NO STATEROOMS AVAILABLE FOR 3 GUESTS

[Landsharks]

I know I'm waiting until last minute to book, but this is really frustrating. We are trying to take our 2 year old granddaughter on her first cruise this summer. I've tried several booking dates on the Navigator, but I keep getting the same message "NO STATEROOMS AVAILABLE FOR 3 GUEST(S), yet there are plenty of staterooms available with 3 and 4 guests per room. After spending an hour on the phone I was told "it can't be booked due to capacity restrictions and we could be heavily fined for over booking." I was thinking about how Royal modified the top deck of it's Voyager Class and other ships with additional rooms and I'm wondering if that's causing passenger capacity issues.

[Ourusualbeach]

It may be because they want to put more people on board.  They are trying to maximize the number of people in each cabin.  If you put in 4 guests I would bet that cabins show up as available.  This happened for me in booking a cabin on the Navigator for next year for a client.  Luckily I am long before final payment so we just booked a 4th guest who we will cancel just before final payment. 

Edited May 12, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[Ourusualbeach]

I just quickly checked and there is availability for 3 guests on the following dates

 

July 19,22 and 26

 

August 2,5,9,12,16 and 19

[papaflamingo]

It might be due to lifeboat capacity.

[MandyGirl]

I would have your agent look for 2-person rooms that allow a crib if child is under 3 at age of travel. They use a pack and play but I would think your agent is already doing that (?) unless lifeboat capacity is truly reached (and calling RCCL they can see that data if so).

Edited May 12, 2019 by MandyGirl

[twangster]

It's likely lifeboat/muster station capacity.  

 

Every cabin is allocated to a specific muster station.  A muster station uses specific life boats.  Boats have a finite capacity and they cannot book more passengers into a muster station than there are spots in life boats.  

 

It's based on SOLAS rules and other maritime conventions and regulations.  If they were caught violating them there would be serious repercussions.  

 

There may be cabins available that hold 3 or 4 guests but since they don't plan the muster stations assuming every cabin is filled to it's capacity if that muster zone is full then no more guests can be booked into that area.  If they are approaching muster capacity they'll want to sell as many cabins as possible so they restrict additional guests in order to keep enough available capacity to sell every additional cabin they can.  

Edited May 12, 2019 by twangster

[Landsharks]

Thanks for the replies. The phone rep found a stateroom with a fold down Pullman and tried to book us, but the booking was denied, so I think the lifeboat capacity response is probably correct, and it's my guess this is impacted due to the top deck stateroom additions. Tried to book the July 29th cruise, and I have a limited range of leave. I  just should have booked earlier.

[brillohead]

20 minutes ago, Landsharks said:

Thanks for the replies. The phone rep found a stateroom with a fold down Pullman and tried to book us, but the booking was denied, so I think the lifeboat capacity response is probably correct, and it's my guess this is impacted due to the top deck stateroom additions. Tried to book the July 29th cruise, and I have a limited range of leave. I  just should have booked earlier.

I doubt it's due to the added staterooms.  I've seen people post about this very same issue on pretty much every class of ship, not just ones with added staterooms.

Another point about the muster station capacities -- I often book solo now that my son is in the Army and not able to join me on cruises.  I asked my travel agent if I should book a TBD person for the second berth in the room, in case someone wants to join me later and the muster station is filled up, as I've seen people complain about wanting to add a third or fourth person later on and being told that there was no room because of lifeboat / muster limits, even though their stateroom was classified to hold three or four passengers. 

 

He told me that all staterooms that normally hold two or more people are all assumed to be holding two people for muster station purposes, even when booked by a solo traveler.  It's only third or fourth passengers who will be denied booking -- not the second person in a room. 

 

[twangster]

Keep checking.  Between RoyalUp and Guarantee bookings they can massage the muster stations to optimize capacity and allow more bookings by moving people around if they "win" RoyalUp or start assigning GTY cabins.

[MedicMariner]

Just had this happen when trying to add my sister and her 4 children to a family cruise. Earlier in the week I was able to “dummy” book a stateroom of four for her and add her other child to my room. Waited three days to actually book and the ship had hit the magic 3/4 capacity and I could only book double occupancy. The difficulty in booking was compounded by Royal’s proximity requirements for minors traveling with a parent. After over an hour and a half on the phone with a great Royal advisor, we rearranged a few rooms but ultimately had to book THREE balcony rooms instead of our originally planned/needed ONE interior. Very frustrating and much more costly than I had planned on spending.

[travelplus]

Could it be that Travel Agents are holding onto the triple occupancy cabins and that after the release date they become available? Remember inventory is  not  100 percent via RCCL.Com. You may want to call different Travel Agents to see about their triple occupancy cabins.

 

For instance Agency  A has Cabin 2200 available for booking whereas Agency B  nor Royal Caribbean's website will report this as being assignable until after the release date. You could ask to be put on a waitlist for  a triple cabin or purchase a seperate cabin for the third person and they would get double Crown and Anchor points.

 

Revenue works with Travel Agency blocks and will not release a cabin assigned to a particular agency until the Option Date which agents are required to relinquish any unsold cabins back to Royal Caribbean. This is why this is a good time to look at moving cabins to a better location due to cancellations or unsold cabins. RoyalUP activates soon after the cabins are released back to the normal Royal Caribbean inventory.

 

This is the reason Royal recommends the use of Travel Agents as they usually have more availability than booking direct with Royal along with other incentives.

 

Hope this helps!

[Ourusualbeach]

25 minutes ago, travelplus said:

Could it be that Travel Agents are holding onto the triple occupancy cabins and that after the release date they become available? Remember inventory is  not  100 percent via RCCL.Com. You may want to call different Travel Agents to see about their triple occupancy cabins.

 

For instance Agency  A has Cabin 2200 available for booking whereas Agency B  nor Royal Caribbean's website will report this as being assignable until after the release date. You could ask to be put on a waitlist for  a triple cabin or purchase a seperate cabin for the third person and they would get double Crown and Anchor points.

 

Revenue works with Travel Agency blocks and will not release a cabin assigned to a particular agency until the Option Date which agents are required to relinquish any unsold cabins back to Royal Caribbean. This is why this is a good time to look at moving cabins to a better location due to cancellations or unsold cabins. RoyalUP activates soon after the cabins are released back to the normal Royal Caribbean inventory.

 

This is the reason Royal recommends the use of Travel Agents as they usually have more availability than booking direct with Royal along with other incentives.

 

Hope this helps!

No.  All group space is recalled by Royal 4 months prior to sail date and only double occupancy cabins can be held in group space with the exception of Junior suites on certain ships for sailings after April 2020. Group space is held at the category level and not the cabin level.

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[ONECRUISER]

12 hours ago, twangster said:

It's likely lifeboat/muster station capacity.  

 

Every cabin is allocated to a specific muster station.  A muster station uses specific life boats.  Boats have a finite capacity and they cannot book more passengers into a muster station than there are spots in life boats.  

 

It's based on SOLAS rules and other maritime conventions and regulations.  If they were caught violating them there would be serious repercussions.  

 

There may be cabins available that hold 3 or 4 guests but since they don't plan the muster stations assuming every cabin is filled to it's capacity if that muster zone is full then no more guests can be booked into that area.  If they are approaching muster capacity they'll want to sell as many cabins as possible so they restrict additional guests in order to keep enough available capacity to sell every additional cabin they can.  

Agree, Lifeboat/Muster Station Limits. This is reason for many on here over the years.

[Merion_Mom]

19 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I just quickly checked and there is availability for 3 guests on the following dates

 

July 19,22 and 26

 

August 2,5,9,12,16 and 19

 

@Landsharks

 

Ken said that there is availability on these dates.  Note that July 29 is not on his list.

[KimA75]

Is it possible for you to find some connecting rooms and book two rooms?  I know you may not have wanted that expense, but would it be worth it to you? 

[CarynRenee]

I have been so incredibly frustrated in the last couple weeks trying to book a cruise for our family.  We need one room for three people and one room for two people.  On several sailings, I got that same message that there were no rooms available for three, but I've also experienced the opposite.  When I look at options of cabins for three people, there are say 20 available, so I pick one and move on to the cabin for two people, and there is no availability or only a few rooms to choose from.  If a room can hold three people, it can hold two people!!!  This exact assignment of guest numbers to each cabin is making it remarkably inflexible and difficult.  In fact, we've pretty much given up and likely won't sail at all because we can't find something that fits within our parameters.

[Ourusualbeach]

40 minutes ago, CarynRenee said:

I have been so incredibly frustrated in the last couple weeks trying to book a cruise for our family.  We need one room for three people and one room for two people.  On several sailings, I got that same message that there were no rooms available for three, but I've also experienced the opposite.  When I look at options of cabins for three people, there are say 20 available, so I pick one and move on to the cabin for two people, and there is no availability or only a few rooms to choose from.  If a room can hold three people, it can hold two people!!!  This exact assignment of guest numbers to each cabin is making it remarkably inflexible and difficult.  In fact, we've pretty much given up and likely won't sail at all because we can't find something that fits within our parameters.

You could pay the premium and book 2 rooms for 3 with one room having a fictitious name that would end up being a no show at the pier. That persons port fees and taxes would be refunded. 

[CarynRenee]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You could pay the premium and book 2 rooms for 3 with one room having a fictitious name that would end up being a no show at the pier. That persons port fees and taxes would be refunded. 

That's an interesting thought, but we'd still have to pay for the fictitious third person, right?  That's an extra $800-1K or so for most of the rooms we've looked at.  If we're going to pay that premium, would probably just opt to go up to the suites where we'd pay more but at least get something for it.  Thanks for the out of the box thinking, though...

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, CarynRenee said:

That's an interesting thought, but we'd still have to pay for the fictitious third person, right?  That's an extra $800-1K or so for most of the rooms we've looked at.  If we're going to pay that premium, would probably just opt to go up to the suites where we'd pay more but at least get something for it.  Thanks for the out of the box thinking, though...

Yes you would still pay that extra for the fictitious third person.  There have been many posts of people doing this to get the cabin that they desire.  It works well when there is a kids sail free promotion running.  

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, CarynRenee said:

I have been so incredibly frustrated in the last couple weeks trying to book a cruise for our family.  We need one room for three people and one room for two people.  On several sailings, I got that same message that there were no rooms available for three, but I've also experienced the opposite.  When I look at options of cabins for three people, there are say 20 available, so I pick one and move on to the cabin for two people, and there is no availability or only a few rooms to choose from.  If a room can hold three people, it can hold two people!!!  This exact assignment of guest numbers to each cabin is making it remarkably inflexible and difficult.  In fact, we've pretty much given up and likely won't sail at all because we can't find something that fits within our parameters.

Have you tried contacting a Travel Agent who specializes in cruises?  

 

[CarynRenee]

5 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Have you tried contacting a Travel Agent who specializes in cruises?  

 

Thank you for the suggestion.  We have an MGM casino offer (my husband and mother-in-law both have the same offer) that we are trying to use, so we have to book through specific Casino Royale reservation office.  I've called 5 or 6 times...some agents are definitely more useful/helpful than others.  Unfortunately, our desired sailing is in late June so limited availability for many reasons.  (Our schedule is not very flexible this summer, unfortunately.)  Not sure we'd be looking at all if we didn't have the offer, so if it doesn't work out, it's not a big deal.  Mostly, I'm just baffled about some of the occupancy/availability and pricing policies that I've encountered. 

[Landsharks]

Thanks everyone. I did in fact book two of us into an inside stateroom, and the other into a balcony. Of course we will all be staying in the balcony and use the inside for storage, if anything at all. Pretty much a waste of space and money, but I got the cruise booked that I wanted.

[whitshel]

Im not sure what you or they are seeing, but I show plenty of availability on cruising power for the 29th sailing for 3.  All categories, I can take the booking all the way to adding names on the resi.  I wish I could help you.

[Ourusualbeach]

36 minutes ago, whitshel said:

Im not sure what you or they are seeing, but I show plenty of availability on cruising power for the 29th sailing for 3.  All categories, I can take the booking all the way to adding names on the resi.  I wish I could help you.

There was nothing last week when they originally posted. 

[Ourusualbeach]

6 hours ago, Landsharks said:

Thanks everyone. I did in fact book two of us into an inside stateroom, and the other into a balcony. Of course we will all be staying in the balcony and use the inside for storage, if anything at all. Pretty much a waste of space and money, but I got the cruise booked that I wanted.

There now is availability.  I would call Royal back and maybe they will allow you to move into one cabin.  I would try escalating the issue as they basically forced you to book 2 cabins and now there are suddenly lots that hold three.