Trying to look at available cabins...help!

[737900Ak]

I'm looking at a cruise on Royal Caribbean (in August) and having some trouble figuring out how to view available rooms without actually booking the cruise. I can view on just about every other cruise line if I begin the reservation process, but Royal Caribbean wants me to put down a deposit and complete the reservation before I can even find out if there are two rooms next to each other. Please help me out...perhaps I'm missing something on their new website format? I would love to know if upgrades are available, adjoining rooms are available, or different decks are open, without having to put down money. We are looking at 4 different cruises and all of these details matter as we decide 🙂

Thanks so much!

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by 737900Ak

[Bee Guy]

Generally the payment of a booking is at the end, and comes after room selection.  You should be able to see what is available.

 

Edit to add:  You can do a mock booking and not complete the payment section.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Bee Guy

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, 737900Ak said:

 Please help me out...perhaps I'm missing something on their new website format?

Use their UK site or a TA site to see inventory.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Biker19

[737900Ak]

Bee Guy, that's what I find on every other cruise line, but not RC. At least not that I can find....

[amyhphoto]

You should really use a travel agent. It doesn't cost you anything and the prices are normally less than on RCCL and they tend to offer up a small on board credit! Let them do the work for you! 

[chawkjewel]

6 minutes ago, 737900Ak said:

I'm looking at a cruise on Royal Caribbean (in August) and having some trouble figuring out how to view available rooms without actually booking the cruise. I can view on just about every other cruise line if I begin the reservation process, but Royal Caribbean wants me to put down a deposit and complete the reservation before I can even find out if there are two rooms next to each other. Please help me out...perhaps I'm missing something on their new website format? I would love to know if upgrades are available, adjoining rooms are available, or different decks are open, without having to put down money. We are looking at 4 different cruises and all of these details matter as we decide 🙂

Thanks so much!

 

 

Are you selecting the option on the right (You Pick your Room) as opposed to the option - We Pick your Room?  That may be why you aren't seeing the room availability.

[Bee Guy]

1 minute ago, 737900Ak said:

Bee Guy, that's what I find on every other cruise line, but not RC. At least not that I can find....

 

Have you tried doing a "mock booking"  ?   Go as far as you need, without entering payment info.

[island lady]

I do mock bookings all the time to find out what cabins are available, and mostly to check current pricing for price drops of cruises I have already booked.  You don't have to go through to the end to check them.  

[island lady]

1 minute ago, amyhphoto said:

You should really use a travel agent. It doesn't cost you anything and the prices are normally less than on RCCL and they tend to offer up a small on board credit! Let them do the work for you! 

 

TA cannot, for many years now, offer cheaper pricing than RCI direct at the time you book.  Unless the TA may have pre-booked a bank of cabins at a cheaper time of which they have had to plunk down deposits to cover them...hoping to sell them before final payment comes along..  Mostly what you get with a TA is extras they pay for and OBC they set up and pay for.  

[amyhphoto]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

TA cannot, for many years now, offer cheaper pricing than RCI direct at the time you book.  Unless the TA may have pre-booked a bank of cabins at a cheaper time of which they have had to plunk down deposits to cover them...hoping to sell them before final payment comes along..  Mostly what you get with a TA is extras they pay for and OBC they set up and pay for.  

 

Many TA are with HUGE host agencies that have large blocks of rooms on every ship allotted to them that they can pull from, and those rooms are quite often much less expensive. 

 

 

[737900Ak]

Yes, I'm doing a mock booking 🙂 and yes, I have chosen "choose your room". 

I've played around a bit, and it looks like it's allowing me to choose for some room types (some suites, some balconies) but not the standard balcony. I wonder if there are only two left? But I'm surprised it wouldn't tell me which rooms they are. Strange. 🤷‍♀️

 

Thanks for the booking for less suggestions! We are airline employees and I've tried every single avenue I can for a discount, but the online prices always hover within $50 of what I can get. I'll take suggestions if anyone else has a good one! 🙂

Thanks again!

 

[737900Ak]

(Also wow! You guys are great! I can't believe all the help so quickly after posting. What an awesome community!)

[island lady]

5 minutes ago, amyhphoto said:

 

Many TA are with HUGE host agencies that have large blocks of rooms on every ship allotted to them that they can pull from, and those rooms are quite often much less expensive. 

 

 

 

And then watch them bail out just before final payment, as to not be stuck with them.  It actually pulls cabins from the inventory for others up until then.  Tough for planning and the six month in advance balcony discount to book favorite cabins for many of us.  If it has not already happened...I think you will see RCI will be stopping that practice soon.  It is already starting to happen with the trend of non-refundable deposits.   

Edited April 11, 2019 by island lady

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, 737900Ak said:

Yes, I'm doing a mock booking 🙂 and yes, I have chosen "choose your room". 

I've played around a bit, and it looks like it's allowing me to choose for some room types (some suites, some balconies) but not the standard balcony. I wonder if there are only two left? But I'm surprised it wouldn't tell me which rooms they are. Strange. 🤷‍♀️

 

Thanks for the booking for less suggestions! We are airline employees and I've tried every single avenue I can for a discount, but the online prices always hover within $50 of what I can get. I'll take suggestions if anyone else has a good one! 🙂

Thanks again!

 

 

You are most welcome...enjoy your cruise!  🙂 

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, island lady said:

TA cannot, for many years now, offer cheaper pricing than RCI direct at the time you book.  

There are some that do.

 

Biker, who gets a discount from RCI pricing on every booking with his TA.

[island lady]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

There are some that do.

 

Biker, who gets a discount from RCI pricing on every booking with his TA.

 

I am assuming you book well before final payment.  😉 

[Biker19]

Just now, island lady said:

 

I am assuming you book well before final payment.  😉 

Not that often, the longest out was probably about 9 months - have booked inside final too. The last three bookings were in response to notices here on CC.

[galfromkazoo]

I always book online but last time I booked, the website was not working correctly so I called direct to Royal Caribbean.  The individual I spoke with on the phone was able to find rooms that I was not able to see on-line and I was able to pick a much better cabin at the same price as the cabins I was looking at on-line.  I would call and ask them if they have two adjoining rooms on your desired deck, or any deck, and what the cost would be.  The person on the phone was very helpful.  We looked at cabins on more than one deck before I made my final decision.

[forgotmyCCname]

There is a Brit site that will show you a list of all categories available and with a quick CLICK you can see available , individual cabins and suites. It is Sea  scanner  daught calm  .  Cant post a link so you have to decipher.

[not-enough-cruising]

40 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

TA cannot, for many years now, offer cheaper pricing than RCI direct at the time you book.  Unless the TA may have pre-booked a bank of cabins at a cheaper time of which they have had to plunk down deposits to cover them...hoping to sell them before final payment comes along..  Mostly what you get with a TA is extras they pay for and OBC they set up and pay for.  

My TA ALWAYS has a price lower than that posted by RCI; on top of that we get either OBC, prepaid grats, or on one occasion both. 

[forgotmyCCname]

We needed several cabins and were able to look at them on RCCL without issue. Are you entering the number of cabins that you need at the beginning? I just did a mock booking for 3 cabins on Freedom in August and it let me go through each one- no need to enter any info . 

You enter the site; put in the # of cabins then people in the cabin #1, pick a category, pick a deck, pick a cabin. Then it goes to Cabin # 2, asks for # of people; shows categories, within the category shows cabins. 

 

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, forgotmyCCname said:

There is a Brit site that will show you a list of all categories available 

The Sky one is Brit but the Sea version is German.

[737900Ak]

Hi forgotmyCCname

Yes, see above. 🙂 It looks like I can search for other categories, but not the one I originally wanted.

No big deal, now I see that I can look elsewhere and if I want the original category I will just call.

You all are super helpful, thank you!!!

 

[EeyoreRN]

Royal Caribbean UK website shows every available room in every category.  Someone suggested this earlier but it might have gotten buried.  This is how I found my corner aft cabin was available.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, EeyoreRN said:

Royal Caribbean UK website shows every available room in every category 

One needs to be careful with absolutes - while their site does have the most complete inventory available to customers , RCI can still have cabins not shown on that list.