Mariner, Guaranteed Balcony (category X) - did we get a good deal?

[njreindeer]

Hi everyone,

DH and I finally made it official and booked our first cruise yesterday, on Mariner 8/29! We booked a Guaranteed Balcony cabin, category X, which the TA said could be any balcony cabin on the ship. We looked at the ship's layout and couldn't really see a balcony cabin that we wouldn't mind having, anywhere from deck 6 to 10. And we think we got a good deal on it too -- Cruise, Airfare (r/t from Philly), Transfers, Cancellation Insurance for two all for about $2450. Does this sound like a good deal to you experienced cruisers? Since we've never been on a ship, are we taking a chance booking a guaranteed cabin --- what could go wrong? I'd appreciate any comments... Thanks for your help!

[Nancyquilts]

Sounds good to me. We've had several guarantees, and they were all fine. Just so long as you won't mind the least desirable in the category. We've never had a guarantee balcony - I'll have to look for those. Nancy

[SUSANITA]

I'm doing the same trip, with air from Rochester, NY on Sept 19th, with transportation to port, insurance, air, cruise and a category d2 cabin for about $450 less total ($225 less per person), but I booked with a group, and also have a Crown and Anchor coupon. I have a category D2 balcony.

Plus, you are travelling over the Labor Day weekend, so airfare might be significantly higher then, and I booked with this rate almost one year ago.

Overall, it looks like a pretty good deal. Are you happy with the rate? That's all that matters.

Formerly known as "Doulasue"
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[Family of 14]

The rate sounds great! You will most likely end up with the Cat. E (smaller balcony), but at least you will have a balcony. You never know, you may end up in a suite! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

The only part of the deal that makes me nervous is the air part. Since you will be traveling on Labor Day weekend, (BTW - 8/29 is my BD [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]), the airports will be really busy! Rccl schedules funny flights and you may end up missing a flight and your cruise. Any chance you can pay a deviation fee with that package and fly in a day early? We are doing that when we go on a cruise in September.

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[njreindeer]

Hi Susanita & Nancyquilts,

Thanks for replying. Yes, we're happy with the rate - it's definitely less than we thought we'd be paying for a balcony. And we figured that if even if we got the worst possible balcony cabin on the shp we'd still probably be happy. I guess I keep wondering why this "Category X" was so reasonable - is there a balcony cabin tucked away in the galley or something? [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Is there something we're missing? Would it be horrible to have a cabin on deck 6, above the nightclub or something?

Thanks again for the thoughts - and I hope we meet up with you Susanita! We just can't wait to see this amazing ship.

[TBRay]

Now you can do one of those little known 'tricks' to get your cabin number. If you have the RCI booking number (not the TA one) you can login into the Royal Caribbean website. Once it's been assigned it will come up when you click on the "Guest Information Forms" near the bottom of the home page.

Might be a few weeks, but you will get assigned a cabin. And to be honest, ALL balconies are great in my book. With air fare that was a very competitive rate for August. Have a great trip [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

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[caribbeancats]

Sounds good to include air & ins. You won't regret the balcony

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[dolfan1949]

Sounds like a good deal to me, we are on the Mariner 1/9/05. Please write a review of the ship when you get home and let us know how much you enjoyed the cruise.

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Until we sail on the Mariner of the Seas

[njreindeer]

Thanks for the input everyone, you've all made us feel more confident that we made a good choice. FYI, I think the deal that we got is available again today, saw it on Liberty Travel's website... when we saw it last Thursday morning, we saw the TA that afternoon and put a hold on it, and then noticed that that night it was no longer available. I'm glad we acted fast!

And dolfan1949, don't worry, I'm really looking forward to writing my first cruise review! It'll be a way to relive every wonderful minute of it all after we come home.

Time 'til Mariner on 8/29/04 - our first cruise!
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