£3k to chose our own cabin

[ellsbells3032]

Is it just me or this insane for 12 nights. I have been on 15 cruises across about 12 different lines and I have never been charged this much to reserve a cabin. A few hundred yes but £3k to have a non guaranteed room? That's just for a standard balcony, for a large balcony it's another £1500 and for a mid ship standard it's additional £300 on top of the £3k already paid. 

 

I really liked that cruise but with a toddler I can't risk being put in an awful position over a noisy area 😞

[Billy Baltic]

I agree with you but you’ll soon be shot down by the RC fan club telling you it’s normal in the current market. If I were you I’d take my money elsewhere until the prices moderate. 

[twangster]

Royal doesn't charge a fixed amount to have the option to pick a room.  

 

Royal has automated revenue management that sometimes does crazy things like making interior higher prices than ocean view.

 

It varies by each and every sail date as that particular cruise sells out.  

 

No rhyme or reason.  

[ellsbells3032]

I don't think it's normal at all. 

 

P&O charge £600 but with that you get onboard credit, an additional perk (e.g. more OBC or free parking at the port) and free cancellations as well as other extras

Celebrity which is meant to be a posher is free making Celebrity cheaper than RC if i want to chose my room?

MSC it's free

Princess it's free (though maybe up to about £150 for better locations)

Holland America it's free (although up to £100 for better location)

Norwegian is free

 

So er....how is it normal?

 

 

 

[Tree_skier]

8 minutes ago, ellsbells3032 said:

MSC it's free

Not quite.  Depending on the level of service you book determines which cabins are available to reserve.

[taglovestocruise]

They do not charge more for pick your own cabin. They give a discount if you choose a GTY. I have seen GTY priced higher than pick your own. 

[crzndeb]

I’m confused. Are you talking about an initial deposit? There is a standard deposit per person for the number of nights. Or are you talking the total price?

Unless the UK deposits are totally different than US deposits.

Edited January 6, 2023 by crzndeb

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, ellsbells3032 said:

Is it just me or this insane for 12 nights. I have been on 15 cruises across about 12 different lines and I have never been charged this much to reserve a cabin. A few hundred yes but £3k to have a non guaranteed room? That's just for a standard balcony, for a large balcony it's another £1500 and for a mid ship standard it's additional £300 on top of the £3k already paid. 

 

I really liked that cruise but with a toddler I can't risk being put in an awful position over a noisy area 😞

Guarantee cabins have a location risk.  You understand that and know they are not for you, so don’t even look at that gty price; it is irrelevant to you as you are not willing/able to take that risk now.

 

Look at the price of an acceptable cabin for your family.  Is the cruise worth that price?  If yes, great.  If not, move on.

 

If you still want to talk about the spread between gty and reserved category prices, you’d need to give us more info (ship, sail date, number of guests).  On some ships taking a balcony gty carries more risk of a poor assignment than others.  Pricing patterns tend to be different far out vs last minute.

[ellsbells3032]

The screen shot is the price below. Bear in mind they break down the price per person despite my daughter being free on this sailing so you have to times by three not two. So that's a 3300 difference in price and doubles the price. When you go through it actually charges £3400 for GTY and £7100 for pick your own. We'd only want a balcony as want somewhere to sit out when my daughter is nappy or be able to air the room if she does something smelly lol. There's no suites available. 

 

I'm an experienced cruiser I know the difference between a deposit and a gty room. 

 

For comparison a p&o cruise leaving the same day from the similar location is £3000, a cunard one is £4500 and regent is £8000. All Inc tips and room choice so apparently rccl think they can charge nearly the same as regent

Edited January 6, 2023 by ellsbells3032

[gumshoe958]

Are you going to pay it?

[Ned11]

I've started finding prices all over the place. I sail solo and sometimes paying for two works out cheaper and offer GTY or choose my room. 

Everything is so expensive now, especially for solo passengers. £2,000 for an inside on the new Iconic. Won't be happening.

[little britain]

They use flexible pricing.

I have seen guarantees cheaper than pick your cabin # - go figure!?

There is a new 5 day sale promo starting in UK today… perhaps the price will have changed? 
If no one bites at the higher price they will drop it. 
Also have you checked the RCI USA site to see whether they show the same price difference ? 
 

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, ellsbells3032 said:

The screen shot is the price below. Bear in mind they break down the price per person despite my daughter being free on this sailing so you have to times by three not two. So that's a 3300 difference in price and doubles the price. When you go through it actually charges £3400 for GTY and £7100 for pick your own. We'd only want a balcony as want somewhere to sit out when my daughter is nappy or be able to air the room if she does something smelly lol. There's no suites available. 

 

I'm an experienced cruiser I know the difference between a deposit and a gty room. 

 

For comparison a p&o cruise leaving the same day from the similar location is £3000, a cunard one is £4500 and regent is £8000. All Inc tips and room choice so apparently rccl think they can charge nearly the same as regent

What is the ship and port you are sailing from? Over the past few years I’ve noticed cruises from Southampton are very expensive (relative to other European cruises) and the longer Odyssey cruises are similarly expensive. The gty price maybe relatively cheap for that cruise and the other price is closer to ‘normal’ for that cruise. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

Exactly the same with us.

 

Well over £3000.00 more to cruise in two balcony staterooms when choosing the position rather than a guaranteed each for three persons ( two adults and one child ) on Anthem of the Seas.

[ellsbells3032]

I'm looking at anthem on the 4th June out of Southampton @Norwich Cruiser is that the same one?

[Sunshine3601]

Prices for this cruise itinerary are always on the high side as I viewed them in the past.

Why there is such a big difference in GTY rate is unknown.   Could simply be rcl IT people priced up incorrectly.   

If you don't want to run the risk of getting an obstructed balcony on deck 6 then disregard the GTY rate and decide if you want to book the standard rate.   

[Biker19]

12 hours ago, ellsbells3032 said:

I really liked that cruise but with a toddler I can't risk being put in an awful position over a noisy area

That is very unlikely on Anthem. The only ones with potential noise issues are some 13 deck cabins with perhaps some minor noise from above.

[Mum2Mercury]

We always go for the guarantee, as the savings are significant.  We've always been pleased with our room.  

[taglovestocruise]

21 hours ago, ellsbells3032 said:

Is it just me or this insane for 12 nights. I have been on 15 cruises across about 12 different lines and I have never been charged this much to reserve a cabin. A few hundred yes but £3k to have a non guaranteed room? That's just for a standard balcony, for a large balcony it's another £1500 and for a mid ship standard it's additional £300 on top of the £3k already paid. 

 

I really liked that cruise but with a toddler I can't risk being put in an awful position over a noisy area 😞

Where do your numbers come from and why do you need two cabins for three people. If you are getting two cabins then 1 of you will be paying double occupancy prices for the single. 

Anthem June 4 2023 prices today for 1 cabin with three in a balcony.

Pick your cabin is $ 2752

GTY is $ 1816

deposit is  $1350.

You seem to be showing prices before the $6652 in discounts are deducted. 

 From our TA the total prices after fees and taxes are GTY $5745 you pick $8675 for 1 balcony with two adults and one child. + Our TA would throw in a $425 shop card.

[ellsbells3032]

@taglovestocruise I never said anything about two rooms. There's one room. One person is an infant so will be in our room.

Gty is £3400, balcony cabin is £7100

[Norwich Cruiser]

11 hours ago, ellsbells3032 said:

I'm looking at anthem on the 4th June out of Southampton @Norwich Cruiser is that the same one?

We are also looking at Anthem end of August 

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, ellsbells3032 said:

@taglovestocruise I never said anything about two rooms. There's one room. One person is an infant so will be in our room.

Gty is £3400, balcony cabin is £7100

It seems to me that person who books the balcony gty risks not only a noisy location (as you alluded to in your initial post) but on Anthem they also  risk getting being assigned one of the obstructed balconies, so if I were contemplating it I’d think of it as an Obstructed Balcony Gty.  As always, one might get an upgrade to a nicer cabin, but one should assume the worst with a gty.  The price difference gets an unobstructed balcony cabin as well as your pick of cabin.  Unless you are willing to take the risk of a gty cabin, the gty price is irrelevant. 
 

Please share the link for the Regent cruise. That sounds like a good deal for a long Regent cruise for 3.  I was having trouble finding it.

[Mum2Mercury]

46 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

It seems to me that person who books the balcony gty risks not only a noisy location (as you alluded to in your initial post) but on Anthem they also  risk getting being assigned one of the obstructed balconies, so if I were contemplating it I’d think of it as an Obstructed Balcony Gty.  As always, one might get an upgrade to a nicer cabin, but one should assume the worst with a gty.  The price difference gets an unobstructed balcony cabin as well as your pick of cabin.  Unless you are willing to take the risk of a gty cabin, the gty price is irrelevant ...

I've only had an obscured view once (it was a partially blocked ocean view, not a balcony) ... BUT I paid for an inside and got an obscured ocean view, so I was not displeased.  This was on Disney.  

 

Yes, when you sign up for a guarantee, you should assume you'll get "the worst cabin" in a given category, but I've paid for an inside guarantee twice with Royal Caribbean in 2022 and here's what I got:  

- A run-of-the-mill mid-ship interior on Deck 6.  I have a theory that you're likely to get mid-ship with a guarantee because those rooms cost a little more, and people don't choose them. 

- A mid-ship promenade view room on Deck 6.  Deck 6 is not popular, but we've come to love it because it's only a few steps to the Promenade ... we would actually choose it now!  

 

[ellsbells3032]

Hi all. Just a little update. We went to book this cruise and within a few hours the deal had gone and the price had doubled. So we decided to book the next cruise which was 7 days rather than 12 (which is prob better for us anyway) and booked the guaretee yesterday saving about £700. We already have our room assigned though and it's deck 7 midship so we are v v happy with that. 

 

Thanks for all the advice and comments