Guarantee Cabin vs paying more to choose your cabin?

[JonathanFlorida]

I know this must be a newb question, but, how much do you typically save by allowing Carnival to choose your cabin, or conversely, how much does it usually cost to be able to choose your own, and is it worth the cost?

[lizardhowson]

It varies by sailing - from $20 per person upwards to so much per person per day.

[cruiznLYNN]

For my cruise which starts tomorrow, it was around $200 for me (solo). That difference was more than my two ship excursions and the auto tips so I thought it was worth the risk. I've done Guarantee for all of my 4 cruises and it has worked well for me. This is my first cruise with Carnival and I did a OV Guarantee. My assigned cabin has a full window OV (instead of two portholes) on the Riveria deck mid-ship. I'm pleased with the location especially for the price and newbie to Carnival. Hope this helps.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Just take into consideration that there are some undesirable locations on most cruise ships...Magic, for example, has some cabins near the rear elevators whose doors actually open into the foyer leading to the elevators. Other cabins butt up against the service rooms and during the day these rooms are very active. On many ships the lifeboats inhibit the view from windows and your chance of seeing the ocean are very restricted. Also, many rooms are above or directly below well-used public areas, nightclubs etc. where ambient noise continues well into the sleeping hours. The rooms at the front of the ship often are noisy during rough seas and those at the rear can buck during these conditions.

 

If these things don't bother you a guarantee cabin can be beneficial financially. Its always the luck of the draw when booking this fare.

[seafoy]

I saved about $200 I think with balcony GTY for July sailing. This will be my first time sailing with Carnival and first time doing a GTY cabin, so we'll see how it goes! I don't think I would ever do an inside GTY though, as it would seem you would have a bigger chance of getting a less desirable room.

[JonathanFlorida]

Have read about watching fares for drops, but, usually references an ES class of fare?

[bakersdozen12]

I'm on the fence as to whether I would book a guarantee. I'm inclined to think that no, I wouldn't. I like to know exactly where my room is. I think the only time I might do it is when my husband and I finally do a Mediterranean cruise. Since the airfare from the U.S. To Europe will be much higher, we might need to save money elsewhere. So maybe a guarantee and, gulp, no baloney. [emoji17]

[mzloolue]

Have read about watching fares for drops, but, usually references an ES class of fare?

 

I believe that there is price protection up to the final payment date and not after.

Someone may need to correct me on this.

And for ES you have to match to exactly the same category, so it is a good idea to learn all the categories.

There is a big online cruise booking service that will break it down and show the price for every category when you do a mock booking. So I check there first and then look at the Carnival site to see the fare class and then call my PVP.

 

I watch the fare prices and get a good idea how much the fare generally and when I find a good price.

When I book the price does not usually go down.

When I hear about people getting huge credits it is often people who booked far out or booked at a price that I would consider high to start with.

 

A lot depends on if you can choose your dates to accommodate the price or if you have to choose the cruise to fit your time slot.

Edited May 24, 2015 by mzloolue

[kelkel2]

For our Vista cruise, we originally decided to let Carnival choose our cabin, but after second thoughts we decided to pick it. We called back and it was around $300 more. BUT we went from the cheapest balcony (guarantee) to a lido balcony (8F) so not by any means did we go for the cheapest balcony. We could have done for a cove and saved some money there. Had we gone for the cove it would have been more like $175

[love my grandkids]

We have done about 5-6 Guarantees and it has worked out ok for us.

[mzloolue]

For me it depends on the price difference and the trip budget.

I have had some excellent cabins with a guarantee and some bad ones that I chose.

 

Sometimes the price difference is worth the gamble.

 

And actually it is kind of exciting to wait and see what cabin I will get.

[love my grandkids]

For me it depends on the price difference and the trip budget.

I have had some excellent cabins with a guarantee and some bad ones that I chose.

 

Sometimes the price difference is worth the gamble.

 

And actually it is kind of exciting to wait and see what cabin I will get.

 

I have always thought it was kind of exciting watching for assignment:):)

[CruiseReg]

.. including in the other direction. We've booked specific cabins with deals that were actually cheaper than the equivalent guarantee. This typically happens before final payment.

 

We've done several guarantees and we've mostly been fine with it because we're generally not picky people. Recently we've tended to book specific cabins though. For a sweet deal, I'd do a guarantee again in a hot minute.