Assignment of Cabins

[nybabs]

How far in advance does HAL release the assigned cabins for guarantees? We have VH guarantee.

[TracieABD]

We got ours 9 days before sailing.:)

[Kween Karen]

Anywhere from a couple of weeks out to right at the pier! You never know......kind of a fun adventure!

[SandRaven]

On our first cruise (Westerdam), we got our assignment on the pier. Last time around, it was 9 days before cruise day!

[family cruisers]

Has anyone ever gotten a really good upgrade with a guarantee on HAL ?

We booked the lowest category basically , HH Obstructed view . We're not expecting anything other than what we booked.

Just curious.

[jtl513]

The peak of the assignment bell curve seems to fall about 10 days out.

 

Has anyone ever gotten a really good upgrade with a guarantee on HAL ?

Our best (of seven upgrades) was from a VH to a VA.

[TracieABD]

We went from a BB to an A. It was nice, but I would have been happy with the BB!:)

[utahtea]

We received an email from Holland America 10 days before our cruise that starts this Saturday on the Zuiderdam and we were upgraded from the VH stateroom to a VB Stateroom. :)

[Jemima]

Upgrades are usually to the same type of cabin. Inside to a higher category inside, oceanview (included obstructed & partially obstructed) to a higher category outside, veranda to a higher category veranda, suite to a higher category suite. If your guarantee is one of the higher categories of that type of cabin, you may be upgraded inside to ocean view or ocean view to veranda.

Our next cruise is an FF guarantee (unobstructed ocean view) on an S class ship. I'm guessing we'll be assigned anything from an FF to a D with an E or F being most likely. This will be our 14th HAL cruise with a guarantee so I'm passing the guesses on past experience. We've also been offered upsells to a veranda on two of our cruises.

[family cruisers]

I'm curious to see what we get. Again we're not expecting anything other than what we paid for BUT it wouldn't hurt :-)

[123dwj]

Just received our cabin assignment for our Alaska cruise leaving on August 8th. So 12 days out and we were upgraded from a guaranteed VH Balcony to a VB Balcony! I must say we are pleased!

[babygirl722]

I booked an H guaranty for the 8/8 Veendam sailing and nothing yet. TA called HAL today and was told there are no available cabins or upgrades. I guess at this point they are waiting for cancellations. This should be interesting!

[jtl513]

I booked an H guaranty for the 8/8 Veendam sailing and nothing yet. TA called HAL today and was told there are no available cabins or upgrades. I guess at this point they are waiting for cancellations. This should be interesting!

You'll probably get yours in the next 3 days. Cancellations aren't needed - they have a place for you! :)

[cruisemom42]

Upgrades are usually to the same type of cabin. Inside to a higher category inside, oceanview (included obstructed & partially obstructed) to a higher category outside, veranda to a higher category veranda, suite to a higher category suite. If your guarantee is one of the higher categories of that type of cabin, you may be upgraded inside to ocean view or ocean view to veranda.

Our next cruise is an FF guarantee (unobstructed ocean view) on an S class ship. I'm guessing we'll be assigned anything from an FF to a D with an E or F being most likely. This will be our 14th HAL cruise with a guarantee so I'm passing the guesses on past experience. We've also been offered upsells to a veranda on two of our cruises.

 

Since I have a guarantee, I'm curious about upsells. Are they generally a good deal? A really good deal? Or just slightly less than regular value?

[Bill S]

For our last cruise, this past January, we booked a Cat C guarantee on the Volendam and wound up with a Cat BB verandah. The best we ever got on with a guarantee booking was from a Cat SY to a Cat SA-this was on the Oosterdam.:D

[bob brown]

I would hold off on purchasing an upsell, unless you think it's an exceptional deal. I had bought the lowest inside guarantee some years back, and as sail date approached, was contacted three times by HAL offering an upsell, each time for less cost. I declined.

Two days before sailing, I was assigned a nice midship ocean view.

HAL probably had too many guarantee's to fulfill, and gave me at no cost what they had tried to sell me.

[sierramyst44]

For our 8/1 cruise we received our upsell letter on 7/20. We grabbed the offer as we originally booked MM GTY and took an upsell to an Aft "A" Verandah. We felt the price was good and did not want to take a chance of declining and not getting a second offer.

[adkkev]

For our 8/1 cruise we received our upsell letter on 7/20. We grabbed the offer as we originally booked MM GTY and took an upsell to an Aft "A" Verandah. We felt the price was good and did not want to take a chance of declining and not getting a second offer.

 

newbie questions ... :confused:

 

Does HAL typically send out an "upsell letter", or is this a hit or miss kinda thing?

 

And since we booked through a TA, does that mean that the TA would be contacted for any upgrades/upsells, or would HAL contact us?

 

Thanks!

[jtl513]

Since I have a guarantee, I'm curious about upsells. Are they generally a good deal? A really good deal? Or just slightly less than regular value?

Sometimes they are good deals and sometimes not. We declined the only upsell offer we ever got.

 

Does HAL typically send out an "upsell letter", or is this a hit or miss kinda thing?

 

And since we booked through a TA, does that mean that the TA would be contacted for any upgrades/upsells, or would HAL contact us?

It's hit or miss. It depends what kind of cabin you have and what HAL needs, and whether somebody else with your kind of cabin accepted an offer before they got to your name on the list.

 

Any offer will come through your TA.

[Caroniaguy]

We have done Guarantee Cabins on all but 2 cruises and have always been pleased with the final result. It is a roll of the dice and I suppose that it is possible to get a less than stellar cabin, particularly if the ship is sailing full. The last time we sailed on HAL we booked an outside GA cabin obstructed view and were put into an outside cabin, partially obstructed (we were on the prom deck with a cut out view in the side of the ship) we found this was not a problem. It was considered partially obstructed since the view did not go all the way to the deck but was like looking out a picture window. We cruise again in September and have a GA outside unobstructed so it'll be anybody's guess what we'll get....whatever it is I know we'll be very satisfied...HAL has always taken good care of us. Never had an upsell letter or call...I usually troll the internet cruise sights and if I find a better deal than what I have booked, it's a fast call to my TA. Did that a few years ago and got an 11 category upgrade for the same price as an inside (of course this was on Celebrity not HAL but it was a wonderful upgrade...inside to Concierge Balcony Suite!).

[luvs2travl]

Since I have a guarantee, I'm curious about upsells. Are they generally a good deal? A really good deal? Or just slightly less than regular value?

 

I guess that would be dependant on what you would consider a good deal. Our first upsell was in 2007 from an SS to an SA for $300pp - we grabbed it and were sold on the Deluxe suites. Last year, we booked another SS (on board booking) and were given an upsell (again) to an SA (on the Oosterdam), this time for $400pp. It was a bit more than we paid the first time, but we took it as it was still far below what we could have originally booked.

 

We have an SA on the Westerdam for our August sailing, but got a great deal on that through our TA because of a group booking he had on board.

 

Some posters here have been offered an upsell from a Deluxe Verandah to the Penthouse Suite for something like $4000 and have turned it down. I would've done the same thing! Definitely not worth that kind of $$$, IMHO.

 

You would have to decide if an upsell from an ocean view to verandah cabin, for example, would be worth it to you. Would you utilize the balcony? Do you spend a lot of time in your cabin where you might value the extra room? Need a larger bathroom? Those type things. Some folks only use their cabin to change clothes & sleep. Others love to lounge or read or nap on their balconies & watch the world go by! Personally, we have only cruised once in a cabin without a balcony - we love sitting out there with our coffee or wine - reading & relaxing, etc...

 

Like so many things, it is all subjective. :)

[sierramyst44]

Upsell offer came via Email for us went from inside MM up to A Veranda for $349 PP we felt the extra square footage and a full bath along with the balcany was worth the extra $

[trouble1964]

Is there a thread somewhere that explains what the class of cabins are? I mean like C, B, SA, SS, etc?

[jiminyC_fan]

trouble1964, I love your question. It's soooo confusing reading all the "letters" since this is the first on HAL but not to cruising. Every cruiseline is so different that I get confused. We have a gty FF but I wouldn't honestly understand what "letters" would be a benefit to us if offered and upgrade. I think it means where the cabin is located on the ship plus with oceanview obstructed or non obstructed.

[jtl513]

Is there a thread somewhere that explains what the class of cabins are? I mean like C, B, SA, SS, etc?

I think the quickest way to understand the cabin classes is to look at deck plans. There you will see:

 

Vista ships (Noordam, Westerdam, Oosterdam, Zuiderdam) and

Signature ships (Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam)

PS - Penthouse

SA, SB, SC - three levels of Deluxe Suites - the biggest below Penthouse, with many amenities

SS, SY, SZ - three levels of Superior Suites - the biggest below Deluxe, and lacking many of the amenities

VA, VB, .... VH - seven levels of verandah with the VA being those HAL deems to be in the most desirable locations down to VH, the least desirable

C, D, DD, E, .... GG - nine levels of outside cabins with decreasing degrees of desirable locations or features (the lowest four have partially or fully obstructed views)

I, J, .... NN - 8 levels of inside cabins decreasing in location or size

 

R-Class or S-Class ships (anything except the Prinsendam, Vista, or Signature ships)

PS - Penthouse

S, SA, or SB - Deluxe Veranda Suites analogous to SA, SB, SC above

A, BQ, B, BA, BB, BC - Veranda Suites analogous to VA ... VH above

CA, CQ, C, D, .... HH - Outsides - "best" locations to least. The lowest have partial or full view obstructions

IQ, I, J, ... NN - Insides