Guaranteed cabins

[subaru94]

Help please, I am a bit confused how the guaranteed cabins work now, we went on a cruise back in 2018 and got a guaranteed inside cabin, we were never allocated a cabin at the time and were lucky enough to get an obstructed oceanview cabin allocated about 4 weeks beforehand.  Our last 2 bookings when we have requested guaranteed inside cabin, we have been allocated a cabin number straight away I'm a bit confused as I thought guaranteed means you don't get allocated until nearer the sail date?

[Colo Cruiser]

11 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

Help please, I am a bit confused how the guaranteed cabins work now, we went on a cruise back in 2018 and got a guaranteed inside cabin, we were never allocated a cabin at the time and were lucky enough to get an obstructed oceanview cabin allocated about 4 weeks beforehand.  Our last 2 bookings when we have requested guaranteed inside cabin, we have been allocated a cabin number straight away I'm a bit confused as I thought guaranteed means you don't get allocated until nearer the sail date?

You can have a cabin assigned from booking right up to the day before sailing.

Basically from the time you make the booking (however far out it may be) you can get a cabin assignment.

[sweetp12]

Guarantee means that you will receive a cabin in the category you have paid for or better.  While with Princess there is no financial advantage to booking guarantee, it does give you the possibility of an upgrade.

 

The cabins can be allocated from within hours of the booking to a day or two prior to the cruise.  

[Bwana Tom]

32 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

Help please, I am a bit confused how the guaranteed cabins work now, we went on a cruise back in 2018 and got a guaranteed inside cabin, we were never allocated a cabin at the time and were lucky enough to get an obstructed oceanview cabin allocated about 4 weeks beforehand.  Our last 2 bookings when we have requested guaranteed inside cabin, we have been allocated a cabin number straight away I'm a bit confused as I thought guaranteed means you don't get allocated until nearer the sail date?

We recently booked a 3-way back to back cruise. Within a couple of weeks after booking we received one of the cruise cabins assigned. We then waited for about 2 months for the second one to be assigned and finally our last cruise was booked about 2 weeks before its departure. I think the timing has more to do with the availability of cabins and how booked up they anticipate the ship to be. In other words if plenty of cabin are available and they don't think the ship will be full up they may wait until just before boarding time. I've even heard of people that didn't know which cabin they would be in until they got the dock. Even though I don't have first hand info on this, I have been told by others on this board that sometimes after they assign a cabin they may change it. So, I always monitor my account closely so there are no surprises when I get to dockside. 

I hope this is helpful and you have a great cruise.

Tom

[geoherb]

50 minutes ago, sweetp12 said:

Guarantee means that you will receive a cabin in the category you have paid for or better.  While with Princess there is no financial advantage to booking guarantee, it does give you the possibility of an upgrade.

 

 

The possible financial advantage is booking a guarantee when there are no specific cabins left in a category. I'm watching prices on a few different cruises. For the Feb. 25 one on the Crown, I can book a guarantee for $42 less per person than picking a specific cabin. We're not too choosy when it comes to cabin location.

 

If you get your cabin assignment soon enough (when there are still cabins available in the assigned category), you can request to be moved to one of those cabins. I did this last month for my cruise on the Caribbean Princess because I did not want a cabin with the upper berths jutting out from the walls. For our cruise on the Crown Princess in September, though, there weren't any cabins available in the category by the time we received our assignment and we were stuck with the upper berths.

[seachelt]

Three weeks ago I booked a guarantee obstructed for my 2 grandkids for the Feb. 22 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Royal Princess, and a BB category balcony for DH and I.  Last night I was delighted to see that the kids have now been assigned a deluxe balcony! Good deal. Next time I'll probably book that way for DH and I.

[shepp]

I booked a mini guarantee for a Hawaii cruise leaving Monday. Finally on Thursday afternoon we got our assignment, which wasn't an upgrade. Then on Friday morning I got a phone call from Princess. With three days to sailing we had been upgraded to Club Class. Go figure.

[justafem]

I booked a guarantee, cheapest inside forward.  Just received our room assignment.  Still inside, but mid-ship with passenger decks above and below.  And NO pullmans!

 

Hubby and I discussed it, if we had ended up with our paid for room, we'd be happy and if we received an upgrade, we'd be happy.  We are happy.  

[sunneesmile]

We booked a guarantee for ME mini suite on the small ship Pacific Princess back in June 2019 for a May 2020 sailing and I realize it could be departure day before we know our cabin number.  I would be happy with any mini on this ship, but on some of the larger ships, that would not be a true statement.  I have a seen a few minis come and go at higher prices over the months.  This is our first time booking guarantee and I guess I am just curious how this process works. If the ship is booked full, who gets bumped?