Guaranteed staterooms

[karenvit]

I am a confessed newbie--but a question for all of you who have gone for a guaranteed stateroom--were you happy with what you got--we did not have the guts to go to a guaranteed room--my husband was convinced that we would be sleeping next to the engine room--what are your experiences and what have you heard--so next time we may be prepared--thanks for all of your advice and patience.

 

Karen

[Alliezona09]

We did an interior guarantee for our up coming cruise~ we are on the Lido deck~ I'm very happy with it~:D

[Traveler353]

I have only booked a GTY cabin once. Ended up with exactly the cabin that I told my PVP that I wanted. Life is good when your cruisin'.

[cb at sea]

If there are areas where you would HATE to be, I mean, HATE so bad it would ruin your vacation, then do not book a gty.....if you aren't picky, then it'll be ok!

[trace2010]

Hate to say it but I would NEVER do Guarenteed stateroom -- beleive it or not location is really important! We always try to get mid-ship so we can come out of our room and be right there at everything. If you are way in the front or way in the back its a long walk - and that walk is longer than you think! I would without a doubt pick your stateroom! Happy crusing! Once you go you will be hooked!

[paul929207]

If you book a guarantee, you must be willing to take any cabin in the category you book and every higher category.

[trophy_23]

I think a gty is a great way to go and for me I dont care about location and the more walking the better. The only place I think location would be big is if you have Neptune and you want to be close. Other than that I am always willing to do a gty to hopefully get upgraded.

[simplelife]

Detailed deck plans are available on the cruiseline websites or in brochures from your TA. Study them carefully to see which cabins are included in your category. If you would be happy with all of them (plus all above the category) book a GTY for that category. If any are unsatisfactory, do not book a GTY. Most people who book a GTY get exactly what they booked or something only slightly higher (for example, the same type of cabin on the same deck but a slightly better ship position, or on a higher deck.) We've done GTY sucessfully a couple of times and saved some money.

[RYMOMA]

we booked GTY on NCL Spirit to bermuda

 

cheapest rate for the cruise, CAT N interior stateroom

 

we went from what would of been deck 4 to deck 9 AFT

 

looking at the layout of the ship and seeing youtube videos as well

i believe i will be very happy

[explodr]

We have booked gty several times and been happy each time we arnt to picky never had a noisy room and any walk is good for you the ships arnt that big 5 min bow to stern

[KAYEF]

We've had some great upgrades.............and one awful one. The bad one was just below LOUD CHAINS that most likely dropped the anchor at each port, beginning about four a.m. each time. We were on a back to back and it took them about twelve days to "relocate us" to a quieter cabin which we had three days to enjoy.

But, our prior upgrades had been wonderful.

Only once did I choose and say "NO CHANGE" and was I every sorry. It was a TA from Barcelona to Galveston and I wanted the very center and lowest part of the ship.

Seems everyone got upgraded to verandahs and we were down thee by ourselves and the water was as smooth as a tiny lake the whole way across (October). Oh, well............it was a GRAND cruise.:D

[bluehawks47]

We booked a gty balcony for our March cruise and we were assigned a pretty nice stateroom, from what I gather. I think we could have gotten a lot worse. We saved a lot of money doing it this way. Normally, we would never do a balcony because they cost too much, but with the gty, we were able to. Woo Hoo!!

[MissMichelle]

we have only booked a GTY once.....it was an interior guarantee and we ended up with a promenade state room no the Liberty of the seas which is what we wanted and we saved TONS doing it that way!

Enjoy!!

[beachchick]

Booking a GTY can be tricky. For every "We got a little upgrade and assigned to a perfect location" or the very, very rare, "We booked an inside GTY and got assigned to a great balcony cabin" (did I mention this is rare?), you'll read, "We booked an oceanview GTY and got assigned a cabin on the second deck, all the way forward, right under the anchor" or "We ended up in a balcony cabin, but it was right above/below the fill-in-the-blank-loud-activity; it was so noisy we couldn't sleep at night." And so forth.

 

If you would in fact be okay sleeping "next to the engine room" as it were, then a GTY is a good choice. You'd want to look at the deck plans and find the cabins in the category or categories of the GTY. Then figure out which locations would be the worst for you. If you would be satisfied with that worst cabin, then a GTY can be a great choice. You might get a much better location or be upgraded to a higher category or even type. Keep in mind that "upgrade" is not necssarily a great thing. Would you be happier in the perfectly located inside cabin or the absolute worst oceanview (with tiny porthole, near the anchor, and forward, for example)? So you need to be sure that you would be happy (or at least, okay) in any cabin in categories higher than the GTY category/categories.

 

Some people (including members here), book GTYs and then come and whine/complain, "I booked a GTY and they assigned us to the worst cabin in the category we booked!" Well, that's the risk. Sometimes, but not always, it's possible to ask to go back into the GTY "pool" and wait for a different assignment, which could be better or might not. Sometimes, but not always, it's possible to ask to be switched to a different cabin, as long as it's in the exact category of your assigned cabin.

 

If you're among those who doesn't really care where your cabin is, then a GTY can be a good choice. Generally, when GTYs are offered (and they aren't always), the fare is lower. There is also the small possibility that you would be assigned into a wonderfully located upgraded cabin.

 

We don't book GTYs because we are particular about the type and location of our cabins. Sometimes its' tempting, but we know ourselves well enough to know that it's not what we should do.

 

BTW, you can reassure your husband that you won't be assigned to a cabin next to the actual engine room.;)

 

beachchick

[silentbob007]

I've never had a problem with a GTY and have booked many of them ... but then again, I don't care if I'm in the back, forward, or center of the ship.

[BoardwalkBabe]

We've done several GTY cabins without any issues. The only one that we didn't love was on Sovereign because we were way up in the front and very loud when they dropped the anchor.

[DrVS]

The only time we got inside GTY, we ended up with forward inside on the 9th deck. It was very quiet the whole time. But as they say, caveat emptor, i.e. past performance does not guarantee future results!

[xxoocruiser]

Never been disappointed on a gaurantee cabin. Have always been upgraded. In fact I've never been upgraded when I booked a designated cabin.