bennybear Posted July 11, 2016 #351 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I always say "Do Not Upgrade" and I have gotten upsell offers quite often. Thanks! Would hate to miss out on something I might like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddaley Posted July 15, 2016 #352 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Booked a VE guarantee on a flash sale and have been waiting for assignment. I was hoping for one of the aft view cabins or one of these double veranda's and scored 4164. I think I would have preferred an aft cabin but I am happy with 4164 and the double veranda. Having been to Alaska 5 times we live on the balcony so it will be nice to have the extra space. Interestingly enough this is VB and in the past on guarantees we have been assigned VA's that are midship near the elevator and I hated them as I had to hear the ding, ding of the elevator at all hours. I think this is our best assignment yet, thank-you HAL.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddaley Posted July 15, 2016 #353 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Booked a VE guarantee on a flash sale and have been waiting for assignment. I was hoping for one of the aft view cabins or one of these double veranda's and scored 4164. I think I would have preferred an aft cabin but I am happy with 4164 and the double veranda. Having been to Alaska 5 times we live on the balcony so it will be nice to have the extra space. Interestingly enough this is VB and in the past on guarantees we have been assigned VA's that are midship near the elevator and I hated them as I had to hear the ding, ding of the elevator at all hours. I think this is our best assignment yet, thank-you HAL.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAKcruiser Posted July 16, 2016 #354 Share Posted July 16, 2016 I agree about the ding ding of the elevators. We were a couple of cabins away from the midddle elevators on the Zuiderdam and that noise was constant. The funny thing was that I had never noticed it before on the older ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexylopez Posted July 17, 2016 #355 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I love reading this thread! It feels like I'm getting the upgrade! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbet Posted July 21, 2016 #356 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Did you get the upgrade? Just curious as I am waiting for a room assignment now for a cruise leaving 1August. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loveofsailing Posted July 24, 2016 #357 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Sailing in 6 days on the Westerdam - have a guaranteed SZ-and haven't been assigned yet- a little nervous - no a lot!! Second time doing guaranteed- 1st time received our cabin assignment over a month out. Anybody else waiting? Do they do assignments over the weekend? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbet Posted July 24, 2016 #358 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Did you get the upgrade? Just curious as I am waiting for a room assignment now for a cruise leaving 1August. Sent from my iPad using Forums Yes, I got it about two days ago. Unfortunately no upgrade, I got a fully obstructed cabin. I think that happened because there were many that were booked on the cruise on 15 August that were put on our cruise (because of a charter or something). Those people probably got the better cabins and rightfully so since they had to change their date of sailing Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loveofsailing Posted July 26, 2016 #359 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Nothing yet- we sail on Saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loveofsailing Posted July 27, 2016 #360 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Sailing Saturday on the Westerdam just got our guaranteed assignment-Cabin number 5002- anybody know anything about that cabin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosenpfand1 Posted July 27, 2016 #361 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Sailing Saturday on the Westerdam just got our guaranteed assignment-Cabin number 5002- anybody know anything about that cabin? Had this one on the Oosterdam some time ago. Handicap, lots of space, Windows to the front and side, really large desk, verandah smaller than other suites, like normal verandah stateroom, just one sink in bathroom. Loved it - except small verandah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loveofsailing Posted July 27, 2016 #362 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #363 Share Posted July 28, 2016 New cruiser here. What are you guys talking about? Don't you pick your cabin when you book your cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise a holic Posted July 28, 2016 #364 Share Posted July 28, 2016 New cruiser here. What are you guys talking about? Don't you pick your cabin when you book your cruise? Some people book a cheaper guarantee rate. They hope the cabin they are assigned exceeds what category they paid for. Since I do not gamble, I prefer to choose my cabin and location. With my luck, I would be assigned a noisey poorly located cabin or suite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #365 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Some people book a cheaper guarantee rate. They hope the cabin they are assigned exceeds what category they paid for. Since I do not gamble, I prefer to choose my cabin and location. With my luck, I would be assigned a noisey poorly located cabin or suite. Thanks. What is a guarantee rate? How do you get one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #366 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Found part of the answer here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=337 And I think I unknowingly booked a guarantee rate. I booked with HAL over the phone and after a lot of back and forth discussion, the details of which I don't remember, she offered to GUARANTEE that I would get an 'N' class cabin. Her wording may have been different but that is what I understood. Are you saying that "guarantee" is industry jargon and doesn't mean what I think it means? I took it to mean that there was no chance that I would get anything but an 'N' class. Is there a chance that I won't get an 'N' class cabin? I want an 'N' class cabin. There are only 8 of them on the ship and I have no preference which one. I do not want a so called "upgrade." Do I call HAL in a panic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lady Arwen Posted July 28, 2016 #367 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Found part of the answer here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=337 And I think I unknowingly booked a guarantee rate. I booked with HAL over the phone and after a lot of back and forth discussion, the details of which I don't remember, she offered to GUARANTEE that I would get an 'N' class cabin. Her wording may have been different but that is what I understood. Are you saying that "guarantee" is industry jargon and doesn't mean what I think it means? I took it to mean that there was no chance that I would get anything but an 'N' class. Is there a chance that I won't get an 'N' class cabin? I want an 'N' class cabin. There are only 8 of them on the ship and I have no preference which one. I do not want a so called "upgrade." Do I call HAL in a panic? Call HAL and book a specific cabin in the category that you want and ask for "no upgrade". You might want to go online and look at the deck plan to see which cabins are available and which location you prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtl513 Posted July 28, 2016 #368 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Sailing Saturday on the Westerdam just got our guaranteed assignment-Cabin number 5002- anybody know anything about that cabin?Google /5002-oosterdam/ for pics taken by cc member oaktreerb. Click on each to enlarge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #369 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Call HAL and book a specific cabin in the category that you want and ask for "no upgrade". You might want to go online and look at the deck plan to see which cabins are available and which location you prefer. Thanks, I called them. They can't do anything till 6 am Seattle time when ships inventory opens. She did inform me that N is the very lowest class. So I asked for and received the following: ---------------------- Good Morning, Thank you Laura for reaching out to Holland America regarding the confusion of your stateroom category. As you requested the below is the list of categories and they are listed in order. The top category of PS is shown at the top and the bottom category is N shown at the bottom. I hope this helps! PS4 SA4 SB4 SC4 SS3 SY3 SZ3 VA4 VB4 VC4 VD3 VE4 VF4 VH C 4 D 4 DD4 E 4 F 4 G 3 H HH3 I 4 J 4 K 3 L M MM N --------------------- Does anyone know what the numbers mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthC Posted July 28, 2016 #370 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Does anyone know what the numbers mean? I know the numbers do not mean the number of cabins in the category. There are many more cabins than that in most categories, and fewer/same number in a few. I've been around both HAL and CC for a long time, and I haven't a clue what the numbers mean. Good luck that you get the category you want. But may I ask why you are adamant you want an "N" category cabin? There are some really great inside cabins on all the HAL ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted July 28, 2016 #371 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Our experience on HAL and on other lines is that cabin categories often have more to do with marketing and with pricing matrix than they have to do with anything else. There always seems to be good and less than favourable cabins in most categories. There are a number of ships where our preference is for a lower cabin category because of the attributes in a number of those cabins. We pay far more attention the location, size etc than we do to category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #372 Share Posted July 28, 2016 I know the numbers do not mean the number of cabins in the category. There are many more cabins than that in most categories, and fewer/same number in a few. I've been around both HAL and CC for a long time, and I haven't a clue what the numbers mean. Good luck that you get the category you want. But may I ask why you are adamant you want an "N" category cabin? There are some really great inside cabins on all the HAL ships. We want to be in the front. All the other interior categories have some cabins that are not in the front. I.e. of all the interior cabin categories, only N is entirely in the front. I'll be happy with any cabin that is in the front no matter the category although I'll be slightly annoyed if it is not also an interior. We have one cruise under our belt. When I booked that first one, I put no thought into which category or location or any other thing. I had no idea what it would like so we took the least expensive option. Interior was sold out so we took an ocean-view. I hadn't even seen a deck plan till I got my map the day we got on the ship. We had the 2nd to the most forward cabin, starboard, deck 5 of Caribbean Princess which is like deck 2 on a HAL ship. We loved it but thought that the window made little difference. We did hate dinning in the back of the ship where we could feel the vibrations of the engines. We felt very lucky to be in the front away from the vibrations and swore to always be in the front in the future. We had so much fun on the first cruise, that in addition to booking the Alaska cruise for which I have the "guaranteed" class N we have also put a deposit down for a Caribbean cruise in March when we are treating our mothers to an all expense paid vacation. We all agree that we don't want to waste money on windows when we can spend it on other things. But before I inflict a windowless cabin on my in-laws, I want to try one myself just to make sure that we aren't wrong about the value of windows. So I want an interior cabin for the Alaska cruise so I can try it and find out. If it turns out that we hate our windowless cabin, then we will spend a little more on the March cruise to have windows after all. But if I don't get to try an interior then I will have a dilemma. Anyways, I called HAL back as it was after 6 in Seattle and got told that the person I talked to at 5 was wrong about needing help from ships inventory department but that she (the lady at 5 o clock) was probably new and inexperience but that he (6 o clock gent) could certainly help me. But then turns out he can't help me and handed me up to a manager. The manager eventually said he (the manager) had to check with ships inventory (after all) and put me on hold and eventually I got disconnected. I expect him to call back. Not sure how long I should wait for a call. Thanks for everyone's help and interest. I'm sorry if I hijacked a thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthC Posted July 28, 2016 #373 Share Posted July 28, 2016 We want to be in the front. All the other interior categories have some cabins that are not in the front. Thanks for the explanation. If the front is what you want, then I sure do hope that's what you get. I take inside cabins as a matter of course, and love them. Other than never having a clue what time it is, and waking myself up to check, I sleep better than ever in an inside. (bring a battery or wind-up clock) I find I'm also more likely to get out and participate when the cabin isn't as inviting to retreat to. The time I was placed in a balcony cabin was great, but I lived on that balcony, and practically never met anyone on the cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelo14 Posted July 28, 2016 #374 Share Posted July 28, 2016 Our experience on HAL and on other lines is that cabin categories often have more to do with marketing and with pricing matrix than they have to do with anything else. There always seems to be good and less than favorable cabins in most categories. There are a number of ships where our preference is for a lower cabin category because of the attributes in a number of those cabins. We pay far more attention the location, size etc than we do to category. There are only 8 N class cabins. If you have a preference between port or starboard then you might care which one but other than that I doubt anyone but the room steward can tell when inside them which one they were in. So while I would not normally choose just based on category as in nearly every category there are cabins I would like and cabins that I would not like, in the case of N, they all fit the bill. Forward Interior. That's all I ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtl513 Posted July 28, 2016 #375 Share Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) Does anyone know what the numbers mean? At first I thought it could be room capacity (persons) but that doesn't work either. I can't figure them out. That list looks like it's for a Vista class ship. On other classes there are a few more types: SQ, VQ, CQ, IQ, VT, A, AA, AS, B, BB, CA, DA, EE, FF, ... :D Edited July 28, 2016 by jtl513 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now