Is a Guarantee cabin worth the gamble??

Many cruise lines these days are offering cabins on a guarantee basis for a lower cost than the general rate. But what is a guarantee cabin you may ask??

Booking on a guarantee basis means you choose your grade of cabin but not the cabin number, the cabin will then be allocated by the cruise line at a later date, so all you guaranteed it the grade of cabin you have booked, this means your cabin could be anywhere on the ship!

Quite often there is a big discount on these ‘guaranteed’ cabins and that is why they attract guests. This then helps the cruise lines fill up extra cabins and also those cabins in awkward areas where people wouldn’t normally book. They may have all the inside full but may offer an inside guaranteed cabin and then upgrade clients to an outside cabin and the same with an outside to a balcony and son on this means they can still offer the cruise at a really good lead in price and it also give you the guest a free up grade (although i may add this is not always the case) it is always a gamble – yes you might get an upgrade but you may also not so don’t book expecting one!

Another thing to add is, you never get the choice to choose your cabin it will be allocated for you, if your not happy with the cabin offered or you don’t like where it is unfortunately you can’t change and if your travelling with friends or family and book 2 guaranteed cabins they won’t be next to each other unless your very very very lucky, you could end up at either end of the ship or on a different deck to one another.

There are pro’s and cons to this and it is all up to an individual choice, some people are happy to have there cabin allocated and have a reduced fare and use that extra money to spend on board….whilst others prefer to book exactly what they want and have specific requirements and in which case are happy to pay the difference.

What’s your thoughts? Have you booked on a guarantee before? Or do you like to choose your own cabin?

Thanks for reading,

Trudy x