How good is Carnival's guaranteed room program?

[S10Catman]

Has anyone used Carnival's guaranteed room program? We signed up for a guaranteed Suite and we're wondering how others have faired with this program.

[klfrodo]

Not sure what your question is. I've booked"guarantee" rooms before and received the room catagory I was guaranteed to receive. You can rest assured that you will be in a suite if that's what you booked.

[yogi2929]

Be willing to accept the worst cabin in your category (or above) and be happy when that does not occur.

 

If you want a 'good' cabin do not gamble with a guarantee.

[S10Catman]

Be willing to accept the worst cabin in your category (or above) and be happy when that does not occur.

 

If you want a 'good' cabin do not gamble with a guarantee.

 

Not sure what your question is. I've booked"guarantee" rooms before and received the room catagory I was guaranteed to receive. You can rest assured that you will be in a suite if that's what you booked.

 

Thanks for the fast response. I figured we'd get a suite since that is was we were guaranteed. We were kind of wondering how far out did you get notified of your suite or did your have to wait till you got to port to find out which room? Has anyone been touched by the upgrade fairy on the guaranteed list or is that a shot in the dark? We normally book specific rooms but this time the available suites were located in the same area (forward port OS and GS suites) so the actual room didn't matter that much. Besides we were able to save a couple hundred a person to donate to the casino!:rolleyes:

 

No such thing as a bad cruise, just some are better than others!:D

[bigelow]

Has anyone used Carnival's guaranteed room program? We signed up for a guaranteed Suite and we're wondering how others have faired with this program.

We had a suite guarantee and we ended up with a grand suite on Empress midship. So it worked well for us.:D

[serene56]

By reading these boards one would think that everyone gets upgraded. Reality is most people get upgraded in the same category.

You can go down any- if there are suite cabins that you would not be happy with the guarantee is not for you.

 

For fantasy class-- some suites are obstructed by lifeboats.

what ship are you looking at?

[S10Catman]

By reading these boards one would think that everyone gets upgraded. Reality is most people get upgraded in the same category.

You can go down any- if there are suite cabins that you would not be happy with the guarantee is not for you.

 

For fantasy class-- some suites are obstructed by lifeboats.

what ship are you looking at?

 

We are going on the Freedom (Conquest class, I think) and the available suites are on deck 7 and unobstructed.

[sfollenius]

We did Guarantee on the Freedom April 2009 we booked inside gauranteed, ended up with a category 4D on Deck 6. Not much of an upgrade, however, we were first time cruisers.

 

I am booked for gaurantee Oceanview on the Dream, hopefully having been a previous cruiser will help, however it's all a gamble.

 

Expect to not know your stateroom until about 60 days up until you check in. With freedom we know around day 60, which seems to be alot of the feedback here.

[S10Catman]

We did Guarantee on the Freedom April 2009 we booked inside gauranteed, ended up with a category 4D on Deck 6. Not much of an upgrade, however, we were first time cruisers.

 

I am booked for gaurantee Oceanview on the Dream, hopefully having been a previous cruiser will help, however it's all a gamble.

 

Expect to not know your stateroom until about 60 days up until you check in. With freedom we know around day 60, which seems to be alot of the feedback here.

 

Thanks for the quick response, 60 days would be fine.

[firefly333]

We did Guarantee on the Freedom April 2009 we booked inside gauranteed, ended up with a category 4D on Deck 6. Not much of an upgrade, however, we were first time cruisers.

 

I am booked for gaurantee Oceanview on the Dream, hopefully having been a previous cruiser will help, however it's all a gamble.

 

Expect to not know your stateroom until about 60 days up until you check in. With freedom we know around day 60, which seems to be alot of the feedback here.

 

Being on your 2nd cruise probably wouldnt help at all. First time cruisers are known to get lucky, maybe to get them hooked.

 

Maybe after you turn platinum or hitting those milestones it helps, but not 2nd cruise.

 

You got a upgrade, so you done good, but you cant ever count on it.

[serene56]

Did you just book the Freedom for March?

 

I find the people who paid the most will get upgraded first. (which are people booking now

[happy cruzer]

I'm not sure looking at available cabins means much. They often change because of various reasons. I would assume that I might get any cabin in the catagory I booked or and upgrade; but just because a particular cabin does not show available doesn/t mean it might not be the one I get assigned.

 

I liked my resent cabin assignment even though it was far aft.

 

Good luck.

[bxmvm]

Not sure how helpful this is, but I just recently booked a Balcony Guarantee for the legend, 50 days out from our cruise date.

 

Checked yesterday and we were assigned to an extended balcony (8J) which, right now, is running about $150 more than I paid for the guarantee. I am quite pleased (just a little concerned because the room is very forward - hope I don't get sea sick!) :)

[Fyly]

we booked a GTY suite, we leave in 47 days and it is still TBA on the web site.

[gottacruise@juno.com]

I'm Platinum with Carnival (actually 12 cruises with them) and booked a guarantee about half of those cruises. I have never been upgraded yet.

[serene56]

I'm not sure looking at available cabins means much. They often change because of various reasons. I would assume that I might get any cabin in the catagory I booked or and upgrade; but just because a particular cabin does not show available doesn/t mean it might not be the one I get assigned.

 

I liked my resent cabin assignment even though it was far aft.

 

Good luck.

 

 

thats correct- People who booked guarantee cabins get parked somewhere so those cabins will show as unavailable.

[sfollenius]

we booked a GTY suite, we leave in 47 days and it is still TBA on the web site.

 

Yeah, I have read some that didn't have an assignment until they got to the port!

 

I don't mind the gamble, but I am excited everyday to see if I have an assignment.

 

I have read a few of those that were upgraded from Oceanview to Suites, but I don't think that happens often at all.

[S10Catman]

Did you just book the Freedom for March?

 

I find the people who paid the most will get upgraded first. (which are people booking now

 

 

Yes, 27 Mar 10 out of FFL. As long as we get a suite I'm not overly concerned just curious.

[KentuckyTam]

1st cruise we booked an inside guarantee on the Miracle and received an obstructed balcony(Life boats were under the balcony). Would love another upgrade on our Dream cruise in November! Good luck!:)

[spencercoop]

We are going on the Freedom (Conquest class, I think) and the available suites are on deck 7 and unobstructed.

 

Just beware. There are two suites on deck 9, but they only have a regular sized balcony. You may get assigned to one of those suites.

[BKozaki]

I ordered the guarantee balcony on the Splendor back in September for the February 7th sail date. I was assigned a room on deck 10 (panorama) next to the spa at the end of December. Sounds like a decent room. Not sure what to expect this being my first cruise.

[Dacotah7]

Has anyone used Carnival's guaranteed room program? We signed up for a guaranteed Suite and we're wondering how others have faired with this program.

 

I will be forever amazed at why people book "travel experiences (**)" online, spending several hundred to $1,000 or more, not fully understanding what they purchased, when they could make an educated purchase, with an understanding of their options and prices through a qualified travel agent at the same rate or often less.

 

** If it has a brochure or you take photos of it, it likely fits the description of a Travel Experience. Unlike Travel Commodities which are things like airline seats and rental cars; mundane, all are similar, get the job done, than you forget about them. Travel Commodities are usually simple reservations you can make yourself; EXCEPT if you are booking 2, 3 or more components, it usually is better to have an agent quote a vacation package.

 

Carnival does not publish all of their rates and promotions on their consumer booking site, while travel agents have access to that information through Carnivals' Agent Site - BookCCL.Com, or through the agent's global distribution system.

 

Carnival does not have such a thing called "Guaranteed Room Program".

 

Carnival does have various rate codes that allow one to purchase a cruise where:

* You choose the category, Carnival assigns the stateroom and you get a great rate with the possibility of free category upgrade.

* You choose your category and the exact stateroom number.

 

Carnival does have FunSaver, EarlySaver, FlexiPricing, Resident, Senior, Military, Interline, Group, Preferred Award Rates and several more rate codes. You could spend several months looking at their website, attempting to sort the rate codes, with the rates by cabin and category and the terms associated with each, and if you qualify for the published rates. Or you could call a travel agent, and have all the information with no effort on your part. Depending on the time remaining to the sail date, an experienced agent would have some idea of the potential of receiving an upgrade.

 

Carnival has 35 stateroom categories on their cruise ships. An agent can tell you the details of every stateroom on every ship, the square footage of the stateroom and the balcony, if it is a connecting room / connecting balcony, the furnishings in it, the types of bed configuration, if it has a fridge, hair dryer and a lot more.

 

The answers to your questions are:

1. Yes I have purchased a Guaranteed Category. I also have purchased the exact stateroom I wanted. I have also sold both.

 

2. If Carnival guarantees something you can depend on it. Just make sure you understand and comply all of the terms. The fine print is not complicated, but sometimes some people do not read the terms, or tend to skim over it, make assumptions, or think their wishes will be magically granted.

[krmckee]

Doesn't get that much better than a suite so I suppose there is not that much room for upgrade other than a grand suite if you're lucky! We booked a guarantee blacony 8A on the Legend 2 yrs ago, and were assigned to an extended balcony I believe was 8K. It was a substantial rate savings!

[S10Catman]

I will be forever amazed at why people book "travel experiences (**)" online, spending several hundred to $1,000 or more, not fully understanding what they purchased, when they could make an educated purchase, with an understanding of their options and prices through a qualified travel agent at the same rate or often less.

 

** If it has a brochure or you take photos of it, it likely fits the description of a Travel Experience. Unlike Travel Commodities which are things like airline seats and rental cars; mundane, all are similar, get the job done, than you forget about them. Travel Commodities are usually simple reservations you can make yourself; EXCEPT if you are booking 2, 3 or more components, it usually is better to have an agent quote a vacation package.

 

Carnival does not publish all of their rates and promotions on their consumer booking site, while travel agents have access to that information through Carnivals' Agent Site - BookCCL.Com, or through the agent's global distribution system.

 

Carnival does not have such a thing called "Guaranteed Room Program".

 

Carnival does have various rate codes that allow one to purchase a cruise where:

* You choose the category, Carnival assigns the stateroom and you get a great rate with the possibility of free category upgrade.

* You choose your category and the exact stateroom number.

 

Carnival does have FunSaver, EarlySaver, FlexiPricing, Resident, Senior, Military, Interline, Group, Preferred Award Rates and several more rate codes. You could spend several months looking at their website, attempting to sort the rate codes, with the rates by cabin and category and the terms associated with each, and if you qualify for the published rates. Or you could call a travel agent, and have all the information with no effort on your part. Depending on the time remaining to the sail date, an experienced agent would have some idea of the potential of receiving an upgrade.

 

Carnival has 35 stateroom categories on their cruise ships. An agent can tell you the details of every stateroom on every ship, the square footage of the stateroom and the balcony, if it is a connecting room / connecting balcony, the furnishings in it, the types of bed configuration, if it has a fridge, hair dryer and a lot more.

 

The answers to your questions are:

1. Yes I have purchased a Guaranteed Category. I also have purchased the exact stateroom I wanted. I have also sold both.

 

2. If Carnival guarantees something you can depend on it. Just make sure you understand and comply all of the terms. The fine print is not complicated, but sometimes some people do not read the terms, or tend to skim over it, make assumptions, or think their wishes will be magically granted.

 

Dacotah7,

 

Get a life! If you even read the first post you'd seen I never said I ordered online. As a matter of fact, I use a professional travel agent. Since it has been a while since I've been on Carnival, I wanted some information on the GUARANTEED SUITE/ ROOM that I purchased from my professional travel agent from Carnival. Call it what you wish, but everybody but you seemed to understand what I was asking. So instead of jumping all over someone for asking a question, understand the question first. If you can't offer constuctive information, don't offer anything. Nobody needs your condescending answers. :D:p

[okgirl]

I have 18 Carnival cruises and always book IS Gty. Only one time have I ended up NOT getting upgraded at least within my category. But I have gotten upgraded to OV's and BL's several times.

 

One time I even initially got upgraded to a 4E on my papers and then when I got to the pier they had upgraded me again to a BL on the Spa deck.