Booking a guarantee

[Mike&Nancy]

Hi everyone,

 

We had a FCC that had to be used by the end of this year.  We selected a cruise, chose aft, and on deck 15 (Discovery Princess.)  We weren't allowed to choose a cabin, just a guarantee, but definitely those 2 factors.   My naivety led me to believe we'd be assigned a cabin on deck 15 aft.  Wrong.  We're forward on the Baja deck.  Is that how this works?  They just assign you a cabin anywhere?  What's the point of selecting a location then?  Wouldn't it make more sense to pick a category, and then they put you anywhere?  This is the first (and last, lol) time we've booked a guarantee and I fully admit I obviously didn't understand this was a possibility.  I guess I just don't get why they have you choose a deck and location to only put you wherever.  Just wanting to understand the logistics behind it. 

 

Thanks!

[Shelly97060]

When you book a guarantee you are guaranteed to get a cabin in the category you paid for or higher.  Often people book a lower category guarantee because it can result in savings and they are flexible in location. 
 

Do a mock booking to see if there is an open cabin you like better within currently assigned category. If there are cabins available  that you prefer you can ask Princess or your TA to move you. For example if you have been assigned a BB cabin mid forward and you prefer an available cabin that’s BB mid aft you can ask for a cabin change within the category you are now assigned to.  , 

Edited October 1, 2022 by Shelly97060

[Mike45LC]

That is the drawback of a guarantee booking.  You can end up immediately above/below public spaces or all the way forward or aft.  And that is why guarantee rates are lower.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

That is the drawback of a guarantee booking.  You can end up immediately above/below public spaces or all the way forward or aft.  And that is why guarantee rates are lower.

 

On Princess GTY rates are not lower. They are the same price as you would pay for the category you book a GTY for.

 

For example, if you book a GTY for a BA cabin, it is the same price as if you were able to select a BA cabin.

[sunviking90]

Yes, as in the case of the OP some cruises at times will only let you book a guarantee. I know a lot of people are anti-guarantee, but we have actually almost always been happy with our guarantee assignments and in some cases very pleased. They are not necessarily bad locations, but often released group space previously held by TA’s that hasn’t sold. One time I did call as I was concerned with the location and they moved us to another open cabin I selected in the same category.

[Wishing on a star]

Yes,  from a high deck category to a mid-deck deck would be, technically, and upgrade.  Thus, your move.   Since you were AFT, then Forward would also be possible.  The more mid-ship the cabin, then the slightly higher the category.

 

Interesting that they moved you without sending you an offer to BID to pay more money.

 

If your room, or a similar AFT room is still available, you can try to to get that back.

You can very easily do a move to any other cabin that is the same category that you currently have.

 

One expert here had to do that like three times to finally keep his similar AFT cabin.

You probably know about having your cabin marked NO Upgrade.   But, for some reason, Princess seems to just ignore that, a lot, lately.

[mrmoviezombie]

15 hours ago, Mike&Nancy said:

I guess I just don't get why they have you choose a deck and location to only put you wherever.  Just wanting to understand the logistics behind it. 

 

When you picked that deck/location you were subtly picking the exact category and price of your guarantee cabin. As others pointed out, you can then be put anywhere on the ship in that specific category (or better, but that "better" might be a known terrible cabin with noise etc)

 

If, for example, had instead picked the same cabin type but mid-ships then it would have been slightly more expensive and been in a slightly high category grade. Likely still able to be switched decks but probably only high and mid-ships.

 

It you look closely at the deck plans you can see all the BA BB BC BD etc lettering that has these fine-grained categories.

[Mike45LC]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

On Princess GTY rates are not lower. They are the same price as you would pay for the category you book a GTY for.

 

For example, if you book a GTY for a BA cabin, it is the same price as if you were able to select a BA cabin.

The one time I booked a guarantee, it was cheaper than the rate asked for a specific cabin.

[Wishing on a star]

There only reason to book GTY on Princess is to hope that you will be moved to a higher category, and thus get a cheaper rate for that cabin.   No savings just for GTY.

 

And, especially now with the new bidding system,  once they get that up and running, unrequested 'upgrades' might be fewer and fewer.

 

Mike&Nancy, are you now after final payment?  it sounds as if there were limited cabins left, and so for that location, you were only offered the GTY.   If there are any cabins showing available in that section, and you would like your original location, you can try to get moved back into that location.  But, without having been assigned a cabin, with the GTY, then I don't know if that would make that less likely.  You can move to any cabin that is the SAME category as the one you currently have.  Which might get you close to where you want to be.   And, make sure that is marked NO Upgrade.  And, or, watch your booking closely.  Princess can, and has, moved people - again.

 

[Wishing on a star]

If this is the sailing I am thinking, If this is a balcony, It looks like both categories are BE,  so no change involved.

There is one cabin showing on Deck 15 AFT, a BE, so if this is the case, maybe worth a shot.

If you are looking at Interior, then the closest one showing available (non GTY) is on deck 12 AFT.

[suzyed]

17 hours ago, caribill said:

 

On Princess GTY rates are not lower. They are the same price as you would pay for the category you book a GTY for.

 

For example, if you book a GTY for a BA cabin, it is the same price as if you were able to select a BA cabin.

Right!  I have no idea where people get that it's cheaper to book a guarantee?

 

[Shelly97060]

38 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Right!  I have no idea where people get that it's cheaper to book a guarantee?

 

If the category/ location you want  is only allowing guarantees ( no cabin to book) and you would have to bump up to a  more expensive category to pick the cabin type you want, then booking the guarantee in the lower category can save money if you don’t care where you end up. 

[Mike&Nancy]

Thank you to everyone who took time to explain.  Now I know how a guarantee works.  🙂

 

We are past final payment for those who asked.  We also called today to see if we could possibly switch cabins more towards the aft, but there aren't any available.  She was able to offer us a cabin on Aloha, but still forward. 

 

I've noticed lately in looking at cruises with Princess that booking a guarantee is becoming the new norm, even for cruises that are far out. It's frustrating to me, as we prefer aft, and I like to know what I'm getting when I book.  Oh well, we were at their mercy this time to get that FCC used up.  I can live with it, and honestly we'll just be happy to be back onboard.

 

Thank you again, everyone.  You were all so helpful.

 

Nancy

[caribill]

9 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

The one time I booked a guarantee, it was cheaper than the rate asked for a specific cabin.

 

Was the GTY on Princess in the same category as the specific cabin?

 

For example, if the GTY was for a BE balcony, was the specific cabin also a BE balcony?

 

Or was it for a higher category such as a BD balcony which would cost more than a BE?

 

Some cruise lines other than Princess do offer a GTY that is lower in price than any specific cabin of the same type, for example a balcony cabin.

[suzyed]

11 hours ago, Mike&Nancy said:

Thank you to everyone who took time to explain.  Now I know how a guarantee works.  🙂

 

We are past final payment for those who asked.  We also called today to see if we could possibly switch cabins more towards the aft, but there aren't any available.  She was able to offer us a cabin on Aloha, but still forward. 

 

I've noticed lately in looking at cruises with Princess that booking a guarantee is becoming the new norm, even for cruises that are far out. It's frustrating to me, as we prefer aft, and I like to know what I'm getting when I book.  Oh well, we were at their mercy this time to get that FCC used up.  I can live with it, and honestly we'll just be happy to be back onboard.

 

Thank you again, everyone.  You were all so helpful.

 

Nancy

Just an aside....they have extended the expiration dates.

[1cruiselvr]

We had to book a GTY bc they weren’t allowing specific cabin bookings in the category we wanted. Sometimes people don’t have a choice. It’s not about cost in that case.