Guarantee Rate stories, good or bad?

[dem372]

Just looking for anyone who has gone with the Guarantee rate and wondering how it turned out for you.  Did you get upgraded?  Did you get stuck in the worst room on the boat?  I have just booked a cruise with this rate and am just wondering how it worked out for others in the past.  Thanks!

[Ourusualbeach]

I doubt highly that you will ever receive an upgrade on a guarantee room now that Royal has their bidding system in place. 

 

I booked a pair of neighbourhood balconies for Christmas abou5 a month ago and was assigned 2 CP balconies 2 weeks later.  Lots of inventory left so I called and changed rooms.

 

there are some categories on some ships I would not book a guarantee for as there are bad rooms.  Other categories and other ships are fine.  Just be prepared to get the worst cabin and if you are ok with that then go ahead and book.  Don’t forget all guarantees are non refundable deposits.  

[Mikew0805]

14 minutes ago, dem372 said:

Just looking for anyone who has gone with the Guarantee rate and wondering how it turned out for you.  Did you get upgraded?  Did you get stuck in the worst room on the boat?  I have just booked a cruise with this rate and am just wondering how it worked out for others in the past.  Thanks!

Both times that I booked a GTY interior, I was upgraded to a PR. Not a big upgrade, but actually I like the PR's better than OV, so it worked.

 

As the previous poster said... not sure now with the "Royal Up" thing. Both of my experiences were before this bidding system. 

[cruisekap]

I have booked guarantee balconies on 2 cruises.  (Rhapsody and Mariner). Both times I was assigned a room within the balcony category and I wouldn't consider the assigned room as being inferior in any way.  I did move one afterwards but that was more to do with being a bit closer to the elevator.  It was no trouble switching.  Also, my husband HATES adjoining room and luckily we did not get one of those or I would have never heard the end of it.

 

 

[LuCruise]

We went from inside to Guarantee Balcony for very little difference.  We were assigned a Spacious Ocean View Balcony room (which is a bit bigger than the regular Balcony room)....so not the lowest balcony cabin.  The assigned room was at the aft and we weren't sure on it, so I just moved us to another Spacious Ocean View Balcony room from what was available.  So we were very happy with the booking.

Note:  I used the UK site to check what rooms were available in the same category for being able to switch locations.

 

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, dem372 said:

Just looking for anyone who has gone with the Guarantee rate and wondering how it turned out for you.  Did you get upgraded?  

Some of this may depend on when you book and get assigned. Royal Up offers start around final payment time, so less likely to get one closer to sailing.

[Jasukkie]

I've done it a few times, no horror stories. On Anthem, we were assigned a far forward interior, so a very long walk from the elevator. This was a hurricane affected cruise so we thought there might be cancellations. We paid $100 to upgrade to a midship balcony. This was done after boarding at guest services. 

Another time on Anthem we were placed in what I consider to be an ideal location, right by the forward elevators on deck 6. That was a balcony GTY. 

Recently on Jewel, we did inside GTY, assigned deck 4 in what looked like a good location midship. We did RoyalUp and then got a midship balcony on deck 7. Some people might not be happy with that because the balcony overlooks the lifeboat roofs but it was a total non-issue for me. It felt more private, rather than being open to the promenade deck if the roofs weren't there. 

I would not hesitate to book a GTY again if the price makes it worth it. It's not for everyone though, and it may depend on the ship too. I felt very lucky we weren't placed near the Centrum on Jewel because of the smoke. 

[taglovestocruise]

17 hours ago, dem372 said:

Just looking for anyone who has gone with the Guarantee rate and wondering how it turned out for you.  Did you get upgraded?  Did you get stuck in the worst room on the boat?  I have just booked a cruise with this rate and am just wondering how it worked out for others in the past.  Thanks!

If you live here in North America you can change to any other cabin anywhere on the ship as long as you stay in the same category as soon as you receive a cabin number.  

[rt1092]

I use guarantees whenever I can. I've never been disappointed. As soon as they assign a cabin (you have to pay attention and look often) I change it to a cabin of my liking (if I didn't like the cabin assigned) .

I have 4 guarantees in the pipeline between now an Feb 2020.  

Every dollar I save goes to another cruise. (18 sofar between now and Feb 2020)

Edited April 21, 2019 by rt1092

[Norwich Cruiser]

We’ve booked guaranteed cabins three times and each occasion been extremely happy with our appointed stateroom.

One time we were given a highly grade stateroom than was booked.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

17 hours ago, dem372 said:

 Did you get stuck in the worst room on the boat? 

They are done using boats! 👍

[rt1092]

Here are the reasons that you would not do a guarantee. 

Need a specific cabin such as close to elevator.

Need a cabin near another. As kids or relatives traveling with you.

In years past if you wanted to gamble on an upgrade (guarantees are not eligible after assignment).

Other than these I can't think of anymore reasons.