I am going on my first cruise in january out of San Juan and we booked a guarantee cabin which as I understand it, means that if there are open cabins at the end, they will try to sell them out and we could possibly get moved up to a nicer cabin. First of all, am I understanding this correctly and secondly, what would you say are the chances of that happening? When would we find out if we have been bumped up? Also....if they can't fill the ship and there are open cabins of a higher price range, do they offer ppl in the lower grade cabins to pay a discounted price to be bumped up to a nicer one?

By booking a guarantee you have a relatively good chance of getting an upgrade (but not guaranteed - no pun intended). Of course, there are a number of variables that enter the picture. First, your chances are better if you have made an individual booking and not part of a group. The earlier you have booked, the better. How well the cabins are selling is also a factor. Historically, the lowest price cabins and the most expensive suites are the first categories to sell out on a ship. Since the ship wants to sail full, they often continue to sell the very lowest category cabins - even if that category is technically "sold out". So, as it gets closer to the sail date those people who booked a "guarantee" are bumped up to those categories that have not sold out - to allow for more availability of the lower priced categories. Sometimes you will find out what cabin you have been assigned when you receive your documents. Sometimes, you do not find out your cabin until you get to the ship on the day of sailing.

If the ship is not sold out, when you get onboard you will have an opportunity to pay a supplement to be moved to higher category cabin. The price to upgrade varies from ship to ship, sailing to sailing and is based on a number of variables. If you wish to inquire about an upgrade, go to guest relations upon boarding the ship.

Nancy

A guarantee stateroom does allow for the possibility of an upgrade, however, you have no say where the stateroom will be on deck. If you have strong desires to not be too far forward or aft then a guarantee is not always the best way to go. Most people though tend to be happy with their guarantee results. Have a good time.

Wahooooooooooooo got my documents today and for sure I was up graded fom upper deck to panorama, I did the kelly method, and found it last week, but was not for sure it would be the cabin as one never knows with a guarentee, but it looks to be a great spot midship, extended balcony, and best of all what a great view we will have we started with 8-a and got our 8-I counting down the days for that 80 degree weather and get out of this snow & cold yipeeeeee

Congrats on your upgrade Peahcrek! Boy, you and me both are looking forward to escaping the snow and cold. I'm down to the final count before I head off to Key West for a week (leave Dec. 29th) and can't wait for the 2006 cruise season to begin!
Nancy

Sarepear,
I always book a Guarantee if it is available - seem to have had good luck so far.
Suzi

Panorma is a great deck. I just got back from a week on the Valor with a cabin on the Panorama deck.

I booked a level 8 and was upgraded to 10 while I was still on the phone.

what is the secret? we are 108 days out no room assignment yet. we have a guar. cat 11 on the spirit, others have told me they have rooms assigned, but i don't per my t/a. i have read there are ways to find out, no success thus far
how do you find out?

Have you called Carnival directly?

Dominic,
Perhaps your friends are assigned a cabin already because they booked right into an assigned cabin. Most of the time you dont't find out until you get your documents. You already are booked in a Cat 11 and don't have much room for an upgrade. The next and only level are the Penthouse suites. If I calculate right you are going right around Easter time, a very busy time and the ships will most likely be very full. The cruise line finalizes group booking around 60 days out. Once those are done then they would look at individual bookings. I would not call CCL directly.

thanks for the info, i did e-mail ccl and they told to check with my t/a which i did, all the others are in a group of 30 however they also had guarantee reservations. the reason for my concern is because when i booked 13 months ago my t/a told me that i would have a cat 12 if i booked a cat 11 at that time, i think maybe i was getting a bull story from my t/a

Hi I have a triple guarantee inside cabin, I believe category 4. It was the cheapest. Made the reservation as part of a group months ago for a Feb. 2 sailing. Taking all of this into consideration, do I have a chance in **** of getting an upgrade or is this just wishful thinking?

Carnival is very strict when it comes to revealing specific cabin assignments for guaranteed bookings. They really won't tell you or your agent in most cases, and you find out when you get to the baggage drop-off at the pier. There will be someone with a manifest list who will tell you your cabin number and give you the appropriate luggage tags.

I was under the impression Carnival had squashed the ability to find out the guaranteed cabin number via the famous "Kelly Method". Perhaps their new website has allowed this to happen again.

I never take the chance on a guaranteed cabin. I like to pick my cabin out based on it's location and I don't want it changed by the cruise line. Another thing to note is that "upgrade" virtually never means going from an inside cabin in the bowels of the ship to the owner's suite. What it usually means is going to a higher deck in the same sized cabin.

i have never booked this way in the past,i like picking my room as well, however since i paid for a cat 11 with promise of a cat 12 even if i don't find out before i get to the ship my room can't be anything less than a cat 11, is that true?i thought this was a good deal since on the spirit the cabins are in the same area

Yes, you will have at least at Cat 11.

Dave,
Unless things have changed again, I believe it was sometime ago that CCL said they would have cabins assigned when documents were issued. I have a group of 33 people on the Destiny 26 Feb and the paper work I received already shows them getting upgraded from 4A guarantee to 4D. I have another small group on the Fascination Feb 3. I just got the documents and they were upgraded from 4a guarantee to 4C.

DAVE
WHAT IS THE KELLY METHOD?

Dominic,

if you search this forum - on the top of this page click "Find" enter "Kelly Method" and click "Go" with "Search current forum only" checked - you will find lots of information on the Kelly Method in earlier threads.

Well, I guess my wife and I were just darn lucky. We paid for our April cruise 1 1/2 months before sailing. Being our first, we paid for the rock bottom inside stateroom. 1st deck...when we got there, we were booked into an 8th deck balcony. Wow! We never want an inside after having the balcony. Maybe they did it on purpose? To hook us into the balcony from now on? Who knows...

NO LUCK I WENT THRU THE KELLY METHOD, THANKS FOR TRYING TO HELP