Booking a Princess to assign stateroom prior to departure? Risks?

[Kingofcool1947]

DW and I are considering a last minute 15 day Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess, Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale. Sailing December 5, 2016.

 

All balcony staterooms have been apparently sold.

 

So, my only booking choice is:

 

"YOUR STATEROOM WILL BE ASSIGNED JUST PRIOR TO DEPARTURE:"

 

My questions are:

 

What has been your experience with Princess assigning stateroom prior to departure?

Are the staterooms usually in bad areas of ship or..........caveats?

Do I find out which stateroom Princess assigns us at time of getting our cruise card, or be notified earlier ie. Email?

Is an optioned offered by Princess for an free upgrade/category?

We usually book our cruises well ahead of sail dates to get confirmed staterooms, so this procedure is new to us. We don't have to take this cruise, but unexpectly found some free time in December to do this Panama Canal cruise.:)

 

Thanks for your help and advice.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[reedprincess]

This is what's colloquially known as a "guarantee". You'll be assigned - at "worst" the exact cabin category you booked, wherever one may be available. As long as you're OK with the "worst" cabin in a specific category, then booking a guarantee can be fine... Often, but by no means always, a guarantee may result in an upgrade, ie you've booked a BE category and may get a BA.. That would be an upgrade. Very occasionally, guarantees may see a full category upgrade such ad a BE booking guarantee may result in an upgrade to an MA or similar.. IE balcony to mini-suite. That's rare though. .

Guarantees font automatically get the worst cabins or anything, they are assigned at varying times and can be anywhere within the category or above.

Timing is random - any time at all from time you book up until embarkation day.... for some, that's a drawback as they don't like the suspense.. For those who don't care much, not a problem. Just keep checking your personalizer every so often.

If you're nor bothered about where tour cabin is, guarantees can work fine...pay the cost for the lowest category and get at least that, and often a higher category.

Of the cruise is showing as cabins full or not available f that's not sold out necessarily, they just haven't been all assigned. Princess will offer upsells and move-over offers as needed to get the cabin combos they need...

If you book a guarantee, you're guaranteed a cabin..

Go for it if the price is right!! Great sailing.

[Colo Cruiser]

DW and I are considering a last minute 15 day Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess, Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale. Sailing December 5, 2016.

 

All balcony staterooms have been apparently sold.

 

So, my only booking choice is:

 

"YOUR STATEROOM WILL BE ASSIGNED JUST PRIOR TO DEPARTURE:"

 

My questions are:

 

What has been your experience with Princess assigning stateroom prior to departure?

Are the staterooms usually in bad areas of ship or..........caveats?

Do I find out which stateroom Princess assigns us at time of getting our cruise card, or be notified earlier ie. Email?

Is an optioned offered by Princess for an free upgrade/category?

We usually book our cruises well ahead of sail dates to get confirmed staterooms, so this procedure is new to us. We don't have to take this cruise, but unexpectly found some free time in December to do this Panama Canal cruise.:)

 

Thanks for your help and advice.

 

 

Your cabin should be assigned prior to sailing day.

Although there is limited access on the personalizer within 5 or so days of the cruise you can access bag tags/travel summary right up to sailing day. You will see your cabin assignment there.

 

Very rare to not have a cabin assignment when you arrive at the port.

[Kingofcool1947]

Your cabin should be assigned prior to sailing day.

Although there is limited access on the personalizer within 5 or so days of the cruise you can access bag tags/travel summary right up to sailing day. You will see your cabin assignment there.

 

Very rare to not have a cabin assignment when you arrive at the port.

 

Thank you!

 

Makes sense re: cabin assignment printing luggage tags online a few days prior to sailing.

 

BTW: Have you ever booked a Princess guarantee cabin? How was the cabin?

Edited November 6, 2016 by Kingofcool1947

[yuccaman]

But just be aware that there is at least a *chance* that you will not have your actual assignment until embarkation. No big deal, perhaps just re-labeling your luggage with the porter at the port.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thank you!

 

Makes sense re: cabin assignment printing luggage tags online a few days prior to sailing.

 

BTW: Have you ever booked a Princess guarantee cabin? How was the cabin?

 

We have booked a gty a few times. Never been disappointed.

We have waitlisted sold out cruises at the last minute as well.

 

In this situation being short notice on an almost sold out PC cruise it would be hard for me to complain about any cabin assignment if we had a gty.

Its a crap shoot on location but at least you will be on the cruise and have the minimum cabin cat you booked the gty under. ;)

 

Thats why I always say don't book a gty if you are too worried about where/what you will be assigned.

[towhee]

We have booked GTY many times and have always been pleased. We usually get a one or two category (i.e. bc to ba) upgrade, but one time we got an front-facing suite (we loved it). Except for our first cruise, we've always known our cabin number a week or so before sailing.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We often book guarantees and have never had a really bad cabin. We usually get a slight upgrade of some kind.

 

In fact, we have a guarantee on the Regal leaving Dec. 11; no cabin yet, so still waiting.

[shutterbug12]

We have booked a guarantee cabin twice before. Both times, we received a cabin in the exact category we booked. The first time, we received our cabin assignment only 3 days before departure. The second time, we received our cabin number 5 weeks before departure.

 

We now have a guarantee cabin booked for January and we are still waiting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an upgrade. Maybe third time is the charm!

[caribill]

 

Thats why I always say don't book a gty if you are too worried about where/what you will be assigned.

 

OP wanted a balcony cabin, but all balcony cabins were booked. Thus only a GTY was available for the desired type cabin.

[GUT2407]

Thank you!

 

Makes sense re: cabin assignment printing luggage tags online a few days prior to sailing.

 

BTW: Have you ever booked a Princess guarantee cabin? How was the cabin?

 

Never had an issue, the only reason we stopped was some health conditions mean we MUST have mid-ship.

[geoherb]

We book guarantees a lot of the time. For our upcoming December cruise on the Caribbean, we're still waiting for our cabin assignment. Guarantees are fine for people who are not picky. The thing to consider is that you can be assigned to any cabin in your category or higher. If there are truly any cabins you would hate to have, booking a guarantee isn't the way to go. But if you can make the best of whatever cabin you get, booking a guarantee when there are not any specific cabins available for the type of cabin you want will get you on another cruise.

[akeasley]

I'm too picky about my cabin location to book a GTY. I'd rather have a lower cabin category than to not be able to pick my own room location.

[Colo Cruiser]

OP wanted a balcony cabin, but all balcony cabins were booked. Thus only a GTY was available for the desired type cabin.

 

 

My statement did not apply to the short notice cruise the OP is looking at because his cabin choice was wait list only.

Edited November 7, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[TW6cruiser]

We did a GTY for our fall Canada /NEw England cruise. It was for the highest level balcony cabin and that's what we got. We had marked "no upgrade" as the next higher level of minisuite could have meant one over noisy areas of the ship. So many of the posts are correct but keep in mind if you would be happy with any cabin in the category you are booking in, you can always mark no upgrade so won't have a bad cabin depending upon your desires.

 

 

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[riclop]

I will never do that.

[caribill]

We did a GTY for our fall Canada /NEw England cruise. It was for the highest level balcony cabin and that's what we got. We had marked "no upgrade" as the next higher level of minisuite could have meant one over noisy areas of the ship. So many of the posts are correct but keep in mind if you would be happy with any cabin in the category you are booking in, you can always mark no upgrade so won't have a bad cabin depending upon your desires.

 

 

 

The "no upgrade" option does not apply to a GTY, at least not before a cabin is assigned.

[kruisey]

I tried that guarantee was assigned same level in a lousy noisy position.A few folks are lucky and get a good deal.Personally I would never do that again.:cool:

Maybe the better idea would be for a guarantee cabin to be advertised at a few dollars cheaper then no one has recourse,. This would not include wait list.

Edited November 8, 2016 by kruisey

[Cruise Raider]

I tried that guarantee was assigned same level in a lousy noisy position.A few folks are lucky and get a good deal.Personally I would never do that again.:cool:

 

That is exactly the reason I will NEVER book a guarantee cabin again on Princess....it has happened to me both times I booked a guarantee and just ruined me.

 

I ended up in a so called 'upgraded cabin' both times but with the same major category ... balcony to balcony, inside to inside. I am a rather light sleeper, though and don't do so well at the very bow of the ship .... so what I am saying, I have learned I am picky about my cabin location.

Both times we did this (slow learner I guess), we were assigned to the noisiest cabins on the ship. Now, I might be exaggerating ... there may have been some other cabins equal in the noise that we experienced ... but bet there were not any noisier rooms.

Again....I have learned I am picky about my cabin and if you aren't, there is no better way to go as you do have a slim chance of being truly upgraded.

[land lover]

I, as others have stated would probably go with a lower Cat. and know where I am located, if available. In the past I have done G, but that was before upsells.

When booking today I always have non upgrade and pick a cabin that is close to a public area. I personally don't care for Princesses graduated balconies on their ships....so would rather not roll the dice.

Edited November 8, 2016 by land lover

[caribill]

I tried that guarantee was assigned same level in a lousy noisy position.A few folks are lucky and get a good deal.Personally I would never do that again.:cool:

Maybe the better idea would be for a guarantee cabin to be advertised at a few dollars cheaper then no one has recourse,. This would not include wait list.

 

Carnival offers GTYs for each type of cabin (inside, oceanview, etc). You do not have a choice of what category within that type to be the minimum you want. In other words, it could always be the lowest possible category in the type you picked. For an inside GTY, that could mean on some ships two single beds, one above the other.

[iancal]

We have booked gtys many times on various cruise lines. We have never been disappointed. We prefer the gtys that let you select a certain cat. or above.

 

We have had a few amazing assignments on Celebrity and Carnival. Far better than we expected. We often book inside the cancellation window.

 

BUT....we always assume that we will be assigned the worst cabin in the category and we hope for the best. After many cruises, so far so good. Waiting to see what our assignment will be for our Feb Crown cruise.

Edited November 9, 2016 by iancal

[jasmith52]

I tried that guarantee was assigned same level in a lousy noisy position.

 

How do you know that the carefully picked room you selected isn't a lousy noisy cabin ? Do you know where all the pumps and machinery are ? I suspect that what you pick is just as random as the GTY cabins.

 

You don't know what you don't know.

Edited November 9, 2016 by jasmith52

[Times Prince]

We used to book guarantee cabins on a regular basis and got better class cabins for every cruise except one, where we got exactly what we paid for. About half the time we got BA cabins for BF/BG guarantees.

 

I would say to the OP - go for it, and have a great cruise.

 

And why don't we do it now? We got spoiled on those Caribe deck balconies on Grand Class ships.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Times Prince

[Grego]

We have booked a gty a few times. Never been disappointed.

We have waitlisted sold out cruises at the last minute as well.

 

In this situation being short notice on an almost sold out PC cruise it would be hard for me to complain about any cabin assignment if we had a gty.

Its a crap shoot on location but at least you will be on the cruise and have the minimum cabin cat you booked the gty under. ;)

 

Thats why I always say don't book a gty if you are too worried about where/what you will be assigned.

 

I agree. If there is no other choice, then it is what it is. We choose the cabin location we want and book that one. If it's a last minute situation and it's the cruise that's important, then we go with an assignment.