Guarantee Balcony?

[tee3240]

Thinking of booking a guarantee balcony (BB) on the Gem. The savings over a regular balcony is significant. Pros? Cons? Anyone have a bad experience doing this?

 

thank you!

[traic73]

Following, as I am considering this as well for the Joy. 

 

Edited June 18, 2019 by traic73

[kpjb]

Pros: cheaper

Cons: you can't pick your cabin

 

That's about it.

[graphicguy]

I just booked a GTY balcony on the Escape.  But, there are no obstructed views on the Escape.  I think there are some obstructed view balcony cabins on the GEM, which I’ve also sailed.  Can’t pick your own cabins.  So, you can’t choose a cabin without some warts.

Edited June 19, 2019 by graphicguy

[phissy]

25 minutes ago, kpjb said:

Pros: cheaper

Cons: you can't pick your cabin

 

That's about it.

Did this last year.  We were assigned mid ship balcony  on Deck 12. Bliss. I think many mid ship cabins are available because of the initial cost when selecting those. They run more than some other categories. Happy with the cabin and price. We decided on the cruise at the last minute, 3 weeks before sailing.

[Nola26]

We have one for our upcoming Epic cruise. Assigned quickly, category BC. Love the location, got the bedding location we wanted and I think it is one of the larger balconies on deck 8. Still sight unseen, but happy enough that we will not bid for an upgrade.

[PrinceonRN]

Go for it 

GTY cabins save you money and most of time you are in a better cabin than you would have paid for.

I am sailing on the JOY with a GTY balcony  and I have a minisuite now with a room assigned. Works best when you book thru NCL direct.

[BirdTravels]

GTY is cheaper because you have no control over your room. You may get that room that no one would ever pay for because it is obstructed or over a noise source.... Or you could be lucky and get the room from someone cancelling/upgrading that is wonderful. No choice. No changing once assigned. Personally, we want to pick our room. 

[robin13]

16 hours ago, Nola26 said:

We have one for our upcoming Epic cruise. Assigned quickly, category BC. Love the location, got the bedding location we wanted and I think it is one of the larger balconies on deck 8. Still sight unseen, but happy enough that we will not bid for an upgrade.

You were very lucky as I did my first and probably only balcony guarantee for my recent 15 day TA cruise on The Epic back in April.  Since this was a very long cruise I decided to splurge and get the balcony and since I was sailing solo it was more economical for me to do the balcony guarantee.  I had read all about this guarantee program and most everybody said they were pleased with the cabin they got.  Well to my dismay I was given an "enclosed" balcony.  I didn't even know that until I read the actual invoice and saw it in small print.  I googled enclosed balcony and when I saw that it looked like a giant picture window surrounded by metal I called my guy at NCL.  Since this was a guarantee cabin the only way to switch was for me to pay more $$ which I did.  I was then put on deck 8 and noticed that right below me were the life boats.  So if you were standing and looking down on your balcony all you could see were life boats.  I then noticed that the mini suites were way cheaper than what I paid for my balcony and NCL agreed to upgrade me for free to a mini suite.  The only caveat was that it was another guarantee cabin but at this point I thought how bad could the location be for a mini suite.  Well third time was the charm and I ended up with a great cabin in a great location. 

[gizfish]

I used to think the cheaper cost for a guarantee was worth it.  Then we got assigned a "family balcony" near the elevators that lead to the kid's camp.  All day long we heard children running up and down the halls.  We were constantly bothered by all the noise of kids waiting to go into camp or of the camp kids waiting for elevators.  I have also had rooms under the buffet where you would hear every utensil that was dropped and every cart being wheeled above you.  And of course, under the pool, you get to hear all the loungers scraping.  We also had a room over the theater and were able to hear all the bass noise whenever there was a show or rehearsal.  If you don't care if things above you or below you will annoy you, go for it.

[Joken35]

We had a GTY on the Breakaway to Bermuda. we were close to the elevator and people could see in if they were at the bar on the level above. did not effect the cruise one bit. This year we have an unassigned on our MED. cruise  price is sooooo right

 If selecting your cabin is not that important , enjoy the $$$ you save,

 

[All-ready2cruise]

I will simply add that if you're doing a TA, especially east to west (fall cruise) a privasea balcony (cove balcony, hull balcony, partially obstructed balcony) can be the best choice since the weather can be unco-operative in the Oct. -Nov. cruise time frame.  There's really nothing bad about these balconies IMO.  They protect you from the wind and the sun so, while you may feel as though a BD balcony is not the best, it really does depend on your choice of cruise. 

 

JMO,

Cheers, enjoy your cruise no matter where your cabin is located. 

[serene56]

In all my years of cruising this is the first guarantee I am doing.     The price difference is huge.    Almost 600 to pick my own  

 

[Nola26]

This is our first guarantee reservation and site unseen I think we are in a sweet location and have an angled balcony near the elevators. Lower deck near the places we will frequent will be good for Mom. We were close to nothing on the Bliss.

 

We are completely rolling the dice on this trip: GTY and NCL flight perk. After stalking the trip for 4yrs it finally fits into the budget!

 

International flight options are impacted by the Boeing 737 Max grounding. We are being booked on Air Canada, not ticketed yet. Air Canada has leased a plane and crew from Qatar Airways to operate the Montreal to Barcelona route. Qatar has a good reputation for comfort and service but I never expected an Air Canada ticket to begin with. 

 

We may have lucked out with the cabin, but the flights will be our adventure! I guess we can not have it all. But I am still pumped for this mother daughter trip.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Nola26

[vince_g]

Did a 7 night Bermuda on Gem back in May.  We took an inside sail away rate, and bid $100 per person on a balcony.  When balcony sail away price dropped to $200 more than what we paid for the inside, I did a direct upgrade and abandoned my bid. We ended up getting cabin 9506, all the way forward.  Great cabin, but when the seas were rough, we did notice a bit more motion than we are accustomed to.

[hladygirl]

I was also on the gem to Bermuda in April with a sailaway inside cabin. Got assigned cabin 8007. Probably the worst cabin in rough weather. So far forward and in the corner. The first day and a half was very rough. I could not walk or take a shower in my cabin. The noise of the waves crashing against the hull was deafening. Every time a wave hit the whole cabin would vibrate violently. Won’t do that again.

[danak13]

I guess I have gotten lucky-booked two guarantees and had great rooms both times.  First time was an inside and we had a good, quiet location.  Second time, booked and inside but called to upgrade to a balcony though it was still a guaranteed room.  Should have gotten one of the enclosed balconies as that was what we paid for but we were given a midship balcony in a great location.  Both times our cabin was assigned within weeks if not days of making the booking as well.  

[RNRcruisers]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that if you book a sail-away rate you don't get the "free" offers.

[tee3240]

So yesterday I went for it and booked a balcony BD guarantee.  Checked NCL.com today and they assigned us a BA balcony midship on deck 9. Looks like a great location! Happy I took the chance. Saved almost $1,000! 

 

Thanks for for everyone’s comments. 15 days to go!

[snow bunny]

9 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

I don't think anyone has mentioned that if you book a sail-away rate you don't get the "free" offers.

We have booked a guarantee balcony (Breakaway) and have been assigned a BA category.  If we had picked our cabin with the free perks our total cost would be almost $1700 more!!  No thanks!  We will pay the corkage fee on a couple of bottles of wine and pay as we go for drinks.

 

snow bunny

[Nola26]

9 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

I don't think anyone has mentioned that if you book a sail-away rate you don't get the "free" offers.

You are correct. However, Guarantee and Sailaway are different fares, not the same thing.

Guarantee rates are eligible for promotions. We booked GTY and were able to Take All plus reduced airfare.

[Nola26]

8 hours ago, tee3240 said:

So yesterday I went for it and booked a balcony BD guarantee.  Checked NCL.com today and they assigned us a BA balcony midship on deck 9. Looks like a great location! Happy I took the chance. Saved almost $1,000! 

 

Thanks for for everyone’s comments. 15 days to go!

Awesome and congratulations!

[serene56]

19 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

I don't think anyone has mentioned that if you book a sail-away rate you don't get the "free" offers.

 

 

Correct.    Booking the sail away for 2 is 1400    picking a cabin for the free offers it would be almost 2200.00   I can pay as i go for that price difference

[RNRcruisers]

14 hours ago, snow bunny said:

We have booked a guarantee balcony (Breakaway) and have been assigned a BA category.  If we had picked our cabin with the free perks our total cost would be almost $1700 more!!  No thanks!  We will pay the corkage fee on a couple of bottles of wine and pay as we go for drinks.

 

snow bunny

I'm not saying I disagree but the poster was asking the difference and that is one. 

[RNRcruisers]

14 hours ago, Nola26 said:

You are correct. However, Guarantee and Sailaway are different fares, not the same thing.

Guarantee rates are eligible for promotions. We booked GTY and were able to Take All plus reduced airfare.

Good point. I guess I didn't see Guaranteed rates, assumed sail-away.