Extra fee to pick your own room has gotten ridiculous - time to move on?

[Ophelia174]

10 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

Of course. We usually have 8-10 cruises booked and most if not all are booked with refundable deposit. We use online agency.

Can i ask which agency?

[Ophelia174]

4 hours ago, md80fan said:

Am i the only one who is finding it funny about the is it a discount or a price increase. If it a discount then that changes everything. I just want a cabin on the ship with a bed and bathroom.

so royal is being generous to offer me a discount if i take a junior suite vs a regular suite and another discount if i take a ocean balcony vs a jr suite and another discount if i take a neighborhood balcony instead of a ocean balcony. Then i can get another discount if i take a ocean view with a window vs a balcony and finally a last discount by taking a interior room vs ocean view

 

just think how many discounts that is for a room that has a bed in it 🤣
or one other item. When booking a room where you pick the room even on the same deck on the royal website it will say mid ship +70 dollars where front and aft will say included so is that also a 70 dollar discount to take the exact same cabin on the same deck just in the front or aft or is it a increase to be in the middle.

 

Yeah it’s a little silly. If I went through several screens where it said my cruise was 3k per person and then got to a screen where it said you can lower your price to $2k for letting RC pick your room, that could be interpreted as a discount. But if it tells me for several screens that my cruise is 2k per person then gets to a screen that says if you want to pick your own room your cruise its now $3k, then that’s an extra fee. I don’t get a discount for choosing an interior room. That’s the base price and it’s an extra fee for choosing a window room. 
 

Regardless of what you call it, the fact remains it costs more to pick your own room. And it costing over a thousand more per person more to pick your own room is ridiculous. If it started off saying the cruise was 3k per person that would be different. But it starts off at the base price and then adds to it. When you add to a base price that’s a fee 😂

[Mick B]

Hi all,

I have had some GTY cabins in the past, mainly because they were much cheaper than trying to book a cabin in a certain location.

Luckily, these cabins have turned out all right, but those were on smaller ships where everything was reasonably close by.

 

Now, here comes the issues...

Are there multiple members of your family wanting to cruise (possibly for the first time) and wanting to be right next door to you?

Are you able to walk the longer distances to the lifts if placed at the very front or back of the ship (especially if it is an Oasis class)?

Are you ok with the motion of the ship if placed right at the very front/back especially if it is a longish cruise going into areas where there can be (or normally is) bad seas/weather?

Are you ok with noise from ship machinery (such as pools) or loud music from above/below or people running in jogging tracks at 5am?

 

If any (or all) of these pose a issue or are likely to impact the enjoyment of your cruise then picking your own cabin after doing full research of the layout of the ship is probably worth the extra money and I bet RCI now this. I have seen many many people spend hours of their cruise at guest services trying to move cabin only to be told the ship is full, or they will have to wait a few days before a decision can be made due to whatever reason.

 

You could book a cheap GTY and then nearer the time try the Royal Up for a better grade of cabin, but that doesn't guarantee where it will be or whats next to it or above/below etc.

 

Again, if its a shortish cruise on a smallish ship going to places when the weather is normally fine, then a GTY if much cheaper can be a good way to save money, but I would be very careful if you are going for longer in stormy waters. Sometimes paying a bit extra for peace of mind can be worth it.

 

Both my wife and I have the same idea that the cabin is just somewhere to sleep, wash and change and that there are plenty of places onboard to hang out both day and night and get good views. We will always try to book our own cabin normally midships/aft near the aft lifts, but not too near and normally a floor or 2 below the top so we can walk up and down the stairs at peak times when the lifts are full. Also, away from noisy entertainment areas and ship machinery. Unless... the price of doing so is so stupidly high that a GTY is the only way the cruise is in our budget. 

We try to avoid the Royal Up, as this doesn't always guarantee a better location. However, if you do book at GTY and get the confirmation of its location through in time, and find its not where you want to be, then and only then trying the Royal Up (if not paying way over the odds) may or may not get you a better location, but it will get you a better cabin at least. Sometimes you may get the better cabin at the same price you would have paid if you had picked you own room. 

The whole thing is just luck, and from experience, status with the C&A has no bearing on either the Royal Up program or arguing at guest services about wanting a different cabin.

 

One way of switching cabins during the cruise, if you notice this happen, and act quickly at guest services (and we have done it before) is when a family get kicked off mid-cruise for whatever reason and their cabin now becomes available. I saw them being taken away by police at the port and went to straight to guest services and asked if I could move to it once it was cleaned and they not only said yes, but they let me go and take a look at where it was before committing to it too. I was in an interior on a 9 night cruise and they were kicked off on day 3 and they had a balcony, it was right at the back, but what the hell, we packed our cases and were in before you knew it!

 

Mick.

 

 

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Mick B

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, Mick B said:

Hi all,

I have had some GTY cabins in the past, mainly because they were much cheaper than trying to book a cabin in a certain location.

Luckily, these cabins have turned out all right, but those were on smaller ships where everything was reasonably close by.

 

Now, here comes the issues...

Are there multiple members of your family wanting to cruise (possibly for the first time) and wanting to be right next door to you?

Are you able to walk the longer distances to the lifts if placed at the very front or back of the ship (especially if it is an Oasis class)?

Are you ok with the motion of the ship if placed right at the very front/back especially if it is a longish cruise going into areas where there can be (or normally is) bad seas/weather?

Are you ok with noise from ship machinery (such as pools) or loud music from above/below or people running in jogging tracks at 5am?

 

If any (or all) of these pose a issue or are likely to impact the enjoyment of your cruise then picking your own cabin after doing full research of the layout of the ship is probably worth the extra money and I bet RCI now this. I have seen many many people spend hours of their cruise at guest services trying to move cabin only to be told the ship is full, or they will have to wait a few days before a decision can be made due to whatever reason.

 

You could book a cheap GTY and then nearer the time try the Royal Up for a better grade of cabin, but that doesn't guarantee where it will be or whats next to it or above/below etc.

 

Again, if its a shortish cruise on a smallish ship going to places when the weather is normally fine, then a GTY if much cheaper can be a good way to save money, but I would be very careful if you are going for longer in stormy waters. Sometimes paying a bit extra for peace of mind can be worth it.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

And then of course you could be solo and solos dont even get to see the gty unless they put in 2 pax. That's why all the threads why does it cost solos more than 200%.

 

Silliest way and deceptive to me to show price per person... and I'm one person, oh well we assume you are 2 so its double or more than double since you cant book a gty. You have to choose a cabin. It's not per person. .. not if you are solo. 

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, Ophelia174 said:

Can i ask which agency?

Welcome to CC where we can't discuss specific TAs.