Veranda Guarantee vs. Specific Room?

[SusanDK]

My husband and I are considering booking our very first cruise ever on Celebrity for an Alaska cruise in May. We definitely want a Veranda cabin. The base difference between a Veranda Guarantee or selecting a specific cabin is around $500 per person. The cruise appears to have a fair amount of availability right now (it's less than 2 months from now).

 

If we book just a Veranda Guarantee, is Celebrity more likely to give us their worst available Veranda room since we will have paid the least, or are they likely to give us a favorable Veranda cabin (based on the availability) in order to entice us to continue sailing with them?

 

 

[ymncruise]

If you’re sensitive to noise or care where you are located, I would pick a cabin. To save $1000, I would pick the guarantee. I usually pick a cabin if it’s only a couple hundred $ difference. 

[LGW59]

12 minutes ago, SusanDK said:

My husband and I are considering booking our very first cruise ever on Celebrity for an Alaska cruise in May. We definitely want a Veranda cabin. The base difference between a Veranda Guarantee or selecting a specific cabin is around $500 per person. The cruise appears to have a fair amount of availability right now (it's less than 2 months from now).

 

If we book just a Veranda Guarantee, is Celebrity more likely to give us their worst available Veranda room since we will have paid the least, or are they likely to give us a favorable Veranda cabin (based on the availability) in order to entice us to continue sailing with them?

 

 

Look at the deck plans and pick a cabin 

[mozfoz]

We only did a guarantee once. I mean how bad can it really be, right? Got a great room. Sorta. End of corridor at the staff only door. Door open and closing all hours. Other side of our room was the staff lounge. Stink of smoke constantly. Not worth it regardless of the saving. I never gamble, and that was a great reminder of why!

[SusanDK]

I think you've all convinced me to select our own room. Thanks for the input!

[helen haywood]

What ship?

[Prost Seattle]

Especially for Alaska I’d choose my verandah room.  You would hate getting an obstruction when there is so much scenery. 

[mozfoz]

It was not a Celebrity ship, it was NCL. The point being that it is  a gamble to do a guarantee. Just ask yourself "do you feel lucky today"? If so, go for it and maybe enjoy a savings. But remember that any savings can easily be negated by landing a bad room. 

[helen haywood]

When you are assigned your GTY cabin, if you don’t like it you can request a change to another cabin in the same category.  

[mozfoz]

9 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

When you are assigned your GTY cabin, if you don’t like it you can request a change to another cabin in the same category.  

That is true. However, looking at deck plans, they do not indicate staff areas, storage, or service areas that may be those blank areas.  A GTY cabin is a cruise lines method of making sure every possible cabin gets sold. Who would possibly pay for a room that is not sellable at any price otherwise. Odds are in the lines favor just like a slot machine. Of course you can hit the jackpot!

[SusanDK]

6 hours ago, helen haywood said:

What ship?

 Celebrity Eclipse - any suggestions for best Verandah rooms to select? I’m thinking of going for deck 7 or 8, mid-ship, unobstructed view (2A, 2B, 1A, 1B, 1C category?)

[Jsim2011]

We just recently booked a cruise and chose the verandah guarantee and were disappointed to discover we had been allocated an obstructed view.  😞

 

[LGW59]

I’d never book a cruise without knowing exactly what room I would be in.  To me that’s penny wise and pound foolish.

[TeaBag]

51 minutes ago, Jsim2011 said:

We just recently booked a cruise and chose the verandah guarantee and were disappointed to discover we had been allocated an obstructed view.  😞

 

Are there any other available cabins in the category you have been assigned to that are not obstructed?  You can ask to be reassigned if there are.  Which ship and sailing is this?

[gold1953]

14 hours ago, SusanDK said:

I think you've all convinced me to select our own room. Thanks for the input!

once your guarantee cabin is  given you can call and select another cabin in the same category. We have never had a bad one using this system

[dkjretired]

16 hours ago, SusanDK said:

I think you've all convinced me to select our own room. Thanks for the input!

Pick an aft veranda especially if the cruise is a round trip. There may be sights going one way such as wildlife that you may miss if you choose one side.

[PelicanLvr]

By picking your specific cabin you can probably book one of the "larger balcony" cabins located on the slant of the ship. 

 

These would be especially good for Alaska because part of the balcony would be covered.  Rain is not uncommon there.

 

 

[SusanDK]

2 hours ago, PelicanLvr said:

By picking your specific cabin you can probably book one of the "larger balcony" cabins located on the slant of the ship. 

 

These would be especially good for Alaska because part of the balcony would be covered.  Rain is not uncommon there.

 

 

 When you refer to larger balconies on the slant, would you be referring to something like cabin # 7206 or #7208 on the Eclipse?

 

It's odd because I'd been seeing this cruise up until yesterday on ***** and other websites stating that balcony cabins will receive $300 onboard credit, Premium drinks package and free WiFi. Today for a balcony cabin, it says $125 onboard credit and only the Classic beverage package.

 

Is it usual for the offers to get worse? Is there a way to find that better option now? The cruise still appears to have good availability. 

 

What kind of travel insurance would I buy to cover us in case one of use tests positive for COVID and is denied boarding and/or entry into Canada? Not likely (we are double vaccinated and boosted) but one never knows.

 

[ymncruise]

the premium drinks promo ended 3/31. it might show up again, the promos seem like they change practically every week.

 

[PelicanLvr]

4 hours ago, SusanDK said:

 When you refer to larger balconies on the slant, would you be referring to something like cabin # 7206 or #7208 on the Eclipse?

 

I

 

Yes that is correct....both have extended (deeper) balconies.  7206 is deeper than 7208 but both are much larger than standard balconies.  As I said before this may be useful in Alaskan Weather.

 

I prefer these "forward slant cabins" to the "slanted" cabins mid-ship which also have the deeper balconies.  The forward ones are less busy away from the main elevators and atrium.   

 

Search this board as there is lots of info about these balconies.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Jsim2011]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:14 PM, TeaBag said:

Are there any other available cabins in the category you have been assigned to that are not obstructed?  You can ask to be reassigned if there are.  Which ship and sailing is this?

We were told there wasn't anything in the category so we have paid for an upgrade.