Guarantee Cabins

[Williams]

We Booked two balcony guarantee cabins on the Voyager of the Seas for 8/13/04. RCCL assigned us cabins 6324 & 6566 which are on the same floor but on opposite sides of the ship, they refused to put us together saying we had no say because we requested guarantee cabins. I would like to know if allowed, if someone on either side of our cabins would switch, we would like to be close to our teenager ages 14 & 16. Thank you, Williams:(

[serene56]

Not even across the hall from each other- that sucks. That is what happens when you book garantee, you take that chance. THe agent should have explained that to you. at least you are on the same floor. Cruised once with my kids on the Riveria deck while I was on the upper deck. Good thing they were older.

 

You can always go to the cabin next door to the kids and ask- it cant hurt. the worst they can say is no. But do so before those people unpack.

But know the people that are next door to 6324 wont be going nowhere. (that the hump of the ship and prime space. so you will have to put the kids in cabin 6566 if ya want the neighbors to give up that cabin for a hump cabin. (better incentive)

[lovemytwins]

Not even across the hall from each other- that sucks. That is what happens when you book garantee, you take that chance. THe agent should have explained that to you. at least you are on the same floor. Cruised once with my kids on the Riveria deck while I was on the upper deck. Good thing they were older.

 

You can always go to the cabin next door to the kids and ask- it cant hurt. the worst they can say is no. But do so before those people unpack.

But know the people that are next door to 6324 wont be going nowhere. (that the hump of the ship and prime space. so you will have to put the kids in cabin 6566 if ya want the neighbors to give up that cabin for a hump cabin. (better incentive)

 

 

Can anyone tell me what a hump cabin is? I have read this term many times in this forum, but can't figure out what it is!!!

 

Shannon

[serene56]

If you look at deck plans its the part of the ship that sticks out some. These cabins are located midship. the balconies are awesome.

 

http://www.02cruise.com/Ships/deck.asp?Line=Royal%20Caribbean&Ship=Voyager%20Of%20The%20Seas&Deck=6

 

scroll down to where you see the cabins come out of the side a little. these are called hump cabins. (they are located by the elevators/stairs. Awesome location)

[lovemytwins]

Thanks for the quick reply. OK another dumb question. They look similar in size to all the other cabins, so why is it such a good location? Are the balconies bigger?

[serene56]

the balconies are a tad bigger...Not like the cabins on the aft.. (my balcony held 20 people for a party one day.) they also stick out some so you can see up and down the ship. On either side of the hump.. the people looking out will only see the hump cabins...and not all the way back.

[lovemytwins]

OK, I get it now! Took me a little while, I guess I'm just slow.....

Thanks for the valuable info!

[ASM]

Surely they can't place underage kids away from their parents?

[serene56]

A parent and a child is probably booked in each cabin.

[Ernie G]

We have only booked a guarantee once. It was HAL-Zuiderdam last November. There were 3 couples traveling together, one of which was my 80+ year old in-laws. They must always be close in proximity to us, so I ask the HAL rep. to note that in our file for cabin assignments. We were upgraded to the highest stateroom deck, side by side. The 3rd cabin was down the hall about 5 rooms. I don't know who you used to book with, or what cruise line it is, but hopefully you can get it changed. I would try the cruiseline first. We have booked our 2nd "guarantee" on the Diamond Princess 10/23 and are sort of excited to see what we end up with, since we will be traveling alone.

 

BTW, I appreciate your concern about your children's location. We returned from our first Carnival cruise 7/11 and it was totally spoiled by children would had parents that were no where in sight.....day or night!

[serene56]

Ernie: when I booked a gaurantee my kids were on the Riveria deck and I was on the Upper deck. (my kids are very much older then the ones the poster has) but we werent on the same floor.

On our first cruise we were all on the same deck just far apart- two cabins in out group were upgraded to oceanviews...while the rest stayed in insides.

[1cruiselvr]

ErnieG: have you checked Princess' cruise personalizer for your cabin assignment? We are booked on the 10/30/04 sailing of the Diamond as a GTY balcony and we've had our cabin assignment for awhile now.

Happy Sailing!

[donnasue21]

Dumb question maybe but if its a guaranteed cabin, how do you find out what room you are assigned?

[serene56]

DOnnasue: nothing is a dumb question- how ya gonna learn about cruising if you dont ask.

 

gaurantees work differnt depending on the cruislines. Royal if you booked a gaurantee you will know when you get your documents or when you get to the pier.

 

Carnival now tells you 7-8 weeks out.

 

Mostly youjust wait til you get your documents to see where you are

[ArkansasFish]

If you don't get to find out your room til you get to the pier, be sure you take your reading glasses!!!

We took out floor plan so we could look up our room as soon as we found out where it was, but we could not SEE it !!!!

PAcked glasses in suit cases/ had to get someone to look at it for us.

[1cruiselvr]

Princess usually assigns the cabin sometime after final payment is made. You can check their website under cruise personalizer, insert your booking information and your cabin # will be there when assigned.

Happy Sailing!

[SJackson]

What is a guarentee cabin?:confused:

[serene56]

Whn you book a cruise you dont pick a cabin. you let the cruiselines pick a cabin for you- YOU pick the category you want to be gauaranteed in.. Doing a gaurantee you may be upgraded to a higher class category then what you paid--inside to oceanview...or oceanview to balcony or balcony to a suite. But you are GAURANTEED nothing lower then what you booked. (ex- from an oceanview to an inside--wont happen)

[SJackson]

Thanks. That sounsd like a good idea, but I think I will keep my 1388 on VOS :D

[dianeh]

I've just read this thread about guarrantee staterooms. The last poster said if you request a quarantee stateroom you won't get something less than what you paid for. Is that correct?

If so, it seems a bit cheeky of a cruiseline to take your payment for a balcony stateroom and then put in an inside stateroom.

 

So do you pay more for a guarrantee? I realize you quite possibly won't be near friends or family if you book together. Also, can you request a room at the 'hump' (RCII)?

 

Thanks

[LoneStar72]

I've just read this thread about guarrantee staterooms. The last poster said if you request a quarantee stateroom you won't get something less than what you paid for. Is that correct?

Yes.

If so, it seems a bit cheeky of a cruiseline to take your payment for a balcony stateroom and then put in an inside stateroom.

Doesn't happen -- as you stated, "you won't get something less than what you paid for."

 

Each cabin is assigned a pricing category. Some categories have very few cabins, other categories have lots of cabins, usually spread across more than one deck.

 

There are several ways to book a cruise. You can pick the cabin you want, and depending on availability, you can book it directly. If that one isn't available, you might be able to book a similar cabin, but, again, you book the exact cabin number. Another way of booking is called "Guarantee". In this case, you book only the category you want, and let the Cruise Line assign you a specific cabin at a later date. The cruise line encourages you to book this way (via a lower price than if you book a specific cabin) because it allows them more flexibility in selling all their cabins on a sailing. With a Guarantee booking, it sometimes happens that the Cruise Line decides to upgrade you to a higher category than you paid for, at no extra cost to you. Occasionally, people get upgraded by more than one category. How that gets decided is a subject of much discussion on these boards, and each Cruise Line seems to do it differently. The best advice when booking a Guarantee is to be sure you'd be happy in any cabin in that category -- if you don't think you would, then either book a higher category Guarantee, or book an exact cabin number.

So do you pay more for a guarrantee? I realize you quite possibly won't be near friends or family if you book together.

As I said, you pay less for a Guarantee booking, since you have very little control over which cabin you'll be assigned. If you have a good TA, and a cooperative person at the Cruise Line when the TA calls, you might be able to get cabins fairly close together when booking them all as Guarantee, but realize that this situation is totally at the discretion of the Cruise Line.

Also, can you request a room at the 'hump' (RCII)?

If the 'hump' cabins are in a category by themselves, you can certainly book one of them via a Guarantee. I haven't looked at the deck plans, but I'd bet that the 'hump' cabins are lumped in with other balcony cabins in a category, and the only way to be sure you get one of them is to book the cabin number. Since they're more desirable, though, they tend to get booked by people who book specific cabins, and would rarely be available to Guarantee bookers.

 

To sum up, a Guarantee booking costs less, and "guarantees" you that you'll get a cabin in that category, or possibly a category that is higher.

 

John

[keukamom2]

We are booked on the Coral for this October. We booked 2 rooms, guaranteed in category G. Princess just assigned our rooms, they are actually quite close to each other, one upgraded to an F, the other a GG which is a lower category. Both rooms are on Deck E, with obstructed views.

 

here is my question: Do I ask them to change the GG room and chance that it will get moved further away on ship or do I just leave it alone since it is just one downgrade from what we booked. Also is there any chance they will change the rooms on their own now that they have been assigned?

 

I am not sure what I should do.

Thanks

Sarah

[joelmarj]

Lonestar72 - excellent description of the Guarantee process. Couldn't have described better. We got lucky and booked a guarantee Concierge Cabin on Millenium. Just got our cabin assignment and got mid-ship, great location. If I had to pick a cabin, this would have been one of the ones I'd picked. It was certainly worth the risk in this case. Saved over $600 by booking it that way. :D

[dianeh]

Thank you Lonestar for your great advice!

[Cindyrella]

This may be a dumb question, but we are considering a cruise on the Carnival Conquest in March and we'll be with our two teen girls. We want two inside cabins and I was going to book 2 inside guarntees, but I don't want upper and lower bunks and I want to be close to the girls so should I book a specific cabin catagory?