As you probably know, a "Guarantee" cabin means that at the time you made your reservation a specific cabin number was not assigned to you. Instead you are told that you will be assigned a cabin when you check-in for the cruise and that the cabin you receive will be at a minimum the category you paid for and perhaps an even better category.

One of the main reasons cruise lines have a GUAR category is that often the very lowest (cheapest) category sells out early. In order to continue to offer that lowest price for that category they continue to sell cabins at that lowest rate but then call it a "Guarantee" status. This also helps them avoid discounting the next price category which would cause previously booked passengers to want to move to a higher category at no additional cost.

While a deposit is always necessary to hold a cabin, final payment is often not due until 60-80 days before the departure date. As that date approaches, it's not uncommon for some passengers to bail out and decide not to go, especially in that lowest price category. As that happens, Guarantee passengers have those cabins assigned to them and this often occurs well before you check-in. When your documents arrive a few weeks before departue there likely will already be an assigned cabin number. If not then it will be assigned to you at check-in which is what they stated to begin with.

My experience is that you will usually still get the category you paid for. If you do get upgraded, if you paid for an Inside cabin your new cabin will still be an Inside cabin. (I've not seen anyone pay for an Inside and end up with an Outside.) In reality there is no difference between the cheapest inside cabins and more expensive inside cabins. They're exactly the same size (with some exceptions but not often), same things in the room, and of course the same food in the same dining room. On many ships the higher decks are more expensive than the lower decks but whether that is good or not depends on where you plan to spend a lot of time. To me it's more important to be in a room with nothing LOUD directly above you or below you. For instance, avoid being under a dining room and you especially don't want to be above or below a lounge, bar, casino or nightclub because it's impossible to know in advance how much noise will leak through late into the night. So if you can choose a cabin, don't just consider where it is on that deck but check the deck above and below you too. Ideally those will be cabins as well.

So should you take a Guarantee Cabin or pay a bit more for the next category but with an assigned cabin? There's no right answer.....it's a crap shoot! You might get a higher category (but exactly the same) cabin or you might end up right above the orchestra! BobK/SUPERTRAVEL/Orlando