Cabin Guarantee

[laudergayle]

I’m familiar with the Guarantee Cabin concept and how it works. My question is why and/or when does NCL switch from selecting your cabin to  cabin guarantee.  We have a cruise on Epic on 2/5-12, 2023 and they recently switched balcony cabins to guarantee cabin.  Please don’t speculate…looking for someone who really knows the answer. Thanks!

[TheycallmeDrew]

I am not sure I 100% understand your question but if you are asking when a guaranteed cabin category is assigned it can be right up until day of the cruise. At that point you will assigned a specific balcony. 

[laudergayle]

Just now, TheycallmeDrew said:

I am not sure I 100% understand your question but if you are asking when a guaranteed cabin category is assigned it can be right up until day of the cruise. At that point you will assigned a specific balcony. 

Thanks. I’ll try to re-word my question.  When making a NCL booking, what prompts NCL to switch from allowing you to select your cabin to just offering cabins they pick for you  (cabin guarantee).  

[TheycallmeDrew]

1 minute ago, laudergayle said:

Thanks. I’ll try to re-word my question.  When making a NCL booking, what prompts NCL to switch from allowing you to select your cabin to just offering cabins they pick for you  (cabin guarantee).  

When booking a guaranteed cabin is a category of cabin type (in your case balcony) but their a different type of balconies too. Each category has a different cost which can reflect things like where it is, how big the balcony is, access to the spa ect. I usually book on a site like cruise.com. On there you select balcony and it will show you all the different types of balconies and what they cost. After picking a type it then lets you select a specific room. 
 

Guaranteed balcony is a type. It is the cheapest balcony but the drawback is you do not get to pick a specific room and you don’t get the free at sea perks usually. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

45 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

I’m familiar with the Guarantee Cabin concept and how it works. My question is why and/or when does NCL switch from selecting your cabin to  cabin guarantee.  We have a cruise on Epic on 2/5-12, 2023 and they recently switched balcony cabins to guarantee cabin.

I believe that I understand your question.  Let's say you're planning a January 2024 cruise.  In June 2023, you check the website and do a mock booking in a balcony room.  You are assigned a specific room but also have the option to select a different room.  You do the same thing in August 2023, and when you select the balcony room category you are only offered a "guarantee" booking (i.e. you can no longer select a specific room).  When do they make this change?  Is that your question?  And, if so....

45 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

 Please don’t speculate…looking for someone who really knows the answer. Thanks!

Why on earth do you think anyone on this forum would know the real answer?  I'm sure NCL has a process/algorithm, but none of us would know what that is.  In my own experience, it appears random (although I'm sure it isn't).  I may be wrong and somebody else may jump in with a real answer (but I doubt it).

[ChiefMateJRK]

28 minutes ago, TheycallmeDrew said:

Guaranteed balcony is a type. It is the cheapest balcony but the drawback is you do not get to pick a specific room and you don’t get the free at sea perks usually. 

I don't believe that this is what the OP is referring to.  You are correct, there is that lowest level of booking that excludes FAS, but there are also times when selecting the "normal" room (which includes FAS) only offers a guaranteed room, and doesn't allow specific room selection.

[julig22]

46 minutes ago, TheycallmeDrew said:

When booking a guaranteed cabin is a category of cabin type (in your case balcony) but their a different type of balconies too. Each category has a different cost which can reflect things like where it is, how big the balcony is, access to the spa ect. I usually book on a site like cruise.com. On there you select balcony and it will show you all the different types of balconies and what they cost. After picking a type it then lets you select a specific room. 
 

Guaranteed balcony is a type. It is the cheapest balcony but the drawback is you do not get to pick a specific room and you don’t get the free at sea perks usually. 

Incorrect.  There are times when you cannot choose your cabin even if you are not choosing sail-away.

To the OP - not sure anyone here can provide an answer.  I used to think it was an indication that the category was nearly full but I booked a September Alaska cruise over 4 months in advance, and only GTY balcony was available.  Seems to be common on Alaska cruises.

Just noticed my cabin has finally been assigned, about 5 weeks out.

[ChiefMateJRK]

deleted - wrong post

Edited August 18, 2022 by ChiefMateJRK

[TheycallmeDrew]

38 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Incorrect.  There are times when you cannot choose your cabin even if you are not choosing sail-away.

To the OP - not sure anyone here can provide an answer.  I used to think it was an indication that the category was nearly full but I booked a September Alaska cruise over 4 months in advance, and only GTY balcony was available.  Seems to be common on Alaska cruises.

Just noticed my cabin has finally been assigned, about 5 weeks out.

This is news to me. I have never not been able to select my room when booking a non-sail away category but I never use the NCL site. On all the other web sites you are presented the available decks and select a specific room from those available. 
 

At least that has been my experience. Maybe others have had a different experience. 

[julig22]

11 minutes ago, TheycallmeDrew said:

This is news to me. I have never not been able to select my room when booking a non-sail away category but I never use the NCL site. On all the other web sites you are presented the available decks and select a specific room from those available. 
 

At least that has been my experience. Maybe others have had a different experience. 

It's not the normal experience but it obviously does happen since the OP asked the question. An alternative site would have the same issues UNLESS they had a block of rooms reserved.

Edited August 18, 2022 by julig22

[TheycallmeDrew]

5 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Must be what happens when a category is full. I get that when I try to book a BF balcony on deck 9 but there are 15 BC balconies available on deck 9. 
 

Unless BF is a code for guaranteed balcony with free at sea perks. 

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Incorrect.  There are times when you cannot choose your cabin even if you are not choosing sail-away.

To the OP - not sure anyone here can provide an answer.  I used to think it was an indication that the category was nearly full but I booked a September Alaska cruise over 4 months in advance, and only GTY balcony was available.  Seems to be common on Alaska cruises.

Just noticed my cabin has finally been assigned, about 5 weeks out.

Thank you.  I was trying to do mock booking to price check before final payment and suddenly it went to Guarantee Cabin not allowing me to get a good comparison.  I hope it doesn’t reflect nearing capacity/occupancy.

 

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I believe that I understand your question.  Let's say you're planning a January 2024 cruise.  In June 2023, you check the website and do a mock booking in a balcony room.  You are assigned a specific room but also have the option to select a different room.  You do the same thing in August 2023, and when you select the balcony room category you are only offered a "guarantee" booking (i.e. you can no longer select a specific room).  When do they make this change?  Is that your question?  And, if so....

Why on earth do you think anyone on this forum would know the real answer?  I'm sure NCL has a process/algorithm, but none of us would know what that is.  In my own experience, it appears random (although I'm sure it isn't).  I may be wrong and somebody else may jump in with a real answer (but I doubt it).

ChiefMateJRK…there are several here on CC that incredibly insightful information and answers…sometimes even you😛

[ChiefMateJRK]

22 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

ChiefMateJRK…there are several here on CC that incredibly insightful information and answers…sometimes even you😛

Nah.  I just jacked that from another thread.  I have no such insight.

[amyh13]

I just booked the Escape with my neighbor.  We have 4 in our cabin but she only has 3.  Yet in order to choose her cabin she had to book a family balcony.  There is one cabin between us for 3 person occupancy but it did not allow her to choose it.  I just assumed it was booked.  I was on the phone with NCL for another question and they said that cabin was available.  She called and they were will to give it to her but she ended up keeping the original.

 

Seems kind of back handed to me.  Why would they waste a 4 person cabin with only 3 people?  That just doesn't make sense to me.

[Beach Life 1]

On 8/18/2022 at 10:57 AM, laudergayle said:

I’m familiar with the Guarantee Cabin concept and how it works. My question is why and/or when does NCL switch from selecting your cabin to  cabin guarantee.  We have a cruise on Epic on 2/5-12, 2023 and they recently switched balcony cabins to guarantee cabin.  Please don’t speculate…looking for someone who really knows the answer. Thanks!

I checked our cruise on the Gem for the end of February.   Every category shows either sold out or guarantee on most cabins.   Very odd.

[julig22]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:13 PM, amyh13 said:

I just booked the Escape with my neighbor.  We have 4 in our cabin but she only has 3.  Yet in order to choose her cabin she had to book a family balcony.  There is one cabin between us for 3 person occupancy but it did not allow her to choose it.  I just assumed it was booked.  I was on the phone with NCL for another question and they said that cabin was available.  She called and they were will to give it to her but she ended up keeping the original.

 

Seems kind of back handed to me.  Why would they waste a 4 person cabin with only 3 people?  That just doesn't make sense to me.

It is possible that the cabin was booked/on hold when she booked, became available later.  Or she originally chose family and the one she wanted wouldn't show as available since it wasn't the category she indicated she wanted.

[kylenyc]

On 8/18/2022 at 11:11 AM, laudergayle said:

Thanks. I’ll try to re-word my question.  When making a NCL booking, what prompts NCL to switch from allowing you to select your cabin to just offering cabins they pick for you  (cabin guarantee).  

Regardless of which non-guarantee category you, NCL's website doesn't let you choose from all available cabins in their inventory. They usually give you a list of cabins they want to sell to you.

 

It's doesn't what matter what NCL website's underlying algorithm is. You're better off doing a mock booking with an online travel site that shows you the available inventory and either book with them, or armed with this information, you call NCL with a list of cabins you're interested in.

 

Example: On another site, if you try to book a BF non-guarantee balcony, it doesn't let you choose either. This implies they are sold out or held for whatever reason. Go up the next category and you see a list of all available cabins. At this point, a BF is equivalent to a sailaway (guaranteed) cabin with the Free at Sea amenities.

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by kylenyc

[Sailing12Away]

It comes down to availability I believe. They're not at 100% capacity sailing yet (that I know of), but with so many people bidding on upgrades there are lots of cabins available - but they have no idea where they will be.

 

I've only seen it a few times when it was close to sailaway date, and I presume it's because they know they can put you in an "xyz" category room, but not until they shuffle the folks above you to other areas. Hence why they can't let you pick your room.

 

There's also blocks of rooms that get released from TA's at the last minute too that are not 'available' per se, but are there.

[amyh13]

There were plenty available, but the website was only showing the 4 person balconies.

[spanishguy1970]

On 8/20/2022 at 8:59 AM, jezabel80 said:

I checked our cruise on the Gem for the end of February.   Every category shows either sold out or guarantee on most cabins.   Very odd.

because travel agencies may have lots of staterooms on hold and they have not released them yet.

[Beach Life 1]

3 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

because travel agencies may have lots of staterooms on hold and they have not released them yet.

Thank you for responding.  I checked again,   and everything seems pretty much  back to normal.   It looks like just the Club Balcony Suites are guarantees.   It must have been some kind of glitch.  🤷‍♀️