won't show us the room

[charmee]

We are in the process of booking a Princess cruise and the cruiseline refuses to let our agent know where the cabin will be. The cruise is end of February, they want full payment up front, and then will tell us where we will be staying. We are guaranteed a room. I have never cruised before. Is this a common occurence? Its on the Ruby Princess?

 

Should we take a chance. Also, want full payment now.

 

Need a fast answer.

[Pia1913]

We are in the process of booking a Princess cruise and the cruiseline refuses to let our agent know where the cabin will be. The cruise is end of February, they want full payment up front, and then will tell us where we will be staying. We are guaranteed a room. I have never cruised before. Is this a common occurence? Its on the Ruby Princess?

 

Should we take a chance. Also, want full payment now.

 

Need a fast answer.

 

Full payment is due 75 days prior, so if you fall into that time frame then yes, it's the rule. As for knowing your cabin, that's what happens when you choose to book a guarantee, rather than select your own cabin. A guarantee is just that; guarantee for the price you are paying for a lower catagory. You take your chance and in effect you will probably get a better catagory than what you paid for. Also, if your TA hasn't explained this to you, you are not using the right TA.

 

I just looked at the Ruby availability for Feb. 27th. Lots of cabins open, but the G guarantee is a bargain. Take it.

[charmee]

Anyone ever experienced Princess not telling them their cabin number until after they pay in full. Cruise is two months away. We have never cruised before. There is no explanation they are giving our agent.

[Roses2]

When you book a guarantee, you get a lower price as a trade off for the cruise line making the cabin assignment. You are guaranteed that your cabin, when assigned, will be at the level or higher than the category for which you paid.

 

Your actual cabin assignment may come early in the process or late ( we have been assigned a cabin 4 days before sailing and two months before sailing).

 

If you want a specific cabin you may choose one, but may pay a higher price.

 

Hope that helps.

 

P&J

[Embracedbylife]

It's very common. Usually the closer you get to your sailing date they will sell you a room as a guarantee - that gurantees you will get a room in the category you purchased or higher - usually higher! they are basically going to see how many rooms sell in the higher categories and when they don't all sell they start moving people up from your category into those that haven't sold to make room for you and others that bought a guarantee in your category. Then all room assignments will be made. It's common and it's a gurantee you have a room, just not sure which one yet! :)

[Pia1913]

Anyone ever experienced Princess not telling them their cabin number until after they pay in full. Cruise is two months away. We have never cruised before. There is no explanation they are giving our agent.

 

Your agent is a dummy. Go look back at your previous post. You have responses.

[Embracedbylife]

Sounds like your agent is either new to selling cruises or is too lazy to explain the process to you. Sorry you got stiffed with a bad agent, but you're doing the right thing by researching on your own. Just make sure to create an account on princess.com where you can view your booking and keep up to date on what's going on. I wouldn't trust that your agent is going to communicate much with you from the sounds of it. You may not get a cabin number until days before the sailing, but you will get one for sure. :)

[cruiseryyc]

Not unusual at all; I have arrived at the pier not knowing my cabin number.

[mytime53]

And if you haven't actually booked and paid for your cruise yet, maybe look (quickly) for another travel agent.

[1025cruise]

A Guarantee is just that, a guarantee you will be on the ship, in a cabin with a minimum category that you booked. If you want a specific cabin, book it explicitly. You may not know the cabin until you check in.

[Toto2Kansas]

I agree, if your travel agent isn't wise enough to be able to explain a guarantee to you, I would be looking for another agent. You have the choice (as long as there is availabilty to book the cabin of your choice). A guarantee doesn't cost you less, it is the same price for assigned in that category as it would be for a guarantee.

[paul929207]

Tour next Travel Agent should be able to explain that Princess can wait until you are ready to board to assign your cabin. It will be in the category you booked or any higher category.

[FLACRUISER99]

My advice is to pay another $15/pp and book a cat. GG E208 or E209 and at least have a fairly good view.

[sultan_sfo]

On Princess bookings the price is the same whether one books guarantee or a specific cabin. If very few cabins are left for a specific category then "only" guarantee booking is available for that category. Once one books a guarantee and cabins are not available for that category then a higher category cabin is assigned.

[spongerob]

My fast answer is, pass on this cruise and wait until you can educate yourself a bit more about what you are buying. If you are unaware of booking policies and payment schedules, some of "surprises" you find on board will really throw you for a loop - service charges, excursions, disembarkation procedures, dining...I just see a VacationFromHell thread coming in a few months if you go ahead with this one.

[shepp]

Do you have a reason for wantiing/needing a specific location? If not, what's the problem? Still, as Spongerob says, a basic crash course in cruising sounds in order.

[shepp]

Let me repeat what I asked in a previous thread where you asked the same question...and apparently didn't read the responses. Which is to say, if you're booking a guarantee and no one will tell you your cabin number, it's because you have not yet been assigned one. Is there some reason you want/need a specific cabin location? If not, won't being on the ship, in your selected category or above, suffice?

[NYLady]

My fast answer is, pass on this cruise and wait until you can educate yourself a bit more about what you are buying. If you are unaware of booking policies and payment schedules, some of "surprises" you find on board will really throw you for a loop - service charges, excursions, disembarkation procedures, dining...I just see a VacationFromHell thread coming in a few months if you go ahead with this one.

 

Sounds like good advice. Some of the monetary "surprises" can make first-time cruisers feel gyped. Spongerob mentioned service charges, excursions, dining, etc...this doesn't even go into the issues surrounding gratuities. Even when you educate yourselves, you can feel the bite. As regular cruisers, we have learned to count all that as we decide what a trip is worth to us.

 

Regarding the choice of cabin - This is so individual it is hard to advise. Hopefully, the others have quelled your concerns about not knowing your cabin number as long as you have a guarantee. Once you start cruising you may develop preferences. We have very specific preferences and book far enough in advance to get the cabin we want...others just want the least expensive and don't really care much about cabin location, size, etc.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you've booked with a cruise specialist (a travel agent who has gone on many cruises and knows the in's and out's), then he or she would have told you the differences between booking a guarantee and a specific cabin. We have booked a specific cabin for our last few cruises, and then marked the booking "no upgrade." That way, there's no surprises. But for us, we're not interested in balconies or hoping against hope that we end up with a suite.

 

Fortunately for my first cruise, my bf (now hubby) already had experience with a cruise -- he showed me the ropes. On that cruise, we were upgraded (with a type of cabin) but we ended up under a dining room, which meant hearing vacuuming late at night. So an upgrade isn't always good.

 

It could be that the cruiseline won't know where your cabin will be until just before the sailing. That happens. The porters at the pier will have a list of cabin assignments.

 

One thing to think about is that when you book a hotel room, you're not booking a specific room. Just a type (bed configuration, no smoking/smoking, garden view/other view).

[vmom]

We are in the process of booking a Princess cruise and the cruiseline refuses to let our agent know where the cabin will be. The cruise is end of February, they want full payment up front, and then will tell us where we will be staying. We are guaranteed a room. I have never cruised before. Is this a common occurence? Its on the Ruby Princess?

 

Should we take a chance. Also, want full payment now.

 

Need a fast answer.

 

 

I question the experience or knowledge of your travel agent if she/he is unsure as to why you have not been told a room location, and also question why your agent hasn't adequately explained this to you...that is what a travel agent if for. Maybe this agent is new or doesn't have much experience with cruises. If that is the case, then you need to be aware of your agent's limitations and level of experience when taking advice from her/him.

 

As others have explained, you have book a guarantee room. The definition of a guarantee room is that you get a cheaper cruise price and are guaranteed a cabin at that level or higher, but the off side is that the cruise line assigns you a room when it is most convenient for them. Often the assignment is made after final payment. The assignment can be made as late as when you arrive at the port to get on the ship.

 

When you signed up for a guarantee room, this is what a guarantee room is and your travel agent should have known this and explained this to you. Its a pretty basic thing even an entry level TA should know. Unless your TA did know and explain this to you, but maybe there was a mis-communication/misunderstanding between you and the TA.

 

If you are comfortable with this, then make final payment and just wait for your assignment. If you are uncomfortable with not knowing your cabin location, then pay the extra to be able to pick out a room directly. We have booked guarantee cabins several times and have been pleased with our cabin locations. If you don't like surpises, then pay the extra to pick out a cabin.

[mr green]

We are in the process of booking a Princess cruise and the cruiseline refuses to let our agent know where the cabin will be. The cruise is end of February, they want full payment up front, and then will tell us where we will be staying. We are guaranteed a room. I have never cruised before. Is this a common occurence? Its on the Ruby Princess?

 

Should we take a chance. Also, want full payment now.

 

Need a fast answer.

 

Do what I did one time. I had our TA cancel our cruise, and stated the reason, 'no cabin'. We got the cabin that we wanted.

 

john

[ricew001]

My fast answer is, pass on this cruise and wait until you can educate yourself a bit more about what you are buying. If you are unaware of booking policies and payment schedules, some of "surprises" you find on board will really throw you for a loop - service charges, excursions, disembarkation procedures, dining...I just see a VacationFromHell thread coming in a few months if you go ahead with this one.

 

I think this answer is a bit much. I took my first two cruises not knowing what a guarantee was and did just fine. The first one I just printed the Princess brochure and read it. I booked a few excursions and we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Do a little reading on this site and take it all with a grain of salt. I have a feeling you are going to have an absolute wonderful time and that not knowing what a "guarantee" room is not going to make or break your fun.

 

Happy sailing!!!

[spongerob]

I think this answer is a bit much...

Maybe, maybe not. I'm just offering an alternative to the Don't Worry Be Happy posts. Our first cruise experiences were like your own, we went, we enjoyed, and now we're Elite (and then some). The way this is all staring for the OP, with an apparently inexperienced TA, just raises a red flag. At leas they found this site before their cruise; you wille eventually see posts I have described where people only find the site when it's time to complain.

[Pia1913]

You just beat me to it, Rob. I was just wondering where the author of this thread and one other with the same query had disappeared to. We are very nicely answering what most likely is another bogus first timer who has had exactly two posts to her name.

[denims]

You just beat me to it, Rob. I was just wondering where the author of this thread and one other with the same query had disappeared to. We are very nicely answering what most likely is another bogus first timer who has had exactly two posts to her name.

 

With only 2 posts, and not knowing their way around CC, she/he probably doesn't know where to find the orginal post!:D:eek: