Guarantee Questions--for the Guarantee Gurus

[glutenhab]

This is our first time on HAL & first time booking a guarantee.

The price on our cruise has dropped since our original booking & we were able to get comp upgrades twice, once before & once after final payment. We have gone from an MM to a G.

 

My questions are;

- When cabins are being assigned &/or upsells/upgrades are being offered, do we now have a better chance of ending up with a higher grade cabin? In other words, will they now look at us as a customer in a G cabin or as a customer who booked an MM?

- We leave to fly to our port of embarkation a week before the cruise. Is it possible that we may miss upsell offers & if so is there any way around this?

(We will bring a netbook but our flight is over 30 hrs in the air & obviously access will be limited. We do not plan on taking a cell phone)

- We continue on for another 30 days (separate booking) on the same ship. How can we stay on top of upsells/upgrades/cabin assignments while on the boat? Will we have to always contact our T/A, who is half the world away, or can someone on the boat assist us in this case?

[CruiserBruce]

My questions are;

- When cabins are being assigned &/or upsells/upgrades are being offered, do we now have a better chance of ending up with a higher grade cabin? In other words, will they now look at us as a customer in a G cabin or as a customer who booked an MM? Of course they will look at you as a person in a G cabin. The MM cabin isn't relevant any more.

- We leave to fly to our port of embarkation a week before the cruise. Is it possible that we may miss upsell offers & if so is there any way around this?

(We will bring a netbook but our flight is over 30 hrs in the air & obviously access will be limited. We do not plan on taking a cell phone) Do you have a TA? You TA will take the calls. You could give a blanket OK. Otherwise, without a cell, I think you are out of luck. However, I think the chances of an upsell should be pretty low by then.

- We continue on for another 30 days (separate booking) on the same ship. How can we stay on top of upsells/upgrades/cabin assignments while on the boat? Will we have to always contact our T/A, who is half the world away, or can someone on the boat assist us in this case?

Good question.

[JJ33328]

The few times I have booked guaranteed cabins we didn't fare too well.

 

The first time we booked the cheapest Veranda on a guarantee and got the cheapest Verandah. We were really disappointed that we didn't get moved up and called in advance of the cruise date to complain even though we were receiving exactly what we paid for. The complaint resulted in an upsell offer which we took advantage of.

 

The second time we did it we booked a guarantee oceanview cabin on the Main Deck and were upgraded for free to a Lower Promenade cabin that was right next to an outside access door. We were initially delighted that we got an almost Veranda cabin until we realized that we were directly below the dishwasher in the main galley. Running water and clanging dishes all night long. By the time we realized it, it was too late, the ship was full and we had to endure the noise the entire cruise.

 

I posed this question to a HAL representative and I was told that the guarantee cabins are assigned by the type you initially purchase. If you buy an inside cabin you will likely end up with an inside cabin, Ocean view the same, and Verandah the same. You will never do worse but may not do any better. You should never expect to get more than you paid for. The chances of you getting upgraded to the Penthouse from an inside cabin are remote, and I take stories to that effect with a grain of salt.

 

When you do get your cabin assignment do some research and see where it is on the ship in relation to public areas, the Verandas below the Lido deck can be noisey. some of the older ships have the galley and dining areas above passenger cabins, stay away from them. If it looks as though you are getting a problem cabin call your TA or PCC ASAP and request to be moved. Once you are on board it is too late.

 

HAL ships generally always leave port full, if you are doing a B2B cruise and you are not happy with your cabin assignment you need to speak to the hotel manager to see if they can move you to another cabin on the current and subsequent voyage. Sometimes there are non-revenue passengers aboard that don't mind swapping rooms.

[glutenhab]

Good question.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer Bruce.

I am in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, but I have an aunt in Petaluma.

We have been there many times.

 

We leave here on Nov 19/11 & our first cruise leaves Sydney, Australia on Nov 25/11.

Our second leaves on Dec 23/11.

I just want to give myself as much chance of getting an upsell/upgrade as possible considering the circumstances.

Any & all advice is welcome.

[CruiserBruce]

glutenhab, it is a truly small world.

 

JJ33328, if you really expected a higher cabin, you probably should have booked the one you needed. Playing the GTY game is a gamble. It isn't HAL's fault they didn't meet your expectations.

[glutenhab]

Del

[eh2zed]

The upgrade ferry (no guarantee) and the guarantee upgrade ferry are identical twins. They both work in mysterious ways. Anyone breaking the code they use will be rich in short order.:D;)

[JJ33328]

glutenhab, it is a truly small world.

 

JJ33328, if you really expected a higher cabin, you probably should have booked the one you needed. Playing the GTY game is a gamble. It isn't HAL's fault they didn't meet your expectations.

 

I didn't realize it at first but I do now. I don't have the same expectations that I did at first.