Early Saver Cabin Allocation

[DebiGee]

😓thank you so much that really helps

[Cpt Pugwash]

On 8/8/2022 at 12:21 PM, grapau27 said:

Personally I always book a select fare and balcony cabin.

I then choose my own cabin then select NO Upgrades so I don't get what someone else calls an upgrade.

There are some huge On Board Credits offered too with select plus free port shuttles.

For saver fares you might find out your cabin number a few weeks or days before you cruise and likely get a cabin no one else wants.

Graham.

Agree i have always booked Select because even though you get to choose the Cabin you would like it also let's you check before booking what is on the decks Above and Below you. Personally i'd rather pay a couple of hundreds of pounds than get stuck with a Cabin above the Theatre or somewhere like that.

[Colsers]

5 hours ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

Agree i have always booked Select because even though you get to choose the Cabin you would like it also let's you check before booking what is on the decks Above and Below you. Personally i'd rather pay a couple of hundreds of pounds than get stuck with a Cabin above the Theatre or somewhere like that.

Unfortunately the fare was £1000 more expensive, a rather lot imo. 😏

[Cpt Pugwash]

2 minutes ago, Colsers said:

Unfortunately the fare was £1000 more expensive, a rather lot imo. 😏

To be Honest if it was going to cost me £1000 to book a Select i think i'd take the chance on which Cabin they put me in and take a set of Earplugs. 🙂

[Colsers]

1 minute ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

To be Honest if it was going to cost me £1000 to book a Select i think i'd take the chance on which Cabin they put me in and take a set of Earplugs. 🙂

😆 yes that's exactly what me and hubby said to one another!

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Colsers said:

Unfortunately the fare was £1000 more expensive, a rather lot imo. 😏

This is now a typical gap on a lot of the cruises.  I think you did exactly the right thing and I will be doing the same going forward Christmas excepting.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

To be Honest if it was going to cost me £1000 to book a Select i think i'd take the chance on which Cabin they put me in and take a set of Earplugs. 🙂

I agree that £1000 is an enormous difference. But, I would prefer not to cruise at all, rather than take the risk of a cabin under the lido deck, and being woken at  4am every morning.

I just look at the select price, and disregard the saver price.  If the select price seems acceptable,  fine.  If not, I look for another cruise. 

[Megabear2]

We wake very early every morning, a hangover from my 2 1/2 hour work train commute every morning, so early morning noise isn't a worry to us. 

 

What is a problem are late night Caribbean deck parties ending at one in the morning if you have a Deck 15 cabin.  Having had that fun in January 2020 I try to book select in the Caribbean but outside of that area reason late night deck dancing and Queen tributes rarely occur elsewhere in the world so a saver isn't such a gamble. 

 

Our onboard spend is rarely above £500 as we book and pay for all our extra dining and excursions before travelling so that £1,000 difference is well worth the risk, particularly in Europe.

[Colsers]

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

I agree that £1000 is an enormous difference. But, I would prefer not to cruise at all, rather than take the risk of a cabin under the lido deck, and being woken at  4am every morning.

I just look at the select price, and disregard the saver price.  If the select price seems acceptable,  fine.  If not, I look for another cruise. 

Unfortunately, living in Scotland we don't have that option of booking another cruise as all Scottish flights to the Caribbean were cancelled so our only choice was Newcastle or Manchester. We tried many different cruiselines and all were the same. So our choice was this ship on a Select or Saver fare from our nearest English airport. We made the decision to gamble and are hoping for the best, as to choose between going on this cruise on this fare or not cruising at all was not something we would consider. We have only ever booked a guarantee cabin once before many years ago and all worked out well for that. All our other cruises we specify deck and cabin. We're not loyal to any one cruiseline, so some work out great and some not so good. So it's also a bit of a gamble (albeit more controlled) specifying your cabin. We're just happy to be going to the Caribbean and feel lucky for having that privilege 😊

[terrierjohn]

A friend of ours has just had their Princess inside cabin, saver equivalent fare, upgraded to an accessible balcony cabin.

Now that's what I call a result.

[Megabear2]

4 hours ago, Colsers said:

Unfortunately, living in Scotland we don't have that option of booking another cruise as all Scottish flights to the Caribbean were cancelled so our only choice was Newcastle or Manchester. We tried many different cruiselines and all were the same. So our choice was this ship on a Select or Saver fare from our nearest English airport. We made the decision to gamble and are hoping for the best, as to choose between going on this cruise on this fare or not cruising at all was not something we would consider. We have only ever booked a guarantee cabin once before many years ago and all worked out well for that. All our other cruises we specify deck and cabin. We're not loyal to any one cruiseline, so some work out great and some not so good. So it's also a bit of a gamble (albeit more controlled) specifying your cabin. We're just happy to be going to the Caribbean and feel lucky for having that privilege 😊

Did you select an area, ie forward, mid forward/mid aft, mid or aft?  There's usually only a small difference in price on saver fares for these "grades" and enormous upgrades aside an aft or mid aft balcony will avoid deck 8 problems on Arvia and Iona.

[Colsers]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Did you select an area, ie forward, mid forward/mid aft, mid or aft?  There's usually only a small difference in price on saver fares for these "grades" and enormous upgrades aside an aft or mid aft balcony will avoid deck 8 problems on Arvia and Iona.

No, I did ask our travel agent, she said it wasn't possible on a guarantee fare. 😕

[DebiGee]

oh ,this might mean I haven't completely messed up then ,good to know .I have to say though that the cost diifference between saver and select fare was so much as to mean we could go for 2 weeks rather than one so it may be that I have made a boo-boo but I will just have to keep reminding myself why I made this decision if we are lumped with a cabin we don't much like🙁

[janny444]

16 hours ago, DebiGee said:

oh ,this might mean I haven't completely messed up then ,good to know .I have to say though that the cost diifference between saver and select fare was so much as to mean we could go for 2 weeks rather than one so it may be that I have made a boo-boo but I will just have to keep reminding myself why I made this decision if we are lumped with a cabin we don't much like🙁

Your first cruise....how wonderful.....I feel excited for you. You may be so " enthralled" with cruising  that wherever you end up it will be an enjoyable experience. You say that you have got the cruise at a bargain price.....first cruise....how good is it....just sit back and look forward to a wonderful experience BUT be prepared to be bitten with the cruise bug.....cruising can be  very addictive ! 😉

[devonuk]

My experience last week booking a saver fare on the Arvia TA to Barbados (15 nights) leaving Soton on the 6/1/23…… 
The select fare was exactly £1000 more for an inside cabin, so as the dining selection is freedom dining only we decided that a grand to choose a cabin was not worth it. We have 6 other cruises booked next year so this was just an ‘extra’ trip. 
The only available cabin level on a saver fare was a PF (inside forward).  We went for it and are happy to take the risk for some winter sun 😎

Our last cruise a few weeks ago was the stern Orsava Suite on the Ventura so it’ll be some difference 😬

I’ll let you know what cabin we’re eventually allocated 👍

PS I’m told CPS had no spaces left but I didn’t look as it wasn’t relevant to me 🤔

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, devonuk said:

The only available cabin level on a saver fare was a PF (inside forward).  We went for it and are happy to take the risk for some winter sun 😎

 

Apart from the two on deck 17, where you may get some late night noise from folk walking from the Crow's Nest to the lifts, I don't think there's a poor location amongst the PF cabins.

There are a few on deck 8 above the theatre but, unless you like to be tucked up in bed with your Ovaltine by 22:00, they won't be a problem.  The gym and thermal suite won't be open at sparrow's fart or late at night, so the ones under them on deck 4 should be fine also.

 

We, like you, are treating this as an 'extra' so went for the cheapest option. We though booked when the cruise was first released; that was out of necessity because we needed an accessible cabin. Luckily, the select fare at the time was the same as the saver fare, with the added benefit of the OBC, for which we received a recent boost of an extra £200.  

I note the current select fare in a PF cabin is the same as we paid, but with an extra £100 OBC.  That said, the lowest grade accessible cabin on the select fare that was available a couple of weeks ago is one of the promenade fronting balcony cabins on deck 8, and at £1500 more than we paid, I would not have thanked you for it.

If we could have guaranteed an accessible PF cabin being available this late, we would have done as you have, and saved a few quid. You indeed have got a bargain!👍