My assigned Cabin still for sale!

[gerry1.10]

Hi everyone

 

Has this happened to anyone? I notice my assigned cabin still available on a mocked booking.

While I have been assigned a cabin I see a note that says NCL still reserves the right to make changes.

 And yes my original booking is an "X"  guaranteed category but it has always been once assigned it is good to go.

This is the first time this happened to me.  NCL has changed its policy?

 

Thanks

gerry1.10

[Monorail Driver]

On a Guaranteed Cabin... it's NOT absolutely yours till a few days before you sail... I've even heard of it changing the night before sailing.

[UKstages]

2 minutes ago, Monorail Driver said:

it's NOT absolutely yours till a few days before you sail

actually, no.

 

it can be assigned at any time, and you are guaranteed the cabin level you booked (or higher), but once assigned, that cabin is yours.

[ferretktf]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

actually, no.

 

it can be assigned at any time, and you are guaranteed the cabin level you booked (or higher), but once assigned, that cabin is yours.

Is that an NCL rule/principle?   As other lines operate more like @Monorail Driverstated

[fredflint]

Would you turn down a better cabin if offered when you went to board the ship?

[ontheweb]

45 minutes ago, fredflint said:

Would you turn down a better cabin if offered when you went to board the ship?

It should be noted that sometimes a passenger's idea of what is a better cabin and the cruise lines idea of what is a better cabin may differ.

 

Would you want a higher category cabin if it was directly under a noisy spot?

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, fredflint said:

Would you turn down a better cabin if offered when you went to board the ship?

 

There was actually a thread a while ago with someone complaining that they had a lovely inside room on a high deck, bid on an Ocean View room, won the bid,,,, only to find out that the ocean view rooms were down on Deck 5, above crew operational areas. They were very upset. 

[gerry1.10]

4 hours ago, UKstages said:

actually, no.

 

it can be assigned at any time, and you are guaranteed the cabin level you booked (or higher), but once assigned, that cabin is yours.

That's what I thought. I usually book Cat X and once cabin is assigned I get what has been assigned. Like I said this is the first time I have been assigned a cabin with a subject to!

Oh well, we'll see what happens in the end.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

[UKstages]

12 hours ago, ferretktf said:

Is that an NCL rule/principle?  

 

i'm not sure NCL has any principles, but, yes, i suppose it is a "rule."

 

you can find the relevant explanation in NCL's FAQs here:

 

https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/cruise-faq/what-guarantee-stateroom-cene

 

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

i'm not sure NCL has any principles, but, yes, i suppose it is a "rule."

 

you can find the relevant explanation in NCL's FAQs here:

 

https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/cruise-faq/what-guarantee-stateroom-cene

 

That page is from the UK website. I can't find anything comparable on the US website.

[Asawi]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

That page is from the UK website. I can't find anything comparable on the US website.

Didn't it change into the US site when you clicked it? It changed to my non-UK site anyway.

Either way, can't imagine it would be any different for US and this is what it says:
 

What is a guarantee stateroom?

 

A Guarantee stateroom (GTY) is one where there is no stateroom number assigned at the time of booking. A stateroom may be assigned any time after final payment has been received, up to the day of sailing. A Guarantee stateroom guarantees you a stateroom in the category you have paid for (Inside, Oceanview etc.). It does not guarantee deck, location or specific bed arrangements. Once the stateroom has been assigned, there will be no changes.

[step78]

There is a difference between gty and „x“. The pcc is able to move you in a gty if he/she wants. 

[njhorseman]

5 hours ago, Asawi said:

Didn't it change into the US site when you clicked it? It changed to my non-UK site anyway.

Either way, can't imagine it would be any different for US and this is what it says:
 

What is a guarantee stateroom?

 

A Guarantee stateroom (GTY) is one where there is no stateroom number assigned at the time of booking. A stateroom may be assigned any time after final payment has been received, up to the day of sailing. A Guarantee stateroom guarantees you a stateroom in the category you have paid for (Inside, Oceanview etc.). It does not guarantee deck, location or specific bed arrangements. Once the stateroom has been assigned, there will be no changes.

No, it doesn't change to the US site and the FAQ is apparently not applicable to the US and Canada.

 

There are  substantial differences between how business is conducted in the USA versus the UK. 

 

For example IIRC deposits are nonrefundable in the UK and the cruise lines have to abide by consumer protection laws that don't exist in the USA. 

 

My recollection from the years when I was in the travel business is that "guarantee" cabin assignments can be changed by the cruise line.

 

[bluesea777]

OP, have you looked in your reservation in MyNCL? You may have been assigned a new cabin.

 

 

[G-DawgMN]

22 hours ago, ferretktf said:

Is that an NCL rule/principle?   As other lines operate more like @Monorail Driverstated

I have had a guarantee cabin changed both on Royal and Princess once it was assigned. 

[Homosassa]

10 hours ago, njhorseman said:

That page is from the UK website. I can't find anything comparable on the US website.

That is because a guarantee cabin is called "Sail Away" on the US website and this information is included on the booking page.

 

While it doesn't state that the assigned cabin can be changed after assignment, the Ticket Contract gives them the right to do so.

 

If one books a "guarantee" or "Sail Away" rate, you can't be sure of your cabin until the day you check in at the pier.

[UKstages]

7 hours ago, Asawi said:

Didn't it change into the US site when you clicked it?

despite my screen name, i’m an american accessing the NCL website from within the USA… and yet that is indeed what displayed… a page from the UK site.

 

21 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

That is because a guarantee cabin is called "Sail Away" on the US website and this information is included on the booking page.

i booked a club balcony last week on a B2B and was trying to get the same room I had on the first leg. the US-based rep put me on hold and came back and apologized and said he could only give me a “guarantee” stateroom. i accepted that and two days later a cabin assignment appeared on my reservation. (it was not the same room, but was a midship family club balcony, whereas i had booked a club balcony.) the exact same thing happened on my last cruise… club balcony room was “guaranteed” followed by an assignment of a family club balcony a day or two later. at no time ware either of these rooms ever described as a “sailaway” cabin, as i believe sailaway cabins are generally offered at a discount. if he had called it a “sailaway” cabin, i’m not sure i would have agreed.
 

i think booking a GTY cabin is akin to buying an airline ticket without being able to choose a seat. this can happen for a number of reasons relating to inventory management. you have a seat on the plane; you just don’t know where you’ll be sitting, and may not know until you arrive at the airport. it’s not a discounted ticket.

 

is sailaway the same thing as GTY? could be, but it doesn’t sound like it to me.

 

as far as NCL changing the room once assigned… that would be rare and unusual. it has probably happened, but if it happened with any frequency, we’d be reading thread after thread about it right here on CC.

 

1 hour ago, KSSS2013 said:

I have had a guarantee cabin changed both on Royal and Princess once it was assigned. 

 

that’s an interesting data point, but may not have much relevance to an NCL booking.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

That is because a guarantee cabin is called "Sail Away" on the US website and this information is included on the booking page.

 

While it doesn't state that the assigned cabin can be changed after assignment, the Ticket Contract gives them the right to do so.

 

If one books a "guarantee" or "Sail Away" rate, you can't be sure of your cabin until the day you check in at the pier.

 

A "guarantee" and "Sail Away" are not the same. Both can be available on the same cruise in the same cabin meta...for example I just looked at an upcoming NE/Canada cruise which had both Sail Away and guarantee ocean view cabin categories available .

 

A Sail Away booking does not include the "Free At Sea" perks other than the shore excursions, while a guarantee booking includes the full Free At Sea package, with the option to decline specialty dining and open bar just as you would have if you were booking an assigned cabin.

[njhorseman]

32 minutes ago, UKstages said:

that’s an interesting data point, but may not have much relevance to an NCL booking.

The OP stated : " While I have been assigned a cabin I see a note that says NCL still reserves the right to make changes" so it seems rather clear that NCL has the right to change the cabin assignment  As I stated in an earlier post that has was standard industry practice when I was in the travel business...something confirmed by the poster who reported having guarantee cabins changed by both Royal and Princess.

At least for US/Canada bookings NCL clearly has the right to change the cabin assignment . The statement on the UK site to which you provided the link isn't applicable to the USA and Canada and that FAQ is nonexistent on the US site.

Just because it's rare for a cruise line to change a guarantee cabin assignment from the original, the cruise line is able to do so.

[UKstages]

njhorseman, i am generally in agreement with what you say... over many posts and many threads. and i don't believe anything i say in post #17 contradicts anything you say in post #18. the biggest unsolved mystery is the nomenclature: are GTY cabins and sailaway cabins one and the same?

[julig22]

11 minutes ago, UKstages said:

njhorseman, i am generally in agreement with what you say... over many posts and many threads. and i don't believe anything i say in post #17 contradicts anything you say in post #18. the biggest unsolved mystery is the nomenclature: are GTY cabins and sailaway cabins one and the same?

They are NOT the same.  GTY is something NCL assigns to cabins eligible for FAS promos.  Why they do it is an unsolved mystery however, as it's not necessarily due to low inventory as commonly thought.  For example, several Alaska cruises this summer were GTY (or "Best Available) months before sail date.  Sailaway does not include any promos, other than the $50 excursion benefit.

[njhorseman]

8 minutes ago, UKstages said:

njhorseman, i am generally in agreement with what you say... over many posts and many threads. and i don't believe anything i say in post #17 contradicts anything you say in post #18. the biggest unsolved mystery is the nomenclature: are GTY cabins and sailaway cabins one and the same?

GTY and Sail Away are not  the same, although both initially include an unassigned cabin. On some cruises you can book either a GTY or a Sail Away cabin in the same meta category. For example I just found an upcoming Canada/New England cruise (I think from NY in a couple of weeks, but I didn't write down the date) that had ocean view cabins available in both GTY and Sail Away variations.

 

The Sail Away version doesn't include the Free at Sea perks other than the shore excursion credit, while the GTY booking incudes all the usual Free at Sea offerings. I believe the fare for the Sail Away category was about $100 per person cheaper than the GTY. The GTY guarantee was also for a cabin with a picture window so you couldn't be assigned a porthole cabin or an obstructed view cabin, while The Sail Away guarantee clearly states that you could be assigned an obstructed view or porthole cabin.

[G-DawgMN]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

 

 

that’s an interesting data point, but may not have much relevance to an NCL booking.

 But it was a response to someone stating that NCL was the only cruise line that changed GTY rooms after being assigned. So it was very relevant to that conversation. 

[IAcruising]

8 hours ago, UKstages said:

despite my screen name, i’m an american accessing the NCL website from within the USA… and yet that is indeed what displayed… a page from the UK site.

 

UK, I haven't read this entire thread, but this caught my attention. Are you using a VPN that masks your location?

 

[ColdCruise]

Found this topic interesting - we booked a front facing club balcony (MB) on Viva. While doing mock booking for pricing, rooms showed as available but when I called my PCC to book, he could only give me a GTY (still category MB). 
When I checked the app about a week later, it showed us assigned to a rear facing club balcony…. Might not be an issue other than…at opposite ends from the spa, several decks down (we bought the spa pass) and rear facing on a TA for someone who gets motion sick 😲

 

the PCC removed that room from the reservation but it’s still not showing a room number AND the forward facing club is sold out.  
 

as explained when we booked, the GTY meant we’d get an MB, just which one was tbd. 
 

am I gonna be stuck back in the back again, or worse in the middle? What’s the expectation I should have regarding assignment?

 

oops, just realized I hijacked @gerry1.10’s thread. Should not be posting when I should be asleep……

good night

Edited September 22, 2023 by ColdCruise