I will never book VGT again..

Newbie here. What's VGT?
VGT
Verandah Guarantee.

Basically any of the GT cabins you are guaranteed at minimum cabin in that class cabin. They could upgrade you to a higher classed cabin but never lower then what they are guaranteeing.So if you booked say a OGT which would be a Oceanview guarantee, They could put you any where on the ship, that has a porthole. On occasion you could get upgraded to a verandah, but youll never drop to an interior room.
 
Note too that, just because you choose your own room, not only might you get noisy neighbours, you might get moved to another location. We were once upgraded from a cat 5A verandah to a cat 4A family verandah. Nice enough. Didn't really need the extra room. We were moved up one deck to deck 8 (Magic) and I really prefer the original deck 7 we'd booked.

Once we booked cat 5B, near to mid-ship and got moved down the hall farther forward to the last cat 5B cabin. Turns out we actually liked the location so we booked more forward on our last cruise as a result.

Obviously, you have a higher probability of getting what you choose if you pick your own cabin (80% for us) but it's no guarantee. And you can't pick your neighbours (unless they're family and you can't pick family so you're stuck with them).
 
Is there a chance your room was under the fitness area? That might be why it sounded like elephants dancing.
 
after our last cruise on the Dream. We ended up with a cabin on Deck 10 forward (and we LOVE Deck 10 forward) but this time it was under Concierge on port side and it sounded like we had tap dancing elephants having a party. Every morning, afternoon and night.
And yes, we did mention it to GS who were very kind but really could not do much about it..evidently, no other room to move to AND it was VGT after all...you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit. :)
They did give us some lovely Sparkling cider, popcorn and a couple of rice krispie treats, which was very sweet and not necessary, but appreciated however.

Bottom line for me? No more GT cabins and I will pay more to choose what I want going forward.

The only reason I have never booked a guaranty room on any cruise line is because I cannot be forward -- and there is no guaranty I won't be placed there. In 17 cruises, through storms and all, the only time I ever got sea sick was in a forward room.


So other than booking a room right under the spa (and we’ve had noise issues under the gym) where else would you book to avoid being under someone’s stateroom?

I’ve always thought it was best to be under someone’s stateroom. Yeah you might get a loud family, but all the other common areas have hundreds of people going through them and moving chairs/playing music. We were under one of the lounges once and it was really noisy and we had a water leak from the bar refrigerator lines.

Just curious what you would shoot for to avoid noise - I’d love to do the same.

We got upgraded once on Princess to a mini-suite -- which was under a restaurant. I was assured that the restaurant closed at 10 p.m. and we should be fine. What they didn't take into account was the unending rolling carts all night as they set up for the next day. After the third night we called guest services and said it was impossible to sleep as they went on through the night. They called us back to tell us they asked them to re-route the carts and we never heard them again. But learned I'd rather be over a restaurant than under! And yes, between stateroom floors is the best.
 


Note too that, just because you choose your own room, not only might you get noisy neighbours, you might get moved to another location. We were once upgraded from a cat 5A verandah to a cat 4A family verandah. Nice enough. Didn't really need the extra room. We were moved up one deck to deck 8 (Magic) and I really prefer the original deck 7 we'd booked.

Once we booked cat 5B, near to mid-ship and got moved down the hall farther forward to the last cat 5B cabin. Turns out we actually liked the location so we booked more forward on our last cruise as a result.

Obviously, you have a higher probability of getting what you choose if you pick your own cabin (80% for us) but it's no guarantee. And you can't pick your neighbours (unless they're family and you can't pick family so you're stuck with them).

Did they ask your permission to move you, or did they just do it on their own?
 
Looking at deck plans, deck 10 forward could be under fitness. We did get a good price for our VGT, we will see if it was worth it! 37 more days!:)
 
Did they ask your permission to move you, or did they just do it on their own?

Thay can move you without asking. I think sometimes DCL view something as an upgrade where the guest might not. You can ask that a "do not upgrade" note be placed on your reservation. However, if your selected stateroom is taken out or service for some reason, DCL will override that request.
 


after our last cruise on the Dream. We ended up with a cabin on Deck 10 forward (and we LOVE Deck 10 forward) but this time it was under Concierge on port side and it sounded like we had tap dancing elephants having a party. Every morning, afternoon and night.
And yes, we did mention it to GS who were very kind but really could not do much about it..evidently, no other room to move to AND it was VGT after all...you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit. :)
They did give us some lovely Sparkling cider, popcorn and a couple of rice krispie treats, which was very sweet and not necessary, but appreciated however.

Bottom line for me? No more GT cabins and I will pay more to choose what I want going forward.
Do you remember what room it was?
 
Thay can move you without asking. I think sometimes DCL view something as an upgrade where the guest might not. You can ask that a "do not upgrade" note be placed on your reservation. However, if your selected stateroom is taken out or service for some reason, DCL will override that request.

Yeah, I don't want them moving me unless they check with me first! An upgrade to them might put me in a area I would not have chosen and don't want. Thanks.
 
I think that the issue is that they felt they had no recourse. They couldn’t call and get changed before sailing bc of of the rate. And they couldn’t be moved once on the ship bc it was, I assume, a sold out sailing.

Bingo! Exactly correct. :)
 
You said you love deck 10 forward and you got deck 10 toward. Sounds like you just got some bad guests above you.

I've probably booked with GT rates 12 times. I've never had a bad room or dining table.

Exactly...we do love deck 10 forward but this particular time it just did not work out.
Just means that I will choose next time and select the cabins that we prefer and not book a rate that will be restricted to them choosing for us and having no recourse. I knew the possibility was there when I booked it that I would be less than pleased, it is the deal that goes with booking that type of cabin. The other experiences were fine and worked out well, this one did not so therefore I will take away the possibility of further issues. :)
 
We've done the VGT 3 times. Everytime we've had a midship (or midship/aft) room (twice on deck 9, once on deck 10). All 4A category. They were (for the most part) great.



Typically the thought is - book a room between stateroom decks. Not above/below public areas. I'd say is fairly uncommon for those rooms between stateroom decks to have major noise issues.

If I could not book Deck 10 all the way forward, I would choose a cabin between decks like deck 6 and shoot for midship to midship forward. We liked 6520 and 6528 a few times. The thing about GT rates is that you get what you get and you know it going in that you might not like your cabin. My intention is to take that out of the way and just book what I want going forward. :) Lesson learned on my 4th VGT rate booking.
 
Do you remember what room it was?

10026. It was port side and underneath a concierge cabin and by the elevators. Which we had previously booked VGT and got deck 9 (cabins 9032 and 9034) right outside the elevators and it was absolutely quiet above us and also even by the elevators. Just happened to be inconsiderate neighbors above us this time.
Which is why we choose Deck 10 all the way forward (10500,10502,10504 or 10506) because there are no cabins above us, just the Rainforest and because it is a no turnaround hallway.
 
Though in all fairness, before the sailing they had no way to know there was going to be a noisy family above them. They could have selected that room themselves and still had the family above them.

And ANY cruise can be sold out where you cannot change cabins, not just cruises where you booked VGT. So really this situation could have happened with a cabin booked on Opening Day and selected for any number of reasons. It wasn't because they booked VGT.

It actually was a GT thing as we would have never selected this cabin of our own choice on deck 10 knowing that there are cabins above us. We do like 5A but select cabins 10500,10502,10504 or 10506 because there are no cabins above us to create the added noise to what may be happening beside us.
 
I don't book the GT rooms because I'm kind of picky about the cabin location. But really what happened here could just as easily happen to me in a room that I carefully chose. I try to book a room between 2 staterooms so we don't hear the pool deck furniture being moved. I guess we all take a chance that we won't be under the noisy family... and if the cruise is sold out there really isn't anything they can do to move us. :(

This is why I choose the cabins on deck 10 forward carefully based on what is above us and why I would never have selected this cabin on my own because there were cabins above us. And why my solution is to not book VGT in the future. I like choosing myself even though the rates might be better if DCL does the selecting for me.
 
It actually was a GT thing as we would have never selected this cabin of our own choice on deck 10 knowing that there are cabins above us. We do like 5A but select cabins 10500,10502,10504 or 10506 because there are no cabins above us to create the added noise to what may be happening beside us.

Ok, so technically that eliminates a GTY in the category booking also. It's really that you'll only book when you can select your cabin. :)

That I can understand. I ended up booking a GTY for a category once (whatever Deck 9 Forward OV is...8B maybe?) and they "upgraded" me to a Deck 5 with a balcony that anyone could look down on AND changed me to midship. Both gross IMHO. I dealt with it, but I said "Never again" because I want to be in control of my location. I get that I have zero control over who is next to me (except this past February where I knew my parents were right next door. LOL.).
 
Looking at deck plans, deck 10 forward could be under fitness. We did get a good price for our VGT, we will see if it was worth it! 37 more days!:)

We have never stayed in a cabin under the Fitness center but you should be fine. :) Fingers crossed for you.
 
10026. It was port side and underneath a concierge cabin and by the elevators. Which we had previously booked VGT and got deck 9 (cabins 9032 and 9034) right outside the elevators and it was absolutely quiet above us and also even by the elevators. Just happened to be inconsiderate neighbors above us this time.
Which is why we choose Deck 10 all the way forward (10500,10502,10504 or 10506) because there are no cabins above us, just the Rainforest and because it is a no turnaround hallway.
Oh yes, I see... a one bdrm concierge. That sucks.
 

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