How about switching TO a Guarantee

[HouseRulz]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

When I booked, I selected the lowest category of veranda stateroom, and I also clicked the button that says willing to be upgraded. I didn't even realize until now that there was also a stateroom selected (was surprised when I got my confirmation).

 

So has anyone tried to go from assigned to guarantee? I'm not sure if it is truly not possible, or if that's the response to be expected when you call at 6:58 PDT.

[DAllenTCY]

I'm not sure why you would want to switch. Can you give a sailing date, itinerary or some other info?

David

[andeesue]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

When I booked, I selected the lowest category of veranda stateroom, and I also clicked the button that says willing to be upgraded. I didn't even realize until now that there was also a stateroom selected (was surprised when I got my confirmation).

 

So has anyone tried to go from assigned to guarantee? I'm not sure if it is truly not possible, or if that's the response to be expected when you call at 6:58 PDT.

 

I've changed from an assigned to a guarantee when I noticed prices had gone down. What happened was that my original booking was cancelled, and a new booking started. This was before final payment, and there was no penalty. I ended up with a better cabin at a lower price... it was a guarantee and I was upgraded to a higher category.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

When I booked, I selected the lowest category of veranda stateroom, and I also clicked the button that says willing to be upgraded. I didn't even realize until now that there was also a stateroom selected (was surprised when I got my confirmation).

 

So has anyone tried to go from assigned to guarantee? I'm not sure if it is truly not possible, or if that's the response to be expected when you call at 6:58 PDT.

Did you purchase on line from HAL? Or from an On Line TA? If from HAL call them tomorrow and just ask to switch it to a Guarantee. If you booked with an on line TA that you just booked it yourself with no assistance, many have restrictions for changes and may charge you a fee to do this be sure to ask them. But to answer your questions YES it can be done and is probably a good move and a better chance of getting a higher category. Selecting a cabin and stating you are willing to except an upgrade gives you less than a 1% chance.

[0bnxshs]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

When I booked, I selected the lowest category of veranda stateroom, and I also clicked the button that says willing to be upgraded. I didn't even realize until now that there was also a stateroom selected (was surprised when I got my confirmation).

 

So has anyone tried to go from assigned to guarantee? I'm not sure if it is truly not possible, or if that's the response to be expected when you call at 6:58 PDT.

 

I'm of the understanding you can have both... I am booked on the Prinsendam for May of 2013, have an assigned cabin (AA112) but also can be upgraded, not that it happens often on Prinsendam... at least that's what the HAL rep told me. I did book through HAL, BTW.

[HouseRulz]

Thanks for all of the quick responses.

 

I'm booked on the Eurodam for July 4th.

 

I just booked about 3 days ago, and when I went to take care of the check-in information I noticed the cabin number. Clearly way to early for guarantees to be assigned, so I called and inquired.

 

Agent said I had selected a cabin at booking, and that was that.

 

I will call tomorrow at a time when folks aren't 2 minutes away from the end of their shift and see what can be done.

[djhsolara]

As long as you are before final payment it is my understanding that it can be done.

 

On our Eurodam sailing we had originally booked a specific stateroom but then decided that we could save about $400 by doing a guarantee. We went from VH to Balcony guarantee. We knew at that point that we could end up with any balcony stateroom, so we perused the deck plans with a fine tooth comb to be sure that there was not ANY stateroom in the balcony category that would not be satisfactory to us. We ended up in a VB...so a very nice guarantee result for us with a nice savings from what we originally thought we'd be spending.

 

Best wishes!!

 

 

Douglas...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[serendipity1499]

Thanks for all of the quick responses.

 

I'm booked on the Eurodam for July 4th.

 

I just booked about 3 days ago, and when I went to take care of the check-in information I noticed the cabin number. Clearly way to early for guarantees to be assigned, so I called and inquired.

 

Agent said I had selected a cabin at booking, and that was that.

 

I will call tomorrow at a time when folks aren't 2 minutes away from the end of their shift and see what can be done.

 

Did you pay in full when you booked it as isn't it now in the penalty phase?

If so, not sure you will be able t switch to a guarantee, but as Lisa mentioned call Hal tomorrow..There is no harm in asking..

Cheers...:)Betty

[HouseRulz]

Did you pay in full when you booked it as isn't it now in the penalty phase?

If so, not sure you will be able t switch to a guarantee, but as Lisa mentioned call Hal tomorrow..There is no harm in asking..

Cheers...:)Betty

 

I did indeed pay in full.

I will just point out that I did not intend to select a cabin, and if that doesn't work I will mention that I am more than open to an upgrade.

 

Thanks again all for the advice.

[PathfinderEss]

If it is before final payment anything is possible, you just need to talk to your TA.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since you have paid in full -- all you can do is ask. Just make certain that this agent doesn't talk you into something and then suddenly charges you a fee for making a change.

Let us know what happens.

[kazu]

I'm of the understanding you can have both... I am booked on the Prinsendam for May of 2013, have an assigned cabin (AA112) but also can be upgraded, not that it happens often on Prinsendam... at least that's what the HAL rep told me. I did book through HAL, BTW.

 

Rich - Lisa is on her cruise I believe;) Yes, you could still be upgraded. Usually the Prinsendam sells out but last year it didn't and some of our roll call got very nice upsell offers :)

[cruz chic]

I did indeed pay in full.

I will just point out that I did not intend to select a cabin, and if that doesn't work I will mention that I am more than open to an upgrade.

 

Thanks again all for the advice.

If you do end up booking a VH guarantee just be advised on the Eurodam you can end up with the VT or VQ room. I found that out the hard way and in my opinion the VT's are a poor excuse for a balcony.

[catl331]

If it is before final payment anything is possible, you just need to talk to your TA.

He said he's sailing July 4th. That's 56 days from today.

 

If you do end up booking a VH guarantee just be advised on the Eurodam you can end up with the VT or VQ room.

With any level verandah guarantee he could end up in a VQ since they're the "top". :eek:

[cruz chic]

With any level verandah guarantee he could end up in a VQ since they're the "top". :eek:

That is true but it's much better than the VT's but still not great.

[HouseRulz]

Just reporting back. After I got the very curt "It's not possible last night," I called back a few minutes ago, and the agent changed it in about 20 seconds.

 

Since there has been an interesting discussion about the V cabins on the Eurodam, I thought I would comment.

 

When I sailed on her back in 2009, I really gave a lot of thought to the guarantee because of the VT cabins. I figured with only 10 of those it was worth the risk and we ended up with VA4132 which is on the Upper-Promenade, but has a huge balcony. Having breakfast out there each morning was a real treat, but not one I would pay $1000 for at this point. Frankly, as long as we have a sitting balcony I do not really care where it is, but given that there are only 3 of the VT cabins open on this cruise, I think I'll take the risk of getting something special again.

 

Thanks again for the assistance everyone. I'll report back once the assignment comes in.

[cruz chic]

Just reporting back. After I got the very curt "It's not possible last night," I called back a few minutes ago, and the agent changed it in about 20 seconds.

 

Since there has been an interesting discussion about the V cabins on the Eurodam, I thought I would comment.

 

When I sailed on her back in 2009, I really gave a lot of thought to the guarantee because of the VT cabins. I figured with only 10 of those it was worth the risk and we ended up with VA4132 which is on the Upper-Promenade, but has a huge balcony. Having breakfast out there each morning was a real treat, but not one I would pay $1000 for at this point. Frankly, as long as we have a sitting balcony I do not really care where it is, but given that there are only 3 of the VT cabins open on this cruise, I think I'll take the risk of getting something special again.

 

Thanks again for the assistance everyone. I'll report back once the assignment comes in.

Glad it all worked out for you. I was one of those "lucky" people that got assigned one of those VT's Luckily I was able to change it. I had no idea it was even possible until it was too late. Unless I get a smokin' deal I won't go with a guarantee on the Eurodam again because I'm just not lucky. I'm sure you'll be fine. Have a great cruise.

[Orangeguy]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

When I booked, I selected the lowest category of veranda stateroom, and I also clicked the button that says willing to be upgraded. I didn't even realize until now that there was also a stateroom selected (was surprised when I got my confirmation).

 

So has anyone tried to go from assigned to guarantee? I'm not sure if it is truly not possible, or if that's the response to be expected when you call at 6:58 PDT.

 

I just did it on our upcoming cruise to Alaska. I noticed that the price had dropped on a VH guarantee to what we had paid for an H class cabin. It was after final payment, but I called my TA and asked if they could make the switch. It took them a while on the phone with Seattle but ultimately we made the switch from cabin 4107 to a VH guarantee.

 

The one thing to note is that HAL doesn't provide any financial incentive for booking a guarantee. So if you are happy with the cabin you have, I would keep the cabin and hope that the upgrade fairy comes to visit before your cruise.

[Jade13]

I just called Seattle but the agent was not overly helpful in answering either of my questions. I can check back later on formal nights for a 10 day Baltic, but I was more interested to know this:

 

If you have booked a cruise and selected a stateroom, can you switch to a guarantee?

 

 

Yes, we did that last year on VOV. Had a Lanai and switched to a Veranda Suite QTY days before final payment. There was no additional cost, so we went for it and were very pleased.