Cabin Guarantee

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I’m searching for posts on this and I cannot find anything so I know it’s because I am not wording it properly. For the first time in over 30 cruises I have booked an Inside guarantee. I’m trying to find posts on what category people actually booked and what category they were assigned.  I know we could end up in a poor location so fingers and toes are all crossed.  If you have tried this what was your experience?  Thanks so much! 

[paul929207]

We only booked a guarantee once. Got a cabin in the category we booked. Got an upsell. $250 pp for an obstructed to  a balcony. (7 dayss Alaska).  Declined. Got another upsell. $200 pp. Declined. Got upgraded to a minisuite without a balcony. 

[Essiesmom]

I booked an inside gty (no category, just gty) for a B2B to Alaska.  Got assigned a huge inside HC cabin.  Again booked inside gty for B2B Alaska and got inside cabin.  No complaints.  EM

[Sea Hag]

3 hours ago, paul929207 said:

We only booked a guarantee once. Got a cabin in the category we booked. Got an upsell. $250 pp for an obstructed to  a balcony. (7 dayss Alaska).  Declined. Got another upsell. $200 pp. Declined. Got upgraded to a minisuite without a balcony. 

Which ship was that? I didn't know there were any minis without a balcony. Suites, yes, but I didn't know there were any minis like that.

[Sea Hag]

We haven't booked all that many guarantees, but we have booked a few. To the best of my remembrance, on Princess we got what we booked. On Norwegian, we got what we booked. On Celebrity, we booked an inside and got an oceanview. 

[Steelers36]

There is always a Category, even for GTY.  It would be at least an "IF" if Inside.  We have done GTY a couple of times.  Got a better letter code in one case, got the same type/location for the other.  These were the most recent.  Forget the older one... ah I recall now.  We booked a BF Balcony and got what at the time was considered a BB or BA, but it was in the forward section of Lido and I don't think there was anything else in the letter code to swap to at the time.  Hard to recall.

 

I think most GTY"s are fulfilled in the same cabin type, but often/sometimes(which?) a better letter code than the booking.  It seems the best chance to improve the letter code is to GTY in a category with the least number of cabins on the deck plan.

 

[1965]

Our Alaskan cruise in May on the Island was booked as an inside cabin "to be assigned later." About a month before departure we got an upsell offer for a balcony for $149 extra each. I snapped it up. The posts I read on this forum re. gty. cabins are almost always positive.

[Denmal]

We always book guarantee cabins.  We usually end up with some type of offer or an upgrade.  We already have our cabin assigned for our January cruise on the Sky - got a upgrade on that one.  Waiting for our assignment on the transatlantic on the Sky for November.  We usually get a great cabin

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

Which ship was that? I didn't know there were any minis without a balcony. Suites, yes, but I didn't know there were any minis like that.

We have a "cruising buddy" who books an inside mini HC cabin whenever available on the ship they're going on (& if it's still available).

IIRC it was called a mini, but it's set up like a suite. Really a nice cabin.

[Sea Hag]

20 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

We have a "cruising buddy" who books an inside mini HC cabin whenever available on the ship they're going on (& if it's still available).

IIRC it was called a mini, but it's set up like a suite. Really a nice cabin.

Ah! I found them on the Island. Very interesting. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Sea Hag

[MsSoCalCruiser]

3 hours ago, steelers36 said:

There is always a Category, even for GTY.  It would be at least an "IF" if Inside.  We have done GTY a couple of times.  Got a better letter code in one case, got the same type/location for the other.  These were the most recent.  Forget the older one... ah I recall now.  We booked a BF Balcony and got what at the time was considered a BB or BA, but it was in the forward section of Lido and I don't think there was anything else in the letter code to swap to at the time.  Hard to recall.

 

I think most GTY"s are fulfilled in the same cabin type, but often/sometimes(which?) a better letter code than the booking.  It seems the best chance to improve the letter code is to GTY in a category with the least number of cabins on the deck plan.

 

We booked an IB category; the IA category was sold out.

[JF - retired RRT]

26 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

Ah! I found them on the Island. Very interesting. 

Never been on the Island. Might have been Emerald or Star - we've been on several cruises at the same time with them.

 

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly 😉

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, Denmal said:

We always book guarantee cabins.  We usually end up with some type of offer or an upgrade.  We already have our cabin assigned for our January cruise on the Sky - got a upgrade on that one.  Waiting for our assignment on the transatlantic on the Sky for November.  We usually get a great cabin

Our cruise is this October on the Royal Princess.   Hopefully we will receive our cabin assignment soon.  Fingers crossed for an upgrade.

[geoherb]

I booked an inside guarantee for two cruises on the Island Princess this summer and received a Cat. OB. Our worst experience with a guarantee was booking an obstructed view guarantee and receiving an unobstructed one that was the tiniest one imaginable. 

[Kingofcool1947]

21 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I’m searching for posts on this and I cannot find anything so I know it’s because I am not wording it properly. For the first time in over 30 cruises I have booked an Inside guarantee. I’m trying to find posts on what category people actually booked and what category they were assigned.  I know we could end up in a poor location so fingers and toes are all crossed.  If you have tried this what was your experience?  Thanks so much! 

When I booked my first cruise on Princess 30+ cruises ago,  it was a GTY inside.  My cabin was located forward.   I heard the anchor being dropped or brought up.  Chain noise drove me crazy.  Worst possible cabin..  it was the first and last time I ever booked an inside GTY cabin.  Never again booked an inside cabin.  For me,  inside is too claustrophobic, always dark.  No sense of day or night.  I felt like I was in a sensory deprivation room.   IMO,  not worth the savings for me.  Since then, I always choose my own...balcony and above.  Life is too short.   YMMV.

Good luck.  Hope it turns out well for you.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[MsSoCalCruiser]

2 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

When I booked my first cruise on Princess 30+ cruises ago,  it was a GTY inside.  My cabin was located forward.   I heard the anchor being dropped or brought up.  Chain noise drove me crazy.  Worst possible cabin..  it was the first and last time I ever booked an inside GTY cabin.  Never again booked an inside cabin.  For me,  inside is too claustrophobic, always dark.  No sense of day or night.  I felt like I was in a sensory deprivation room.   IMO,  not worth the savings for me.  Since then, I always choose my own...balcony and above.  Life is too short.   YMMV.

Good luck.  Hope it turns out well for you.

Thank you.  I booked an IB category so hopefully we won’t be anywhere near the anchor.  I do love a balcony but most of my cruises have been in inside cabins.  If you turn the channel on the TV that shows the outside cameras you can tell if it’s day or night.  I’m usually out and about until late and usually watch a movie until I fall asleep.  Yes, life is definitely too short.  One question... what does YMMV mean?

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Your mileage may vary———YMMV

[Daniel A]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 6:53 AM, paul929207 said:

Got upgraded to a minisuite without a balcony. 

Asked before already but I'm curious too.  What ship had a Mini with no balcony?  Was it a Princess ship or another line?

[jeanandjim]

23 hours ago, Denmal said:

  We already have our cabin assigned for our January cruise on the Sky. Waiting for our assignment on the transatlantic on the Sky for November.  We usually get a great cabin

We too are going to be on the Sky Princess, 21 day T/A from Rome and again in January, getting on the 11th for 21 days. Are you on any of the roll-calls for those cruises?

See you aboard, Jim and Jean

[Denmal]

Jeanandjim....i am on both boards..so looking forward to the sky

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 8/4/2019 at 5:33 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Your mileage may vary———YMMV

Thank you 😊

[cruisingrob21]

there are a lot of variables when it comes to GTY assignments and upgrades

• how well the voyage is selling overall
• how well a certain "meta" group of cabins are selling (balcony vs inside)
• if there are several TA groups (and how well those are selling)
• how well certain categories are selling relative to others - if all the IA and IB cats are available and the IE and IFs continuously sell, they will likely bump  some IC and IDs up

From what I have seen, the average "upgrade" is about 4-5 categories, all things being equal.  If you book in an IA cabin, you have a good chance of an upgrade to an oceanview room, IF AN UPGRADE IS MADE POSSIBLE.  If you book in an IF GTY, you have a good chance of an upgrade to an IA or IB.

 

The best tip I've heard is to carefully book a GTY in a category that has the fewest number of cabins - there are some cabin counts listed here:

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/home/cabin-upgrade-statistics/upgrade-tips

[Daniel A]

41 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

there are a lot of variables when it comes to GTY assignments and upgrades

• how well the voyage is selling overall
• how well a certain "meta" group of cabins are selling (balcony vs inside)
• if there are several TA groups (and how well those are selling)
• how well certain categories are selling relative to others - if all the IA and IB cats are available and the IE and IFs continuously sell, they will likely bump  some IC and IDs up

From what I have seen, the average "upgrade" is about 4-5 categories, all things being equal.  If you book in an IA cabin, you have a good chance of an upgrade to an oceanview room, IF AN UPGRADE IS MADE POSSIBLE.  If you book in an IF GTY, you have a good chance of an upgrade to an IA or IB.

 

The best tip I've heard is to carefully book a GTY in a category that has the fewest number of cabins - there are some cabin counts listed here:

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/home/cabin-upgrade-statistics/upgrade-tips

I have two questions:  Would the cruise line attempt to do upsells before giving away upgrades to the GTY bookings?  I looked at the website you referenced and they state that if you are a Captain's Circle member your chance of an upgrade are pretty low.  Anybody have an answer why that would be the case?  That actually seems counter-intuitive. 

 

I've never booked a GTY before but I am interested in trying it for the experience. 

[pompeii]

On 8/4/2019 at 11:42 AM, Daniel A said:

Asked before already but I'm curious too.  What ship had a Mini with no balcony?  Was it a Princess ship or another line?

The Island and the Coral Princess both have forward no balcony minisuites on Caribe and Baja.  They are very nice and large, and there is an very large open forward deck right to the front of them.  This deck is great for a warm weather cruise, but maybe too windy and cold for colder weather.  We had one going through the Panama Canal and it was wonderful.  I thought about one for Cape Horn/Antarctica and decided using the forward deck would be too cold.

[cruiseblues2013]

We are leaving this Sunday on the Star, roundtrip out of Seattle.  Booked our cruise about 5 weeks ago, had no choice on cabin selection, almost everything was GTY.  We went ahead and booked a Balcony BD GTY, assigned cabin today upgraded to Balcony BB, nice upgrade, happy with the location.  Ship has been showing sold out for a week or two, we are Platinum, not sure if assignment was based on loyalty.  Looking for to our 6th Alaska cruise, our only port we can drive to 🙂