Is this something new?

[iuki]

My niece called RCCL to book a cruise for her mom.  When she told the rep she wanted to choose their balcony stateroom, the rep told her that she would have to pay extra per person to select their own room, but if RCCL assigns the room, they would be guaranteed a balcony stateroom.  NEVER heard of this!  So they didn’t select a stateroom. I told her to call back and get a different rep.  Have any of you heard of this? Or is this something new?  She’s at work right now, so I don’t know if she’s had a chance to call them again.

[GJustice]

Nothing new

[TJ51]

We have always had to pay extra to pick our room (mid ship) on all the cruise lines we have been on. 

[molly361]

Nothing new- A guarantee stateroom (where they pick it) is usually less expensive than picking your own which you certainly CAN do

[AlohaLivin]

3 minutes ago, iuki said:

My niece called RCCL to book a cruise for her mom.  When she told the rep she wanted to choose their balcony stateroom, the rep told her that she would have to pay extra per person to select their own room, but if RCCL assigns the room, they would be guaranteed a balcony stateroom.  NEVER heard of this!  So they didn’t select a stateroom. I told her to call back and get a different rep.  Have any of you heard of this? Or is this something new?  She’s at work right now, so I don’t know if she’s had a chance to call them again.

It’s been a thing for a while (although on occasion it will be less costly to choose your own room - chalk that up to strango RCCL IT). Usually the price difference is nominal, although it can be large. Many people take their chances, I would be scared of ending up in a completely obstructed cabin (your risk depends on how many people book the cruise over time and which cabin category you want since booking a GS, for example, would be a safer bet).

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[iuki]

1 minute ago, GJustice said:

Nothing new

Really?  We just booked a cruise a couple of weeks ago and selected our stateroom and was never told that.

[Sunshine3601]

Yes, you have the choice of booking a guaranteed cabin or pay a little more and select what cabin you want when you book.     

We have particular places / decks that we prefer so we always pick our own cabin. 

If she selects guaranteed cabin make sure it is an Oceanview Balcony guarantee, if it is called a neighborhood guarantee then it could be a balcony in Central Park or Boardwalk balcony with no ocean view (depending on the ship).

 

You can do a mock booking on royal's website to see the difference.     

Edited June 15, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, iuki said:

My niece called RCCL to book a cruise for her mom.  When she told the rep she wanted to choose their balcony stateroom, the rep told her that she would have to pay extra per person to select their own room, but if RCCL assigns the room, they would be guaranteed a balcony stateroom.  NEVER heard of this!  So they didn’t select a stateroom. I told her to call back and get a different rep.  Have any of you heard of this? Or is this something new?  She’s at work right now, so I don’t know if she’s had a chance to call them again.

You can do a mock booking yoursel and see the rates. If you see 2 choices ... you pick stateroom 477 pp and we pick stateroom  427 pp .. it's the same thing as a gty rate. 

 

 

[HicksRA]

2 minutes ago, iuki said:

Really?  We just booked a cruise a couple of weeks ago and selected our stateroom and was never told that.

Sometimes they don’t offer GTY (they pick) options. 

[iuki]

I thought the “guarantee” category was only for those who were interested in being upgraded for free.

[iuki]

4 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, you have the choice of booking a guaranteed cabin or pay a little more and select what cabin you want when you book.     

We have particular places / decks that we prefer so we always pick our own cabin. 

If she selects guaranteed cabin make sure it is an Oceanview Balcony guarantee, if it is called a neighborhood guarantee then it could be a balcony in Central Park or Boardwalk balcony with no ocean view (depending on the ship).

 

You can do a mock booking on royal's website to see the difference.     

What about handicapped rooms?  We need a HC room which is why we book so early.

[molly361]

2 minutes ago, iuki said:

I thought the “guarantee” category was only for those who were interested in being upgraded for free.

No it's for those who don't care about the location of their cabin and who generally want to save a few bucks

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, iuki said:

I thought the “guarantee” category was only for those who were interested in being upgraded for free.

A gty rate means you will accept any location within that type of cabin category. That's why it usually costs less. It shows as we pick the cabin in a mock booking. If you give us the date and ship and type of cabin. We could look and explain it better.

[Tlbecker1]

1 minute ago, iuki said:

I thought the “guarantee” category was only for those who were interested in being upgraded for free.

No, it is a guarantee that you receive a room that you have selected wherever they want to put you.  There is no upgrade involved.

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, iuki said:

What about handicapped rooms?  We need a HC room which is why we book so early.

Then for sure you cannot do  gty as you cannot accept any location. You  need to pick which costs more 99% of the time.

[djyellowsub]

When booking online, the website shows that you can pick your own room or have RCI do it for you.  It would be easy to overlook especially if you already have a room or part of the ship you prefer.  When calling, if you ask for a specific room, the rep probably assumes you know this information.  Have her look at the deck plans of the ship and decide the best floor and location (forward, mid ship, aft) and ask for that specific location.  She can then ask how much a balcony would be if RCI picks the room for her.  Then she can decide if the difference is worth it.  We like the aft section near the elevators, so we prefer to pick our room.

[Sunshine3601]

5 minutes ago, iuki said:

What about handicapped rooms?  We need a HC room which is why we book so early.

Accessible / handicapped cabins do tend to fill up fast so always best to book a specific cabin.    They are usually not part of the guaranteed cabin pool.

[iuki]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

A gty rate means you will accept any location within that type of cabin category. That's why it usually costs less. It shows as we pick the cabin in a mock booking. If you give us the date and ship and type of cabin. We could look and explain it better.

They wanted an ocean view balcony on Deck 8 on Ovation for the Oct 15, 2023 sailing from Honolulu to the South Pacific ending in Sydney, for 2 people.  We are booked in SR 8670.

 

Thank you so much!  So thoughtful of you.

 

[Sunshine3601]

10 minutes ago, iuki said:

I thought the “guarantee” category was only for those who were interested in being upgraded for free.

No, booking a guaranteed cabin has nothing to do with being upgraded.   

 

Now if booking a guaranteed suite the chances are you would get a Junior Suite but there is always the chance you could end up in grand suite (again depends on the sailing).     Last year and this past winter when ships were sailing at less than 50% capacity a lot of passengers were upgraded but now they are at almost 100% capacity on most sailings it would rare.   

[alohayall]

Is it possible that Handicapped rooms are not offered as GTY due to the small number available?

[Sunshine3601]

4 minutes ago, iuki said:

They wanted an ocean view balcony on Deck 8 on Ovation for the Oct 15, 2023 sailing from Honolulu to the South Pacific ending in Sydney, for 2 people.  We are booked in SR 8670.

 

Thank you so much!  So thoughtful of you.

 

For this particular sailing, here is the pricing I received from Royal's website for senior citizens:

Guarantee rate is $2542 pp (with this rate they could end up with an obstructed balcony)

they pick their own cabin is $2671 pp for obstructed balcony

or for standard oceanview (no obstruction) price is $2788 pp

 

As you mention they want deck 8 so they should pick their own cabin.   If they want mid ship there is an additional charge of $152 for 2 people but I don't see any cabins available near your cabin.   

 

IF they are diamond or higher with crown and anchor make sure your Niece has their C & A numbers to get the discount along with any military, senior citizens discount. 

 

That looks like a great cruise!!!

[iuki]

2 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

For this particular sailing, here is the pricing I received from Royal's website for senior citizens:

Guarantee rate is $2542 pp (with this rate they could end up with an obstructed balcony)

they pick their own cabin is $2671 pp for obstructed balcony

or for standard oceanview (no obstruction) price is $2788 pp

 

As you mention they want deck 8 so they should pick their own cabin.   If they want mid ship there is an additional charge of $152 for 2 people but I don't see any cabins available near your cabin.   

 

IF they are diamond or higher with crown and anchor make sure your Niece has their C & A numbers to get the discount along with any military, senior citizens discount. 

 

That looks like a great cruise!!!

Thank you for the info.  I did a screenshot of the info you gave me and will send it to them.

 

Many many thanks.

Judy (aka iuki)

 

[BND]

We pick our own, but I never thought of it as "paying more". I thought of it is if we let them decide, we'd pay less.  I'm not ever going to let them choose it for us.  We pick what we want, where we want it.

[iuki]

1 hour ago, alohayall said:

Is it possible that Handicapped rooms are not offered as GTY due to the small number available?

Given the limited number of HC rooms, we would be foolish to book a cruise without paying for a specific room.

[iuki]

1 hour ago, BND said:

We pick our own, but I never thought of it as "paying more". I thought of it is if we let them decide, we'd pay less.  I'm not ever going to let them choose it for us.  We pick what we want, where we want it.

We do too, but to some people, saving even a hundred dollars means a lot.