guarantee cabin

[Woobie22]

I was just wondering if anyone had ever booked a guaranteed balcony cabin. The prices are so much lower I was wondering what the up and down sides might be. Thanks for all your help!

[wrp96]

The downsides: You don't get to choose your own room. So this means you could get the "worst" balcony cabin on the ship. That could mean it is all the way forward or all the way aft, a connecting cabin, etc. If you have any preferences at all about location (don't want to be too far forward, want an upper deck, etc), you should NOT book a guarantee. Some people have reported being able to call and change their cabin once it is assigned, but I would not book a guarantee in reliance on that as others have not been able to change after assignment.

 

The upsides: You are saving money. Plus you have a better chance of being upgraded (it doesn't happen frequently but it's a possibility). So for the price of an E1 you might end up with the larger D1, some people (rare) have even gotten upgraded to suites.

 

Best advice is if you don't care where you end up as long as it has a balcony, then it can definitely be worth it to book a guarantee. But if you have preferences over location, no connecting cabins, etc then you should NOT book a guarantee.

[cb at sea]

If you care nothing about your cabin, and only use it to sleep and shower, then a guarantee is a great way to save money. If you are more particular, want something in a specific area or deck, then a gtd. is not for you. I wouldn't be happy with many cabins on the ship--I have certain types and areas I only want to be. A gtd won't work for me! (Unless it was a "suite" gtd--I think I could make THAT work!)

[Woobie22]

Thank you for all the info. It looks like the ship only has balconies on deck 7 and above so we shouldn't be too low. We have sailed in an aft cabin in Hawaii and on our carribbean cruises have been in cabins mostly in the middle of the ship, we have loved both. The guarantee cabins are on sale, you get a balcony for the same price as if you booked an inside cabin where you choose your cabin. With a child getting married next year I was looking to save a little money!!

[blue_jeannie]

I was just wondering if anyone had ever booked a guaranteed balcony cabin. The prices are so much lower I was wondering what the up and down sides might be. Thanks for all your help!

 

We've only booked a guarantee once and after payment we wound up with an Owners Suite. Let's face it, if a balcony suite is less than what you would normally pay for your cabin what can you loose? :p

[Newbcruiser1]

I booked a balcony guarantee last year knowing that the lowest deck I could be on was 7 (it was on the Radiance) and that I probably wouldn't be directly below the pool or anything as those were suites. We ended up in a nice balcony room, as expected, about 4 rooms from the very back of the ship, and we were fine with that.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! For the price we would have paid to choose a specific interior or oceanview room, we got one with a balcony, which was on a higher deck than we would have had otherwise, and fit our budget!

If you look at all of the balcony cabins on the ship, and hope for the best while expecting the worst, in my opinion, you can't go wrong with a balcony guarantee.

[baabtx]

Booked a guarantee on an upcoming Voyager Cruise - I know it's the luck of the draw - so maybe I'm lucky - was assigned a Superior Balcony Cabin!

[Andy C]

I did - I did not like what they assigned me and asked my TA to change it. She called RCI and had it changed to a D1 9th floor on the hump. It was perfect and it cost me $1000 less pp than the published price. I paid $1250 and some poor saps paid $2250. Try to squeeze the system and it may work out nicely.