sevenhearths

Retiring on 4/19, less than 2 weeks!

Guess I have been lucky. I have been ugraded 3 out of 4 cruises- with 1 cruise I chose the stateroom and got what I paid for.

The first cruise I paid for an inside guarantee and got upgraded to an outside cabin with porthole. The second cruise I opted for a specific room, and that's what I got- what I had chosen. The third cruise was DH's first cruise and also our anniversary- I paid for an inside guarantee and got a balcony with obstructed view and french doors. The cruise I'm going on in a few weeks, I paid for an inside guarantee, and when I got my docs this was what I was getting, however, after hearing my DH's comments of our previous cruise and wanting to be able to hear the ocean from the stateroom, I decided to upgrade to a balcony guarantee (8) and was upgraded to yes a balcony, but with wrap deck, which is considered to be 4 levels higher and $300 pp more that what I paid....... so I guess it depends on what you're willing to spend and what is available and luck of the draw.... I lucked out twice when paying for an inside cabin guarantee and getting bumped to an outside cabin- but I'm sure if one keeps buying the lowest fare, one is bound to get it.

As most of the people allued to, spend the lowest amount of money on the cabin grade (a guarantee) that you're willing to "live in" for the time of your cruise. It is the rare that you pay for the lowest room and get a suite!

A note: each of my cruises have been with Carnival and have not yet tried any other cruiselines.