Obstructed balcony guarantee

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Here is a new one.    Read completely before you slam an opinion on me ... !

 

-Booked obstructed balcony guarantee.    

-Sailing is 49 days away.

-Received a cabin assignment yesterday! - I am assigned one of the MOST obstructed view balcony cabins on deck 4.   You say, well you booked a guarantee, so thats the risk.......right?....Read on please !

 

-The sailing is closed for further bookings.

-I received an upgrade offer today for $399 per person to "upgrade" out of obstructed view cabin asssignment to non-obstructed view balcony. I called the offer number at HAL and  was offered a sampling of 10+ cabins all over the ship that are non-obstructed view, so there are many balcony cabins across the ship still available.

 

Here is my problem: HAL sold me a "guarantee" - which I verified the meaning of a guarantee with HAL -- You will be assigned a cabin 7-10 days prior to sailing. Instead, you assigned me the worst cabin 49 days out.   One would assume that if there are unobstructed cabins available, that I should be eligible for the cabin without having to pay an additional fee.

 I get it... if the ship is sold out, then you get obstructed, you paid for nothing more, so get over it !  But that is NOT the case.  To me, this is deceptive advertising.  You intentionally assigned me a horrible obstructed view so that you could attempt to collect an additional $399 per person from  me.

 

LESSON - I have never booked a guarantee in the past because I have always been afraid of getting a cabin above "BillBoard" or the casino or under the lido.   Never occurred to me that I would be intentionally assigned the worst obstructed view VF and swindled for $399 to book out of that category assignment.   This is just WRONG in my opinion.   I am a 3 star mariner with HAL.   That status obviously means ZERO !

 

Cheers !! 

 

 

[oaktreerb]

5 minutes ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

Here is a new one.    Read completely before you slam an opinion on me ... !

 

-Booked obstructed balcony guarantee.    

-Sailing is 49 days away.

-Received a cabin assignment yesterday! - I am assigned one of the MOST obstructed view balcony cabins on deck 4.   You say, well you booked a guarantee, so thats the risk.......right?....Read on please !

 

-The sailing is closed for further bookings.

-I received an upgrade offer today for $399 per person to "upgrade" out of obstructed view cabin asssignment to non-obstructed view balcony. I called the offer number at HAL and  was offered a sampling of 10+ cabins all over the ship that are non-obstructed view, so there are many balcony cabins across the ship still available.

 

Here is my problem: HAL sold me a "guarantee" - which I verified the meaning of a guarantee with HAL -- You will be assigned a cabin 7-10 days prior to sailing. Instead, you assigned me the worst cabin 49 days out.   One would assume that if there are unobstructed cabins available, that I should be eligible for the cabin without having to pay an additional fee.

 I get it... if the ship is sold out, then you get obstructed, you paid for nothing more, so get over it !  But that is NOT the case.  To me, this is deceptive advertising.  You intentionally assigned me a horrible obstructed view so that you could attempt to collect an additional $399 per person from  me.

 

LESSON - I have never booked a guarantee in the past because I have always been afraid of getting a cabin above "BillBoard" or the casino or under the lido.   Never occurred to me that I would be intentionally assigned the worst obstructed view VF and swindled for $399 to book out of that category assignment.   This is just WRONG in my opinion.   I am a 3 star mariner with HAL.   That status obviously means ZERO !

 

Cheers !! 

 

 

You are right.  3*4*5* mean nothing in assigning staterooms.  If I were you and want to do this cruise I would choose a cabin and pay the upcharge,  You are past final payment.  There are probably a lot of guarantees receiving the same offer.  Maybe the cruise is a partial charter?  HAL is not playing fair.  HAL is not playing fair as far as their itineraries descriptions, either.  We got caught up in a misrepresented itinerary recently.  After i cancel my next cruise I will have no HAL cruises on the horizon.

[*Miss G*]

17 minutes ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

Here is a new one.    Read completely before you slam an opinion on me ... !

 

-Booked obstructed balcony guarantee.    

-Sailing is 49 days away.

-Received a cabin assignment yesterday! - I am assigned one of the MOST obstructed view balcony cabins on deck 4.   You say, well you booked a guarantee, so thats the risk.......right?....Read on please !

 

-The sailing is closed for further bookings.

-I received an upgrade offer today for $399 per person to "upgrade" out of obstructed view cabin asssignment to non-obstructed view balcony. I called the offer number at HAL and  was offered a sampling of 10+ cabins all over the ship that are non-obstructed view, so there are many balcony cabins across the ship still available.

 

Here is my problem: HAL sold me a "guarantee" - which I verified the meaning of a guarantee with HAL -- You will be assigned a cabin 7-10 days prior to sailing. Instead, you assigned me the worst cabin 49 days out.   One would assume that if there are unobstructed cabins available, that I should be eligible for the cabin without having to pay an additional fee.

 I get it... if the ship is sold out, then you get obstructed, you paid for nothing more, so get over it !  But that is NOT the case.  To me, this is deceptive advertising.  You intentionally assigned me a horrible obstructed view so that you could attempt to collect an additional $399 per person from  me.

 

LESSON - I have never booked a guarantee in the past because I have always been afraid of getting a cabin above "BillBoard" or the casino or under the lido.   Never occurred to me that I would be intentionally assigned the worst obstructed view VF and swindled for $399 to book out of that category assignment.   This is just WRONG in my opinion.   I am a 3 star mariner with HAL.   That status obviously means ZERO !

 

Cheers !! 

 

 

 

The unobstructed verandahs are always priced higher than the obstructed, right from the get-go.  What makes you think that they should now be given to you for free?

 

If the upgrade price is not to your liking, wait until the next one and then maybe the next one.  Perhaps the price will then be in line with what you’d pay.  Or perhaps it will be in line with what someone in an OV or an Inside will pay and you will still have what you purchased.

 

This is not “deceptive” and certainly not “swindling”.

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Thanks for your opinion Miss G.

If HAL offered an "obstructed view guarantee" and a separate "non obstructed view" guarantee.    then you would be correct, this would not be "deceptive" or "swindling".    That is NOT the case however !

 

Curious, if anyone else has ever booked a VF guarantee and was ultimately assigned VF cabin?.

 

This IS full of deception and presents as swindle-like in manner.

 

Cheers !!

[*Miss G*]

6 minutes ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

If HAL offered an "obstructed view guarantee" and a separate "non obstructed view" guarantee.    then you would be correct,

 

They do.

[POA1]

If you book any guarantee category without a room assignment, you have to be willing to accept that you could get the worst room in your category.

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Was assigned a room.   But, thanks for reading the post and providing insight.

[cccole]

As you asked I "read completely". You booked a guarantee, are not happy with your guarantee cabin assignment, and do not want to upgrade to another cabin category for an additional charge.  I may have totally misunderstood what you have insinuated.  Could you have booked a guarantee in the cabin category you wish to upgrade to for no additional charge?  You booked a VF and were assigned VF...Ohhhhhhh No.  How could that be?  Did you read the fine print when booking a guarantee?  

 

I have learned a lot of things from the CC forum, and one is that you never reserve a guarantee cabin category unless you will be happy with what you get.  HAL status...Yikes...who cares?  If you want an unobstructed cabin...pay for it or be happy with what you get.  JMO. Cherie

[CruiserBruce]

Booked a GTY VF obstructed, received an VF obstructed. There is absolutely  NO PROMISE you will be assigned a higher level cabin. Just because others may have received a higher level cabin in this situation doesn't infer you, or everyone else will receive a higher level room.

 

It is possible, perhaps likely, there is something else going on here that you, or us have zero knowledge of...a group that turned back a bunch of unsold rooms, for example.

 

Mariner status has NEVER had anything to do with this.

 

No swindle, scam, fraud or anything else going on here. You got what you paid for. It's a risk you take.

[AKJonesy]

If you are in a stateroom VF on 4, I would pay at this point.  The VF category on Deck 4 is right above the world stage and you will experience noise at various times in your stateroom above.  It's a bummer, and there are other things with HAL that we have to be "aware" of.  Our mariner class seems to count little at HAL.  I don't have high expectations so I don't often get disappointed, but once when my TA made the mistake of not checking off the "guarantee" box and we were put in a real crappy stateroom.  Fortunately, we were able to move down the hall much farther away from the "noise" areas.  You make these mistakes once and then you don't make them again.  

[SilvertoGold]

I have always been able to book a GUAR in any category. Is this something new, as OP seems to be saying he couldn't have booked an Unostructed view (balcony?) GUAR. See post #4.

[VMax1700]

Star status is completely irrelevant to the revenue stream.  All that matters is the first line of the Booking Summary (not confirmation, but the actual summary when making a new booking).  That line simply says 'Stateroom' and represents the revenue from the booking.  I believe the higher the revenue then the better chance of an upgraded room. Pay bottom dollar and stay at the bottom of the list.

OP has got what they paid for.  Many who book guarrantees complain about having to wait too long for their assignment and then the higher category rooms have all gone and no opportunity to upgrade their room.

[Torquer]

I just don't get the OP's position.  You booked an obstructed balcony guarantee, and that is exactly what you got.  Why would you expect HAL to give you a better cabin at no charge?  It just doesn't make sense.  Either accept the cabin you booked and be happy, or pay the upgrade fee for a better cabin.

[Sea42]

HAL is in business to make money. If someone else will pay to upgrade, it wouldn't be in HAL's best interest to just give it away for no extra charge to the OP.

[leerathje]

First of all, there are upsells and upgrades.  Upells are when you pay for a higher class, upgrades are when you are offered them.  I will often book a guarantee (except when with my dad, and we book accessible, and then It is picked) for my cruises.  My first cruise was in January 2019, so fairly recent compared to many cruisers, but I have NEVER  been assigned a room outside my category. I have paid for upsells, but have never been assigned an upgrade.  I have heard of ppl getting upgraded outside their category for free, but those were mostly during COVID when ships were sailing half empty.

 

So, after looking at your profile, I figured out you are on the Nieuw Statendam for a 14 day Turkey and Greek Isles.  I'm unsure why you reference a VF above because all VFs on deck 4 on NS are unobstructed.  VHs are obstructed.  If you booked a VF (unobstructed) and got a VH (obstructed) then you better check with your TA as to why.

 

I did a dummy booking on your ship, and all obstructed verandahs (which is the category you booked) are sold out, which is probably why they gave you an assignment so soon.  I can't imagine that HAL would give you an upgrade to a different category when they are still selling that category.

 

I too am a 3* mariner. I've never understood those who think they should be treated differently for their star status. My understanding is star status is for the perks, freebies and reduced charges, not for how you will be treated. If HAL treated their 1 stars differently than their 4 stars, why would that 1 star book again?  I've also never understood those who complain when they receive what they book.  Disappointed, yes, but not complain.

 

I'm sorry you are upset about your assigned obstructed verandah.  If you want to save money and book a guarantee but are concerned about your view, I would suggest you book an unobstructed verandah guarantee next time.

 

L.

 

 

 

Edited August 17 by leerathje

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, leerathje said:

First of all, there are upsells and upgrades.  Upells are when you pay for a higher class, upgrades are when you are offered them.

 

Great post! Would just like to provide a correction on the above^^.  “Upsells” is a term used on Cruise Critic.

 

HAL calls their paid offers “Upgrades”:

 

Edited August 17 by *Miss G*

[SilvertoGold]

11 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Great post! Would just like to provide a correction on the above^^.  “Upsells” is a term used on Cruise Critic.

 

HAL calls their paid offers “Upgrades”:

 

Just wondering how long this cruise is. I'd like to see what kind of per diem this offer charges.

[pengu1n]

12 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

 

 

The wording is kind of funny. I bet they hired a "wordsmith" to come up with "you have been selected for a special paid upgrade offer!" Guess what - you get to pay MORE money!"

 

In all our cruises, we have never been contacted to upgrade. We frequently book guarantees, in the category we would be happy with (although granted some rooms are happier than others!)

[pengu1n]

To the OP, did you look at the cabin on one of the sites with room pictures? Sometimes the obstruction is not a big deal. One of our obstructed cabins had a life boat on the deck below. We could look out, have sun, and enjoy our balcony, just couldn't look directly down. Half the time when you look directly down, you just see other balconies anyway.

[*Miss G*]

7 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

Just wondering how long this cruise is. I'd like to see what kind of per diem this offer charges.

 

It was a 14-day sailing on April 13th of this year.  This was the final offer, of three sent, received nine days prior to sailing.  I never took them up on it because I believed my PCC when he said if I didn’t purchase an offer he would still get me a great room anyway.  (And we were fine with an obstructed so I wasn’t going to bite anyway.)

 

Once the final offers were finished, we were assigned an unobstructed on Deck 7 (from obstructed).  I cut off the last screenshot so here was the final offer:

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, pengu1n said:

The wording is kind of funny. I bet they hired a "wordsmith" to come up with "you have been selected for a special paid upgrade offer!" Guess what - you get to pay MORE money!"

 

I love receiving the offers, as they are my only route to a Neptune Suite.

 

11 minutes ago, pengu1n said:

 

In all our cruises, we have never been contacted to upgrade. We frequently book guarantees, in the category we would be happy with (although granted some rooms are happier than others!)

 

In all the years that I used a TA, I never received a single offer.  Once I started using a PCC, I began receiving them for almost every single booking.

[terrydtx]

I do not get what the OP is asking. They booked as they said -"Booked obstructed balcony guarantee"  and that is exactly what they got. Logic says when you book a GTY category you run the risk of getting assigned the worst cabin no one else wants in that category. Not sure about 7-10 days out for assignment but our Volendam cruise next week has been sold our for a long time and there have been some on our roll call who got their GTY cabins assigned several weeks ago. and some not until last week. Maybe the OP is confused about the difference of booking an obstructed view balcony GTY VS an unobstructed balcony GTY, With the later you could get a balcony at any level within the unobstructed view cabin categories and you get a VA VS a VB or lower

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

In all the years that I used a TA, I never received a single offer.  Once I started using a PCC, I began receiving them for almost every single booking

We always tell our TA to mark our account that we do not want any upsell offers. We book early to get the cabin and category we want along with the Early booking HIA and CO and are not interested in moving up, which is why we never have booked a GTY cabin on any cruise line.

Edited August 17 by terrydtx

[*Miss G*]

4 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We always tell our TA to mark our account that we do not want any upsell offers. We book early to get the cabin and category we want along with the Early booking HIA and CO.

 

I am completely the opposite.  I don’t book early.  I pick the cabin and category from the leftover availability.  (I am pretty easy to please. I’m going on a cruise!)  I have no need for HIA.  I will book CO if the circumstances warrant it.  But, most importantly, I want the offers!!

[sunviking90]

I’m sorry you’re disappointed. Where did you get the 7-10 day window for guarantee assignment? We sometimes book guarantees if the savings make it worthwhile. We are not super picky about location and haven’t had an issue yet. We are also 3* and I expect to get what I booked and am pleased if I get something better. I actually would be happy to know my cabin at 49 days, whereas our experience is usually about 3 weeks. I don’t think it’s “WRONG” in your words to receive what you paid for, and be offered a paid upgrade. From the website:

I have opted for a guarantee stateroom. When will my Express Docs show a stateroom number?

Answer: Guarantee staterooms may be assigned at any time prior to travel and up until embarkation day. Express Docs will show a stateroom number if it has been assigned but will otherwise show \"To be assigned\". If you have printed your Express Docs prior to the stateroom assignment, you may wish to check back prior to departure to see if a stateroom has been assigned. Otherwise, there will be staff available at the pier to advise you of your stateroom number as you fill out your luggage tags.

Edited August 17 by sunviking90

[oaktreerb]

@RClark6369@aol.com Have you considered calling HAL to see if a more acceptable obstructed balcony room is available?   Maybe they could do an easy swap for you.   When you book a cruise HAL even offers you an opportunity to choose your stateroom for a slight up-charge.  As we have recently learned, even that choice doesn’t guarantee you won’t be moved if it fits HAL’s business plan to fill the rooms.  Heads in beds.