Guarantee Cabin - Likelihood of Upgrade?

[Coffeeluvr05]

Just curious having never sailed with HAL before and never having done a gty cabin, what are your experiences of getting upgraded?  We are booked on the 8/14 Alaska sailing in an inside gty cabin.  Kind of hoping for any kind of ocean view just to have some natural light coming in, but I would be ok with an inside if it had a bath tub.  I don't see that the inside cabins have tubs though.  With the ship being at limited capacity I figure it is possible, but I just wondered what others have experienced pre-covid.  I would pay to upgrade, but I'm kind of being stubborn because I feel like the rates were already high for an inside on this sailing.  Kind of a gamble, I know.

[VMax1700]

You should always book the MINIMUM category of cabin that you would be satisfied with.  If a bath tub is important then why book a cabin that does not have a tub, in the hopes of getting one?  

Pre covid we always did ok out of upgrades on GTY cabins, but who knows what will happen in the near future, specially in the first few months of the return to sailing.  I would reckon that HAL will be trying to maximise income and may offer some upsells if they do not have most of the vacant cabins sold pre cruise.

[Cruising-along]

Pre-Covid we had good experiences getting upgrades with guarantee cabins, including inside to ocean view.  That said, as time went on, those upgrades became fewer and farther between.  That's when we stopped booking guarantees.  So, it's a "who knows" situation. 🙂  

[Florida_gal_50]

18 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Pre-Covid we had good experiences getting upgrades with guarantee cabins, including inside to ocean view.  That said, as time went on, those upgrades became fewer and farther between.  That's when we stopped booking guarantees.  So, it's a "who knows" situation. 🙂  

I agree.  Not much upgrading anymore.  I likely have about 400 actual sailing days with hal.  I’ve booked mostly guarantees.  I have only once been moved to the next level meaning from inside to ocean view etc.

[Mary229]

I would not count on it.  Just yesterday Carnival Corporation reported that a P&O cruise sold out in 6 hours.  I think bookings are going to pick up soon and those cruises will be as full as HAL wants them to be.  On my Alaska cruise August, 2022, I am sailing inside and the difference in price between the guarantee and the picked cabin is very little.  You can always hope for an upsell.  You can receive upsell offers regardless of your category and fare class.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Some times yes and some times no.

[albingirl]

I wouldn't count on upgrades.  It happens, but seems rare.  Paid upgrade would be a possibility.  But, wishing you good luck.

[KirkNC]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I would not count on it.  Just yesterday Carnival Corporation reported that a P&O cruise sold out in 6 hours.  I think bookings are going to pick up soon and those cruises will be as full as HAL wants them to be.  On my Alaska cruise August, 2022, I am sailing inside and the difference in price between the guarantee and the picked cabin is very little.  You can always hope for an upsell.  You can receive upsell offers regardless of your category and fare class.

Yet HAL’s Alaska and Greek cruises are not, why is that.

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

Yet HAL’s Alaska and Greek cruises are not, why is that.

The P&O is in UK and they have been sailing for a while.  I think people want to see the product work before they jump aboard.  That would be relevant to Alaska.  I think the Greek thing is all about a short cruise, in a country just opening up with likely limited tourism operating and a very long flight

Edited July 9, 2021 by Mary229

[KirkNC]

Here’s Alaska, other then the first cruise, lots of categories open

 

 

[KirkNC]

Greece

 

 

[vswan]

We nearly always booked gty, but have found in the last several years that you are more likely to receive an email offering you an upgrade for a price - in fact several with prices continuing to drop the closer the cruise got. We were booked in an oceanview for a 10 day partial Panama and got an email to upgrade to a balcony for $150pp. Jumped on it.

[Sue from Canada]

I've never booked a gty as I only like midship - forward and a specific deck only.

[BobbiSox]

I was never disappointed with any cabin HAL chose for me until yesterday. Fortunately I was able to see my 'upgrade' almost immediatley, and it was not my idea of an upgrade. I went from a close-to-midship Vista suite to an aft Vista suite. I called back immediatley and was moved to an actual mid-ship Vista on a deck with only cabins above and below.  I know this is unusual, and I normally have to wait until a week before the sailing to find out which cabin they chose for me. This upgrade was offered because I signed up for the Orange Club. After sailing with HAL 484 days, I have always been happy with the rooms they assigned for me, excpt once. I can't reccomend a Vista suite near a 'service' area, because that's where they put me once and I had mop- pails and piles of dirty laundry outside of my door for most of the sail. I can tolerate most anything on a seven day sail, but I ALWAYS pay more and choose my own cabin on a longer sail. 

[DaveOKC]

With HAL being more aggressive on offering paid upsells, I think the days of getting great upgrades for free is limited.  HAL needs to maximise revenue anyway they can.  Of course, there may be certain categories and situations that lend themselves to getting free upgrades, but I think they are getting fewer and fewer.

 

Having said that, I admit to taking a guarantee in Dec for a Neptune, but only because it was a great casino offer.  Has anyone be able to upgrade from this (a SC guarantee to a SA)?  I tried the Club Orange approach, but no go on this due to already getting Club Orange with the Neptune.  Also, I seriously doubt I will get a paid upsell offer as in the past.

 

[vswan]

A little off topic, but does anyone know if you book with a casino offer gty, do you get upsell offers. Had the option of paying for a higher cabin level, but thought it was pretty high and was not willing to have more money hanging out there with covid. Would love to upgrade, but have found the upsell offers closer to sailings are cheaper.

[sambamama]

I just about always book with a guarantee, and I have always done well.  I pretty much always book an inside guarantee and end up with an outside cabin.  From there I usually take an upsell to a balcony. I am almost always going as a solo.  I think the only time I didn't book a guarantee is when I was going with another person, and we booked an aft balcony.  WE got offered a suite for a $300 upsell for a 20 day Panama Day cruise, and we jumped on that.  I have yet to sail in an inside, but my casino cruise in October may be the first.  It looks like I am getting an upgrade, though as all the N cabins are gone.  I think will end up in an L or better.  Whatever it is, it won't matter-it's free!  I won't take an upsell unless I get offered some really cheap amount for a balcony-and I really doubt that will happen.  Going from an inside to an outside won't matter to me for a 7 day cruise.  I doubt if they will be offering upsells on my cruise, though-it was already a cruise before they cancelled mine and put all of us onto that one! 

[gigianne]

We never book guarantees as.  We booked the Med Zuiderdam cruise in a VB stern, when the Z was switched to the Volendam we ended up in a V cabin, aft.  When the Volendam was cancelled in the Med we were switched to a VC guarantee (and an itinerary change, not for the better).  Enough is enough, we opted to be switched to the Westerdam Med cruise 2022 and we were to hear what cabin we had within 2 weeks.  Now that the W is now the Oosterdam who knows what we will get.

[iancal]

We have booked a number of balcony gtys over the years on various cruise lines.

 

When doing so we always assume that we will be getting the worst possible cabins.   That way there is no expectation gap.

 

The reality for us has been quite different.  Always good cabins in good locations.  Never had one of those steel veranda cabins yet or been stuck under a common area.

[geoherb]

I've never been disappointed in my cabin assignments with a guarantee on a HAL ship. We did get an upgrade once from an obstructed view cabin to an unobstructed view on Princess once that was horrible. It was a tiny cabin--the smallest possible--with a port hole that was recessed so far it might as well have been classified as obstructed as well.