How early did you receive your cabin assignment?

[pgphoto]

How early did you receive your cabin assignment? :)

[heidik]

I just received mine yesterday and am sailing Nov. 19. When I called HAL mid-week last week and asked about my assignment, the person said that they are assigned "0-10 days" before the cruise and that I might need to ask when I checked in at the ship!!!

[hal lover]

Just got ours Oct 30 for a Nov 12th sailing. Not bad really. One time it was 2 days before sailing. IMHO, the longer it takes to be assigned, you have a greater chance of a little upgrade.;)

[califgary]

I have to hand it to you all who go the route of getting your cabin assigned - im way to anal about getting exactly the cabin and location I want - although I don't get the visit by the "upgrade fairy" that everyone is so fond of either! Glad your getting good assignments!

[DedicatedDad]

I leave Sat...still waiting for my assignment. Hopefully I won't have to wait much longer. I want to print out my luggage tags with my cabin assignment on them (you know, because hand writing the cabin on them when I am down at the dock would be too much hassle :rolleyes: and mess up the tag ;))

[califgary]

you are made of tougher stuff than I am.......Id be going nutz by now not knowing where on that ship I was gonna be....

[a1linz]

Would you please post a new thread when you get your room? I'm curious as to what you get as it is near your cruise date.

Am checking daily for mine but cruise isn't for 3 weeks yet!

 

Good luck

L

[DedicatedDad]

Sure, I will let you know when I know...and yes, it is driving me nuts, but I am sure that the reason I haven't been assigned yet is because they are trying to clear out the Penthouse for me...I can understand...sometimes you just have to wait for the good stuff ;)

 

Others from our roll call have received their assignments and it looks like they all did a GTY on Verandas (V_ categories). My wife and I splurged on a SZ GTY on the Oosterdam, the price for a suite was right and the logistics of going on a cruise makes it so that we can't go very often (children still at home, need to find babysitting for a week...not very easy...). In my gut, I think I am going to get upgraded to a SS (since there are plenty of them and only 4 SZs) but I would REALLY love to get upgraded to the SA/SB/SC category. However, since we haven't ever been in a suite, I will be happy with where ever they put me (and maybe I don't want a SA/SB/SC...I might get too spoiled...after we did our first balcony I swore I would never go back).

 

What I wonder (and maybe someone has an answer on this), does HAL send an email when its assigned, and how quickly do they do that? I am checking a couple of times a day, but if they are going to send an email immediately after making the assignment, then I will stop doing the check (go to the site, log in, click My Reservation, etc.).

 

a1linz...what GTY did you book (and which boat)?

[Homala]

Just got my cabin assignment - 11 days before the cruise. Slight upgrade, too, from an SY to SS. I still called HAL just to see if there was a possibility of an upgrade/upsell, but I was told that there is nothing above me, I got the "best of what is available." OK, I can live with that! :)

 

Happy cruising!

[a1linz]

I booked a VH on the Westerdam, good job we are on different cruises, because I was sure they were saving the penthouse suite for me! ha ha!

[heidik]

I booked directly on line and was sent an email by HAL with the assignment and then the next day an upsell offer via email -- my reservation on line still shows "Stateroom" as blank.....

[Crazy Gramps]

Beloved bride and I have booked specfic cabins and gotten visits from the upgrade fairy.

That's what got me hooked on the SA cabins.

 

Now the only upgrade left is to the penthouse.

 

Gramps

 

 

I have to hand it to you all who go the route of getting your cabin assigned - im way to anal about getting exactly the cabin and location I want - although I don't get the visit by the "upgrade fairy" that everyone is so fond of either! Glad your getting good assignments!

[DedicatedDad]

I got my room assignment. Like I mentioned I bought a SZ GTY, and was assigned a SS. Now off to Joanie's site to check out the photos (if she has them for my room or any adjacent ones).

 

How I found out about my assignment is not very clear to me. I am one who likes to know the process and I am still confused (not to how they assign it, which we will never figure out, but how they let you know). So for those interested here is my tale:

 

I decided to call my TA today since we only have 2-3 days until departure. She wasn't in and would be coming in later in the day. 5 minutes after she was suppose to arrive she called and left me a message (I couldn't pick up at the time). In the message she said something about having the assignment and something garbled about her having to fax something back to HAL. Well, I got on line and nothing was showing under My Reservations, but when I clicked on Custom Itinerary, it showed my stateroom. Now I wonder how long it has been there? I am pretty sure I checked yesterday, but most of the time I was just checking under My Reservation (after all, there is a field for "Stateroom") and not clicking inside for more detail under my Custom Itinerary (although I think I did check it sometime during the day, one of the many times I checked).

 

So the things I wonder: Will I get an email at some point (I haven't yet). Perhaps after the TA faxes something back? If I didn't call my TA, would it have been assigned? Did she do something to "make it happen" (don't think so). Need less to say, I am confused as to the process but you know what...I LOVE IT.

 

As I sit here typing this with great excitement, I realize, this is just like Christmas! :) And the upgrade fairy is just like Santa Claus. You don't know how he got the presents/stocking to you, but it magically appeared. No matter how you think you have it figured it, the solution alludes you (but I am sure provides great amusement to your parents...or in this case the cabin assignment team that is seceretly monitoring these sites from Seattle).

 

For everyone that cruises with a pre-assigned cabin they are missing out on all this fun. And it is fun because you know you aren't getting coal in your stocking (IF you book at GTY at the minimum level you would be happy at, which has been mentioned countless times on here). For those that pre-assigned, you book and get excited, the anticipation builds, but inevitably it plateaus. With this GTY business you get this extra shot of excitement relatively close to your cruise. I really do feel sorry for all those pre-assigned people living their hum-drum lives.;)

[maxout]

Hal will not send you an e-mail as you booked through a TA but your TA may send you one.

[BumperII]

We are big fans of guarentee cabins. On fourteen of fifteen cruises booked that way we were upgraded and delighted with the cabin assignment. Only once, when they upgraded us to an outside closet with a porthole were we disappointed. It was well worth the experience.

We start checking for cabin assignment on the HAL Check In Site about three or four weeks before sailing date. And as someone pointed out, the longer you have to wait, the better the upgrade seems to be. On one cruise we didn't have a cabin number until we checked in, and by that time we were bumped up about six letters. I'm not sure what difference it makes, the rooms all look the same to me.

Point I want to make is that for the frequent cruiser, one can save a good bit with guarentees, enough to pay for another cruise or two after a while.:D

[suse]

I've only booked a guarantee once, and that was on our last cruise. We booked with HAL and nine days before our cruise we received our cabin assignment. A few days before cruising, we received an upsell offer and went for it. Nice. A fun time was had by all. By all, I mean my boyfriend whom I married and me!

[flip flop fanatic]

I just checked the HAL website and received ours just now.

We're about 2 weeks before we sail.

 

We booked a SZ GTY and received a SY.

 

I'm pretty happy with it.

 

I hope the next 2 weeks fly by! :p

[Tailskid]

You are buying your cruise from the wrong source. Every cruise I have ever been on I have selected my actual cabin at the time of booking. Have still had some great up grades - but with the option of keeping what I started with. Some people (including the cruise line staff and TA's) seem to think that simply moving you to a higher deck is an upgrade. Not so for me - I like to be down as close to the sweeping sea as I can get - unless the upgrade is to a better category cabin - like a veranda, balcony, mini suite, penthouse etc. The penthouse upgrade hasn't happened for me yet but the others all have!

Tailskid

[DedicatedDad]

This is a follow up to my post above regarding how you are notified. This morning I got an email from HAL that my cabin had been assigned. I had printed my Express Docs previously, so maybe now that it was assigned they wanted me to re-print them so they sent me an email...not sure, but it does look like HAL will send you an email (even though I booked through a TA).

[iriemon]

you are made of tougher stuff than I am.......Id be going nutz by now not knowing where on that ship I was gonna be....

 

I go with the theory "Any room on the ship is better than any room at home" So I can't lose!

[califgary]

I go with the theory "Any room on the ship is better than any room at home" So I can't lose!

 

I wish I was like you! Over the years Ive learned I am happiest when 1) I plan ahead, 2) I know what cabin we are getting and 3) I know what dining choice we have - Being as anal as I am I probably wont live as long as you!

[GTVCRUISER]

I cruise in 8 days , I got my cabin assignment today

[Jax6S]

On my last trip, I got my assignment 5 days before the departure. I agree that the closer to the departure date, the better the cabin is (if you booked guarantee).

[scopewest]

We're on the 12/4 Oosterdam cruise. We booked an SY guarantee as we wanted the slightly bigger cabin configuration than a verandah (balcony) stateroom but hoped we'd hear from HAL about a possible upgrade.

 

HAL called our TA two days ago and offered an SC guarantee for $100/pp. I can't believe they offered this upsell a month out and for this price. We don't have a cabin assignment yet but who cares! Neptune Lounge, here we come!

 

The next day HAL emailed us and told us to reprint our Express Docs as our cabin category had changed. That was quick.

[NicksPhilly]

On my last trip, I got my assignment 5 days before the departure. I agree that the closer to the departure date, the better the cabin is (if you booked guarantee).

 

Hi, We are 27 days out with a vh guarantee and we check it twice a day,I guess the waiting is the hardest part.:rolleyes:

Still though knowing we will have a balcony somewhere on the ship,does beat sitting home watching tv.