Anyone have experience with this?

[cruz chic]

I'm on the Apr.4/08 sailing of the Maasdam and it's pretty much sold out. A lady on our roll call was told the following by HAL:

 

I asked HAL about the guarentee rooms and they told me that the ship is pretty much sold out and that most likely the guarantee rooms may not even be assigned until we board.

 

Has anyone had experience with this? I would think that if the ship is almost full guartentee rooms would be assigned sooner. I called HAL myself and got nothing but double talk and no answers. Would you think rooms would be assigned sooner. Thanks in advance.:)

[bruceh4]

I'm on the Apr.4/08 sailing of the Maasdam and it's pretty much sold out. A lady on our roll call was told the following by HAL:

 

I asked HAL about the guarentee rooms and they told me that the ship is pretty much sold out and that most likely the guarantee rooms may not even be assigned until we board.

 

Has anyone had experience with this? I would think that if the ship is almost full guartentee rooms would be assigned sooner. I called HAL myself and got nothing but double talk and no answers. Would you think rooms would be assigned sooner. Thanks in advance.:)

Yes this happens from time to time. You may not learn your cabin number untill you get to the dock. When you leave your luggage at the dock for loading on the ship a HAL rep will have a copy of the ships manifest with your cabin number on it. At that time you will write in your cabin number on the luggage tags for delivery to your room.

[sail7seas]

We have never booked guarantee rooms but from all my years of reading this board, what you describe is more the norm than not. It isn't unheard of for you to not have a cabin assignment until you get to the pier. Don't fret; you will have a cabin but you may not know which cabin until embarkation day.

 

Hope you love Maasdam as much as we do. She's a beautiful ship with a wonderful crew.

 

[cruz chic]

I'm not really too worried about it. Sleeping on a deck chair would be much more pleasant then the cold Calgary winter we have had this year. :D

 

I just think it's kind of strange that if the ship is almost full that they wouldn't get the show on the road.

 

I almost always book a guarentee. Usually it works out pretty well.

 

I think the Penthouse is still available on this sailing. I think that is where they are going to put me.:D

 

Thanks for the replies so far!

[CocoKai]

Hey! That's what I think too. I booked a VB by mistake on our upcoming sold out O'dam cruise....thought it was an SB. I know they are reserving the Penthouse for me because they don't want to squeeze 4 people into such a tight space. I'm expecting the phone to ring any minute with the great news!!!! If they assign it to me at the dock, I'll just have to accept it graciously and tip well.

[sk8teacher]

Our last cruise out of Ft Lauderdale we didn't find out our room until the night before departure. We went down the day before and just before going to bed I happened to make one last check and there it was. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known until I got to the terminal. Not a big deal, that's what you put up with when booking guarantee rooms. We always book OV guarantees and have never been disappointed.

 

Besides, as you mentioned, the PH is still available. . . . :rolleyes: !

 

Cheers,

[BaumD]

HAL will try, a week or so before sailing, to get people to upgrade their cabins for a fee. They would rather have someone pay a bargain rate to upgrade than give a free upgrade to someone with a guarantee. That's why it may be last minute before they assign cabins

[VTcruisenut]

Both other times we have gone on Holland, we got our GUAR cabin assignment before we left Vermont- usually two weeks before the cruise date.................We fly down the day before. This year, however, we haven't gotten our cabin assignment yet for our cruise on March 9th which is also sold out according to HAL. This can mean that there are some cabins reserved by TA's that they are trying to fill last minute. In any case, I will have a cabin and I am sure it will be upgraded from GUAR inside to the Penthouse! I also expect them to offer to pick up my on-ship expenses (you know COMP me like they do in Vegas) LOL I was just happy to have HAL actually tell me how many children are on board! THere are only 19 on the entire ship! That means I will be able to use the pool...........Now if only my husband hadn't put my swimsuit in the dryer! Shrunken spandex, not good! Oh well, what do I care if I traumatize the PX on the Veendam! I will never see them again after the cruise..........:rolleyes:

[VTcruisenut]

sorry double posted.........

[rlm304]

Both other times we have gone on Holland, we got our GUAR cabin assignment before we left Vermont- usually two weeks before the cruise date.................We fly down the day before. This year, however, we haven't gotten our cabin assignment yet for our cruise on March 9th which is also sold out according to HAL. This can mean that there are some cabins reserved by TA's that they are trying to fill last minute. In any case, I will have a cabin and I am sure it will be upgraded from GUAR inside to the Penthouse! I also expect them to offer to pick up my on-ship expenses (you know COMP me like they do in Vegas) LOL I was just happy to have HAL actually tell me how many children are on board! THere are only 19 on the entire ship! That means I will be able to use the pool...........Now if only my husband hadn't put my swimsuit in the dryer! Shrunken spandex, not good! Oh well, what do I care if I traumatize the PX on the Veendam! I will never see them again after the cruise..........:rolleyes:

 

Just wondering Hhow did you find out how many children are onboard. I am sailing on the Westerdam 3/9 and would like to find out how many children are on it.

[VTcruisenut]

If you e-mail HAL they will say they can't divulge that information. If you call HAL customer service and tell them your reservation # and the ship and sail date, they will look it up and tell you. I was very surprised! Someone else had posted this info somewhere, I tried it and it worked! THey actually give you the age groups and how many are booked.......

[Sbilko]

I'm not really too worried about it. Sleeping on a deck chair would be much more pleasant then the cold Calgary winter we have had this year. :D

 

I just think it's kind of strange that if the ship is almost full that they wouldn't get the show on the road.

 

I almost always book a guarentee. Usually it works out pretty well.

 

I think the Penthouse is still available on this sailing. I think that is where they are going to put me.:D

 

Thanks for the replies so far!

 

Think Calgary was cold, try living in BC,:p , and working in Fort McMurray!!!!!:eek: Then again if working here in the Frozen North, 3 Degrees south of 60, (Lat), enables DW and I to cruise, I can suffer.:)

[newmexicoNita]

I'm on the Apr.4/08 sailing of the Maasdam and it's pretty much sold out. A lady on our roll call was told the following by HAL:

 

I asked HAL about the guarentee rooms and they told me that the ship is pretty much sold out and that most likely the guarantee rooms may not even be assigned until we board.

 

Has anyone had experience with this? I would think that if the ship is almost full guartentee rooms would be assigned sooner. I called HAL myself and got nothing but double talk and no answers. Would you think rooms would be assigned sooner. Thanks in advance.:)

this isn't unusual at all. I don't think it will be after boarding, I think she misunderstood, but it can happen at embarkation.

 

Nita

[Tricia724]

They may actually be oversold in some categories and might wait until a couple of weeks before sailing to allow for last-minute cancellations. At that point anything is possible.....upgrades, upsells, offers to move to another cruise....who knows? They are pretty good at tweaking to squeeze the round pegs into the square holes.

 

A few years ago we were on the Oosterdam sailing the Eastern Caribbean, and the following week the sailing to the Western Caribbean had a lot of vacancies. So, they sent around a paper and asked who wanted to stay on board for an unbelievably low price. We stepped up and volunteered.

 

The front desk said we had to wait until all of the guarantees and upgrades were assigned (three days before sailing) until they knew which specific room they could offer us. That surprised me....I thought that since they had a lot of vacancies that the upgrades and guarantees would have been assigned much earlier.....especially since there were no balcony cabins left. Anyway, when the dust settled, we were in a nice mid-ship oceanview cabin on Main Deck and had a great cruise.

 

One thing is for sure.....you will get a cabin somewhere.....or an offer you can't refuse (but maybe not the Penthouse).;)

[Susie51]

We had tablemates on Maasdam once. They were doing a b2b, because of a fantastic deal they were offered for the same reason. They didn't have to worry about air, because they drove to the port. I think they even had the same room.

[JDOUGLEJ]

I called HAL customer service. Very polite young(?) lady informed me that I would not know cabin # on a VC guarantee until probably the week of the cruise as they are continuely moving people around.:rolleyes: This implies to me that they are constantly trying to get bookings with lower fare cabins to upgrade at a price. Guarantees probably get moved around more than once before landing on a permanent cabin. Maybe what was booked;) maybe an upgrade:) . NOW WHO SAID THE UPGRADE FAIRY DIDN'T HAVE A PLAN.:D THE ONLY THING I AM SURE OF IS WE WILL BE ON BOARD. PLEASE SHOW ME WHERE THE BUFFET IS LOCATED.:p They call it the Lido deck but I always said they should name it the FEEDO DECK:eek: .

[VTcruisenut]

The only thing I am paying for at this point is alcohol with a little umbrella in it!!!:D

 

I too, was told that they wouldn't tell me until at least the week before, though others on this site said they got their GUAR room assignment, yesterday or today! One of those deck loungers by the aft pool is mine regardless!:)

[JDOUGLEJ]

You are welcome to the lounger. I'll set on the deck if necessary. Just get me on board and surround me with those little umbrellas and that stuff that comes with them..:p Besides if I sit on the deck I won"t have far to fall.:D

[cruz chic]

Thanks to all that replied....and the great sense of humour many of you have. Everyone have a great cruise!:D :)

[rlb81]

I'm sailing on the Noordam on 3/19. Booked a VE guarantee and have been checking the website occasionally to see what cabin we'd be in. Yesterday I finally saw that we were assigned a VA. Not a huge jump I know, but I was surprised to have the cabin assigned so soon.