A Guarantee Cabin or not, whats the choice?

Over the last few months there have been a large number of 'Getaway deals' or 'Guarantee' deals on the various cruise lines, so I am not sure recently how many times I have had the conversations about guaranteed cabins, but thought that this would be good to share.

So let’s start, what is a guaranteed cabin, well it means you will get at least a cabin of the category you book on but at the time of booking we do not know exactly which cabin it will be. Each cruise line has different descriptions, but if you book a guaranteed inside you will get at least an inside, a guaranteed suite means you will get a suite etc. 

 

You will certainly be advised before you sail of your assigned cabin, however if you don't like the position there is little or no chance that the cruise line will change the assigned cabin.

Simples, so far! But is it like a game of poker and can you improve the odds?

How many D8 inside cabins are there on Cunard ships, how many A7 cabins are there on QE and QV or how many BF cabins are there on some Princess ships? Can you find a Category W, X, Y or Z cabin on a deck plan for Royal? Well, the answer is not many and no respectively.

These are the ones that are generally sold on a guarantee basis; don't know why, probably so the lead price advertised by the cruise line is low and increases the 'popularity' of the sailing.

So choosing one of these or other guaranteed cabins may increase your odds of getting an upgrade, you might get a Royal Flush! or you might just have to stick. If you want to win it you have got to be in it! But beware, some of the balcony cabins in the categories on which the guarantees are sold may have a metal front or even an obstructed view.

Bit of anecdotal evidence, booked one of my regular customers last Sunday, I will call him Mr WXYZ. onto Queen Victoria, he does book late and look for the good cabin at the right price and we had a long discussion about what to do, he took a guaranteed Balcony cabin (A7). I have just had the upgrade notice and he has got an A1 balcony in an excellent midships position, what a result!

I have seen others, and not just from Cunard or Princess but don't forget someone will get the obstructed view cabin or the one right at the front and you can't complain if its you, the rub of the 'cheap' deal there!

Now there has been a lot of press about P&O and Cunard's new Vantage fares and also the re-categorisation of the cabins, so not sure what will happen next year. But if they do do Getaway fares on a guarantee the same principles will apply.

 

This approach is really no good if you want a specific cabin, want to be on Port or midships etc. but if you have no preference then is it worth your gamble? If it was me, I'd probably give it a go the more the bargain the better.

Do the cruise lines really welcome back past passengers of other cruise lines?

So you've just taken your cruise, most cruise lines will want you to come back to them to try a different ship or itinerary. To entice their past passengers, not only do most offer some kind benefits for making that next booking onboard but they all have special clubs for 'repeaters', which include perks such as magazines, members sailing and even discounts.

But can you 'sort the wheat from the chaff'?


Well, each cruise line has something different to offer, these are summarised in the Complete Cruise Brochure for 2012, if you follow the link you can view the electronic version of this guide, then look at pages 86 and 87.

But can you benefit with one line having sailed with another?

Well I can't see Royal Caribbean giving you the benefit of sailing with NCL, you can get cross over between Royal and Celebrity but really at a high level and when P&O changed to the Penisular Club they stopped taking sailings with Princess into account.

However, recently I recevied a leaflet direct from Princess - now you probably know I have never sailed with Princess, and was surprised to see in the Captain's Circle they are giving benefit to P&O passengers. Now I know there isn't much to give away to a Gold member, see the image below, but its better than nothing!

I wonder then in these difficult times if others will follow suit? Perhaps Silversea or Regent will take into account your days on Thomson, would be very interesting!

Another Port of call, Panama Canal

So another in my short series of Port reviews, and as we are currently in the 'Caribbean Season' I thought it would be worth looking at the Panama Canal - this is one of the Man Made Wonders of the world, and a place that many of my customers want to visit.

Why not read my Port review of Santorini, click here.

In 1914 the Panama Canal joined the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, changing international trade forever. The 50 mile-long pathway through the Isthmus of Panama created a significant shortcut for ships that previously had to make the perilous journey around the southern tip of South America.

 

So lets have a few facts first-

1. The United States uses the canal the most, followed by China, Japan, Chile and North Korea.
2. Early planners of the canal wisely thought ahead, anticipating that the width of cargo ships would probably increase in the future. However, modern-day cargo ship widths in general are now exceeding that so-called “Panamax” benchmark, thus there are strict limits on which ships can fit through the locks. An expansion to double the waterway’s capacity is set to be completed in 2014.
3. The Canal transports 4 percent of world trade and 16 percent of total U.S.-borne trade.
4. In 1928 American adventurer Richard Halliburton swam the length of the Panama Canal. All vessels crossing the canal must pay a toll based on their weight, and Halliburton was no different. His rate? A whopping 36 cents.
5. More than 60 million pounds of dynamite was used to excavate and construct the canal.
6. The fastest transit was completed in 2 hours 41 minutes by the U.S. Navy’s Hydrofoil Pegasus in 1979.
7. In 1963 florescent lighting was installed, allowing the canal to begin operating 24 hours a day.
8. Nearly 20,000 French and 6,000 American workers died during the completion of the Panama Canal.
9. Between 12,000 and 15,000 ships cross the Panama Canal every year – about 40 a day.
10. In 2008, a Disney cruise ship paid the highest toll to date, $330,000.

So how can you get there by cruise ship, well you will find that Princess Cruises and Holland America do have ships that do a full transit, starting in Florida and going to California or visa versa. They also do part transits, with the ship entering, usually on the Caribbean side, doing some scenic cruising and then exiting back to the Caribbean.

Celebrity Cruises have a couple of repositioning cruises that transit the canal, and do stop in Colon Panama on some Equinox sailings so that you can do an excursion and come back through the canal on a small pleasure boat.

There are a number of options here, why not come back at the end of February and look at my photos from my trip there next month.

What's in a name, part 2. Or would this be better in RED?

If you have read my blog before your will have seen a previous article 'What's in a name', but that made me think about ships names and whether they change.

Would this be better in RED?

Got you thinking now, so read on....

My article was about the way some companies change the name of their products after launch to match their requirements and wondered whether the cruise lines did the same. Well, the easy answer is yes and not always after launch.

So one for the memory, Renaissance Cruises a company which folded some time ago and where are their 8 ships now? Well, 2 are with Azamara Club Cruises and 3 are with Oceania Cruises and have all been renamed, no surprise there you say if a ship moves from one line to another the name will change.

But what about the other 3, well they all went to Princess Cruises and were named Tahitian, Royal and Pacific Princess. However now, Royal Princess is P&O's Adonia and to suit the type of cruise that the ship does Tahitian Princess has become the Ocean Princess; but there was an Ocean Princess now P&O Oceana!

Gets more complicated with Sea Princess, which was launched as this in 1998 but in 2003 transferred to P&O and named Adonia, but transferring back to Princess in 2005 becoming again Sea Princess. All because of movements of ships to Ocean Village and waiting for the delivery of Arcadia in 2005.

What about the strange case of Diamond and Sapphire Princess, or is it Sapphire and Diamond Princess? 

With the Diamond Princess, the ship's hull was originally due to be called the Sapphire Princess, however during construction a huge fire swept through the ships deck during construction. Because the ship's completion would be delayed for some time, her sister ship, Diamond Princess,  which was being constructed at the same time assumed the role of the Sapphire. This name swap helped to keep the delivery date of the Sapphire on time, while delaying the delivery of the Diamond....... Follow that if you can!

So why the picture above, if you have not yet guessed it is P&O Arcadia. When the keel was originally laid she was due to be Queen Victoria but close to launch was transferred to P&O as Arcadia, so she has a funnel which is more Cunard like than P&O like.

So the answer to the question of 'What's in a name', is nothing in reality as ships are transferred or have name changes based on the capacity needs of the cruise lines, so we shouldn't really get attached should we?

And would that funnel look better in Red, having sailed on both ships I do think that Carnival have got it right with both ships now having the correct corporate feel to them.

Which is my favourite, well out of the 2 it has to be Queen Victoria.

Dover. A quintessential english port?

So, thought I'd do another of my Port reviews, but with a different twist. In the UK we are all well aware of the major Ports of departure, so I thought I'd talk about Dover, is it the quintessential English port?

Ships departing from Dover include ones from Fred Olsen, Oceania, Holland America, Crystal Cruises, Seabourn and Princess Cruises at various times during 2012, so there is plenty of choice. But do we just travel down and see the car park then get on ship?

Those of you who have read my blog from the beginning will remember the problems with our Christmas Cruise in 2009, bad snow and a long walk to the ship through snow drifts and dodging cars! Nice picture though, but Dover is not like that really, read on.

Lets start quickly with the car parking, as there is more to see than this. you can park either in the cruise port or use 1 of the out of town parks, either of which you are best to book in advance. Yes I can help if needed.

So what is there to do in Dover, well of course you can see 'The White Cliffs of Dover', a National Trust survey highlighted this as the most popular stretch of coastline in the UK.

Then there is the historic Dover Castle, which sits proudly atop the White Cliffs of Dover and overlooking the port.

The site of Dover Castle has been of vital importance since the Iron Age with the first castle at Dover most likely an Anglo-Saxon fortress until the arrival of William the Conqueror when its existing fortifications were improved.

Of course, you can motor down through the Kent countryside; known as the Garden of England for its rich farming and hop making heritage. Kent stretches from Dover's White Cliffs Country to medieval Canterbury in the east, elegant, Tunbridge Wells to the west and the historic Medway towns to the north.

So perhaps it is worth setting off a little earlier and getting off the drag of the M20 motorway to see some of the countryside or the town before heading to the cruise port.