Guarantee Balconies, the good and the bad?

[Cabansail]

Hello Sheridan - I think we met you at Circular Quay in December.

[taninaus]

I am going on a balcony guarantee in a couple of weeks with Royal - I got my allocation months ago and it is just up from a friends and I paid $700+ less than her. perfectly good Superior Balcony at less than the Promenade cabin I was considering. from the reviews it looks like it is perfectly normal set up so I am very happy my gamble paid off

[MicCanberra]

I am going on a balcony guarantee in a couple of weeks with Royal - I got my allocation months ago and it is just up from a friends and I paid $700+ less than her. perfectly good Superior Balcony at less than the Promenade cabin I was considering. from the reviews it looks like it is perfectly normal set up so I am very happy my gamble paid off

 

Nice score :D

I suggest you don't tell your friends, it may make them envious.:p

[Cassicruiser]

We booked our first balcony guarantee on Solstice in April and were allocated about 3 weeks after booking. Was fully expecting something obstructed, but got a 1B fully unobstructed balcony on deck 8 on the hump. Right in the middle of the ship by the lifts. One VERY happy cruiser!

[tazaria]

My sister and I just booked a GTY balcony for an 8 night cruise - cost us $2400 together for the GTY, when the Deluxe Balcony (direct) was $2800 and the Superior Balcony was $3100. We ended up being assigned the Superior Balcony, so I think that's a pretty good win! Sure, we didn't get to pick which cabin, but we also weren't prepared to spend the extra $700 just to have the pleasure of choosing :)

[megsie]

We booked a GA inside deluxe guarantee cabin on Queen Elizabeth. Must admit we were getting a bit nervous as there had been no room allocated and we are due to fly to Adelaide this week for a few days prior to cruise.

But surprise, surprise this morning have been allocated a BC balcony. Cheering!

We deliberately paid for the highest inside guarantee which had only a limited amount of rooms, hoping maybe for an oceanview or obstructed upgrade.

We would have been happy with our inside as there are only 3 at sea days, most in ports or over nighters on the 8N/9D cruise.

But are very happy with our upgrade.

[Fredette]

Thanks for all your responses - we have taken a gamble on a guarantee (balcony) for our next cruise, and are crossing our fingers that we luck out and get a good one. Even if we get an obstructed balcony, it is still a balcony (I really love the ability to get fresh air and of course natural light) so we will be happy with whatever we get (we paid just over half of the cost of the cheapest balcony, so we can't complain about whatever we get).

[Cassicruiser]

Thanks for all your responses - we have taken a gamble on a guarantee (balcony) for our next cruise, and are crossing our fingers that we luck out and get a good one. Even if we get an obstructed balcony, it is still a balcony (I really love the ability to get fresh air and of course natural light) so we will be happy with whatever we get (we paid just over half of the cost of the cheapest balcony, so we can't complain about whatever we get).

 

Definitely a worthwhile gamble in my opinion - the worst that can happen is you'll still have a balcony. Better than that is that you have a fair to good chance of getting a great unobstructed balcony like we did.

[Fredette]

Definitely a worthwhile gamble in my opinion - the worst that can happen is you'll still have a balcony. Better than that is that you have a fair to good chance of getting a great unobstructed balcony like we did.

 

Very excited - our cabin has been assigned and it was a good one! It was almost the location etc... that I would have picked if I had picked it myself, and half the price! Cruise can't roll around soon enough for me :p

[Cassicruiser]

Very excited - our cabin has been assigned and it was a good one! It was almost the location etc... that I would have picked if I had picked it myself, and half the price! Cruise can't roll around soon enough for me :p

 

Yay! Very happy for you... enjoy!

[Penelope222]

I have a Guarantee horror story. My parents booked a guarantee balcony on Princess (actually their TA booked it, they had no idea it was a guarantee cabin, they were just told cabin allocation would be close to the departure date), and ended up in a quad room with beds that cannot make a double bed. Sleeping in single beds for a wedding anniversary cruise is not their (or my) idea of a fun cruise....

 

The happy ending is that they've managed to be reallocated but as the ship was fully booked it took a ton of time to reallocate, and many phone calls. But any future cruises any of us do now, we'll make sure this is not a possibility before booking a guarantee cabin!

[Cassicruiser]

I have a Guarantee horror story. My parents booked a guarantee balcony on Princess (actually their TA booked it, they had no idea it was a guarantee cabin, they were just told cabin allocation would be close to the departure date), and ended up in a quad room with beds that cannot make a double bed. Sleeping in single beds for a wedding anniversary cruise is not their (or my) idea of a fun cruise....

 

The happy ending is that they've managed to be reallocated but as the ship was fully booked it took a ton of time to reallocate, and many phone calls. But any future cruises any of us do now, we'll make sure this is not a possibility before booking a guarantee cabin!

 

Gosh that's awful. Glad they managed to sort it out! Shame on the TA for not telling them she booked a guarantee, that's totally unacceptable.

 

It seems Princess is different, but I know on RCI and Celebrity there are no cabins that are solely quad or twin cabins. All twins can be made up into Queen beds and vice versa.

[Penelope222]

Gosh that's awful. Glad they managed to sort it out! Shame on the TA for not telling them she booked a guarantee, that's totally unacceptable.

 

It seems Princess is different, but I know on RCI and Celebrity there are no cabins that are solely quad or twin cabins. All twins can be made up into Queen beds and vice versa.

 

It's certainly been a learning experience!

[angelwingsflys]

Hi Everyone,

I had a guarantee balcony coming up on my Voyagers of the Seas,leaving 19th Feb, I scored a Superior balcony ,deck 8 near the aft ,when they rang to see if I wanted a paid upgrade to a balcony guarantee recently I declined ,I explained that I would be already on board and didn't want to risk a guarantee ,as I am doing 3 consecutive cruises on this ship anyway ,she said she could book me any one of the closet balconies available ,so I was able to book a balcony at the AFT ,(for a grand sum of only $150 extra,-solo cruise) and still keep my OBC bargain ,right on the corner with a wrap around balcony , I had previously had a aft cabin before,so love them .

Sometimes a guarantee can be wonderful,sometimes not .But still love the fresh air and the sounds from a balcony .

Cheers Deb

Edited February 13, 2016 by angelwingsflys