Question About Guaranteed Cabins

[Rudolph38]

Perhaps this is a question only HAL or a TA might be able to answer. However, perhaps some of you know the answer to it.

 

We have a VF Guarantee Feb. 22 on the Noordam. If it appears that the cruise will not be sold out, and there will be both VF and higher categories available at time of sailing, would HAL's tendency be to move guarantees to a higher category or leave them at the guarantee? Are there any unwritten policies involved here?

 

Thanks for any input you can give me on this.

 

Rudy

[jtl513]

would HAL's tendency be to move guarantees to a higher category or leave them at the guarantee?

Yes, guarantees are moved up to fill higher categories. It costs HAL virtually nothing to do so, and makes the upgraded passengers happy .... usually. We have done guarantees on 6 HAL cruises and have been upgraded every time. Sometimes they were only a step or two, but we've been shifted from VE to VA twice, and VD to VA once.

 

Of course not everyone who books a guarantee can be upgraded every time, so be prepared to get exactly what you paid for! And some people here will tell you that it will be the worst of the class: the "one nobody else wanted". :)

 

We are awaiting assignment on our 7th guarantee right now.

 

Good luck on yours! :)

[jimgev]

As a rule of thumb, never book a guarantee cabin if you would not be happy with the lowest category in the guarantee. Go along with the expectation that you will get the lowest category and then, if an upgrade does occur, it is a pleasant surprise.

[hammybee]

 

Yes, guarantees are moved up to fill higher categories. :)

 

Upgrades exist for the convenience of the cruise line. You get upgraded when the cruise line needs your cabin...when they sell more cabins in a cabin grade than they have available. Upgrades start from the bottom, up because it easier to sell a less costly cabin, than not.

 

Given the OP's cruise is more than 3 months into the future, there is more than enough time for this cruise to sell out. VF is the lowest grade cabin so it is also the most likely grade to be oversold and thus the opportunity for an upgrade.

 

I will speculate that it is possible, in these economic times, for there to be more ships sailing with unsold cabins and as such, there may be a strategy in place to upgrade some passengers to generate good will and repeat business. How a cruise line might go about this is anyone's guess.

[jrzebird]

We had a VF cabin on our first sailing on he Noordam. It is a very nice room, well located, and comfortable. That being said, there are VF rooms on Deck 4 with obstructed views and I would NOT want that,

[kyriecat]

VF is the lowest grade cabin so it is also the most likely grade to be oversold and thus the opportunity for an upgrade.

I'm just trying to clarify something for my curiosity. I've booked a verandah guarantee cabin (which I will be happy with!) but am wondering about your statement that VFs are most likely to get an upgrade. Does that mean if a suite is available, a person who booked a VF is more likely to get an upgrade than someone in a verandah? I'm happy with my category choice so if I don't get upgraded, I'm not going to complain. I'm just curious about others' experiences.

[LUV2CRUZalso]

On all our cruises thus far, we have booked specific cabins through our TA. When everyone talks about "Guaranteed", are you speaking of booking a guaranteed class of cabins, to be assigned at a later date? If so, I can understand how you would be in the pool for upgrade consideration. Does anyone have experience of being upgraded from a specific cabin assignment? We are also on the 22 Feb sailing of the Noordam and have a specific VA cabin booked. Is it possible that we would be considered for a suite, if available?

 

Rudolph38 - join our roll-call for the 2/22 Noordam sailing.

 

Cheers to ALL !!!!!

 

Denny & Karen ;):p

[richwmn]

On all our cruises thus far, we have booked specific cabins through our TA. When everyone talks about "Guaranteed", are you speaking of booking a guaranteed class of cabins, to be assigned at a later date? If so, I can understand how you would be in the pool for upgrade consideration. Does anyone have experience of being upgraded from a specific cabin assignment? We are also on the 22 Feb sailing of the Noordam and have a specific VA cabin booked. Is it possible that we would be considered for a suite, if available?

 

Rudolph38 - join our roll-call for the 2/22 Noordam sailing.

 

Cheers to ALL !!!!!

 

Denny & Karen ;):p

I have been "upgraded" from a specific cabin twice. Your TA or PCC can mark your reservation "do not upgrade" and you will get the cabin you asked for. If that is not done, you may be in line for an upgrade, however what consists of an upgrade in HALs eyes might not be an upgrade in yours. It may be just moving a couple of cabins one way or the other.

 

Rich

[jtl513]

VF is the lowest grade cabin so it is also the most likely grade to be oversold and thus the opportunity for an upgrade.

Actually VH is the lowest verandah, and since there are only four of them that is the most likely to be upgraded.

 

That being said, there are VF rooms on Deck 4 with obstructed views and I would NOT want that,

They're only obstructed if you are seated.

 

I'm just trying to clarify something for my curiosity. I've booked a verandah guarantee cabin (which I will be happy with!) but am wondering about your statement that VFs are most likely to get an upgrade. Does that mean if a suite is available, a person who booked a VF is more likely to get an upgrade than someone in a verandah?

Not exactly. (First of all, a VF IS a verandah.) Everything works on a shuffle-up basis usually. If there is an SA/SB/SC cabin available it will most likely go to someone who booked an SS, SY, or SZ guarantee. If there is an SS, SY, SZ available, it will most likely go to someone who booked a guarantee of something in the VA/VB/VC range. On the other end of the scale, people with inside guarantees usually get moved up a few steps, or into an outside (non-verandah). Outsides most often get moved up to low verandahs, etc, etc.

 

However, there are sometimes spectacular upgrades. On our 3-day cruise on the Eurodam in Oct (which I believe was greatly undersold) one of our CC members (martyz) booked a VH gaurantee and was at first assigned an SY. Close to sailing he was reassigned to an SA!! It was his first HAL cruise.

 

Does anyone have experience of being upgraded from a specific cabin assignment? We are also on the 22 Feb sailing of the Noordam and have a specific VA cabin booked. Is it possible that we would be considered for a suite, if available?

Yes, it can happen as long as you told your TA at booking that you want to be considered for an upgrade. On our Eurodam cruise we specifically told the TA that we did NOT want an upgrade, and even then we were called to see if we wanted an upSELL. The price was too much, and we declined.

[Two@Sea]

We have always selected the specific cabin we wanted, and usually book over a year in advance. I am reminded here of those "things you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask" magazine articles. I wondered about guarantee bookings, but was afraid of the consequences. :o

 

Given the current economic climate, and thanks to this great information, we might consider a "guarantee" booking in the future. Being happy with the lowest cabin in the category selected seems to be the key. We can work with that! Thanks!

[wwinfl91]

Just got our cabin for our Nov 15th Eurodam cruise today. We had booked a VH guarantee with an online agency and when I check HAL's website today I found we had a VA balcony on the Navigation deck in the middle to back of the ship near the rear set of elevators. It will be easy to get to the Lido deck and to the Ocean View pool and its hot tubs.

 

We are very happy with the way it worked out although waiting until 3 days before we board the ship to find out our cabin number was a little nerve racking.

 

We have done guarantees a couple of times before and almost always tell our TA to mark us as willing to take an upgrade.

 

The best upgrade so far was on RCCL's Jewel of the Seas on a Transatlantic cruise when we went from an outside cabin to a balcony cabin on the hump (bigger balcony). That was really a pleasant surprise.

 

Have a great next cruise.