Booking a guarantee cabin onboard

[grayjay]

We are planning to book two more cruises while onboard "Solstice" in May and I have two rather special questions:

- Is there still that nice upgrade for Concierge cabins available? In one of the threads I've read that they were taken out of the programme. I was planning to book "Infinity" again for a 2014 cruise - all that lovely onboard credit plus Captain's Club reduction :) ...

- There are quite interesting offers regarding Med cruises for summer and fall right now and we are considering taking a GTY balcony for the first time. So I was wondering: what happens when you book a GTY cabin onboard ? Do you still get an upgrade - how would that be possible anyway???? - or is it just OBC you'll get?

Thank you for your answers.

[grayjay]

Sorry to be a bother ;):o - am pushing my questions up again - can somebody help to answer my questions? If not I'll book my GTY cabin for the Med before boarding and ask about Concierge cabins onboard - but it's always nice to know something before you enter the sales rep's office!

Thank you again.

[Gonzo70]

I do not believe you would receive an automatic upgrade if you book a guarantee; I do not think that would be even possible. Are guarantees available for the cruise you are planning to book? They are not offered on all sailings and usually they are not available until somewhat close to sailing date. You can no longer use the free upgrades to upgrade to a C1 category.

[ORV]

You can no longer use the free upgrades to upgrade to a C1 category.

 

I've seen this mentioned in a couple of threads, yet I've seen others that say they've still been able to do it. I may have missed it but has there been an official statement on this or something that is in the on board booking information?

 

Can you go to the C2? I'd like to see the guidelines on this.

[Chunky2219]

Help me here, but I can't for the life of me understand why someone would book a guarantee cabin early.

 

If you are coming in at the early prices, you can pick your cabin and make sure it is forward / central / aft / facing the sights / away from the stairs / whatever takes your fancy. You still have the chance of later upgrades unless you specifically state you don't want one and there is no risk of getting a duff cabin if you stick in grade.

 

Later, when guarantees become more widely promoted (and usually the prices for them have dropped) they are a great idea. I always try and book a low price late guarantee with lines in the Carnival Group because they don't honour price drops; but this isn't the case with Celebrity - they do honour drops (in the UK at least) and I can book early with reasonable confidence.

 

By the same token, I'm stuggling to understand the idea of booking on board unless there are massive OBC benefits. My TA invariably beats the official price by a thumping margin and even though I always take the time to look, I've never booked directly with a cruise line.

 

.

.

[grayjay]

Help me here, but I can't for the life of me understand why someone would book a guarantee cabin early.

 

If you are coming in at the early prices, you can pick your cabin and make sure it is forward / central / aft / facing the sights / away from the stairs / whatever takes your fancy. You still have the chance of later upgrades unless you specifically state you don't want one and there is no risk of getting a duff cabin if you stick in grade.

 

Later, when guarantees become more widely promoted (and usually the prices for them have dropped) they are a great idea. I always try and book a low price late guarantee with lines in the Carnival Group because they don't honour price drops; but this isn't the case with Celebrity - they do honour drops (in the UK at least) and I can book early with reasonable confidence.

 

By the same token, I'm stuggling to understand the idea of booking on board unless there are massive OBC benefits. My TA invariably beats the official price by a thumping margin and even though I always take the time to look, I've never booked directly with a cruise line.

 

.

.

 

Well, it's quite easy to explain why we're considering a Guarantee cabin for October in the Med this early in the season: there's a current promo offering all kinds of balcony guarantees with substantial reductions. If I can get a Concierge guarantee for 1000 Euros p.P. plus Onboard Credit by the Cruise line ( even if I lose shareholder benefits that way ) and a regular CC cabin costs 1600-1800 Euros p.P., I'm quite willing to gamble a bit. If the prices should drop I can still switch to another category and pay for an upgrade where I can choose a cabin.And usually you can't go wrong with Concierge class.

It seems to be a new policy of Celebrity's ( at least here in Europe) to keep the regular prices for cabins quite high; there are less price drops but more GTY prices.

Booking onboard usually has given you a nice upgrade ( we were able to get a C1 cabin :D for the price of a C 3 and the prices for that cruise have RISEN tremendously!!) up to now. I also wanted to use the new Captain's Club promo that is combinable with other benefits. And it's one of those cruises (South America and Panama canal) where I want to choose a nice cabin quite early in the game.