Any Tips? We are considering booking Verandah "guarantee" on "Odyssey" Panama Canal

My husband and I are trying to figure out if it's worth rolling the dice and booking the Late December cruise thru the Panama Canal in the "guarantee" category. Does anyone have experience with this? We've been on one Seabourn cruise before so not a lot of previous membership points on this line. Thanks in advance for any input. Virginia

Try the search function on this topic. This subject has recently been discussed in great detail. Whether there are truly any terrible suites is a matter of opinion. The bottom line is are you willing to accept any suite assigned to you? If the answer is yes then go for the lottery and you might get a higher grade suite.

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Lots of advice on numerous threads regarding guarantee vs. getting the suite you want. If you roll the dice you might get a 7 when you are trying to make a point. Or you might throw a 'Yo' on a come out, just as in craps, there is no way to predict. Myself and others prefer to know what we have vs. hoping for a good location. We did the Canal last year and the seas were mostly smooth so if you want to risk being near the anchor, under the pool deck, or next to a service door, it's your choice. I'd rather know none of those are applicable personally, but everyone has their priorities.

Have no problems booking a guarantee, as long as you are aware that when they allocate you cannot change.

We did the Canal on the Odyssey last year. The weather was so warm and humid sitting on the veranda was not always pleasant. And transiting the canal itself, we wanted to be topside so we could see both sides. So, the veranda is OK, but not worth giving up a lot to get it, in my opinion.

We did the Canal on the Odyssey last year. The weather was so warm and humid sitting on the veranda was not always pleasant. And transiting the canal itself, we wanted to be topside so we could see both sides. So, the veranda is OK, but not worth giving up a lot to get it, in my opinion.

We did it on the Odyssey in 2011-2012 and had an Ocean view suite. It was fine. The ship really is user friendly on the common decks. As mentioned above, the topside offers views of both sides. I would not be hesitant to go again without a veranda, but if you go with a Gty then the concerns some have of getting a noisy neighbor might be a greater concern than actual location. IMO there are no "Bad" suites. We are on the ship on the A prior to your sailing and have taken a GTY. perhaps my opinion will change AFTER that experience, but the cost vs chance of poor suite is in your favor. Use the money saved for excursions!

If you don't care about having a tub in the bathroom .... We don't wAnt to be assigned an accessible cabin for that reason

We are on that Panama Canal cruise and decided to choose a cabin and spend more. Worth it to us. Planning to bounce my lady check anyway.

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Cc won't let me edit. I meant last check

Also you run the risk of getting a connecting cabin. We don't want that

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Agree, for me not having a bathtub would be a big drawback. And while others have had no issue from their neighbors in connecting suites we once did and thus that is off the list as well.

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Agree, for me not having a bathtub would be a big drawback. And while others have had no issue from their neighbors in connecting suites we once did and thus that is off the list as well.

Totally agree w/ you, and as I stated in my post there are other undesirable, IMHO, suites you could wind up having w/ no option to change. The only time we had a GTY was on the 1st segment of a World Cruise a few years ago - there was no other choice unless you booked the whole trip which time did not allow, luckily we wound up with a very good suite, made better by the wonderful neighbors we met. But I would not have booked that suite if I had a choice, given how far forward - albeit on deck 8 which is my favorite - it was. But some people might not care since there are a lot of folks apparently who save the $ and take the risk. To each their own and I wish the OP the best of luck in what gets assigned.

We did the Canal last year and the seas were mostly smooth so if you want to risk being near the anchor,.

What do you mean being near the anchor?

I could understand the noise of the anchor going down early in the morning waking you especially with a lot of tender ports

I heard of people complaining about the whoosh with the waves going up into the anchor well all night on the Quest a couple of years ago. I don't know where the passengers cabins were on even what deck, maybe deck 5?

We have a guarantee coming up and would be interested in your response

This would be a concern for me if this whooshing actually happened

Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful comments and input. No guarantee GTY for us. But what does IMHO stand for?

In my humble opinion!

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Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful comments and input. No guarantee GTY for us. But what does IMHO stand for?

And join our tiny roll call if you book

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Thanks, I will join your Forum. We're booking on Seabourn Panama Canal December voyage today.

What do you mean being near the anchor?

I could understand the noise of the anchor going down early in the morning waking you especially with a lot of tender ports

I heard of people complaining about the whoosh with the waves going up into the anchor well all night on the Quest a couple of years ago. I don't know where the passengers cabins were on even what deck, maybe deck 5?

We have a guarantee coming up and would be interested in your response

This would be a concern for me if this whooshing actually happened

I can't speak to the "whooshing", actually have not heard of that complaint :) but there are suites as you noted, deck 4 / 5 in particular forward, that are near the anchor so when the ship is anchoring in the morning you may be disturbed if trying to sleep in past when the ship anchors. If you are an early riser will not be an issue and depending on how many tender ports you have. I've stayed on Deck 5 mid-ship and heard it on occasion.

We were in suite 511 on the Quest for 21 days and didn't hear anything except anchor noise a couple of times which was fine with us

I thought that that the waves going up into the anchor well was strange as the waves weren't bad

511 is far enough midship to avoid the worst of it. 503, 4, 5 are a different story.

So you could actually hear this whooshing sound

I have never heard of anybody mentioning it before but we have been very lucky with all the ships we have been on and always had calm oceans bar a few hours coming back from Antarctica on the Quest where this sound was mentioned

Our sailing in January around Asia is going to be calm so we will not have any troubles if we end up with one of those forward cabins :)

I have sailed on Quest in a very forward deck 4 suite and the choosing we heard was the bow thruster on docking. No big issue, got me up mice and early for coffee and croissant. Lovely

I have sailed on Quest in a very forward deck 4 suite and the choosing we heard was the bow thruster on docking. No big issue, got me up mice and early for coffee and croissant. Lovely

Don't have a problem with the bow thrusters

It was just that these other people said they had this whooshing with the waves going up into the anchor well all night and couldn't sleep

But it seems nobody else has heard this