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Guarantee cabin


Tiffany's mom

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We are booked for a guarantee cabin on the ruby 10/24. Booked only 2 weeks ago. We are also doing the TA before this cruise ( have had the TA booked for 16 months). So far no cabin and there are only 3 cabins above our guarantee FF.

 

What I do not understand is that Princess is still selling cabins. I know it is still over 50 days to sailing. Do they expect people to cancel after final payment. Every day I see one or two less cabins. There are cabins below what we booked but I really don't want them.

 

I wonder how many others are waiting for a cabin?

 

Pam

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It is all about yield management and the Cruise lines getting the maximum $ for each cabin based on demand that moves from day to day . Sorta like shooting at shadows .

 

If you select a Guarantee Cabin then this is the sort of drawn out drama of suspense they put you through till you are allocated a cabin . Some people are advised on arrival at the wharf ! You will be allocated a cabin, have never heard of anyone getting "bounced".

 

Next time save yourself the drama of Guaranteed cabins, or the other Upgrade Stateroom option often offered. Under this marketing "con" people expect to be zapped up from say an Oceanview to a Balcony, but in most cases the upgrade if given is from say an Inside on one Deck to an Inside on a higher deck . Also often the allocated upgrade cabin has hidden drawbacks, next to stairwells, or under pool decks where herds of partying elephants thump around to the wee hours .

 

Better to study up the Deck plans and request the Stateroom you want and stick with it , (decline the upgrade option.)

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We are booked for a guarantee cabin on the ruby 10/24. Booked only 2 weeks ago. We are also doing the TA before this cruise ( have had the TA booked for 16 months). So far no cabin and there are only 3 cabins above our guarantee FF.

 

What I do not understand is that Princess is still selling cabins. I know it is still over 50 days to sailing. Do they expect people to cancel after final payment. Every day I see one or two less cabins. There are cabins below what we booked but I really don't want them.

 

I wonder how many others are waiting for a cabin?

 

Pam

Trust me Princess has done this B4.

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Yes I know we will have a cabin. (I hope) We picked a guarantee because there were no cabins avaiable in FF. We a taking this cruise to became elite. Since we are arriving on the Ruby and then going home to California there is really no additional air fare to think about. My DH would whether do the Carribean than a Alaska cruise next summer. I only needed two days for elite. We want to be elite next year on our 18 day TA.

 

I expect to have no better than FF because we booked so this cruise so late. Hopefully we will know our cabin before we arrive in Fort Landerdale. On Oct 24. We are leaving on Sept 30 and visiting Lake Como before we go to Venice to get the Rudy.

 

It just would be interesting to know when Princess assigns cabins and marks the cruise Sold Out.

 

Pam

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It just would be interesting to know when Princess assigns cabins and marks the cruise Sold Out.

 

Pam

 

When Princess stops selling certain categories, it will show 'waitlist only' for that category. They know how many guarantees they have to fill, and they will have enough to fill those. If by chance the cruise is oversold because of lack of cancellations, Princess will begin making offers to some to move to a different cruise/ sailing date. Don't panic, those offers are not mandatory and are completely on a volunteer basis if you are contacted for a move over offer.

There is a slight chance you will not find out your cabin location until you arrive at the pier. These are the chances you take when booking a guarantee category. But with 50 days to go.............that is a long time left for them to make the cabin assignment. Many don't find out until only days before, or as said, when they arrive at the pier.

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You never know how this will go. I booked a balcony guarantee for our CB cruise tomorrow about 3 months out. Got assigned within a week. About 6 people on our roll call booked guarantees and just got assigned this week!!! The incredible thing is I believe three of them got assigned suites:D Also, a bunch got move over calls. Don't think anyone accepted it.

 

So you just never know what's going to happen. Just don't count on an upgrade, but you will get assigned a cabin.....enjoy your cruise:)

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Before our cruise last month on the Sapphire, I checked cabin availability almost daily. We did not get our cabin assignment until four days before the cruise. I was checking our category of obstructed view cabins and the categories above it. There were days when some categories would be waitlisted or show up as guarantee only, but then a few days later there would be specific cabins available in those categories. We eventually were assigned an unobstructed view.

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We are booked for a guarantee cabin on the ruby 10/24. Booked only 2 weeks ago. We are also doing the TA before this cruise ( have had the TA booked for 16 months). So far no cabin and there are only 3 cabins above our guarantee FF.

 

What I do not understand is that Princess is still selling cabins. I know it is still over 50 days to sailing. Do they expect people to cancel after final payment. Every day I see one or two less cabins. There are cabins below what we booked but I really don't want them.

 

Pam

First, having accepted your Guarantee booking at FF you will not be given a cabin below that category. That's what Guarantee is all about - it says "this is the minumum level cabin one would like and cabin location is not an issue".

 

Having seen some interesting TV shows about the cruise industry, I have learned that cruise ships operate on a mimimal profit which is hard to make unless they sail at 100%+ of capacity (100% = 2 persons per cabin). Most of the profit is from onboard sales, not cabin bookings. Somewhere there is a break even for them on cabin sales, vs. historical cancellation rates, vs. cost of "move over" offers if oversold. So they keep selling cabins to get the occupancy rate up for as long as they can.

 

We look at the Guarantee cabin assignment with excitement, not drama or dread. We have the knowledge we'll be on the ship, with our minimum cabin requirements, and there's a chance of getting a better class cabin than what we paid for. Also remember, Princess doesn't always show all the cabins that are available on their website, usually 6 or less per category, and they may have Travel Agency allocated cabins re-entering their available inventory at any time.

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When Princess stops selling certain categories, it will show 'waitlist only' for that category. They know how many guarantees they have to fill, and they will have enough to fill those. If by chance the cruise is oversold because of lack of cancellations, Princess will begin making offers to some to move to a different cruise/ sailing date. Don't panic, those offers are not mandatory and are completely on a volunteer basis if you are contacted for a move over offer.

There is a slight chance you will not find out your cabin location until you arrive at the pier. These are the chances you take when booking a guarantee category. But with 50 days to go.............that is a long time left for them to make the cabin assignment. Many don't find out until only days before, or as said, when they arrive at the pier.

Where does a person look to find out all of this information about sold out catagories and rooms left etc.

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When Princess stops selling certain categories, it will show 'waitlist only' for that category. They know how many guarantees they have to fill, and they will have enough to fill those. If by chance the cruise is oversold because of lack of cancellations, Princess will begin making offers to some to move to a different cruise/ sailing date. Don't panic, those offers are not mandatory and are completely on a volunteer basis if you are contacted for a move over offer.

There is a slight chance you will not find out your cabin location until you arrive at the pier. These are the chances you take when booking a guarantee category. But with 50 days to go.............that is a long time left for them to make the cabin assignment. Many don't find out until only days before, or as said, when they arrive at the pier.

 

I hope we find out aboard before we arrive at Fll. Since our bag will not be going off the ship it would be nice to know which cabin they are going before we arrive a the dock. If we don't know hopefully the Captains circle desk can help.

 

Pam

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We are booked for a guarantee cabin on the ruby 10/24. Booked only 2 weeks ago. We are also doing the TA before this cruise ( have had the TA booked for 16 months). So far no cabin and there are only 3 cabins above our guarantee FF.

 

What I do not understand is that Princess is still selling cabins. I know it is still over 50 days to sailing. Do they expect people to cancel after final payment. Every day I see one or two less cabins. There are cabins below what we booked but I really don't want them.

 

I wonder how many others are waiting for a cabin?

 

Pam

 

 

Just because you only see 1 or 2 cabins does not mean that Princess does not still have cabins available.

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I did a b2b once and found out only the night before what our room assignment was for the second week. It was so frustrating not knowing if we even had a room.

 

When booking a back to back, I would never leave it up to a guarantee. As you said, very frustrating if you don't get a cabin assignment until late. Plus, if you book an assigned stateroom you can find the same cabin for both legs of the cruise and avoid the hassle of moving to a different cabin. ;)

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Guarentee just means you are guarenteed a cabin in the category and doesn't have to be assigned until check in. Normally you know no less than a week but few have not known. If you booked with a TA make sure she knows how to get a hold of you when you are traveling to let you know if it has been assigned. If this is not acceptable, do not book a guarentee.

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I found that sea scanner.com is very helpful just click on cruise and you ship then on the date pick your category and it will actually show you which rooms are left or if they are sold out

 

Where does a person look to find out all of this information about sold out catagories and rooms left etc.
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When booking a back to back, I would never leave it up to a guarantee. As you said, very frustrating if you don't get a cabin assignment until late. Plus, if you book an assigned stateroom you can find the same cabin for both legs of the cruise and avoid the hassle of moving to a different cabin. ;)

 

My first cruise was on the Old Crown with my MOM and we did a guar. on a B2B and was actually assigned the same room (a wheel chair accessible cabin). Didn't even know that at first. Then Mom goes on a cruise with my sister and they get a balcony room(Grand Princess) and Mom was suprised it was so small. :eek:

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Booked an inside GTY recently and it was assigned within a couple of days - next to the laundromat! But on a high deck.

 

HoHum................

 

Well if you need to do your own laundry it is actually a good location. Much easier to check on when your stuff is done. Don't worry I've never noticed much noise around those.

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I hope we find out aboard before we arrive at Fll. Since our bag will not be going off the ship it would be nice to know which cabin they are going before we arrive a the dock. If we don't know hopefully the Captains circle desk can help.

 

 

Ypu will know at least a day or two before reaching FLL. At some point the Purser's Desk will have access to the next segment's passenger list and that is where you should ask (may need to ask for a supervisor).

 

Also, the letter you will receive a couple of days before the end of the first segment should have your new cabin assignment in it.

 

Of course while doing the voyage actoss the Atlantic, you can always check the cruise personalizer at no charge to see if an assignment has been made yet. Even if the personalizer has been closed for you to make any changes, you can still access the boarding pass (which you will not need) to see if a cabin is listed on it.

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I found that sea scanner.com is very helpful just click on cruise and you ship then on the date pick your category and it will actually show you which rooms are left or if they are sold out

 

I find that, like every other site including Princess, it shows a max of six staterooms in each category.

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