Guarantee cabin question

[EBFURR]

Sorry for so many posts, but we are excited about our last minute cruise. This will be our first on Carnival and our first ever guarantee. We got a good deal on a balcony guarantee and just booked this morning for June 4. We are 25 days out. Any idea when we might expect to get a cabin assignment?

[ray98]

No set time....I have been down to the last week before. You will hear stories of finding out at the port. Odds are it will come soon though.

[Catrin]

Thing about a guarantee.... as long as you are ready to expect the worst, hope for the best.. then it is for you. Some have had assignments the day they book the cruise, others do not know until the day OF the cruise!!

Some have had the BEST cabins, some have had the WORST.

But knowing that anything can go and being ok with it pays off!!

Hope things run in your favor!!

[tef43]

The last time (only time, in fact) that we booked a guarantee, we did not get our assignment until handing off the luggage to the stevedores at the pier.

[Doggielover68]

We booked a guarantee last time and found out about a month before. Most likely you will find out soon. It seems that you will find out even sooner if the ship sells out.

 

 

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[FunintheSunPa]

I booked like that on my last cruise and was pleasantly surprised when I got a extended balcony. I found out like month before my cruise as well.

[EBFURR]

Thanks all. I am not sure how close this one is to being sold out. We were looking at the week prior and had a guarantee on hold & the cruise sold out while the cabin was being held. Wife's boss asked if she could go a different week due to month end reporting (accounting) so we switched to the next week. We were looking at inside since this is a last minute deal and we are trying to go cheap but the balcony on this sailing was so close in price we decided to step up. I am thinking that as long as it is a balcony cabin we cannot go too far wrong. I think we will be happy with whatever we get.

[EBFURR]

Update: I went to a booking site and mocked a balcony on this cruise. There are only a very few left and they are the newer ones up near serenity. I am thinking that they will sell as many as they can and then fill the remaining ones with the guarantee bookings. If that is the case we would be very pleased. Anyone know if it works this way?

[13cheermom]

From past experience they try to upsell those higher priced balconies to others which leaves the lower end of balconies for guarantees. It's all based on supply and demand concept.

 

 

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[FloridaMommyof3]

I did a guarantee cabin once and received the assignment about 3 weeks prior to sailing. It was exactly what I expected - nothing more, nothing less.

[EBFURR]

From past experience they try to upsell those higher priced balconies to others which leaves the lower end of balconies for guarantees. It's all based on supply and demand concept.

 

 

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That is what I am thinking. The only ones left right now are the nice ones. Unless they bump up some of the already booked folks into those and then give the vacated ones to the guarantees we should get a pretty good assignment. As I said though, we will be satisfied either way.

[Djptcp]

DH and I have done only 2 Guarantees early on in 41 cruises and both times we did not receive our cabin assignments until we arrived at the Port. The luggage handlers have the manifest and luggage tags and took care of putting the info on the tags. We much prefer selecting our own cabins and locations, but if you don't care where you end up, it's fine. We prefer to be close to the mid-ship elevators.

[Micahs Grandad]

We have done guarantees several times and always got what we paid for and assignment within a few weeks of sail date

[evandbob]

That is what I am thinking. The only ones left right now are the nice ones. Unless they bump up some of the already booked folks into those and then give the vacated ones to the guarantees we should get a pretty good assignment. As I said though, we will be satisfied either way.

 

 

You can hope for that outcome......good luck and let us know what cabin you wind up with!

 

I've done guaranteed twice in my early solo cruising, once was a nice inside on verandah deck and once was a cabin way way up front, ugh!

[SNJCruisers]

That is what I am thinking. The only ones left right now are the nice ones. Unless they bump up some of the already booked folks into those and then give the vacated ones to the guarantees we should get a pretty good assignment. As I said though, we will be satisfied either way.

If they can't do an upsell, they may do a free upgrade to someone that has status. We had a French door inside on the Spirit a few years ago and got a phone call the night before embarkation that we were getting upgraded to a balcony. Don't know if my Platinum status had something to do with it or not.

 

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[EBFURR]

We are still waiting and watching. It looks like there are 20 cabins left with balconies including the suites. I have been reading a little about the upgrade shuffle that takes place so I see what you guys mean. As I said, this is our first ever attempt at a guarantee so it is a new experience. We have always chosen our cabin and have our favorite locations that we look for. On this cruise it is late in the process when we booked so most all of the prime real estate was taken. Also, the guarantee was a really good deal. As long as we have the balcony we will be happy. We keep hoping for some good fortune in getting a prime cabin but will not be disappointed either way. It is kind of like playing roulette where you cant lose but might win big. It seems like a long wait for the ball to drop though. :D

[boufa]

I personally feel that way too much of the success of failure of ones cruise is determined by room location. Relax and look at like the bumper sticker says "The worst day cruising is a pretty good day!". I know we all have preferences, but in many cases preferences seem to have turned into demands.