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Booked a VF guar balcony...then got a ???

wldflr

By wldflr,
in Holland America Line

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wldflr

wldflr

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After 10 cruises on various lines, I decided to take a gamble and book a balcony guarantee (VF) with no set cabin # to save $$.

 

What I want to know if you've done this on HAL, what cabin category did you end up with? What are the odds that we'll get a VF or do most do better?

 

We're sailing on the Eurodam 12-5-09 so fingers are crossed for an upgrade but we're thrilled just to be going on this ship...period.

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jtl513

jtl513

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On Vistas we have booked guarantees of VH, VF, VE, and VD, and were given a VA each time.

 

On the Eurodam we booked a specific cabin and said Do Not Upgrade. Even then, we were called to ask if we wanted an upsell. We declined.

 

YMMV :)

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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

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After 10 cruises on various lines, I decided to take a gamble and book a balcony guarantee (VF) with no set cabin # to save $$.

 

What I want to know if you've done this on HAL, what cabin category did you end up with? What are the odds that we'll get a VF or do most do better?

 

We're sailing on the Eurodam 12-5-09 so fingers are crossed for an upgrade but we're thrilled just to be going on this ship...period.

 

 

2 years ago we booked a specific cabin, for handicapped (due to scooter.)

 

Decided last year that I did not need it and wanted to try a VF instead with possibility of upgrade (free) and upsell (at a cost). We ended up last year with one free upgrade to a VD and then 1 week before cruise received chance to upsell to SA Deluxe Verandah Suite for $300. total price for each of us. We chose the upsell and were sooooooooooo happy!!!!!!!

 

Hoping for same this year, if not better:D

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trophy_23

trophy_23

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Any idea how this guarantee process is done? Is it purely a lottery type system? Or first come first upgraded? Or does sea days/mariner number come into play? We are booked on VH guarantee for Eurodam Sept 26 and have our fingers crossed!!

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bepsf

bepsf

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Any idea how this guarantee process is done? Is it purely a lottery type system? Or first come first upgraded? Or does sea days/mariner number come into play? We are booked on VH guarantee for Eurodam Sept 26 and have our fingers crossed!!

 

Nobody knows -

I don't think that the folks in Seattle even know...

...but it certainly has nothing to do with Mariner status.

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RuthC

RuthC

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Any idea how this guarantee process is done? Is it purely a lottery type system? Or first come first upgraded? Or does sea days/mariner number come into play?

That is one of the great unanswered questions of our lives. The truth will only be revealed when we are on the eternal cruise.

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karen&kevin

karen&kevin

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We booked a VF guarantee 3 years ago on Westerdam, and we ended up with... a VF.

We got Cabin 4005, almost as far forward as you can go, and while we weren't disappointed, (we knew the risks going in) we definitely won't do that again. We ended up spending very little time on the balcony and it was far too windy to eat breakfast out there! Sadly that's our favorite thing to do.... The balcony is smaller than most, since the curve of the ship cuts into the space.

 

This time we booked a VD guarantee, since we've decided that's the lowest category we'd be comfortable with.

 

Good luck! I hope you don't end up with the VF.

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jsmc4

jsmc4

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We booked 2 VF rooms for our 8/26 Noordam trip. I don't think it was a "guarantee" because we had our room number assigned for many months. It had a steel rail. A few weeks ago our TA offered us an upsell to SS for 299 pp. Yes, it is the "dreaded" room under the Lido deck but we took it. I'm thinking the extra room and plexiglass rail will make up for the noise from above. Good luck to you!

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momofmeg

momofmeg

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We booked a VF guarantee in 2008 and ended up with a VB, deluxe balcony? The room was nice. Thanks to reading this board, we learned the VF on deck 4 have steel balconies-so this time, we booked a guarantee VF deck 5. If the balcony is a little smaller, I will not mind.

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operafan

operafan

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We booked a VF guarantee for our Alaska cruise in June and ended up with a VB. If we find a price that good again we'll book the guarantee again but that was the first time we'd ever done that. Ended up being very happy with our cabin location..........

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jtl513

jtl513

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... -so this time, we booked a guarantee VF deck 5.
You can't book a guarantee and specify a deck. If you have a VF guarantee you may end up deck 4. If you have a specific cabin on deck 5, then you don't have a guarantee. Or did you mean you have a VE guarantee, which are only on 5? :)
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wldflr

wldflr

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Thanks everyone!

 

I've been wondering who ARE the people who end up with a VF balcony?

 

Are the odds better for an upgrade if the ship isn't full?

 

Dandro...I would be so over the moon if I got upgraded to a suite from a VF....lucky you!

 

Honestly I'm hoping everyone in FLL on 12/05/09 will be boarding the Oasis of the Seas and keep the Eurodam 'light' for the week.

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sue117

sue117

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We booked directly with HA this summer a VF guarentee. Just got a room assigned today...a VA (on teh back of the ship...interesting!! We've never been in the back before!).

 

Last year when we cruised we also got an upgrade, but we were upgraded to a SS (I think that's right, the lowest suite available) when we got to the pier (which was an upgrade from what we THOUGHT we had before we left home that day!).

 

MY question is...how do we get offered an "upsell" if we booked with HA directly? no one has ever called us to see if we want to pay more for an upgrade. Is that only for people that use travel agents?

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momofmeg

momofmeg

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You can't book a guarantee and specify a deck. If you have a VF guarantee you may end up deck 4. If you have a specific cabin on deck 5, then you don't have a guarantee. Or did you mean you have a VE guarantee, which are only on 5? :)

 

Yes you can-I did this Saturday-so yes I do know what I am taking about.

Well I would tell you the agency, but CC forbids that-but they advertise here-perhaps you can figure it out.

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Randyk47

Randyk47

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We booked directly with HA this summer a VF guarantee. Just got a room assigned today...a VA (on the back of the ship...interesting!! We've never been in the back before!).

 

Last year when we cruised we also got an upgrade, but we were upgraded to a SS (I think that's right, the lowest suite available) when we got to the pier (which was an upgrade from what we THOUGHT we had before we left home that day!).

 

MY question is...how do we get offered an "upsell" if we booked with HA directly? no one has ever called us to see if we want to pay more for an upgrade. Is that only for people that use travel agents?

 

HAL is acting as your travel agent when you book directly with them. There's really no way to say if an external travel agent gets better offers for their clients than HAL would offer. I've heard all sorts of opinions both ways. Personally I've never booked directly with HAL and the only upsell offer I've ever gotten came through my travel agent. We didn't accept it as it was the full fare difference between our booked Cat B and a Cat S which amounted to several thousands of dollars. Of course, we also don't book guarantees and usually book Cat B or better so upgrade/upsell opportunities are greatly reduced for us.

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jtl513

jtl513

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Yes you can-I did this Saturday-so yes I do know what I am taking about.
And you're sure that your TA didn't change you from a VF guarantee to a VE guarantee? I have never heard of booking a guarantee for a specific deck. :confused::confused: It's a new one to me! :)
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momofmeg

momofmeg

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And you're sure that your TA didn't change you from a VF guarantee to a VE guarantee? I have never heard of booking a guarantee for a specific deck. :confused::confused: It's a new one to me! :)

 

I used an online agency-as far as I know that is all that advertises here.

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