Guarantee cabin assignments

[Lovely other]

Has anyone ever asked and successfully received a change in a guarantee cabin ? 

 

I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in 10 days time and received a cabin on Deck 1 which I honestly hate the idea of. I know I take my chances with a guarantee but that is all I can realistically afford, particularly as I paid close to 200% as a single. 

 

Before I psyche myself up to call ( I have an  autism spectrum disorder and phone calls are very difficult and stressful) I just thought I’d ask around 

 

thanks in advance 

 

[DaveOKC]

19 minutes ago, Lovely other said:

Has anyone ever asked and successfully received a change in a guarantee cabin ? 

 

I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in 10 days time and received a cabin on Deck 1 which I honestly hate the idea of. I know I take my chances with a guarantee but that is all I can realistically afford, particularly as I paid close to 200% as a single. 

 

Before I psyche myself up to call ( I have an  autism spectrum disorder and phone calls are very difficult and stressful) I just thought I’d ask around 

 

thanks in advance 

 

 

I have not personally done this, but have seen reports from others who have.  Just do not get your hopes up too much, as the guarantees are the last assigned and by then the higher ranked cabins are often filled.  Plus, now all the guarantees have been assigned.  All you can do is try and all they can do is say yes or no, so you have nothing to lose by trying!

 

Have your travel agent call HAL immediately.  And Good Luck to you!

 

 

[dcruisers]

36 minutes ago, Lovely other said:

Has anyone ever asked and successfully received a change in a guarantee cabin ? 

 

I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in 10 days time and received a cabin on Deck 1 which I honestly hate the idea of. I know I take my chances with a guarantee but that is all I can realistically afford, particularly as I paid close to 200% as a single. 

 

Before I psyche myself up to call ( I have an  autism spectrum disorder and phone calls are very difficult and stressful) I just thought I’d ask around 

 

thanks in advance 

 

We leave in 10 days on RCL and still haven’t been assigned a cabin.

We are looking into cruising on the Nieuw Statendam in January and plan on booking a specific cabin.  The waiting to get a room assignment and not knowing if it will be decent is stressful!

[Lovely other]

16 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

 

I have not personally done this, but have seen reports from others who have.  Just do not get your hopes up too much, as the guarantees are the last assigned and by then the higher ranked cabins are often filled.  Plus, now all the guarantees have been assigned.  All you can do is try and all they can do is say yes or no, so you have nothing to lose by trying!

 

Have your travel agent call HAL immediately.  And Good Luck to you!

 

 

Thank you for your reply. The cabin is a higher category than my booking I think ( I get confused as to the order they go in ). I don’t have a travel agent as tbh in the UK they’re nothing more than a shop front with no real use. I always envy the fact that in the US you get such things as TA’s with real clout.  

 

I will psyche myself up for the phone 📞.  

[DaveOKC]

18 minutes ago, Lovely other said:

Thank you for your reply. The cabin is a higher category than my booking I think ( I get confused as to the order they go in ). I don’t have a travel agent as tbh in the UK they’re nothing more than a shop front with no real use. I always envy the fact that in the US you get such things as TA’s with real clout.  

 

I will psyche myself up for the phone 📞.  

Since your assigned category is higher than the one you booked, you MIGHT have a better chance, if you are willing to go back down a category or two.  My advice is to research what cabin(s) you would like (from those still showing Open on a travel website) before you call.  If you need help with this, please post which category and ship you are in now and which category you booked and I am sure someone on here will try to assist you.

[dot73]

When sailing solo, I always book an inside because of the hefty single supplement and I deal directly with a HAL cruise consultant.  I am usually upgraded to an obstructed view cabin or, if I'm lucky, to an outside cabin on deck 1.  It's actually not that bad especially if your cabin is not under the stage or under the dining room.  If your cabin is in a good location on Deck 1, I would keep it unless HAL is willing to give you another cabin at this stage.  Let us know how you made out.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Definitely get up the courage to call HAL.

 

And do as Dave said -- research what cabins you might be interested in.

 

Good Luck and let us know what happens.

[VennDiagram]

1 hour ago, Lovely other said:

I will psyche myself up for the phone

 

Best wishes 🙂  I understand how daunting some things can be.  Remember, the worst you will hear is "sorry, we can't do that",  but you may hear "yes, let me see where we could move you".

 

 

[sevenseasnomad]

Before you call HAL, go to halfacts.com and look at the deck plans.  Have it open when you call Seattle so that you can see where they may reassign you should you have the good luck to get another cabin.  Best of luck with getting the cabin you desire and have a wonderful cruise.

[RuthC]

I did it once.
Normally I select a cabin, and have my booking marked "do not upgrade", but one time there was no suitable cabin, so I went with a guarantee, hoping I would be assigned something better than the choices offered. I was assigned a cabin in the category I booked, and in a horrible location.
I contacted my TA to see if it could be changed to a better location. It was. My new assignment was still in the category I booked, but more mid-ship. I was pleased.

So, it CAN happen. Just muster the courage to call and ask, and know the worst they can say is "no".

[puppycanducruise]

Good luck. 🤞

 

[Lovely other]

The cabin is I-1146 on the Nieuw Statendam. Doing a dummy booking I can find nothing on a higher deck which is what I’d be hoping for.

 

HAL were not helpful but then I find the UK call centre rarely is. 

 

Thank you you for all your advice anyway. I’m off to make a cup of tea to calm my mind 😌

[Lovely other]

Update because I don’t know how to delete my previous reply. A lovely customer service agent has found me a rather nice Spa Inside on deck 10. 

 

Thanks for for encouraging me to try guys ... sometimes it’s worth pushing myself out of my little bubble. 

[puppycanducruise]

Good for you!

Thanks for the update.

Have a great cruise.

[DaveOKC]

30 minutes ago, Lovely other said:

Update because I don’t know how to delete my previous reply. A lovely customer service agent has found me a rather nice Spa Inside on deck 10. 

 

Thanks for for encouraging me to try guys ... sometimes it’s worth pushing myself out of my little bubble. 

Great !!  HAL does try to please.

[sevenseasnomad]

Good for you!  So glad you received a cabin more to your liking.  Now prepare for a lovely cruise on a beautiful new ship.

[VennDiagram]

2 hours ago, Lovely other said:

A lovely customer service agent has found me a rather nice Spa Inside on deck 10. 

 

Good for you for persevering!  Brava!

[catl331]

2 hours ago, Lovely other said:

Update because I don’t know how to delete my previous reply.

We can't delete our own posts. You have 20 minutes to edit a post, but after that you must "report post" (in the upper r.h. corner) and ask a Host to delete it.

Edited May 29, 2019 by catl331

[Djptcp]

We had to book a guarantee Neptune Suite on the Oosterdam for a Feb cruise in order to receive deeply discounted NS rate and casino Fun Play. Used to be able to book specific NS for these offers, so it was a surprise we had to do a guarantee this time. I have mobility issues and alerted the booking agent who said she would let the inventory dept. know that I was requesting a NS near the forward or mid ship elevators. I also sent an email to the special needs dept. A week before the cruise, we received our assigned Neptune Suite and it was in the worst possible location for me - way aft on Deck 4 and not even close to the aft elevators. I called HAL immediately and was told to email the inventory dept. and ask to have our assignment changed. No luck and the assignment wasn't changed. This greatly impacted my enjoyment of the cruise. When we returned from the cruise and were booking another couple of HAL cruises with our HAL agent, she admitted that those who pay full price for Neptune Suites receive the best locations and ours was deeply discounted so we got what was left that nobody else wanted. Be aware that the Neptune Suites in the aft locations have nice big wrap around decks, but the cabins are smaller than the usual NS with the same amount of furniture and we were constantly bumping into something.