Switching from OV to a Balcony Guarantee -- chances of a bad room?

[iheartmarshall]

Thinking of calling Carnival and upgrading from our OV to a Balcony Guarantee for our upcoming cruise on Conquest. I've been doing mock bookings to see what balconies are available and most are on Upper (Deck 6) and Verandah (Deck 8). I know from research that both decks can be tricky, as Upper is above the casino and lounge and Verandah is below Lido. For Upper, it looks like the majority of rooms open are midship, which is above part of the promenade and casino. On Verandah, they are forward and midship, which means they're either nestled between rooms or under the pools/buffet. The forward cabins on this deck are also RIGHT BESIDE the bridge (any pros/cons to that?). There are others scattered around of course, but the heaviest concentration of open balcony rooms are these.

 

Knowing this, would you risk losing your OV and getting a balcony guarantee? If Carnival lets us do this change (we are booked ES), we would be upgrading and getting about $60 in OBC. I know not all balconies are created equal though, but based on availability during a mock booking, it seems hopeful that even if we are on Deck 6 or 8, we will get a decent and somewhat quiet room. What are your thoughts? This is our first cruise, by the way.

Edited April 23, 2014 by iheartmarshall

[k2excursion]

Is your OV on deck 2 below the galley/kitchen? If so, that could be noisy. If not, I personally would stick with the OV that I got to pick out rather than take the risk. But I'm not a big balcony person. I've had a few, and they are nice, but I don't miss them when I don't have them. Other people would rather be at work than to be on a cruise without a balcony.

 

You could get assigned a good balcony, or if not, maybe the noise doesn't bother you as much as it would bother others. If it were me, I wouldn't take the risk.

[iheartmarshall]

Thanks for your input, K2! Last night while writing this thread, I realized I did want to take the risk and switch to a balcony guarantee. I think writing it out helped me make my decision so I called and switched. Our OV was in the very back of the ship, Deck 2, and I was worried about the vibration some report in that area. I know we may get stuck with an undesirable balcony room but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Plus, I got $60 OBC so that's exciting! haha

[sjn911]

Thanks for your input, K2! Last night while writing this thread, I realized I did want to take the risk and switch to a balcony guarantee. I think writing it out helped me make my decision so I called and switched. Our OV was in the very back of the ship, Deck 2, and I was worried about the vibration some report in that area. I know we may get stuck with an undesirable balcony room but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Plus, I got $60 OBC so that's exciting! haha

 

Good vibes for a good room...happy for you...it is what I did once..a inside guarantee and checking what was avbx on mock booking because the 800 bucks plus 500 air was all I could swing...and i had a 400 air coupon that was use or loose at the time...I got a great inside and i took earplugs...

 

My issue was vaulting kids on each side over Easter...LOL...2012...but it was a great location...deck 7 on Carnival Spirit mid deck. Sometimes a guarantee is what one has to do..good luck and I think you have it!!!

[dljones]

Thanks for your input, K2! Last night while writing this thread, I realized I did want to take the risk and switch to a balcony guarantee. I think writing it out helped me make my decision so I called and switched. Our OV was in the very back of the ship, Deck 2, and I was worried about the vibration some report in that area. I know we may get stuck with an undesirable balcony room but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Plus, I got $60 OBC so that's exciting! haha

 

I think you did the right thing. We have done guarantees for several of our cruises and have never been disappointed, in fact, we were always upgraded. You are going to hear noise on a cruise ship. There is no place that is perfectly quiet. My solution is ear plugs.

[Miller_KC]

Looks like we'll be on the same cruise. I never had any issues with cabins adjacent to the bridge, but the balcony is not total private since anyone out on the wings of the bridge can look back into the first few balconies behind them.

 

Above the casino is ok as long as you don't get right above the band stand or DJ station. I don't know the casino layout on the Conquest from experience but if it has a bar with a band stand it is usually under the interior cabins. By the deck plan it probably has a DJ station next to the bar at the aft end of the casino on the starboard side. By experience that was a bad place to be. Just above was bad, one cabin either side was noisy, the rest of the cabins should be ok.

 

If you can avoid the cabins under the main pool area on the Veranda deck you should be fine. Even then most of the noise is only when they put the deck chairs away at night and set them back up in the morning.

 

And one Upper Deck cabin is near the stage of the aft lounge. We have the Starboard (away from the stage) L shaped cabins above the lounge and you can hear a little music from time to time, but not bad.

 

Looks like most cabins open right now are not too bad. One or two could have a little noise but not the worst.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Miller_KC

[pspercy]

I find cruisedeckplans.com very useful as it has the facility to drag one deck over another so you can spot any issues about noise/location etc.

[Seany527]

Maybe all the balconies will sell out and you'll get a suite!

 

Let us know how it turns out.

[092306]

I would have gone for the balcony too. Hope you are pleasantly surprised with your cabin and have a great cruise!

[iheartmarshall]

Thanks everyone! We already got assigned a room on Deck 6 (Upper). Based on the deck plans, it looks like we lucked out and are over something called the Impressionist Boulevard? It looks like this is just a walkway and we're not directly over any of the louder clubs or lounges. And of course above us are just rooms on Deck 7. Hopefully this will be a good cabin!

[b_cruise]

Wow that is quick. I've heard cabin assignments the very next day now for two cruuse critic members. When are u sailing? Did carnival email u or did u just see it in your account!

[spsweet311]

Go you! We booked an inside gty and I was will to pay to upgrade to a balcony gty but ccl said no. Did get an upgrade to inside on empress though!

Let me know if you want to met up on ship.

See you soon!!

 

 

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[iheartmarshall]

Wow that is quick. I've heard cabin assignments the very next day now for two cruuse critic members. When are u sailing? Did carnival email u or did u just see it in your account!

 

I just logged in yesterday afternoon and saw that we had a new room. Called Wednesday evening and definitely didn't expect to be assigned that quick. We leave on May 18, so 20-some days.

 

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Edited April 25, 2014 by iheartmarshall

[iheartmarshall]

Go you! We booked an inside gty and I was will to pay to upgrade to a balcony gty but ccl said no. Did get an upgrade to inside on empress though!

Let me know if you want to met up on ship.

See you soon!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I hate that you weren't able to upgrade to a balcony guarantee but empress is awesome! And I'm game for meeting up, our roll call is pretty dead but there was some talk about a M&G. Nothing finalized though.

 

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[spsweet311]

Looks like were the only ones at the meet up lol

 

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