Anyone get annoyed waiting for cabin assignment when category is sold out?

Eagerly awaiting our assignment for Dec. 3 ....... checking daily! :D

I guess not many folks get antsy about it. It's not like I am worried about not having one at all. I would just like to know sooner. HA HA. Thought there might be some kindred spirits out there. :cool:

Antsy? Sure, I'll go along with antsy. The only time it happened to us, though, it had a happy ending, the moveover offer from heaven. As long as you haven't been assigned, there's a chance for upward mobility, so keep that in mind.

And for those who say if you don't like the drama, don't book a guarantee, sometimes that's all that's left late in the game. We've booked a GTY three times, and each time it wasn't our choice, just all we could get.

Jim

Have to admit it would drive me nuts not knowing which cabin. That's one reason we like to pick our own cabin and don't book guarantees.

And you can wait until the pier, but don't have to. Cabin will be in the Personalizer day or two before at latest. Of course a small chance it might change then, but not so much I think.

On one cruise we did not actually get a cabin assignment until we arrived at the port!

 

Hank

I believe Hank, as opposed to speculation.

The latest we received an assignment was 1600 the afternoon before departure.

Actually, I never received an assignment. I kept checking my luggage tags, and

they continued to say TBA.

Strangely, Mrs. Pablo's were updated, and mine were not.

Fortunately, she was gracious enough to share the cabin with me.

Perhaps, but they can always upgrade someone else from their lower cabin to something else and then slot the GTY in that spot. No "guarantee" of getting anything better. Last time we did GTY on a B2B, we got a better category of Inside than we booked under - but it was a room for 4 (we were fine for 5 nights). The second one we got exactly the category we had the GTY under even though it had shown sold out.

 

And you can wait until the pier, but don't have to. Cabin will be in the Personalizer day or two before at latest. Of course a small chance it might change then, but not so much I think.

The bookings are actually a "Minimum Grade Guarantee" and the people you refer to must be in a higher grade than your minimum. They could upgrade someone else already booked into a higher grade than your minimum and put you into the cabin they are vacating. You are still getting a higher grade than your minimum. It is easier to book the guarantee straight into the higher grade as fewer administrative changes are required.

If a cruise is sold out and overbooked you might find that the cruise line is waiting and hoping someone will be a no-show to get them out of the fix.

Regards John

Not to drift from the original topic--but if you get assigned a cabin for segment one that you find preferable to the one confirmed for segments two and three the person to see about trying to hang on to that cabin is the Future Cruise Consultant (rather than the Purser's desk). It will take them a day or so to confirm they can stick the person(s) assigned that cabin for the next two segments with an involuntary upgrade--but it is definitely possible and you may be surprised with how little the cost is. (You didn't think I was leading you to believe you can get a free upgrade, no?)

Really? This is very interesting . . . I'm in two different cabins on my upcoming b2b, and while the second leg is in a coveted Caribe deck balcony, I'd almost be willing to trade that for the pleasure of not having to pack up and relocate on turnaround day. Tell me more: have you actually done this yourself? And do all FCCs know they can do this? I'd hate to walk up to her and ask her, only to have her look at me blankly like I'm a babbling idiot.

I believe Hank, as opposed to speculation.

 

 

The latest we received an assignment was 1600 the afternoon before departure.

Actually, I never received an assignment. I kept checking my luggage tags, and

they continued to say TBA.

 

Strangely, Mrs. Pablo's were updated, and mine were not.

Fortunately, she was gracious enough to share the cabin with me.

The only thing I speculated about was that a cabin assignment might change again at the pier. Anymore, that seems a very small chance going by reports on here. I was just trying to cover the bases. But if you do check Personalizer you will find cabin assignment (lots of people on CC report that), just like your wife found updated luggage tags.

The bookings are actually a "Minimum Grade Guarantee" and the people you refer to must be in a higher grade than your minimum. They could upgrade someone else already booked into a higher grade than your minimum and put you into the cabin they are vacating. You are still getting a higher grade than your minimum. It is easier to book the guarantee straight into the higher grade as fewer administrative changes are required.

 

If a cruise is sold out and overbooked you might find that the cruise line is waiting and hoping someone will be a no-show to get them out of the fix.

 

Regards John

I believe you misunderstood me, NBD. My point was this. Say I have a Category IE GTY. They could upgrade someone already in an IE to an IA and give me their IE. Or, as you suggest, they could just give me the IE and bypass the additional work. Doesn't surprise me if both happen. Based on other experts on CC, I don't think Princess counts on last-minute no-shows like airlines do. They have a cabin or they don't before you leave home. No shows result in chances to move some people around perhaps.

I was surprised to get our cabin assignment in four days for our cruise on the Royal next month. I booked it last month, about two months before we sail. We got a nice cabin--upgraded from a BF guarantee to a BB. For our August cruise on the Caribbean, our wait was even shorter. We got our assignment two days after I booked.

The only thing I speculated about was that a cabin assignment might change again at the pier. .

You claimed that one can always see their assignment a day or two before sailing in the personalizer.

Another very reliable poster's personal experience was contrary to your claim.

You have sensitized me to fake news, so I quickly notice false claims.

I don't know. Tell me... is it anything like that anxiety you feel when that pretty dress you wanna buy yourself that's too expensive, just doesn't ever seem to get marked down or go on sale?

Or the flight you want to book is more than the other flight(s) that day. Sure.. it's life.

You claimed that one can always see their assignment a day or two before sailing in the personalizer.

 

Another very reliable poster's personal experience was contrary to your claim.

 

You have sensitized me to fake news, so I quickly notice false claims.

I guess one person here or there is the exception to the rule. I think one thing we all learn about Princess and cruising is that there are very few, if any, absolutes. So it can be there but it might not be there.

February Star Princess Just received our room assignments for the guaranteed obstructed oceanview OZ booking room today. 4 staterooms. My kids were upgraded from OZ to two OC unobstructed rooms, my parents to OF unobstructed all on Plaza deck 5 next to each other. But I got the short straw and was given an OV obstructed room on Emerald deck 8. Three decks away from all of them. Not looking forward to that. I called and they would do nothing about it. That is disappointing.

Part of the fun is the waiting game (for an assignment). Just last month we grabbed an amazing deal (we are talking about less than $50 per passenger day...after adjusting for OBCs) on the Regal Princess. But to get this deal we had to do an obstructed balcony guarantee. We got our cabin assignment 3 days before the cruise....and it was a nice upgrade to a Cat BD....and we were paying less than half the cost of what most had paid who had selected a cabin in that class.

Two years ago we did the same Regal cruise with the same kind of low cost guarantee...and got upgraded to the highest category balcony...amid ships on one of the top decks. Last year we did the same thing and did not get any upgrade and was assigned a "partially obstructed" balcony cabin. However, the Partial Obstruction was simply that a lifeboat was under our cabin balcony...and blocked our direct view if we looked down to the sea.

We mentioned (in our earlier post) that we have a MD (mini suite) guarantee on an upcoming longer Golden cruise. This was not even a choice since we booked this cruise when it was almost full. There were no decent cabins available for our entire cruise (3 segments) and the only good option was the guarantee. So how will this one work out? Have no clue...but the guarantee roulette game is always interesting. Maybe this time lady luck will strike and we will get an upgrade to a full suite (unlikely). But its fun to dream :).

Hank

Anyone besides me get frustrated waiting for Princess to assign a cabin to a GTY booking when the ship is showing virtually sold out, and especially nothing for sale in your category?

We know they have to have inventory held back, so why not just go ahead and assign it out?

Why book a GTY if you will get annoyed???????????????

Why book a GTY if you will get annoyed???????????????

Yes, I typed "annoyed" in the thread title, but used "frustrated" in my posting. I think subsequent posts made it clear I wasn't mad or annoyed. So, thanks for your helpful post.

I just wanted to see if a discussion might ensue how people thought about waiting for what might come. Yes, there's a nice anticipatory part to it - especially when one has read about other folk's results (and I suppose most people tend to post the good to great results).

But I was making a specific point as when a sailing appears virtually sold out, why not go ahead and do the assignments? Anyway, it's just a conversation.

As I have said, the new game for cruise lines is upsells. Once upon a time, free upgrades were the norm and many of us did well. But then lines like HAL discovered that there was true gold in those upgrades...and why give away what you can sell. And hence, the guarantee folks must wait for all the upsell business to work it self out. And then you will have cruises where, although you may not see it, there are empty cabins. A cruise line might hold a block of cabins for many reasons...such as for friends and employees (talk to those who work at the ports). A lot can happen behind the scenes in the last few weeks before a cruise. Some of the guarantees may well be the last to actually get a cabin assignment...once everything else is resolved. We have booked cruises at the last minute (within 10 days of the cruise) where we could have had our choice of multiple categories. Guarantees may be held on the sidelines until last minute bookers are accommodated. Each cruise line has their own proprietary algorithms and procedures how they fill cabins and "close out" a cruise,

Hank

Booked 4 days ago and leaving on the 30th and still haven’t been assigned. Either way I’m excited since this was last minute,a birthday gift. But I am curious to which room I’ll get. I’ve read so many things about guaranteed rooms it can be bad or good.

Lots of people get frustrated by this - check out how many people post here, all panicked, saying "My cruise starts boarding in {insert an amount of time that's more than 1 minute, often more than 1 month} and I don't have a cabin assignment yet, what on Earth will I do?".

I'm with you. We know the game, as well. I find it interesting that with only a small of balconies available (no suites and 2-3 mini's) that there is the wait.

For me, it's trying to figure out the impossible. Attempting to analyze the Princess (system?), is kind of like figuring out when a slot is going to hit. We have two GTY's balconies booked and no assignment yet, although there are only 7 cabins left (3 mini's, no suites). Regardless, enjoying the excitement building up!

For me, it's trying to figure out the impossible. Attempting to analyze the Princess (system?), is kind of like figuring out when a slot is going to hit. We have two GTY's balconies booked and no assignment yet, although there are only 7 cabins left (3 mini's, no suites). Regardless, enjoying the excitement building up!

And what makes you think you can see all the available cabins. You only see what the cruise line wants you to see. Cabins are pulled out of available inventory for many reasons.

We’ve booked guarantees many times. We’ve usually received the cabin assignment way before the cruise except our last cruise on the Royal. We booked a guarantee at the lowest mini suite level for our 21-day Mediterranean cruise. We hadn’t received our cabin and even printed our boarding passes and luggage tags without the cabin number. Then an hour before heading to the airport we received our cabin; an upgrade to a full suite. Well worth the anticipation.

We’ve booked guarantees many times. We’ve usually received the cabin assignment way before the cruise except our last cruise on the Royal. We booked a guarantee at the lowest mini suite level for our 21-day Mediterranean cruise. We hadn’t received our cabin and even printed our boarding passes and luggage tags without the cabin number. Then an hour before heading to the airport we received our cabin; an upgrade to a full suite. Well worth the anticipation.

Upgrade to a full suite for a 21 day cruise!! I’d say you hit the lottery!!

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wonder why Princess didn't offer the full suite at a can't refuse "upsell" offer first?

hmmmmmmm???

And what makes you think you can see all the available cabins. You only see what the cruise line wants you to see. Cabins are pulled out of available inventory for many reasons.

Please enlighten me.