balcony guarantee is now a 'bait n switch' ..

[RDC1]

I gotta tell you, BC: You're a class act. To come back after all this and admit that maybe you 'jumped the gun' is unusual - on CC and the world 'round. You've won the "Good Guy of the Day" Award! (y)

I agree that Celebrity certainly should NOT have hung up on you. Totally unacceptable.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your special birthday cruise with your friends/family. Bon Voyage.

 

The one comment I would make on Celebrity hanging up. Many companies train their customer service personnel to immediately terminate a call, which can include hanging up, anytime a caller become abusive.

 

Since we don't have an actual tape of the call we don't know what was said, we also don't know what the agent might have done to explain he situation prior to hanging up.

 

Without that detail I would not necessarily jump to the "totally unacceptable" view.

[hvbaskey]

Would be funny if the other 2 cabins were assigned Aquaclass and ate in Blu while you were stuck in the 12D and the main dining room. That's the gamble with Guarantees. I would never roll those dice on 3 cabins: setup for disappointment.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

 

Best reply, yet!

 

We have done several guarantees in the past and always expect the lower category. We’ve received the lowest and we have received the highest.

 

As this response is clearly brilliant, rolling the dice on THREE balcony guarantees? wow - you are lucky just to be on the same deck as each other. Count your blessings.

 

PS - definitely find a new TA.com

[helen haywood]

Pure speculation. But the probably wasn’t offered to the OP because of the way the call was handled. Again speculation. But there seems to be a lot of legal terms thrown around and that gets you no where on a phone call.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

Why do you say this is “pure speculation?” I have done this many times, including as recently as a month ago.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bEwAbG]

I do understand what a guarantee is. You get whatever they select. Now, I also understand that it does seem somewhat unfair that someone who came after me maybe even the 2 days before the cruise and is assigned a much better balcony than me when I made my reservation 6 months ago. What should happened and what this guy is used to in the past is that the all the guarantees are assigned very close to the cruise date and the assignments from best remaining balcony to worst are done in time order. But since Celebrity has a new bidding process like Norwegian, they need to save the best cabins to have people bid up to make more money. The way the OP is describing it will never ever happen again. What the other people have said it true. You got the balcony you paid for. How it was delivered compared to past sailings is the OPs issue. Unfortunately, you will be assigned the worst guarantee they have as soon as you book now. There is no getting around that.

 

But how long ago was this previous process? I have only known X to generally NOT wait until the last minute to give assignments. Also, "best" to "worst" is certainly a subjective distinction. What is "best" for one may not be the case for another. I prefer the current system in which I can request to move to a different cabin in the same class because there are still some available. Someone booking at the last minute may not have that same flexibility if the ship is full.

[Toofarfromthesea]

I'll pick this one to reply to because, upon reflection, you are correct..

 

I do apologize for using the incorrect term 'bait n switch'. In my mind and experience, I had a different interpretation on the meaning. I, in no way, meant to imply any illegal activity on the part of Celebrity. I may not like the wording and workings but that is, as you imply, my problem.

 

Hanging up on me is like lighting a fuse and once a fuse is lit, it turns out.. well, incendiary ! If I could remove that term I would, although the rest of the post led to (in my mind anyway) some great feedback.. I have had immense respect for the way Celebrity employees have provided service in the past, so this was extremely aggravating and unexpected.

 

I would like to thank ALL the respondents, especially the responses with solid advice (ie: contact your sluffing-off TA !), but even the 'you are a moron' ones are helpful :').. I learned a few things today, so I'll take that as a 'win'.

 

I see now that balcony guarantees have changed over the years, probably for a whole whack of reasons. I will assume it's the same for all cruise lines and, in the future, book accordingly.

 

To the respondent who said that (something like) hoped the other 2 cabins in a group got bumped way up and we were 'stuck' in 2D. Actually, believe it or not, that's exactly what I hope too ! That is the second-best case scenario.

 

Cheers and happy cruising to all:cool:

 

You will never become an internet STAR if you admit when you are wrong about something, rather than the more approved method of doubling down on dumb. All you get is the cold comfort of knowing and showing that you are a decent human being. (y)

[stleda124]

Why do you say this is “pure speculation?” I have done this many times, including as recently as a month ago.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

Speculation as to why it wasn’t offered to OP during her call to Celebrity. I thought you could change as well but my interpretation is the way the call was handled on the OP’s side the offer was never made as to many legal terms were being thrown around thus they were hung up on instead.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bengaltiger1]

No that hasn't changed. As long as there are still cabins available in your assigned category you can ask to switch.

 

 

 

I believe that you cannot change your assigned guarantee cabin in the U.K.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[bengaltiger1]

Raise

 

 

 

It could be 0 categories, could be 10 categories.. roll the dice.., but the guarantee is provided by Celebrity, as per their web site "... your stateroom's location will be assigned to you at boarding." ).

 

 

For folks in the U.K. the T&Cs on the Celebrity website state the following:

 

1.9 WHAT IS A ‘GUARANTEE’ (GTY) BOOKING?

We may (at our discretion) offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed minimum category type, (specified by us prior to booking) on your chosen ship. However, the exact location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the Port. Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. The benefits to you of a GTY stateroom are that after your booking has been confirmed, we may (at our discretion) upgrade your stateroom to one of a superior category to that originally booked at no extra charge to you. In any event, you are ‘guaranteed’ the minimum category of stateroom we agree to offer at the time of booking. If you have a specific requirement, stateroom location, or are travelling with family or friends (especially children) you want to be near, then we suggest you do not book a GTY. At times, we may offer promotional GTY offers. Such promotional GTY categories are defined as follows:

W ** *- *Suite

XC** *- *Concierge Class balcony stateroom

X** *- *Deluxe balcony stateroom

Y** *- *Ocean View stateroom

Z** *- *Interior stateroom

Please note: If you book two or more cruises to be taken back to back and either one or all cruises are booked under a GTY (guarantee) basis, there is the possibility that you will be allocated different staterooms on each cruise, therefore necessitating the need to move between staterooms on the changeover day between your consecutive cruises.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CruisingChick]

I believe that you cannot change your assigned guarantee cabin in the U.K.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

That's too bad. So glad we are able to.

[jkgourmet]

Honestly I don't understand why anyone would pay more $ for a guarantee when they can Choose their cabin for less $

 

We pick our cabin/pay the freight

 

Have thought about booking a Guarantee before and yet don't want to be under the gym/pool/dining so that has kept us from trying it

 

20+ GTY cabins booked - all insides and OV, except for one balcony. They were NEVER more expensive than a cabin of our choice. We have been not thrilled once, just once, when we were assigned the worst cabin on the ship - an inside usually used for a single passenger squished into the very front of the ship. (25 years ago on RCCL.)

[kimlovesfl]

Isn’t “Guarantee” pricing at the lowest price? Why would anyone pay “few hundred more” without having an assigned cabin....?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

They are cheaper, usually. We just booked the Oct 15-23 ABC island cruise aboard the Equinox, and the guarantee cabin rate was $899/pp (since gone done $100pp, but couldn't get anything because we paid in full, oh well). You are guaranteed a balcony cabin, location to be determined some time later. Our cabin was assigned the next day, and we got a great cabin, not even lowest category. What you get assigned probably depends on how well the cruise is selling; clearly, the cruise we booked has plenty of available cabins.

 

Bait and switch would be if you booked a balcony guarantee, and got an interior or oceanview. The OP got what they paid for. If you want a better category, book a specific room.

[BC__Cruiser]

For folks in the U.K. the T&Cs on the Celebrity website state the following:

 

1.9 WHAT IS A ‘GUARANTEE’ (GTY) BOOKING?

We may (at our discretion) offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed minimum category type, (specified by us prior to booking) on your chosen ship. However, the exact location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the Port. Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. The benefits to you of a GTY stateroom are that after your booking has been confirmed, we may (at our discretion) upgrade your stateroom to one of a superior category to that originally booked at no extra charge to you. In any event, you are ‘guaranteed’ the minimum category of stateroom we agree to offer at the time of booking. If you have a specific requirement, stateroom location, or are travelling with family or friends (especially children) you want to be near, then we suggest you do not book a GTY. At times, we may offer promotional GTY offers. Such promotional GTY categories are defined as follows:

W ** *- *Suite

XC** *- *Concierge Class balcony stateroom

X** *- *Deluxe balcony stateroom

Y** *- *Ocean View stateroom

Z** *- *Interior stateroom

Please note: If you book two or more cruises to be taken back to back and either one or all cruises are booked under a GTY (guarantee) basis, there is the possibility that you will be allocated different staterooms on each cruise, therefore necessitating the need to move between staterooms on the changeover day between your consecutive cruises.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Wow.. that is crystal clear .. too bad that doesn't exist on the US site.. I did a search before this process started and found nothing even close to it.. guess the US affiliate should hire the UK web people to update the site.

[bengaltiger1]

Wow.. that is crystal clear .. too bad that doesn't exist on the US site.. I did a search before this process started and found nothing even close to it.. guess the US affiliate should hire the UK web people to update the site.

 

 

 

I cannot view the .com website. To view the T&Cs on the .co.uk you scroll right down to the bottom of the home page and click on the link.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Prinz]

Wow.. that is crystal clear .. too bad that doesn't exist on the US site.. I did a search before this process started and found nothing even close to it.. guess the US affiliate should hire the UK web people to update the site.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/tips-for-choosing-cabin-for-cruise

Number 5

 

 

That's how it's worked on every cruise line, always.

I don't know why anybody would believe that you paid more for a gty. They are always the cheaper option.

Maybe your cabin price went down after you booked a few times so you now think that you paid more for a gty. But you don't, and you didn't.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Forums mobile app

[Slugsta]

BC, thank you for having the grace to come back and admit you were wrong in your terminology. I hope you and your friends have a lovely cruise.