Cabin Assignment or Guarantee cabin assignment??????

Is anyone familiar with cabin assignment and guarantee cabin assignment???
One is supposed to guarantee you your cabin, if there is an upgrade ,you can have it and they'll never give you a cabin any lower than what you had. and if its a cabin assignment you get the room you've booked and no upgrade. Is this correct and if so what are the benefits and is it an important part of booking your cruise or does it matter at all?

[Donna]

Hi Matt,
When booking a guarantee you will not get a cabin assinment until right before the cruise, just remember to always book the catagory that you will be happy with, because chances are thats what you'll get, if you get an upgrade, all the better. You can save a few dollars when booking this way, but if you want a specific cabin, just book that cabin and you'll have that cabin number.

Here is a good article that explains the guarantee booking process:

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/...guaranteed.cfm

If you are using a cruiseline where you can put in all your personal information for boarding and have your reservation number, just keep checking that and if you book a guarantee cabin, once one is assigned to you, it will be listed there.

[Thomas]

Yes, that is correct. If you book a specific cabin you will get that cabin, and if there are any upgrades available which filter down to you, they will sometimes ask if you would like to upgrade. On a guarantee booking you are booking only the category. Doing it this way is better for getting upgrades, but you take the risk of getting a cabin which isn't so great.

An upgrade is usually the same room on a higher deck. However, on some ships all the activities- casino, shops, bars, disco, dining rooms- are on the bottom decks so moving up to a higher deck is not necessarily an upgrade...........in my opinion.

Regards,
Thomas

I have all ways booked a guarantee inside cabin, sometimes I have gotten a good up-grades and sometimes not, it really depends on the time of year.

Gary

No it is not correct. If you get a guarantee you will get no worse than what you booked category wise but may get the worst cabin in that category but you could also be upgraded but no certainty there. also if you book an assigned cabin or a specific cabin which is what I always do, I get exactly the cabin I want. anyway if you book either of those you still may be offered upgrades unless you specify NO UPGRADES.

We usually book guarantees and take the chance. We have always been upgraded within the same category - outside to higher outside but sometimes only 1 level and usually we get a cabin in the back of the ship as these are the ones sold the least. One some ships this has still been great as instead of port holes we got a window on a higher floor (on NCL) and or a bigger window on RCL. Just don't complain - I hear it a lot on the ships - if you book a guarantee you may still get the same level you booked but in the front or back of the boat instead of midship where you could have gotten a cabin if booked it specifically. We like the surprise but many don't... Debbie

Only a word of caution here as we took a guaranty on the Infinity(outside with a balcony) and ended up all the way forward and most of the activities are are the back , then midship on Celebrity ships (with the exception of the main lounge.) We had to walk a mile to go or do anything. We learned that saving $$ wasn't worth the inconvience of a bad location for a cabin.

i dont care where they put me, ill sleep in the hall, as long as i get to cruise))))))))))))))