Cabin assignments for "guarantee" cabins

[G-DawgMN]

We leave May 2nd and we received our room assignment last week.

[geoherb]

We took two short cruises a few weeks ago on the Caribbean Princess. On the first one, I noticed our cabin assignment four days before the cruise--and I was checking the Cruise Personalizer two or three days each day. I found out our cabin assignment for the second cruise six days before it left. The Upgrade Fairy was very good to us on both cruises. We had booked Cat. BF guarantees. We ended up in an accessible cabin on the Baja Deck for our 3-day cruise and in a great Caribe Deck balcony cabin for our 4-day cruise. Both were near the forward stairs, which is our preferred position on the ship.

[RMM34667]

My strategy was this. We decided to go with an inside for the price difference. This enabled us to do 20 instead of 10 nights. I booked the highest inside (IA) which is a great location midship. Now, if there were to be an upgrade, it would be to a balcony.

 

I used that strategy for the Royal Caribbean Maiden. Didn't work for me. We got our assignments about 2 weeks prior and got IA for both legs of our b2b. We were very happy with both assignments. Loved the ship.

 

I have done a few GTYs. Mostly booked the lowest inside and were upgraded each time. Sometimes more than once.

[caribill]

Our friend is taking her first cruise with us on the Royal tomorrow

We booked L 108 and she booked a guarantee interior. She mentioned our cabin and that she'd like to be nearby. Well she got assigned A715 about as far aft as we a fully forward. We are all a little disappointed.

I don't suppose there is anything to be done.

Princess certainly didn't listen to her request.

I guess we'll be doing a lot of back and forth walking.

 

A GTY means you can be placed in a cabin anywhere on the ship in the category booked or higher. A preference for a location may not fit into what is available when the cabin is assigned.

[GUT2407]

1 st cruise as I boarded next a few months out, it seems to depend on how sales in that category are going, it also seems the later the allocation the better chance of an upgrade.

[Shadow205]

I used that strategy for the Royal Caribbean Maiden. Didn't work for me. We got our assignments about 2 weeks prior and got IA for both legs of our b2b. We were very happy with both assignments. Loved the ship.

 

I have done a few GTYs. Mostly booked the lowest inside and were upgraded each time. Sometimes more than once.

 

The thing is that I booked the highest IA because of the location which is great, not in hopes of being upgraded to a balcony. Like I said, if there were to be an upgrade, it could only be to a balcony. That would be icing on the cake. We will be perfectly happy with the plain cake. :D

[SenorBruce]

I think I know the answer to this question, but just wanted to ask anyway. In general, when does Princess typically make cabin assignments to the people with a guarantee status? I think I've seen various information from months prior to the cruise to the day of check in, but maybe someone has some additional information on the matter.

 

Thanks!

We have a CVP--Cruise Vacation Planner--who works with us on this issue. Usually it's about a week before sailing.

[BassettMom]

Flying out on Monday and boarding on Tuesday and still no cabin assignment. Since Princess probably doesn't do cabin assignments on weekends, then there are only three workdays (today, tomorrow, and Monday) for them to work this. Would be nice to know soon, but starting to think I won't know till I get to the pier. The ship has been sold out since the middle of December. Someone please reassure me that I won't fly out, get to the pier, and find out that something went wrong and I don't have a cabin and they won't let me board. This is the first time I've ever had to wait so long, and yes, I'm getting anxious.

[dickinson]

Flying out on Monday and boarding on Tuesday and still no cabin assignment. Since Princess probably doesn't do cabin assignments on weekends, then there are only three workdays (today, tomorrow, and Monday) for them to work this. Would be nice to know soon, but starting to think I won't know till I get to the pier. The ship has been sold out since the middle of December. Someone please reassure me that I won't fly out, get to the pier, and find out that something went wrong and I don't have a cabin and they won't let me board. This is the first time I've ever had to wait so long, and yes, I'm getting anxious.

 

I'm still waiting for a cabin assignment for my Feb 8 cruise. Currently there seems to be a lot of cabins available but probably because they have not yet assigned the guarantees.

 

As for your fear of getting to the pier and having no cabin for you….. don't worry. I have never read a thread here on CC where someone with a guarantee got to the pier and no cabin available.

[Homosassa]

If the ship has a lot of empty cabins in more expensive cabins, Princess will upgrade any passenger who paid a fare and selected their cabins. The cabins that then become empty, go into the guarantee pool.

 

On my last two Princess cruises, we very carefully selected our preferred cabin type which is an inside cabin, as low down and amidships as possible.

 

We were not happy to arrive at the dock and find out we had been given a aft balcony cabin higher up on the ship. (we don't like balcony cabins for a number of reasons).

 

We were not notified of the switch until arrival at the dock and found out most of the inside cabins and ocean view cabins had been upgraded to balconies and mini suites. Our reservations had been booked as "no upgrades" so Princess will override any restrictions placed on your reservation if they think it is necessary.

 

So, if you are waiting for a cabin assignment and it is close to sailing, Princess is probably busy upgrading the full fare passenger to open up lower categories for guaranteed cabin fares.

[dickinson]

If the ship has a lot of empty cabins in more expensive cabins, Princess will upgrade any passenger who paid a fare and selected their cabins. The cabins that then become empty, go into the guarantee pool.

 

On my last two Princess cruises, we very carefully selected our preferred cabin type which is an inside cabin, as low down and amidships as possible.

 

We were not happy to arrive at the dock and find out we had been given a aft balcony cabin higher up on the ship. (we don't like balcony cabins for a number of reasons).

 

We were not notified of the switch until arrival at the dock and found out most of the inside cabins and ocean view cabins had been upgraded to balconies and mini suites. Our reservations had been booked as "no upgrades" so Princess will override any restrictions placed on your reservation if they think it is necessary.

 

So, if you are waiting for a cabin assignment and it is close to sailing, Princess is probably busy upgrading the full fare passenger to open up lower categories for guaranteed cabin fares.

 

What do you mean by "full fare"? I paid the fare that is currently listed on princess.com . I could have picked a cabin but chose not to do so . Would you say I paid "full fare" or is that reserved for those people who paid the highest price Princess had advertised? (I am not one of those people on this 4 day cruise who probably paid a certain price and then received OBC for almost the full fare).

[texasnana]

I booked on Dec 29 for our upcoming cruise. Two days later got an email for our cabin and also an upgrade to a better balcony room. Not sure if we got the upgrade(free) cause we had sailed on Carnival many times. I was surprised....

[Colo Cruiser]

Our friend is taking her first cruise with us on the Royal tomorrow

We booked L 108 and she booked a guarantee interior. She mentioned our cabin and that she'd like to be nearby. Well she got assigned A715 about as far aft as we a fully forward. We are all a little disappointed.

I don't suppose there is anything to be done.

Princess certainly didn't listen to her request.

I guess we'll be doing a lot of back and forth walking.

 

If she wanted to be near you then she should have not gone with a GTY.

She should have booked an actual cabin near yours and both records should have been marked no upgrade if you wanted to stay near each other. ;)

[BassettMom]

I'm still waiting for a cabin assignment for my Feb 8 cruise. Currently there seems to be a lot of cabins available but probably because they have not yet assigned the guarantees.

 

As for your fear of getting to the pier and having no cabin for you….. don't worry. I have never read a thread here on CC where someone with a guarantee got to the pier and no cabin available.

Our ship has been sold out since the middle of December, so you'd think they would have made cabin assignments more than 5 days (3 work days) before the cruise. You're right that I've never read about someone with a guarantee showing up at the pier and not have a cabin, and logically, I know I'll be fine...I have a boarding pass, my booking is in the personalizer. But there is still one little part of me that worries, even if I tell myself not to worry that I'll get a cabin. I've only done guarantees when there are no cabins available that I want.

[Colo Cruiser]

Flying out on Monday and boarding on Tuesday and still no cabin assignment. Since Princess probably doesn't do cabin assignments on weekends, then there are only three workdays (today, tomorrow, and Monday) for them to work this. Would be nice to know soon, but starting to think I won't know till I get to the pier. The ship has been sold out since the middle of December. Someone please reassure me that I won't fly out, get to the pier, and find out that something went wrong and I don't have a cabin and they won't let me board. This is the first time I've ever had to wait so long, and yes, I'm getting anxious.

 

Pull up the personalizer the night before the cruise and look at either your travel summary or baggage tags. It will show your cabin assignment. They are not done the day of sailing or at the pier. ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

If the ship has a lot of empty cabins in more expensive cabins, Princess will upgrade any passenger who paid a fare and selected their cabins. The cabins that then become empty, go into the guarantee pool.

 

On my last two Princess cruises, we very carefully selected our preferred cabin type which is an inside cabin, as low down and amidships as possible.

 

We were not happy to arrive at the dock and find out we had been given a aft balcony cabin higher up on the ship. (we don't like balcony cabins for a number of reasons).

 

We were not notified of the switch until arrival at the dock and found out most of the inside cabins and ocean view cabins had been upgraded to balconies and mini suites. Our reservations had been booked as "no upgrades" so Princess will override any restrictions placed on your reservation if they think it is necessary.

 

So, if you are waiting for a cabin assignment and it is close to sailing, Princess is probably busy upgrading the full fare passenger to open up lower categories for guaranteed cabin fares.

 

Did you book with a TA or Princess?

[BassettMom]

Pull up the personalizer the night before the cruise and look at either your travel summary or baggage tags. It will show your cabin assignment. They are not done the day of sailing or at the pier. ;)

I'm flying out that day, but will definitely check before heading to the airport. If it still says "To be assigned" then I may have to use the plane's wifi to check...then if it isn't there, I'll really panic [emoji6] !

[Tedferg]

We are just about to sign up for our fourth cruise and in each case have chosen a BE balcony. ( I don't know if BE is the same on all ships ). On current booking, Oct 2015 Grand Med on Island, I see 'Reserve - cabin will be assigned ----' for some categories. Is this the same as GTY ? Also saw BY and BZ categories, it seemed they were also 'to be assigned'. Did not see GTY listed as an option.

 

On another note, possibly a topic for a separate thread, I did not see a big cost difference between 'Reserved' and specific cabin assignments. Not clear to me that GTY is worth taking a chance on being disappointed.

 

I suppose you need to be happy with any GTY cabin and hope for an upgrade as a bonus.

 

Is there a difference in cost between say GTY Inside and a Specific Inside ?

Edited January 22, 2015 by Tedferg

[dickinson]

As for me, there was no cost difference. We did a guarantee because at first we were booking the cruise for the least expensive price so we were hoping for an upgrade. Because we booked our 4 day cruise 9 months in advance we received a couple of price drops. One price drop included an upgrade so if we get what we paid for it is now an IC instead of IF. All that means is if we get the inside it won't be far aft or far forward. We paid what the Princess web site is selling the cruise for right now for our category. The purpose of this cruise is to reach Platinum and extend our winter vacation a little bit.

 

Years ago when sailing Carnival we always had an outside cabin. When we started cruising again in 2012 we went to Alaska on Princess and did a WS. Loved it so booked another WS in 2013 when we did the NE/Canada cruise. Doing it again next month on the Grand to Hawaii. For 4 days we figure "how bad could it be?":eek::eek: We have never had an inside nor a balcony so we will see what we get.

Edited January 22, 2015 by dickinson

[Madame B]

For the posters that asked if rooms were assigned on weekends, the answer is yes, they are assigned on weekends. We booked our last GTY on a Saturday about 30-40 days before the trip (just within final payment) and the room was assigned on the following day, which was a Sunday with a two category balcony upgrade. We were notified via email.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Madame B

[Homosassa]

What do you mean by "full fare"? .

 

I should have said a fare other then guaranteed in which the passenger could select a cabin.

 

By the way, my last up grade did occur on a cruise where I was given a previous cruise fare back as credit to use on a future cruise. I applied the credit to a longer, more expensive cruise and paid a fare in which I selected a cabin.

[Homosassa]

Did you book with a TA or Princess?

 

I have used one travel agent for years. And no, he did not accept an upgrade on my behalf for either cruise.

 

He was just as surprised as we were to hear we were upgraded on our reservations marked "no upgrades."

[geoherb]

How the cruise lines determine which passengers to upgrade and which not to remains a mystery. We received two very nice upgrades from our Cat. BF guarantee bookings last month on the Caribbean Princess. The first was to an accessible Cat. BB on the Baja Deck. The second was to a Cat. B2 on the Caribe Deck. I'm betting they skipped over a bunch of "full fare" passengers who picked specific cabins to assign us these. It doesn't make sense for a cruise line to move people who have picked specific cabins three days before a cruise when someone else has already said they're willing to take whatever is available in a category or better.

[BassettMom]

We are just about to sign up for our fourth cruise and in each case have chosen a BE balcony. ( I don't know if BE is the same on all ships ). On current booking, Oct 2015 Grand Med on Island, I see 'Reserve - cabin will be assigned ----' for some categories. Is this the same as GTY ? Also saw BY and BZ categories, it seemed they were also 'to be assigned'. Did not see GTY listed as an option.

 

On another note, possibly a topic for a separate thread, I did not see a big cost difference between 'Reserved' and specific cabin assignments. Not clear to me that GTY is worth taking a chance on being disappointed.

 

I suppose you need to be happy with any GTY cabin and hope for an upgrade as a bonus.

 

Is there a difference in cost between say GTY Inside and a Specific Inside ?

They are the same, and as far as I know there is no price difference, although I can't say for sure since, in my case, there was no way to book a specific cabin which is the reason I booked a "guarantee/to be assigned" cabin. (Still waiting...I really should stop checking every 3 hours...lol.).

[BassettMom]

For the posters that asked if rooms were assigned on weekends, the answer is yes, they are assigned on weekends. We booked our last GTY on a Saturday about 30-40 days before the trip (just within final payment) and the room was assigned on the following day, which was a Sunday with a two category balcony upgrade. We were notified via email.

Thanks, that's good know so I won't get more anxious as Friday comes to a close. Of course now I'll be checking every few hous all weekend too...unless I get an assignment today [emoji2].