Are you willing to pay full price for peace of mind?

[Two Wheels Only]

I will consider the upgrade bid for cabins that I would like to try out (but those are usually HAVEN, so I don't think I will have issues with where they place me). :)

You'd be surprised at how many "bad" Haven staterooms there are.

 

For some people, it may not matter that they end up in a bad Haven stateroom if they plan on spending less time in the stateroom and more time in the Haven lounge/courtyard/sundeck.

[C Cruise Dude]

Most of the time I let them pick. I have not been disappointed so far. :D

[April42749]

Why not pick your own stateroom and choose "Norwegian Rate" or pick a promo that doesn't have an additional cost?

 

Lol...."Smart Shopping 101"......outsmarting the marketing dept.

 

Those freebies aren't free....even the ones you don't pay extra for.

 

So, until the daily service charge, casino credit or spa credits are offered....I'll gamble with a guarantee.

[mugtech]

Just booked a 9 day on RCCL, paid a total of $200 more to pick my cabin rather than get a guaranteed inside, now I know where I will be and where I won't be, makes the 9 week countdown more relaxing.

[Fred Quimby]

we always chose our room

[EllieinNJ]

On our last two cruises, we booked inside but got an upsell to a mini and reg. balcony the night before the cruises by calling (before the bidding). When we booked our next cruise in April, we also originally booked an inside, but then they had the "free port charges" for balconies+ plus additional Latitudes OBC, so after figuring it would only cost about $400+ total, we switched to a balcony. We now have peace of mind that we will be happy with our cabin. Just hope we will be happy with our sailing, giving all the ominous reports the "big" ship is having in the Baltics this year.

[Velvetwater]

We have booked a guarantee 3 times on 3 different lines and so far have always had a good cabin. Carnival is the only line we have chosen our cabin on (I always choose their secret cabins). We have also found out our cabin reasonably quickly so we have had choices to upgrade if need be.

 

1. OV Guarantee on X - got a great, quiet mid ship unobstructed OV next to the atrium on the Equinox. Saved £600

 

2. Inside Guarantee on RCL - got a high deck mid ship quiet inside standard room on the Indy. Saved £400

 

3. OV Guarantee on NCL - got a forward unobstructed OV in a seemingly quite location on the Jade. It looks quiet but we will let you know. Saved £700 and got a better cabin.

 

The key is looking at the chance of you getting a cabin you dont want and decided then if its worth the save. For us we have saved £1700 so far....we can do another cruise with that.

[momofmab]

I could never do a guarantee (I have control issues). I do an extensive amount of research (mostly on here) with regard to cabin selection. I am a cabin snob (and a hotel snob and a restaurant snob and on and on). We do spend a fair amount of time in our cabin in between activities - so I look for central locations that aren't next to crew areas or above/below the pool deck or the weight room, etc. I search cabin numbers on here and rule out any that have reported issues of being noisy or having noise issues within the cabin. I also won't choose cabins that are on the front of the ship (the motion issues and wind make the balcony tough to use when underway).

 

I greatly admire those who couldn't less about where they lay their head at night, whether it's a cruise ship cabin or a hotel room - they are definitely vacationing for much less $ than I do - but for me, my "home" for the week of vacation is as big a deal as the vacation itself.

 

So yes, I do pay more for peace of mind.

[drvmywifecrzy]

I like to bid on mine

[oldguysandgalls]

We booked more than a dozen cheap last minute cruises and don't care much about the bedroom. As long as we can do a cruise for under 2,000 door to door I will sleep in a broom closet if need be.

 

Agree 100%!

Speaking of broom closets, on our cruise on the wonderful S.S. Norway we had an inside cabin with bunk-beds and we took turns getting dressed. There simply was not enough space for 2 adults to move around and about.

 

But the memories of sailing on the S.S. Norway were worth it.

[CruisingSince1982]

We always pick the exact cabin we would be happy with. Quiet location with an unobstructed view are high on my list. Because of this I no doubt pay higher prices than those willing to take a guarantee or bid on an upgrade. Even though I am not made of money this is OK with me. However I do check prices from time to time and a couple of times before final payment I was able to get either a price reduction or added onboard credit.

How do you feel about your own situation. Are you willing to have the cruise line assign you a cabin in exchange for a lower price? Full disclosure we did book a balcony guarantee on a Celebrity ship once and was upgraded to their lowest level suite and the location wasn't bad at all. I guess we lucked out.

 

We book pretty far in advance. Even a week before sailing, when I check the current prices and inventory, we always end up with the better deal with what we booked. Regardless, I would never book a guarantee cabin. I pay for what I want when I book. Likewise with bidding for upgrades.

[DKane]

Once, on Carnival, we booked a balcony guarantee and were very, very happy with what we received.

[BostonGal35]

We always pick the exact cabin we would be happy with. Quiet location with an unobstructed view are high on my list. Because of this I no doubt pay higher prices than those willing to take a guarantee or bid on an upgrade. Even though I am not made of money this is OK with me. However I do check prices from time to time and a couple of times before final payment I was able to get either a price reduction or added onboard credit.

How do you feel about your own situation. Are you willing to have the cruise line assign you a cabin in exchange for a lower price? Full disclosure we did book a balcony guarantee on a Celebrity ship once and was upgraded to their lowest level suite and the location wasn't bad at all. I guess we lucked out.

 

the only time id let them choose the cabin is if im bidding on an upgrade to a suite as most of those arent in bad locations. also, booking the sail away rates means to perks, adn we gotta have our UBP!

[spanishguy1970]

We always book the category we want and the location we want. We booked a guarantee once and we lucked out however we are not always willing to take that risk. Location is very important to us.:D

[Budget Queen]

I'm a restless traveler who delights in a cheap cabin, I am itinerary priority only and don't care where the cabin is. I do sail at least every month so, I can see where a cabin is a bigger deal for some but the range of prices are huge in my case. Amazing when I hear different amounts on the same cruise I'm on. But I usually late book and am very happy with this style.

[MCC retired]

I book the exact cabin I want. I wait to make final payment in case there's a price drop, but I don't want a different cabin from the one I book. I'm a light sleeper and don't want to chance being in a noisy location.

 

You can book the best cabin location for peace & quiet on the ship , then have noisy neighbors .

I would only be fussy about location was if I had mobility problems.

Rather have the possibility for a upgrade any day.

[kba1988]

Not into gambling, and don't want to take a chance with booking what we DON'T want, with the hopes of bidding into what we DO want. We don't bid, and we don't book guarantees. We just go directly to the cabin we want, on the deck we want, in the location we want - and then we book it. Oftentimes we don't even bother to keep checking for lower prices or better deals. If it's affordable on the day we book it, then that's the end of that! :D:D

[WMQueenie]

We've booked guarantee 8 out of 13 cruises and was never disappointed. One time when we booked a mini suite and selected it ourselves, our neighbor was on her balcony yaking away on her cell phone at 6:30 every morning and smoked constantly (8 years ago). Drove us nuts. We tend to book within 3 months or less so we get what we get and are happy with it. I'm on a ship, cruising away!

[erdoran]

Personally I don't care and would do a guarantee in a heartbeat if the $$ worked out (vs perks/no perks) but DH will absolutely not sail unless we're in the Haven, and we can't get a guarantee there - which is a shame because we'd do that in a heartbeat.

[gambit57]

Depends on the situation.

 

In general, I care about where the cabin is located enough that I prefer to pay a bit more to guarantee my cabin.

 

On upcoming Bliss, I HAD to pick my room as I have 5 people and there aren't a lot of rooms that accommodate 5 people. Can't upgrade, etc. I think it's the only general category that has long sold out too last time I checked.

[meglet]

Despite having a good experience with a GTY balcony on Dawn, I feel sorry for anyone who would bid on an aft Dawn suite and gets stuck on deck 8 above the disco. This is my first experience "bidding" and I checked out the two remaining suites in the category to be sure I'd be fine with either one should I "win."

[deliver42]

I book early, and get the cabin I want, knowing I'm paying more. Before booking I check the deck plans. I want to be mid ship, but more aft toward the buffet for breakfast. I also make sure there are cabins above and below.