GTY rate outcomes: post 'em here!

Post your experiences with booking a Guarantee (GTY) rate. I've had generally positive experiences and am curious what other results us CCers have had. Perhaps this will help others decide if booking a GTY is right for them (though we know there is no rhyme or reason it is always good to know what outcomes have been).

Ship.........GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

Breakaway...IX...............IB................... .....5833

Initially we weren't thrilled with the assignment. Low floor, as far back as you could go, etc. But we ended up LOVING this room. We liked the extra space in the room, and how close we were to stairs/elevators (especially since the ship is so large). No complaints about movement or noise here!

Balcony guaranty on Jewel got cabin 10008 (forward)

We did it once on the Sky with friends of ours. We ended up with a far aft cabin in the same Cat, they ended up with a far bow cabin, same Cat. We wouldn't do it again.

We will generally do a guaranteed balcony. We have never had a "bad" balcony.

Last summer we booked a guaranteed balcony on the Getaway and were upgraded to a Spa balcony. Which allowed us unlimited access to the spa, which we enjoyed, but probably wouldn't have paid an extra $200 pp for.

Never cruised before but booked BX deck 9 and our docs said GTY for the longest time. Now have 9251 and 17 days to board! Sky.

Breakaway inside cabin IX ,guarantee ,assigned family stateroom #9451

Jade BX next month.

One BC, one BD.

Going on Breakaway next month. Booked a balcony guarantee, ended up getting a mid-ship mini-suite.

Friends sailing on the Breakaway CTN this weekend with us booked a MX Minisuite GTY and a couple days after booking got assigned a H9 Haven Spa Suite.

Ship: Sun

Guarantee: OX Partially Obstructed Oceanview Porthole Window

Assigned: OG Oceanview Porthole Window 4002

Ship: POA

Booked : BX - balcony

Assigned: BF - forward

Friends sailing on the Breakaway CTN this weekend with us booked a MX Minisuite GTY and a couple days after booking got assigned a H9 Haven Spa Suite.

WOW, that's awesome!!

A member on our cruise critic group was traveling solo and booked an inside gty. She ended up in a handicapped inside which was probably the size of our suite!

NCL Jade, Jan 2014, 21 day back to back. Last minute Inside gty reservations for both kegs. Inside cabins assigned for both legs. Yes, we had to switch cabins.

MSC Divina Sept 2014, 7 day. Booked inside gty. Upgraded to large, sideways balcony with two TV's and oversized balcony.

Celebrity Infinity December 2014, 16 day. Two cabins Booked OV (minimum required to get the free classic alcohol package). Both cabins upgraded to standard verandahs (balcony) still in requested midship location.

Ship...........................GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

NCL Getaway..................BX................BD.......................9284

This was our first time doing a GTY. We are sailing on 1/31/15, just booked on 1/2/15, got cabin assignment right away.

Do you think booking a GTY so close to sailing date makes a difference in the chances of getting those awesome upgrade cabin assignments I'm reading about?

I do realize GTY's are a gamble. But has anyone had any experiences changing their GTY cabin assignment, if you were truly unhappy with it? (Please be nice, no need for lectures).

We booked a GTY balcony (BX) on the Jewel. We were assigned a handicap-accessible balcony (B2) on Deck 9. Will enjoy the extra room.

Booked our very first NCL cruise on the Breakaway with a GTY (BX) the second week in December. Sail date was December 28th, 2014. Super lucky to book a Spa Balcony on Deck 14 (Cabin 14100). It was so far removed from everything and VERY quiet.

Nice room - only issue with crew members loudly talking in front of our door at 6:45am - but it was addressed and didn't happen again afterward. No noise from anywhere else. Pretty nice!

It was a terrific room -in spite of a few misfires with poor cleaning on the embarkation day and a plumbing issue on Day 2, everything was fine after that.

Our cabin was the only good thing about the cruise.

My son and his gf booked inside GTY on breakaway assigned inside deck 5 then prices fell upgraded for free to balcony GTY got cabin on deck 13 then prices fell again upgraded for free to a mini suite gty was assigned a great cabin on deck 10 mini suite right near elevators and stairs. All for the price of an inside GTY.

Friends sailing on the Breakaway CTN this weekend with us booked a MX Minisuite GTY and a couple days after booking got assigned a H9 Haven Spa Suite.

We just booked Jewel for 1/31 for a GTY MX mini-suite. I hope we are this lucky!

Booked 2 mini suite guarantee and received 11010 and 11014 near stairs and elevators. Sailing this week!

 

I do realize GTY's are a gamble. But has anyone had any experiences changing their GTY cabin assignment, if you were truly unhappy with it? (Please be nice, no need for lectures).

NO. We have sailed 17+ cruises, and the HUFE majority were inside guarantee cabins. We assume we will get the worst cabin on the ship - after all, that IS exactly what we have paid for. If that is acceptable to us, we've done fine. If it's not acceptable, then we should not do guarantees. Typically, we just get a slightly better located inside cabin.

BTW, we've NEVER had a bad cruise using this logic. And only once ended up with the lowest end cabin on our guarantee level (RCCL, which was our worst cruise, and we've never sailed again).

T

It would be great if folks replied using a standard reply with verbiage under the basic data; that way someone could look at this thread in the future and have historical data that may be relevant to them as to whether they roll the dice with a GTY:

Ship.........Week/Period.....GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

It would be great if folks replied using a standard reply with verbiage under the basic data; that way someone could look at this thread in the future and have historical data that may be relevant to them as to whether they roll the dice with a GTY:

 

Ship.........Week/Period.....GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

Like I'm gonna remember all that stuff from 17+ cruises taken over a 20+ year period of time?!!? Hell, I don't even remember EXACTLY how many cruises we've taken, let alone the dates, cabin numbers, etc.

Our last cruise was a package deal on the Getaway. Packages are all IX. We got room 5633 aft, which was a fine room except for some engine noise on a rough sea day.

Its also a lot of stairs to the buffet! ;)

We always book GTY usually OV & have done so on multiple lines. Other than one time when we got a handicapped cabin where the bathroom leaked, we have always been happy enough with our cabin. It's usually the obstructed view or closer to the elevators & usually on a lower deck.

We're not awake in the cabin much so we don't care. We'd rather spend money on excursions or at the bar.