Guaranteed Balcony pricing

[steveso]

I was just about to book a guaranteed balcony via an agent on an October 2023 RC cruise. It was available at about 5pm GMT but there were none left by 7pm. Does this mean there won’t be any more for that cruise or do they release more at some point?

[twangster]

No way to know.  Each sail date is unique.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, steveso said:

Does this mean there won’t be any more for that cruise or do they release more at some point?

Assuming you looked on the UK site, look on the US site as well. If still available there, good chance the UK one will become available again or make arrangements to book via the US.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, steveso said:

I was just about to book a guaranteed balcony via an agent on an October 2023 RC cruise. It was available at about 5pm GMT but there were none left by 7pm. Does this mean there won’t be any more for that cruise or do they release more at some point?

They do not “release more at some point”.
 

If there are cancellations, rooms may open. If people upgrade, rooms may open. It’s kinda close to your cruise date for travel agents to release room blocks. 

[new_cruiser]

4 hours ago, steveso said:

I was just about to book a guaranteed balcony via an agent on an October 2023 RC cruise. It was available at about 5pm GMT but there were none left by 7pm. Does this mean there won’t be any more for that cruise or do they release more at some point?

We booked a 9 June cruise a bit over a month ahead. Initially, I booked an ocean view guarantee. 

Then, 6 May, the balcony guarantee went down to about $200 pp more than my OV fare. It took me too long to decide and the balcony guarantee was gone when I tried. So then I started checking every day or two. On 23 May, the balcony guarantee was back at an even lower price - just over $100 more pp than my OV. I jumped on it. In between, there were times when balcony cabins showed as sold out. 

 

There must be some fluctuation in cabin availability due to Royal up bids being accepted and people upgrading outright.  But also, sometimes there were cabins available but no guarantee rate and then the rate would come back.

 

You might as well watch the cruise to see if the guarantee comes back.

 

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

They do not “release more at some point”.

That is probably true for booking a specific cabin because that cabin either is or isn't booked already. But offering a guarantee room is a marketing decision. There were times on my cruise when there were balcony cabins available but no balcony guarantee offered. The same applied to ocean view guarantee. Guarantee cabin availability can come and go depending on how much Royal wants to push selling those cabins. In my case, this was happening within 30 days of sailing when there is no refund for cancellation.

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

They do not “release more at some point”.

While unlikely close in, RCI has somewhat recently modified its cabin inventory management by holding back some through the selling cycle.