go to line, Celebrity.

 

Not once during all that time did we ever get a phone call asking us if we want to upgrade. We have never been asked to move from our cabin due to occupancy restraints. We always pre-select our cabin.

 

Are we missing out on something good?

Maybe yes, maybe no. First, it really depends on how full the ship is (or empty). If you get an upsell offer that tempts you, jump on it immediately. If you have a TA, let that person know if you would be interested in one as well. We have received many such offers in our time with Oceania and we only accepted a couple.

The first was an upsell to an OS from a PH which we took because I'd always wanted to see what life in the clouds was like. The other was to switch from a PH on an Alaska cruise to a VS on Marina in the Med which was too good to refuse. Most of the time we either aren't interested or for one reason or another we just don't have the ability to switch.

The advice given by Lyn and others to first book the room you'll be happy with is the best ... if you get an offer, THEN you can decide if you want to make a switch. But you want to be sure that you'll be happy in the cabin you chose first if nothing else comes along.

Mura

I really dont think that there is a cabin on any O ship that would detract from the rest of the experience of being on the the ship.

That said, I would always use a good agent, who sells a LOT of O cruises and is on their "favorite son " list.. ( agents are normally the first to be offered and you need to tell your agent your in the market and what you would pay...then let him/her be your agent)

Again from experience I have always, with few exceptions, booked a Guarantee if offered. Guaranteed are getting more and more rare I have observed . In a guarantee your saying your flexible to both ups and downs ! In booking a hard cabin your saying nope.. dont want to have any other.

Yes I said "down" What sort of idiot would book a say penthouse guarantee and then jump at being offered a free veranda B2 and an obscene, very obscene amount of cash, many times in the 5 figure range to change. A very wise idiot indeed.

On other lined NCL/HAL/Celeb I have never seen this offer or practice but on Oceania ...I have enjoyed all sorts of wonderful developments by booking Guarantee.... W

As you said, others will have differing opinions. I can tell you from very recent experience an upgrade does happen with a guarantee. Not an opinion, a fact.

 

.

I was referring to whether to take a specific cabin or a GTY

Upgrades DO happen even when you have selected a cabin ;)

I booked a guarantee in a midship category. What happens if I am placed in a higher category, but not midship. Can I refuse to be placed at the front or back of the ship if my original category was midship, even though it was a guaranty?

I booked a guarantee in a midship category. What happens if I am placed in a higher category, but not midship. Can I refuse to be placed at the front or back of the ship if my original category was midship, even though it was a guaranty?

With a GTY there is NO guarantee where you will end up on the ship

The only guarantee is you WILL be on the ship

If the location is not suitable you can ask to be moved but if the ship is full you are out of luck

A good reason why I do not book GTY ;)

If your totaly set as to the exact cabin and that only that cabin or its location will suffice...dont go Guarantee

For those more flexable and for whom any cabin any place on the ship would be just fine....then go Guarantee.

I am in the latter category and experience has produced for me many many wonderful cabin surprises.... ranging from very good to incredible experiences

Its a gambel that has ALWAYS paid off in spades.