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Are Guarantees really that bad?


mitsugirly
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I just booked a sailaway balcony and was assigned a BB on deck 9.  Seems to be a pretty good location.  I bid $50 pp for upgrade to mini-suite sailaway, but just cancelled it after deciding I liked the assigned location.

 

By the way, I also usually get the beverage perk, but taking my mom on this one and she doesn't drink.  And, I probably won't be drinking as much with her as my travel companion.  Inquiring minds want to know why there won't be any drinking on this cruise for you.

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It just takes one bad cabin that you didn't pick to make you realize that a GTY or sail away CAN be very bad.  There are many bad areas to be in on the ship in all categories.  A balcony does not mean you won't be above the theater and be treated to the constant base thump in the mornings when they rehearse and at night during the shows.  It doesn't mean you won't be under the pool area and get to hear the staff dragging out the lounge chairs at 5am and putting them back late at night, not to mention each passenger moving their chairs.  It doesn't mean you won't be under the buffet and get to hear the carts being rolled around at all hours and every single utensil that is dropped about your head.  It doesn't mean you wont be next to one of those mysterious grey spaces on the deck plans which can be a noisy utility room, staff area, or loud ice machine.  Worst of all, it doesn't mean you won't be in the room that faces the exact center of the elevator lobby entrance near the kids club meaning you will hear every single conversation going on in the elevator lobby, will hear every single gleeful child's voice as they scream with each other waiting for camp to open or are waiting with the counselors for the elevators to go wherever, and hear hundreds of running children's feet passing down your hallway all day long.  

 

Yes, I'm jaded and will never ever let a cruise line pick a room for me again.  If you cannot have peace in your room on vacation, that is a deal breaker and ruins a vacation no matter what type of great attitude you have.  That makes the GTY not an option for me, but you can risk it if you don't mind. 

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1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

For the OP, 

Find the worst stateroom in your particular category (location, view, etc) and if you would be happy with that, take the guarantee. 

 

 

Deck 13 has the smallest aft-facing balconies. Deck 12 has the 2nd largest aft-facing balconies. 

 

 

I tried booking each category within the balconies and from the regular listed balconies (BF, BE, BD), Mid ship balconies (BA, BB, BC) all say GTY at this point. It says all the large balconies are sold out. The next category is the Family balconies (with B4 filled and B3 & B2 still available). So I'm guessing that's what I have to work with at this point? The only balconies after that would be the aft facing and spa balconies. 

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48 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Always had good luck with GTY balcony.  Almost always get a bump (8 to 9, even when I choose the lower-priced deck 8).  Was once assigned a PrivaSea cabin, which I was willing to try but ended up upgrading to an aft-facing suite when prices dropped.

 

Had a terrible cabin with GTY oceanview (porthole, level 4, forward).

.

I only do Sail Away GTY's and always go with Inside or Balcony. Never an Oceanview. If a person would prefer a picture window, a porthole is a bad deal.

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32 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

I just booked a sailaway balcony and was assigned a BB on deck 9.  Seems to be a pretty good location.  I bid $50 pp for upgrade to mini-suite sailaway, but just cancelled it after deciding I liked the assigned location.

 

By the way, I also usually get the beverage perk, but taking my mom on this one and she doesn't drink.  And, I probably won't be drinking as much with her as my travel companion.  Inquiring minds want to know why there won't be any drinking on this cruise for you.

 

Fell and broke my ankle, tibia and fibula 2 days after I returned from my last cruise in August. It's been nothing but a nightmare with 3 blood clots, infection that required an additional surgery and a continued swollen foot and just now learning to walk again but remain in a wheelchair most of the time because my distance is limited to pain and how long I can stand. I'm on blood thinners so no drinking for me and I don't think it would be wise in my condition at this point. 

 

32 minutes ago, gizfish said:

It just takes one bad cabin that you didn't pick to make you realize that a GTY or sail away CAN be very bad.  There are many bad areas to be in on the ship in all categories.  A balcony does not mean you won't be above the theater and be treated to the constant base thump in the mornings when they rehearse and at night during the shows.  It doesn't mean you won't be under the pool area and get to hear the staff dragging out the lounge chairs at 5am and putting them back late at night, not to mention each passenger moving their chairs.  It doesn't mean you won't be under the buffet and get to hear the carts being rolled around at all hours and every single utensil that is dropped about your head.  It doesn't mean you wont be next to one of those mysterious grey spaces on the deck plans which can be a noisy utility room, staff area, or loud ice machine.  Worst of all, it doesn't mean you won't be in the room that faces the exact center of the elevator lobby entrance near the kids club meaning you will hear every single conversation going on in the elevator lobby, will hear every single gleeful child's voice as they scream with each other waiting for camp to open or are waiting with the counselors for the elevators to go wherever, and hear hundreds of running children's feet passing down your hallway all day long.  

 

Yes, I'm jaded and will never ever let a cruise line pick a room for me again.  If you cannot have peace in your room on vacation, that is a deal breaker and ruins a vacation no matter what type of great attitude you have.  That makes the GTY not an option for me, but you can risk it if you don't mind. 

 

Good point. I'm just trying to save some money though since I've been off work for 3 months now. I just have to figure out if it's worth it. 

 

27 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

I assume this is your "treat yourself" cruise after your recent trauma with your ankle sugery

 

go for it and tell us all about it in a review 

 

Yes, yes it is. Kendra is talking me into this (if we do it). We have 3 different cruises picked out (NCL Escape, Carnival Legend or RC Empress OTS <--not for the ship but for the ports). Other option is a land vacation for a week. We'll see I guess. Just weighing my options at this point....but it's getting close so I need to make a decision soon. 

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3 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Fell and broke my ankle, tibia and fibula 2 days after I returned from my last cruise in August. It's been nothing but a nightmare with 3 blood clots, infection that required an additional surgery and a continued swollen foot and just now learning to walk again but remain in a wheelchair most of the time because my distance is limited to pain and how long I can stand. I'm on blood thinners so no drinking for me and I don't think it would be wise in my condition at this point. 

 

Dang!  That's a good reason.  Sorry to hear of all of the setbacks with your injury.  Hope you have a great cruise and return to pain-free, full mobility soon.

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We have had many guarantee rooms over the years, and never had any problem.

 

I suppose some people are more susceptible to noise than others, but really, any room can have unwanted noise. For example, the walls may be insulated from noise but the doors are not, and all the doors are pretty much the same.

 

So, the drunk guys walking down the hall talking loudly at 4 am are going to wake you up no matter what room you are in. So in that respect, a guarantee is as good as any room you pick.

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34 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

Dang!  That's a good reason.  Sorry to hear of all of the setbacks with your injury.  Hope you have a great cruise and return to pain-free, full mobility soon.

 

Thanks and hopefully it will work out. I'm still not 100% sure if I can do this but I'm definitely going to give it a shot. 

 

18 minutes ago, salty dingo said:

We have had many guarantee rooms over the years, and never had any problem.

 

I suppose some people are more susceptible to noise than others, but really, any room can have unwanted noise. For example, the walls may be insulated from noise but the doors are not, and all the doors are pretty much the same.

 

So, the drunk guys walking down the hall talking loudly at 4 am are going to wake you up no matter what room you are in. So in that respect, a guarantee is as good as any room you pick.

 

Good to hear with your experiences being positive. You make a good point about the different rooms and it could happen anywhere. I have had a room I picked once before and had an issue with some banging (never did figure out what it was and it happened in the middle of the night at the same time every night). 

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We booked an inside guarantee eight days in advance for the Sun on September  7 (after Hurricane Dorian cancelled our September 2 sailing on the Carnival Liberty).  We were assigned 0332, a “midship inside” that was anything but midship; it was the farthest aft inside cabin on Deck 10.  The cabin was HUGE with a unique layout, we absolutely loved it.  And it was fun to check for the assignment (it took two days) and research the cabin.  I would be perfectly happy booking a guarantee again on NCL.  That said, I used to book guarantees for last-minute cruises on Carnival until I was assigned a handicap-accessible cabin just inside the doors to the lido deck on the Liberty.  Hordes of noisy people were constantly going past the cabin on both sides, the huge bathroom space was taken from the cabin space, and almost no storage.  So, never again on Carnival.  

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When we booked the Bliss Pacific Coastal (April 2019) we picked MD but got GTY. When they finally gave us a cabin it was a M8 which was a connecting Family mini suite .... with bathtub instead of the large walk in shower. We were so disappointed. 
 

now when we book we need to pick a cabin. No more GTY!!

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We just did our first balcony gty on the Escape, booked 21 days out. Rate was too good to pass up and we didn’t care where we were, we just wanted a balcony to Bermuda.  Ended up with Large Balcony 9114. Front of the ship, long walk but liked the deck location and the room was nice.  Happy with our gamble. 

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6 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Yea I know but want to hear the stories...good or bad. I need some encouragement. 😄

We have booked 3 guarantees, 2 Balcony and 1 inside stateroom and in all of them we received great locations. i have heard horror stories from other people, so i guess is the luck of the draw.

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I have only booked sailaway guaranteed inside once on the Gem. Got assigned the farthest forward cabin in the corner. The first 24 hours were very rough seas. Can not describe how bad the noise of waves crashing against the hull on both front and side of cabin was. Also the up and down movement was so bad I could not stand or walk in the cabin without holding on for dear life. No sleep or shower for me until out of that weather. Never again.

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I upgraded a few times from a studio to a balcony; one time it was an AFT and another time  a mid- which I preferred as the sun hit it less and there was a smoker next to the aft.

However, I can't complain- had no problems sleeping or loud people.

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I booked a balcony guarantee on a Celebrity ship and was given a sky suite...

sounds great but it was so near the pool deck that our balcony was not quiet enough

to be able to relax. Ever since then I pick my own cabin. I do realize that neighbors

can have a lot to do with noise too so I just focus on known trouble spots and avoid

them if I can.

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I have done GTY balcony cabins several times, as the price would be the difference in us being on the ship or not on the ship.  We prefer AFT close to the elevators and almost every time, it was a cabin I might have chosen myself given the opportunity.  Once we were given a balcony almost all the way forward.  Not my ideal location, but I was ON the ship vs. sitting at home.  So there's that.  And I always take ear plugs because you never know when you're going to need to shut out some noise.

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17 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We booked an inside guarantee eight days in advance for the Sun on September  7 (after Hurricane Dorian cancelled our September 2 sailing on the Carnival Liberty).  We were assigned 0332, a “midship inside” that was anything but midship; it was the farthest aft inside cabin on Deck 10.  The cabin was HUGE with a unique layout, we absolutely loved it.  And it was fun to check for the assignment (it took two days) and research the cabin.  I would be perfectly happy booking a guarantee again on NCL.  That said, I used to book guarantees for last-minute cruises on Carnival until I was assigned a handicap-accessible cabin just inside the doors to the lido deck on the Liberty.  Hordes of noisy people were constantly going past the cabin on both sides, the huge bathroom space was taken from the cabin space, and almost no storage.  So, never again on Carnival.  

 

Glad you hear you ended up with an awesome big cabin and were pleased. Sorry about the Carnival bookings. I guess I didn't realize that booking a handicapped room took away from the inside of the cabin. I thought those were bigger too in order to accommodate a wheelchair.

At least all the pictures I have seen are bigger. 😕

17 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

When we booked the Bliss Pacific Coastal (April 2019) we picked MD but got GTY. When they finally gave us a cabin it was a M8 which was a connecting Family mini suite .... with bathtub instead of the large walk in shower. We were so disappointed. 
 

now when we book we need to pick a cabin. No more GTY!!

 

Where you only disappointed because of the tub versus shower? Or the location and layout instead?

 

16 hours ago, JohnBoy in NC said:

We just did our first balcony gty on the Escape, booked 21 days out. Rate was too good to pass up and we didn’t care where we were, we just wanted a balcony to Bermuda.  Ended up with Large Balcony 9114. Front of the ship, long walk but liked the deck location and the room was nice.  Happy with our gamble. 

 

That's awesome. I'm looking at booking the Escape like this. I wish I could get that lucky but it says all the large balconies are already booked up. 😞  

 

16 hours ago, LaCal said:

Hope you’re healing up 

 

It's coming along...slowly but surely. Thanks for asking. 🙂

 

 

15 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

We have booked 3 guarantees, 2 Balcony and 1 inside stateroom and in all of them we received great locations. i have heard horror stories from other people, so i guess is the luck of the draw.

 

Yea, I imagine it's a luck of the draw but glad you were able to get awesome rooms when you did it. 

 

14 hours ago, hladygirl said:

I have only booked sailaway guaranteed inside once on the Gem. Got assigned the farthest forward cabin in the corner. The first 24 hours were very rough seas. Can not describe how bad the noise of waves crashing against the hull on both front and side of cabin was. Also the up and down movement was so bad I could not stand or walk in the cabin without holding on for dear life. No sleep or shower for me until out of that weather. Never again.

 

Oh gosh. I had one cruise like that (but it was in the back). I'm just glad we don't really get sea sick so I guess if we get stuck with a room like that it wouldn't matter "too" much. 

 

13 hours ago, HowardK said:

I upgraded a few times from a studio to a balcony; one time it was an AFT and another time  a mid- which I preferred as the sun hit it less and there was a smoker next to the aft.

However, I can't complain- had no problems sleeping or loud people.

 

Thanks for your story. I'm glad you were satisfied. 

 

1 hour ago, Mike_DeA said:

I've done mostly sailaway rates which don't allow you to pick your cabin, and have never had a bad one.  I'm not picky.  I've had bad neighbors several times (door slamming, loud talking/yelling, etc), but that's hit or miss.

 

That's good to hear. I guess you can't predict who the neighbors are going to be and that's whether you pick your room or not. 

 

1 hour ago, Peachypooh said:

I booked a balcony guarantee on a Celebrity ship and was given a sky suite...

sounds great but it was so near the pool deck that our balcony was not quiet enough

to be able to relax. Ever since then I pick my own cabin. I do realize that neighbors

can have a lot to do with noise too so I just focus on known trouble spots and avoid

them if I can.

 

We "normally" don't pick balconies...we just don't use them enough to justify the cost. However, it's not much more than an interior and figured "why not?"

 

I agree, neighbors have a lot to do with satisfaction of a cabin as well. 

 

1 hour ago, alchemist4 said:

I booked a Balcony Guarantee on the Bliss, and got a nicely placed Mid-Ship room on Deck 12.

 

That's great to hear. 

 

1 hour ago, melodyesch said:

I have done GTY balcony cabins several times, as the price would be the difference in us being on the ship or not on the ship.  We prefer AFT close to the elevators and almost every time, it was a cabin I might have chosen myself given the opportunity.  Once we were given a balcony almost all the way forward.  Not my ideal location, but I was ON the ship vs. sitting at home.  So there's that.  And I always take ear plugs because you never know when you're going to need to shut out some noise.

 

That's awesome that they have mostly been cabins you would have picked. You have a point...at least you're on the ship instead of at home. 

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Just  came back from a 14 day on the Gem . We started out in a deck 11 inside and watched prices on the gty balcony and availability so that we would have a sense as to location . So an additional $150 pp + all the promotional perks ended up in a deck 8 fwd . balcony . It was a quiet location with no issues . We have done this 2 other times and the balcony locations were good . Hope your recovery continues well and you are soon up and about .

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  • My friend and I just booked a last minute cruise on the Joy.  We did a balcony guarantee and a day or so later we were given a great location on deck 12 near the aft elevators.  This is a great location for me.  I don't like being forward so this was great news.

Candi

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All of my NCL cruises have been balcony guarantees.

 

Getaway - don't remember if it was BX or BF but got Spa Balcony for no extra charge

Pearl - got regular balcony, good location

Bliss - BF to BA

Encore - BF to BA

 

So it's been really good for me, especially that first one. Still haven't heard about my Encore bids but I doubt they'll get accepted as they're barely above minimum. 

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