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First time doing a guarantee

southernshug

By southernshug,
in Holland America Line

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oakridger

oakridger

Posted
Posted

The aft F cabins on port side are under the galley and starboard are under Club Orange and Blend Bar area.  I have no personal experience, but people here have reported galley noise all night long from rolling carts, etc. 😬

 

Here are pictures and comments from halfacts.com: (Konnigsdam and Rotterdam are sister ships so have similar rooms and ship layout)

 

1155 – Koningsdam | HAL Cruiser Information (halfacts.com)

 

 

Someone with direct experience will probably add some details.

 

 

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AKJonesy

AKJonesy

Posted
Posted

No to F OV guarantee.  First of all the FB will be so close to the Main Stage so you will be hearing all of the noise from that.  The F Category in the back of the ship will have carts rolling back and forth over your head.  I would get a different stateroom if I were you.  

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Boytjie

Boytjie

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, KroozNut said:

Doing a guarantee to save a few bucks is never a good idea in any situation, and you're now experiencing why.

Sometimes guarantees are the only thing available (Alaska for us a year ago). We got a decent balcony but with the ship very empty I called and got  good location. (I know, this is not typical).

 

Many people opt for guarantees, so "never a good idea" is not correct,

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oakridger

oakridger

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yes, there are some people that have absolutely no preference where their cabin is, and they can save some good money with the guarantee.  I'm not one of them.... yes, I'm picky but it makes me happy to choose my exact cabin. 

 🙂

The OP says they have no choice. But there is the choice to go or not.  If you want to go, just go and have a good time!

Edited by oakridger
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jeff74

jeff74

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

I think you can pay for an upgrade. Call HAL or your HAL contact.

We paid to upgrade to a verandah over Thanksgiving for our trip that was originally an interior room casino offer.  Also, it was nice to learn that HAL will work with you on requesting a specific guarantee room.  On our upcoming trip my mom wanted an interior room and the cruise consultant suggested a guarantee room and put in a request for the one right across from us.  When entering a hypothetical booking last week out of curiosity to see how booked the cruise was that guarantee room was the only was showing as unavailable.

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Vict0riann "Live from...." Rare

Vict0riann

Posted
Posted (edited)

My suggestion would be to purchase Club Orange for your cruise. It is US$15 per person per day on Nieuw Statendam, I think.  For that you can upgrade to any stateroom in your category-  oceanview, I think it is?.  You get, as well, priority boarding and tendering, a dedicated CO line at the Front Desk and the shore excursion desk, a smaller dining room, mimosas for breakfast, a $50 coupon to the spa, and a couple of other little perks.  The first night in the CO dining room, a glass of bubbly, in your room a CO bag, and first dibs on getting a piece of jewelry cleaned in the Effy store on board.  

Edited by Vict0riann
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mrspeck

mrspeck

Posted
Posted

I ditto the Club Orange suggestion.  I just did this on an inside guarantee room for my son…booked the lowest category, added club orange and got to select the highest priced of the inside category right near our room…plus you get the perks!

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JesseLivermore

JesseLivermore

Posted
Posted
On 8/20/2022 at 12:46 PM, southernshug said:

That's what I was afraid of. This is a casino offer, so I'm not sure how I can change anything. I'm still very new to cruising,  as this is only my 2nd cruise ever, lol. Any thoughts?

a casino offer and 2nd cruise ever wow, how did you get a casino offer ??

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AKJonesy

AKJonesy

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

There's a simple solution to avoid all this drama: Select a specific cabin at time of booking and have a 'do not upgrade' tag placed in your account.

 

Works for us every time, and we're never bothered. 🙂

OP noted it is only their 2nd cruise ever so they probably don't know all of the ins and outs yet.  If they end up with a bad stateroom then it's a lesson learned; like most of us had to learn when we were new to cruising.  

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iancal

iancal

Posted
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We have had gtys on HAL, and on other lines from time to time.  Always a balcony.  At least 10, probably more.

 

Never had a bad gty.   Once or twice we have been very pleasantly surprised.    We were assigned one not so great gty two or three weeks prior to blast off  on a Carnival cruise years ago.   Our TA had us put back in the 'pool' and the second gty was much, much better.

 

When we buy a gty cabin we make an assumption that we will get the worst possible cabin.   Such has never been the case but we avoid the expectation gap.

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melehundele

melehundele

Posted
Posted

I do guarantees frequently. My upcoming cruise is in one on a casino offer. Do not despair; you may be offered an upgrade or score one without trying. Do not be in a rush to get your cabin assigned. My first HAL cruise long ago we booked an inside guarantee but were assigned an oceanview; not sure of the category but there was no lifeboat in sight 😉 And if all that fails, how much time do you really intend to be in the cabin? That is up to your individual choice but, personally, I wouldn't let it cramp my style.

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KroozNut

KroozNut

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, melehundele said:

Do not despair; you may be offered an upgrade or score one without trying.

 

An 'upgrade' is truly in the eyes of the beholder. What HAL offers as an 'upgrade' may not be such a wonderful deal based on many factors such as location, etc. As an example, the upgrade may be in a higher category, but directly below BB King's ...not exactly desirable.

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*Miss G* "Live from...." Rare

*Miss G*

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, KroozNut said:

There's a simple solution to avoid all this drama: Select a specific cabin at time of booking and have a 'do not upgrade' tag placed in your account.

 

Works for us every time, and we're never bothered. 🙂

 

Segments of a World Cruise, for example, are only sold as guarantees.  At some point closer to the sailing date they will send an offer to upgrade or assign a cabin.  

 

Sometimes guarantees are the only cabins available for purchase.  For example, for my October cruise I could take an assigned cabin in a lower category or I could take a guarantee in a higher category.  (This cruise is not segmented.)  Guess what I chose?

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KroozNut

KroozNut

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Segments of a World Cruise, for example, are only sold as guarantees.  At some point closer to the sailing date they will send an offer to upgrade or assign a cabin.  

 

Sometimes guarantees are the only cabins available for purchase.  For example, for my October cruise I could take an assigned cabin in a lower category or I could take a guarantee in a higher category.  (This cruise is not segmented.)  Guess what I chose?

 

The assigned cabin? That's what I would have taken..

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*Miss G* "Live from...." Rare

*Miss G*

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

The assigned cabin? That's what I would have taken..

 

No.  I didn’t like what was available.  I looked at the worst-case scenario in the higher category and chose the guarantee.  I anticipate a paid upgrade offer closer to the sailing date and have budgeted for that.  If it doesn’t happen I will be fine with the guarantee.  It’s a port-intensive cruise so it’s really only a crash pad.

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