Has anyone had issues with letting Carnival pick your room?

[spazilla1]

We are looking to try for a sailing out of prt Canaveral early 2016 Jan to march around that time. At this point the better rates seem to be letting them "pick the room" for us. I am anxious as my mother in law will be sailing with us for the first time and would rather not have a snafu. Has anybody ever had an issue when carnival picks the room for you? ANY responses will be welcome (am aware this is under the "stupid question" category - pls be kind. thanks fellow cruisers you are all the best!

[crookedhalo]

You are talking about a Guarantee cabin. Yes you could have problems. A guarantee cabin just guarantees that you will have a cabin on the ship at the level of the guarantee booked (inside, ocean view whatever) or higher. Now some people get lucky and get a wonderful cabin - but if the location is important to you, you're best off just booking the cabin you want and watching for price drops. A guarantee could get the worst cabin in the category you booked...:(

[klfrodo]

Let's see

You don't want a SNAFU, but, you're booking a "Guarantee".

Cabin under the all night disco

Cabin above the theatre

Cabin below the galley

Cabin next to the anchor

 

Is this the best way to avoid the possibility of a "SNAFU"????

Edited November 1, 2015 by klfrodo

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Let's see

You don't want a SNAFU, but, you're booking a "Guarantee".

Cabin under the all night disco

Cabin above the theatre

Cabin below the galley

Cabin next to the anchor

 

Is this the best way to avoid the possibility of a "SNAFU"????

 

Totally agree with you. The reason a cruiseline sells guarantees at a reduced price is so that they can sail full and fill undesirable cabins (which there are many for a variety of reasons). If someone has the mentality that "I don't spend much time in my cabin" then guarantees can be a great money saver. But if someone can't sleep because of footsteps above the ceiling, or music seeping through the walls, or are disturbed by lifeboats blocking an otherwise great view, or hate walking from the very front or aft of the ship to their destinations, or care that they are next to "active" spots like elevator corridors, staff service rooms, or laundry rooms they really shouldn't book a guarantee because most of the rooms "left over" have these issues.

[LMaxwell]

We are looking to try for a sailing out of prt Canaveral early 2016 Jan to march around that time. At this point the better rates seem to be letting them "pick the room" for us. I am anxious as my mother in law will be sailing with us for the first time and would rather not have a snafu. Has anybody ever had an issue when carnival picks the room for you? ANY responses will be welcome (am aware this is under the "stupid question" category - pls be kind. thanks fellow cruisers you are all the best!

 

When booking a guarantee to have to be willing to accept the lowest category / worst location (potentially noisy). That's a risk I'm not willing to take and pay more to pick my own.

 

My opinion is if you are bringing your MIL on her first cruise, and if it is in your budget, to study the deck plans and try to make sure you have cabins above, below, and on either side and pay a bit extra for the selection.

[bizzybee902]

I just booked a guarantee for the Breeze and was placed on deck 2 midship. There were two rooms left on deck 2 midship and the rest were on deck 8 and 9. I guess deck 2 was not as desirable than deck 8 and 9, but I lucked out. Its exactly where I wanted to be.

[Taters]

I have always gotten a wonderful cabin when I've booked a guarantee. No issues whatsoever. I had a balcony guarantee on my last cruise, which was 15 nights to Hawaii on Miracle. They gave me an extended balcony on deck 6, mid-ship. I loved it so much I booked the same cabin on my own for my upcoming 13 night Mexico cruise on the same ship.

[SadieN]

Just re-fared into a guarantee. Got, what we consider, the worst cabin. Other times, we've gotten 'the best' cabin in our category.

For a cheaper fare sometimes it's worth the gamble.

Edited November 1, 2015 by SadieN

[spazilla1]

thanks to all who replied to my question - I basically was looking at this from a can we be within a decent walking distance vs missing this boat cause they over booked the room and now we cannot get on. or as many of you posted really "bad" locations abound. I agree sometimes you can get a good outcome, but would not want to bet the farm on it. thanks again for all the comments as I said before, you are all the best. ! : O

[Towel Critter]

We've done guaranteed balconies three times in the past. Two of the three were good locations on one of the upper decks. The third was also on an upper deck, but the very first balcony stateroom from the front. The room was fine, but the balcony was truncated with an angled wall, which cut down on cubic space and made it feel claustrophobic on one end of the balcony. We no longer do guaranteed balconies, not because of the risk of a bad room, but because we've become somewhat addicted to a certain location on the ship. That said, I think getting a good location two out of three times is a reasonable success rate. If one is willing to accept an inferior room on occasion, guaranteed rooms are a viable way to save money. I would probably risk it again in the right situation, even knowing there is a small, but real, chance of getting a slightly inferior location.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Towel Critter

[richfret]

Just remember, if Carnival picks the cabin for you, it will be after all others have made their choice. If the ship fills quickly, you can be sure you will get a cabin that no one else wanted. Notice that you will not know the cabin number until nearly cruise time. That alone tells you some thing and that is that you are taking a chance. If you are booking an interior cabin, however, it probably won't make as much difference as compared to booking a balcony.

 

So if loud music, chair and lounge moving, heavy ship rolling, ice machine rattling, talk from the elevator area and anchor noise bother you, you just may want to pick your own cabin.

[Pami1968]

I've done a guarantee 8 or 9 times.

All except one were fine - some were even the next type up - ie, oceanview and I had chosen an inside. I think THAT is pretty unusual - I think I got lucky because I booked very last minute.

 

One time, though, I got a TERRIBLE cabin - right under a wooden floor dance floor in the atrium, and people were dancing quite late. I just adjusted my sleeping schedule, but it was annoying. I didn't complain - I got what I paid for.

[DebJ14]

They had a promo in July for 3 days for a suite guarantee. It was actually cheaper than the balcony we originally booked. We were assigned an Ocean Suite on Friday. We knew the worst it would be was a JS and the best a GS and we ended up with the OS. We're happy for $659.00 pp. They have been selling the Ocean Suites on our sailing for $1199 pp. We sail tomorrow.

 

We once did a balcony guarantee and got an awful cabin 8A right over the showroom on the Conquest. We had to listen to the show rehearsals, shore excursion and shopping talks. It was as if they were in the cabin.

Edited November 1, 2015 by DebJ14

[Tapi]

As my PVP used to tell me: Look at the deck plans. Search for the absolute worst cabin that you can think of. If you're OK with that assignment, then the guarantee option is for you. Otherwise spend a bit more money to make sure that you get what you really want.

[mrpayroll]

You do not get the " leftover " cabins all the time. We booked a guarantee and were assigned the room a couple days later ( the cruise was three months away ). I don't know how they decide to give out the rooms.

[KARTI1955]

I have only done this once. A guarantee balcony on the Victory. It wasn't horrible but it was directly under Lido and therefore a bit noisy all of the time. It may be a good idea to just study the deck plans and find something that you know will be MIL approved. Best bet is to select a floor with nothing but cabins in the floors above and below.