When are Guarantee cabins usually allocated?

I have booked a guarantee veranda on Solstice for a cruise in April 2016 (first time booking a guarantee) and was wondering what people's experiences are (for Aus cruises) with timeframe of allocation. Is it only after final payment (early January) or anytime before then? I booked 2 weeks ago and have been checking daily. I am ok with whatever we get, I know the risks with a guarantee, but the suspense is killing me...

Also I have read that booking in the US you can change quite easily within the same category but apparently not in Aus??

Thanks for any info anyone can share

I have booked a number of guarantee cabins on various ships. My experience is that the cabins are usually allocated right away (after final payment due date) or they make you wait and wonder - like you are doing.

One trip they made us wait until the day before the cruise. I just told others in our group that we were going to sleep in the lifeboat. And then gave us the very best balcony cabin with the largest balcony deck.

There is no rule, you get assigned when they feel they can't rent out their cabins for more money or whenever they get around to it.

My personal feeling is that since all the cabins are pretty much the same, who cares where it is. I can walk a few steps to save all that money on a guaranty cabin. I've never been disappointed and never had a bad cruise. Others on this forum will post otherwise though.

- Good luck and lets us know what happens.

GTY can be assigned right up to pier side.

booking a guarantee you could get the worst cabin on the ship so you must be prepared for that other wise dont book a guarantee

booking a guarantee you could get the worst cabin on the ship so you must be prepared for that other wise dont book a guarantee

It works the other way too....we booked a guaranteed Mini Suite once and got upgraded to a Penthouse Suite as they ran out of Minis but had not sold all the Penthouse Suites..:)

One of the main reasons they offer guarantees is to fill a block of cabins. They like to keep each section of cabins that a steward looks after full, and that sometimes means they can free up another whole section and use that staff member for other duties.

It works the other way too....we booked a guaranteed Mini Suite once and got upgraded to a Penthouse Suite as they ran out of Minis but had not sold all the Penthouse Suites..:)

 

One of the main reasons they offer guarantees is to fill a block of cabins. They like to keep each section of cabins that a steward looks after full, and that sometimes means they can free up another whole section and use that staff member for other duties.

 

 

yes David that can happen also

on one of our cruise this person booked a balcony guarantee on the Dawn Princess and he got one of those 4 berth cabin where the 2 bottom bunks couldnt be seperated and he was on his anniversary cruise and he wasnt a happy chappy

I like the guarantee aka cabin lottery cabin. I had a few upgrades. I don't think there is such a thing as a bad cabin. Your on a cruise. A little bit of noise can get dimmed out by ear plugs and if you don't get sea sick.

Also sometimes, cabin lottery allows you the opportunity to stay in areas of the ship that you might never had considered having a cabin there.

booking a guarantee you could get the worst cabin on the ship so you must be prepared for that other wise dont book a guarantee

Well, sort of. If you book a GTY, you could get the worst cabin in the level you booked the GTY in, so if you booked a GTY in the Inside category, yes you could get the worst cabin on the ship. Most people book GTYs in outsides, balconies, or even suites, so you could get the worst cabin in those cabins, respectfully, again, depending on the category of cabin you booked the GTY in.

Most importantly, if, for example, you book a balcony GTY, you are not getting an inside or a non-balcony outside. So, really, in the big picture, it really isn't very likely you are going to get the worst cabin on the ship.

The common advice on the general boards is to book a GTY at the minimum level you will be happy at.

Thanks all - I don't mind too much where on the ship I land up, but am kinda hoping to luck into a non obstructed balcony. But if I have a great big lifeboat in front of me, well, I'll chalk it up to experience, and I will still have a balcony to sit on and save $500 or so.

By the sound of things cabins don't seem to get allocated at least until after final payment, which is only in January. Seems those that got their allocation immediately after booking booked a lot closer to the cruise. I am not very good at being patient!!

Also, has anyone had any experience trying to change their allocation (within the same category) in Australia?

Members of my family booked a balcony guarantee for Voyager of the Seas 5 December 3 days ago. They had a cabin number about 24 hours after booking.

But this is after final payment date.

This varies not only by cruise line but by cruise.

Could be in advance or not until you arrive for check in.

Keith

It works the other way too....we booked a guaranteed Mini Suite once and got upgraded to a Penthouse Suite as they ran out of Minis but had not sold all the Penthouse Suites..:)

 

One of the main reasons they offer guarantees is to fill a block of cabins. They like to keep each section of cabins that a steward looks after full, and that sometimes means they can free up another whole section and use that staff member for other duties.

I have been upgraded also, mainly to a balcony cabin from an ocean view guaranty.

booking a guarantee you could get the worst cabin on the ship so you must be prepared for that other wise don't book a guarantee

Even the "worst" cabin on the ship can be a delightful cruise. That's my experience. Your "better" cabin just may cost you 50% more than my guaranty. So in my opinion, you got the worst part of the deal.

I always book guarantee if its available, the savings go towards my next cruise. Have received allocation within 24 hours and also at check in and everything in between.

Booked Radiance of the seas guarantee when the upgrade sail was on, We received our cabins within 2 hrs of paying our dep. Very very happy with allocation we got category D1 an aft balcony. :D

Really seems to be all over the place, but skewing more towards after final payment. Those that got their allocation very soon after seem to mostly be when booking closer to the cruise date. To those who got great upgrades - hope we are as lucky as you, and I'll be thrilled with 2C or higher (but am expecting 2D)!!

But... seems like we will have a bit of a wait. I wonder if the chances of getting a better cabin increase with time, as our cruise is 5 months away and there are still plenty of 2C category balcony cabins available. I can't see the availability of 2D cabins as they are all guarantees on this sailing but hopefully if they sell way more guarantees than they have 2D cabins this will increase the chances of a 2C or higher (well for everyone so not sure if that's a good or bad thing.)

Cassicruiser,

Is this for the April 1st cruise?

Seems like it is close to full, as are the following Syd-Honolulu, Honolulu to Vancouver cruises, which may mean they may wait till after final payment to see what cabins are available.

I booked solstice just after final payment and had my cabin allocated within 24 hours, I kept an eye on cabin availability, so if we were allocated a less than desirable cabin I was going to call to change ( we booked through a US TA though). But we were happy with our allocation so left it as it was.

Cassicruiser,

Is this for the April 1st cruise?

Seems like it is close to full, as are the following Syd-Honolulu, Honolulu to Vancouver cruises, which may mean they may wait till after final payment to see what cabins are available.

 

I booked solstice just after final payment and had my cabin allocated within 24 hours, I kept an eye on cabin availability, so if we were allocated a less than desirable cabin I was going to call to change ( we booked through a US TA though). But we were happy with our allocation so left it as it was.

Yes it is :)

How do you tell whether it's full or not? I have looked online and see quite a few cabins showing but never quite sure.

With my previous cruises I have booked through a US TA a few times, far more flexibility, but with the AUS $ being so low the price was the same in US$ as it was in AU$ so far more expensive once you convert. I wound up booking direct through Celebrity in Aus as they had a $25 deposit special rather than the usual $800, in addition to $400 OBC so a really good deal. It seems though, that if I get a lousy allocation I cant change it, but it was $500 more for an unobstructed balcony so I figured worth doing the guarantee and hoping for the best.

What allocation did you wind up with for your cruise?

So I've just checked again, and it seems there may have been a website issue yesterday when I looked :rolleyes:

Indeed there is quite a lot of balconies available, However there is some good news.....there are currently

2d-0

2c-5

2b-0

2a-0

1c-25

1b-25

1a-26

Sv-7

So if you haven't been already allocated it is most definitely top heavy with cat 1 cabins, so your chances of a non obstructed (or at least 2c) is high.

When I booked my solstice cruise, I checked for cabin availability daily and watched the allocation go down gradually. We booked a concierge guarantee and were allocated a c3, deck 10 about 8 cabins from aft. We could have moved further forward but we actually liked the idea of a little walk each day and loved the location.

If you search for cruise and offers, it should bring up a website which shows all availability ;)

Last year I booked a reflection cruise through an Australian TA, after a big price drop we managed to change our room from a 2b to an A1, after a little bit of negotiation, so although celebrity Australia doesn't always allow you to change cabins, they have for us In the past.

Good luck!

Hi Cassie,

Good to hear you are going to try the Solstice - you will love it:)

Once your cabin has been allocated, you can change it within your category, provided of course there are cabins available.

All the best,

Di

Hi Cassie,

 

Good to hear you are going to try the Solstice - you will love it:)

 

Once your cabin has been allocated, you can change it within your category, provided of course there are cabins available.

 

All the best,

Di

Hi Di! Its been awhile, nice to see you on the boards again...

Looking forward to Solstice, since our Radiance cruise we have had 2 fabulous cruises on Celebrity Millennium (Asia and Alaska) and preferred Celebrity to Radiance. This time taking my Mum on a long awaited vacation and leaving hubby and kids behind.

Hope you're well and enjoying your cruising lifestlye!

So I've just checked again, and it seems there may have been a website issue yesterday when I looked :rolleyes:

Indeed there is quite a lot of balconies available, However there is some good news.....there are currently

2d-0

2c-5

2b-0

2a-0

1c-25

1b-25

1a-26

Sv-7

So if you haven't been already allocated it is most definitely top heavy with cat 1 cabins, so your chances of a non obstructed (or at least 2c) is high.

When I booked my solstice cruise, I checked for cabin availability daily and watched the allocation go down gradually. We booked a concierge guarantee and were allocated a c3, deck 10 about 8 cabins from aft. We could have moved further forward but we actually liked the idea of a little walk each day and loved the location.

If you search for cruise and offers, it should bring up a website which shows all availability ;)

Last year I booked a reflection cruise through an Australian TA, after a big price drop we managed to change our room from a 2b to an A1, after a little bit of negotiation, so although celebrity Australia doesn't always allow you to change cabins, they have for us In the past.

Good luck!

Thanks Gogo for this fabulously informative post! I did a google search and found what you suggested! Great site, none of the others are as comprehensive in showing availability. So if your theory is correct, it seems that the longer it takes the better off we may be? Only thing that puzzles me is that there are 0 2D cabins showing, but I wonder if they hold these for guarantee bookings or if people actually book these (as why would you really?)

You have been very lucky to have been allowed any changes with an Aus TA - especially involving a price drop.

I watched that site for weeks prior to booking my recent solstice cruise. I wrote down all the available cabins in concierge and watched, when we were allocated we were allocated one of the available cabins. They numbers seemed to drop twice a week, I can't remember exactly but the pattern suggested that groups of available cabins were allocated twice a week, with the occasional single cabin disappearing from the inventory(assuming someone booking a particular cabin rather than a guarantee)

I would think that the 2d's are all gone, the occasional one may pop up as people cancel etc remember that lots of people just book the cheapest cabin in the category so the 2d's would traditionally go first.

Just my theory....

Sounds like a good theory to me. I'll be very happy with a 2C and thrilled with anything higher. I booked knowing a 2D was a possibility but still hoping to get lucky.... hopefully those with 2Ds will keep them and not cancel.

I'm going to do what you did as an experiment, (quite fun actually) and I'll come back and let you know what pans out.

Oh my Gosh!!! I posted my last comment about 10 minutes ago before checking the Celebrity site this morning. Just went in and checked and suddenly we have been allocated! and..... we got a 1B! Deck 8 on the hump a few away from the elevators! I am completely thrilled!!!!

I would have enjoyed doing your experiment Gogo - but am so happy with my allocation.

Now the question is - what is the likelihood of it being changed/downgraded? Is there anything I can do to prevent this - ie call Celebrity and ask them to put a no changes note or something?

Oh my Gosh!!! I posted my last comment about 10 minutes ago before checking the Celebrity site this morning. Just went in and checked and suddenly we have been allocated! and..... we got a 1B! Deck 8 on the hump a few away from the elevators! I am completely thrilled!!!!

 

I would have enjoyed doing your experiment Gogo - but am so happy with my allocation.

 

Now the question is - what is the likelihood of it being changed/downgraded? Is there anything I can do to prevent this - ie call Celebrity and ask them to put a no changes note or something?

they wont downgrade you but you can be moved again but if your happy with your cabin location ring your TA and ask not be moved again