Paid Upgrade Likely Possible for Balcony X Guarantee?

[helen haywood]

I think I'm about to experiment with my first balcony guarantee on Reflection. I realize I'll probably end up with a 2D or 2C. But provided after final if regular balconies are more than I paid, I could upgrade to a regular balcony if I think I wound up with a real dog, couldn't I? (I mean upgrade as in I pay more to Celebrity.)

 

Anyone had experience doing this?

[RickT]

Don't be so sure you'll be assigned a dog, my last two balcony guarantees were a 2B and a 1C :D

 

For one of the cruises there was a price drop which made a CC cabin attractive, I asked if I could pay to upgrade and the answer was yes, the price would be the difference between what I had paid and what the CC cabin was selling for. Hopefully they still do that.

 

Another two things to consider. In both cases my cabins were assigned prior to final payment. Worst case scenario is I would cancel and then rebook a cabin I liked. I've also read that they will allow you to move cabins (within the same category) for no cost after your cabin has been assigned.

 

I often find the savings associated with a guarantee well worth it.

[suekay]

We paid for a guarantee balcony and got a 1B

[Starry Eyes]

Before you decide to try it, be sure you can be happy enough if you do get the worst possible balcony cabin, aka a real dog. If when you get your assignment, you consider the cabin to be a dog, with the above attitude you'll be OK with it. On the other hand, you might be pleasantly surprised. some decent cabins are passed out to gty bookings, as are some less desireable ones. and sometimes people are allowed to swap to another available cabin in the exact same category if they like the location better.

[Lsimon]

I've read that, at least for USA customers, once you are assigned a guarantee cabin you can switch to any open cabin in the assigned category - assuming that some are available.

 

You can also upgrade to any other available cabin at any time by paying the difference in price between the current price of the new cabin less the amount you've actually paid.

 

Now with all that said: If you are booking a guarantee you should be willing to accept the least desirable cabin in the guaranteed category or any category above that. Despite possible upgrade or change opportunities there are also scenarios where you will not be able to make a change after being assigned a cabin.

[helen haywood]

Well, having never tried it (and liking the savings aspect) I thought we'd give it a go at least once. If I wind up with a 2D I'll see if I can upgrade for $$. If the upgrade is out of my price range at least I'll have ocean sounds and light and will be forced to get out of my cabin which wouldn't be a bad thing either.... I'll see!

 

Thanks for all the replies!

[robtulipe]

Starry Eyes, OP realizes that being assigned the worst cabin is a possibility and his question was could they pay for an upgrade to a selected better cabin if this were to happen.

If there is a better balcony category available for selection they should be able to pay the higher price to be able to select that better cabin even after the final payment and for sure before.

We've done 13 guarantee bookings on X, RC and Princess and only once did we get a bad but not really terrible cabin which was a midship obstructed OV on Princess. We were able to change that one to a better view, almost completely unobstructed, in the same category at no extra cost. Three other times, we were able to change our assigned upgraded cabin at no extra cost to a location more to our liking or to be near others but the original cabins weren't bad at all.

With X we're 5 for 5 in getting good cabins with guarantee bookings which were all upgrades so IMO your plan of action seems reasonable.

[orgutierrez]

Don't be so sure you'll be assigned a 2D or 2C, I was assigned a C2 (Concierge) after booking X - Verandah Guarantee! In my opinion, unless you want a specific cabin, stay with the guarantee!

[Starry Eyes]

Starry Eyes, OP realizes that being assigned the worst cabin is a possibility and his question was could they pay for an upgrade to a selected better cabin if this were to happen.

If there is a better balcony category available for selection they should be able to pay the higher price to be able to select that better cabin even after the final payment and for sure before.

We've done 13 guarantee bookings on X, RC and Princess and only once did we get a bad but not really terrible cabin which was a midship obstructed OV on Princess. We were able to change that one to a better view, almost completely unobstructed, in the same category at no extra cost. Three other times, we were able to change our assigned upgraded cabin at no extra cost to a location more to our liking or to be near others but the original cabins weren't bad at all.

With X we're 5 for 5 in getting good cabins with guarantee bookings which were all upgrades so IMO your plan of action seems reasonable.

Certainly paying for an upgrade may be an option. On the other hand, by the time the OP's gty balcony is assigned, the better balconies might all be sold out or excessively priced. So my advice remains: I would not recommend booking a gty if you cannot be happy enough sailing in the worst possible applicable cabin. Circumstances might place you in that cabin without better affordable options.

 

Like you, my luck in general has been decent with gty cabins, but I have indeed been assigned the worst balcony cabin, and no reasonable upgrade options were left by the time I got my assignment. That assignement was a hull balcony over the theater on NCL; we were not too bothered by the theater noise and DH actually liked the privacy and shelter the the hull balcony. It worked out fine; we were indeed happy enough in the worst possible cabin we could have been assigned.

[helen haywood]

Well, now, this gives me something extra to be excited about! Not just the cruise itself (fabulous!) but the roll of the dice to see what I get! I may never book a regular balcony again!

[robtulipe]

That's what I like also, the gambling aspect of booking a guarantee. Two weeks ago we were assigned a C1 for an XC gty we booked the week before. This is for our next month's Century Hawaii itinerary. We saved $800 over the senior rate for selecting our Concierge and the saving would have been $1400 if we had to pay the regular C1 pricing. We were assigned a nice Deck 9, so it's between passenger decks, midship cabin.;)