Guaranteed Stateroom - Worth It?

[CardinalPilot]

What has your experience been in gettting upgraded if you go with a guaranteed stateroom? I'm going in 2nd week of December. Bought a balcony room hoping to get upgraded.

 

When and who makes the decision on the upgrade? Anything I can do to get a better room?

 

Thanks in advance.

[fiugypsy]

I booked a BL and got upgraded to 8H for October. Not complaining :)

[romrai]

I have always booked a "guarantee". We are leaving for our fifth cruise next week. We have always received excellent upgrades. There doesn't seem to be any set rules. We have always booked a long time in advance. I was originally told that as a certain category was filled, you get bumped up. Some have said that if you cruise multiple times with one line, you get the better upgrades. Yet we have never cruised with the same line. Others say that if you are a new customer, you get the better upgrades. We have booked an inside guarantee twice and received a upgrade to a room with a view and a deluxe inside. We now usually book a balcony guarantee. Another time a 5 class upgrade, once to a suite and this time to the top of the ship with a balcony. Just cross your fingers and hope for the best.

[mr jailerman]

When you cross your booking # with someone else's (Friends/Family)for say Dinner purpose. The cruiseline then knows you are traveling together. If that Friend/family member has a booked cabin and you have a GTY in the same category the cruiseline will often try to keep you close to each other by giving you a cabin on the same deck. I just had this happen to me in February. Friends paid top price for an empress deck oceanview cabin on Fascination and I paid the GTY price and I was in the cabin right next door for MUCH less. Hope this helps. Have a great night.

[CardinalPilot]

So is there anyone with a Penthouse sailing on Valor 12/9/2007 that wants to be my "instant friend"?

 

8-}

[hogtyde88]

We also booked a BL guarantee and received a cat 8H. We got our cabin # at about the 50 day mark.

[Sureshot26]

The change of an upgrade is also influenced by the proportions of different cabin classes on the ship. If you book an inside guarantee on a ship that has proportionally fewer insides to outsides/balconies (like on Spirit class), the chances of an upgrade are a little better just because the numbers favor you in that situation. If there are more insides on a ship (like a Conquest class), it's somewhat less likely just because there are more insides to fill before they bump you.

 

I've been upgraded both times I've sailed Carnival - once from an inside guarantee to an obstructed balcony (Miracle), and once from a 4A to a 4D (Liberty). That said, there are so many factors involved that it's effectively a crapshoot. I book a guarantee in the lowest cabin category I'd be happy with and go from there.

[jetskier]

Like everyone else is saying it is a roll of the dice. Out of 14 cruises with Carnival, we have been upgraded 12 times. Our upcoming cruise on the Fantasy, is one of the few times we have not been upgraded.

 

Dave

[SunnieD]

I booked the Sensation as my first GTY. It was OV, and that is what we got! But there are only suites that are better than OV on this ship. We are crossed with friends and they are 4 floors above us. I am a balcony snob, so this will be a first for us, but only 3 nights.:o

[Dubsolute]

I booked an OV GTY on the Destiny last year. We ended up with an OV on the Main deck instead of the Riviera deck. Technically it's an upgrade. :rolleyes: We were happy with it nonetheless.

[mosel]

We booked a 1a gty in Dec and after 25 cruises we were still assigned a 1a. There is no way to figure out the system. It is certainly not how many cruises you have with Carnival. Cindy

[Beachgirl6479]

We booked an OV GTY for our upcoming Victory cruise and wound up with a 6E on the spa deck with the floor to ceiling windows. We're definitely happy!

[SATXLady]

What has your experience been in gettting upgraded if you go with a guaranteed stateroom? I'm going in 2nd week of December. Bought a balcony room hoping to get upgraded.

 

When and who makes the decision on the upgrade? Anything I can do to get a better room?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

If you want to be sure you get a better room, then you need to not book a guarantee. You can get a better room by paying for it.

[travelbug67]

I booked my first cruise a couple months ago and reserved a 1A guarantee. When I receiveed my stateroom assignment, I was upgraded to a 4D. I thought was great for what I booked and also being a solo cruiser.

[Wennfred]

What has your experience been in gettting upgraded if you go with a guaranteed stateroom? I'm going in 2nd week of December. Bought a balcony room hoping to get upgraded.

 

When and who makes the decision on the upgrade? Anything I can do to get a better room?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Going Guarantee from a Balcony is no problem. You can only go to a higher deck or even get a suite. Going guarantee from an Inside Cat 4a can be tricky.

 

 

Fred

[TropicalisRex]

Booked an OV guarantee on 9/9-9/16 Legend sailing and got a 7A (obstructed view balcony)... excellent, in my opinion. We really enjoyed the balcony and were only expecting a window, so obviously it exceeded our expectations.

[Libertyhilguy]

we are going to be on the conquest 11/19/07 and went from an 8A to 8E

 

[donut1130]

We booked a 4A GTY for our upcoming Triumph cruise. We got the assignment around 45 days out and got upgraded to a 6B! Definitely happy with that, considering we're thrilled just to be going on vacation! We booked about 70 days before the cruise. I am a past passenger, but SO is not. No idea what makes the upgrade fairy visit, but she left us a nice present!

[Pegs222]

The Upgrade Fairy has been very good to some of the posters on this board:D

[Vanessa L]

I concur with other posts I've read on this board that you should never book a guarantee unless you are completely happy with the bottom category of your guarantee choice. Upgrades do happen but not always and it is really frustrating to read posts of people who actually have the audacity to whine because they weren't upgraded as though it's guaranteed :eek: I keep wanting to say to those people, "That is NOT what is meant by 'guarantee'!!!!" I would not book a guarantee personally because I am way too picky about where I want to be on a ship. Saving a few hundred dollars is not worth it to me to risk being where I would be miserable for a week. So I have a few less DODs. For me, it's worth it to know exactly where I am going to be.

[jayesouthworth]

We have sailed on several cruises on Carnival and have NEVER been upgraded. Some people are just lucky. Be happy with what you have and like someone else said, if you want a better room, pay for it. I never expect to get more than what I pay for.

[cruisin1982]

When do they tell you if you got a upgrade? Do you only get the upgrade if you booked a guarantee?

 

Mike

[deborahjo]

4A guty on the Liberty 10/13 and we got a 4D on the Verhanda Deck. I am happy

[mnd2006]

where can i find a list of what all the numbers and letters stand for?

4a etc.?

[CardinalPilot]

Just got my guar balcony room assigned. Port side, Panorama Deck, class 8E.

 

I'm VERY happy.

:) :) :)