Balcony Guarantee Question

[jll583]

I've been searching for a few weeks for a cruise for my husband and myself. We were originally looking at Carnival (either Magic or Conquest) for our budget. I haven't cruised on Carnival in 20 years and he never has. We were on Royal Caribbean 10 years ago on Sovereign of the seas and booked an inside guarantee and had an interior room that was teeny tiny but to us it didn't matter at the time.

 

So the Allure now has a neighborhood balcony guarantee (XN) for the date we were looking at on the Carnival ships for a little less than what Carnival wants for a Balcony. The weird thing is the Interior room is 200 more per person and the Oceanview Rate is 300 more per person on Allure for same sail date. When I price the going rate for the same neighborhood balcony for the time period it's $650 (total for both) more to "choose" the room today.

 

My questions are-

 

Am I stupid not to jump on this rate while it's available? We want a balcony and aren't really picky.

 

How bad could the room/balcony be?

 

Should we do Carnival (magic or conquest) over Allure?

 

 

 

 

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[Clarea]

What is the cost per person of the XN category?

[jll583]

Price per person for the XN Category room is 850 (before taxes/fees)

 

 

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[Clarea]

Price per person for the XN Category room is 850 (before taxes/fees)

 

 

Not a bad deal for a 7-day Oasis class balcony. You do realize that you will most likely be assigned to one of the balconies looking towards the inside of the ship.

[BLAMBKY]

We have always used 2 cabins (one for parents/one for teens) so we could not risk guaranteed cabins. Now they are older, we booked them. I have X guarantee listed on my booking info. I have not seen XN; are these different types of guaranteed cabins? If so, what is the difference? I was told that I would have superior oceanview balcony. OP- even if it is inside balcony I would book it for that price. I am seeing the weird pricing on interiors being more $$$ than balconies on my week too! My guess is there are more balconies than interiors, so they are pushing up interior prices to fill balconies first.

[Clarea]

We have always used 2 cabins (one for parents/one for teens) so we could not risk guaranteed cabins. Now they are older, we booked them. I have X guarantee listed on my booking info. I have not seen XN; are these different types of guaranteed cabins? If so, what is the difference? I was told that I would have superior oceanview balcony. OP- even if it is inside balcony I would book it for that price. I am seeing the weird pricing on interiors being more $$$ than balconies on my week too! My guess is there are more balconies than interiors, so they are pushing up interior prices to fill balconies first.

X = minimum oceanview balcony

XN = minimum neighborhood (inward view) balcony

[TravelerThom]

...I have X guarantee listed on my booking info. I have not seen XN; are these different types of guaranteed cabins?....

XN are Neighborhood (Central Park & Boardwalk) Balcony GTYs - these exist only on Oasis class. AFAIK X are Ocean view Balcony GTYs. Oasis class ships may offer (does not always) one or both X and XN.

 

Edit: Bob beat me again - I figured if he hadn't replied in 5 minutes he must be eating breakfast or something so I tried...

[miyanc]

i am booked on the allure in april. first time on rccl. i have cruised celebrity, carnival and ncl. we got an outside balcony gty x, for 1771. we could have taken the xn for 1681. I liked the neighborhood balcony idea more then my wife, and as its her 40th, we went outside.

 

we had been looking at the oasis class for some time. really. if you have cruised before most ships are about the same format. these ships are different. whether that's good or bad is subjective. the trade off for inside or outside balcony it seclusion. the inside balconies will share the life of the neighborhood with the others balconies and neighborhood traffic . the outside is more private. I wanted a boardwalk balcony as close to the back as I could get without paying a huge premium. this would have raised my price, but given me the bonus stuff, a balcony and an ocean view. In the end we still got a great deal.

[gizfish]

There is a big difference between Carnival and RCCL, hence the reason that RCCL is usually more expensive. We used to be Carnival cheerleaders, but the cuts they have made were obvious enough and annoying enough to make us change. If you can get a RCCL cruise for close to Carnival JUMP on it. Especially the Allure, even if it is "only" a neighborhood balcony. Beautiful ship with great service, food and activities.

[Robo1098]

I'm not a big fan of the neighborhood balcony cabins but at that price its not so bad. There are no really bad balconies on those ships. Deck 14 neighborhood balconies may be a little noisy but probably not a problem.

[FMZ]

I agree... we are Carnival fans too but I would jump on that price for Allure!! It'll be nice to try something new and this class of ship is unlike any other.

 

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[BLAMBKY]

X = minimum oceanview balcony

XN = minimum neighborhood (inward view) balcony

 

 

That makes sense, can not believe it did not occur to me.:rolleyes: Thanks!

[jll583]

Thanks everyone! We'd even consider it if it was a guaranteed interior just to go on the boat, but with it being a Balcony I thought there must be some catch. My husband hasn't been on Carnival so he really wants to try it, however I think I've convinced him that since this falls in our budget for the two of us, next time we can do Carnival and take the kids too :)

 

 

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[molly361]

Has anyone ever booked an XN guarantee and been assigned an OV balcony? I don't remember ever hearing about that happening

[miyanc]

Has anyone ever booked an XN guarantee and been assigned an OV balcony? I don't remember ever hearing about that happening

 

 

I am new to all of this but that would fall under an upgrade, so i bet it happens. i pointed out to my travel agent that my x says " I can be assigned a balcony anywhere on the ship". It doesn't say "ocean view" but she said the xn or neighborhood balcony would be a downgrade so that wouldn't happen. I figured because they have only 3 ships with balconies that dont face the ocean, it was an oversight on the verbiage.

 

 

No on rccl, but we have been upgraded many times. Inside to outside and such. never to a balcony or suite but a boy can dream.

[ricka47]

I note that "anywhere on the ship" as well when we booked an OV GTY on Oasis recently. But, RCI confirmed that X is OV.

[Havingfun2010]

I've been searching for a few weeks for a cruise for my husband and myself. We were originally looking at Carnival (either Magic or Conquest) for our budget. I haven't cruised on Carnival in 20 years and he never has. We were on Royal Caribbean 10 years ago on Sovereign of the seas and booked an inside guarantee and had an interior room that was teeny tiny but to us it didn't matter at the time.

 

So the Allure now has a neighborhood balcony guarantee (XN) for the date we were looking at on the Carnival ships for a little less than what Carnival wants for a Balcony. The weird thing is the Interior room is 200 more per person and the Oceanview Rate is 300 more per person on Allure for same sail date. When I price the going rate for the same neighborhood balcony for the time period it's $650 (total for both) more to "choose" the room today.

 

My questions are-

 

Am I stupid not to jump on this rate while it's available? We want a balcony and aren't really picky.

 

How bad could the room/balcony be?

 

Should we do Carnival (magic or conquest) over Allure?

 

 

 

 

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Take away all prices, and you are now comparing apples to oranges. The Allure of the Seas is a destination in itself, and so, when looking at prices, it's tough to compare any ship to this ship.

 

Don't look at the savings of a few $100's. Go on the ship, based on the value of the ship because in the end, it's about your overall enjoyment, plus your overall cost. Room could be cheaper, but other items can bring the price up.

 

When I book, I look at the total cost of everything. Example do I want to drive 5 hours in the morning, or hotel the night before, or it is in the port, at 2 hours away instead. What about beverage package, the types of specialty restaurants (Allure has a ton of choices) etc.