How does room guarantee work?

[SumoCitrus]

We are booked on an upcoming cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam in room category SZ. Looking at the deck plan, I only see 2 cabins that are in that category on deck 6. Our cabin number has not yet been assigned but it must be one of those two cabins, right?

 

Last time we went on HAL we selected the specific cabin. Not sure how this guarantee works.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

You can look around the board for MANY threads on the topic.

 

When you book a GTY booking, you are guaranteed the level you booked or higher. So you could end up at SZ, or any cabin level above that. You will find out somewhere from 30 days prior to cruise, to dockside. Common notification is around 10 days.

[CherryG]

We will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam this Sunday and booked a guaranteed Signature Suite.  Last week we got our cabin number and it is an SS category, mid ship, so we are very happy. 

 

[catl331]

The SZ category is commonly oversold with guarantees, so most bookers are assigned to SY or SS cabins.

[Bill B]

31 minutes ago, catl331 said:

...so most bookers are assigned to SY or SS cabins.

 

But there's no guarantee. 

[DaveOKC]

HAL uses category SZ as a promotional category, so that they can advertise lower "suite" pricing.  MOST times you cannot book an actual SZ cabin, as they are only offer guarantees.  As already pointed out, most times when you book SZ guarantee you end up with a SY, SU or SS cabin (but you never know the location).  Most times this is fine, but be advised that you could end up in a location that you dislike.

 

We just booked on the Eurodam and passed on the SZ guarantee, as we did not want to end up in one of 4 cabins that are in the bow of the ship (and 2 of those are handicap cabins).  I think this situation applies to the N.A. also, so check your ship's deck plan carefully before booking guarantees.   

Edited November 9, 2018 by DaveOKC

[Djptcp]

I received a tremendous casino offer this week and booked a Neptune Suite on the Oosterdam, but the offer was only good for guarantees. We don't like guarantees because we prefer to book a specific Neptune Suite, but couldn't pass up the offer. The rep said it was a SC category Neptune near the aft elevators. I just see four of them on Deck 7. Prefer to be near the fwd elevators because the casino is close to them and I have some walking issues. The rep sent a message to the inventory dept. requesting a Neptune near the fwd elevators so we'll see if that happens with a different Neptune category. She said we won't find out until it's within 7 days of embarkation.

[cruisingrob21]

Booked a J gty on a recent Eurodam sailing and got a D Oceanview upgrade

[sevenseasnomad]

On ‎11‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 10:02 AM, Djptcp said:

I received a tremendous casino offer this week and booked a Neptune Suite on the Oosterdam, but the offer was only good for guarantees. We don't like guarantees because we prefer to book a specific Neptune Suite, but couldn't pass up the offer. The rep said it was a SC category Neptune near the aft elevators. I just see four of them on Deck 7. Prefer to be near the fwd elevators because the casino is close to them and I have some walking issues. The rep sent a message to the inventory dept. requesting a Neptune near the fwd elevators so we'll see if that happens with a different Neptune category. She said we won't find out until it's within 7 days of embarkation.

 Neptune Suites are also on Deck 6 beside the mid-ship elevators.  We booked one of these on a flash sale and were very happy with both the location and the suite.  

[sevenseasnomad]

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 4:16 PM, CherryG said:

We will be on the Nieuw Amsterdam this Sunday and booked a guaranteed Signature Suite.  Last week we got our cabin number and it is an SS category, mid ship, so we are very happy. 

 

Very nice upgrade!  Enjoy!