Guarantee booking experiences

[icat2000]

i came across this article on cruise critic, most regulars know what a guarantee is but just in case a newbie dosent

 

Not saying that guarantee cabins aren't worth the gamble for an upgrade, but if you want assurance that you won't be in a pitching, noisy cabin, these cabins aren't the way to go. A guarantee cabin isn't actually a type of cabin but, rather, a method of booking a cabin. You pick a minimum cabin level you'd be comfortable in, and the cruise line assigns you a cabin close to booking dates based on availability.

The potential for an upgrade is appealing, and if you're cruising on a budget and don't have a particular issue with any of the cabin dilemmas listed above, then it could be worth your while to see what a guarantee might deliver. But your guarantee also could place you squarely above the anchor, next to a crew entrance or below the theater. With guarantee cabins, you lose your ability to complain about what you end up with

Yeap. If your going to do the guarantee route you should be prepared to take the worse room. Not that it will happen, but it might happen. If your not comfortable with that. They guarantee booking is not for you.

[MicCanberra]

Yeap. If your going to do the guarantee route you should be prepared to take the worse room. Not that it will happen, but it might happen. If your not comfortable with that. They guarantee booking is not for you.

 

Exactly, you may just get what you paid for, or you may get a lot better.;)

Edited July 30, 2015 by MicCanberra

[gaechann]

It took just 3 days for our balcony guarantee cabin allocation.

E1 on Deck 6 for half the price showing today for that grade cabin so yes, we're happy we tried it! :)

 

Gae

[MicCanberra]

It took just 3 days for our balcony guarantee cabin allocation.

E1 on Deck 6 for half the price showing today for that grade cabin so yes, we're happy we tried it! :)

 

Gae

 

Good score, got to be happy with that result.:D

[cassamanda]

It took just 3 days for our balcony guarantee cabin allocation.

E1 on Deck 6 for half the price showing today for that grade cabin so yes, we're happy we tried it! :)

 

Gae

 

Happy with ours too with deck 7 on Voyager midship also at half price.

Gae, got my allocation within hours of paying deposit.

 

Trying another one on Explorer.

 

Good thing is we can cancel if we dont like the location and choose another cruise or wait for the next sale.

Hugh

Edited July 30, 2015 by cassamanda

[gaechann]

Happy with ours too with deck 7 on Voyager midship also at half price.

Gae, got my allocation within hours of paying deposit.

 

Trying another one on Explorer.

 

Good thing is we can cancel if we dont like the location and choose another cruise or wait for the next sale.

Hugh

 

 

Yes Hugh! The prices were too good to pass over at the time! $100 per night per person for a balcony during the summer!

As you say, easy to cancel when you book via the cruiseline. I have notes of cruises I've booked & cancelled when something else more interesting was offered for the same price.

Like others are saying I may try Princess or Carnival in future years if the $ keeps dropping though as all the onboard purchases will work out very expensive with the U.S.-based ships!

In the meantime I have bargains booked up til March 2017! :)

[MicCanberra]

Yes Hugh! The prices were too good to pass over at the time! $100 per night per person for a balcony during the summer!

As you say, easy to cancel when you book via the cruiseline. I have notes of cruises I've booked & cancelled when something else more interesting was offered for the same price.

Like others are saying I may try Princess or Carnival in future years if the $ keeps dropping though as all the onboard purchases will work out very expensive with the U.S.-based ships!

In the meantime I have bargains booked up til March 2017! :)

 

As long as you are not losing the deposits, it is working well for you.:D

[goodycruising]

Exactly, you may just get what you paid for, or you may get a lot better.;)

Yep, we got what we paid for and we can't complain about that. We can be a bit a bit disappointed that the cabins locations were not what we hoped for.

 

We have however been looking today at Celebrity Solstice again. A bit more expensive, but we love the ship, and we put it to friends that were interested in coming on one of the cruises with us. Try the cheaper gty cabin, smaller, possibly a far forward location, or otherwise we pay more and choose our cabins and get a drinks package in the current Celebrity promo.

 

They were keener to go with the dearer option and thought it was a nicer deal even though more expensive. We like the size of Solstice balconies so we will be canceling our Radiance booking. Drink packages are subjective and not the topic of this thread, but when you add everything up it works for us this time.

 

I am very happy that several of you have been pleased with your deals. That does make all the feedback a lot of fun. The gty balcony upgrade deal overall seems to get a big tick.

[gogo65]

Goodycruising,

If you are contemplating booking on solstice, it seems that the 123 go promotion will finish tomorrow and then the big bigger best promotion will start. I have been playing with the celebrity website and the last few days the big better best banner was showing and when I played with a dummy booking it was ghosting in the background. Just a consideration if planning on booking soon.

[angelwingsflys]

Hi Everyone,

Just had an email that said that I had an cabin allocated ,my GTY balcony is now midship deck 6 happy with that .

Cheers Deb

[GUT2407]

Hi Everyone,

Just had an email that said that I had an cabin allocated ,my GTY balcony is now midship deck 6 happy with that .

Cheers Deb

 

If they'd guarantee me midship I'd take more guarantees.

[Aus ATC]

We have also booked 2x GTY Balcony cabins via the current promotion on Radiance. No allocation yet that I know of (we booked via a TA). Reading the earlier posts it seems allocations come through quite early. It seems a bit odd to me - why wouldn't the cruise line keep cabins available for confirmed cabin bookings for as long as possible?

[bearone]

We have had a few good cabin allocations with guarantee bookings. Just booked an RCCL cruise in November and got allocation in one day to D2 deck 8 on Explorer, was happy with that. Recent Princess cruises were lowest inside to mid level balcony on 7 day cruise and balcony to mini suite on 5 day cruise. :)

[Russell21]

As a newbie to cruising could someone explain how these guarantees work please?

[rkmw]

As a newbie to cruising could someone explain how these guarantees work please?

 

i copied this from my previous post

 

Not saying that guarantee cabins aren't worth the gamble for an upgrade, but if you want assurance that you won't be in a pitching, noisy cabin, these cabins aren't the way to go. A guarantee cabin isn't actually a type of cabin but, rather, a method of booking a cabin. You pick a minimum cabin level you'd be comfortable in, and the cruise line assigns you a cabin close to booking dates based on availability.

The potential for an upgrade is appealing, and if you're cruising on a budget and don't have a particular issue with any of the cabin dilemmas listed above, then it could be worth your while to see what a guarantee might deliver. But your guarantee also could place you squarely above the anchor, next to a crew entrance or below the theater. With guarantee cabins, you lose your ability to complain about what you end up with

[OzKiwiJJ]

As a newbie to cruising could someone explain how these guarantees work please?

 

It's cabin lottery, Russell21.

 

In most cases you pay a cheaper price, sometimes significantly cheaper, for a cabin class guarantee ie inside or balcony, and the cruise line allocates your cabin. Since there are several categories within a cabin class you are only guaranteed to get a cabin in that class - it could be the lowest category, right at the front of the ship where you'd feel more movement, or in a noisy location. You are guaranteed to get a cabin of that class or better, so if you booked a balcony guarantee you would get a balcony at least, not an inside or oceanview. On our Rhapsody of the Seas cruise we booked an inside guarantee and was allocated a large inside cabin, category L which is 3-4 categories above the lowest.

 

In some cases, when a cruise is almost sold out, some cruise lines like Princess, will offer guarantees of a particular category within a cabin class. These aren't usually cheaper than the price was for selecting a cabin in that category but give you slightly better odds (I hope) of avoiding some categories, and allows you to book in a category where there are no cabins available to select. For example, I've booked an IA guarantee for our upcoming Dawn Princess cruise. IA is the top category of inside cabins - decks 9 & 10 midships. If I get what I booked I'll be in good part of the ship and anything else will be a class upgrade. That could put me in a worse part of the ship but in an oceanview or even a balcony if the upgrade fairy is being particularly kind.

 

Some cruise lines allocate guarantee cabins soon after booking. We had our Rhapsody cabin allocation about three days later. Some, like Princess, wait until close to the departure date. I'm still waiting for that cabin allocation.

 

As others have said, if you have concerns about where you'll end up on the ship book a selected cabin, not a guarantee, otherwise trust in the upgrade fairy and take your chances. ;)

[MicCanberra]

Goodycruising,

If you are contemplating booking on solstice, it seems that the 123 go promotion will finish tomorrow and then the big bigger best promotion will start. I have been playing with the celebrity website and the last few days the big better best banner was showing and when I played with a dummy booking it was ghosting in the background. Just a consideration if planning on booking soon.

 

From most reports the deals are with either the Big or the Best and not with the Better.

[Russell21]

Thanks for the explanation folks.

[The_Big_M]

We have also booked 2x GTY Balcony cabins via the current promotion on Radiance. No allocation yet that I know of (we booked via a TA). Reading the earlier posts it seems allocations come through quite early. It seems a bit odd to me - why wouldn't the cruise line keep cabins available for confirmed cabin bookings for as long as possible?

 

Depends on the reason for the guarantee.

 

Most of the allocations now being talked about are from the 'book inside, get a balcony' promotion. They're not guarantees for the sake of flexibility, but just a sales promotion to encourage balcony sales so it's fine to allocate balconies out when booked.

[Aus ATC]

Just checked my booking - we have been allocated 2 x E2 cabins mid-ships deck 8 - next to each other. Hopefully they stick!! Very happy with the GTY booking this time (first time).

[woodyren]

Just checked my booking - we have been allocated 2 x E2 cabins mid-ships deck 8 - next to each other. Hopefully they stick!! Very happy with the GTY booking this time (first time).

 

Well done. I don't know much about Radiance but from a study of the deck plans that is the area I was hoping for.

 

Unless RCL have changed their strategy they should stick.

 

In saying that they have been really fast in pulling the allocation trigger on this upgrade promo compared to what they have done in the past.

Edited July 31, 2015 by woodyren

[gaechann]

Just checked my booking - we have been allocated 2 x E2 cabins mid-ships deck 8 - next to each other. Hopefully they stick!! Very happy with the GTY booking this time (first time).

 

 

Good deal! I've just checked their new costings to find that the price of the guarantee I booked on Tuesday has risen by $200 so I very happy with my first guarantee experience with Royal as well!

[goodycruising]

Goodycruising,

If you are contemplating booking on solstice, it seems that the 123 go promotion will finish tomorrow and then the big bigger best promotion will start. I have been playing with the celebrity website and the last few days the big better best banner was showing and when I played with a dummy booking it was ghosting in the background. Just a consideration if planning on booking soon.

 

Thanks gogo65. I will keep an eye out for it here. We did end up booking one cruise with the drink package with some friends that were interested. :)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks gogo65. I will keep an eye out for it here. We did end up booking one cruise with the drink package with some friends that were interested. :)

 

Well done on going Big.:D

[sheridan318]

Hi we have booked a guarantee outside and cruise in four weeks no cabin yet, that's on the pacific pearl three day , and also have just booked a six night Radiance of the seas to Tassie and haven't got cabin number yet, that's a balcony as when we factored in the $280 balcony diamond discount it worked out at $126 a night which is about what we like to pay:D, it will be interesting to see if the pacific pearl has changed since last year