Balcony Guarantee Experiences

[Choozin Croozin]

I just booked a balcony guarantee on the Jewel for the 14 day Greenland cruise for Sept'23. That was all they had at the time. They have since opened up some balcony cabins for $950 more than what I paid. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get any of the balcony cabins we like. What I am wondering is, what are some of the experiences of those that have booked balcony cabin guarantees? Are they always the less desirable balconies or are there decent ones too? I just don't know whether I should spend the large amount to choose a cabin (on an already pricey cruise) and know what it is or just hold out and see what happens. I'm thinking I would not be happy with the small hump cabins that can barely fit chairs. Thank you for your comments.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Choozin Croozin said:

Are they always the less desirable balconies or are there decent ones too?

That can vary a lot, from really crappy to cabins a category above the GTY category booked.

[leaveitallbehind]

Once your GTY is assigned, you can move to another stateroom in the same category if a preferred location is available.  We've never had an issue with a GTY and have also moved to different locations a couple of times.  We have had higher categories than the GTY assigned as well.

Edited April 22, 2022 by leaveitallbehind

[Azamazingal]

I have bought three seperate balcony guarantees recently for Anthem.  I was amazed that I was quickly assigned some of the best cabins on board.  One even had a large balcony.  For my fourth cruise I chose the cheapest, worst location  balcony I could see in order to save £££££. (No guarantees were then available).  I am sure I will enjoy it.

[trey420]

I was satisfied with my experience using that system. But I'm not as sensitive to riding in the front or back of the boat.  Once I did get the very top and very last room to the rear.  Enjoyed it.  If you're a seasick kind of person maybe don't do it.

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, Choozin Croozin said:

I just booked a balcony guarantee on the Jewel for the 14 day Greenland cruise for Sept'23. That was all they had at the time. They have since opened up some balcony cabins for $950 more than what I paid. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get any of the balcony cabins we like. What I am wondering is, what are some of the experiences of those that have booked balcony cabin guarantees? Are they always the less desirable balconies or are there decent ones too? I just don't know whether I should spend the large amount to choose a cabin (on an already pricey cruise) and know what it is or just hold out and see what happens. I'm thinking I would not be happy with the small hump cabins that can barely fit chairs. Thank you for your comments.

 

 

I assume that you mean the small hump BALCONY that can barely fit chairs.  Like 7606.

 

It depends on HOW unhappy you would be with one of those cabins.  Would you be $950 happier without that?

 

Or, look at it this way:  Is it worth $67.86 per day to you?

[Choozin Croozin]

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

I assume that you mean the small hump BALCONY that can barely fit chairs.  Like 7606.

 

It depends on HOW unhappy you would be with one of those cabins.  Would you be $950 happier without that?

That's exactly the ones I mean. I saw a video from a guy who had one of the those cabins last night,  when I was trying to make a decision. You couldn't even get to the other chair because the table was in the way. That is teeny tiny. 

[Starry Eyes]

3 minutes ago, Choozin Croozin said:

That's exactly the ones I mean. I saw a video from a guy who had one of the those cabins last night,  when I was trying to make a decision. You couldn't even get to the other chair because the table was in the way. That is teeny tiny. 

So, do you want to pay the extra $950 to avoid the chance you will get a cabin with a small balcony like that?  Or one in a location you do not like (noisy or just too far forward/aft or too close to elevators or wrong deck or other personal preference)?

 

I have had  good luck with my gty cabins, but I go into it with the assumption that I will get the worst balcony cabin…I make sure I can live with it for the price.  If the worst happens, I’m satisfied; if anything better is assigned, I’m happy.  If I get a great assignment or can swap into a great cabin, I’m delighted.  The key is making sure you are satiric the worst happens… if not, maybe you should just pay the higher price now.

[MLP12]

Over the years, I have booked 3 or 4 guarantee cabins.  All were in a perfectly fine location, except one.  It was actually smaller than a normal cabin and in a strange location.  

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, Choozin Croozin said:

I just booked a balcony guarantee on the Jewel for the 14 day Greenland cruise for Sept'23. That was all they had at the time. They have since opened up some balcony cabins for $950 more than what I paid. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get any of the balcony cabins we like. What I am wondering is, what are some of the experiences of those that have booked balcony cabin guarantees? Are they always the less desirable balconies or are there decent ones too? I just don't know whether I should spend the large amount to choose a cabin (on an already pricey cruise) and know what it is or just hold out and see what happens. I'm thinking I would not be happy with the small hump cabins that can barely fit chairs. Thank you for your comments.

 

FWIW, today there is only a $200 difference btw guarantee and pick your own.

 

Boy, at these prices, I never would have booked!

[Choozin Croozin]

23 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

FWIW, today there is only a $200 difference btw guarantee and pick your own.

 

Boy, at these prices, I never would have booked!

Thank you. Unfortunately I just checked (been gone all day) and still $950 more that what we paid. This cruise IS ridiculously priced. My only justification is I don't have to pay big $$ to fly overseas and we don't have to fly overseas. My husband hates long flights. 

[Choozin Croozin]

On 4/22/2022 at 3:39 PM, Starry Eyes said:

So, do you want to pay the extra $950 to avoid the chance you will get a cabin with a small balcony like that?  Or one in a location you do not like (noisy or just too far forward/aft or too close to elevators or wrong deck or other personal preference)?

 

I have had  good luck with my gty cabins, but I go into it with the assumption that I will get the worst balcony cabin…I make sure I can live with it for the price.  If the worst happens, I’m satisfied; if anything better is assigned, I’m happy.  If I get a great assignment or can swap into a great cabin, I’m delighted.  The key is making sure you are satiric the worst happens… if not, maybe you should just pay the higher price now.

Yes, I hear you. I think my problem is there aren't any really great cabins available to justify the extra $950 when I'm already paying over $5k for a cruise. Thats's why I was just curious as to what people's experiences have been. When I book a cruise, I am always right there when they first open up and grab an aft or a hump. This cruise wasn't even on the radar and I just happened to stumble on it, apparently too late. LOL I will accept what I get, though I probably won't be thrilled at first (if its undesirable), but I will realize that that $950 will go very far as opposed to securing a balcony cabin. If we weren't on a fixed income I might've splurged. 

[Starry Eyes]

3 minutes ago, Choozin Croozin said:

Yes, I hear you. I think my problem is there aren't any really great cabins available to justify the extra $950 when I'm already paying over $5k for a cruise. Thats's why I was just curious as to what people's experiences have been. When I book a cruise, I am always right there when they first open up and grab an aft or a hump. This cruise wasn't even on the radar and I just happened to stumble on it, apparently too late. LOL I will accept what I get, though I probably won't be thrilled at first (if its undesirable), but I will realize that that $950 will go very far as opposed to securing a balcony cabin. If we weren't on a fixed income I might've splurged. 

That’s probably how I’d feel, too.  On most cruises we don’t spend enough time on our balcony to justify that amount more to lock in a rather average balcony cabin.  Since you have thought it through, you should be fine.  There are many ways to enjoy that $950 price difference….if not on this trip, it is a good start toward yet another cruise.

[Choozin Croozin]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

That’s probably how I’d feel, too.  On most cruises we don’t spend enough time on our balcony to justify that amount more to lock in a rather average balcony cabin.  Since you have thought it through, you should be fine.  There are many ways to enjoy that $950 price difference….if not on this trip, it is a good start toward yet another cruise.

Agreed!! 🙃

[kochleffel]

I've never booked a GTY balcony cabin, but I've had successful upgrade bids, which is similar since the assignment is limited to unsold cabins. It worked very well both times. Once was on the Serenade, embarking from Stockholm where there are stunning views of the archipelago throughout the first day; I got a midship "spacious balcony" (the extra space was in the cabin, not the balcony).

 

The other time was on the Norwegian Breakaway, where I got an aft balcony, IOW one of the best balcony cabins on the ship, with a huge balcony, after the original occupant had a successful upgrade bid to a Haven suite. I particularly appreciated that because it was the sailing that almost turned into a cruise to the Bermuda Triangle, where we sailed around Bermuda and in sight of land for two days without being able to dock.

[CruiseBride926]

We just did a guarantee on the Anthem and we’re happy with our assignment. We ended up in an obstructed which we figured would happen but location was perfect. For the price difference we paid I think it exceeded our expectations.

[Chiliburn]

On 4/23/2022 at 4:02 AM, leaveitallbehind said:

Once your GTY is assigned, you can move to another stateroom in the same category if a preferred location is available.  We've never had an issue with a GTY and have also moved to different locations a couple of times.  We have had higher categories than the GTY assigned as well.

I booked my first GTY , I was under the impression that you cant change it once it has be given to you.You have to take what you get.

So as you say ,you can change it under the same category that it’s assigned.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I was under the impression that you cant change it once it has be given to you.You have to take what you get.

Moving after a GTY assignment seems a lot more difficult to impossible on bookings in markets outside of the US.

[leaveitallbehind]

5 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I booked my first GTY , I was under the impression that you cant change it once it has be given to you.You have to take what you get.

So as you say ,you can change it under the same category that it’s assigned.

Yes.  As long as there is still availability within your assigned category you can change staterooms to move to a different location if desired.  If booked through a TA they can do this for yo.  If booked on line or directly, RCCL can assist.

[Chiliburn]

7 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Yes.  As long as there is still availability within your assigned category you can change staterooms to move to a different location if desired.  If booked through a TA they can do this for yo.  If booked on line or directly, RCCL can assist.

I will keep it in mind but as biker said only in the US.

we get a bad deal with RC in Australia.

[leaveitallbehind]

1 minute ago, Chiliburn said:

I will keep it in mind but as biker said only in the US.

we get a bad deal with RC in Australia.

Yes, as I am in the US I was referring to our experience under those booking policies.  Perhaps the rules are different in Australia.  Sorry for any confusion.

[Chiliburn]

3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Yes, as I am in the US I was referring to our experience under those booking policies.  Perhaps the rules are different in Australia.  Sorry for any confusion.

No confusion,if I’m not happy with the cabin I will give it a try.

[flaminog]

This will be mine and hubby’s first RCCL cruise (previously were on NCL and Celebrity). We also have never taken his daughter on a cruise, she will be 8, almost 9. 
 

When I booked a June Harmony cruise in February the balcony guarantee price was over $1000 cheaper than to pick your own cabin. That’s insane to me since we still had to buy the drink package separately-NCL does it backwards. If you get an assigned room it’s a few bucks more but comes with the drink package built in, so this was all new to us. 
 

I checked us in on the app a few days ago for this sailing and thanks to another boards post was able to likely figure out our cabin number. It clearly says deck 10 on the boarding pass and the bottom barcode has a number at the bottom that ends with “-10xxx”, so that’s likely it because the room is labeled as one with a Pullman bed. 

[Mary Louise]

I typically book a GTY room if the price is cheaper. So far I have not been disappointed.  This time my room has not been assigned yet, and I am almost 4 weeks out. 

 

ML