"Guaranteed" Cabin on Carnival???

[just4relaxing]

If I choose a guarantee cabin on Carnival (e.g., let them choose my room), will I be able to pay more to upgrade to another cabin if it's available and I decide I don't like the cabin they picked for me? I am so afraid I'm going to be stuck under a nightclub but can't hardly resist the savings of going with a guarantee cabin. How much advance time do you know what your cabin number is, or don't you know until you get to the ship? I have always selected my own cabins in the past but the price difference in this case is fairly significant.

[Bookbug53]

If I choose a guarantee cabin on Carnival (e.g., let them choose my room), will I be able to pay more to upgrade to another cabin if it's available and I decide I don't like the cabin they picked for me? I am so afraid I'm going to be stuck under a nightclub but can't hardly resist the savings of going with a guarantee cabin. How much advance time do you know what your cabin number is, or don't you know until you get to the ship? I have always selected my own cabins in the past but the price difference in this case is fairly significant.

 

It is a total shot in the dark. The two guarantees I have done worked out well. I was happy with both.

 

On the other hand. I got a cabin assignment two weeks in advance for one and the other after arrival at the pier.

 

Not sure how an upgrade might work as your assigned cabin might not be known until you get there.

[riffatsea]

You have to be really willing to take whatever they give you! Some folks don't find out their cabin until they are actually checking in for their cruise.

The reason it is less expensive is because you may be put anywhere on the ship!

We are very particular about our cabin location so we would never do it no matter how much less it would cost since being in a bad spot would make us very unhappy!

You may feel differently about it.

[SkyMaster]

I too, have had good luck with "to be assigned" cabins, but as noted above, you must accept the fact that your cabin might be anywhere on the ship. Worst case, IMO, would be if your assigned cabin was over the disco, or below the kitchen, where noise would be a BIG factor. Many times, you won't know your cabin assignment until you get to the ship, but there again,,,,it's a chance you take when accepting the lower price, for a TBA cabin. :rolleyes:

 

"SKY"

[LMaxwell]

If you can't happily accept the worst location, don't take a guarantee and hope to upgrade later. By the time you get your assignment there may not be anything to upgrade to.

[boxermom73]

I just did it for the first time this cruise and got assigned in 2 days and got Lido deck for almost 400$ cheaper than my friends:D So sometimes it works out great!

[suzbcruiser]

Our experience was great. We had picked a guarantee category 8E, balcony and ended up in an Ocean suite. They can't give you anything less than the category you have paid for. I say go for it!

 

 

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[Crusin5252]

We took a chance on guaranteed insides on side by side cruises from Port Everglades. We had an 8 day on the Freedom where we got assigned an interior cabin on Main. It was a decent location. We got off of the Freedom and got on the Conquest for a 6 day cruise that was her first sailing from Port Everglades. We had an interior cabin on Deck 10 that was a great location. Neither room had any noise issues. For $39 pp per day per person for 2 people, we were willing to take a chance and would not have complained if we had a less than ideal vacation. We got both room assignments at exactly 30 days before departure.

[tropicaledrink]

We did our first Guarantee cabins this past May on our back to back (different ships). We actually ended up with great cabins both times, but also I have some stipulations for what I am willing to book as a Guarantee cabin.

 

I will not book an inside guarantee. Period. I will pay the extra to pick my cabin (the fine print says you have to be willing to accept an upper/lower. I'm not willing to do that, so we don't book a guarantee.)

 

I would book an ocean view guarantee on any class of ship. This is what we did on the Fantasy and Conquest. I knew this would result in us being on a lw deck on the Conquest and I was okay with that. On the Fantasy, we were assigned U215. Perfect cabin - cabins above and below us, and aft, which is our preference. On the Conquest, we were assigned 1427. It was also aft. I was initially a little concerned about this assignment, as this is the cabin you see when you begin heading down the hall way. We ran a fan and had no noise from the hallway at all. Our neighbors had screaming and jumping kids though. ;) The good part about this cabin is that since it was near the end of the hallway, there was VERY little foot traffic.

 

I would be willing to book a balcony guarantee on the Spirit class only. Less potential for noise issues due to the way the ship is laid out. I would not at all be happy if I was placed above the night club or the comedy club.

 

Just some guidelines I use. If you don't mind noise, or go to bed lately, you have way more options!

[cmukid87]

Basically OP is more or less gambling on room assignment. I've done 3 guarantees with very good results. I did them because that was my budget though so an upgrade to a better room wasn't in the cards. If you have the budget and room type/location is important then I'd just go for it. You never know, the headache of trying to switch from your guarantee might not be worth it.

[katiel53]

We did a balcony guarantee a couple of years ago because the cabins we would normally choose were taken as we booked within a month or so of sailing. The savings wasn't a great amount, but we thought what the heck, so we did it.

 

That was our first and last guarantee ever! We ended up under the Lido and heard rolling carts all night long. In the morning, we found we were across the hall from the steward's pantry. Between the stewards talking to each other and other noises, ie the ice machine etc. it was noisy in the morning too.

 

Never again. If I can't pick a cabin that I'd like, I'll go on a different ship or do it on another date. I realize that not everyone gets something that isn't to their liking, but that's the chance that is taken.

[jsglow]

We've done guarantee a couple of times. Particularly for an OV, there really isn't too much difference between units. On our cruise in 3 weeks we got our cabin assignment about 2 weeks ago. Just fine down on deck 1. I probably wouldn't do it with a Balcony.

[ekajun1957]

One thing is to go into Carnival and do a dummy booking for the class of cabin and you choose the room, if it starts to fill up and getting close to only less desireable cabins left then its more of a gamble.

[drakes2]

Since I'm solo in my cabin on my upcoming cruise (travelling with kids/grandkids) I initially booked a balcony and unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances have had to downgrade to an inside guarantee. In total with paying the double occupancy I saved $700 by downgrading. I did notice that the only inside left is on deck 7 which is where my balcony was. What are the chances that I could get an upgrade to at least an oceanview. I have only sailed in an inside cabin once and that was over 16 years ago, so will be an adjustment. Well at least I'm not stressed out now .

We did our first Guarantee cabins this past May on our back to back (different ships). We actually ended up with great cabins both times, but also I have some stipulations for what I am willing to book as a Guarantee cabin.

 

I will not book an inside guarantee. Period. I will pay the extra to pick my cabin (the fine print says you have to be willing to accept an upper/lower. I'm not willing to do that, so we don't book a guarantee.)

 

I would book an ocean view guarantee on any class of ship. This is what we did on the Fantasy and Conquest. I knew this would result in us being on a lw deck on the Conquest and I was okay with that. On the Fantasy, we were assigned U215. Perfect cabin - cabins above and below us, and aft, which is our preference. On the Conquest, we were assigned 1427. It was also aft. I was initially a little concerned about this assignment, as this is the cabin you see when you begin heading down the hall way. We ran a fan and had no noise from the hallway at all. Our neighbors had screaming and jumping kids though. ;) The good part about this cabin is that since it was near the end of the hallway, there was VERY little foot traffic.

 

I would be willing to book a balcony guarantee on the Spirit class only. Less potential for noise issues due to the way the ship is laid out. I would not at all be happy if I was placed above the night club or the comedy club.

 

Just some guidelines I use. If you don't mind noise, or go to bed lately, you have way more options!

[swscruiser]

I just did it for the first time this cruise and got assigned in 2 days and got Lido deck for almost 400$ cheaper than my friends:D So sometimes it works out great!

 

Just an FYI

If you have not cruised yet Carnival can still change your assignment prior to sailing.

[Life_Traveler]

I also have just booked our first ever Guarantee room. Its only on a 5 day cruise and we booked a OV so not too concern with the quality of the room. My question is though if you happen to not get your room assignment till you get there, were you forced to carry all your luggage on board and not give it to the porter. Just curious. We are Platinum so we could take it straight to the room anyway but prefer not to carry it on board anyway.

[virginiab]

If you don't know your cabin assignment before you arrive at the port, the porter will be able to look it up for you, so that you can leave your luggage with them.