Guarantee cabin vs. Booked room

[gill_boo]

Hi everyone,

 

I want to see if there really is a preference here between booking guarantees or if most actually bite the bullet and pay more just to have a specific cabin or deck and so and so. Let's find out......

[CorbinCatFan]

The majority of the time, we've booked gty and have had good success. Our first cruise, we were upgraded to the bow of the ship on the Main Deck and it wasn't so good.

 

We selected the cabin on the Miracle and were quite happy with that location. But it is exciting on waiting to see where you will end up on a gty.

[PINEVIEW01]

I usually book a cabin if doing a b2b. The first time I did do a gty 1A b2b and was lucky enough to get the same 4A cabin. But, other than that I picked the cabin.

 

Other than that I do a gty.

 

Oh, other than the time I got to pick a balcony for the IS price :)

[gospelle]

I've done both and have never been dissapointed. More recently we've been chosing staterooms close to the stairs for convinience sake, but our most recent we took a chance on a gty suite stateroom. (our first suite).

 

I figured, how bad could it be really?

[GoinCruisin]

Really depends... I've picked specific cabins if our group is booking the AFT rows.. other times I just get a guarantee... depends on the cruise.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Most of the time we book a guarantee and have never been disappointed. Generally doing so saves us a few dollars and we like the surprise of getting our assignment (fortunately always upgraded). But we enjoy being all the way forward or aft as it is quieter and we walk off some of the excess food!

 

However, I book an assignment when traveling with others, doing a B2B or if there is some benefit to a specific location or stateroom.

[Weddingcrasher]

Question about Gty, my friends have booked the same cruise as us and booked Gty. We booked a balcony and they booked a GTY balcony. As of right now, our cruise appears to be sold out in balconies. They have not received their assignment yet and have called, with no information about assignt. However, our cruise isn't until Feb.

 

If balconies appear to be sold out and if they have not received their room, is it likely they will be upgraded?

[gill_boo]

There is that possibility or they may upgrade someone who booked a higher level balcony and give them that room. Or they may have set aside a group of balcony cabins for GTY rooms.

[Ship Addict]

I like to book gty when it's just DH and i. I like the surprise of finding out where we'll be.

 

I book specific rooms when traveling with the kiddos to make sure they're right next door to us.

[hockeymom97]

I have done both. Saving money on a GTY is awesome, however I realize I'm rolling the dice and could possibly end up somewhere we don't want to be. It also depends on just how much I'm saving by booking one or the other - if at all possible I'd prefer to pick my cabin.

[BalconyBumz]

Honestly, I have chosen a balcony guarantee on almost every single one of our cruises on all the different lines and we have never been disappointed or had a problem with the location of our cabin ever. We almost always end up in one of the higher categories or the highest for some reason, but we have been everywhere from forward, mid ship, to aft, and it makes no difference to us once we find our new cozy home for a week. There are benefits to every location in my opinion and we always find that out. As long as we're on a balcony, it doesn't matter where we are, so just give us the cheapest price fo one and we are happy balcony bumz! :D

[hockeyluver]

We usually go gty, but our last cruise we got an "L" shaped cabin on the Truimph and we loved it so much I just booked it again. Our next cruise we will be going gty again.

[jerseydolphin]

I always book a gty. I have never had a problem with it.

[wmw1490]

We only do Cat12s and I've never seen an option to let them pick the room. It is usually at Cat11 that they will let people spin the wheel. That would be ok, but I've seen some bad Cat11s with very obstructed views and it would not be worth the savings.

 

If they offered a Cat12 where they pick I might try it, but really prefer the certainty of location. It also gives you a chance to scope out the room via other photos posted.

 

If I were single, I would probably go the guarantee route to save the $$$ and hope for the best. Each cruiser will have his or her reasons which is why some take it and others leave it. Nothing wrong with any thought process either.

[Monkeythyme]

We picked our cabin first five times, and tried guarantee the last two. We seem to be oblivious to the difference in motion between midship cabins and others, so we plan to stick with guarantee in the future.

[G'ma]

I'm way too picky about where my cabin is located to do a guarantee. I must have a balcony and want the port side of the ship. Don't want to be under any food or entertainment venue, near any elevator area, like to be slightly forward of mid-ship, etc....

 

I'm willing to pay the slight difference......

[mom2tcdx2]

Well I am not picky about where a cabin is, as long as it is on the ship is great. For the cost savings I couldn't do any better than with the guarantee we got on the Splendor for the 29th. We originally had an IS guarantee, priced dropped $200, then for an OV guarantee the price went up $100, then $270 for a balcony guarantee. All in all the balcony cost for 3 people $170(total) more than my original inside cabin. (This price was over $1000 less than the cabin we were assigned if I had booked it originally). I can't beat that and now have my first balcony.

[anaslile]

I go for a gty all the time. As long as I'm on the ship, I could care less! Plus, I go for the cheapest room I can find, which is usually an inside gty.

 

I've only had 1 disappointment, that was my first cruise on the Fantasy. I got a room way up front on the main deck. There was as miserable clanging noise all night. I didn't like that cruise very much at all.

 

Sometimes, I've been upgraded, sometimes no. I've had really good luck with upgrades recently, so I'm not complaining.

[BullDogChief]

We booked a balcony suite on our first cruise (Inspiration-2000) then booked balcony rooms for the last two (Victory-2006) (Liberty-2008).

 

I don't care about the extra money, my wife and I like a balcony...guess that's because we are not like typical cruisers where we do spend a lot of time in our room...:D ;)

[HeidiHo]

I didn't vote because I have always picked our cabin. Since I've never done a guarantee I don't know if I would like that or not. Right now I have a guarantee cabin booked on the Spirit. We could only book guarantee if we wanted to get in on the $25.00 deposit (it's a CC group cruise). I haven't decided yet if I want to take my chances and stick with the guarantee or pick a cabin when the full deposit is due in August. I'm seriously thinking of sticking with the guarantee just to see what happens.

[BullDogChief]

I didn't vote because I have always picked our cabin. Since I've never done a guarantee I don't know if I would like that or not. Right now I have a guarantee cabin booked on the Spirit. We could only book guarantee if we wanted to get in on the $25.00 deposit (it's a CC group cruise). I haven't decided yet if I want to take my chances and stick with the guarantee or pick a cabin when the full deposit is due in August. I'm seriously thinking of sticking with the guarantee just to see what happens.

 

Good Luck!!! ;)

[cks]

This is my first cruise, and I originally had a guaranteed cabin. But, I tend to get seasick, so it was more important to me to be able to choose an interior cabin that was low and midship. So, I changed my reservation to an assigned cabin. If the seasickness weren't an issue, I'd probably just try a guarantee and see what happens.