Booking OV Balcony vs OV Balcony Guarantee difference?

[Illmaxict]

Can anybody explain to me what the difference is when booking an ocean view balcony stateroom vs booking an ocean view with balcony guarantee. Other than the fact that the guarantee is less money, can anybody fill me in on pros and cons please.

 

Thank you

[Clarea]

Can anybody explain to me what the difference is when booking an ocean view balcony stateroom vs booking an ocean view with balcony guarantee. Other than the fact that the guarantee is less money, can anybody fill me in on pros and cons please.

 

Thank you

With the OV balcony, you get to pick your stateroom.

 

With the OV balcony guarantee, the cruise line picks your stateroom, and can be anywhere on the ship, and you may not know the location until the day of the cruise.

Edited April 1, 2016 by clarea

[Illmaxict]

ok thanks. is it worth an extra few hundred to pick my own? for those with experience in the matter... and if it is worth it to pick my own, any suggestions on what OV balcony cabins are more advantageous in terms of location, view, etc. We will be on the Harmony, maybe those with Oasis Class experience can chime in.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Illmaxict

[Clarea]

ok thanks. is it worth an extra few hundred to pick my own? for those with experience in the matter.

You're welcome.

 

Only you can decide if it's worth the money to pick. One thing that might help you decide is that if you are booking under US/Canadian rules, Royal will usually let you change your stateroom to another available stateroom in the same exact category that you have been assigned.

[Lars997]

For a balcony stateroom, there are way to many options of good and bad rooms.I always would book the one I prefer. Different game with suits. All suits are well located, so I wouldn't mind booking a guarantee over a normal JS.

 

 

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[WeBeCruisers?]

Personally we cannot justify a balcony, view or no view. I realize everybody is different but the amount of time we spend in our room during the day on non Port days is minimal, therefore the amount of time that we would spend on our balcony would be even less. Simply not a good value to us unless the pricing were nearly equal to an inside rate.

 

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[Rigby the Dog]

ok thanks. is it worth an extra few hundred to pick my own? for those with experience in the matter... and if it is worth it to pick my own, any suggestions on what OV balcony cabins are more advantageous in terms of location, view, etc. We will be on the Harmony, maybe those with Oasis Class experience can chime in.

 

We took the balcony guarantee for an upcoming cruise in May on Allure. It was a few hundred dollars cheaper as you noted. We ended up being assigned a 6th floor balcony towards the back of the ship about a week after making our reservations (we booked the cruise about two months ago).

 

To be honest, we booked the guarantee just to see what we would end up with. Our prior sailings have always been a balcony on the 14th floor towards the back - so this will be quite a change for us.

[Wanderista]

I'm not in a balcony but I'm replying to this because I did the guarantee thing for this cruise. I'm new to it all and I'm interested in trying it out but I also wanted to keep costs low and competitive. (I decided on this in a relatively short timeframe and I paid for the cruise outright. I also had to get reimbursed by a friend who I am booking the cabin with so we wanted to keep the per-person costs low).

 

I will say that I'm pretty happy with the room we were assigned by rolling the dice this way. I thought we'd get the cheapest or least desirable room that they could assign us but that hasn't happened at all. They actually gave us the largest size of stateroom in our category, so definitely worth more than we paid. The location is maybe not the most perfect but it is pretty good and I am happy so far. We were actually put on a great floor and in a large room. We are near elevators and we are kind of above the theatre but we're not near a late night nightclub or lounge or below the pool deck or anything.

 

I would chance it with a guarantee again, but it would depend on the ship. If I were considering a balcony on one of the large ships with various types of balconies then maybe I would be pickier.

 

I did sign up for C&A and got a nice person on the phone when I booked. I was really flattering about how I was excited to experience the line. I don't know if that helped but I would consider my experience with booking a guarantee to be good.

[Illmaxict]

wow, so i leave to go the gym, forgetting to hold my reservation on the rate i found, 90 minutes later, the price has gone up 1000 dollars. so nice!

[Clarea]

wow, so i leave to go the gym, forgetting to hold my reservation on the rate i found, 90 minutes later, the price has gone up 1000 dollars. so nice!

Wow!

[Keith1010]

wow, so i leave to go the gym, forgetting to hold my reservation on the rate i found, 90 minutes later, the price has gone up 1000 dollars. so nice!

 

Incredible.

 

Keith

[reallyitsmema]

wow, so i leave to go the gym, forgetting to hold my reservation on the rate i found, 90 minutes later, the price has gone up 1000 dollars. so nice!

 

See, that is why I avoid going to the gym at all cost.:eek:;):D

[Illmaxict]

haha. yea, well wish i could say i expect more from a major travel company.

 

now my only hope for the ov balcony is this 50 percent off second guest on sunday, and if the rate stays the same, i'll be able to get more or less the same fare the website offered me today before screwing me.

 

i was also given the run around by two reps at royal. one said he saw the rate i was talking about but could only offer the me the current higher rate, when i spoke with a supervisor, he claimed to be unable to even see the cheaper rate i was talking about. hmmmm, somebody isn't telling the truth, and it certainly was not me.

 

par for the course, eh?

Edited April 1, 2016 by Illmaxict

[Illmaxict]

it will infuriate me if I end up paying the price i had for a balcony today for an ocean view inside cabin... ufff, the only thing that stopped me from reserving was this thread and my desire for opinions first. :(

[Clarea]

it will infuriate me if I end up paying the price i had for a balcony today for an ocean view inside cabin... ufff, the only thing that stopped me from reserving was this thread and my desire for opinions first. :(

Good luck, and please let us know what happens.

[Tee & Chilli]

Try a TA and maybe you can obtain some perks.

Try RCCL website again in case there is an error in the rate and it was fixed.