GTY and upgrades?

[sexyaznboy]

For those like me willing to take the chance and save a few bucks on a guarantee inside, what have people's experiences been getting a good cabin and getting an upgrade? Does it depend on the itinerary? I hear some of the European cruises may be undersubscribed and there is a better chance for upgrade. Thanks :)

[bitob]

The only thing you can be sure of is getting the category of cabin you paid for.

[StanandJim]

The only thing you can be sure of is getting the category of cabin you paid for.

 

 

+1

The MOST important thing to consider when buying into a Guarantee is that you WOULD be happy if you got any cabin in the level that you bought in on.

 

The second most important thing is that you ARE willing to compromise on the location of your cabin for the possibility of getting a better one.

 

The third thing is to consider is that Oceania's benefit in selling a guarantee (as opposed to assigning everyone to a particular cabin and being done with it) is that the Guarantee process gives them flexibility.

 

As other passengers buy onto the cruise, the Line may make offers to them (and possibly to you) to move into more deluxe accommodations for a fee. This is known as an up-sell.

 

After the upsell process is exhausted, and the revenue for the cruise is maximized, the Guarantee passengers will be assigned cabin numbers.

 

This process may be completed months before the sailing date, or, only hours before it. Guarantee Passenger must be willing to live with that time-frame, although they do have the comfort of knowing that they are absolutely guaranteed a cabin at the level they bought in at, or something better.

 

It's not a risk that everyone is comfortable taking, and having read in another post that the OP may be traveling with an older relative, I wonder if location on the ship isn't something which should be considered more carefully in his case, but it works like a charm, for some.

[durante]

We booked on a GTY basis this year B4 balcony category, and got allocated a PH1 penthouse 3 days before the cruise. Couldn't care less about deck or location on the ship!

[Hawaiidan]

I was on a cruise booked in a PH1 and then they had a huge reduction like 1800 pp if I re booked as a PH guarantee... I took it am happily waiting ...I know I will get something in the PH and the savings was fine... There is really nowhere up on an R ship to go from PH !! well an OS or VS but I doubt that is going to happen. I dont see any risk only an up side to the situation. I don t need to know a cabin # till the ship actualy casts off and I need to store my luggage somewhere.

[sexyaznboy]

Thanks everyone. We've always booked GTY inside and I do realize there are risks involved. We have been upgraded sporadically on other lines, but this is our first time on Oceania, so really seeing what my fellow cruisers experiences have been on this particular cruise line. I know for some, it's completely unacceptable to leave their fates to the cruiselines. It's just a special bonus if we go from an inside to at least an ocean view for us.

[Marmaduke]

When I have booked a Guarantee with Celebrity and Azamara I have usually been allocated a cabin a few days after booking, whereas with Cunard and P & O the cabins are not allocated till 2 to 3 weeks before sailing. When do Oceania generally allocate cabins for thoses booking a guarantee ?

[Floridiana]

+1

 

 

This process may be completed months before the sailing date, or, only hours before it.

 

Here's your answer.

[azam71209]

We are on the Regatta 6/28-7/8 trip to Alaska. We have been getting increasingly interesting offers to change our cruise. Just today got an offer for $1000 and a full refund if we would cancel right now or $2000 on any other cruise if we would be willing to cancel and book on a different Oceania cruise. Pretty amazing!

 

They must be really overbooked. It will be interesting to see what happens with GTY bookings. i guess it will depend on who decides to take them up on the offer and make a cabin available for a GTY.

 

Mary

[pinotlover]

From my TA; for those very popular cruises, or those of which O only does one or two cruises per year, expect the number of allowed "guarantee" booking to be greatly diminished or eliminated. Supposingly, it's already happening. I believe that O has recognized the system works more against them than for them on those types of cruises. However, if you want to go to the Carribe in the Spring, O will probably take any type of booking they can! ;)

[sitraveler]

Alaska has proven to be a huge problem for Oceania.

 

The first year they dropped the prices, then found themselves offering huge incentives to change or cancel the booking. Recently, like last year, my brother was offered an incentive to go from early July to end of June. One day they'll figure it out.

[robertf57]

Guess they need to do a few more wait-listings and less GTY. On our Tahiti cruise last year we received a very nice up-sell offer (after 2 less than great offers) to a PH1 which we jumped on. We are booked on an upcoming HAL cruise in a GTY where every cabin class is showing sold out.... Wonder if we'll be getting a requests to cancel on that one?

[Animalgirl27]

We were booked on the Riviera for the June 26th sailing. We had a guarantee B4 Veranda cabin. Two weeks ago we were contacted by Oceania with an upsell offer. We were able to choose a different sailing from ~4 options, $500 back, longer cruise by several days, AND a free upgrade to a PH cabin. We happily accepted, since we had the air booked through them and they took care of the changes.

[Cybercsp]

Here is our recent experience on Sirena. We booked an Oceanview guarantee. Eight days before sailing, we were offered an upsell for $100 pp to a specific Oceanview cabin on a higher floor. We declined, as there was no difference in the actual room size. Three days before sailing, we were upgraded to a concierge level veranda cabin. Talk about an awesome surprise!

[Flatbush Flyer]

We are on the Regatta 6/28-7/8 trip to Alaska. We have been getting increasingly interesting offers to change our cruise. Just today got an offer for $1000 and a full refund if we would cancel right now or $2000 on any other cruise if we would be willing to cancel and book on a different Oceania cruise. Pretty amazing!

 

 

 

They must be really overbooked. It will be interesting to see what happens with GTY bookings. i guess it will depend on who decides to take them up on the offer and make a cabin available for a GTY.

 

 

 

Mary

 

 

Celebrity, HAL and Princess customers have started comparing "net daily rate" (including airfare, O Life extras, etc) with O instead of cabin prices. Realizing they can get a far better product for almost the same price has many of those folks opting for O.

[StanandJim]

We walked away from a ten thousand dollar cruise offered gratis on HAL because they dropped the ball so completely in '07.

The two products (Oceania versus HAL) just aren't in the same universe.