Possible to get bumped down on a guarantee?

[mirrorkat]

I'm wondering if anyone has ever been bumped down a category after booking a guarantee cabin?  I booked a guarantee suite (ATS) and read a thread somewhere about someone who booked a balcony guarantee and ended up with a non-balcony.  I think this is rare but I'm feeling a little uneasy about it.  

[DocLC]

It shouldn't happen, but things do happen from time to time. If it does happen, I'm sure Royal would make it right by adjusting the price paid, offering some onboard credit, etc. I actually once got upgraded, but had requested no upgrades. While it took them some time to get us the room we actually booked, they eventually did so and offered some concessionary onboard credit as a result.

[41m33]

I'm in a related situation right now. We booked a guaranteed 4v inside stateroom for our Mediterranean sailing in September. According to the deck plans (and my travel agent) we would be on decks 5/6/7 either forward or aft. We received an "upgrade" to a 1V inside which is mid-ship but on deck 2. I would have rather not have had the upgrade to mid ship and been on a higher deck. My travel agent said there's nothing she can do. Once a stateroom is assigned it's final. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Does Royal have anything "official", in writing, regarding guarantee bookings?

[twangster]

I book guarantee cabins often, but I've only see "inside,  "oceanview" or "balcony" guarantee bookings offered, never a specific "4v" or other subtype within a category.  I don't think they would downgrade from a balcony to something lesser.  it is possible for someone not familiar with Oasis class to book a balcony guarantee not realizing there are Central Park and/or Boardwalk balcony cabins.  They may have assumed balcony meant ocean view balcony that on any other class of ship would be an ocean view balcony but since Oasis class has more than outside balconies some folks could get confused.

I once booked an Oceanview GTY and got a balcony out of it.  Definitely an upgrade.

[monorailmedic]

A guarantee should never go down (barring any oversights or other complications).  Now, if you've booked a guarantee category and get assigned to a higher category, but one you don't want, there's not usually anything you can do about it as they held up their end of the bargain.

This article may help explain the difference between stateroom types vs categories, and what exactly it means to book a guarantee.  Ultimately, if you're married to a particular location, category, etc - then don't book a guarantee.  If you're like me, and you're generally not too picky with staterooms and are willing to get what they assign you, they can be a great way to save money.

http://www.cruisehabit.com/difference-between-stateroom-types-categories-guarantees-demystifying-stateroom-selection

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 hours ago, 41m33 said:

My travel agent said there's nothing she can do. Once a stateroom is assigned it's final. 

This is not entirely accurate.  If you have a gty category and you are not happy with the cabin assignment, you can ask to be reassigned a different cabin, assuming there are cabins available, if that reassignment is for the same exact cabin category.  If your TA said that it’s not possible and that all gty assignments are “final”, he/she is mistaken. If you aren’t happy with your cabin assignment, insist that your TA check and see if there are any other options within your category.  If everything is truly sold out then you are probably out of luck but just b/c you have been assigned a cabin, it is not automatically final. 

[41m33]

9 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is not entirely accurate.  If you have a gty category and you are not happy with the cabin assignment, you can ask to be reassigned a different cabin, assuming there are cabins available, if that reassignment is for the same exact cabin category.  If your TA said that it’s not possible and that all gty assignments are “final”, he/she is mistaken. If you aren’t happy with your cabin assignment, insist that your TA check and see if there are any other options within your category.  If everything is truly sold out then you are probably out of luck but just b/c you have been assigned a cabin, it is not automatically final. 

Thanks for this tip!

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, 41m33 said:

Thanks for this tip!

[Toyman55]

There was a thread recently where someone did get bumped and was asking his options before responding.  I am looking for his post because I was curious to see what happened.

 

Found it:  

 

No resolution posted.

[Lovetocruise2002]

14 minutes ago, Toyman55 said:

There was a thread recently where someone did get bumped and was asking his options before responding.  I am looking for his post because I was curious to see what happened.

 

Found it:  

 

No resolution posted.

OP on that post stayed within the category I think.  But RC did bump them down a few decks.  With the ATS, it would be harder to bump I think because there are so few of those.

[Toyman55]

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

OP on that post stayed within the category I think.  But RC did bump them down a few decks.  With the ATS, it would be harder to bump I think because there are so few of those.

So going from F1 to G is not considered a downgrade.  Just curious.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, Toyman55 said:

So going from F1 to G is not considered a downgrade.  Just curious.

That was my mistake too.  I thought it was down a category in that other thread but if you look at the May 2018 and onward deck plans, both those cabins are 3N.  Back to this original question, ATS come in 4 forms A1-A4.  If you booked a GTY in one of those categories, there isn't a large quantity of rooms you can be downgraded to like the 3N in the other thread.  The ATS guarantee isn't like the suite guarantee (W) where you could end up with any suite.  The ATS GTY "guarantees" you a category within the ATS (1-4).  Does that make sense or am I making it more confusing? 

With all that said, I still don't know the exact answer to the original question because I don't know if Royal actually has something in writing regarding GTY bookings.  If anyone knows of what Royal's language is surrounding this I would love to know too for myself.  I would think though the chances of getting bumped out of an ATS would be slim especially if you have more than 4 in the booking (as many cases of the ATS do) because where would they move you to that can accommodate that many people in one room?