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Read this before you book a "Guaranteed Cabin"


gr8fulforcruising
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8 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

You book a gty then complain that you don't like the room.  I don't get it.  A gty just means you have a room on the ship nothing more nothing less.  If you want your pick of cabins book it with a room assignment of course you pay more.  I have done both gty and  not and Im just happy to be on ship. 

you right....live and learn ...thank you

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5 hours ago, kearney said:

I wonder if the process of bidding for upgrades has had the effect of pushing more of the less attractive cabins into the guarantee pool of cabins. 

Not sure if this is fact but I was recently told that they set aside a specific amount of cabins for the bidding process. 

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5 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Not sure if this is fact but I was recently told that they set aside a specific amount of cabins for the bidding process. 

 

Hmm... I can't imagine why they would do that... seems to make more financial sense to keep all available cabins in the booking pool and aim for full price vs. holding them back to be sold at a highly discounted rate.

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47 minutes ago, bhughey said:

 

Hmm... I can't imagine why they would do that... seems to make more financial sense to keep all available cabins in the booking pool and aim for full price vs. holding them back to be sold at a highly discounted rate.

Like I said 10 different agents 10 different answers and according to my cruise planner many of them are in training. 

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On 12/8/2019 at 1:01 PM, gr8fulforcruising said:

BEWARE: We found out today that booking a guaranteed cabin cruise early with Celebrity means they can give you the worst verandah they can find, even if it is 210 days before the cruise! I was shocked to see earlier today that I was given a cabin category 2D 210 days before our cruise. The Captains Club means absolutely nothing to them ( probably an inconvenience). I understand the risk and should have picked our room at a higher cost but in the past we always got a better room than the lowest one they can find. I guess loyalty is a thing of the past.

Happy Sailing!

 

I truly don't get your complaint. When booking a guarantee cabin, you are taking the risk of what you get. If you aren't ok with that, then you should never book a gty cabin with the thought you would get an upgrade or the location/room you initially would prefer. We have booked gty cabins in the past with all the lines we sail, and often got an upgraded cabin. However, since they started implementing upsells, the chances of getting a prime cabin with guarantee bookings are long gone.

 

22 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Even if the OP can't get assigned to another cabin, which he most probably can, I fail to understand the basis of his complaint that "loyalty is a thing of the past." As far as I know, Celebrity has never assigned guaranteed cabins based on Captain's Club status or points. Nor should they, as it would be an unmanageable system. Besides, the current method works quite well as long as you understand how it works and are willing to accept your assignment, good or bad, without grumbling about it.

Celebrity, nor any other cruiseline does not base their upgrades or gty cabin assignments based on loyalty level.

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21 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Put me in amongst those who are confused by the OP’s complaint.  He booked an Oceanview and he was assigned an Oceanview.  Nowhere in the guarantee process is there any reference to Captain’s Club status so what is the basis for the complaint?

2D is a Verandah Cabin

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We have had some good cabins (a 1A) and not so good cabins via the guaranteed balcony - although the one not so good was at a fantastic price .  (Eclipse 2nd cabin from the front deck 6, not obstructed but very noisy when coming into port )

 

You actually stand to get a much worse cabin if you are booking from the UK than in the states, as we are not allowed to change our assigned cabin - in the US I believe you can ask to change withing the same category.  This seems a discriminatory policy to me.

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On 12/9/2019 at 9:23 AM, gr8fulforcruising said:

Thanks for your replies my main reason to talk about this was the fact that they assigned the cabin 210 days out not the cabin. They give you the impression that you may get an better upgrade but this is not the case, It will be in the lowest category and no exceptions according to the agent. We have booked guarantees previously and got fair cabins but not told it was going to be an obstruction and take it or......

We booked our first guaranteed SS2 about a year ahead of the cruise. We were also surprised to be assigned a cabin right away, it was an accessible SS2, which wouldn’t have been our first choice but were ok with it. After making final payment we realized that our cabin had changed still a SS2 but an aft facing cabin, which is what we had wanted in the first place so all is good! So there is still a possibility of your cabin changing. Since this was our first I cant say that this is what happens all the time. Good luck!!   Kim

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10 hours ago, DYKWIA said:

We have had some good cabins (a 1A) and not so good cabins via the guaranteed balcony - although the one not so good was at a fantastic price .  (Eclipse 2nd cabin from the front deck 6, not obstructed but very noisy when coming into port )

 

You actually stand to get a much worse cabin if you are booking from the UK than in the states, as we are not allowed to change our assigned cabin - in the US I believe you can ask to change withing the same category.  This seems a discriminatory policy to me.

We’re in the U.K. and I have been able to change our assigned GTY cabin, I’ve posted about this on other threads here on CC, I called when our assignment came through as we’d been placed right by the elevator, it was changed without question 

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49 minutes ago, Lolou127 said:

We’re in the U.K. and I have been able to change our assigned GTY cabin, I’ve posted about this on other threads here on CC, I called when our assignment came through as we’d been placed right by the elevator, it was changed without question 

Actually being close to elevators and stairs is a bonus.  You dont hear a thing and have the option of doing stairs rather than a long wait for crowded elevators.  I have a CC on my upcoming Mediterranean cruise and always book that location whenever possible.

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Agree OPs complaint is a bit ridiculous. 
 

I think the one time we did a guarantee it was a SkySuite (prob all that was left) and we got an Accessible SS. Which of course means bigger room (2 berth widths vs 1.5 for regular SS) but an aesthetically un-pleasing bathroom. Which is fine - EXCEPT. The door opened automatically when the key card was scanned, and stayed open for an extended period before closing. But the biggest issue was NO DEADBOLT. I understand why this might be desired/necessary for a disabled passenger, but not having an over-ride was absurd. I pitched a huge fit in the name of safety/privacy, and on Day 2 they found us a regular SS as I think someone no-showed. 

So I’m leery of GTYs as well. 

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We always book the cabin we want with the expectation of staying put , unless we hear something very bad about it.

 

With guarantees you get a lower price than with a fixed selection. Sometimes you can do very well but other times it seems you get what you have paid for...lesser cabins no one has chosen.   Works  very similar with hotels.

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55 minutes ago, hcat said:

We always book the cabin we want with the expectation of staying put , unless we hear something very bad about it.

 

With guarantees you get a lower price than with a fixed selection. Sometimes you can do very well but other times it seems you get what you have paid for...lesser cabins no one has chosen.   Works  very similar with hotels.

I've always fared very well with GTY verandahs and because I quite often travel solo the extra savings which most times is $200 plus is a welcome bonus. 

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On 12/10/2019 at 6:32 PM, hcat said:

We always book the cabin we want with the expectation of staying put , unless we hear something very bad about it.

 

With guarantees you get a lower price than with a fixed selection. Sometimes you can do very well but other times it seems you get what you have paid for...lesser cabins no one has chosen.   Works  very similar with hotels.

Well I just downgraded from an IV on Apex to an oceanview verandah for a savings of $600. Still kept all 4 perks though.  I saw the GTY price was the same as booking the cheapest verandah but with my captains club I still got a 1 category upgrade so opted not to book the GTY.  In all honesty I've heard so much negativity about the IV's I was happy I was able to make the change.  

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This is a quote from Cruise Critic's 10 Oct 2019 article on guaranteed cabins:

 

"Celebrity Cruises

How It Works: Celebrity passengers can choose a category type (inside, outside, etc.) and pay a price lower than the regular fares for that category. They will be berthed in a cabin within the chosen category -- so no chance of a free upgrade. (Upgrades are only available when the line is running a free-upgrade promotion.)"

 

Why should Celebrity give free upgrades when they can get people to bid on upgrades?

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1 hour ago, JKHawaii said:

This is a quote from Cruise Critic's 10 Oct 2019 article on guaranteed cabins:

 

"Celebrity Cruises

How It Works: Celebrity passengers can choose a category type (inside, outside, etc.) and pay a price lower than the regular fares for that category. They will be berthed in a cabin within the chosen category -- so no chance of a free upgrade. (Upgrades are only available when the line is running a free-upgrade promotion.)"

 

Why should Celebrity give free upgrades when they can get people to bid on upgrades?

In this particular case the GTY cabin and choose your own (there was just one left) was the same price. I guess those not familiar with the process would choose the guarantee with the expectation of an upgrade.

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A LOT depends on what you say when you call.  I've supported call centers before and you have to be very specific. Please don't give them a long story or some sort of "why I need this".  Most agents don't care, they just want to get the call done and over.  They are often rated on how quickly they managed their calls (AHT - average handle time).

 

Do your homework and locate an available room in the same category on your sailing.

 

Call them back and say.... for xxx reservation I've been assigned room 7234 but I'd like to move to room 8473. (room numbers are made up, please don't check them for accuracy).  

 

I booked a GTY room on the Infinity Panama Canal and did this exact same exercise.  They changed my room without complaint.

 

 

Edited by Lisah101
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This reminds me of when we used to sail on Royal C...So many Diamonds focused on getting the  call from the " move up fairy" ;  and  it  was a bit distracting on many roll calls!

 

it seemed random back then but now it is a whole  process...some luck out, some don't. We don't bid but wish everyone luck! 

 

  We find that booking with X has become  a tedious  exercise 

Edited by hcat
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I have a guarantee question.

If you see a guarantee where the undesirable staterooms in the lowest category of that guarantee are not showing, can you assume that you will (at worst) get one of the staterooms that is showing.  Or can Celebrity assign you to a stateroom (undesirable) that was not showing?

 

I do hope I made sense^^^^

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You can get any room in the category you choose, whether the rooms are showing as available when you book or not. People will take advantage of Move-Up offers making any room available. The room will be in that category or (potentially) higher.

 

On other cruise lines without Move-Up, people have been known to get  balcony when they booked an inside guarantee or even a suite, but MU males it unlikely.

 

As I said earlier, if you're going to risk a guarantee, look for the worst cabin in your category and, if you'd be happy with that, go ahead. That way you will never be disappointed and may even be pleasantly surprised!

 

 

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 We’ve booked GTD rooms a number of times… Some of the assignments have surprised us w/ an upgrade & others have been nice ...   We’ve never been disappointed with a GTD room – as we’ve always known which category we are booking.  

Edited by Von & John
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Two years ago on Summit 14 night New England/Canada cruise, yes I know this was before bidding, we were in a corner FV. We were able to select it even though there were just the two of us and paid what the asking price was at the time. On board we met the couple in the non corner FV next to us. They had booked a veranda guaranty and ended up in the FV. Paid a lot less than we did. Don't know if that is still likely to happen.

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On 12/8/2019 at 2:01 PM, gr8fulforcruising said:

BEWARE: We found out today that booking a guaranteed cabin cruise early with Celebrity means they can give you the worst verandah they can find, even if it is 210 days before the cruise! I was shocked to see earlier today that I was given a cabin category 2D 210 days before our cruise. The Captains Club means absolutely nothing to them ( probably an inconvenience). I understand the risk and should have picked our room at a higher cost but in the past we always got a better room than the lowest one they can find. I guess loyalty is a thing of the past.

Happy Sailing!

 

Some well known phrases come to mind:

 

you get what you pay for

 

don’t project the outcome

 

accept the things you can’t change, change the things you can

 

if I pay for a VW, I can’t expect a Porsche

 

it is what it is

 

this too shall pass

 

I am a victim of my own expectations

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