Trying to understand the "guarantee" reservation

Once we chose a specific cabin, said "DNU", and yet were moved to a different cabin three doors down the hall at the same grade. We never learned the reason why, but I suspect that the cabin we chose, which had a connecting door to the adjacent cabin, was given to someone who wanted two connecting rooms. The room we were given did not have one.

 

In reality I believe in the fine print HAL reserves the right to give you any cabin they please, at or above the level you chose, DNU or not! RuthC just said it happened to her.

Wow, that's not good, I always book a specific cabin and have the DNU on my reservation and never, ever have I been taken out of that cabin and put in another, this concerns me greatly as I always book way in advance to insure I get the cabin I want........anyone else have this happen to them?

Wow, that's not good, I always book a specific cabin and have the DNU on my reservation and never, ever have I been taken out of that cabin and put in another, this concerns me greatly as I always book way in advance to insure I get the cabin I want........anyone else have this happen to them?

There have been a few reports of being moved to another room even if DNU is marked. It's rare but it can happen. I think DNU means "we prefer not to be moved" but the cruise line reserves the right to move if the cruise line deems it necessary.

Read Paragraph 7 of the Cruise Contract. The cruise line reserves the right to change almost all aspect of the cruise to include ports visited, itineraries, etc. Compared to changing those things, moving a DNU is pretty small potatoes.

Read Paragraph 7 of the Cruise Contract. The cruise line reserves the right to change almost all aspect of the cruise to include ports visited, itineraries, etc. Compared to changing those things, moving a DNU is pretty small potatoes.

Not always. :rolleyes:

Not always. :rolleyes:

In this context, yes, always.

In this context, yes, always.

Moving me from my Do Not Upgrade outside cabin with a shower to a balcony cabin with a tub was absolutely, positively, no two ways about it, a MUCH bigger deal than changing my ports, or even the entire itinerary.

So, yes, not always. :mad:

Live a little!!! Take a chance... and you usually get a visit from the upgrade fairy!!!

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Keep in mind that categories on cruise ships are as much a sales and marketing tool as they are true progression in terms of perceived quality/location/space, etc. There are some ships that we have been on where we preferred to be in a lower category either because of location, size of verandah, etc.

don't bet on that. HAL will upsell and may even upgrade people who selected cabins before the guarantees.

 

I have no idea how the upsell fairy works and no magic wand;) But I have been on an number of roll calls with a LOT of guarantee cabins and very few got an upgrade. They ended up in the exact category they booked.

 

The higher cabins seemed to go to those willing to pay a bit.

 

Or, if they paid for one, then maybe they get the free upgrade.

 

No idea how it works, but I wouldn't count on all those people getting a better category. JME though and JMO.

Just got my cabin assignment for my cruise that leaves tomorrow and since I know you were skeptical about likely upgrades that I expected I thought I would bring you up to date. On our roll call only 5 people posted that they had gotten their room assignments.....two just gave the room number and did not spell out whether it was an upgrade or exactly what their guarantee was for. Two others got very good upgrades. And I got a Category D (mid ship ocean view on Deck 4) that was Mariner priced at $1879 (second highest ocean view category.) My "obstructed ocean view guarantee" was Mariner priced at $1399. I did not receive an upsell offer at any time.

Just got my cabin assignment for my cruise that leaves tomorrow and since I know you were skeptical about likely upgrades that I expected I thought I would bring you up to date. On our roll call only 5 people posted that they had gotten their room assignments.....two just gave the room number and did not spell out whether it was an upgrade or exactly what their guarantee was for. Two others got very good upgrades. And I got a Category D (mid ship ocean view on Deck 4) that was Mariner priced at $1879 (second highest ocean view category.) My "obstructed ocean view guarantee" was Mariner priced at $1399. I did not receive an upsell offer at any time.

Nice to hear:D

This is a related question.

For the first time ever we booked a window guarantee after final payment. Why right now we have a winter 2019 booked with HAL so this is way out of our comfort level as EARLY bookers.

Since booking the price has fluctuated and is now almost double what we paid. It's just short of three weeks before sailing.

• My question: is the level of your assigned cabin related to the dollar amount you paid at the time of booking. In other words will we be assigned the lowest obstructed window category?
  

I'd just like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Thanks, experts,

Ruth

This is a related question.

 

For the first time ever we booked a window guarantee after final payment. Why right now we have a winter 2019 booked with HAL so this is way out of our comfort level as EARLY bookers.

 

Since booking the price has fluctuated and is now almost double what we paid. It's just short of three weeks before sailing.

 

• My question: is the level of your assigned cabin related to the dollar amount you paid at the time of booking. In other words will we be assigned the lowest obstructed window category?
  

I'd just like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, experts,

 

 

Ruth

HAL has never disclosed the method they use in determining the order of how they fill guarantees. Many posters have indicated that they believe what the passenger paid for their booking is one of the factors used. (The more you pay the more likely you will be selected for an upgrade over the passenger who paid the least.)

I think the best method for trying to analyze what the liklihood is of an upgrade is how many unallocated cabins there are when the cruise is sold out and what category those cabins are in.

The cruise I am leaving on this morning was loaded with unallocated ocean view cabins and all of them were in the highest price categories so it was easy to see that there would be lots of upgrades. I paid the lowest price they had offered for an obstructed ocean view; but still got a very good upgrade.

This is a related question.

 

For the first time ever we booked a window guarantee after final payment. Why right now we have a winter 2019 booked with HAL so this is way out of our comfort level as EARLY bookers.

 

Since booking the price has fluctuated and is now almost double what we paid. It's just short of three weeks before sailing.

 

 

• My question: is the level of your assigned cabin related to the dollar amount you paid at the time of booking. In other words will we be assigned the lowest obstructed window category?
  

I'd just like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

 

 

Thanks, experts,

 

 

Ruth

When booking a guarantee one must always be prepared for the worst case assignment. One would think that would be the category booked, so if you booked a guarantee obstructed OV you might get that.

But you could get an upgraded category but a room location that might be worse in other aspects for you personally, maybe not for someone else.

Factors about how assignments are made are not known but some have speculated that price paid may be a factor; first time HAL cruisers may get a preference; high Mariner levels may get a preference; on segmented cruises those booked for more segments may get a preference. There are probably other factors too but we don't have any of them for fact.

But you will be on the ship! Let us know how it works out for you. m--

I always got a chuckle out of HAL offering S category guarantees on the S and R class ships before they created the somewhat artificial SA and SB categories. What was more amazing was that back then there wasn’t a nickel difference between booking a specific S and a guarantee S. That was also before HAL came up with all the confusing assortment of flash, last minute, or whatever sales they have today. I suppose the hope of those booking an S guarantee would be the chance the Penthouse Suite stayed unbooked and they’d be in the Penthouse Suite cabin lotto.

I think the best method for trying to analyze what the liklihood is of an upgrade is how many unallocated cabins there are when the cruise is sold out and what category those cabins are in.

The cruise I am leaving on this morning was loaded with unallocated ocean view cabins and all of them were in the highest price categories so it was easy to see that there would be lots of upgrades. I paid the lowest price they had offered for an obstructed ocean view; but still got a very good upgrade.

Interestingly we were only offered a guarantee in the lowest category. It was a special Canadian prices sale.

And RM Lincoln, we'll know we'll be on the ship and are prepared for a last minute assignment of a worst cabin.

And as I well suspected it's just a guess whether or not price paid is the chief determining factor. We'll hope it's not.

Since our first cruises we've inched our way from insides to windows to balcony and last winter to a suite on this same ship, the Rotterdam. But we're fickle cruisers and not loyal to one line: however we always have chosen our cabin months in advance and more recently over a year in advance.

And yes, I will post our cabin when we hear.

Ruth

Interestingly we were only offered a guarantee in the lowest category. It was a special Canadian prices sale.

 

And RM Lincoln, we'll know we'll be on the ship and are prepared for a last minute assignment of a worst cabin.

 

And as I well suspected it's just a guess whether or not price paid is the chief determining factor. We'll hope it's not.

 

Since our first cruises we've inched our way from insides to windows to balcony and last winter to a suite on this same ship, the Rotterdam. But we're fickle cruisers and not loyal to one line: however we always have chosen our cabin months in advance and more recently over a year in advance.

 

And yes, I will post our cabin when we hear.

 

Ruth

You have the right attitude Ruth, fingers crossed for you to get a happy assignment.

Our best surprise was a cruise we booked in the last 3 weeks and received the assignment at the pier. It was a super good price, so we didn't get the upgrade because we paid a high price. We went from the bottom of the barrel Inside to a midship unobstructed OV. I was thrilled! m--

HAL has never disclosed the method they use in determining the order of how they fill guarantees. Many posters have indicated that they believe what the passenger paid for their booking is one of the factors used. (The more you pay the more likely you will be selected for an upgrade over the passenger who paid the least.)

I think the best method for trying to analyze what the liklihood is of an upgrade is how many unallocated cabins there are when the cruise is sold out and what category those cabins are in.

The cruise I am leaving on this morning was loaded with unallocated ocean view cabins and all of them were in the highest price categories so it was easy to see that there would be lots of upgrades. I paid the lowest price they had offered for an obstructed ocean view; but still got a very good upgrade.

that all sounds well and good on unallocated cabins but....

You don't know how many guarantees there are booked. Those unallocated cabins may go to the guarantees in that category.

I hope you get a nice surprise, but unallocated cabins do not mean the ship is empty. It just means that people have not chosen a specific cabin and we have no idea how to know how many there are.

Once was forced into a guarantee SY while booking on board. We wanted a set room but was refused by the agent.

We got saddled with 5002 which is forward, windy, wasteful of space for non-handicap use, and just not regular.

Had to fight vigorously to get a normal SY.

Never again a guarantee booking :(

I doubt that much effort is made by the cruise line when they assign upgrades. I don't think it's totally random, but what would their incentive be to try to try to make fine distinctions among all the people booked as guarantee?

It would seem sensible however, to try to impress newer customers who have not yet chosen a favorite cruise line.

I doubt that much effort is made by the cruise line when they assign upgrades. I don't think it's totally random, but what would their incentive be to try to try to make fine distinctions among all the people booked as guarantee?

 

It would seem sensible however, to try to impress newer customers who have not yet chosen a favorite cruise line.

And you're probably correct but it's fun to speculate and hope for the best.

I'm not sure how sophisticated the programming used for the assignment of cabins, but I'm certain it's not done by a 'real' caring person.

Ruth

And you're probably correct but it's fun to speculate and hope for the best.

 

I'm not sure how sophisticated the programming used for the assignment of cabins, but I'm certain it's not done by a 'real' caring person.

 

Ruth

LOL - and I thought they just threw darts! :halo:;p

LOL - and I thought they just threw darts! :halo:;p

You're showing your age kazu!!! And I'm a senior past those prime senior years, but never thought of darts!!

Ruth

But you will be on the ship! Let us know how it works out for you. m--

Seven days to go and no cabin assignment. We suspect they're trying to adapt the furnace room for a pair of last minute cheap skates. Just hope we won't be expected to stoke the furnaces; however if we are, we'll get all fired up and insist on a free dinner in the PC in return for service rendered. Mind you it may be a challenge to get all cleaned up and presentable.

Ruth

When I booked, the guarantee was over $300 cheaper per person than if I selected a cabin even at the lowest level in its class (which I would have booked). So for saving $600, we will end up in at least what we would have booked...which I'll be happy with. Anything else is "gravy". My last HAL cruise I booked an MM inside and ended up with a "K" inside. I'm in a verandah gty this time.....I will find out in about 3 weeks where my cabin actually is.....but the worst verandah cabin aboard ship is better than a day in the chair at the office!!! Give me a blanket and pillows and I'll sleep in the life boat if it means I get to cruise!!!

Cruising in a month and have booked a guaranteed Neptune Suite. First cruise we booked a balcony, took upsell to Neptune. Next cruise, we booked specific balcony, didn't take an upsell. Third cruise we booked a specific balcony, and didn't get an upsell email, so two days before I called as I knew there were suites available. I was told that I had received the email upsell that day. Nope, never came to this day. Not sure why it didn't arrive as I get emails constantly from HA. Anyway, ended up with a Signature suite and we were very happy. I'm assuming that this time our guarantee of a Neptune Suite shouldn't be a problem. It was a very low price we got and jumped at the last minute cruise opportunity. Aren't they all considered basically mid-ship?

Cruising in a month and have booked a guaranteed Neptune Suite. First cruise we booked a balcony, took upsell to Neptune. Next cruise, we booked specific balcony, didn't take an upsell. Third cruise we booked a specific balcony, and didn't get an upsell email, so two days before I called as I knew there were suites available. I was told that I had received the email upsell that day. Nope, never came to this day. Not sure why it didn't arrive as I get emails constantly from HA. Anyway, ended up with a Signature suite and we were very happy. I'm assuming that this time our guarantee of a Neptune Suite shouldn't be a problem. It was a very low price we got and jumped at the last minute cruise opportunity. Aren't they all considered basically mid-ship?

In our experience you can't go wrong saving money on the guaranteed NEPTUNE SUITE. Basically the absolute worst thing that could happen is you were assigned one of the aft corner Neptunes or have a long walk to the Lounge. November will be our 6th guaranteed Neptune, never an issue, remember you will receive all the benefits of the Neptune Suite wherever you land ..

;-)

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