we ordered 2 of the lowest possible priced rooms. Our agent said we should not order the room guarantee category since we need 2 rooms (next to each other). we did as she advised us, and we know we will not be upgraded...
was she right?
thank you

Partly. If the agent called Carnival, they could have booked a TBA cabin and "tie" the two bookings together so that when they assign rooms, they know to place those cabins next to each other. Or at least near each other. Then you still have a shot at the upgrade and or the cheaper price of the TBA. This is more work for the TA, but it is doable. (In fact this is what I am doing on an upcoming cruise).

However, just because you book TBA doesn't garuantee an upgrade. If it is more important for you to 1) be close together and 2) pick your cabins for convience, then the chance of upgrade is not worth giving up 1 and 2. If your only concern is to be close to each other cabin wise, then you may want to ask the agent to check to see if they can tie the bookings together for upgrade and change to the TBA cabin.

Also, it may depend on how far out your cruise is. If too far, tying the bookings together may not be possible.

Hope that helps. Also note that the term upgrade is a bit misleading. Normally the upgrade is only within that class of cabin. So if you booked "cheapest" category, then you upgrade may only get you the "best" cabins in that grade. You are most likely not go from an interior cabin to a balcony cabin.

I'll add one more thing. If by "next to each other" you mean a pair of cabins where there is a door between them, then you should stick with the assigned cabin. The connecting rooms go fast and if you did get an upgrade, it would be doubtful you would get connecting cabins. Big familys tend to consume these types quickly and they sell out fast.

thank you for your fast answer
the cheapest rooms are the inerior ones on the lowest deck- there are no connecting doors in interior rooms. We would prefare the connecting door ones, which are the lowest deck+window category. the differance is 250$ a room- too much...
if we could take the guarantee category, we could maybe afford the connecting door rooms. we were told it is too risky. Our kids are young and their English is not good enough, so they have nextdoor.
By upgrade we ment getting a better deck.

If you need to be next door to the children, you did the right thing by taking cabin assignments rather than guarantees. The cruise line won't "officially" promise you that if you do get upgraded, the cabins will be near each other, or even that both cabins will be upgraded. They try to do that, but they don't guarantee it. We just ran into a situation on one of the Carnival family of cruise lines where I booked two cabin guarantees. One of our cabins was upgraded 3 categories, and one was upgraded 2 categories to a completely different kind of room on a different deck.

I'm sure your travel agent has cross referenced your two cabins, as that's usually done to make sure you're all assigned to the same table in the dining room.

Sandy

JamJam- Listen to Sandy, she knows what she is tlaking about. Now knowing the reason you need the cabins next to each other, the potential upgrade is not worth the risk.

Yes, going with the assignments was the only choice to be sure of them being together.

Dwayne

There is one thing I want to point out concerning this topic. It is against Carnival's Policy to have children in a stateroom without a parent or guardian in the same stateroom.

Dwayne

thank you all for your answers. it helped a lot.
it is not worth the risk. we have the best cabines we can afford- it is on the lowest deck but central, not close to the elevator and next to each other.
we know the policy so there will be one parent in each stateroom.