Quick inquiry about GTY guarantee cabins

[MerDub]

If all of the cabins in a certain category (balcony, oceanview, inside, etc) are showing as completely sold out except for GTY, does that mean they have ZERO rooms left in that category at the moment and if that doesn't change and all the rooms remain sold out, that you would automatically get assigned to the next category up (ie from inside to OV, OV to balcony, balcony to MS) or do they hang on to a number of cabins for the GTY category?

 

I know the GTY assignment algorithm is a mystery to CC users, but I know there are some very experienced cruisers on here and I was wondering, if you saw that GTY were the only rooms left, if you would book it assuming you'd have a better chance of getting a better room.

[drvalo]

If all of the cabins in a certain category (balcony, oceanview, inside, etc) are showing as completely sold out except for GTY, does that mean they have ZERO rooms left in that category at the moment and if that doesn't change and all the rooms remain sold out, that you would automatically get assigned to the next category up (ie from inside to OV, OV to balcony, balcony to MS) or do they hang on to a number of cabins for the GTY category?

 

I know the GTY assignment algorithm is a mystery to CC users, but I know there are some very experienced cruisers on here and I was wondering, if you saw that GTY were the only rooms left, if you would book it assuming you'd have a better chance of getting a better room.

 

There are lots of changes in cabins as the cruise date approaches. People upgrade for free. People pay for a better cabin. Some people cancel. And, I do think, there are usually some cabins left as I have had to change cabins once on board and there was one to move to even when we were told it was sold out. When I have booked a gty, once I got a bit of an upgrade to a little bit better balcony than the lowest balcony. Another time, I booked an oceanview GTY and got very obstructed one, but actually that midship location was perfect and I would probably have disliked an "upgrade" there (e.g., far forward deck 4). So, it's a crap shoot. I have heard of people getting great upgrades. Most seem to be last minute bookings. So, really whatever YMMV.