Room assignment with Guarantee - What did you pay for and what'd you wind up with?

[own]

I didn't want to hijack the thread that made me think of this question. If you've booked a guaranteed room, what category did you book at and what category room did you wind up getting? Were you happy or not?

[MGnut]

I didn't want to hijack the thread that made me think of this question. If you've booked a guaranteed room, what category did you book at and what category room did you wind up getting? Were you happy or not?

 

Many, many months ago, we booked a balcony BF guarantee for our upcoming Caribbean B2B cruise next week. Yesterday - 8 days before the cruise - we were given a B1 category cabin midship on the Caribe deck.

 

Needless to say - we are delighted. :D

 

Howard

[New grandma]

We booked a BF category on the Jan 11 sailing of the Crown. About ten days before we left, we got our stateroom. It was a B2 on Caribe deck. We were happy.

[rkmw]

I didn't want to hijack the thread that made me think of this question. If you've booked a guaranteed room, what category did you book at and what category room did you wind up getting? Were you happy or not?

 

remember with a guarantee you can finish up in a lousy position and you may not find out your cabin until you check in at the pier

[cruz chic]

Use to book a guarantee with Princess but I'm done with that. 90 percent of the time I got sucky assignments. By that I mean rooms in noisy areas. I'm done with rolling the dice on Princess. Still ok to book guarantees on Hal.

[cr8tiv1]

Many, many months ago, we booked a balcony BF guarantee for our upcoming Caribbean B2B cruise next week. Yesterday - 8 days before the cruise - we were given a B1 category cabin midship on the Caribe deck.

 

Needless to say - we are delighted. :D

 

Howard

 

I am avoiding any upgrades since I am doing a B2B2B. Did they give you the same upgraded cabin for each segment? I know that moving isn't really too much of a hassle.

[planb]

We did one on our last Alaska cruise for a balcony. 699.00 per per on ended up with a great Caribe deck room great balcony and 1/2 covered. Great for Alaska but for the Caribbean we got a good mini suite fully covered but… picked that cabin. It is a dice roll but like waiting for a surprise and not sure if you got the best one.

Edited January 22, 2014 by planb

[MGnut]

I am avoiding any upgrades since I am doing a B2B2B. Did they give you the same upgraded cabin for each segment? I know that moving isn't really too much of a hassle.

 

I'm hoping so - since I booked it as a 20-day rather than 2 cruises B2B. I'm asking my TA to check to make sure. My booking summary shows it for the 20 days.

 

Howard

[rdsqrl]

D > DD [deluxe oceanview] > AF [oceanview minisuite]

BF > BB [ Caribe deck balcony]

 

I haven't booked a guarantee cabin since the reclassification of cabins. Now, I wouldn't ever count on getting anything other than exactly what I booked, since the "lead-in" categories -- like the old BFs or inside Ms and Ks, with only four actual cabins -- are a thing of the past, making those kinds of upgrades much less likely.

[Boyshockeymommy]

Hubby and I always book an inside guaranteed cabin in the lowest price category. Our first Princess cruise we got what we paid for, but you only sleep in there anyway.

 

Second Princess cruise, again booked an inside guarantee in the lowest category. We were upgraded to an obstructed oceanview cabin. A lifeboat was hanging in front of the window. In our opinion a fabulous upgrade.

 

I am travelling with friends on the Emerald Princess in March, and have again booked an inside guaranteed cabin in the lowest category. Can't wait to see what I get, but as I said, it won't matter as we only sleep there anyway.

 

Kimm

[orangetabby]

I didn't want to hijack the thread that made me think of this question. If you've booked a guaranteed room, what category did you book at and what category room did you wind up getting? Were you happy or not?

 

On our most recent cruise on the Royal Princess, we booked a guaranteed MA (mini-suite). This was our dreamy attempt to get upgraded to a suite (didn't happen). What we did get was a wheel chair accessible mini-suite (I'm assuming no else had booked this room two weeks prior to departure). This turned out to be a great room since the wheel chair accessible rooms are wider (approximately 4 to 5 feet) than the standard mini-suites and the bathroom/shower is also much larger to allow the wheel chair to enter. The balcony was also much larger (105 sq ft) as compared to the standard mini-suite balcony on the Royal.

[geoherb]

Our best upgrade was from an obstructed view to a deluxe ocean view on the Sapphire Princess for our cruise to Alaska in 2012. The deluxe ocean view cabins have limited access private balconies without any furniture. According to the deck plans, the balconies are not supposed to be open while the ship is sailing due to high winds. At least in Alaska, they allowed us to use the balcony at any time. The only stipulation was that we had to keep the lights off or the curtains closed when it was dark outside because the lights in the cabin would interfere with people seeing things from the bridge.

 

A couple of times we went from obstructed ocean views to unobstructed ones on the Plaza Deck. We loved those cabins as well. The worst we ever received was an obstructed view cabin on the Emerald Deck right above the Princess Theater. It did not bother us very much since we went to the shows after dinner. If we had been the types who go to bed early, the noise from the theater would have been a problem.

 

Whenever you're tempted to book a guarantee, be sure to look at all the possible locations you could end up. Envision the worst possible cabin you could get. If you could still be happy in that location and you're saving money by going with a guarantee, then it's worth the gamble.

[Pamster]

Our first Princess cruise was on the Sapphire for a Pacific Coastal. We booked a BF guarantee and ended up in a Caribe BA, which we loved.

 

Our second Princess cruise was a B2B Alaskan Cruise. We booked a mini-suite, the last one on Dolphin deck, aft. We got upgraded to a Vista SUITE!! right next to the aft elevators. We were upgraded for both legs of the B2B.

 

For Christmas we booked a guaranteed mini, and we got a mid-ship MA mini on Dolphin.

 

We've had excellent luck with cabin assignments on Princess.

 

For our B2B Pacific Coastal we booked a specific cabin for each leg so that we don't have to move in between. Otherwise, a guarantee has worked really well for us.

[f-mattox]

I booked a guarantee forward ME mini-suite on Royal Princess for an April Eastern Caribbean cruise; was upgraded to a midship MA mini-suite with the extended balcony on Aloha Deck.

[snowblower]

Last cruise booked a mini-suite on Dolphin Deck (Golden). Was upgraded to the Owners Suite on Sun Deck. Were we happy, beyond belief!!! Probably happen again....never.

[LittleMissMagic]

The one time we did guarantee, we paid for two ocean view staterooms... and we got two ocean view staterooms. We did luck out with convenient locations - though the two staterooms were on opposite sides of the ship, they were mid-ship and both very near vertical circulation and the atrium.

[goduckies05]

Paid 540for a balcony guarantee on the miracle in two weeks ended up in obstructed view 5189... I was pretty happy overall.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[Pushka]

We received exactly what we booked for.

[dorisis]

On one of our earliest Princess cruises , our travel agent called to tell us she could get us a suite on a transatlantic from Japan to Hawaii with no port stops. We paid for the lowest inside and got what was then the old Love Boat Island suite and were seated at the deputy captain's table for dinner every night and even to a cocktail party in his suite with some of the entertainers attending. as we pulled into Oahu he invited us up to the bridge to watch the docking. We had the maitre'd as our waiter and got very special meals. Also invited to his cabin to see the souveniers he bought in China.

 

How's that for an upgrade??? We have always had good upgrades on Princess. Not many on other lines. Now my husband is in a wheelchair and we need a handicapped cabin...NO more upgrades.

[poncho1965]

BF balcony, and ended up with a BA Caribe deck balcony.

[timetravler]

Three times I have booked a BF category and all three times I have been upgraded to a BB or BA category. But I have to give some credit to my travel agent. She actually sends e-mails to Princess on my behalf. Not sure if her e-mails have helped with the upgrades, but I am sure it didn't hurt with my chances

[sherryf]

We booked a guarantee for our Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago. This was before the category changes. I think we booked an M guarantee, which would have been Plaza deck far forward inside. We got a one-category "upgrade" to an L, which was still on the Plaza deck, just closer to mid-ship. (Or maybe it was L to K, I forget exactly.) We didn't get our assignment until just a few days before sailing. We were quite happy with it, because we love the Plaza deck insides. If we had been "upgraded" to an inside on a different deck, I'd have actually been less happy. I'd only have truly been happier if we'd gotten an unobstructed OV or better.

[DRS/NC]

Does anyone have any experience being upgraded when traveling solo?

[Thrak]

I didn't want to hijack the thread that made me think of this question. If you've booked a guaranteed room, what category did you book at and what category room did you wind up getting? Were you happy or not?

 

Star Princess - SF / Hawaii - November 2012

 

Booked BF and ended up with a BB. We were extremely happy with the change.

[cruz chic]

Does anyone have any experience being upgraded when traveling solo?

I go solo all the time. I have been "upgraded" pretty much every time but they have not been good upgrades IMO. That's why I book a specific room now on Princess.