Guarantee suites

[800below]

I must be in the punishment suite! got 504 this morning, no upgrade offers! And I have over 100 nights on Seabourn

 

 

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[Isklaar]

I must be in the punishment suite! got 504 this morning, no upgrade offers! And I have over 100 nights on Seabourn

 

 

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When is your cruise? It's possible they will change your allocation, at least it happened to me once. I received my suite allocation, a V2 connecting. Didn't try to have it changed or even mention it to my TA, it's the gamble we take with GTY. Then came an upsell offer that I declined and a few days later, the suite was changed to a much better one.

[lincslady]

I am finding these posts on how guarantees work very useful, even if obviously there are lots of different ploys being used.

 

One point which some people may not know about: if you choose your actual suite, unless you or your TA tell SB you don't want to be automatically upgraded, which can and does happen, you have to accept the upgrade, as the suite you booked will have been re-allocated. Normally this is good news, but it could be you do not like the position of the new one, and as with a guarantee suite, cannot change it.

[Isklaar]

 

One point which some people may not know about: if you choose your actual suite, unless you or your TA tell SB you don't want to be automatically upgraded, which can and does happen, you have to accept the upgrade, as the suite you booked will have been re-allocated. Normally this is good news, but it could be you do not like the position of the new one, and as with a guarantee suite, cannot change it.

 

This is a very good point.

Although of course, SB prefers to upsell whenever it can, sometimes there are automatic upgrades too.

If a guest makes their reservation on the SB website, it's quite clearly explained how this works. But if anyone books with a TA and wants to keep the specific suite they booked, they should always let their TA know so their TA can notify SB when they make the booking. It's worth reminding your TA each time you make a reservation, at least until he/she gets to know you and your preferences very well.

[vistaman]

I must be in the punishment suite! got 504 this morning, no upgrade offers! And I have over 100 nights on Seabourn

 

 

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it seems you are in the same situation as i was

on level 14 : + 140 days : 414

level 15 was partially a reward also no balcony

on level 16 : original 411 - yes!!!- then 502

i find it more logic : first the diamant members , then platinum ...

obviously too difficult i a time of IT

and probably i'll be the bad guy once again ;)

i hope you do not meet first 2nd or 3rd timers on guarantee in a V4 5 or 6 !

[Mr Luxury]

So not to confuse anyone, that was a typo above where I typed 'OV'. :o

 

 

And so you are not confused,you will at least be allocated what you paid for.

Enjoy the trip

 

 

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[zentraveler]

it seems you are in the same situation as i was

on level 14 : + 140 days : 414

level 15 (?) was partially a reward also no balcony

on level 16 (?) : original 411 - yes!!!- then 502

i find it more logic : first the diamant members , then platinum ...

obviously too difficult i a time of IT

and probably i'll be the bad guy once again ;)

i hope you do not meet first 2nd or 3rd timers on guarantee in a V4 5 or 6 !

 

This looks like an interesting post, but I need a translation. If I can take a stab at it:

 

You had traveled on SB for 140 days and got 414 assigned.

Level 15 with partial reward and no balcony -- no idea

On level 16 - originally assigned 411 and then upgraded to 502 ?

Diamant (Diamond??) level members UG first, then platinum

 

obviously too difficult i a time of IT

and probably i'll be the bad guy once again ;)

 

Not a clue about this part

 

i hope you do not meet first 2nd or 3rd timers on guarantee in a V4 5 or 6

 

People may be upset to have more sailing days and meet fellow travelers with less SB time but better upgrades/assignments.

 

I know I am getting up to speed on CC lingo so this may be a good practice post :D

[Isklaar]

And so you are not confused,you will at least be allocated what you paid for.

Enjoy the trip

 

 

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Yes, exactly!

On the cruises where I must be on my favourite deck, I book and pay for a specific suite. On this cruise which is short and fairly port intensive, I'm happy to take a GTY, expecting a V1.

I've been very lucky so far with GTY allocations, but I never expect a better category than I've paid for. It's a nice bonus to be allocated a V5/6 but I do realise it's the luck of the draw.

Edited October 13, 2016 by Isklaar

[lincslady]

zentraveler - vistaman is, I think, Belgian, and English is definitely not his first language, so we do need to try to be helpful when reading it. However, I too do not follow what level 15 and level 16 are, never heard of them, and I too have many days on Seabourn (Diamond). I also fear that he does not write as well as he might in English as he is obviously pretty cross with Seabourn and I think that comes across in the way he writes.

 

vistaman - have you by now given up on Seabourn, or are you going to carry on putting up with what could be poor suite allocations?

[Isklaar]

it seems you are in the same situation as i was

on level 14 : + 140 days : 414

level 15 was partially a reward also no balcony

on level 16 : original 411 - yes!!!- then 502

i find it more logic : first the diamant members , then platinum ...

obviously too difficult i a time of IT

and probably i'll be the bad guy once again ;)

i hope you do not meet first 2nd or 3rd timers on guarantee in a V4 5 or 6 !

 

vistaman, are you saying that on two occasions you booked a veranda guarantee and were allocated a suite without a veranda?

 

As for guests who are new or fairly new to SB getting better allocations, I'm not sure about that, I mean I don't know if SB actively does that. I can see the business argument for doing that from both sides. But I now have many nights on SB and so far have always been allocated a V5 or V6 when I'm booking a GTY.

This time may be different, but as noted above I've paid for V1 so have no expectations of a higher category.

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[zentraveler]

On the cruises where I must be on my favourite deck, I book and pay for a specific suite. On this cruise which is short and fairly port intensive, I'm happy to take a GTY, expecting a V1.

 

As for guests who are new or fairly new to SB getting better allocations, I'm not sure about that, I mean I don't know if SB actively does that. I can see the business argument for doing that from both sides. But I now have many nights on SB and so far have always been allocated a V5 or V6 when I'm booking a GTY.

This time may be different, but as noted above I've paid for V1 so have no expectations of a higher category.

 

Am in complete agreement. The deal is the deal, and it was not worth it to us to book a specific cabin even for a 21 day cruise. The deal is that we save $$ but trade flexibility and security. And we booked OB because the veranda mattered to us and we were willing to pay the extra $$ to not leave that to chance.

 

I would, however, be peeved if we paid for GUAR OB and were assigned a cabin with no veranda. As I understand, the "guaranteed" part of GUAR is that you at least get no lower than the category you paid for.

[Isklaar]

 

I would, however, be peeved if we paid for GUAR OB and were assigned a cabin with no veranda. As I understand, the "guaranteed" part of GUAR is that you at least get no lower than the category you paid for.

 

Hoping to reassure you, I will say that I've never heard of this happening before, and that's talking to other guests onboard, RL SB friends and here at CC. Although of course that doesn't mean it hasn't ever happened!

I'm hoping vistaman will come back to tell us a little more about his experience as I may have misunderstood what he has written above.

[wripro]

If someone is not willing to accept whatever suite they are assigned when booking a guarantee they should not book a guarantee. Complaining afterwards that they didn't get more than they paid for is just wrong and petty imo. If you want a V5 or V6 book one.

[lincslady]

ditto,wripro. I hope that vistaman will tell us exactly what he booked; I feel sure it must have been simply an OS, window only guaranteed, and not an OB, veranda guaranteed. If not he was certainly 'done', but I would be very surprised if this was the case.

 

I think most people, including new to SB, book an OB, and therefore have a chance to be given a fairly high grade. In any case, I wish he would just book a specific suite in future! If indeed there is a future in Seabourn for him.

[vistaman]

sorry for my language mistakes :eek: - english is a third language ;)

the numbers i did mention were the amount of cruises

so on 14 th 15 th and 16 th cruise ...

and i agree that if i do want a V5 or V6 i must pay for it ( however as a single ??)

but i disagree also on the fact of the random upgrades by SB nearly totally ignoring your history as passenger

maybe we must close the discussion as i think nearly everybody more a less did agree that there is a form of random .

[SKP946]

 

As for guests who are new or fairly new to SB getting better allocations, I'm not sure about that, I mean I don't know if SB actively does that. I can see the business argument for doing that from both sides. But I now have many nights on SB and so far have always been allocated a V5 or V6 when I'm booking a GTY.

This time may be different, but as noted above I've paid for V1 so have no expectations of a higher category.

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On our Antarctica cruise, an English couple who had booked an OB through their local village travel agency, were allocated a Penthouse, #1016, (Portside, directly behind the Observation Lounge)

Unfortunately he suffered terribly from motion sickness and was most unwell in the Force 10+ that we had going past "The Horn"

I don't think that he will ever cruise again, on Seabourn or any other cruise line.:)

[Chairsin]

I have cautioned some newbies on our Holiday Antartica cruise that this might not be the cruise to risk an upgrade. As your friends found out when rough weather is likely you do not want to be high up and forward. Usually we love to be in a V-6 on deck 8 but for this cruise we have booked midship on deck 5.

 

 

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Edited October 13, 2016 by Chairsin

[divsec]

Thanks all for contributing to this thread, I've learnt so much about SB and the way they operate. Back on dry land for a while waiting for another cannot miss opportunity to sail with SB and would book a guarantee suite again.

[Isklaar]

Thanks all for contributing to this thread, I've learnt so much about SB and the way they operate. Back on dry land for a while waiting for another cannot miss opportunity to sail with SB and would book a guarantee suite again.

 

The best cure for that post-disembarkation feeling of missing SB is to book another asap! You've been back for several days now, definitely time to start planning.;)

Thanks for shaing your GTY experience with us too.

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[lincslady]

Just heard from someone we know, first time on Seabourn, that their OS suite is indeed on deck 4, so the theory that first timers usually get an upgrade sadly did not work for them.

 

I would still like to know if vistaman will cruise with Seabourn again.

[vistaman]

I will not cruise on a Seabourn anymore for sure in Europe despite after the problems on the Sojourn i did receive some promises:rolleyes:

mostly caused by the fact about the closing down of the MDR both for breakfast as for lunch last year

In Belgium there is an arbitration board for travelling and complaints

In the SB 2015 brochure + cruise documents it was clearly stipulated that the MDR was open 3 times a day - what was not : so that was providing false and wrong information to clients and pax: ( the daily programmes were clearly illustrating the MDR was closed every day for breakfast and lunch) what is taken rather seriously , especially on a higher "luxurious" level.

but i did not summon the case ...

 

maybe for Caribbean if a particular hotel director is not on that cruise

[zentraveler]

This is really interesting. On a whim I decided to look at availability for our cruise to Antartica November 28th (2016). They are still advertising ocean view and veranda suites (and presumably the other categories, although those are "call for availability") but the ocean view are $1K more than the veranda! I am guessing that they suppose more people want a low deck option and are willing to pay a premium and give up the veranda. Go figure....

 

[And the prices look to be about what we paid in the spring....]

[sfvoyage]

...Antartica November 28th (2016). They are still advertising ocean view and veranda suites (and presumably the other categories, although those are "call for availability") but the ocean view are $1K more than the veranda!....

 

You're comparing an OB (verandah guarantee) to an A1. Guarantees are typically lower priced, and OB pricing is often times the same as or even lower than A or A1.

[zentraveler]

You're comparing an OB (verandah guarantee) to an A1. Guarantees are typically lower priced, and OB pricing is often times the same as or even lower than A or A1.

 

Thanks sfvoyage. Clearly a learning curve with getting facile with this. I had missed the "A" designations (or forgotten about them) am undoubtedly missing the boat so to speak :D.

 

No idea what it means that there seem to be suites in all categories still for sale, or how often ships get sold out in some of the categories.

[philipb]

This discussion topic mystifies me. We travel on Silversea, not Seabourn, and book and pay for the cabin we want. We do not expect 'upgrades'. On a future Antarctic cruise we have booked a cabin (in the lowest price category!) on the lowest deck (deck 4), absolute mid-ships. It will be the most stable cabin on the ship. The last thing we want is an 'upgrade'!!!