Guaranteed Mini Suite - Should I worry?

[5onadime]

I booked a guaranteed mini suite cabin because that was all that showed available.  I have never booked gauranteed before.... probably because I AM a worrier.  How do they give me a cabin if it showing sold out?

[startedwithamouse]

1. Because people cancel, move cabins, upgrade, etc. 

[azbirdmom]

They also hold back inventory for guarantees.  You will get a cabin but it may not be until a couple days before.  Nothing to worry about.

[memoak]

4 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

They also hold back inventory for guarantees.  You will get a cabin but it may not be until a couple days before.  Nothing to worry about.

Unless you care about location   We haven’t sailed anywhere but aft for years

[azbirdmom]

4 minutes ago, memoak said:

Unless you care about location   We haven’t sailed anywhere but aft for years

So you would not be an ideal candidate for a guarantee then.  I didn't see anything int he OP's post that location was a concern, it was simply not having a cabin that was.

[JamieLogical]

Which ship? I did a GTY mini-suite on the Enchanted Princess for my May sailing and was THRILLED with my cabin assignment. I didn't get the assignment until under 2 weeks out, but I got one of the forward-facing mini-suites on Deck 15 and loved it!

[5onadime]

We are on the Regal in August

We are not concerned with location- just category for this trip.

 

Thanks for the responses!

 

Edited June 14 by 5onadime

[NavyVeteran]

After Princess processes all of the bids and other changes, you can expect to receive one of the following:

• A stateroom in the category you booked.
• A free upgrade to a stateroom in a higher category.
• An optional offer to take a downgrade to a lower category, with a significant amount of refund and/or OBC offered if you accept.
• An optional offer to move your cruise to another date, with a significant amount of refund and/or OBC offered if you accept.

 

I haven't heard anyone post about Princess involuntarily cancelling a cruise booking because of overselling. Note that I am not talking about cancelling an entire cruise because of issues with the ship - that is a completely different issue where they have to cancel the entire cruise.

 

You will either get what you paid for, get more than you paid for, or accept an optional offer that you're happy with. If you receive an optional offer that you want to accept, you will need to respond quickly, because they usually make very generous offers in order to handle the overbooking with everyone happy.

[judithzuz]

We are in the same situation for a cruise to Brazil and Antarctica. I know I shouldn't worry but I guess it's my nature. There were very few available minis at the time of booking and all were in good locations, so to save a few dollars, the decision was made to book the guarantees cabin. At time of posting, there are none available and only 3 suites showing bookable. There are quite a few regular balconies and inside cabins though. This itinerary is not available at another date. Two months to go until sailing.

Hopefully some cabins were held back and we will be assigned one of those.

[walkingsoon]

OP - you'll get your cabin. Worry not. Something to try: call and ask an agent to assign you a cabin. Might work, might not. It has for me in the past..

 

judithzuz - fun itinerary, great ship.  I'm looking forward to the overnight in Rio.

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, judithzuz said:

We are in the same situation for a cruise to Brazil and Antarctica. I know I shouldn't worry but I guess it's my nature. There were very few available minis at the time of booking and all were in good locations, so to save a few dollars, the decision was made to book the guarantees cabin. At time of posting, there are none available and only 3 suites showing bookable. There are quite a few regular balconies and inside cabins though. This itinerary is not available at another date. Two months to go until sailing.

Hopefully some cabins were held back and we will be assigned one of those.

As other people have said, you don't have to worry.  You'll get a cabin in at least the category you booked.  Just a comment about the highlighted sentence though.  You need to be careful about that.  Looking at what's available and thinking you're guaranteed to get one of the available cabins does not work.  People get moved around, upgraded, etc., so worse cabins in the same category could open up.  When booking a GTY, you need to be willing to accept the worst cabin in the category you select.  That doesn't mean you'll get the worst cabin, in fact you'll frequently get upgraded to a better category but there is always a possibility that you will get the worst cabin in your category.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Guarantee cabins can be assigned literally up to departure time.  Usually a couple days or more out.

Always 1-2% cancellations at the last week or two.  No worries 

 

[rockraiders]

We booked GTY mini suite on Royal. Received cabin assignment mid July for our cruise coming up this month. Assigned cabin on lido deck. GTY worked well for us. 

[judithzuz]

2 hours ago, Marauder said:

As other people have said, you don't have to worry.  You'll get a cabin in at least the category you booked.  Just a comment about the highlighted sentence though.  You need to be careful about that.  Looking at what's available and thinking you're guaranteed to get one of the available cabins does not work.  People get moved around, upgraded, etc., so worse cabins in the same category could open up.  When booking a GTY, you need to be willing to accept the worst cabin in the category you select.  That doesn't mean you'll get the worst cabin, in fact you'll frequently get upgraded to a better category but there is always a possibility that you will get the worst cabin in your category.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. This is a first time for me with a guaranteed cabin and I'm not sure that I can do it again. Time will tell!!😁

[judithzuz]

3 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

 

judithzuz - fun itinerary, great ship.  I'm looking forward to the overnight in Rio.

Oh it's amazing, that's for sure. Will be a trip stuffed full of great adventure.

[judithzuz]

10 minutes ago, rockraiders said:

We booked GTY mini suite on Royal. Received cabin assignment mid July for our cruise coming up this month. Assigned cabin on lido deck. GTY worked well for us. 

wonderful to hear

[Shaver John]

Just curious, we have put in a bid for an aft suite from a penthouse suite about a month ago and we still have not heard from anything about it. We are 4 weeks from the cruise and I know we may not hear for awhile. My question is How will we find out, and will we find out one way or the other? If we don't get the unbid, that will be sad, but we will still have a nice trip. If we get the upbid when will they charge us the money for the upbid. Thanks for any info.

[Wink87]

5 minutes ago, Shaver John said:

Just curious, we have put in a bid for an aft suite from a penthouse suite about a month ago and we still have not heard from anything about it. We are 4 weeks from the cruise and I know we may not hear for awhile. My question is How will we find out, and will we find out one way or the other? If we don't get the unbid, that will be sad, but we will still have a nice trip. If we get the upbid when will they charge us the money for the upbid. Thanks for any info.

They will charge you immediately if your bid is accepted. Good luck!