Balcony Guaranty Yay Or Nay??

[Babes03]

Hello all,

 

We have booked a balcony guaranty on the Odyssey June 2022, i have never booked a guaranty before, what opinions do you all have about this?

 

I hope i made the right decision 😕

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, Babes03 said:

Hello all,

 

We have booked a balcony guaranty on the Odyssey June 2022, i have never booked a guaranty before, what opinions do you all have about this?

 

I hope i made the right decision 😕

 

The most important question for you to answer is this:  Will you be satisfied with whatever location that balcony stateroom is located?  I assume you booked a specific balcony category guarantee.  Study--and I mean study--the ship's deck plan and see exactly where that category of a balcony stateroom in located.  It may be in different locations on your ship.  Base your decision on that basis.

 

Remember:  it is a wise cruiser to have staterooms above you, on each side of you, beneath you, and, if possible, across the hall from your stateroom.  

[Ashland]

Agree with the above (except wanting cabins directly across as we much prefer no cabin or service area there) ...and remember once you're assigned you should be able to change cabin locations if it's the exact same category.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Ashland

[rkacruiser]

13 hours ago, Ashland said:

except wanting cabins directly across as we much prefer no cabin or service area there)

 

Excellent point and thank you for making it.  If have never had any issues with a cabin directly across from mine, but, a pantry?  Sometimes, that can be an annoyance.  But, it would not be a deal breaker for me if I was booked in that cabin.  

[Pudgesmom]

The best place to see what is around you is cruise deck plans .com. They have a drag and drop for each floor so you can see exactly what is above and below. Line up the elevators. 

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The best place to see what is around you is cruise deck plans .com. They have a drag and drop for each floor so you can see exactly what is above and below. Line up the elevators. 

 

Useful?  Yes.  Does such replace a hard copy brochure's deck plan?  No.  No need to "drag and drop" for each deck.  

[Mandeville]

Hi we booked for this year but it got canceled so we rebooked next year and have booked a guaranteed EE cabin on the Iona . My question is will we definitely get an EE cabin or could we be given another E cabin . We want to avoid deck 8 after seeing how the balconies face the deck and not the sea.

We have checked and there are no EE cabins on deck 8 . It’s not the first time we have cruised but it is the first time we have not booked the cabin we wanted . 
Not sure how guaranteed the guarantee is . Hope that made sense .

[Pudgesmom]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Useful?  Yes.  Does such replace a hard copy brochure's deck plan?  No.  No need to "drag and drop" for each deck.  

The hard copy deck plan won't do what I'm talking about. 

[Essiesmom]

2 hours ago, Mandeville said:

Hi we booked for this year but it got canceled so we rebooked next year and have booked a guaranteed EE cabin on the Iona . My question is will we definitely get an EE cabin or could we be given another E cabin . We want to avoid deck 8 after seeing how the balconies face the deck and not the sea.

We have checked and there are no EE cabins on deck 8 . It’s not the first time we have cruised but it is the first time we have not booked the cabin we wanted . 
Not sure how guaranteed the guarantee is . Hope that made sense .

You will get an EE or better, but not an EF.  

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The hard copy deck plan won't do what I'm talking about. 

 

Are you suggesting the advantage of "drop and drag" is to line up decks one above/below the other? 

 

If so, one's eyes studying a hard copy deck plan can do exactly the same thing. 

[Pudgesmom]

As a life long home builder, I’ve been taught that  33% of people cannot envision a 2d floor plan in 3D. So no, I’m not suggesting it, I’m stating as fact that the site will line up the decks.
 

Do you have some hangup about hard copy deck plans?  Why waste the trees when it can be done faster and better online? And once again, a hard copy (paper) plan will NOT have the transparency of the tool I’m discussing. Try it yourself before knocking it. 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[Ashland]

31 minutes ago, Pudgesmom said:

As a life long home builder, I’ve been taught that  33% of people cannot envision a 2d floor plan in 3D. So no, I’m not suggesting it, I’m stating as fact that the site will line up the decks.
 

Do you have some hangup about hard copy deck plans?  Why waste the trees when it can be done faster and better online? And once again, a hard copy (paper) plan will NOT have the transparency of the tool I’m discussing. Try it yourself before knocking it. 

Many of us have hard copy deck plans and prefer them...but thanks for your info.

[Pudgesmom]

You’re welcome. It’s always good for many people to share how they do things for new cruisers, many of whom don’t have printers or brochures from the post office mail and would prefer to do this online as they do business solely online.  I have changed partly because it’s much better for the environment not to print and deliver all of that paper
 

I am curious as to whether you have tried the 3-D site.
 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Pudgesmom

[Babes03]

Thank you all for your great suggestions, I will have to say it's going to be a Nay for me, feeling like not taking a chance might be in my future 😄

[rkacruiser]

On 8/9/2021 at 5:03 PM, Pudgesmom said:

Try it yourself before knocking it. 

 

Considering the lack of availability of current hard copy brochures with deck plans, I may need to try the site if I am able to cruise again.  

 

My problem with much of "such detail" that I have found on the internet that has been posted is the difficulty in easily being able to read the sites.  At times, what is posted is readable; at times the print is so small that even with using a magnifying glass as I look at my monitor, I mostly "guess" at what I think I am learning.  

 

On 8/9/2021 at 6:37 PM, Pudgesmom said:

It’s always good for many people to share how they do things for new cruisers, many of whom don’t have printers or brochures from the post office mail and would prefer to do this online as they do business solely online.  

 

Quite correct.  

 

On 8/9/2021 at 6:37 PM, Pudgesmom said:

 I have changed partly because it’s much better for the environment not to print and deliver all of that paper

 

I am concerned about our environment as well as a science trained educator.  However, when I am spending thousands for a cruise, I want to receive the most informative and understandable information that I can obtain.  If this is by a hard copy format that provides such information, I don't object.  

[ldubs]

On 8/10/2021 at 6:03 AM, Babes03 said:

Thank you all for your great suggestions, I will have to say it's going to be a Nay for me, feeling like not taking a chance might be in my future 😄

 

My primary driver for cabin selection is egress.   Because of that, the guarantee option just won't work for us.  So that is a NAY for us too.  

 

After understanding how the option works, it really comes down to individual preferences.  It would be a terrific option for a lot of folks I'm sure.   

Edited August 15, 2021 by ldubs

[Pudgesmom]

On 8/10/2021 at 7:03 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Considering the lack of availability of current hard copy brochures with deck plans, I may need to try the site if I am able to cruise again.  

 

My problem with much of "such detail" that I have found on the internet that has been posted is the difficulty in easily being able to read the sites.  At times, what is posted is readable; at times the print is so small that even with using a magnifying glass as I look at my monitor, I mostly "guess" at what I think I am learning.  

I recommend using a desktop. You do not need to be a member. Click on the gold ship in the upper left corner to choose a deck plan. I hope you are able to cruise again soon!