Guarantee Catagory Cabins

[Wyuna1]

Do many fellow cruisers take a punt on a guaranteed Catagory cabin or prefer to know where their cabin will be. Are there any good tales of a " win" in cabin allocations.

[Bodogbodog]

Search is your friend...

 

There's an 11 page recent thread on this subject here - probably easier to read that and continue the discussion on the existing thread

Edited January 18, 2016 by Bodogbodog

[rkmw]

Do many fellow cruisers take a punt on a guaranteed Catagory cabin or prefer to know where their cabin will be. Are there any good tales of a " win" in cabin allocations.

 

if your not fussed where you sleep it can be ok and you could be upgraded

[MicCanberra]

We generally pick our rooms (balconies) but recently have gone with a couple of last minute sales on weekend cruises and taken pot luck (inside cabins).:D

[6666oz]

The trick is being a repeat cruiser, on our last two cruises we had two good upgrades from a guaranteed Catagory cabin, but still pot luck, so far on our cruise next month we were given an upgrade and with it came priority boarding, will wait and see what else comes along. :)

[Beanb41]

It doesn't do any harm to being a repeat cruiser when looking for a better deal regarding cabin allocations. It comes as natural that a cruise line would look after repeat customers ahead of newbies.

 

When looking at a GTY deal check out the prices. If one is prepared to accept the "lowest" quality cabin within a particular class then the difference in price maybe significant. I have seen on our upcoming cruise on the Solstice for example a GTY balcony cabin was over $1000 cheaper than a Cat 2D cabin if booked directly. When the cabin is eventually allocated you may get a 2D but then you may get a higher class cabin. Pays your money takes your chances. I would take my chances.

[icat2000]

I've had a couple of upgrades from guaranteed booking. Mostly I take guarantees now.

[MicCanberra]

It doesn't do any harm to being a repeat cruiser when looking for a better deal regarding cabin allocations. It comes as natural that a cruise line would look after repeat customers ahead of newbies.

 

When looking at a GTY deal check out the prices. If one is prepared to accept the "lowest" quality cabin within a particular class then the difference in price maybe significant. I have seen on our upcoming cruise on the Solstice for example a GTY balcony cabin was over $1000 cheaper than a Cat 2D cabin if booked directly. When the cabin is eventually allocated you may get a 2D but then you may get a higher class cabin. Pays your money takes your chances. I would take my chances.

 

Exactly, be prepared to get what you paid for and maybe you are lucky and get something better. Otherwise just book the cabin you want.:D

[Fish66]

Does anyone get a free upgrade when they 1st board

[MicCanberra]

Does anyone get a free upgrade when they 1st board

 

We did on our first cruise with P&O but it wasn't a guarantee, we had picked it.

[rkmw]

Does anyone get a free upgrade when they 1st board

 

upgrades is like a lottery, if your lucky you'll get one

[Fish66]

Nearly everyone on another site I'm on

All said they got a free upgrade

And I'm talking ALOT lol

They all said

They booked an inside cabin and paid fully months before and once they got on the ship were offered upgrades

Lucky them

[jinja0707]

Depending on the ship and itinerary I will book a specific cabin and other times I just select a guarantee balcony category I would be happy with, if I dont get upgraded. You just never know what the upgrade fairy will do. In saying that, i booked a BE balcony guarantee on the Pacific Princess a couple of weeks ago on the Sydney to Hong Kong world cruise sector, at a last minute bargain rate. Today, I was assigned my cabin, fantastic upgrade to a Mini Suite. So, yes the upgrade fairy is still around and I sure had a "win" at no extra cost.

 

QUOTE=Wyuna1;48798844]Do many fellow cruisers take a punt on a guaranteed Catagory cabin or prefer to know where their cabin will be. Are there any good tales of a " win" in cabin allocations.

[Bodogbodog]

Does anyone get a free upgrade when they 1st board

 

We did get an upgrade on a guarantee from ocean view to a verandah on our first cruise

 

Whilst wee enjoyed it and we've certainly continued to cruise with this line it did not convince us to pay for a verandah class stateroom on our future sailings

[MicCanberra]

Depending on the ship and itinerary I will book a specific cabin and other times I just select a guarantee balcony category I would be happy with, if I dont get upgraded. You just never know what the upgrade fairy will do. In saying that, i booked a BE balcony guarantee on the Pacific Princess a couple of weeks ago on the Sydney to Hong Kong world cruise sector, at a last minute bargain rate. Today, I was assigned my cabin, fantastic upgrade to a Mini Suite. So, yes the upgrade fairy is still around and I sure had a "win" at no extra cost.

 

Great score.:D

[goodycruising]

Nearly everyone on another site I'm on

All said they got a free upgrade

And I'm talking ALOT lol

They all said

They booked an inside cabin and paid fully months before and once they got on the ship were offered upgrades

Lucky them

 

We have only cruised with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and it is my understanding that they don't do upgrades on the ship any more. It is all handled before boarding, and if you go to the service desk they can't do anything once you are on board. Sounds like they were on another cruise company, so maybe that happens still on other lines. It would have to have been a very undersold cruise for so many passengers to get upgraded at the same time. Or a big cancellation reason for a lot of passengers.

 

It is also easier to get an upgrade outside peak times obviously. When the ship is fully booked over Christmas there will be less chance of them giving you an upgrade, as it is full already. Also the proportion of cabins that you are in compared to the available upgrades. For example, the number of Junior Suites compared to Grand Suites would give you a better ratio of getting the upgrade than the balcony up to the Junior Suite.

 

I don't believe that loyalty makes it more likely. There are many threads on the subject and it would seem to me, anecdotally, that they like to upgrade newer passengers to entice them to pay for the higher category next time.

 

They also do a fair bit of up-selling these days, where they ring you and offer you a better cabin for a small fee.

 

Also we had some people whining at the fact that they don't get upgrades after doing so many cruises. Well, if you tick the disabled box and get a disabled room when you are not disabled, then the chances of them upgrading you to another disabled room are slim. Stop complaining about your blisters from line dancing, and stay in a regular room and the upgrade might come!

Edited January 19, 2016 by goodycruising

[The_Big_M]

We have only cruised with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and it is my understanding that they don't do upgrades on the ship any more. It is all handled before boarding, and if you go to the service desk they can't do anything once you are on board. Sounds like they were on another cruise company, so maybe that happens still on other lines. It would have to have been a very undersold cruise for so many passengers to get upgraded at the same time. Or a big cancellation reason for a lot of passengers.

 

That matches my experience (as well as what I've heard from others). I've never had an upgrade whether guarantee or not with RCL or Celebrity. Other lines are more generous.

[MicCanberra]

That matches my experience (as well as what I've heard from others). I've never had an upgrade whether guarantee or not with RCL or Celebrity. Other lines are more generous.

 

Likewise. The only upgrades I have ever received from them are due to Captains Club offers when booking or booking on board and it is what nearly everyone gets when booking this way.