Balcony guarantee

[Murphs]

Never done a balcony guarantee before, is there any downside to this and can I use my C&A balcony discount with a balcony guarantee? Would appreciate any feedack from those who have done balcony guarantee in the past.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[Clarea]

Never done a balcony guarantee before, is there any downside to this and can I use my C&A balcony discount with a balcony guarantee? Would appreciate any feedack from those who have done balcony guarantee in the past.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

Yes, you can use the balcony discount. The downside is that you can get any balcony on the ship. The upside is that there is usually a cost savings with a guarantee.

[cb at sea]

Remember, ANY balcony is usually better than none! None of the balconies are "bad".....location, of course, is personal preference. If you really have an aversion to any particular area, then a GTY booking is not for you. Sometimes, if there are other cabins available, they will let you change within the catagory they gave you....so that MIGHT be an option, if you really, really hate where they put you. You cannot count on there being anything left to switch with, tho!

[Keith1010]

The major downside is not knowing where on the ship your room will be located.

 

Keith

[jules815]

Has anyone ever had a bad guarantee room? Was the location so bad that you'd never do it again, or have you had nice rooms booking that way?

 

Do all bookings offer guarantee fares?

[Clarea]

Has anyone ever had a bad guarantee room? Was the location so bad that you'd never do it again, or have you had nice rooms booking that way?

 

Do all bookings offer guarantee fares?

No, all sailings do not offer guarantees. If a sailing has a guarantee, it's usually not every category either. Also, the guarantee may be withdrawn anytime.

 

There are some categories of some ships that I'd not do a guarantee, such as an OV guarantee on Majesty. I would not want to be in one of those staterooms that get all the anchor noise.

[Starry Eyes]

Also remember the balcony discount may not be combinable with another offer you might otherwise receive (like shareholder credit, WOW sale, and savings certificate).

 

I have done gty on multiple cruises, and I have been satisfied with the results. Sometimes I am assigned a nice cabin, sometimes I can swap my assigned cabin for a nicer one, and sometimes I get just what I was promised (in this case, any old balcony, maybe one in a less desireable location)

[royalmariner24]

I have done a guarantee 3 times on the Freedom and never had a bad room.

[Cuizer2]

Never done a balcony guarantee before, is there any downside to this and can I use my C&A balcony discount with a balcony guarantee? Would appreciate any feedack from those who have done balcony guarantee in the past.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

The downside is you have no control over where you end up. And yes, you can use your balcony discount on a guarantee.

[heatherb1958]

We booked a balcony gty on our recent Indie cruise and got a D1 on deck 6.

A few others onboard booked the same category and got Junior suites including friends of ours.

[Cuizer2]

Has anyone ever had a bad guarantee room?

 

What would be a bad room? Is it one that misbehaves? Is it one that will not listen?

 

Different people define "bad" differently. For example, the person who is always the last one to leave the disco is not going to care that the base speaker is is just below their cabin. For the same reason, a person who is outside wondering when the sun is going to make an appearance may not care that the deck crew is dragging lounge chairs around just above their cabin.

 

On the flip side, the early bird would not enjoy finding out the disco's ceiling is their floor, and the person going to sleep at 2am might not be too thrilled that their ceiling is the deck that those lounge chairs are being dragged around on.

 

As for as noisy neighbors, or smokers, that can happen to the best of cabins, so I ask again, how do you define a bad room?

[orville99]

I've often wondered the same thing - except with suites. We generally book a JS on shorter cruises, and balconies on longer cruises. I won't take the risk on balconies, but we've never had a bad JS. With a suite guarantee, are you locked into a JS, or is there a possibility you could get a GS or better?

[Clarea]

I've often wondered the same thing - except with suites. We generally book a JS on shorter cruises, and balconies on longer cruises. I won't take the risk on balconies, but we've never had a bad JS. With a suite guarantee, are you locked into a JS, or is there a possibility you could get a GS or better?

We've had 3 "W" suite guarantees, and received 2 JS staterooms and one GS stateroom.

[UNV-IT!!!]

I've always had good experiences when I've done them.

[Merion_Mom]

Never done a balcony guarantee before, is there any downside to this and can I use my C&A balcony discount with a balcony guarantee? Would appreciate any feedack from those who have done balcony guarantee in the past.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

It depends on the ship. Which ship are you considering?

[orville99]

We've had 3 "W" suite guarantees, and received 2 JS staterooms and one GS stateroom.

 

 

Thanks. That's good to know.

[Starry Eyes]

We've had 3 "W" suite guarantees, and received 2 JS staterooms and one GS stateroom.

 

We have also done 3 "W" bookings. Our assignments were a JS, a GS and a crown loft.

[C Cruise Dude]

Never done a balcony guarantee before, is there any downside to this and can I use my C&A balcony discount with a balcony guarantee? Would appreciate any feedack from those who have done balcony guarantee in the past.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

The only concerns that I have ever had with this was on ships that have obstructed balconies, being assigned one, and being assigned a balcony that is too far forward.

[Trekker954]

Has anyone ever had a bad guarantee room? Was the location so bad that you'd never do it again, or have you had nice rooms booking that way?

 

Do all bookings offer guarantee fares?

 

 

We did a balcony guarantee on the Jewel of the Seas (Radiance Class) and ended up with a balcony on Deck 7. A great portion of Deck 7 balconies are in my (and many others) obstructed in that you cannot stand at the rail and look down to the water, you have to look way out beyond the overhand that covers the lifeboats. We didn't like it at all and we were really surprised. I think that is the only class that has that. We've done other balcony gty and always enjoyed them.

 

There are probably a couple of itineraries I wouldn't leave it to chance. Alaska for one, make sure you chose your own.

 

As Clarea said, the savings are typically significant.

[Cuizer2]

The only concerns that I have ever had with this was on ships that have obstructed balconies, being assigned one, and being assigned a balcony that is too far forward.

 

I had a forward facing balcony. I liked it some much I try to get near the front now all the time (as not too many ships actually have forward facing balconies). Seeing the same thing the captain sees when pulling into port is a real treat. If the balcony is near enough to the font, and there is a forward observation deck, then it is like having two balconies if you've got a cabin close enough to the forward observation deck to make it convenient to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[C Cruise Dude]

I had a forward facing balcony. I liked it some much I try to get near the front now all the time (as not too many ships actually have forward facing balconies). Seeing the same thing the captain sees when pulling into port is a real treat. If the balcony is near enough to the font, and there is a forward observation deck, then it is like having two balconies if you've got a cabin close enough to the forward observation deck to make it convenient to use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never noticed those cabins in the front. That would be pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. :D

[UNV-IT!!!]

I never noticed those cabins in the front. That would be pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. :D

 

Not many rccl ships have these

[ShipRiders]

Not many rccl ships have these

 

RCCL doesn't have any like this.:mad: Not balconies. They do have ocean views.

 

We did a TA to the Med in one of these front balconies on NCL and I will tell you there is nothing like it. Sure there was some cons to them, such as you must have your curtains drawn at night so light does not interfere with the bridge, also when out to sea if you are on the balcony and want to come inside make sure the cabin door is not opened at the same time. It creates a tunnel effect where everything goes flying. We actually had hand signals when we had parties on the balcony to let us know not to have both doors opened at once. So much fun. I wish Royal would put these into their builds.

Pulling into and out of ports, and just seeing what the captain sees was priceless.

[UNV-IT!!!]

RCCL doesn't have any like this.:mad: Not balconies. They do have ocean views.

 

We did a TA to the Med in one of these front balconies on NCL and I will tell you there is nothing like it. Sure there was some cons to them, such as you must have your curtains drawn at night so light does not interfere with the bridge, also when out to sea if you are on the balcony and want to come inside make sure the cabin door is not opened at the same time. It creates a tunnel effect where everything goes flying. We actually had hand signals when we had parties on the balcony to let us know not to have both doors opened at once. So much fun. I wish Royal would put these into their builds.

Pulling into and out of ports, and just seeing what the captain sees was priceless.

 

I could have sworn rccl had once class that had them.

[ShipRiders]

I could have sworn rccl had once class that had them.

 

 

If they did it was before my cruising time.

 

I have been hoping for these every new build they come out with. Seems that RCL's footprint is not going to incorporated this style at all.