Cabin "Guarantee"

[Mimi19510]

What are your experiences with booking a "guarantee" cabin? I understand that you are guaranteed a room in the category you paid for...or better...could even result in an upgrade. Anyone have experience with this?

[Mimi19510]

What are your experiences with booking a "guarantee" cabin? I understand that you are guaranteed a room in the category you paid for...or better...could even result in an upgrade. Anyone have experience with this?

[sunsurf]

Our experiences have been great! The 2X we've sailed w. Princess we booked BG guarantees & were assigned a BD cat. on the Baja deck each time. Great locations I might add. Now that we know alot more about the different categories/decks, we booked the actual cabin we wanted for our next cruise.

 

p.s If you type in "guarantee cabin" in the search engine at the top right hand corner...all the threads and/or posts on this topic will come up.

 

Good luck

[Sea Hag]

Just make sure that any, repeat any, cabin in the category you purchased and categories above that will be acceptable to you. For instance, if a cabin in the very front of the ship won't work for you due to seasickness issues, then don't book a guarantee. You can be assigned any cabin in your category or above.

[silentbob007]

Don't book a GTY and expect an upgrade ... instead, expect the very worst cabin in the category you've booked. If any upgrades happen, then that's a bonus.

 

I've booked many guarantees and have usually gotten upgraded, but by "upgrade" I mean the same type of cabin, but just on a higher deck.

[firefly333]

We booked a guarantee on the Grand Princess (didnt know what one was then) and they put us on deck 10, our friends were one deck above us on deck 11 who booked way before we did. Thats considered a upgrade to not get the bottom deck.

 

We booked a guarantee on the RCL Rhapsody, got the worst possible, aft of deck 2, bottom deck so far aft we could feel the stablizers rumble.

 

We booked a inside guarantee on the RCL Voyager, and got deck 2, OV. Best upgrade so far.

 

We have a guarantee on the Ecstasy next January.

 

The rest we picked our cabins.

[celticd1]

As others have mentioned, you must be happy to take ANY cabin in the particular catagory guarantee that you book. Chances of being upgraded depend on a lot of different things. The way I look at it, if I book a guarantee I have a better cahnce at getting the upgrade than if I booked a particular cabin.

 

First cruise was on the Carnival Sensation. Booked an oceanview (6A) guarantee and we were upgraded 4 catagories to a balcony demi-suite (11). Location was forward and on deck 8.

 

Second cruise was on the Carnival Valor. Booked an oceanview (6A) guarantee and got an oceanview (6A). Location was mid-ship, lowest passenger deck.

 

Third cruise was on the Carniavl Legend. Booked an oceanview (6A) guarantee and we were upgraded to a partially obstructed balcony (7A). Location was mid-ship.

 

Fourth cruise was on the Carnival Legend. Originally booked a balcony guarantee (BL) but changed to an assigned cabin during a free upgrade sale. Even then we paid for a guarantee and ended up with an extended balcony on deck 7, aft.

 

For our upcoming cruise on the Carnival Miracle we booked a balcony guarantee.

 

So far we have been happy with our cabins and the odds of getting an upgrade aren't too bad depending on the ship and many other factors. We will continue to book guarantees because the cost saving can be significant.

 

Hope this helps!

[kitty9]

If you're willing to get a cabin that's not in the best location that you'd like, don't book a guarantee. Usually, you won't get a true upgrade. What usually happens is that if you book an inside guarantee, you'll get "upgraded" to another inside, in a better location. You generally won't get a balcony if you book an inside.

[cb at sea]

If you really don't care about your cabin or location, a guarantee is a bargain. You MAY get an upgrade--but you might get the worst cabin in the catagory that you guaranteed. It's a gamble.

There's a better chance of an upgrade when you book a guarantee--but, despite the "guarantee" status, there's no guantatee of an upgrade!

[cruiser2101]

Once we booked a guarantee, hoping for an upgrade, plus it was less expensive. Didn't get an upgrade, but we were happy with the cabin they selected for us. Not sure if I would ever book another guarantee cabin. I prefer to choose for myself.

[WMG/LMG]

We did a guarantee cabin on Holland America's Westerdam 2 years ago and went from an inside cabin to an outside with a balcony. It ended up being a 5 category upgrade which worked out fine.

[wrp96]

I've booked a guarantee 4 times. Twice received a decent cabin in the category I booked.

 

3rd time, I received an "upgrade" as they moved me to a higher deck. Unfortunately that deck was the promenade deck so instead of being able to look out my window and see the ocean, I got to keep the drapes closed all the time otherwise people could look into the cabin. We also had a group of people throw a party outside our window at 3am.

 

4th time was my cruise at the end of last month where I was upgraded to an Owner's Suite.

 

Best advice, if you care at all where your cabin location is, then do not book a guarantee. In general in return for getting a lower price, you accept the risk that you could get the worst cabin in that category or any higher categories. This could be a connecting cabin, or a cabin above the disco, or a cabin below the workout facility, etc. You also do have the possibility of being upgraded but do not book a guarantee on the assumption that you will be upgraded.

 

For me, on certain ships I will book guarantees again, on others I won't - based on what I know about that ship and the various cabins and decks available.

[WMG/LMG]

If you are prone to seasickness, it might not be a good idea to do a guarantee cabin. You might end up with a cabin at the far end of the ship which could feel more rocky if you encounter bad weather.

[susycruise]

Good Afternoon Everybody,

 

I think the best and only reason to book a guarantee room is to save a little money. We once booked the lowest possible Balcony cabin and ended up at the very top of the ship - on a very quiet deck. But when I'm cruising I don't care where they put me, "I'm easy and cheap!" ;)

[Angie1961]

I am just waiting to see if our booked inside gty with Cunard pays off.

Looking on their website last week we could have booked a gty AA grade for less than we booked the inside D7 gty!!

 

We are not really happy about that but what can you do?!

Book late in future I think :(

 

Angie

[firefly333]

I am just waiting to see if our booked inside gty with Cunard pays off.

Looking on their website last week we could have booked a gty AA grade for less than we booked the inside D7 gty!!

 

We are not really happy about that but what can you do?!

Book late in future I think :(

 

Angie

 

They wouldnt give you a refund or let you switch to the other higher guarantee?? Most cruiselines will allow it if there is a price drop, even last minute.

[Bill S]

We've booked guaranty cabins on HAL 5 times and have been upgraded from the guaranteed category 4 times. As others have posted, it is a good idea to book a guaranteed category in the lowest acceptable cabin category. For us, that means really studying the ship's deck plan to see what is above and below each cabin in the category we are considering. We don't really care whether the cabin is forward or aft, just what is above and below.

[cruiserbryce]

we have done it 3 times now and it has always worked out. Its great for shorter trips when you arent as picky with the cabin selection and really are looking for the best value available

[onceagain]

We booked guarantee twice and didn't get anything other than the room we paid for! Actually, one of our rooms was a room we definitely wouldn't have picked out, it was as far in front of the ship as possible. We pick out our rooms now!

[onceagain]

We booked guarantee twice, one time we ended up in a room as far to the front of the ship as possible - woke up to the anchor every morning! :p The next time, got the exact same kind of room we paid for. No upgrades at all. We choose our rooms now!

[onceagain]

We booked guarantee twice, one time we ended up in a room as far to the front of the ship as possible - woke up to the anchor every morning! :p The next time, got the exact same kind of room we paid for. No upgrades at all. We choose our rooms now and usually pick one midship.

[onceagain]

We booked guarantee twice, one time we ended up in a room as far to the front of the ship as possible - woke up to the anchor every morning! :p The next time, got the exact same kind of room we paid for. No upgrades at all. We choose our rooms now and usually pick one midship.

[Gonzo70]

I have done the guarantee thing twice. One time got upgraded from inside to balcony (thanks Upgrade Fairy); the other time just got upgraded within the same category. I think you are more likely to receive an upgrade if you book during non-peak season as the ship is less likely to be full. If you go with a guarantee, just make sure you do not "expect" an upgrade (as they still do not occur often) and make sure you are OK with a bad location (i.e. all the way front or near the back - you will feel the motion of the ship more in these areas and have longer walks to most public areas than a stateroom near midship). If you do not mind walking longer distances and are not prone to seasickness, then a guarantee may be a great way to save a little money and have a small chance for an upgrade.

[FritzG]

We booked a guarantee on our Alaskan trip on the Diamond Princess and got a cabin as far forward as you could go. I'd never do it again. I got queasy for the first time ever on a ship, and it was a very long walk to anything. We've always booked a specific cabin in the past, but since this was a late booking and only 7 days we decided to give the guarantee a try. For our transatlantic repo. trip we've got a specific cabin locked in!

[Angie1961]

They wouldnt give you a refund or let you switch to the other higher guarantee?? Most cruiselines will allow it if there is a price drop, even last minute.

 

 

Hi

No not in the UK for some reason.

We are basically stuck with whatever we book.

The only option would be to cancel and lose the deposit and then rebook at the new price :(

At least we will still be on the ship :)

 

Angie