Getting the room you want

[LuckyStar]

We've been on a few cruises now but we always settle for the rooms on the site, we've never had a big choice. How do you get your room of choice without booking three years in advance?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Jenny

[BlueRiband]

If the "room of your choice" is among the most popular cabins on a ship there isn't any tip or trick to get it. They are reserved as soon as the sailing schedule comes out. Or somebody has a good relationship with their TA who specializes in cruises and can see more cabin choices than would normally be displayed on a cruise line's own booking site.

 

Occasionally one person's misfortune is another person's gain. Somebody has to cancel, the cabin goes back into inventory, and somebody books at just the right time.

 

I sail a lot on QM2 and the most popular cabins by far are....the kennels. There's no tip or trick to score kennel space without booking as soon as the dates open up.

[mjkacmom]

It's first come first served. We book about a year out, because we like connecting cabins. I always just call.

[CruiserBruce]

I don't know who books 3 years in advance, but just like anything else, if you have a preference in rooms, booking early will help you get the room you want. Booking later, not so much. Basic, common sense.

 

Lately we have booking Suite guarantees, and there is very rarely a "bad" suite. So assigning a room last minute hasn't been a problem. But other levels of cabins it can be a bit more complicated.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We've been on a few cruises now but we always settle for the rooms on the site, we've never had a big choice. How do you get your room of choice without booking three years in advance?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Jenny

 

 

 

Try getting one of the four corner extended B3 balconies on Oceania Marina or Riviera more than a week or two after new itineraries are announced. GONE.

Folks who are "true regulars" on any cruise line know the prime cabins and jump on them immediately.

 

 

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[MrsPete]

If you're fussy about the room you want -- and I am -- you have to book far in advance. I usually watch for the dates to open, and I book the day they open.

[PTMary]

We always book 12 to 18 months out so we can get one of the better rooms before they are taken. The deposit amount usually is no different whether we book years in advance or weeks in advance, so the same amount of money is tied up. With the low deposits most cruise lines require, and the fact that in most cases they are refundable, there is no risk to booking very early, even if a cancellation is necessary due to conflicting events as the cruise gets closer. We then watch the prices and if they drop, we call our TA and request the lower price, and have always gotten it.

 

Bottom line, there is no monetary risk to booking very early, and there is the advantage of grabbing a good room. Also makes it easier to book lower priced airfare and plan other activities since we know the dates well in advance.

[sanger727]

I take the 'we always settle for the rooms on the site' to mean you are booking direct online through the cruise company? In that case the 'we've never had a big choice' is easy to explain. Many cruise lines only display 10 or so rooms for you to pick from. If you change categories it will display different rooms but it doesn't show all that are available. To pick from all available rooms you would need to call in or use a TA.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

It depends upon how choosy you are. We want balcony cabins, but nothing terribly special - usually six months or so out - on port side for our usual Fall trans-Atlantics, or either side otherwise. We look at the deck plan while talking with the TA or cruise consultant. If they do not seem to have anything we will be happy with, we just tell them that we are not interested. Somehow, that seems to help them find other cabins.

[paul929207]

We usually take b2b cruises and want a 'good' cabin and to get the same cabin for all legs. So I book when the cruises are announced.

[Sea Hag]

My thinking on this is to book far out and have a mental list of several cabins and/or cabin types that work.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also know what cabin we want and as soon as the itineraries are put out, we book it. That can be at least 1 1/2 years out -- some times 2 years.

[Flatbush Flyer]

My thinking on this is to book far out and have a mental list of several cabins and/or cabin types that work.

 

 

 

It's too bad that there's not a "seat guru" type app for cruise ship cabins. That said, we have deck plans for our preferred ships/cabin categories on which we have made notes over the years about cabin/location idiosyncrasies (even things like where the wifi repeaters in corridors are located).

 

 

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[davekathy]

We always get the cabin we want. We always book early.

[Sea Hag]

It's too bad that there's not a "seat guru" type app for cruise ship cabins. That said, we have deck plans for our preferred ships/cabin categories on which we have made notes over the years about cabin/location idiosyncrasies (even things like where the wifi repeaters in corridors are located).

 

 

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There ought to be an app like that, and there probably will be. After all, the app developer could mine Cruisecitic for most of the necessary data. Not sure how well Cruisecritic would like that, but it's an obvious notion.

[LuckyStar]

Thanks everyone. I'm not very picky, just curious. I do always book online. I'll call in next time and see if that changes my selection.

 

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[SantaFeFan]

Thanks everyone. I'm not very picky, just curious. I do always book online. I'll call in next time and see if that changes my selection.

 

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Some cruise line web sites have the option to choose your own room. Look carefully at the booking page for that option on your next cruise.

[Vera123]

As mentioned, the website only displays a handful of available cabins. With regards to Cunard, I peruse the deck plans, pick a specific cabin and put it into the cabin number selector option, it then comes up whether it is booked or available.