Balcony Guarantee

[joekatie]

I have a cruise booked for April 2014 with a X balcony guarantee on the Allure. I was checking prices today and while the X balcony was still the same as I had booked it at, they also hadnew D5 through D8 guarantee bookings. I would assume this would assure you an oceanview balcony in D5, D6, D7 or D8 depending what you booked? I was confused because price was D5 was the least and D8 was the most. I would think this would be opposite? Why is the d8 most expensive? and the general x category which could be any category d1-d8 the least?

[Clarea]

I have a cruise booked for April 2014 with a X balcony guarantee on the Allure. I was checking prices today and while the X balcony was still the same as I had booked it at, they also hadnew D5 through D8 guarantee bookings. I would assume this would assure you an oceanview balcony in D5, D6, D7 or D8 depending what you booked? I was confused because price was D5 was the least and D8 was the most. I would think this would be opposite? Why is the d8 most expensive? and the general x category which could be any category d1-d8 the least?

Pricing is all a matter of supply and demand, so they must have more D5 staterooms available than the computer pricing program expects at this point before the cruise, so the price goes down.

[joekatie]

so if we have a general x guarantee are odds better we would get a D5 than an 8 if assignments were made today? Just curious how the whole guarantee thing works. i would think they would want the x guarantees in the lower price (d8) cabins

[Jimbo]

so if we have a general x guarantee are odds better we would get a D5 than an 8 if assignments were made today? Just curious how the whole guarantee thing works. i would think they would want the x guarantees in the lower price (d8) cabins

 

 

They will wait to assign you a cabin and give you what doesn't sell. What are you paying per person right now for your GTY.........Might be better to just pick a cabin now while you can and get the location you really want then go crazy waiting it out.

 

Guarantee's are not for everyone....

 

You said you booked a Category X Balcony GTY...........now what are you expecting a cabin facing the Ocean? or Central Park? or the Boardwalk? because there are 3 kinds of balconies on this ship you can get when booking a Category X ?

 

That is why I said you might be better off picking the kind of balcony you really want upfront now?

Edited December 25, 2013 by Jimbo

[joekatie]

I've been told by numerous people x category is ocean view only. Xn would be either of the neighborhoods. Please let me know if this is incorrect.

 

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[Clarea]

I've been told by numerous people x category is ocean view only. Xn would be either of the neighborhoods. Please let me know if this is incorrect.

You are correct, XN could be a Central Park or Boardwalk balcony.

[joekatie]

And x is only ocean? I only want an ocean view balcony. I was under impression x could be d1 to d8, not in the neighborhoods?

 

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[Jimbo]

Interesting, have never seen an XN on any sailing I have looked at?

 

How much did you pay for the X ?

Edited December 26, 2013 by Jimbo

[Clarea]

And x is only ocean? I only want an ocean view balcony. I was under impression x could be d1 to d8, not in the neighborhoods?

Yes, X is oceanview only.

[Trainman-2]

What a balcony guarantee really means is that:

 

"You will get a balcony left over after all of the really good ones were picked"

 

But you can save big money with a guarantee.

[kimann]

We booked an X guarantee on our recent Allure cruise and were pleasantly surprised with a D5 cabin on deck 12 a couple doors down from the forward elevator. I told my husband this would have NOT been the deck or location I would have chosen but once onboard we ended up loving it and will book in that vicinity again. So sometimes luck does better for you than you could do for yourself :)

[reedl]

I was on the Allure a few months ago, and got a D8 cabin assigned. All the D8's - D2's are exactly the same except for some will sleep more, and some have connecting doors.

 

The D1's have a larger balcony.

 

Other than that, no big difference. I can walk, and actually prefer the exercise.

[joekatie]

$949 for X balcony guarantee but am getting $100 OBC from RCI from WOW sale and $120 OBC from TA. We would probably prefer a d8 or something on lower level, but whatever we get will be fine.

[Jimbo]

You guys sound young so this is my suggestion , Change your reservation to a Category D7($987) Cabin #10266. You would still keep all your OBC.

 

Better to be on one of the middle decks(10) so its just 5 decks up to the pool and 4 decks down to the boardwalk and central park. This way you have options to use the stairs, especially using them when going down from 14 and 10. No elevator waiting times.

 

Better to be on the back of the ship also. That is where the action is on this ship, the cabin I mentioned is very close to the aft elevators, easy acess.

 

You will love it.

 

To make the switch from your GTY to a D7 will cost you about $40 a piece. Well worth it rather then being on deck 14 or 7.

 

Later on before final payment if the Category X Balcony GTY goes down to $849 or lower then switch back. So if you save around $150 a person by switching back then the extra $ 300 will be nice otherwise I would stick with the deck 10 cabin.

 

Jimbo:)

Edited December 26, 2013 by Jimbo

[jb008]

GTY bookings are a calculated gamble. You don't know where they'll assign you, but they generally cost less than what you'd pay for the lowest confirmed stateroom in that category (at the time you book the gty).

 

With the gty rooms you're generally assigned the cheapest value stateroom available in your room type (i.e., interior, oceanview, verandah, etc...). If all the cheap rooms were already booked as confirmed space, you could come out with a higher cat stateroom, but otherwise you'll be assigned whatever is still left.

 

My TA said there's mixed success in changing rooms. We were assigned an obstructed view verandah room right underneath a dancing venue (ick!) and were able to get it switched to another room at the same assigned room category level, even though we paid for category X; but we were told we were lucky the TA was able to pull this off.

 

My vote is to strongly consider jimbo's suggestion to lock in a room for the $40pp. All in all, I prefer confirmed rooms over the uncertainty of gtys unless it's essential to lock in the absolute lowest price possible.

Edited December 26, 2013 by jb008

[joekatie]

I appreciate the suggestion, I was actually looking today to see if there was a room we'd really want to just secure now. Your logic seems good, how is the noise close to the elevator?

 

My wife can be sensitive to the motion so we were hoping for a lower deck but the ease of the stairs sounds nice. Much difference between say floor 6 aft and floor 10 aft as far as movement? I notice 10266 is more mid than a lot of the aft rooms which is supposed to be best for movement.

 

What floor is the MTD seating on?

 

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[molly361]

I appreciate the suggestion, I was actually looking today to see if there was a room we'd really want to just secure now. Your logic seems good, how is the noise close to the elevator?

 

My wife can be sensitive to the motion so we were hoping for a lower deck but the ease of the stairs sounds nice. Much difference between say floor 6 aft and floor 10 aft as far as movement? I notice 10266 is more mid than a lot of the aft rooms which is supposed to be best for movement.

 

What floor is the MTD seating on?

 

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I would also go for the D7 for $40 more per person. There is not noise from the elevators. There is a hallway that separates them from the rooms. There is a D8 open for your sailing on a lower deck 6690 Deck 6.

Edited December 26, 2013 by molly361

[Jimbo]

We find less movement aft but this is a large ship , front is the worse, theatre can be really bad.........We have stayed in the very last Boardwalk cabin on deck 10 on Allure and felt no movement at all.

 

You will be fine with the cabin I suggested, this is a very large ship, most times which is like all the time you can't even tell you are moving on this ship. VERY LARGE !

 

Elevator banks is like walking into another room, you won't hear a thing. Doors are very soundprooof on these ships.

 

Deck 6 is to far from deck 15......deck 10 is the way to go.

Edited December 26, 2013 by Jimbo

[joekatie]

Thank you very much for the info. Will call soon to look in to changing.

[Jimbo]

Another tip.............Cooked Breakfast is Best at Johnny Rockets..........it's cooked hot right after you put your order in.

 

No charge for Breakfast at JR either, it's free!

[joekatie]

I have read about JR on several reviews and we will most likely eat breakfast there often.

 

Called TA who ended up calling RCI and they were able to re-rate my X booking to $849. I guess even though the category is sold out they can still see what it would be and they honored the price. So for now I think I will save the $278 and keep the fingers crossed. We are young and can walk, as long as I have a balcony on the ocean I will be happy.

[Jimbo]

I have read about JR on several reviews and we will most likely eat breakfast there often.

 

Called TA who ended up calling RCI and they were able to re-rate my X booking to $849. I guess even though the category is sold out they can still see what it would be and they honored the price. So for now I think I will save the $278 and keep the fingers crossed. We are young and can walk, as long as I have a balcony on the ocean I will be happy.

 

 

But didn't you have the X GTY at $949 per person?...........had you ever seen the X GTY for $849 per person?

 

I hadn't seen that price I just pulled that figure out of the air hoping it would go down that far for you? how did your travel agent and RCCL come up with the $849 per person was okay to charge you?

 

BTW, the rate I gave you for the D7 was a resident rate special for the state of Ohio.......

 

 

So you are paying $200 less now and still keeping the same $120 OBC from the travel agent?

 

Jimbo:)

Edited December 27, 2013 by Jimbo

[joekatie]

She had to call royal. She didn't explain where the additional discount was from. I am guessing they applied the ohio rate to my original rate that didn't have a special rate for Ohio. I didn't mention the number 849 to her, lucky stab by you I guess. Yes keep OBC and it was 100 less per person.

 

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[Jimbo]

She had to call royal. She didn't explain where the additional discount was from. I am guessing they applied the ohio rate to my original rate that didn't have a special rate for Ohio. I didn't mention the number 849 to her, lucky stab by you I guess. Yes keep OBC and it was 100 less per person.

 

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Well good for you then.......but that is not how the state resident discounts work..........when they do the discounts most times not even all categories on a sailing are discounted, only certain ones.

 

Have you signed up on rccl.com on the mycruises section where you can see your reservation.

 

Just curious if you have a cabin number there or not already listed?

 

 

Very strange you got that price, I have looked off and on all day today and a Category X GTY has not been offered at all.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Jimbo

[joekatie]

Yes I am not sure. I am not sure that was where the different rate came from, that was speculation on my part. If I would have changed my reservation today, I assume that X would have become available again and maybe the 849 would be the going rate base on current bookings?