Another Guarantee idea...

[Kay240]

Our past several cruises have been guarantees; our cabin was usually assigned within two weeks of departure, but the last two cruises were assigned only a few days before. The last two times we received notices of our cabin assignment from both our TA and an email from HAL. This time we booked an SY guarantee; I figured we would easily be upgraded to an SS, as there are only FOUR SY on the ship. This is our first suite, so it will be very spacious to us anyway, but you guessed it- our cabin assignment was an SY!

I know the Upgrade Fairy has a secret method, but I'd like opinions, based on your experience. Here is what I am thinking: Are the alerts something new or does HAL only contact passengers when the cruise is less than a week away? We were not contacted this time and we received our assignment earlier than usual- 19 days. Do you think that means we might have a better chance of being offered an upsell or possibly an upgrade later? (BTW, we purchased this cruise JUNE 2010, while on another cruise, and we will become 4* during it.)

[BearInStPete]

Hi Karen;

 

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why you were assigned the same category of cabin as you were guaranteed, but my educated guess is that you purchased on a popular ship/itinerary/date where the ship sold from at least the top down, hence they sold the SS's (like all of them) at rates higher than your SY guarantee. Most cruises (not all) sell from the top down and bottom up in terms of categories and HAL uses yield management software to price the categories and sell the ship to maximize the per-diem revenue.

 

You do gamble a bit on the guarantees and I have scored some upgrades on softer early December Caribbean sailings on the GTYs. Most recently, I booked one 30 days out, and got a VH GTY for $100/day and was upgraded to a VB, then an upsell to an SS for an additional $199/pp, in my case that ultimately worked out to $120/day in an SS - almost unheard of, but all legitimate and due to the timing of how I booked, the ship, sailing date, etc. In this case the sailing date was quite bad for those with jobs in the financial industry as it straddled a major tax and financial reporting deadline so may have excluded many potential customers.

 

Don't let the "must have a specific cabin" crew rattle you about your selection, as I suspect you still got a great value on your selection relative to the popularity of your particular sailing. I am not picky on my cabin location and never had an issue with any of my cabins on my cruises.

 

Looks like your on the NA TA cruise, and that will be awesome I'm sure no matter how your slice it.

 

Have fun!

[BearInStPete]

Karen - PS:

 

I checked your cruise and it appears to have sold from the to-down, so suites or balconies remain. The still have insides and OVs, with the insides selling for $47/per day - an awesome deal!

 

Watch the role-calls for your cruise and you might be able to take advantage of a reasonable upsell or even get a free upgrade since there are two weeks yet to your sailing.

 

Your itinerary is awesome for a TA - would be almost a dream cruise in my book.

 

Have fun!

[BearInStPete]

PS to PS - NO suites or balconies remain!

[Kay240]

Hi Karen;

 

Looks like your on the NA TA cruise, and that will be awesome I'm sure no matter how your slice it.

 

Have fun!

 

It is our first TA, and our first time on NA, and our first suite, and our first time in all of the ports (except for Rome), so how can we not be thrilled with anticipation?:D:D

DH would prefer NOT to go to Europe, but I did convince him two years ago.;) If we hadn't traveled with three other couples he probably would have wanted to cancel. We had a "mini-suite", which X has renamed because it is really just a verandah cabin. Since he is also uncomfortable on any flight, especially long ones (he is/was tall) the TA seemed like a perfect compromise! It holds promise for a future TA RT.

I know the listings for the SY and above have said "call" for many months, but I was hoping enough of the SS and above would drop off to accomodate all of the SY guarantees. Since there are only four cabins in that category, the odds were in our favor; I guess I better stay out of the Casino on this cruise!

Thanks again,

[1cruiselvr]

Guarantee is usually how we book. We've had great upgrades and nothing. there is no method to their assignment madness. Every cruise is different, how fast it sells, what categories are full, etc. Don't try to figure it out, just enjoy what you got. The guarantee rule is do not book what you won't be happy in should that be the category you are assigned.