Assigned cabin 99999 guarantee

[marktwothousand]

I was assigned cabin 99999 for a guarantee in my edocs. I have no cabin assignment anywhere else in my file except that I am a guarantee balcony. Sorry to start a new thread on this but it’s bizarre. I have heard this can go both ways - some people luck out and get a say in whatever is left - others end up getting stuck waiting in the terminal for hours.

 

my sailing is sept 2 from Rome.

 

I’m currently checked in for 11:30 but my best shot in dealing with this may be to show up early and plead my case. I will simply say that I have received no cabin assignment (true) and I need to get to customer service as soon as possible to deal with it. Does anyone know if you can kindly request to bypass the line if you have issues or standby to talk to customer service at the terminal?

 

Even if I do bypass to deal with it, I’ll wait till my check in time to go on board if I have to…I don’t want to be rude to anyone, but this is stressing me out especially for a 10 day cruise. I am solo. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by marktwothousand

[MeHeartCruising]

Relaaaaaaaax.  Plenty of time.  I’d bet $500 that your cabin is assigned before you fly.  
 

edocs get updated as time goes on.  Once they assign a cabin, download a new copy.  

Edited August 23, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I was assigned cabin 99999 for a guarantee in my edocs. I have no cabin assignment anywhere else in my file except that I am a guarantee balcony. Sorry to start a new thread on this but it’s bizarre. I have heard this can go both ways - some people luck out and get a say in whatever is left - others end up getting stuck waiting in the terminal for hours.

How many times have you picked up the phone and called NCL about this?

[marktwothousand]

19 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Relaaaaaaaax.  Plenty of time.  I’d bet $500 that your cabin is assigned before you fly.  
 

edocs get updated as time goes on.  Once they assign a cabin, download a new copy.  

Interesting! Didn’t know that.

although I’d still like to hear from another 99999’er, what their story was. It may be that now that my file has been coded 99999, it is considered “closed” in the eyes of NCL HQ and left for the terminal agents to deal with…

[MeHeartCruising]

6 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

Interesting! Didn’t know that.

although I’d still like to hear from another 99999’er, what their story was. It may be that now that my file has been coded 99999, it is considered “closed” in the eyes of NCL HQ and left for the terminal agents to deal with…

I’m also awaiting balcony cabin assignment for my cruise departing Southampton on September 5th.  My edocs also indicate cabin 99999.   Im pretty sure this is standard until they do the assignments.  As I alluded to above, I’m not concerned.  Once I see my assignment, I will print edocs.  I have looked at mine, but not printed them yet. 
 

They will be making final assignments somewhere during the time they are also deciding on who gets the paid upgrades.  Lots will happen in these final 2 weeks.  If I have to wait until I get to the pier, so be it.  They will have a cabin for me.  Concerning what you wrote in your other post, I have never heard of anyone showing up at the port and having a say in what cabin they want.  Usually its already assigned so the porters can look it up when you drop off luggage.  They then put a handwritten room tag on it so the luggage can be delivered.  

[phillygwm]

18 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

although I’d still like to hear from another 99999’er, what their story was. It may be that now that my file has been coded 99999, it is considered “closed” in the eyes of NCL HQ and left for the terminal agents to deal with…

I've always booked a specific room but, given that people in balconies are potentially bidding on Club Balconies or higher and people in Oceanview and Insides are bidding on balconies, to say nothing of last minute COVID scratches, I'd imagine the whole process is a cruise ship version of Tetris.  

 

That begs the question:  Will your room be assigned after people already in balconies are upgraded but before the lower categories are notified of a successful bid?  Or will you be "dead last," behind the upgraded Oceanview and Inside folks?  If the former, I'd think you'd have a good shot at a BA cabin.  

Edited August 23, 2022 by phillygwm

[marktwothousand]

1 minute ago, phillygwm said:

I've always booked a specific room but, given that people in balconies are potentially bidding on Club Balconies and people in Oceanview and Insides are bidding on balconies, to say nothing of last minute COVID scratches, I'd imagine the whole process is a cruise ship version of Tetris.  

 

That begs the question:  Will your room be assigned after people already in balconies are upgraded but before the lower categories are notified of a successful bid?  Or will you be "dead last," behind the upgraded Oceanview and Inside folks?  If the former, I'd think you'd have a good shot at a BA cabin.  

Well, someone put it nicely for me on here recently. Since my fare is a true guaranteed balcony and not just someone taking a shot to move up from an interior as a potential bid, logically, you’d think mine get assigned first because I technically have a contract with the cruise line for a balcony.

 

so logically I SHOULD be first because I’m already technically paid up. 
 

what’s a BA?

[marktwothousand]

10 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I’m also awaiting balcony cabin assignment for my cruise departing Southampton on September 5th.  My edocs also indicate cabin 99999.   Im pretty sure this is standard until they do the assignments.  As I alluded to above, I’m not concerned.  Once I see my assignment, I will print edocs.  I have looked at mine, but not printed them yet. 
 

They will be making final assignments somewhere during the time they are also deciding on who gets the paid upgrades.  Lots will happen in these final 2 weeks.  If I have to wait until I get to the pier, so be it.  They will have a cabin for me.  Concerning what you wrote in your other post, I have never heard of anyone showing up at the port and having a say in what cabin they want.  Usually its already assigned so the porters can look it up when you drop off luggage.  They then put a handwritten room tag on it so the luggage can be delivered.  

You should google the story On here about the person who got 99999 and had to wait all afternoon in the terminal because the ship was oversold and they told her to prepare to book a flight home unless there were any cancellations or no shows. It is a story of “funny, but not so funny”…

 

nvm, here’s the link 

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by marktwothousand

[MeHeartCruising]

7 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

You should google the story On here about the person who got 99999 and had to wait all afternoon in the terminal because the ship was oversold and they told her to prepare to book a flight home unless there were any cancellations or no shows. It is a story of “funny, but not so funny”…

 

nvm, here’s the link 

 

I’ve seen it.  I prefer to focus on the thousands of people who successfully book and get guarantee cabin assignments.  You and I have booked weeks prior to the cruise.  Not hours.  And they got their cabin..

Edited August 23, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[phillygwm]

Just now, marktwothousand said:

what’s a BA?

Sorry, on the NCL website there are different categories of balconies:  BA, BF, BX etc.  Aside from the aft facings etc., BA is the most desirable (and slightly more costly) balcony, generally meaning higher decks.

 

3 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

logically, you’d think mine get assigned first because I technically have a contract with the cruise line for a balcony.

One would think but it really doesn't matter one way or the other for NCL.  Neither you or the upgraded get to choose, so who knows whether the powers that be have a different rationale.

[marktwothousand]

1 minute ago, phillygwm said:

Sorry, on the NCL website there are different categories of balconies:  BA, BF, BX etc.  Aside from the aft facings etc., BA is the most desirable (and slightly more costly) balcony, generally meaning higher decks.

 

One would think but it really doesn't matter one way or the other for NCL.  Neither you or the upgraded get to choose, so who knows whether the powers that be have a different rationale.

I get it now. A = the best, whereas F = the worst, like a grading system. I had no idea that’s how it worked! That’s why I get placed in BF as the worst because the best is BA?

[phillygwm]

Just now, marktwothousand said:

I get it now. A = the best, whereas F = the worst, like a grading system. I had no idea that’s how it worked! That’s why I get placed in BF as the worst because the best is BA?

Well, generally 🙂  There are numbers too.  B1 is aft facing, B4 is Family, and I think there are others.  So it seems as if numeric order is best, then alphabetical.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Relax your ship has well over 100 balconies still available unlike the other person who had to wait at the terminal that was a sold out sailing you enjoy your cruise 

[shof515]

cabin 99999  is the brig on the lower decks

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

I’m booked thru a big box agent so every time I call, it means a big hassle and waiting time. At this point I am likely to wait it out and gamble on a good assignment at check in. I do not want to interfere in the process and land myself with a cabin in an undesirable location if I have the ability to try and negotiate it when I’m there. 
 

also @ChiefMateJRK there’s no need to be cute, we are all here to share tips and advice for other cruisers, so It is my hope that if this is an anomalous situation, this thread will somehow serve to help someone else. If you search the thread for someone else this happened to, it was quite a story. So… I don’t think smart comments help. Thanks. 

Relax.

[YVRteacher]

I bet cabin 99999 gets a great view!😀

 

(and I hope you enjoy your cruise)

[spanishguy1970]

11 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I get it now. A = the best, whereas F = the worst, like a grading system. I had no idea that’s how it worked! That’s why I get placed in BF as the worst because the best is BA?

We just got a BF category on the Epic, I thought BF meant Balcony Forward which is what we got, We received an enclosed Balcony which doesn't seem to be too bad, is a large Balcony.

[cruiseny4life]

Holy....slow your roll man. It's going to work out - if 99999 meant that you'd have to wait for hours in the terminal, Cruise Critic would be filled with posts such as the 2019 story. I bet the media would catch on to. 

 

Is this your....2nd or 3rd post about this? Next time you should really just book the cabin you want. You might have saved a few dollars, but it sure doesn't seem that it was worth your aggravation and stress.

 

If you're really concerned, do what @ChiefMateJRK mentioned. Call NCL. 

[marktwothousand]

14 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Holy....slow your roll man. It's going to work out - if 99999 meant that you'd have to wait for hours in the terminal, Cruise Critic would be filled with posts such as the 2019 story. I bet the media would catch on to. 

 

Is this your....2nd or 3rd post about this? Next time you should really just book the cabin you want. You might have saved a few dollars, but it sure doesn't seem that it was worth your aggravation and stress.

 

If you're really concerned, do what @ChiefMateJRK mentioned. Call NCL. 

I don’t disagree and nor do my travel companions who now all have to come to the port early with me, haha…

no but in seriousness, I have not been through a guarantee before and I would definitely pay for a specific cabin next time for a small price difference like, $100 but in my case because there is a single supplement, the cruise fare was double. So in this case the significant savings are worth it to me, I am still stressed but at least I know I will have SOME balcony and there’s always the possibility of recourse if I want to ask for a change on board and they’re in a good mood that day. 

[SeaShark]

14 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

If you're really concerned, do what @ChiefMateJRK mentioned. Call NCL. 

 

That is probably the second best piece of advice offered on this thread so far. The best piece of advice, of course, came when @ChiefMateJRK gave the original suggestion.

 

However, since the OP decided to ridicule @ChiefMateJRK instead of following the advice, I doubt that the OP is going to call NCL as they should.

 

IMHO, it appears that the OP believes that a scenario exists where they can show up at the pier and negotiate a cabin assignment with the port employee doing check-in, and the OP is really seeking advice to allow them to best take advantage of that particular scenario.

[weltek]

I agree that you are HIGHLY likely to get a cabin assignment before sailing. 

 

For those that say BA is best,  there's a slight caveat to that, given there aren't many differences in the rooms themselves.

 

If you spend more time on lower decks, BAs are on higher decks and might not be as desirable to YOU. And some of the "secret" slightly bigger (angled) balconies are BFs, and I find that far more desirable than any regular (non-angled) BA.
 

[marktwothousand]

4 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

That is probably the second best piece of advice offered on this thread so far. The best piece of advice, of course, came when @ChiefMateJRK gave the original suggestion.

 

However, since the OP decided to ridicule @ChiefMateJRK instead of following the advice, I doubt that the OP is going to call NCL as they should.

 

IMHO, it appears that the OP believes that a scenario exists where they can show up at the pier and negotiate a cabin assignment with the port employee doing check-in, and the OP is really seeking advice to allow them to best take advantage of that particular scenario.

I keep checking for my assie and keep hoping that I can come back here and say “you were all right and I was wrong, thank you very much” and this thread can stand the test of time for anyone else who sees 99999 on their booking. BTW I did call NCL but my booking is an agent booking, so they can’t do much. When I did reach someone at NCL, she wasn’t able to tell me any more than you guys. still can’t figure out if BF-in block green lettering means Deck 8 minimum or deck 10 minimum but anyway, I know you guys are being as helpful as you can…

 

the one thing about my sailing that makes me think it’s a bit weird is that balconies did go guarantee VERY early out despite everyone saying there are lots of cabins available AND also there are a ton of crew joining on this sailing and I have no doubt some will be housed in pax cabins…so I do wonder if NCL is “overholding” those cabins till they figure out how many crew to house, then maybe giving whatever balconies are left to upgrading and guarantee pax… so before jumping all over me, do realize this is a “special” situation. 

[marktwothousand]

Well, you were correct in that I got my assie before the sailing. Luckily it is not the worst on the ship, but the second worst as it is deck 14 the most forward cabin other than haven cabin, and right under the bridge 😞 I had really hoped for a little more privacy but whatever. I am guessing they don’t use those wings on the bridge until they’re docking. 
 

oh well, I’ll try to plead my case on board but whatever. 
 

thanks again all. 

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, marktwothousand said:

Well, you were correct in that I got my assie before the sailing. Luckily it is not the worst on the ship, but the second worst as it is deck 14 the most forward cabin other than haven cabin, and right under the bridge 😞 I had really hoped for a little more privacy but whatever. I am guessing they don’t use those wings on the bridge until they’re docking. 
 

oh well, I’ll try to plead my case on board but whatever. 
 

thanks again all. 

 

What "case" are you hoping to plead while on board?  You got your cabin that you bought.  Please don't bother the crew about what you happened to get because you chose to buy the cheaper guarantee cabin.  You got what you paid for.  They have bigger issues to deal with.

Edited August 24, 2022 by MeHeartCruising

[blueslily]

I have scanned through your two threads, not sure if there are more about this situation. I also travel solo. I also sail in balconies when I travel solo. I have also booked guarantees IF that option was WAY cheaper than purchasing an assigned cabin. I ONLY book a guarantee if I truly can accept that I will get ANY balcony ANYWHERE on the ship. For some sailings, that is ok with me because of whatever factors for that specific cruise. For other sailings that is not my mindset and I must have a specific balcony cabin. I also rarely pay a full single supplement. I feel pretty confident that I've mastered, lol, how to do this whole booking a cabin as a solo.

 

My point is that acceptance is required when booking a guarantee. I refuse to stress myself about cabin assignment once I make the choice to book a guarantee. Whatever I get, I plan to enjoy. And, I dont forget that it was my choice to buy that cabin option.

 

As someone else said, please relax and stop stressing yourself. People book guarantees all the time. The cruise line deals with this all the time. Please dont be one of those people that calls NCL over and over about it because really it was our choice to purchase that option. Also, please dont be that person at the port when those folks are there just to move people along in the boarding process, or on Day 1 or 2 of the cruise when GS is usually slammed.

 

My response is not intended to be critical at all. Please dont take it that way. Please relax and focus on how grateful you are for being able to cruise, being able to pay less for a balcony room,  being able to vacation, and being able to enjoy time with friends. Whatever lessons are learned during this booking, you can just use for thr next booking which is also something to be grateful for. 

 

Please relax. You're going on a cruise. Worst case scenario thinking and worrying just wastes the joy of being able to focus on your upcoming cruise on a great ship! Man, wish I was cruising in one week 🌞🛳🏝🙋‍♀️🎉