What's up with booking a "GTY" cabin?

[OnTheJourney]

So we'd like to do one of the new Mississippi cruises. Disappointingly, nearly everything is sold out already. (These Viking customers move darn fast - that's all I can say - especially since the cruise is not till '23!). The website showed PV1 availability for the date I want, but now my Viking agent has indicated that all the rooms are booked but that the sailing date has one GTY (guarantee) cabin available; however, we won't know what the room is until possibly embarking, but also have a chance of upgrading at no cost. He said with a GTY I'm guaranteed a spot on the ship and at least a PV1 or better - but not a specific room. I'm totally confused. How can Viking offer a room on a ship where all the rooms are already booked? Is this much like the airlines overbooking and that essentially I'd be waitlisted hoping for someone to cancel? Hopefully someone here can offer some advice. It's not a cheap trip to book it on what seems a bit of a gamble (?)  

 

Since posting, did a bit of quick research on this - seems like people have gotten some nice upgrades - but isn't there a risk of not getting a room at all? 

 

The final payment is due already in December - didn't expect that either. But, they surely need money. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[just_dont]

It's likely that at some point in the next 2 years, someone will cancel.

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[Dauntless]

They wouldn't offer if they didn't think there would be one.  Some become available when final payment is due. Plans change for other reasons and judging on past experiences they are playing the odds at a certain percentage.  It will at least be what they said but you could certainly be better.  I have met some people that have taken this option and some don't know for sure until the last minute which cabin is which.

[OnTheJourney]

Doesn't appeal to me, but thanks. I believe I'll pass it up. 

[OnTheJourney]

10 minutes ago, just_dont said:

It's likely that at some point in the next 2 years, someone will cancel.

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Maybe, maybe not. I hate stuff like this - the airlines do it too and, in my case, wound up missing a connecting flight in Europe just because at the gate in JFK they insisted that 10 people "need to get off this aircraft". They started throwing money at us while waiting at the gate - first a few hundred and then eventually up to $1k. It was infuriating. They got the people but then we sat even longer on the plane while they had to dig through all the luggage and find what had to come off. I knew we were going to miss our connection the following morning before we even left New York. 😖  This 'playing the percentages' is all well and good but they don't consider how it impacts on peoples' plans. 

[just_dont]

Doesn't appeal to me, but thanks. I believe I'll pass it up. 

That's certainly your call to make.

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[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, Dauntless said:

They wouldn't offer if they didn't think there would be one.  Some become available when final payment is due. Plans change for other reasons and judging on past experiences they are playing the odds at a certain percentage.  It will at least be what they said but you could certainly be better.  I have met some people that have taken this option and some don't know for sure until the last minute which cabin is which.

 

Here's the thing though - suppose there are cancellations on the sailing I'm requesting - but they are all in lower category rooms. How, then, can they honor a GTY that I paid for at a PV1 level since, surely, no-one is going to be willing to take a lower category room just so a GTY can be honored (for a higher category). Something just doesn't all add up. My agent seems to think there's little risk in booking it this way. 

[OnTheJourney]

2 minutes ago, just_dont said:

That's certainly your call to make.

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Debating on it. It'd be interesting to see what happens. IF nothing opens up, however, then I'll be asked to consider a different cruise and/or wind up with yet MORE funds in vouchers. Never get to travel anywhere but rather just accumulate a s**t load of money. 

[emairs]

With a GTY, you are guaranteed a cabin in that category or better.
You cannot be downgraded, but you have a good chance of being upgraded. As long as you are willing to accept any PV1 cabin, I would be tempted to go for it.

Don’t worry about cabins not being available. That’s Viking’s problem. They usually hold back a few cabins for whatever reason.

[OnTheJourney]

Sounds ok then...thanks. 

[Cienfuegos]

Three years is a long time. People die, divorce, change their minds, etc.  I'm sure Viking has strategies to assure they won't lose money or customers

[cruisinchrissy]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

We don’t get these offers in UK but if I was offered this, I would definitely  go for it. 

You’ve got nothing to lose, as all PV1 cabins are great , but you also get the potential of a fabulous upgrade. 👍

Good luck.

[Dauntless]

3 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

The final payment is due already in December - didn't expect that either. But, they surely need money. 

 

This early final payment is not due to Virus.  They have had this policy for quiet some time.  Previous cruisers can sometimes get it moved but you have to ask at time of booking.  In your case, I would wait until the payment is due and then have your Viking agent check and see what is available.  He might need to be nudged for your sanity.  I booked my first Viking cruise about a year before the ship was built(Star)  and 2.5 years before the cruise in order to get the cabin class I wanted.  Remember that these ships are smaller for the ocean cruises and I'm not sure about comparable ships  for the US cruises.

[Heidi13]

With respect to the GTY cabins, were the cruise line to overbook the ship, I suspect they would most likely offer the GTY in the lowest category to maximise the options.

 

In addition to overbooking, they are most likely holding cabins as options for non-revenue uses - company management, company auditors, lecturers, surveyors, etc. Once they know how many cabins are sold close to sailing, they can finalise cabin allocations. It also helps to keep options, as some pax want to switch cabins after booking.

 

Not aware of many instances where higher level GTY pax did not actually receive a cabin.

[ropomo]

We have only done two Viking cruises, both booked as GTY in PV cabins.  In both cases, we had nice upgrades and knew our cabin assignments about a month prior to sailing.  Obviously, our experience is not the same for everyone and does not guarentee (GTY) the same results, but we would not hesitate to book GTY again.

[OnTheJourney]

Thanks to all for the replies. We booked it - added both a pre and post extension. Looks like a great itinerary!  An upgrade would be very nice, but I'm more than happy with PV1. 

[OnTheJourney]

56 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

 

In addition to overbooking, they are most likely holding cabins as options for non-revenue uses - company management, company auditors, lecturers, surveyors, etc. Once they know how many cabins are sold close to sailing, they can finalise cabin allocations. It also helps to keep options, as some pax want to switch cabins after booking.

 

 

 

Thanks Andy...most interesting. I can see where it gives the cruise lines additional flexibility with managing the cabin assignments. 

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, cruisinchrissy said:

I would definitely  go for it. 

You’ve got nothing to lose, as all PV1 cabins are great , but you also get the potential of a fabulous upgrade. 👍

 

Thanks! Just wish it was (alot) sooner than '23! ☹️

[cruisinchrissy]

19 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Thanks! Just wish it was (alot) sooner than '23! ☹️

I know !! Let’s hope our World gets back to normal very soon, and that we can make plans and keep them . Keep safe . 

[cruisinchrissy]

29 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Thanks to all for the replies. We booked it - added both a pre and post extension. Looks like a great itinerary!  An upgrade would be very nice, but I'm more than happy with PV1. 

That’s great!! and something to look forward to.

 

[Segmentersfloattheboat]

16 hours ago, cruisinchrissy said:

 

We don’t get these offers in UK but if I was offered this, I would definitely  go for it. 

 

 

We do!  And we have!  Our first Viking Ocean cruise, we chose a DV2 on deck 5.  Second cruise booked "GTY" - this was booked fairly last minute (within a month) and we were offered a DV6 "GTY" at a special price - I remember our TA telling me not to phone her (to moan! 😉 HAHA!) if we landed up in a stateroom we didn't like as she told me quite clearly we could be anywhere on the ship but definitely not a lower category!   This was the first time we ever booked a GTY.  I was aware at the time that there are a few staterooms on deck 3 where noise seeps upwards.  However, we ended up with a DV2 on deck 5.  Wonder if sometimes, your previous stateroom choice has anything to do with allocating a "GTY".  I say this as last year we booked a Seabourn cruise on a GTY basis and we again received a nice upgrade and interestingly enough it was to the same category we had booked on our one and only SB cruise several years ago.   Next year, if we sail, we have booked a GTY on Regent - it was all that was left when we booked other than the Regent Suite and that is way above our budget!  We have sailed with them once before, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  

[Cienfuegos]

"Wonder if your previous stateroom choice"

 

Perhaps.  I suspect Viking knows far more about its customers and its  travel agents than it lets on.  There are regular surveys, post cruise surveys, shopping and purchasing habits, etc.  And, the ability to link some of this information to log ins to My Viking Journey, your browsing history and excursion selections, etc.  It's not a reach to assume some of that is cross linked to other internet activity.

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but my wife and I get a lot of highly targeted e-mail from Linblad / NGeo.  I have to believe Viking has a similar market research and development function.

[Lvwindstar007]

5 hours ago, Segmentersfloattheboat said:

 

We do!  And we have!  Our first Viking Ocean cruise, we chose a DV2 on deck 5.  Second cruise booked "GTY" - this was booked fairly last minute (within a month) and we were offered a DV6 "GTY" at a special price - I remember our TA telling me not to phone her (to moan! 😉 HAHA!) if we landed up in a stateroom we didn't like as she told me quite clearly we could be anywhere on the ship but definitely not a lower category!   This was the first time we ever booked a GTY.  I was aware at the time that there are a few staterooms on deck 3 where noise seeps upwards.  However, we ended up with a DV2 on deck 5.  Wonder if sometimes, your previous stateroom choice has anything to do with allocating a "GTY".  I say this as last year we booked a Seabourn cruise on a GTY basis and we again received a nice upgrade and interestingly enough it was to the same category we had booked on our one and only SB cruise several years ago.   Next year, if we sail, we have booked a GTY on Regent - it was all that was left when we booked other than the Regent Suite and that is way above our budget!  We have sailed with them once before, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  

We did at GTY on a 30 day cruise on Regent two years ago and it worked out just fine.  I wouldn't hesitate to do it again on Viking.

[Peregrina651]

We have booked GTY-V twice now and both times ended up in a DV4 cabin, our preferred location. First time we did it, we booked less then 30 days prior to sailing. Second time, we did it in August for a January 3 cruise.

 

On the second cruise, we read on the roll call that they were offering folks a very good deal to move to a similar but longer cruise later in the year for the same price they had  paid for the original cruise plus a room upgrade. A few people took the offer and eventually all of us on the roll call who were GTY received our cabin assignments.

 

I will not hesitate to book GTY again, but mostly for a short, last minute booking.

[Twitchly]

On 8/17/2020 at 5:31 PM, Heidi13 said:

Not aware of many instances where higher level GTY pax did not actually receive a cabin.

Resurrecting this thread to respond to this. Are you (or is anyone) aware of *any* instances where GTY people have not received a cabin? Or have received a lower-rate cabin than what they booked? 
 

Not that I’m, you know, nervous or anything …