Switching to Balcony Guarantee after final payment???

[aaronlisa]

Just looked at our cruise on Oasis for August 11th and see that the cruise fare is starting to drop and more rooms are opening up. Currently we are booked in an inside cabin cat N on deck 6 and we like the location. While doing the search I found that it looks like we could purchase a Balcony Guarantee for about $300 more if we wanted to. The balcony would be great but I'm wondering how the Guarantee would work since we've already paid our fare in full and it states "location on the ship are determined only after your reservation has been completed and paid in full". Would we switch and immediately be assigned a balcony room??? Should we take the gamble on a possible bad location but have a balcony??? Should I take another gamble and wait longer???

 

What would you do?

[dmdicato]

Earlier this month, we were booked on an inside cabin for the Explorer cruise departing June 21. The cruise was paid in full last month, but we noticed a balcony guarantee for the same price, so called RCCL and they made the switch, without a problem. We were assigned a balcony cabin a few days later.

[kc320]

Normally I would say go for the balcony...but with Oasis I would "think" with the balcony gty there is a chance the balcony you get would not be ocean view...I could be wrong...if you are ok with NOT having an ocean view balcony then I would say Yes...go for it...we did a Suite Gty on our Dec Jewel sailing & it only took a couple days after switching to get our cabin assignment...if you did end up in a location you did not like you may be able to change your cabin if there are ones you like better in the same category you were assigned...

[IWORK2CRUISE]

Just looked at our cruise on Oasis for August 11th and see that the cruise fare is starting to drop and more rooms are opening up. Currently we are booked in an inside cabin cat N on deck 6 and we like the location. While doing the search I found that it looks like we could purchase a Balcony Guarantee for about $300 more if we wanted to. The balcony would be great but I'm wondering how the Guarantee would work since we've already paid our fare in full and it states "location on the ship are determined only after your reservation has been completed and paid in full". Would we switch and immediately be assigned a balcony room??? Should we take the gamble on a possible bad location but have a balcony??? Should I take another gamble and wait longer???

 

What would you do?

Is that $300 total or per person?

You LIKE your current location so if you want to spend a little more and take a gamble on the balcony GTY you must first understand that you don't know which deck or view you will end up with. Once you understand that, $300 total upgrade would be a great deal to go from an inside to balcony and it may be your one chance for such a bargain.

[DonnaK]

If that's $300 total (not per person), it's definitely worth it. I've seen the balcony guarantees labeled as either "neighborhood balcony guarantee" or "oceanview balcony guarantee"....do you have this option to choose one over the other? If not, I still think it's worth it because either one is better than an inside cabin, and there really isn't a bad balcony on the ship.

 

The way it would work is that you'd pay the difference, and then any time between now and the sailing date, you'll be assigned a new cabin. It might be assigned right away, or it might not be assigned until the last moment.

[aaronlisa]

I thought some more about this last night and I'm pretty sure now that I am not going to do this. If I was 100% sure that I would get an OceanView balcony and not one in Central Park or Boardwalk area then I would consider it. At this point I don't want to pay an extra $300 total to move to a balcony in those areas. I did look it up again this morning and it doesn't specify if it is Oceanview, Central Park or Boardwalk just says "Stateroom with Balcony Guarantee". I looked up the Neighborhood balcony guarantee that was mentioned and it is not available but I am wondering what type of room that is since it states that it holds 6 people and is the same size as the family balconies.

[TwoTravelin]

X = ocean view balcony XN = neighborhood balcony. You will not get a different type of balcony then the guarantee you buy unless it's an upgrade to JS!

[CruisinDawn]

They have 2 different Balcony Guarantees, one is for Boardwalk/Central Park Balconies and the other is for Oceanview Balcony Guarantees. Make sure you understand which one you are changing to if you decide. Our sailing dropped dramaticly too after final payment and many jumped on both of these guarantees.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[99florida]

Earlier this month, we were booked on an inside cabin for the Explorer cruise departing June 21. The cruise was paid in full last month, but we noticed a balcony guarantee for the same price, so called RCCL and they made the switch, without a problem. We were assigned a balcony cabin a few days later.

 

 

 

You're lucky b/c when I called my travel agent explaining that my Cat I (ocean view) was more expensive than a Cat: Superior (ocean view) and wanted to take advantage of this switch. She stated that RCCL told her it would cost $36 per person more for the switch. hmmm.... I pay $1000. and the switch would be $938 and yet they want more? I guess being a Diamond member means nothing to them too. Oh well, this is what one gets sometimes when giving your booking to an agent rather than having total control. I think that she didn't even make the call. It would lover her commission. But isn't she working for me? I guess not but rather for herself. After our holiday cruise, we're definitely done with her and my referrals to her will be done too.:confused:

[terpfan101]

I was just on Allure last week and started out in an interior category N on deck 7 that I too was satisfied with the location of. I booked in December 2011. In late March after final payment they dropped prices and created some guarantees. An oceanview guarantee (category Y) was the same cost that I paid, but I hesitated due to not wanting to receive a category I which is exclusively on deck 3. Then a few weeks later category XN and X opened up at $100 more total and $225 more total than I paid for my interior. Additionally category Y dropped in price so that it was actually $200 cheaper total than I paid. I knew I wouldn't get a refund or OBC but at that point decided to roll the dice with the oceanview guarantee and hope prices dropped a bit more on the category X and XN.

 

I didn't initially go with one of those two categories of balconies because the ship wasn't selling well and I was convinced that the prices would drop on those two balcony guarantees. I also wasn't too keen on paying more for an inside balcony, especially since I'd probably receive a central park balcony which I thought would be useless (after seeing them onboard I don't see the point in one unless it was the same cost as a non balcony room).

 

Anyway I called my TA to upgrade to the category Y and was astonished when she came back and said that I'd be receiving $200 back as a refund since the price was less (but that I'd get $100 less in OBC). I later learned from my actual TA rep that I got a refund because the TA had booked through a group rate. Never heard of getting money back after final payment but I was happy. Well this caused the dilemma of now having to upgrade to a balcony and paying more so I kept watching for the price drops. I was assigned a category I oceanview on deck 3 which I wasn't too excited by but figured I'd hardly be in the stateroom anyway.

 

I later learned that I actually received closer to $400 as a refund (don't know why but guessing again due to the group rate). So at that point I pretty much gave up hope of upgrading as it'd easily cost close to $400+. Well sure enough prices on those two balcony guarantees never dropped below what they were at first and so I couldn't justify upgrading from my reduced fare.

 

About five days before my sail date I logged in and noticed that I was upgraded to an oceanview balcony (category D5). I was very excited. After having the oceanview balcony I will say it was wonderful and nice to have the balcony. However at the same time, just as I expected my girlfriend and I only sat on the balcony a few times. Due to not getting too much use out of it, I think in the future I'd put an upper limit of about $200-$250 as how much extra I would pay to upgrade. Especially on the Oasis class where there is so much else to do that you aren't in your stateroom much anyway, I think I'd stick to a lesser category unless the price difference is small.

 

My advice to you is either do it now at $300 ONLY IF it is for category X which is oceanview guarantee. Otherwise the fare will probably not drop. I'd also say see if you could get an oceanview (not balcony) cabin for less of an upgrade and hope the prices for balconies drop.

 

Sorry for the long post but hopefully that helps you out!

[tomahawk246]

I would keep checking everyday. Keep looking at all the balcony categories. I was booked on a inside GTY, and was given a cabin. The price dropped for the D5 and D6, the GTY Balcony did not drop. The D5 was 300 dollars per person less then the GTY Balcony. I switched from a GTY inside to a D5 for 70 dollars per person. This was on Allure for July 1st.

[aaronlisa]

Thanks for all of the replies. I double checked again this morning and it is a cat X for the $300 total more while a Cat D8 is $700 more. I might wait a little bit and see if the price goes down again before making a decision. If the price goes down then great, if not at least I know I still have a room that we are comfortable with.

[Esmerelda]

I tried to post this morning but the site wouldn't let me?

 

Anyhow, I checked inventory for your sailing. There were 58 Central park/Boardwalk view cabins open.

 

There were 115 regular balcony cabins open as of 6am today. If I were you, I would wait. They will do their best to fill all of them. Unless you are getting the guaranteed X view when you book. My best guess, they will have that category with this many cabins left. (please do not ask me how I checked inventory as I cannot post it on here)

 

As far as the balcony; I am a total balcony snob. My hubby and I use ours a great deal. We love morning coffee, evening wine before dinner. I am hooked!

 

Best of luck! :p

[cmoose]

Can you tell me how you "check inventory"??? I would love to be able to look at a particular sailing and see all the cabins available. Thanks.

[aaronlisa]

I tried to post this morning but the site wouldn't let me?

 

Anyhow, I checked inventory for your sailing. There were 58 Central park/Boardwalk view cabins open.

 

There were 115 regular balcony cabins open as of 6am today. If I were you, I would wait. They will do their best to fill all of them. Unless you are getting the guaranteed X view when you book. My best guess, they will have that category with this many cabins left. (please do not ask me how I checked inventory as I cannot post it on here)

 

As far as the balcony; I am a total balcony snob. My hubby and I use ours a great deal. We love morning coffee, evening wine before dinner. I am hooked!

 

Best of luck! :p

 

Awesome, thank you so much for the very detailed information. We will wait it out and just keep checking on the prices.

[honeybee85]

X = ocean view balcony XN = neighborhood balcony. You will not get a different type of balcony then the guarantee you buy unless it's an upgrade to JS!

 

They have 2 different Balcony Guarantees, one is for Boardwalk/Central Park Balconies and the other is for Oceanview Balcony Guarantees. Make sure you understand which one you are changing to if you decide. Our sailing dropped dramaticly too after final payment and many jumped on both of these guarantees.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

This is incorrect. On Oasis and Allure there are two (well, more really) balcony guarantee categories. There is X which is a standard balcony guarantee and XN which is a neighborhood balcony guarantee. Royal rates their balconies as follows from the lowest to highest category:

 

D8, D7, D6, D5, D4, D3, D2, D1, C2,C1, B2, B1. This means that if you book an X guarantee you can get any one of these rooms but if you book an XN guarantee you will only be given either a C2, C1, B2 or B1 since they will not "downgrade" you with a guarantee. Also remember that booking a D8 (etc) guarantee means you can STILL end up with neighborhood balcony.

[TwoTravelin]

This is incorrect. On Oasis and Allure there are two (well, more really) balcony guarantee categories. There is X which is a standard balcony guarantee and XN which is a neighborhood balcony guarantee. Royal rates their balconies as follows from the lowest to highest category:

 

D8, D7, D6, D5, D4, D3, D2, D1, C2,C1, B2, B1. This means that if you book an X guarantee you can get any one of these rooms but if you book an XN guarantee you will only be given either a C2, C1, B2 or B1 since they will not "downgrade" you with a guarantee. Also remember that booking a D8 (etc) guarantee means you can STILL end up with neighborhood balcony.

 

This information is incorrect. An x is called an ocean view guarantee and Royal has confirmed many times that an x will only be placed in D's or suites. Often Xn is cheaper then X for this specific reason. This is similar to y guarantee. Y will not get bv or cv staterooms.

 

For $300 more I would not hesitate to buy an X.

[DonnaK]

Awesome, thank you so much for the very detailed information. We will wait it out and just keep checking on the prices.

 

 

If this is an X (meaning Oceanview balcony), I would definitely upgrade from an inside for $300 total. I think it's a great deal already! (Even if it's an XN - neighborhood balcony guarantee - it's still a great deal to move from an inside cabin for only $300)

 

Guarantees dont stay there for too long. They are usually offered for cabins that only accomodate two, so even though there are a lot of balcony cabins still available, you don't know how many are doubles. Also, you don't know how many guarantees they've sold for lower level cabins that will require some upgrading to the available balconies. I wouldn't wait too long.

[honeybee85]

This information is incorrect. An x is called an ocean view guarantee and Royal has confirmed many times that an x will only be placed in D's or suites. Often Xn is cheaper then X for this specific reason. This is similar to y guarantee. Y will not get bv or cv staterooms.

 

For $300 more I would not hesitate to buy an X.

 

If what you are saying is true, Royal would not have changed the wording on their website from "Oceanview Balcony" guarantee to "balcony" guarantee. It USED to be that it was strictly oceanview balcony but that is no longer accurate .

You are correct about the Y guarantee.

 

I do not know where you got your information but mine came from their Revenue Director - the Director of the department that determines pricing, category rank and berths guarantees.

[aaronlisa]

Still waiting on this, trying to decide what to do. Balcony gty hasn't come down in price at all but they now have a neighborhood gty available for $200 total more. I did the math again on the balcony gty and found it would be $400 more total not the $300 I was quoting earlier on. Still not sure if I want to upgrade or not. If I was assured of getting a boardwalk balcony then I'd jump on it but I don't want to end up stuck with central park view. If I was assigned central park view would I be able to change to boardwalk balcony without paying extra if one is available at that time?

[Desert Cruizers]

If we ever sail on the Allue/Oasis, I know I will need help deciding on rooms, with so many differant categories and the layout of them. You are looking at outside balcony, interior balcony, ( boardwalk) etc etc. personally we like Mid ship, balconies and would like the ocean side, but what deck is the best.