Sail Away Category - Room assignment

[darkhorizon]

Hi, am booking a cruise for the first time and the fares on NCL sail away category Mini-Suite (Club Balcony Suite) are quite enticing. We are traveling with parents and an infant (total 5 people - 4 adults, 1 infant) and looking to book 2 rooms. I understand that the sail away category doesnt allow room selection and it will be assigned by NCL. If the rooms allocated are far away or on different decks, is it possible to request the cruise line to provide them together? Do they help in this? Also, when do they assign the rooms? Months in advance or just before sailing?

 

Any experiences regular cruisers can share?

[RB9643]

33 minutes ago, darkhorizon said:

 I understand that the sail away category doesnt allow room selection and it will be assigned by NCL.

 

 

It also does not include any Free at Sea perks.

 

 

[darkhorizon]

3 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

 

It also does not include any Free at Sea perks.

 

 

 Am fine with not having it. It includes drinks/speciality dining and internet, right? Dont have much use for this, and the gratuities itself would be not worth it in our case (since we hardly drink, have dietary preferences which would make speciality dining difficult, and slow internet is stressful rather than helpful).

[JandC_Cruising]

53 minutes ago, darkhorizon said:

If the rooms allocated are far away or on different decks, is it possible to request the cruise line to provide them together? Do they help in this? Also, when do they assign the rooms? Months in advance or just before sailing?

Unfortunately, no...The benefit of the Sail-away rate is that it is less expensive, but it comes with the risk that you do not have any input on final cabin location.  You may not find out until days before your cruise (or even embarkation day) at which point, if the ship is sold out of your category, there isn't anywhere to move you.  

If you NEED to have cabins close by to one another, your only method to ensure that is to book a cabin fare that allows you to pick your cabin.  You will be offered the Free at Sea benefits, but you can always decline the drink and meal package if you wish.  

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, darkhorizon said:

Hi, am booking a cruise for the first time and the fares on NCL sail away category Mini-Suite (Club Balcony Suite) are quite enticing. We are traveling with parents and an infant (total 5 people - 4 adults, 1 infant) and looking to book 2 rooms. I understand that the sail away category doesnt allow room selection and it will be assigned by NCL. If the rooms allocated are far away or on different decks, is it possible to request the cruise line to provide them together? Do they help in this? Also, when do they assign the rooms? Months in advance or just before sailing?

 

Any experiences regular cruisers can share?

Rooms can be assigned from the day you book to the day of departure when you arrive at the terminal to check-in.

 

You can be assigned rooms 6 decks apart and at opposite ends of the ship (depending on ship). You have no control and no ability to change that. In reality, it really doesn't matter if you are physically separated from your traveling companions. We've had multiple rooms all scattered (by choice - selected high floor rooms versus folks in low floor ocean view rooms). 

[cruisinmeme]

When Katrina hit and tore out the docks in New Orleans. We originally had cabins near my daughter, son in law and 2 small grandkids. My mom was with us. We jumped to Galveston and jumped to royal carribean. We knew nothing about their ships. Anyway we booked and as it turned out we were on different decks and opposite ends of the ship . I will say we managed really well. Hardest part was babysitting my mother that refused to learn her way to their suite. She had no problem leaving the cabin and finding the casino. As it turned out they had a suite the size of an apartment so she stayed in the extra bedroom. 
Another cruise (NCL) my daughter and granddaughter had picked their cabin and had the free at sea perks. Sorta last minute I decided to go and did the sail away. I didn’t need the free at sea . I am platinum and already had two free meals in specialty restaurant . I don’t drink . Of coarse we were floors apart and opposite ends. We managed to meet up just fine.

[prov2727]

You can even get assigned and get your room changed later if someone selects the room you had been assigned. Fortunately, it was an advantage for me because my late reassignment was an angled balcony!

[tomk3212]

We go the Sailaway Inside route almost every NCL cruise we've been on.  We've been upgraded a few times to balcony & bid successfully on a couple of upgrades to balcony.  We've been assigned cabins as early as the day after we booked to the night before we sailed where we were using the hotel's printer to do our luggage tags.  Like you, we really don't miss the FAS perqs; we don't drink a lot, we're Sapphire so we already have 2 specialty dinners included and we can live w/o the WiFi.

 

Interestingly, however, we've noticed that since the end of the pandemic that the delta in price between the Sailaway rate and the lowest currently available inside cabin rate has narrowed considerably.  For example, on our recent TA on Epic there was only a $100 difference between the Sailaway rate & the then lowest priced regular inside cabin rate. It was definitely worth the extra $$ to get the WiFi package for 16 days & the 2 extra specialty restaurant dinners (we skipped the drinks package; not worth the gratuities for us IMHO).  Has anyone else noticed this?

 

In any case, check the delta in prices carefully before you book & I hope you have a great cruise!

[JustAllie]

Among the recurrent issues with guarantee cabins and upgrade bids are (1) the desire of people traveling together to remain near their friends & family and (2) the importance of an accessible cabin to people with disabilities. 

 

There is no way to nudge and certainly not ensure that the cabins you book under guarantee or upgrade programs will be anywhere near your traveling companions. And for those who are disabled, there's no way to ask for an upgrade if and only if an accessible cabin is available in that category. 

 

They really need a more sophisticated booking system to allow nuances like this. It's not easy, I'm sure, but it's not rocket science.

[RD64]

12 minutes ago, JustAllie said:

Among the recurrent issues with guarantee cabins and upgrade bids are (1) the desire of people traveling together to remain near their friends & family and (2) the importance of an accessible cabin to people with disabilities. 

 

There is no way to nudge and certainly not ensure that the cabins you book under guarantee or upgrade programs will be anywhere near your traveling companions. And for those who are disabled, there's no way to ask for an upgrade if and only if an accessible cabin is available in that category. 

 

They really need a more sophisticated booking system to allow nuances like this. It's not easy, I'm sure, but it's not rocket science.

It is not rocket science - it is very simple. If you want cabins near travelling companions or an accessible cabin, then book the specific cabins you want. 
 

Guarantees are just that - a guarantee for a specific cabin grade - they are not there for your convenience. By booking a guarantee, you give up all of the perks that go along with a higher fare. We all know that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

[GORDONCHICK]

2 hours ago, RD64 said:

It is not rocket science - it is very simple. If you want cabins near travelling companions or an accessible cabin, then book the specific cabins you want. 
 

Guarantees are just that - a guarantee for a specific cabin grade - they are not there for your convenience. By booking a guarantee, you give up all of the perks that go along with a higher fare. We all know that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Yep - booking the guarantees is a gamble.  At one time, the price difference made it worth it but it doesn't today for us.