Guaranteed cabin - what's the risk?

[vacruizer]

And there will be 10 others who will all claim that Carnival seems to go out of their way to upgrade first time cruisers.

 

Who knows? We got upgraded to Panorama deck all the way forward on our first cruise (still just a regular balcony.) The other guarantee we did on a 7 day we got upgraded to Lido forward. Many see the high and forward locations as undesirable but we love them. Of course I know on the occasions we opt for a guarantee that it's a crapshoot and we could end up in a very bad spot. So far that's only happened to us once and it was only a 2 night cruise but there's always that chance.

 

Once you are a past guest you can usually book under one of the "upgrade" sales and pick any location in that category for the guarantee price so we choose the high and forward location we like then. The times we have done guarantee have either been for significant cost savings or to book as part of a group and get the reduced deposit.

[fitch7107]

I booked an inside guarantee for my upcoming cruise and just got upgraded to a higher deck.

[Angelamu7]

We (family of 4) booked this way for our April cruise on Conquest. I don't care what we get and nor do the kids and hubby. It was worth the savings.

 

But if you do this you can also call in and check if the price went down...when I did this I was given a choice to pick my room for the same price a few weeks later...it is all in what it is important to you.

[G'ma]

makes sense... while earplugs may work for me i can't see my kids wearing them... but what time does the piano bar stop?

 

When the crowd leaves.......could be midnight, could be 4:00am.....

[ed_k_tx]

We booked a balcony guar (8a) on Conquest and ended up on the Verandah deck under one of the Lido restaurants. The only noise I heard was from the cabin next to ours whenever their kids let the balcony door slam.

[aubriee]

And there will be 10 others who will all claim that Carnival seems to go out of their way to upgrade first time cruisers.

 

I'm one of these. I'm a new cruiser, sailing on the Carnival Freedom January 11th. I originally booked the cheapest balcony guarantee and when the cabin assignment came out last month had been upgraded to a balcony on the Lido deck, about six cabins down from the doors. We got a call about two weeks ago and was offered a Category 11 suite for the price of the employee discount. The suite was on the Empress deck and about four cabins down from our traveling companions, so we took it.

[truchattycathy]

We did a guarantee OV on the Conquest in Nov and were pleased. The ship was full so there were no upgrades. We did the same for our Feb 09 cruise and the person doing the booking made a mistake and we got an inside room. Now we have been assigned a room on the Lido deck. Am I gonna hear chairs all nite???????? Next time I will be doing the booking to assure an OV room.

 

Has anyone stayed on the Lido deck????? Should I call and beg and plead for another room???

[BooBooMonkey]

We did a guarantee OV on the Conquest in Nov and were pleased. The ship was full so there were no upgrades. We did the same for our Feb 09 cruise and the person doing the booking made a mistake and we got an inside room. Now we have been assigned a room on the Lido deck. Am I gonna hear chairs all nite???????? Next time I will be doing the booking to assure an OV room.

 

Has anyone stayed on the Lido deck????? Should I call and beg and plead for another room???

 

On the lido should be fine. I've read lots of good reviews of that deck. You just don't want to be UNDER the Lido deck...that's when you will hear the chair noise.

 

We booked an inside guarantee once and got 'upgraded" to the Empress deck--cabin E-11. Not all upgrades are created equal. This cabin was directly under the show lounge stage. Not only did we have the noise at night, there were rehearsals during the day too. The seas were extremely rough, and a couple of us were seasick. The very far forward cabins are the worst for motion. On top of that, not being able to nap because of the noise made it worse. I would never ever choose a far forward cabin.

 

The cruise we did in the spring, our kids were in a cabin directly above the show lounge, and they had a lot of noise too.

 

Moral of the story, pick your cabin and make sure there are nothing but cabins above, below, and to either side of yours.

 

IMHO, the "discounts" for guarantee cabins have become less appealing lately anyway. If you want to roll the dice and hope for an "upgrade", be prepared for a not so desirable outcome. Would I do it again? Maybe.