Guarantee Rooms

[Kushagi]

Does anyone have experience with them? The ability to get free ugrades if available is tempting. We usually do an interior room, and spend the money on the drink packages and excursions. Thoughts?

[24butterfly]

If you're booking expecting to get an upgrade and don't, you'll be disappointed. Don't just book and expect an upgrade. Sometimes it just doesn't happen--depends on the sailing and where you're going......It you're going to be happy with an interior room, then you won't be disappointed.

[CruisingChick]

Guarantee bookings are a gamble. You never know what you will get. If you are willing to take a risk go ahead.

 

We have only booked guaranteed verandas twice and it did work out for us. Normally we book inside cabins, but the guarantees verandas were at too good a price to not to chance it.

 

Good luck.

[rmp1968uk]

It's always worth a go - we upgraded to a suite last time, and it was amazing! We paid about a third of what other people paid, so that made it even better!,

[ljk76]

It happened to us...booked an inside guarantee, got a balcony on the Enchantment a few years ago. That said, it was a great price even for an inside, and a last minute fling, so we really just were very happy for the surprise! We even had the cabin assigned a week after booking.

[CruisingChick]

Boy we were never that lucky. We booked a guarantee verandas twice and both times just got Concierge Class cabins and we were happy with that. I would have died to be put in a suite.

 

We booked an inside guarantee once and was not upgraded at all.

 

Those are our experiences with guarantees.

[justcrusn]

We gambled on the guarantee once, and lost. We booked an oceanview guarantee with RCL and had visions of sipping coffee in the mornings as we looked out our window at the ocean going by....

The reality?

What we got looked like a porthole, except it was recessed in the wall several feet! Imagine looking through a telescope and that was our view. You could tell if it was day or night but that was about it. We asked if we could be moved but the ship was full. We were reminded we booked a guarantee room and it could be ANY cabin on the ship.

 

SIGH......

[kitty9]

Booking a guarantee also can mean getting the leftovers of cabins that are in the category you booked, but in an undesirable location. A guarantee doesn't really mean a guaranteed upgrade.

[glassjane]

We booked Aqua 1 balcony. What kind of view will we have. Is there an upgrade that we could be offered?

 

I thought soft drinks and ice tea, coffee were included with our meals and cruise. Now there are even soda packages? Liquor packages? I wonder how much I will have to drink to break even!

 

What else doesn't our monies pay for?

 

Tipping? We pay in advance and we're expected to give extra tipping?

 

I am cold, I think a hot toddi

 

Jane H

[CathyCruises]

The trick of booking a guarantee is to be able to graciously accept the worst cabin in that category. If you can't do that, a guarantee is not for you. I remember a lady who used to post here a lot--she booked a guarantee and was 'so insulted' that they gave her exactly what she booked--it wasn't a great cabin, but it was the category she had paid for. How can you possibly be 'insulted'??

 

The other thing is that once you have your assignment, you can usually switch to any other available cabin in that exact category--1C or 2D or what have you. We just booked a guarantee, and I really want to be starboard and aft--so if that's not what we get, I will see if I can switch.

[glassjane]

We booked Aqua 1 balcony. What kind of view will we have. Is there an upgrade that we could be offered?

 

I thought soft drinks and ice tea, coffee were included with our meals and cruise. Now there are even soda packages? Liquor packages? I wonder how much I will have to drink to break even!

 

What else doesn't our monies pay for?

 

Tipping? We pay in advance and we're expected to give extra tipping?

 

I am cold, I think a hot toddi

 

Jane H

[CathyCruises]

We booked Aqua 1 balcony. What kind of view will we have. A great ocean view. Is there an upgrade that we could be offered? Yes but highly unlikely--next to AQ would be a suite.

 

I thought soft drinks and ice tea, coffee were included with our meals and cruise. Now there are even soda packages? Liquor packages? I wonder how much I will have to drink to break even! Coffee, tea, both hot and iced, and juices ARE included. You don't have to buy a soda or liquor package; after the first few days, see how much you are spending on drinks. You can buy a liquor package on board if it makes sense. Personally I don't think they're worth it for us.

 

What else doesn't our monies pay for? ??????

 

Tipping? We pay in advance and we're expected to give extra tipping? Only for extraordinary service. We always give the person who brings our morning a few dollars, and we tip if we go to a specialty restaurant. Tips are included in your bill if you buy any beverages. Your prepaid tips are for your room attendant and assistant, and your waiter and assistant, plus a tiny amount for the assistant maitre d', etc. If you feel any of these folks have gone above and beyond, you are welcome to give them an additional amount at your discretion.

 

I am cold, I think a hot toddi. That'll be $6.75 please.:rolleyes:

 

Jane H

 

However none of these issues has to do with the 'guarantee' category we are discussing--a separate thing all together. It's called Category X (or Y or W)

[glassjane]

This is probably the wrong category. Maybe X, Y, or W. But I wanted to say thx for your patience and your great answers to my many questions.

 

I probably wouldn't find all the different threads for my many different questions.

 

I'll try to do better with the next bunch.

 

Jane H

[Freecall]

Never experienced the 'booked an inside and got upgraded to a suite' phenomenon although have booked guaranteed balcony and been upgraded to concierge class a couple of times. (also had no upgrade of course)

 

.

[Karen@Steve]

We booked a guarantee once on the Galaxy for a 10 day out of Baltimore. Paid less than $80 per night and got a great cabin on Deck 5 in wide hallway. Most of the guest entertain staff were on that deck.

[miched]

We booked Aqua 1 balcony. What kind of view will we have. Is there an upgrade that we could be offered?

 

I thought soft drinks and ice tea, coffee were included with our meals and cruise. Now there are even soda packages? Liquor packages? I wonder how much I will have to drink to break even!

 

What else doesn't our monies pay for?

 

Tipping? We pay in advance and we're expected to give extra tipping?

 

I am cold, I think a hot toddi

 

Jane H

 

 

We booked a cruise at the future cruise desk on board. Part of booking is a upgrade. We wanted a AQ and was told there is no upgrade for that class. A guarantee would be that you will get a AQ cabin but no upgrade.

 

 

 

.

[Becks200200]

We booked a guarantee suite & got a disabled suite.

 

These are double size to accomodate a wheelchair turning, with a double balcony. It was fabulous. I did see a normal sized cabin (at 2/3 of our cost) and we were about 3x the size of that.

 

I've heard people complain about there being no bath and only a walk in shower but the walk in shower was double sized also! There was no sloshing of water around the bathroom floor but then we were on a millpond for two weeks.