How do you manage to get an aft cabin?

[brn2crz]

Yes.Booking early is imperitive,I booked May 3rd 06 for Jan 27th 08..

It does depend on the ship and the time of the year..

All the advice above is correct,make sure you call to check for sure.Also..Keep checking after you are booked.Last year,we started in an inside,booked a year out,and ended up in a corner aft,for less..Prices fluctuate,especially in the off season.Also,check right at final payment,when many become available..

Good Luck.

[Susan in Maine]

So I guess I'm right to be excited about snagging the aft balcony cabins for our January '07 cruise!

 

My TA called today and not only did we get the aft balcony, but we got the only two that connected. We're traveling with my parents and my father is blind, so it helps that we'll be right next door.

 

If any one has information on these cabins - 7632 & 7634, I would really appreciate it!

 

WAHOO!!!

[LadyGodiva]

I just booked 8088 on Vision of the Seas for March 30, 2008!

 

I always have the deck plan of the ship in front of me, and I ask my TA if a specific cabin is available.

 

8588 is still available if anyone's interested!

[Ella2]

I had an E1 corner aft stateroom for Mariner booked about a year in advance for our 6/25/06 sailing.

 

While doing a price check for rate reductions for clients a few weeks ago, I discovered that corner aft D1, cabin 1388, was suddenly available, and not much more than I was paying for the E1 (due to a special). I grabbed that puppy in a heartbeat! :D I knew it was like striking gold for that cabin to suddenly become available. I'm really looking forward to it, mostly because I wasn't thrilled about how the corner aft E1 is configured for triples, with the pull-down bed over the main bed. I could just see myself banging my head on that thing. :rolleyes:

 

Cabin 1388 looks MUCH bigger, with the privacy curtain, and the only thing I have to worry about not banging in to is the pole in the middle of the room! ;)

[Peggy13]

We just booked our first AFT 7688 and 7690 for next June 24th, 2007 cruise on the Mariner. I just called RCI directly and was asking for two triples and they came up - so I snatched them.

[judy&steve]

I just checked our Nov. S. Carib. sailing on Serenade and there are 6 or 7 aft-facing cabins available on the website so I think it just depends! They are all Cat. D1 (balcony).

 

Hi Rala! It's Judy from the Grandeur crossing a few years back. How are you doing in Massachusetts? We just got back from a quick trip from Baltimore to Melrose. We got there Friday just before the rain started and left yesterday morning. It rained until we got to New York. It looks just awful up there. I have never been so cold and soggy before in my life. Fortunately, my in-laws are on a hill,so, knock wood, they are okay.

I hope everybody in your neck of the woods is okay.

 

Oh -- and about the aft -- it's not for us. We didn't like ours, so I guess we are still on topic;)

 

--Judy

[Omishjoe]

Had E1 7388 booked on Explorer for Oct.6 sailing, TA called us a week later and said a D1 1388 was available for $200 cdn. more. Jumped!

 

DW and I plus 7month old Son were in E1 7688 Voyager in Oct '04 and loved it! It was our first balcony and now can't imagine having a small normal balcony ever. Really looking forward to 1388 with the extra room now that junior will be close to 3.

[DonnaK]

We just lucked out and booked 1388 for MOS eight months in advance.

 

Us too. We got 1388 and 1390 on MOS in March for our August cruise. It showed up on their website when I was researching cruises and was the deciding factor for selecting this particular sailing

[clknam]

They do actually show the aft cabins occasionally on the RCL website. Both 1600 and 1602 were available on JOS for the October '06 New England cruise. So I guess it takes some heavy bird-dogging to catch them.

 

HAPPY SAILING!!

[Rala]

Hi Judy!

 

Nice to hear from you! Yes, Melrose and the whole area north an east of Boston really got hit hard with the rain...lots of flooding from rivers still going with roads closed even though it is a gorgeous, sunny day today. We are southwest of Boston and we did get a lot of rain,but no serious consequences, thank goodness!!

 

Just to stay on topic.. we are not not "aft people" either. I love my cozy mid-ship balcony! Happy cruising to you and Steve!

 

Laura

[Bobbigrl27]

I managed to snag #7688 on Voyager just this morning for our December 07 cruise! I was actually on travelocity looking to see what cabins they had available, and it popped up. I e-mailed my TA immediately and asked her if she could get it for me. She called me and said that when she called RCCL, the cabin was no longer available. I then went back to Travelocity and it was still showing available. She called RCCL back and sure enough, it was available. So I think you have to be persistant in checking often. I'm sure if I wouldn't have stumbled across it today, it would have been gone tommorrow!!:p

[ckrobyn]

We typically book our cruises at least a year out - usually there is reasonable availability. I have 2 aft cabins booked and when I booked online, there they were............waiting for me! I didn't have to call RCI, they showed as available on the website:) I do agree with some posters that suggest you call RCI and see what else is available. I called the other day with a question about my Radiance cruise, and on a lark I asked if 1100 was available and it WAS! I ended up torturing myself though.....:( We have 1104(D1) already booked and decided not to spend the extra $$ on a JS. To this day it still drives me nuts just knowing it was there for the taking!

[Giorgi-one]

Ouch!!! 18 months! I hate waiting that long. Do you have something planned in between? That always helps pass the time.

 

I usually book about one year in advance. Two reasons

1. Best choice of cabins- got aft balcony on Freedom

2. I can book flights the first day they open (about 330 days in advance on major airlines. I got round trip Phila-Miami for $120.40 on American Airlines. Same ticket now is over $350.

 

We do two cruises a year so even when I book a year in advance, I have only about 6 months to wait for next cruise. We are not rich - just decided not to retire so I could have enough money to do what I wanted.

[suziehmkr]

We just booked our first aft... 9256 on the Serenade for Alaska. I knew this cabin would go fast, so got up before 5am on the day bookings open. I hope it is worth it! ;) This will be our 1st aft - not to mention corner aft. We are sooooooo looking forward to it.

 

I know we are talking about, but after dealing with Princess, I don't trust any waitlists. I would check often (I was checking daily!) to see the cabins that open up.

[Pradagal]

We have been lucky both times getting our corner aft balcony cabins. Once on the Vision of the Seas called 3 months before and snagged one. Than 6 months before for our upcoming Rhapsody cruise. I know we were lucky both times. We really enjoy aft cabins, but really in my book anywhere on a cruise ship is fine with me:) .

[kbt2]

I booked an aft balcony on Mariner of the Seas for April 1, 2007 and March 30, 2008 earlier this month via the website. We are in 1394 in April and 1694 in March. I hope they are good since I couldn't get anyone to answer my question on whether I should keep a hump D1 or take the aft balcony. We are first-time RCCL cruisers with one DCL cruise taken.

 

 

We just got off Explorer Sunday and had 1694 ...AWESOME JS cabin...don't give it up for the hump. I am so glad I gave my hump cabin up for this aft choice. It is a great cabin with a HUGE balcony 12 ftx12ft balcony alone. There were 2 loungers, 2 regular chairs and a table with a ton of walking room still to be had. We LOVED this cabin, will be hard to ever go to another. Lots of space for the 2 of us in cabin as well. More then enough storage.

[masterbaker]

The best way to snag an aft cabin is by picking up the phone and calling RCI as early as possible after the cruise is opened for booking. You may get lucky and see one on the website or find one available later by calling but your best bet is by booking early.

[NYCRUISR]

We were just able to get 7388 for NOS on 11/25/06...only 6 mos ahead. I guess sometimes it's just dumb luck!

 

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good they say...... YOU GOT LUCKY! Thats a great cabin/balcony. Better than waitng the 12 months plus. Enjoy!:D

[Bren's Mom]

NYCRUISR...

 

Thanks!!

 

...And it's soooooo much more FUN to be lucky rather than good! ;)

 

Coleen

[mspink98]

We booked last August for a cruise next February. We booked only about a month or two after the sailing had opened up.

 

The wait does kind of suck (I want to go NOW!), but I’m hoping that aft view is worth it.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I booked first thing May 2nd when the itineraries opened for the Freedom so I could get the corner aft cabin on deck 7. My parents then booked the same cabin on the opposite side so booking early is a must. I may have been the first person to book for that week it is so far out.

 

Another option is to check around the time that final payments are due. Quite a few cabins open up at that time.

 

Looking forward to my Freedom cruise, only 22 months now.

[bnsilly]

Please tell me why the aft cabins are so great..I am a new cruiser, maybe I need to get one for my next cruise!!!! Thanks for any info...and is it worth the distance from the elevator??:p

[bchbms]

We booked our Brilliance cruise to the Med last year 14 months in advance and were able to get THREE side-by-side aft cabins for us and our traveling companions. We had the best time and felt lik we were on our own private yacht. We definitely were lucky!

[Tammyg]

I checked the RCCL website as soon as the dates were released for my cruise in May 2007 and the aft cabin was listed as available. I called my TA and asked her to reserve it for me and we got cabine 1694 on the Mariner. We normally do a balcony but this is the first time I was able to get the aft! Very excited about getting this particular room. But they do occasionally show up on the website, if you start REALLY early. Anybody know anything about 1694 on the Mariner? I'd love to hear more about it. I've got a little over a year so I'll just wait for your replies (LOL).

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I was able to snag an AFT on the Jewel. I saw that it was available on a large internet agency, so I called my TA and booked it 14 months in advance. I was glad I did! We had cabin 1604 & it was awesome. We got off the ship on April 30. About a week later the itineraries were released for the Vision (our next big cruise) for April of 2008. I called that same day and booked a corner AFT JS (I asked for it, it wasn't listed) - that's 2 years away!:D As you can see, my expectations are going up - we went from a OV, to a D1 balcony, an E1 AFT & now a JS AFT! It's a good thing that the OS isn't an AFT or I would probably work my way up to that!

 

Actually, our next cruise is on the Monarch. Since she doesn't have AFT balconies we settled for a JS. For only 4 days, this will have to do.........:rolleyes: