Any recent "guarantee" cabin stories?

[DaveOKC]

Hi, if you haven't already discovered this and want to see where your cabin is located and the amenities you get, go to the Holland America site, click on On Board, then Our Mid-Sized Ships, then Eurodam. You can check your location and the amenities from this page. Your friends cabin is a VD which is considered a lower category than VC which you have.

Hope you have a great cruise.

Have you checked the sticky for new cruisers, I think it is called "Hal for dummies"

 

Great response. You actually got a "higher" category than your friends, but in reality the cabins and ammenities should be exactly the same.

 

HAL has changed the cabin category "sub rankings" from time to time, so it does get a bit confusing. For example, in the Signature Suite category the ratings (high to low) go from SS to SY to SZ. A few years ago, HAL basically reshuffled the cabins and the old SY ones are now SS, and the SS are now SY (I think it did this due to people not wanting to be under the pool area). In this case I was very happy, as my favorite cabin went from an SS to an SY and I can now book it at a lower price!

 

You really do have to do your homework and decide where you want to be located on the ship (everyone has different thoughts on this). Do not rely on HAL's rating system to tell you the best location, as it may not be.

[MrDogDad]

I think what might be confusing is that the information on HAL's website is incorrect. If you look at the Eurodam deck plan for deck 6 and open Room Amenities, under Veranda Staterooms, there are 18 bullet items, including some that are actually only for Signature Suites, such as:

 

• Personalized cruise stationery
  
• One-touch telephone concierge service
  
• Fresh flowers
  
• Umbrellas for your use on the cruise
  

If you look at the same listing on other decks, there are 10 bullet items.

 

This was confusing to me when I was looking for which deck I wanted for my upcoming cruise on the Eurodam.

[crunchii]

Deleted, 'cause it was exactly the same as what MrDogDad said. Sorry!

Edited October 11, 2016 by crunchii
Because it was the same as the poster above said

[qak]

 

They booked an inside cabin and ...

 

They had been upgraded to a very nice verandah location!!!!

 

Happened to a friend of ours - was a solo traveller, booked inside guarantee as a last minute bargain, then got upgraded to a verandah.

 

She did say that as she had spent >$1000 on pre booked shore excursions before getting onboard, *maybe* that was the reason for the upgrade?

[kazu]

Happened to a friend of ours - was a solo traveller, booked inside guarantee as a last minute bargain, then got upgraded to a verandah.

 

She did say that as she had spent >$1000 on pre booked shore excursions before getting onboard, *maybe* that was the reason for the upgrade?

 

I don't think my friends paid that in shore excursions ;).

 

By the way, I stand corrected on them getting a verandah cabin.

 

They received another upgrade and are sailing in a Superior Suite on the Prinsendam now :). WOW!

[mancunian]

We always used to book a guarantee F grade - lowest oceanview with window not portholes. We have consistently been upgraded to main deck and very happy with this. However, on two occasions, once on Rotterdam and once on Volendam we were upgraded to a veranda - the first time for a month, the second for three weeks. We thought ourselves very lucky.

 

Things have changed over the past two years and we cannot risk being put anywhere. We now book a veranda cabin and like to choose our cabin to get me as close as possible to the elevators.

 

Months ago we booked a back to back on Nieuw Amsterdam for November in the Caribbean. Even this long ago we were informed that all bookings were guarantees and we could not book a specific cabin. Our TA said to them that was a dealbreaker and because of circumstances we would not be taking the risk so would not be going ahead. HAL came back and said what cabin did they have last time on NA, well we will book them into that again. Well done HAL.

[Shippy]

Always because the price was worth it.

Once we got an assignment immediately after booking...once not until we were at the pier.

Received cabins that were handicapped & blocked views. Also once got a tremendous junior suite on a ship with a 'hump' design that gave us a double balcony.

We picked out our SB cabin on the Westerdam next month. It is on the back corner of the ship with a wraparound balcony.

The TA wanted to know if we wanted to consider a free upgrade if offered.

I told them NO!

The next category up is an SA. midship. To me, that would be a downgrade....love those wraparound balconys !

[newcruise55]

Dh and I are booked on N. amsterdam for a November cruise. We have a guarantee balcony and have been watching what is still available on the ship. All of the cabins that are still available are upgrades from what we paid but anywhere on the ship is fine with us. It is a month out and I am getting anxious to find out what we ended up with.

[Stpatsirish]

We are on the NA in less than 2 weeks and are getting antsy. We are in a VE guarantee and I think everything left is an upgrade as well. We are not fussy about where it is on the ship either.

[fridaythe13th]

No recent guarantee but one upcoming on Eurodam. I booked a VF guarantee and was alerted by another CC'r that the VT (higher category) is not a balcony you can sit on but a Juliette balcony! How can that be an upgrade? A balcony guarantee and you get what isn't really a balcony. Not sure what I would do if they put us in a VT. Either fight with them or pay a fortune to upgrade even further??? Maybe they would let me downgrade?? I'm still keeping the guarantee though and we'll see what happens.:confused:

[Stpatsirish]

As stated above, we have a VE guarantee on the NA sailing Nov. 6. We were assigned a V cabin today. It is an accessible room, which is fine with me as I could use a walk-in shower as I am having a knee replacement soon. It looks like it has an angled veranda which seems bigger.

[iriemon]

I am cruising on the NA in 2 weeks and just got an upgrade offer to go from a HH to a VA balcony for $129. Yup I took it

[Ballwin Babe]

Initially booked an inside cabin on 11/9 Zuiderdam. Prices dropped and verandahs below Cat VB were reduced. So, we changed our inside cabin to a guarantee VD. This allowed us to avoid the possibility of a VE steel railing on our balcony cabin. However, VD guar did not protect us from the shower-only verandah cabins. The number of verandah cabins without bathtubs is relatively low, so the odds seemed to be in our favor. HOWEVER, we got our cabin assignment earlier this week and got a VC shower-only cabin. I called HAL twice and the TA 3 times. Nothing could be done, I'm told, unless I pay an additional $1000 for a VB category. Our Mariner status didn't matter. So, that's where we are. I am very happy to have a balcony but still irritated that they wouldn't address this issue, especially when there are numerous cruisers who prefer shower only.:(

[DaveOKC]

Initially booked an inside cabin on 11/9 Zuiderdam. Prices dropped and verandahs below Cat VB were reduced. So, we changed our inside cabin to a guarantee VD. This allowed us to avoid the possibility of a VE steel railing on our balcony cabin. However, VD guar did not protect us from the shower-only verandah cabins. The number of verandah cabins without bathtubs is relatively low, so the odds seemed to be in our favor. HOWEVER, we got our cabin assignment earlier this week and got a VC shower-only cabin. I called HAL twice and the TA 3 times. Nothing could be done, I'm told, unless I pay an additional $1000 for a VB category. Our Mariner status didn't matter. So, that's where we are. I am very happy to have a balcony but still irritated that they wouldn't address this issue, especially when there are numerous cruisers who prefer shower only.:(

 

I understand your thoughts, but you have to remember that one of the reasons that HAL offers guarantees (generally at a reduced price) is so that they have flexibility in assigning cabins to "fill" the ship. Just consider the headache and trouble involved if HAL were to try to address everyone's wishes at the last minute (two weeks).

 

If you are very flexible on cabins, then guarantees are a great deal. If you are "picky" (as we are) about your cabin and location, you need to pay a bit more and select the cabin you want (and them mark it Do Not Upgrade).

[msmayor]

Initially booked an inside cabin on 11/9 Zuiderdam. Prices dropped and verandahs below Cat VB were reduced. So, we changed our inside cabin to a guarantee VD. This allowed us to avoid the possibility of a VE steel railing on our balcony cabin. However, VD guar did not protect us from the shower-only verandah cabins. The number of verandah cabins without bathtubs is relatively low, so the odds seemed to be in our favor. HOWEVER, we got our cabin assignment earlier this week and got a VC shower-only cabin. I called HAL twice and the TA 3 times. Nothing could be done, I'm told, unless I pay an additional $1000 for a VB category. Our Mariner status didn't matter. So, that's where we are. I am very happy to have a balcony but still irritated that they wouldn't address this issue, especially when there are numerous cruisers who prefer shower only.:(

 

There is no issue to address. When you took the guarantee to VD, by default you 'agreed' to accept a stateroom with shower-only. There IS a resolution available...you just aren't happy that it will cost you $1000.

 

As many others have said, never take a guarantee unless you know you will be happy with any stateroom at that minimum category or above. You knew you wouldn't be happy with a shower only, so you should have protected yourself against being assigned one.

Edited October 30, 2016 by msmayor