guarantee rooms-does HAL work on the weekends

[viccruiser]

As I wait for my room assignment, I am wondering if HAL has people working in the evenings and weekends assigning rooms for those of us that chose a guarantee category - or do they work standard office hours i.e. 9 -5 Monday to Friday. Anyone have knowledge of this.

viccruiser

[billroddy]

Added hours for week days.

[billroddy]

Reservations is available Satuday and Sunday 7 a. m. - 3:30 p.m.

Weekdays 5 a. m. 7 p.m.

Alll times PST.

Bill

[viccruiser]

billroddy

So I guess that means that they could be working on assignments during those times! I guess I will still keep checking multiple times a day. Thanks.

viccruiser

[kakalina]

We have checked the HAL site and found our cabin # assigned on the weekend before. It can happen.

[RevNeal]

I check every evening about 8pm Central Time. I figure that if they've not uploaded the assignment by then, it won't happen that day. I don't bother checking earlier in the day ... I'm either too busy or I'm tired of being disappointed with no new news.

[hybrn8]

does this mean anything? We have done guarantees several times on HAL and Celebrity and have always gotten cabin # fairly soon after booking and, in one instance, before final payment was made. To my overly logical mind, it seems that this close to a sailing the reservations/room assignment folks ought to know who's going and who isn't. Does anyone have any insight as to how guarantees are allocated? What percentage, on average, on any given sailing are guarantees purchased? Inquiring minds want to know! Thanx.......

[hammybee]

As I wait for my room assignment, I am wondering if HAL has people working in the evenings and weekends assigning rooms for those of us that chose a guarantee category - or do they work standard office hours i.e. 9 -5 Monday to Friday. Anyone have knowledge of this.

viccruiser

 

It looks like you sail on 1/19/08, more than a month away. Given, it appears your cruise is sold out, I suspect your cabin assignment is imminent.

[hammybee]

does this mean anything? We have done guarantees several times on HAL and Celebrity and have always gotten cabin # fairly soon after booking and, in one instance, before final payment was made. To my overly logical mind, it seems that this close to a sailing the reservations/room assignment folks ought to know who's going and who isn't. Does anyone have any insight as to how guarantees are allocated? What percentage, on average, on any given sailing are guarantees purchased? Inquiring minds want to know! Thanx.......

 

Only the cruise line knows what percentage of cabins are sold as guaranteed versus specific cabins. It's proprietary information and probably changes sailing to sailing.

 

If your sail is still selling cabins, it is possible you may not get an assignment until as late as boarding. It is one of the conditions associated with booking a guaranteed cabin. That this may not have been your previous experience does not matter. Each sailing has its own inventory management challenges.

 

Upgrades are driven from the bottom, up. The least expensive cabins tend to sell out before more common and costly cabins. To fill a ship, more inexpensive cabins may be sold than are available. And then the fun, combination of upsells and upgrades, begins.

[viccruiser]

hammybee said:

It looks like you sail on 1/19/08, more than a month away. Given, it appears your cruise is sold out, I suspect your cabin assignment is imminent.

Actually, we are on the Jan 4 cruise which has been sold out for quite a while now. Being that we are less than 3 weeks away, I have been checking more frequently. I'm just a little curious.....can you tell?

viccruiser

[hammybee]

Actually, we are on the Jan 4 cruise which has been sold out for quite a while now. Being that we are less than 3 weeks away, I have been checking more frequently. I'm just a little curious.....can you tell?

viccruiser

 

DUH ! 1/19 is my b'day. What was I thinking?

 

It is quite possible that the ship is oversold and HAL is looking for volunteers to switch dates. Don't worry about this. Everyone who wants to sail, will sail and those willing to switch will do quite well too.

 

Just keep checking your online booking form. Good luck to you and I hope you have a fabulous cruise and see many,mnay whales.

[viccruiser]

hammybee

thanks,

viccruiser

[jerseyjk]

I'm just a little curious.....can you tell?

 

Join the club. Our 1/5 sailing has also been sold out for weeks and no assignment for me yet either. It's maddening seeing those four letters every time I sign on ... GUAR.

 

For the record ... I fully deserve not getting an assignment until boarding as a penalty for all the bandwidth I waste checking multiple times a day.

[Nancyquilts]

Join the club. Our 1/5 sailing has also been sold out for weeks and no assignment for me yet either. It's maddening seeing those four letters every time I sign on ... GUAR.

 

For the record ... I fully deserve not getting an assignment until boarding as a penalty for all the bandwidth I waste checking multiple times a day.

Since we're leaving January 3rd, I'll hope to hear in the next week. We've had our reservation since last December and were paid in full by June. Nancy

[hybrn8]

The cruise is said to be sold out and we have a guarantee of SZ. Our friend who is in another cabin still hasn't gotten cabin #. I just don't want to wag over to CA only to find out they're thinking about doing a last minute swap. A call to HAL elicited a sympathic reply but without any useful info. I know guarantees are crap shoots but they've never been a worry before and we're not really worried, just curious!

[funforsun]

I our experience, we have found that the cruise agents are not accountable/responsible for the room assignments, it is a group called "ship inventory". The cruise agents cannot even talk to them directly, they have to fax them questions regarding room assignments. We have also faxed "ship inventory" and my belief is they do their best to honor the faxes.....but no gurarantees.

 

On the 12/22 Noordam Holiday cruise, our daughters were booked in a catagory "I" cabin, and of course they were oversold. My wife was able to get someone from HAL on the phone to learn that, while the cabins were not yet assigned, the only ones available were not what we wanted. I think this information is available if you ask, but actual room assignments are left to "ship inventory".

 

That is my offer here, hope that I am not too off base.

[Lewis Clark]

For those of you sailing the first week in January, there's still time....I sail in just four days and still see "GUAR" when I log in to check my assignment! I'd really like to have a cabin number to give family before we sail, in the unlikely event of an emergency back home.....But as DH says, "It'll be what it'll be......."

[Lewis Clark]

Great news! Our "H or better" guarantee turned into a "C" assignment! How fun....and definitely worth the wait! :)

[x lindsay x]

I've had at least two room assignments present themselves Sunday afternoon/evening. So don't give up just because it's the weekend.

[Marie321]

I've always received my room assignment Sunday AM. (This is when I've checked every day also).

[innlady1]

I'm out of the loop on guarantee's. I like to know exactly where I'll be and find it fun to choose a stateroom, so haven't gotten into the guarantee thing.

 

I've read so much on here about guarantee's, that I'm curious what the benefits are of doing that. Can anyone explain? :confused:

 

Silly me, probably: This time, we chose an aft verandah stateroom (VA), and our TA asked if I wanted to be put in for an upgrade....I said NO! I'm determined to try an aft cabin!

[jerseyjk]

I've read so much on here about guarantee's, that I'm curious what the benefits are of doing that. Can anyone explain?

 

Benefit is pretty much cost. My trip in two weeks I paid for the lowest of the low NN inside cabin. Two of us are sailing for very little money. Since there are only four of the NN class cabins which was only offered as a GTY. I should get something better than what I paid for. Either way, it was an extremely cheap way to sail for a week.

 

Besides, it's fun waiting for an assignment. Kinda like playing the lottery. Two weeks to go and I still don't have my assignment, but I still have hope that I get a good upgrade.

[Cruising-along]

Great news! Our "H or better" guarantee turned into a "C" assignment! How fun....and definitely worth the wait! :)

 

Congratulations on your great upgrade!

[hybrn8]

last week for the 1/5 trip. We paid for SZ and got SS cabins next to each other mid-ship under the Lido area. We are pretty pleased. We have yet to get a rude surprise with a guarantee but, that said, for an upcoming Alaska cruise we chose our cabins - one at the very front with dead-ahead vistas and one on the port side with an oversized veranda. Cost drives our decisions for the guarantees, nothing else.