What’s the magic behind a guarantee cabin ?

[Moxiefurball]

How does Princess guarantee a cabin , then sell the ship out as shown online?

 

we are four going on Princess June 15 Mediterranean cruise out of Rome.  Me and DW booked a  balcony cabin , but brother and wife booked a guarantee midship.  Although he could have chosen a cabin in mid aft or mid forward he preferred to gamble with guarantee balcony mid.  So here we are today March 30, he has no cabin assignment yet, and the ship shows sold out in all categories.  So, either the online site doesn’t tell the “ true “ picture or Princess knows historically there will be many dropouts by final payment which is Monday April 1.  Just curious how the ships manage this .  Are there occasions where they in fact overbook.  Could a guarantee not get a cabin?

[cruzsnooze]

A GTY will always get a cabin. Yes they overbook but they never bump anyone who doesn't want to get bumped. They make generous move over offers until they meet their needs.

  A GTY is just that. They may not assign a cabin until the day of boarding or can assign one today, it's a GTY you'll be in the category you booked or higher. 

[fishywood]

It appears that the fact that the ship is showing sold out is being interpreted that "sold out" means every single cabin has been assigned. That is not the case. Each category is marked "sold out" once the number of bookings for that category reaches the maximum; both guarantees and cabin-selected bookings are part of that number. So on your cruise every category of cabin is fully booked even before Princess has matched those not booked as specific selections with the passengers who booked guarantees.

 

As does that max number of bookings per category exceed the actual number of cabins--meaning does Princess overbook? Sure they do; they have a complex matrix that estimates the number of cancellations expected to occur after final payment date. Do people ever not get a cabin? Extremely unlikely as if the estimated cancellations fall short then "move over" offers are made in order to get the necessary number of passengers to change to a different cruise. (There are many, many threads on the topic of move-overs regularly on this board if you care to search) 

[Colo Cruiser]

Princess has this down to a science and do it week in and week out.

Princess sells out their cruises consistently and over sell quite often.

They know what they are doing.

It all works out in the end.

The passenger has no idea what happens behind the scenes.

Your cabin could be assigned up to the day before your cruise.

You can check the personalizer up to sailing day.

The cabin assignment will be listed in the bag tags/travel summary section.

Don't worry you will have a cabin.

 

I always say if you are worried about a cabin and it bothers you to wait for that assignment NEVER book a GTY.

[kywildcatfanone]

They only have booked the number of available cabins, just not all are assigned, and get assigned within the last days before the cruise. In the rare cases where they oversell, they offer move over offers.

[Thrak]

I have a booking with a gty in a category that only has 10 cabins of that type on the ship. All 10 are booked by others but I still have a gty in that category. Something will have to give somewhere. I'm booked in a Premium Ocean View. It's a cabin all the way forward with a balcony that is normally not available. It should be unlocked when we are in port for 2 days. Either someone will drop out or get an upgrade or I will get an upgrade. Like I said, something will have to give as they have (at least) 11 cabins of this type booked when there are only 10 on the ship. I'm sure Princess will figure it out.

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I have a booking with a gty in a category that only has 10 cabins of that type on the ship. All 10 are booked by others but I still have a gty in that category. Something will have to give somewhere. I'm booked in a Premium Ocean View. It's a cabin all the way forward with a balcony that is normally not available. It should be unlocked when we are in port for 2 days. Either someone will drop out or get an upgrade or I will get an upgrade. Like I said, something will have to give as they have (at least) 11 cabins of this type booked when there are only 10 on the ship. I'm sure Princess will figure it out.

They don't lock balconies. There are no locks.

[Moxiefurball]

This is all very interesting . I’d love to find out what they offer to “ move “ over . But another question . My brother wanted a MID ship balcony which was not available that’s why he went to guarantee . But am I understanding this correctly that he is guaranteed Mid ship or could he placed in a higher category in a location all the way up front or back ?

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, Moxiefurball said:

This is all very interesting . I’d love to find out what they offer to “ move “ over . But another question . My brother wanted a MID ship balcony which was not available that’s why he went to guarantee . But am I understanding this correctly that he is guaranteed Mid ship or could he placed in a higher category in a location all the way up front or back ?

He would be guaranteed a cabin in the category booked or higher.

They do try and get the location close to what you picked but not always.

If he gets a higher cat it may not be mid ship.

 

[geoherb]

Yes, they could end up anywhere on the ship as long as the cabin is the guarantee category booked or higher. So a person who books a midship guarantee balcony could end up at the very front or very back of the ship in a higher category, such as an aft deluxe balcony cabin.

 

As for Thrak's comment, just because all 10 cabins in a category are showing up as sold doesn't necessarily mean there are 10 other bookings for those cabins.

[Scottygirl1]

We have a guarantee cabin only because that was all that was available when we booked.  I would have loved to choose our room but an quite relaxed about where it is - I'd love them to assign the room soon but it probably won't happen until we are ready to sail (in May)!

[jlp20]

Saves some $$$ and possibility of upgrade

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

They don't lock balconies. There are no locks.

 

All Princess balcony doors have locks. In most cases, the locks are never used.

 

Look for the lock the next time you are in a balcony cabin. It will either be right next to the floor or right at the top.

[antsp]

We have booked a Cruise for Nov 2020, gty was all that was available except in aft insides. Now cruise is showing sold out. Never booked a gty but had no choice. It will be interesting to see where we end up. 

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

All Princess balcony doors have locks. In most cases, the locks are never used.

 

Look for the lock the next time you are in a balcony cabin. It will either be right next to the floor or right at the top

 

 

Have never seen a lock. Do you have a photo? 

I have only seen a door handle lever latch which is always usable by anyone. The standard statement on the website cabin description on some forward facing balconies being off limits when underway is not enforced onboard. 

IMO........to lock a balcony door with a key and block passenger exit through an additional way out in an emergency would be a safety/liability issue. 

 

 

 

[famski740]

We have sailed on the Royal Class ships all the way forward in the front facing mini-suites where they say the balcony is not usable on at sea days.  In reality the balcony was never locked and we were able to go out whenever we wanted.  It was great being out there when entering a port, but can get pretty windy on at sea days.

 

The one thing they will ask you to do is to close the curtains at night when you have the lights on.  The lights from these staterooms apparently bother the bridge.

 

For a quarenteed cabin you may not get an assignment until you get to the check-in at port.  If you do not have a cabin, the porters will have a list of passengers and you can fill out your luggage tag at that time and they will tell you where you are assigned.

[caribill]

17 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

23 hours ago, caribill said:

 

All Princess balcony doors have locks. In most cases, the locks are never used.

 

Look for the lock the next time you are in a balcony cabin. It will either be right next to the floor or right at the top

 

 

Have never seen a lock. Do you have a photo? 

I have only seen a door handle lever latch which is always usable by anyone. The standard statement on the website cabin description on some forward facing balconies being off limits when underway is not enforced onboard. 

IMO........to lock a balcony door with a key and block passenger exit through an additional way out in an emergency would be a safety/liability issue. 

 

 

 

 

The door handle latch is about half-way up the side of the door. The key lock is at the bottom or top of the door. It is not very obvious, but it is there.

 

Not a fantastic photo because I was not trying to show the lock when I took it, but below photo shows an open balcony door on the Royal Princess. You can see where the door would go next to the wall when closed.  Towards the top on the left you can see the plate where the door handle latch would connect about halfway up the door frame. Near the bottom left you can see the plate where the key lock latch would connect.

 

 

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The door handle latch is about half-way up the side of the door. The key lock is at the bottom or top of the door. It is not very obvious, but it is there.

 

Not a fantastic photo because I was not trying to show the lock when I took it, but below photo shows an open balcony door on the Royal Princess. You can see where the door would go next to the wall when closed.  Towards the top on the left you can see the plate where the door handle latch would connect about halfway up the door frame. Near the bottom left you can see the plate where the key lock latch would connect.

 

 

 

 

The sliding door not the balcony partition !!!!!