Connecting cabin availability - why only 1 side available?

I see a lot of threads on this forum where people are saying they booked a room that connects to another room, and they're wondering about the noise level thru the door (i.e. they won't know their neighbor). I have the opposite problem. I need connecting cabins (2 people in each cabin), and I'm having trouble finding two that are available. I called RC and for the majority of the connecting balcony rooms on the Harmony 2019 sailing we want, one was booked and the other wasn't, yet there were plenty of other balcony rooms nearby available. Why on earth would someone book only one side of the connecting rooms when a non-connecting was available nearby? I would have thought RC would try to hold the connecting rooms for people who need them, similar to how they hold the sofa bed cabins for people with 3-4 people.

Does anyone have advice as to how best to find out which connecting rooms have both rooms available (other than calling RC)? In addition to calling RC, I have spoken with two other travel agents today and all 3 of the calls yielded conflicting information as to which rooms were available. It appears there are a handful available on higher decks, but we were hoping for decks 6-9.

Also - I see a lot of connecting cabins that allow 2 people in one room and 3-4 people in the other room. If we were to have another family member book with us, so we'd have 3 in one room and 2 in another room (which I think would open up more options for connecting rooms), what happens if we later drop that family member from our reservation - how would the cost be adjusted? Curious if anyone has experience with that.

Why on earth would someone book only one side of the connecting rooms when a non-connecting was available nearby?

 

Does anyone have advice as to how best to find out which connecting rooms have both rooms available (other than calling RC)?

 

If we were to have another family member book with us, so we'd have 3 in one room and 2 in another room (which I think would open up more options for connecting rooms), what happens if we later drop that family member from our reservation - how would the cost be adjusted?

They didn't know any better and just picked a cabin.

Go to RCI UK site for the best online inventory of cabins.

You can drop the third person till fairly late without penalty.

Most folks book "blind"...they have NO IDEA what they're paying for...no deck plans in front of them....hell, most don't even know deck plans exist...or what they are!

Just call! Have deck plans in front of you! What is wrong with using the phone?

I see a lot of threads on this forum where people are saying they booked a room that connects to another room, and they're wondering about the noise level thru the door (i.e. they won't know their neighbor). I have the opposite problem. I need connecting cabins (2 people in each cabin), and I'm having trouble finding two that are available. I called RC and for the majority of the connecting balcony rooms on the Harmony 2019 sailing we want, one was booked and the other wasn't, yet there were plenty of other balcony rooms nearby available. Why on earth would someone book only one side of the connecting rooms when a non-connecting was available nearby? I would have thought RC would try to hold the connecting rooms for people who need them, similar to how they hold the sofa bed cabins for people with 3-4 people.

 

Does anyone have advice as to how best to find out which connecting rooms have both rooms available (other than calling RC)? In addition to calling RC, I have spoken with two other travel agents today and all 3 of the calls yielded conflicting information as to which rooms were available. It appears there are a handful available on higher decks, but we were hoping for decks 6-9.

 

Also - I see a lot of connecting cabins that allow 2 people in one room and 3-4 people in the other room. If we were to have another family member book with us, so we'd have 3 in one room and 2 in another room (which I think would open up more options for connecting rooms), what happens if we later drop that family member from our reservation - how would the cost be adjusted? Curious if anyone has experience with that.

What date?

If you book a cabin that holds 3 or 4 and cancel a person and now only have 2 people Royal can, and has, moved those guests to another cabin that is designed for 2 guests.

The later you leave it before you cancel the better your chances are that they don't move you. As Biker mentioned above you can cancel a 3rd person after final payment (actually up to 15 days prior to the cruise) and get a full refund of their fare and taxes.

what date?

4/14/19 - According to RC, no 8D category connecting rooms are available. They do have 6D on higher levels but that costs a little more...sounds like it may be our only option though.

4/14/19 - According to RC, no 8D category connecting rooms are available. They do have 6D on higher levels but that costs a little more...sounds like it may be our only option though.

It's not surprising that not every category has available connecting cabins.

So there ARE connecting cabins - just not in the one category you were looking at.

I see lots of 2D connecting cabins. Yes, that is more expensive.

Want to save money? Connecting Central Park view cabins. 9211 & 9213 (each only holds two, though)

By the way, it looks like the week you want is prime school spring break time. Less availability, even this far out. Lots of families.

It's not surprising that not every category has available connecting cabins.

 

So there ARE connecting cabins - just not in the one category you were looking at.

Correct. However, there are lots of connecting cabins in the category I was looking at where only 1 of the rooms is booked. Even the RC agent seemed surprised about that. And its a shame that the people who booked those rooms may not even realize they will have a connecting door (or want it). Oh well, I'll keep checking to see if something opens up in the category we wanted.

I booked a Balcony Guarentee room and was assigned an adjoining room, although one wasn't requested or needed.

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I booked a Balcony Guarentee room and was assigned an adjoining room, although one wasn't requested or needed.

Not uncommon, as the connecting rooms are less desirable. Same thing just happened to some friends of ours. They were in an OV, but switched to a balcony guarantee when it showed up. Got assigned to a connecting stateroom, which they were able to change because they caught it quickly.

I was able to switch our room to the other side of the ship, without an adjoining room.

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It's frustrating when you are looking for a pair and it seems like one of each pair has been booked by someone who doesn't even need it. There have been people who were moved out of them, so I suppose that there are people who call and ask for that to happen, I just don't know what kind of pull you have to have to make that happen!

We've been assigned a connecting cabin twice. We don't need or want a connecting cabin, but that is what was assigned to us.

I think you might be better off booking what is connecting now, rather than waiting any longer.

Traveling with teens and preteens, I too was very concerned about having connecting cabins for a cruise last year. We weren't able to make it happen, and honestly, my concerns disappeared rather quickly. We enjoyed the privacy, and when the kids needed us, they would call our cabin or just knock on the door. We always kept one of their room keys with us so that we could access their cabin at any time. I think they enjoyed the independence as well.

When we have adjoining hotel rooms, it seems that the kids are always in our space, in our bed, in our bathroom, watching our tv, etc., so this was a welcome departure from that. I can see if you have very young children, but otherwise, I wouldn't try too hard to make it happen. And if you think it would be nice to have the connecting rooms for an older party, forget about it!

I booked a Balcony Guarentee room and was assigned an adjoining room, although one wasn't requested or needed.

 

 

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Just to clarify, ALL cabins that are next to each other are adjoining. I think what you're saying is you were assigned a CONNECTING cabin - one with a door in between.

Adjoining and Connecting are terms that have very specific and different meanings in the travel industry. Far too often, people request "adjoining" rooms/cabins and then get upset when that is exactly what they get - rooms across the hall, diagonal, or next to each other but without a door in between - because they meant connecting. When I worked in reservations for a hotel, we always had to clarify what a caller meant when they requested "adjoining" because 9 times out of 10 they wanted the door between - so had we put "requests adjoining rooms" on their reservation and they were given adjoining (but not connecting) rooms, they would have been upset.

You don't specify why you need connecting. Is it because of young children? If not why don't you just get 2 cabins next to each other without a connecting door. Both rooms have more cabinet space or closet, or a larger sitting area - depending on the ship. Then have the divider on the balcony opened up to allow easy access.

You don't specify why you need connecting. Is it because of young children? If not why don't you just get 2 cabins next to each other without a connecting door. Both rooms have more cabinet space or closet, or a larger sitting area - depending on the ship. Then have the divider on the balcony opened up to allow easy access.

I was able to book 2 connecting cabins, just had to pay a little more since they were only available in a more expensive category. The extra cost was worth it to me, as the reason we want connecting is that our kids are under 10 and I wanted to be able to keep the door open between our rooms when they are in there.