What's The Difference?

[thefirstnoel]

What is the difference between an assigned cabin and a guaranteed cabin? If one knows of a certain cabin they want or like, do you state to your TA that you definately want a certain cabin number or will they just put you in a comparable cabin? (We always chose a balcony. Its much worth the x-tra bucks to us.) Thanks all.

[trish1c]

An assigned cabin is where you pick your actual cabin / location. A guarentee is you pick a particular style (for ex: balcony). That is the minimum class of cabin you will get but it could be anywhere on the ship. The line has the option of upgrading you if it suits them.

[Cruising89143]

You pretty much have it figured out. I always tell folks that if they have a certain category that they would be happy with but don't care about cabin location then book a guarantee. Sometimes you will also get an upgrade. Not always but it does happen. If you are a person that has to have your cabin in a certain place(ie: near stairs or elevator, aft, middle of ship, etc.) then book a cabin and lock it in at the time of booking the reservation.

[punkinheads]

My last experience with a guaranteed room, ended up with an obstructed view. I had booked an ocean view non-obstructed and they "upgraded" me to another ocean view obstructed. After a long argument with them, I ended up paying extra to change rooms. So be careful about the guarantee rooms. Be sure you know what you would accept! Have fun!!:o

[doone]

I am one who likes a certain area of the ship, so I book a certain cabin number. I tell my TA this is the cabin number I want and she gets it for me. I have been offered one time an upgrade from an inside cabin to an outside cabin. While this is definately an upgrade in cabin category, the location of my upgrade cabin was less than desirable for me. Because I hadn't booked a guarantee and booked an exact cabin, I could decline this offer, which I did. I do not book a guarantee cabin for this specific reason. But like the poster above said, if you don't mind where your cabin is located or what you get, a guarantee is a great way to go.

[Cotton]

I always book a specific cabin. I don't like surprises. With a guarantee booking, you choose a category, not cabin. They can place you anywhere on the ship in that category. By booking guarantee, you are eligible for an upgrade, but don't count on it. Be sure and book the category you will be happy with IF you don't get upgraded.;)

[K&RCurt]

My last experience with a guaranteed room, ended up with an obstructed view. I had booked an ocean view non-obstructed and they "upgraded" me to another ocean view obstructed. After a long argument with them, I ended up paying extra to change rooms. So be careful about the guarantee rooms. Be sure you know what you would accept! Have fun!!:o

 

This experience is a key lesson. Before you book a catagory guarantee, look at the deckplan for the cabins in catagories above the one you are booking. If there are cabins in a "higher" catagory that you would NOT want to be in, realize that those are the hardest to sell cabins in the "higher" catagories and thus, where you will be more likely to be "upgraded" to.

 

We prefer to book a specific cabin and avoid surprizes!.

[jerseygirl3]

In 18 cruises, I've never booked a guarantee. However, on our upcoming Valor cruise, I booked a balcony guarantee for myself and my husband, and 3 inside cabins for our kids. The kids all got upgraded to oceanview cabins just a few doors away from each other and right in the middle of the ship, so it's a great location. My husband and I got a higher category balcony cabin. Our balcony cabin is a bit more forward than I would prefer, but still not a bad location. Nothing but cabins above and below us, which is good. All in all, we're very happy.

[Jane110]

On a smaller ship, like Oceania, there's no wiggle room for upgrades and they don't charge less for taking the "guarantee" option, so we book the cabin we want.

 

However, on a Princess or other large ship, we usually book a "guarantee" mini-suite, which saves us some money over picking the exact one we want. But for us, we're not that fussy about location. As long as it's a mini-suite, we're fine and we're happy to save a little money. And if we "win" in the game of upgrade-roulette, even better. Though it's very rare that they would upgrade from a mini-suite to a full suite. Upgrades are better from lower priced cabins. However, since I'd never book an inside and I'm not happy with just an oceanview, I'm not about to gamble.

 

For those that need to be in a specific location, forward, aft, middle, port side, etc, don't book a guarantee. You could wind up unhappy, so it's not worth the savings.

 

In punkinhead's experience, I'm sure there's more to the story than s/he cared to go into for this board, but they definitely got a downgrade. Going from an unobstructed ocean view to an obstructed one, would infurate me. How awful for you. Sorry to hear it happened.