Guarantee stateroom - upgrade question

[sppunk]

Booking a Westerdam cruise today, and have a random question regarding booking a H-category guarantee. Basically, if I book this, would an upgrade be considered an inside stateroom - such as category L or such?

 

I really wouldn't want that, but understand if that's an upgrade it can very likely happen.

 

Thanks!

[MercedMike]

A "guarantee" booking means that you will get AT LEAST the category you booked. An upgrade would be to a higher category. So with an H guarantee you can't get an L, but you could get an F or even a BD.

 

Most often the upgrade is two or three categories. It is unusual to get upgraded from an outside to a balcony. But it can happen.

 

You have no control whatsoever over the location of your upgrade cabin. It might be far forward, far aft, over the casino, under the pool, next to the elevator, etc. If you have a specific desire for location you should book a cabin and lock it in by having the TA mark it NO UPGRADE. But if you are willing to take the chance you might get a goodie!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[sppunk]

What I thought - cruised 13 times now but 1) never booked a guarantee and 2) never sailed HAL!

 

Looking forward to the trip ...

[Oceanwench]

Different family members of mine have booked the obstructed view cabins as GTYs and have been upgraded to other obstructed view cabins with better location!

[mamadot]

We have booked guarantees on Celebrity as well as HAL. We have never had a bad cabin and will do that on our next cruise. It just puts a little more excitement in the planning!

[jrzebird]

We booked a Guar C on our recent Noordam cruise and got a C. We were thrilled with our cabin! The view from the window was worth every penny and then some. Last year we had nice veranda and loved it. We adored this room. We sat up late at night and watched the ocean, which seemed close enough to touch. We particularly liked it in rough seas. And, being low in the ship, it was a smooth ride. I would do this again in a NY minute!

[jer_l]

On our November Oosterdam cruise we booked an H guarantee which is what we could afford for that cruise. We ended up with a D with a nice oceanview.

[Two if by Sea]

If you have a specific desire for location you should book a cabin and lock it in by having the TA mark it NO UPGRADE.

 

What is the difference, then, between booking a guarantee, and booking a specific cabin without asking the TA to mark it "no upgrade"?

[garydm]

Price.

 

And, I am not aware of someone booking a specific cabin and then getting moved within that same category. We have booked a B and gotten an S but have never been moved within the B category to another B.

 

Gary

[gizmo]

What is the difference, then, between booking a guarantee, and booking a specific cabin without asking the TA to mark it "no upgrade"?

 

The cruise lines are more inclined to upgrade someone that books a guarantee.

I am not saying that if you book a cabin and don't have it marked "no upgrade" that you can't be upgraded. I believe some cruise lines do more of this type of upgrading when you choose your cabin than others.

[jtl513]

Price.

There's no price difference between a guarantee and a specific - only the opportunity for a free upgrade.

 

The cruise lines are more inclined to upgrade someone that books a guarantee.

I am not saying that if you book a cabin and don't have it marked "no upgrade" that you can't be upgraded.

But if you have chosen a specific cabin HAL will ask if you would like to move, whereas with the guarantee you are at some point assigned a cabin and you have no recourse but to accept it or cancel the booking.

[sk8teacher]

There's no price difference between a guarantee and a specific - only the opportunity for a free upgrade.

 

Yes there is. We normally book an OV guarantee because it's the cheapest pricing. For our upcoming cruise, we wanted to ensure we were in a specific location, so booked a specific room after asking the price on a guarantee.

 

Almost $1500 difference, but worth it to us at the time.

 

Cheers,

[gizmo]

There's no price difference between a guarantee and a specific - only the opportunity for a free upgrade.

 

But if you have chosen a specific cabin HAL will ask if you would like to move, whereas with the guarantee you are at some point assigned a cabin and you have no recourse but to accept it or cancel the booking.

 

Hal might ask, but not all cruise lines. I have read where people got upgraded because they didn't have "no upgrade" checked and they were stuck. The cruise line did not call them. They received their documents and saw the change. They didn't want the upgrade and went in circles with the cruise line. Sometimes they got it handled.

[jtl513]

Yes there is. We normally book an OV guarantee because it's the cheapest pricing. For our upcoming cruise, we wanted to ensure we were in a specific location, so booked a specific room after asking the price on a guarantee.

 

Almost $1500 difference, but worth it to us at the time.

 

Cheers,

We've booked six guarantees through a TA, and the base price has never been any different for the guarantee than the list price. Now, the TA does give us other price breaks, such as OBCs or pre-paid "gift cards", but that has nothing to do with the fact that it was a guarantee.

 

Try going to the HAL site and pricing a hypothetical cruise, with a guarantee and with a specific cabin of the same class. You will see no price difference.

[gizmo]

A long time ago guarantee prices were cheaper than booking a cabin.

 

I don't know if Hal ever did this, but some other cruise lines did. I don't know if this is still true on other cruise line.

[Opinions]

Try going to the HAL site and pricing a hypothetical cruise, with a guarantee and with a specific cabin of the same class. You will see no price difference.

 

I agree...I have always found out that the price of a guarantee is the same as booking a specific cabin in the same class.

[Oceanwench]

Just chiming in to add to what the others have said.

We have booked guarantees for family and friends - we can't book one for ourselves because DH requires an HC cabin.

 

The price is always the same for a guarantee as it is for booking a specific cabin in the same category.

 

As someone above suggested, you can go to the HAL site, or any online agency, and test it out. I was just looking online at several sites for a fall cruise for my mother and sister, category H, and the guarantees were exactly the same price as the specific cabins.

[hammybee]

What is the difference, then, between booking a guarantee, and booking a specific cabin without asking the TA to mark it "no upgrade"?

 

By booking a specific cabin, it ensures that you will get that cabin, presumably in the location you want or can afford. When you book a guarantee, you may get any cabin within the grade you booked or a higher grade.

 

Cruise lines are fond of charging more for cabins on higher decks. When you are in an inside cabin, the most comfortable ride is down low and as close to mid ship as possible. So getting a 4 cat. upgrade to an interior cabin way up and forward or aft, is not necessarily a better cabin.

 

Most people who book guarantees do so in hopes of getting something that they did not pay for. Sometimes they get what they paid for, the cabin no one else wanted.

 

If you are at all fussy about location, you are better off booking a specific cabin than taking a chance on leftovers.

[Two if by Sea]

So, if I've booked a specific S cabin, they're not going to move us to a different one without telling us? That is good. I like the one we chose.

 

I don't understand why anyone would book an S-guarantee, though. Unless it actually gives you a real chance at a free upgrade to the PS suite.

[jtl513]

I don't understand why anyone would book an S-guarantee, though. Unless it actually gives you a real chance at a free upgrade to the PS suite.

I agree! I see no point of booking a guarantee of anything higher than an A on an R or S class ship, and little point for higher than an SS on a Vista.

[Sale Away]

I don't understand why anyone would book an S-guarantee, though. Unless it actually gives you a real chance at a free upgrade to the PS suite.

 

I was trolling one of the online booking sites that let's you look at the available cabins and noticed they were offering a guarantee on the PS Suite for my sailing. So the person booking that would be hoping for an upgrade to??? :rolleyes:

[Oceanwench]

I was trolling one of the online booking sites that let's you look at the available cabins and noticed they were offering a guarantee on the PS Suite for my sailing. So the person booking that would be hoping for an upgrade to??? :rolleyes:

 

I can't see why they would have a guarantee for the PS suite, unless it's just to put someone on the waiting list.

Put if the PS doesn't open up -- how would that person end up in the "same catergory or better?"

 

Maybe the online site was wrong in offering it? And if you went to book it, you'd be told it was not available as a guarantee?

[JudithLynne]

We just booked an EE guarantee on the Volendam for Alaska in Sept. The reason we booked a guarantee is that the EE cabin offered to us was the very last end cabin in that category. We felt that we could only go up. The worst scenario is that we would end up with the one available cabin and that would be just fine. In reading about fellow cruisers’ experience with guarantees, I have found it rare to see someone who was disappointed. Am keeping my fingers crossed. We are doing a B2B cruise so may have a different cabin each way. Hope not. The last time we did B2B we had the same cabin.