GTY rate outcomes: post 'em here!

[azcruise]

We have started doing GTY on the past few cruises -

 

Sun (Caribbean) Booked IX (Inside) Assigned OF (Midship OV Porthole) Cabin #4236

The next 2 were B2B, steward moved all of our things to second cabin.

Sun (Alaska) Booked BX (Balcony) Assigned B3 (Family Balcony) Cabin # 8065

Sun (Alaska) Booked BX (Balcony) Assigned BB (Midship Balcony) Cabin # 8257

PofA (Hawaii) Booked BX (Balcony) Assigned BA Cabin # 9612

 

We find it to be a good deal, but probably wouldn't if we were travelling with another couple.

[chrisa222]

On Epic 1/25

 

Booked BX and given a balcony on deck 8. I called and paid a bit more to have it changed to a BD catagory because I didn't want to be right above the lifeboats.

 

I saw the prices dropped and asked if they would do anything and they moved me to an MB minisuite!

 

So while I started BX i ended up paying for a BD and getting an MB :-)

[divamimi312]

On Jewel 1/31 and just received our assignment, no upgrade. We are in an aft mini-suite, starboard.

[lockone]

We will generally do a guaranteed balcony. We have never had a "bad" balcony.

Last summer we booked a guaranteed balcony on the Getaway and were upgraded to a Spa balcony. Which allowed us unlimited access to the spa, which we enjoyed, but probably wouldn't have paid an extra $200 pp for.

 

 

We've booked a gty balcony for the Breakaway and got the free beverage package. If we got a spa balcony they couldn't take that away from us, right?

[ParrotGurl]

Like I'm gonna remember all that stuff from 17+ cruises taken over a 20+ year period of time?!!? Hell, I don't even remember EXACTLY how many cruises we've taken, let alone the dates, cabin numbers, etc.

 

Thanks for this thread! I've yet to book a GTY and enjoy the experiences of all the nicely upgraded rooms 😊 I think our upcoming cruise will be a GTY room... But can't we all just be nice to each other and skip the profanity, jkgourmet? I thought DalesWife's question was valid and 'she' asked for no lectures ... If we can't post something nice let's not post at all! ... We are talking about relaxing vacations here people! ☺️

[laurenb0380]

Just checked the website and finally got my assignment. Paid for a BX and got room 11882 a BC on Breakaway.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Thanks for this thread! I've yet to book a GTY and enjoy the experiences of all the nicely upgraded rooms 😊 I think our upcoming cruise will be a GTY room... But can't we all just be nice to each other and skip the profanity, jkgourmet? I thought DalesWife's question was valid and 'she' asked for no lectures ... If we can't post something nice let's not post at all! ... We are talking about relaxing vacations here people! ☺️

 

 

I agree. The NO was not necessary.

[Oakman58]

Bummer, I booked a BA (guarantee balcony mid-ship) on the Dawn (departs Feb 8) and instead I was assigned cabin 8032 which is not mid-ship. I called Norwegian and they tell me 8032 (B3) is a higher category. I didn’t want a cabin at the front of the ship with a hull balcony. Supposedly there’s nothing they can do about it once a guarantee cabin is assigned. I guess I should have saved some money and booked a BX guarantee instead. I’m not a happy cruiser at this point.

[Arzeena]

Booked a mini suite GTY on the Breakaway. Was assigned 9806 over the waterfront area. Boom of music can be heard till the wee hours of the morning. Banging in ceiling panels and walls all night for 12 nights......sounded like pipes clanging together. Wondered if the Breakaway was breaking apart!

Other than that, the room was very nice. Missed the drawers for storage but it was quite ample for the two of us. Great bathroom.

[leelou48]

On breakaway we booked a BX and received a BA. This past month we booked a Bx on epic for February and received a BF. Not much of an upgrade. The prices dropped and I had my TA call and the changed it to BB

 

 

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[Buford T Justiice]

Like I'm gonna remember all that stuff from 17+ cruises taken over a 20+ year period of time?!!? Hell, I don't even remember EXACTLY how many cruises we've taken, let alone the dates, cabin numbers, etc.

 

Then why post.

 

I hope your other 1,000 posts brought something more,:rolleyes:

[StamperRae]

Dawn, booked MX, Got MA, 11136

[dales wife]

Post your experiences with booking a Guarantee (GTY) rate. I've had generally positive experiences and am curious what other results us CCers have had. Perhaps this will help others decide if booking a GTY is right for them (though we know there is no rhyme or reason it is always good to know what outcomes have been).

 

Ship.........GTY type....Cat. Assigned.......Room assigned

Breakaway...IX...............IB................... .....5833

 

Initially we weren't thrilled with the assignment. Low floor, as far back as you could go, etc. But we ended up LOVING this room. We liked the extra space in the room, and how close we were to stairs/elevators (especially since the ship is so large). No complaints about movement or noise here!

 

 

Alegeeter, do you happen to have any pics of that Breakaway cabin #5833? Lots of people ask, but no one seems to have any pics of those "square" inside cabins on Breakaway/Getaway. I'm thinking of getting my son & friend one. If no pics, can you elaborate on the layout/size?

[EllieinNJ]

Pride of America, May, 2014. Booked a GTY ID with an online TA which had a block of rooms for a much lower price than NCL's website. A month away from sailing was issued cabin 10181, inside, very back aft. Wasn't happy but now their prices were as low as that which we paid, so called the TA and she got us an free upgrade to OV 4008 midship. Still wasn't happy with deck so again called TA and finally got an obstructed view on deck 8 midship which we were completely happy with, but according to NCL, it was a downgrade from the OV midship on deck 4.

[EllieinNJ]

Oops...I meant deck 7 on the Pride. I am now booked on Deck 8 Gem obstructed OV.:D

[Zimomiller]

We had originally booked a guarantee cabin on the Pride of America and then we changed our mind to select a specific cabin, aft corner family balcony. We ended up getting our best upgrade ever.

 

Sometime after we booked NCL changed the designation of our cabin to a suite! All the suite perks for no extra cost with a HUGE balcony

Edited January 19, 2015 by Zimomiller

[ilovetotravel1977]

I'm confused. We are in a BF category and have our room assigned and see it in My NCL. Will Norwegian change our room? From what I've been reading is when people book a GTY room, they do not have an actual room number assigned to their reservation...correct?

 

So, since we DO have a room number, we should be ok?

Edited January 19, 2015 by ilovetotravel1977

[1stTIMECRUZER]

I think we booked a Guarantee (GTY) rate. A balcony, BX. Now that our room is assigned on the Getaway, we have room 13732. That looks like an upgrade from the BX from looking at the deck plans. Am I right? Does anyone know any details? We are no longer 1st time cruisers but haven't been on many and we are Norwegian newbies. Thanks! :rolleyes:

[dales wife]

I think we booked a Guarantee (GTY) rate. A balcony, BX. Now that our room is assigned on the Getaway, we have room 13732. That looks like an upgrade from the BX from looking at the deck plans. Am I right? Does anyone know any details? We are no longer 1st time cruisers but haven't been on many and we are Norwegian newbies. Thanks! :rolleyes:

 

 

I'm no expert but looks like you upgraded, to BC. I'm curious what sailing you are on and how far out you booked? And if you know if there had been price drops between the time you booked and were assigned?

 

We booked our BX balcony only a couple weeks ago, assigned a BD on deck 9, Aft.

 

Hope you enjoy your Norwegian experience. We've only done a couple of NCL, but love it! First time doing a GTY, so we're anxious to see how that goes.

[1stTIMECRUZER]

I'm no expert but looks like you upgraded, to BC. I'm curious what sailing you are on and how far out you booked? And if you know if there had been price drops between the time you booked and were assigned?

 

We booked our BX balcony only a couple weeks ago, assigned a BD on deck 9, Aft.

 

Hope you enjoy your Norwegian experience. We've only done a couple of NCL, but love it! First time doing a GTY, so we're anxious to see how that goes.

 

We booked in August 2014 for a February 2015 cruise. Our cruise documents with stateroom number became available a couple weeks or so ago I think so I don't anticipate any further upgrades. Price drops - I didn't realize I should watch for price drops so don't know if there were any. Where can you find an explanation of what BX versus BC versus BD means? Thanks!

[rljrdn]

We sail on sunday on the Sun and are nervous about our guarantee. We paid for the lowest option and are usually fine with whatever we get. However, we received our cabin assignment and we are at the corner of the entrance to the kids club. The back of our room shares a wall with the teen night club. We are childless couple on a romantic getaway. TA said Norwegian would not change us to a similar or lower class room without paying an extra 220 dollars. My problems:

1. who on earth designed a ship to have the kids club entrance on a floor with cabins and have the club be directly adjacent to them?

2. why would they not give those cabins to families instead of a couple?

3. why is there not an option to move to similar or lower class room?

Usually we are just fine with wherever we are but this seems problematic. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Turtles06]

We sail on sunday on the Sun and are nervous about our guarantee. We paid for the lowest option and are usually fine with whatever we get. However, we received our cabin assignment and we are at the corner of the entrance to the kids club. The back of our room shares a wall with the teen night club. We are childless couple on a romantic getaway. TA said Norwegian would not change us to a similar or lower class room without paying an extra 220 dollars. My problems:

1. who on earth designed a ship to have the kids club entrance on a floor with cabins and have the club be directly adjacent to them?

2. why would they not give those cabins to families instead of a couple?

3. why is there not an option to move to similar or lower class room?

Usually we are just fine with wherever we are but this seems problematic. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

If this is a "romantic getaway" and you are worried about the noise, why not pay the $220 and get a cabin that you will feel more comfortable in?

 

Unfortunately, when you book a GTY, you roll the dice. You have to be willing to take ANY cabin in the GTY category you booked or higher; ANY of them. And some may just not be in locations that you would like. That's why the GTY prices are so much lower -- it's a crapshoot.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[rljrdn]

If this is a "romantic getaway" and you are worried about the noise, why not pay the $220 and get a cabin that you will feel more comfortable in?

 

Unfortunately, when you book a GTY, you roll the dice. You have to be willing to take ANY cabin in the GTY category you booked or higher; ANY of them. And some may just not be in locations that you would like. That's why the GTY prices are so much lower -- it's a crapshoot.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Thanks - we know it's a crap shoot and are considering it a budget deal. The increase of cost for similar room would be 40% more per person than what we paid so not worth it. We are rolling the dice on this one :D

 

I'll have to see when we are aboard but it seems like a really strange design decision to be laid out that way. As a first time NCL cruiser I didn't know this would be an option but we'll see how it goes.

[Alegeeter]

Alegeeter, do you happen to have any pics of that Breakaway cabin #5833? Lots of people ask, but no one seems to have any pics of those "square" inside cabins on Breakaway/Getaway. I'm thinking of getting my son & friend one. If no pics, can you elaborate on the layout/size?

 

Dale's wife - here are the best pics I have of Room 5833. Hopefully they help!

[dales wife]

We booked in August 2014 for a February 2015 cruise. Our cruise documents with stateroom number became available a couple weeks or so ago I think so I don't anticipate any further upgrades. Price drops - I didn't realize I should watch for price drops so don't know if there were any. Where can you find an explanation of what BX versus BC versus BD means? Thanks!

 

After Final Payment, if the price of a higher category cabin drops to the price you paid for yours, NCL is not required to upgrade you. But if you do monitor and see the price for your sailing drop, many call in and have gotten upgrades and/or OBC. (If they get a 'No', they try calling again and talking with someone else.) I did thus this for my son's Inside cabin, and went from the 3rd lowest Inside category (ID) to the highest. Some have jumped up considerably (for example Inside to a Balcony) in extreme price drop cases! Again, there's no guarantee you'll get offered anything if you call, but from what I read on here, it's certainly worth it to try.

 

If you are looking for detailed info on categories (more than what NCL's website describes), I've found the spreadsheet one CC'r made (for the Breakaway/Getaway) to be helpful.

Here's the link to the thread; the spreadsheet link is in the first post.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1843049

 

And I absolutely love cruisedeckplans website for info, pics, deck plans, etc. of any ship. Here's the link to one of the Getaway pages. Click on "category details" under each category for a description.

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Norwegian-Getaway

Not sure if you'll get ads or not, or if you'll have access to all that the site offers, as I paid a few years back to be a lifetime member.

 

Hope this isn't TMI. :)

Edited January 21, 2015 by dales wife