Happy with Guaranteed cabin?

[elliotlake12]

Looking at upcoming cruise,Sky Princess, to book a guaranteed cabin ( mini suite)is over $800 less than if I pick my own, have others be pleased with the guaranteed cabin vrs pick your own?

[gah_cruise]

 

Which cruise and when?

[elliotlake12]

Sky Princess, Feb.24,departs Fort Lauderdale,Princess caye,PR,Turks,Dominican Republic

[SargassoPirate]

Just remember there's a reason those cabins are available for assignment.  Could be they are in a less desirable location, such as right under the Melanoma Deck or above a nightclub with late night disco. Could be a connected cabin where you can hear the folks in the next cabin sneeze. All depends on what's important to you on your cruise.

[gah_cruise]

$800 seems excessive....how much is cruise if you pick your cabin?

[1965]

For that savings I'd take it. 😊

[elliotlake12]

11 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

$800 seems excessive....how much is cruise if you pick your cabin?

$5,156 if pick own, 

[elliotlake12]

$4,306 if book gauranteed cabin,FYI, priced thru 3rd part booking agent

(Exp 🫢)

[gah_cruise]

UK pricing with Princess Plus

[elliotlake12]

my pricing quote is Canadian $ , 3rd party booking agent

$4,306 guaranteed 

pick your own $5,156

$848 diff !

[capriccio]

14 minutes ago, elliotlake12 said:

my pricing quote is Canadian $ , 3rd party booking agent

$4,306 guaranteed 

pick your own $5,156

$848 diff !

What is the on-line difference if you book directly with Princess?

[elliotlake12]

both pick your own cabin, and assigned cabin quotes are higher booking direct with Princess than my Canadian 3rd party agent quotes

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

12 minutes ago, gah_cruise said:

UK pricing with Princess Plus

I’d pay more than £80 to choose. That’s a no brainer to me.

 

but Exchanging CAD to GBP, a saving equivalent to £500 is an insane difference

 

Me, I choose not near lifts, opposite other cabins, cabins above & below, no connecting door. Yep. V. Fussy. a guarantee cabin just fills me with very bad anxiety.

 

but if you really don’t care about where, and perhaps don’t escape to your cabin like I do to chill out (I’ve got some sensory processing issues as well as the anxiety) that’s a shockingly big saving & very tempting

 

@elliotlake12 Have you looked at where the mini cabin locations are in general on a deck plan?, if any have connection cabins, any have the pool area, theatre, night club etc above or below? Maybe if the mini cabins locations as less ‘problamatic’ for location anyway it’s even more tempting. Just a thought

 

im in a mini cabin for my sky Princess Cruise soon. Choose the cabin but am v pleased with location

 

[no1racefan1]

Our first two cruises we chose guarantee cabins and were satisfied with each of them! First cruise was an inside cabin; ended up getting a cabin mid-aft on the Lido deck so we could just walk right out the doors and be outside, which was awesome. Second cruise was a balcony guaranteed and they ended up upgrading to an aft balcony, which we absolutely loved! I would for sure go that route if I was going to save $800.

[capriccio]

I checked US on-line prices (without logging in) for the 7 day cruise matching your itinerary:

 

WITH PRINCESS PLUS

 

WITHOUT A DRINK PACKAGE:

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by capriccio

[elliotlake12]

I,m working with,paying Canadian dollars, so the question is will I be disappointed in a guarantee cabin.

We cruised last year, Regal Princess, minisuite Lido L290

loved it.Regal now goes out of Galveston, we need to go out of Ft.Lauderdale,so will be Sky Princess

[SCX22]

I always book guarantee cabins. Unless the ship was completely full, at minimum, I've been granted a location upgrade.  To me it's like gambling with nothing to lose, because I'm going to the same ports at the same times as everyone else on the ship.  Best case scenario, you get some sort of upgrade.  Worse case scenario, you get assigned a cabin in the category you booked.  Not really a picky a person when it comes to cabins location begin with; it might be a few extra steps to get here and there on the ship, but it's not a deal breaker.  I've also noticed, that Princess has been assigning guarantee cabins much closer to embarkation day.  If you're an anxious person, probably not the best option.  There's not really a way of predicting if you'll get an upgrade anymore because the Bid to Upgrade program keeps cabins assignments fluid up until about 2 days before departure.

 

Only you can decide whether you will be happy.  Pay attention to the location category that you will be booking under.  If you wouldn't be happy in this location at minimum, definitely don't book a guarantee.

[teachtocruis]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

I always book guarantee cabins. Unless the ship was completely full, at minimum, I've been granted a location upgrade.  To me it's like gambling with nothing to lose, because I'm going to the same ports at the same times as everyone else on the ship.  Best case scenario, you get some sort of upgrade.  Worse case scenario, you get assigned a cabin in the category you booked.  Not really a picky a person when it comes to cabins location begin with; it might be a few extra steps to get here and there on the ship, but it's not a deal breaker.  I've also noticed, that Princess has been assigning guarantee cabins much closer to embarkation day.  If you're an anxious person, probably not the best option.  There's not really a way of predicting if you'll get an upgrade anymore because the Bid to Upgrade program keeps cabins assignments fluid up until about 2 days before departure.

 

Only you can decide whether you will be happy.  Pay attention to the location category that you will be booking under.  If you wouldn't be happy in this location at minimum, definitely don't book a guarantee.

This is us! We have booked a guarantee inside cabin many times and only once were we not thrilled with it. On a recent cruise we were upgraded to a balcony days before sailing. For our upcoming cruise we booked an inside guarantee and have yet to receive a cabin assignment and we are less than 2 weeks out. 
 

For that kind of a savings it would be a no brained for us. We would definitely go with the guarantee. But we would rather cruise more often, so we take the savings every time. All depends on what you can live with.m

[1cruiselvr]

Personally, I'd wait and try for bidding on a category I wanted.  Seems the best way since they started this bidding option.  But not everyone is comfortable with waiting to see if they got their bid accepted.  Sometimes you can get a quick response, other times you have to wait awhile.  BUT the bidding option won't be available until after final payment, just so you know.

[EightFurryPaws]

My next cruise in September is the first one I booked as a guarantee.

I'm wondering how to print my luggage tags if I don't receive my cabin until 2 days before sailing. Since I will be on the road, I will be hoping I can print them at a hotel.  

Is that what most of you do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SCX22]

18 minutes ago, EightFurryPaws said:

My next cruise in September is the first one I booked as a guarantee.

I'm wondering how to print my luggage tags if I don't receive my cabin until 2 days before sailing. Since I will be on the road, I will be hoping I can print them at a hotel.  

Is that what most of you do?

 

 

Yes.  Hopefully where you’re staying has a business center of some sort.  I always travel with a laptop, so I save my luggage tags as a PDF and email to the front desk to print if there is no business center for hotel guests to use.

 

I use the handwritten tags at the port as a last resort because they usually smudge or fall off.  You might also have to wait in line to get these tags.

 

My friend has no printer and folds an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper into thirds the long way and writes her name, the ship, embarkation date, and cabin number in permanent marker.  Her bags make it to her cabin just fine.

Edited July 10, 2023 by SCX22

[blizzard44ca]

I think the issue is which cabin you’re picking.  If you pick the lowest cabins available, the total is $4534 CAD (and $4308 CAD for the guarantee). At least that’s what I see.

 

[Buckeye10640]

22 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

Our first two cruises we chose guarantee cabins and were satisfied with each of them! First cruise was an inside cabin; ended up getting a cabin mid-aft on the Lido deck so we could just walk right out the doors and be outside, which was awesome. Second cruise was a balcony guaranteed and they ended up upgrading to an aft balcony, which we absolutely loved! I would for sure go that route if I was going to save $800.

This is why I am not sure I agree with the 'guarantee cabins are the ones nobody wants' theory.  I would book  both of those cabins you got without a second thought. 

Not guarantee, but I did an upgrade bid which is a bit like guarantee in that you can be assigned anywhere on the ship. I was pleased with my balcony upgraded to to mini location, which was just down the hall from my original cabin.  But anytime you dont choose a specific cabin its a gamble...

[Steelers36]

On 7/10/2023 at 7:51 AM, elliotlake12 said:

my pricing quote is Canadian $ , 3rd party booking agent

$4,306 guaranteed 

pick your own $5,156

$848 diff !

 

On 7/10/2023 at 8:09 AM, elliotlake12 said:

both pick your own cabin, and assigned cabin quotes are higher booking direct with Princess than my Canadian 3rd party agent quotes

You indicated now living in FL.  Why not book with a US agency that gives a cash discount off the cruise fare.  You aren't likely to find that in Ontario or elsewhere.

[Steelers36]

On 7/10/2023 at 8:54 AM, elliotlake12 said:

I,m working with,paying Canadian dollars, so the question is will I be disappointed in a guarantee cabin.

We cruised last year, Regal Princess, minisuite Lido L290

loved it.Regal now goes out of Galveston, we need to go out of Ft.Lauderdale,so will be Sky Princess

It doesn't matter between USD and CAD as far as the differential between taking a GTY versus picking.  It will be the same applied exchange rate (which is in PCL favor at this time).  

 

I am seeing only about $113 CAD extra to pick cabin - less than $85/pp.  Something is wrong in what you are being quoted or in what you are looking at IMO.