Getting the cabin you want.

[waterrats]

My aunt is a TA, she says that she can hold a certain number of cabins at a time on a cruise. I think this is done mainly when a TA is trying to organize a group for a cruise. If the people don't book by payment date, the cabins are released. This could explain why cabins are released as the cruise date gets closer.

[RenieRaider]

RCCL recently had a change in policy regarding TA's 'held space' for Groups. If they do not have names assigned to the stateroom and under deposit, some or all of the staterooms that are unsold will be put back into inventory at 90 days from the time the group space was held. So it can change from day to day. This gives RCCL a TRUE count of what's REALLY SOLD instead of cabins being released all of a sudden all at once come final payment day.

This is a win win for RCCL, TA's AND Cruisers.

[Jimbo]

Not sure I agree. The reason they don't show up early is because customers call and reserve (hold) them first. We booked our aft corner for next month back in March, and it was the only one available for that sailing. I'd think if they show available close to sailing, it's because reservations are being cancelled at final payment time.

 

Would you agree with me If I told you on the 1st of December 2005 we booked a Balcony GTY on Vision of the Seas for February 2006 which means we would get aleast a D1 Category Cabin or higher.

Well we just got assigned our cabin the other day and they assigned us an aft corner, Cabin 7652.......So you are telling me that, that Cabin has showed up on all the cruise web sites but nobody picked it?

 

The reason no one picked it is because it never showed up on any web sites because they are having a hard time selling that Category and were selling the cabins from the middle out to the ends and they haven't got all the way to the aft yet.

 

Jimbo:)

[dougp26364]

Should all seats on an airline flight be available at the lowest advertised rate just because fliers want to purchase them early? You may think so, but that's not the way airlines (or cruise lines) think. A limited number of cabins (seats) are allocated at lower prices, so, first come, first served. Additionally, with a commodity like a cabin (which may have unique "desireability" factors, i.e. deck, hump, aft balcony, etc.), the cruise line will often price and/or allocate them using other unique criteria (C&A status).

 

Lifeboats and davits.

 

While it's true that both cruise lines and airlines have a limited amount of seats available at certain price points, it's not true that with the airlines, certain seats are not available, with the exception of some seat's reserved on in prime locations for FF who have reached an elite status with that airline.

 

I have purchased many an airfare at 331 days out to get the lowest possible price (unless a sale comes along) and am aware there are limited number of seats available at that price point for every flight. There are also limited number of reward seats available for FF miles. However, as a general rule, seat location is not an issue.

 

With RCI, cabin location seems to be an issue. The location is not an issue for a catagory of cabin once that location is made available. I have been able to switch cabin locations and maintain my same cabin location.

 

In this instance, the location available initially was an E1 in 7608. When I asked for an E1 cabin 8602, I was told it wasn't available. As soon as my deposit hit the books, 8602 became available. Either this was an amazing coincidence or it was released because another had been claimed.

 

Unfortunately, in this case I did not pay attention to the pricing of the cabin. I do not know whether it went up or down at that moment. Part of the reason is that I was using both HGVC timeshare points to pay for the cruise and Future Cruise Savings certificates. The total out of cash price to me is only $500 and that's what I focused on. By the time I get the receipt from the TA it will be useless to see if there has been a price change and compare it to the at-the-moment release of location 8602.

 

If you want to compare airlines, I was traveling on a weekly basis a couple of years ago. This ment flying over the holidays. I was able to book a flight on NWA's at one price point and was given the choice of any seat on the plane. I choose an isle seat as was my habit. I was curious to see if there were still seats available at that price and looked imeadiatly after completing my booking (online). The price had jumped considerably (I apparently got the last seat at that price point). Still, the only seats left were mostly the less desirable seats in the middle (this was, I believe a 757. 3 seats, isle, 3 seats).

 

With RCI, all cabins in different price catagories don't appear to be available from the first moment on. One must book a cabin in a less desirable location offered to get the best price and then watch for either RCI to release the location you want or someone who has reserved that cabin to release it.

 

So, IMO, either RCI holds back some of the prime locations or there are people out there quicker than I who snatch them up and later release them if they can't go (or sell the cabin if their a TA). It may have been just coincidence that the cabin I wanted was released the moment I was booking the other location. But then again, maybe not.

[critterchick]

Veering a bit off topic: Doug, when you do your timeshare trade-in, have you been able to use an existing reservation that you booked onboard or do you have to book a brand new one? We want to apply our timeshare to a 12-night Baltics cruise, and it sure would be nice to have that onboard credit to apply... We would book through Interval International. TIA!

 

I think RCI may take cabins back from TAs that are holding them. We tried booking our favorite Radiance class cabin, 1100, while onboard Radiance. The assistant Loyalty Ambassador said it was already taken, but the LA was able to snag it when she got back from her break. We had just made Platinum, so that might have had something to do with it. It's good to be queen.:D

[jwlane]

However, as a general rule, seat location is not an issue.

 

With RCI, cabin location seems to be an issue.

Agree completely. The airline analogy may have been flawed. I didn't mean to allude to the actual seat location on the aircraft, but fare availablility, i.e. desireability.

 

Jimbo, I still think RCCL 'holds back' prime location cabins and makes them available first, and as long as possible, to its preferred customers (through TAs). I don't think your cabin showed up on all the cruise web sites, because RCCL's system doesn't allow it. Who knows? Yield management is a multi-faceted concept.

[wl2cruise]

I booked a cruise with rci by phone I told rci I wanted deck 8 or 9 and was told only deck 4 was left. THen my sister booked a room 4 weeks later and she called me and told me that there were several rooms left on deck 8. I think they do hold cabins back.

[dougp26364]

Veering a bit off topic: Doug, when you do your timeshare trade-in, have you been able to use an existing reservation that you booked onboard or do you have to book a brand new one? We want to apply our timeshare to a 12-night Baltics cruise, and it sure would be nice to have that onboard credit to apply... We would book through Interval International. TIA!

 

 

You can book a cabin and then exchange your timeshare for the discount.

 

I have not used I.I. for a cruise exchange since our Vision of the Sea's Alaska cruise. The only reason I used them at that time was we were not able to use the week we owned, we did not want to deposit it for a future exchange and we thought we would get at least some value out of it. In reality, it was a bad exchange.

 

I.I. gave us approx. $600 off the price of the cruise but charge us a $149 exchange fee (foriegn exchange rate) plus, you have to be a member of Interval Gold, which will cost you more money (I forget how much). When all was said and done we gave up a two bedroom, 5 star resort for a discount of around $300. Not enough to even cover our yearly MF's. I do NOT recomend this sort of exchange.

 

I have found that exchanging our Hilton Grand Vacation Club points to be more of an even trade from the perspective of discount/maintenance fee ratio. The do not have any fee's associated with the exchange of HGVC points for a cruise. For our 4 night W. Carib cruise on Enchantment, the discount was close to our MF's of $660.

 

For our Radiance cruise, the price listed for our cabin today is $1779 for two people. I'll pay $491 cash plus our $500 in future cruise certificates plus 7,000 Hilton Grand Vacation Club points less the $100 Platinum C&A balcony discount for this cruise. That puts the benefit of our exchange at $688. Our yearly MF's for this property are $665. So it's essentially a wash when doing a cruise exchange using Hilton Grand Vacation Club.

 

The same can not be said if exchanging through RCI (the timeshare exchange company), I.I. or I.C.E. As a general rule, unless you just can't use your TS week, exchanging it for a cruise doesn't usally work out from a financial standpoint. You'll have to call I.I. for specifics about the cost/benefits for your particular week and the cruise/cabin catagory you're looking at.

[critterchick]

Thanks, Doug. We don't have any plans to use our 2006 interval on land (we're already booked for 3 weeks' worth of cruises), so we're either going to do a cruise exchange or bank it with II for future use. We did an exchange a couple of years ago that was just about a breakeven proposition, although we did it stupidly - exchanged a 2BR lockoff for 2 short cruises, meaning we had to pay that cursed $149 twice. This time we're going to try the Baltics and see if we get a little more bang for our buck. If not, we'll just deposit it.

[vlnovak]

I booked aft room 8686 on Empress of the sea about a yr and half before the cruise. I also had one on voyager. I think a lot of people hold them and then choose not to go. I have noticed a few pop up 90 days or when the payment is due. Thanks for the tip and if I see that I can not get the one I want, I will call rcl.

[FitzLA]

Just my .02 cents. When booked directly through RCCL, you can get any cabin you want as long as it has not been taken already. I wanted 7408 on our Freedom cruise next year, and it did not show available through anyone, but I booked through RCCL and it was available, just not showing yet. They only show a certain amount available at a time. And if you book through them, they will book you in whatever cabin you want if still open.

[dougp26364]

Just my .02 cents. When booked directly through RCCL, you can get any cabin you want as long as it has not been taken already. I wanted 7408 on our Freedom cruise next year, and it did not show available through anyone, but I booked through RCCL and it was available, just not showing yet. They only show a certain amount available at a time. And if you book through them, they will book you in whatever cabin you want if still open.

 

I guess it depends on who you're talking to with RCI. In my experience with RCI, you can ask a dozen different people the same question and get as many different answers.

 

It was probably just coincidence but it was mighty perfect timing.

[Guest nhrich]

Just my .02 cents. When booked directly through RCCL, you can get any cabin you want as long as it has not been taken already. I wanted 7408 on our Freedom cruise next year, and it did not show available through anyone, but I booked through RCCL and it was available, just not showing yet. They only show a certain amount available at a time. And if you book through them, they will book you in whatever cabin you want if still open.

Full service TA's can also book any cabin that's open. If you're booking through an Internet TA, you may or may not be able to do this, depending on how their website is set up. You don't have to book directly through RCCL to be able to do this.

 

Rich, ACC

Carefree Vacations

[Cuizer2]

Seems to me it does not hurt to ask. I waited until the cruise I wanted opened up for booking. As soon as it did I called and asked to book the cruise. I was asked what category I wanted and I told them. Then I was given a list of cabins in that category that were available. The one I wanted was not on the list, but being the first day the cruise was open for booking I figured it should be available. I asked for the cabin I wanted. I was put on hold while the person checked to see if it was available. It was and I got it.

 

Just ask, what is the worst that can happen?

[FitzLA]

Full service TA's can also book any cabin that's open. If you're booking through an Internet TA, you may or may not be able to do this, depending on how their website is set up. You don't have to book directly through RCCL to be able to do this.

 

Rich, ACC

Carefree Vacations

 

I just like booking directly through RCI. There are way more advantages to booking through them.