Veranda Guarantee Cabin Categories confusion

[BostonStrong15]

What would be the advantage of booking a guarantee VC over a guarantee VH (if any). There is a pretty big price difference for the VC (and above) guarantees and it looks like the few cruises that I'm considering are not selling all that fast as the cruising date is less than a month away and are now on Hal's ready set sail page. Would the chances of getting a better room be higher with a higher booked guarantee or just be a waste of money?

 

And is there any considerable difference in the cabins within the different categories or is it just location that is different? Seems like there should be some reason for the higher prices if the category prices increase.

 

Thanks for any info...this is all new to me and confusing! I'm looking at the Noodham.

Edited March 13, 2015 by BostonStrong15

[Alcarondas]

Apart from location, the only potential significant difference is that some of the lowest-grade V cabins will have an all-steel railing, instead of the clear plexiglass ones (that you can see through while seated).

 

Personally I'd go with the VH guarantee, but I'm not afraid to roll the dice in the interest of saving a few bucks.

[SilvertoGold]

Apart from location, the only potential significant difference is that some of the lowest-grade V cabins will have an all-steel railing, instead of the clear plexiglass ones (that you can see through while seated).

 

Personally I'd go with the VH guarantee, but I'm not afraid to roll the dice in the interest of saving a few bucks.

 

That's it, very well explained.

Edited March 13, 2015 by SilvertoGold

[BostonStrong15]

Thank you both, this makes sense.

 

Do you think the chances for a higher category room assignment are better with a higher category guarantee or really no significant difference? I guess one way to look at it would be if you book a higher category you are paying for something that you might end up getting anyway, had you booked the lower category! But from looking at the website and rooms that are currently available to book it looks like there are still plenty of cabins available in all higher level Veranda categories, but the lower Veranda categories are listed as being able to book only as Guarantees, not showing any available rooms. I imagine that there are in fact rooms available just not showing at this point????

 

I do realize that when booking a guarantee you should only book if you would be happy with that selection or not book the guarantee to start with. Just curious as to other's input. The logistics are very interesting to me.

[DaveOKC]

IMO, the only real difference is that by booking a higher level cabin you eliminate the possibility of getting a "bad" cabin in one of the lower levels. You have to pick a category that you would be happy with all the cabins in that category (or higher) or else be satisfied with the kuck of the draw.

 

I would think that the higher category guarantee that you book, the higher level you will get, but again. no one can answer this for certain.

 

On the larger HAL ships, the price of the highest category Veranda cabins often results in people selecting a less expensive category, thus more of these are available at the end.

[Alcarondas]

There are a lot of variables involved. Again speaking personally, I'd go with the lowest-category guarantee that I could live with. The steel-railing ones are in categories VH, VF and VE on Deck 4. Be aware that there are other VE and VF rooms on Decks 7 and 8 that have clear railings, and that there are only FOUR (4) VH's, all the way forward on Deck 4.

 

So if you book the VH Guarantee, your odds of actually getting a VH cabin are fairly small; but I would imagine that the first stop up the chain would be a steel-balcony VF or VE.

 

Regardless of where your initial cabin assignment is, it is possible (possible) that you could be offered an upsell later on. This will generally be to the "best available" category within a given class of cabin. So, for a price you can buy your way up from whatever your initial assignment was to (probably) a VA or VB cabin. Upsells into higher classes (Superior Suite, for example) are also possible.

 

If you want to avoid any possibility of ending up with a steel balcony, you should book at least a VD Guarantee (no jokes, please; we've heard them all :p).

 

From personal experience: On my last cruise (2 weeks ago), I had booked a Cat-H Obstructed-view guarantee, and was initially assigned one of those rooms. About 3 weeks before sailing, I was offered an upsell to the best-available Outside (a choice of Cat-C's) for a nominal cost, or to the best-available Verandah (Cat-VA) for a little more. I went with the verandah, and the total cost (of my Cat-H + the add-on fee) was about half of what it would have been if I had booked a VA from the start.

 

Of course, nothing is certain and your mileage may vary.

[jmps]

One other input is that to maximize total revenue HAL will try to upsell the lower priced cabins to higher priced cabins for something less than the retail difference. They may also upgrade some to the higher level cabin. So, some of the higher level cabins will be taken just before the cruise and some of the "sold out" lower level cabins will become available for sale and guarantee placement.

 

My advice is to buy a specific cabin or quarantee at the level where you will not be disappointed. One thing to note there a some high priced cabins I would not want to be in (e.g. extreme forward VBs). For this reason I avoid guarantees. That is based on my tolerance of risk.

[BostonStrong15]

From personal experience: On my last cruise (2 weeks ago), I had booked a Cat-H Obstructed-view guarantee, and was initially assigned one of those rooms. About 3 weeks before sailing, I was offered an upsell to the best-available Outside (a choice of Cat-C's) for a nominal cost, or to the best-available Verandah (Cat-VA) for a little more. I went with the verandah, and the total cost (of my Cat-H + the add-on fee) was about half of what it would have been if I had booked a VA from the start.

Of course, nothing is certain and your mileage may vary.

 

This is very interesting. Holland considers the VA the top category of the verandas but I am looking on the deck plan of the Noordam and it seems like many of the VA's are cabins on the 5th deck and it has been mentioned that the balconies on these cabins are smaller than other balconies. How is this considered an upgrade? Is it just because of the mid-ship location. To me I'd rather a bigger balcony but do understand you get what you they give you and it is luck of the draw.

[Alcarondas]

This is very interesting. Holland considers the VA the top category of the verandas but I am looking on the deck plan of the Noordam and it seems like many of the VA's are cabins on the 5th deck and it has been mentioned that the balconies on these cabins are smaller than other balconies. How is this considered an upgrade? Is it just because of the mid-ship location. To me I'd rather a bigger balcony but do understand you get what you they give you and it is luck of the draw.

 

Just so. The balconies on the Deck 5 VA's are only about half as deep as any others; not enough room for a lounger; just two chairs and a footstool. They are also well-shaded by the deck above (could be good or bad depending on how much sun you want), and directly above the lifeboats/tenders. But the main draw is as you said: They're the lowest and most central of the standard verandas. It's no accident that on the higher decks, that central area is occupied by the Superior and Neptune suites.

[elycelynne]

Just so. The balconies on the Deck 5 VA's are only about half as deep as any others; not enough room for a lounger; just two chairs and a footstool. They are also well-shaded by the deck above (could be good or bad depending on how much sun you want), and directly above the lifeboats/tenders. But the main draw is as you said: They're the lowest and most central of the standard verandas. It's no accident that on the higher decks, that central area is occupied by the Superior and Neptune suites.

 

I wouldn't worry about there not being enough room for a lounger -- At least on the Noordam. You won't get one. I tried getting one for my deeper aft balcony cabin on Deck 4, and was flatly denied one by the front desk. The person I dealt with gave me the "if we do it for one, then we'd have to do it for everyone" speech, and further stated that then there wouldn't be enough of them for the Lido deck. (Never mind that there are a good quantity of them on the Sports Deck that go unused.)

[2ptu/000]

We were in one of those deck 5 central veranda cabins on the Eurodam recently. They are so narrow you can't open the door without bumping into a chair or the footstool. It was very annoying. I would never book one of those cabins again. As a matter of fact, I would never book a veranda cabin on one of the bigger ships again because of the lack of a lounger. I will book the smaller ships as long as they are in the fleet.

[brainyblonde]

In the smaller fleet cabins, the verandahs are considerably more expensive than the oceanview cabins. The larger ships have more verandahs, so the odds of getting a "good" verandah with a guarantee are better. On the smaller ships the cabins below the aft pool are very noisy. Tables scraping, bands with their amps at sail-aways, the crew washing the decks in the early morning. (Like a herd of elephants.) The number of desirable verandahs on the smaller ships is more limited. Depending on the booking of the ship, one could easily get an undesirable cabin with a BC or BB guarantee.

 

We have had good luck with guarantees on the Oosterdam, Noordam, and Eurodam. Not so much on the Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We try to book above a VH if possible on the larger ships. A BB or higher on the smaller liners. We hope for a tiny upgrade away from a noise above or below us.