Millenium Class ship - Help with a veranda booking

[jlbartley]

I'd love to get some opinions from those of you who have cruised more than I have.  We are going to be on the Celebrity Infinity in November Adriatic and Mediterranean.  We are doing a veranda room but trying to decide between a few choices and could really use the experience from others.

 

We have a choice of:

1 - Veranda guarantee

2 - Veranda room on deck 8 aft near the stairway for $400 more than the guarantee

3 - Concierge guarantee for $100 less than the Veranda ($300 more than the Veranda guarantee)

 

Which of these would you do? 

I like that the Concierge rooms are bigger, they're all aft ship and they appear to not have any that have a blocked view.  But I see that many of the rooms currently listed as available are under the Oceanview Cafe so there's a high chance we could end up there.  I wasn't sure how much you may be able to hear the noise?

 

I like the $400 room difference in the guarantee but am concerned about a potential forward cabin and the ship rocking too much.  I recognize these could also be somewhere that there is noise.

 

I'm leaning towards taking a chance on one of the guarantees, we tend to be budget travelers so this fits with my desire to save some money. What would you do?  Any help or thoughts you can provide would be appreciated!

[hcat]

we never book a guarantee.. pick a rm we like and  enjoy it!

 

rooms under buffets, cafes, pools , gyms etc can be noisy!

[SFCAcruiser]

7 minutes ago, jlbartley said:

...

I'm leaning towards taking a chance on one of the guarantees, we tend to be budget travelers so this fits with my desire to save some money. What would you do?  Any help or thoughts you can provide would be appreciated!

 

A guiding principle to bear in mind when considering a GTY booking - you should be mentally prepared to be assigned the worst cabin in that category. If such a cabin will diminish your cruise experience, then you should avoid a GTY booking. But if you are not particularly fussy about cabin location, then take a risk to save money. 

I have, on occasion, booked a GTY verandah when I noticed that all the least desirable V3 cabins were sold out, at that particular time. But inventory changes frequently, so there is a risk of getting a V3, but I have never experienced that type of assignment. A friend of mine has had this assignment. 

 

Also, if you are assigned a cabin in a V3,2, or 1 category, you will likely be able to select another cabin in that same category if you are not happy with the location of the original assigned cabin. 

 

Those of us of a certain age may recall Clint Eastwood's famous line. "Do you feel lucky?..."

 

 

[hawkesbaynz]

I cannot see the benefit of Concierge (more CC points and a lunch on embarkation, or a cabin that you particularly like!). The cabins are not bigger. We have been in every category but Concierge.
 

I would choose a specific verandah cabin in a position that suits. There is a thread specifically on cabins with a spreadsheet. I always cross reference it prior to booking.

 

Our last Millenium cruise we managed an upgrade to Aqua from a verandah. The cabin was below the pool deck and there is a massive overhang on the M class. Not an issue on a Japan cruise in the Spring but would have been in the hot Med with everyone sunbathing and our preference for relaxing on the balcony rather than pool deck.

 

I would always choose if possible. Fortunately Celebrity is better than competitors with choice on cabin.

[jlbartley]

12 minutes ago, hawkesbaynz said:

I cannot see the benefit of Concierge (more CC points and a lunch on embarkation, or a cabin that you particularly like!). The cabins are not bigger. We have been in every category but Concierge.
 

I would choose a specific verandah cabin in a position that suits. There is a thread specifically on cabins with a spreadsheet. I always cross reference it prior to booking.

 

Our last Millenium cruise we managed an upgrade to Aqua from a verandah. The cabin was below the pool deck and there is a massive overhang on the M class. Not an issue on a Japan cruise in the Spring but would have been in the hot Med with everyone sunbathing and our preference for relaxing on the balcony rather than pool deck.

 

I would always choose if possible. Fortunately Celebrity is better than competitors with choice on cabin.

The celebrity site shows concierge as having a loveseat vs single seat and being around 35 sq feet or so bigger than a standard veranda room. Am I missing something on this?

 

any idea where I can find the spreadsheet? I tried searching and even went into the select a cabin forum and couldn’t find it. I would love a resource like this!

Edited July 25 by jlbartley

[jlbartley]

35 minutes ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

A guiding principle to bear in mind when considering a GTY booking - you should be mentally prepared to be assigned the worst cabin in that category. If such a cabin will diminish your cruise experience, then you should avoid a GTY booking. But if you are not particularly fussy about cabin location, then take a risk to save money. 

I have, on occasion, booked a GTY verandah when I noticed that all the least desirable V3 cabins were sold out, at that particular time. But inventory changes frequently, so there is a risk of getting a V3, but I have never experienced that type of assignment. A friend of mine has had this assignment. 

 

Also, if you are assigned a cabin in a V3,2, or 1 category, you will likely be able to select another cabin in that same category if you are not happy with the location of the original assigned cabin. 

 

Those of us of a certain age may recall Clint Eastwood's famous line. "Do you feel lucky?..."

 

 

To clarify, in your experience they do allow you to move rooms to same category if their is availability? I was thinking they didn’t allow it and I’m trying to think it I should factor that into my luck equation 😉

[SFCAcruiser]

17 minutes ago, jlbartley said:

To clarify, in your experience they do allow you to move rooms to same category if their is availability? I was thinking they didn’t allow it and I’m trying to think it I should factor that into my luck equation 😉

 

I only tried that one time, with success, within the V2 category. This happened for me pre-Covid, but I have read reports on Cruise Critic that this is still possible.  

[jlbartley]

1 minute ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

I only tried that one time, with success, within the V2 category. This happened for me pre-Covid, but I have read reports on Cruise Critic that this is still possible.  

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! It is helpful to hear. 

[jelayne]

49 minutes ago, hawkesbaynz said:

I cannot see the benefit of Concierge (more CC points and a lunch on embarkation, or a cabin that you particularly like!). The cabins are not bigger. We have been in every category but Concierge. 

On the M Class ships, which includes the Infinity, 

the Concierge and Aqua cabins are larger than the veranda cabins by about 25 sq feet.  
 
On the S class cabins in those 3 categories are the same size.