"Carnival will choose for you" rooms.. did it work out for you?

[theverro]

Hello, currently booked in a 4B interior on the Carnival Freedom (midship Riviera/3 passengers) but could save an additional $100 between the 3 of us if I go with the “Carnival will choose for you” special that is on now. I confirmed that they would allow a “one time change” to that rate category, but that I would be locked in and would obviously lose my price protection. I am really not attached the room we have currently, my question therefore is, has have things worked out for you when picking the “Carnival will choose for you” rate? What type of room did you end up with? Did it complicate thing at “check in” time? Any feedback would be great!

 

Thanks!

[Carnival_Brides]

You have to go into it expecting to receive the lowest cabin in the category type--it's really the only way it works. At minimum you'll be in a 4A (3 people can't go into a 1A) and at best you could get a 4J (highest interior) or a higher category type. You also have to be content with the idea of being ANYWHERE on the ship (under the galley, under the gym, on top of the theater, etc). We were going to do GTY OVs for our upcoming Freedom cruise, but there were too many bad spots, so we spent a little more and upgraded to balconies.

 

I've done GTYs three times (all with balconies). Once we got a regular balcony, once we got an extended balcony, and the other time we got an aft-extended view. We went in expecting obstructed views in a bad location and we've been surprised all three times (especially the last one).

 

FWIW--is it worth losing your price protection this far out for $33pp? We are 76 days from sailing (on a holiday) and we're racking up the price drops. They're coming little spurts, but in the past six weeks we've upgraded from 4J interiors to 8C balconies and we've saved $40.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[valandemmy]

I have done it once. Before I really knew what I was doing and saved a minimal amount of money. I thought it was horrible. We were on deck 2, at the far back of the ship...as in.. The absolute LAST room. It didn't work out for us, but others seem to like the risk vs reward.

[linbobky]

we and another couple booked the liberty for the 26th of sept. and we got our room numbers today. we are very happy!!:) wife and I got a 4e on the empress deck and the othe couple got mid-ship on the 6th deck.

it worked out good this time.:)

[ccdaniel2707]

I booked my cruise yesterday for October & I let Carnival pick my room and I was given my room # before I hung up the phone.

[klct39lg]

I booked my cruise yesterday for October & I let Carnival pick my room and I was given my room # before I hung up the phone.

 

Are you pleased with your cabin and location? :)

[tman77064]

Just returned from a cruise on the Magic where I allowed Carnival to pick the room. We booked last minute and chose the cruise because of the price. We book a 1A guarantee in the dungeon of the ship and were pleased to receive a 4G on deck 8. Both were inside but the 1A is usually an over/under or sofa bed with a twin. The room we received was very nice.

 

We also took a transatlantic in 2013 and based on the recommend of our PVP we booked a guaranteed balcony. we ended up receiving an upgrade to the largest non-suite balcony on the Crown Princess. We were very pleased and out balcony was twice a large as the regular balcony we book.

 

So in our case we have had great success but we are always prepared and willing to be satisfied if we get exactly what be booked. Our motivation is to book as many cruises as possible and pay the lowest price which allow us to cruise often. By the way we are retired and take at least one cruise every quarter or at least 4 a year.

[ccdaniel2707]

Are you pleased with your cabin and location? :)

 

I have always let Carnival choose my room & I have always been happy with their choice. I guess you can say it doesn't take much to please me. I am never in the room anyway, so I don't care where its located.

[realmccoy]

I have done it twice...and ended up with the worst cabin in the category both times. First time I was "Gold" so thought I would get a better room, nope. Waited a few years and tried again when I was "Platinum" thinking that this would work, nope. So never again....

[dadroy]

I just read a review where the person complained bitterly his room was under the lido pool area. He had the sound of chairs being moved, stacked and thrown all night long. In case you are not aware, the staff moves all the chairs so they can clean the deck area, then they have to move all the chairs back. If you would not mind that noise, you can let Carnival choose the room.

 

You might get that noisy room or you might get a great room. As Dirty HArry was fond of saying, "Do you feel lucky?:D

 

The thing of being able to change one time, thats great if they assign the room right away. But some people go to a week before sailing without a room assignment. At that point, not many rooms left, and generally not in the best locations.

[Frank12]

Did it once......never again.:mad:

[cruiseelady]

I have done it twice with Carnival choosing my room(guarantee room), and both times was happy with what they have picked for me.

[michelle131964]

I let them choose and ended up being up graded to a French door cabin. Not bad considering I booked an inside cabin. Leave in October :)

[Cjh1975]

I've done it twice. Had no problems. Very happy with it this last time Kim a 6b guarenteed and got assigned a 6j

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

Yes. We booked our second cruise through a Cruise TA. She booked the rate where Carnival selects our room. On the Fantasy, we were placed in a very AFT OV cabin which was bigger the the Port or Starboard OV cabins. We would have probably never booked this on our own, but we didn't have any problems.

[Jeffrey1950]

Worked great for me...would not hesitate letting them choose for me again.

[Eeyoregon]

Check out this thread here on the Carnival boards. I took the plunge and am just waiting to see what cabins we get. In my case I gave up ONE inside cabin w/ walkway view to get TWO inside "we choose your room for you" cabins for $29 less total :D which was too good to pass up.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2090458