Guarantee cabin question

We are currently booked in two, side by side inside cabins for our 24 Nov 2014 Explorer cruise. It is my husband and 17 yo in one room and me and 14 yo in the other. We plan on swapping cabins once on board.

So, now the balcony guarantee rate has dropped to just $60 a cabin more than we paid. We have had a VERY tough year and would love to have at least one balcony to relax on and watch the view. But we want to be close enough to each other to be in the same muster station.

From my understanding, I can move my cabin location to another open cabin once the guarantee cabins are assigned. What I don't know how to find is 1) when the guarantee cabins are assigned and 2) number/location of open rooms so that I can determine if it looks like a probability that we could move into rooms at least near each other.

Worse case, we could not swap rooms and my husband and 17 yo could have the balcony.

Any advice?

See, that's the problem with a guarantee. You might be assigned a cabin early on and be able to move to an open one in the same category (they are not required to allow you to do this) OR you might not get an assignment until very close to boarding or even at boarding and there may not be anywhere for you to move. Depends how lucky you feel.

Once you get an assignment (the timeframe of which cannot be determined), you can call Royal and ask about any open staterooms nearthe other stateroom. However, there's no way to know if there will be any available staterooms there.

I think in this circumstance I agree that it may not be worth the potential aggravation if the cabins turn out to be far apart and you can't move.

But also before you get too excited call them and confirm the price to upgrade. With our last sailing I got excited by some price drops after final payment and was never allowed to upgrade at the website listed price because they were new bookings only.

Not only can you end up with cabins that are at different muster stations, but you are very likely to end up with cabins on different decks. Just think how many times you may be running back and forth, especially if you have children who like to sleep late.

With a screen name of 2 bratty boys, I would stick to the cabins I have and keep looking for balcony or ocean view prices to come down so you can choose 2 cabins. If this happens the open cabins will probably be all the way in the front of the ship or another less desirable area for some people.

There is a recent thread where someone wanted a grand suite but the only one that was available was on deck 6. They saw a grand suite guarantee and they took that (asking for anything but deck 6) and guess what, they were assigned the open grand suite on deck 6. A few weeks later there were more grand suite guarantees but Royal refused to move them.

What is the location of your inside cabins and are there at least a few available balconies directly across? That might help nudge me one way or the other. If you are in the very front of the ship, your odds might be better. If you do not know how to research this, post the cabins you are currently in.

EGG, the "bratty" moniker is from 2006...Even then the screen name was probably all in fun, but if not I bet the boys have changed since then.

OP,

You have summed up the worst case scenario...if you upgrade,and the cabins are far apart, and you cannot swap to get closer cabins, you and DH would sleep in separate cabins. If that would ruin your vacation, then you should not upgrade to a gty.

If on the other hand, you could still enjoy your vacation if you split up at night, then go for it. I glanced at balcony availability for your cruise...not too many are available, and some are close together. If you can accept the worst case and if have a gambling streak and if you can afford another $120, I'd say upgrade both cabins.

I would not worry about muster stations. If you get different stations, one adult and one child will be at each station for the drill. The drill is short and then you re-unite...no big deal. A real emergency is highly unlikely, and if it happens one parent will be with each boy.

To look at open rooms, do a mock booking on the royal caribbean website of an on line travel website. Just pretend you are interested in booking E1, then D1, etc

Thanks all! I'm going to talk to my husband tonight and make a decision. We are due for some good luck, so I have a good feeling that it would work out! And if it doesn't, it definitely would not ruin our cruise!

We currently are booked in rooms 7667 and 7669.

And as for the "bratty" in my screen name....it was set up in fun when the boys were 5 and 8. They were driving me crazy with questions one night as I was planning our first family cruise. :D They, indeed, have grown up nicely! One lucky mom here!

For what it is worth - if it were moi..........I would take the GTY and put the boys in the inside cabin regardless of where it may be. The 17 year old should be able to look after his younger brother. I would read them the RIOT act..........one wrong look, one wrong gesture, one thing that seems funny and they were going to be w/ a parent and not staying on their own at night. Of course, I would sneak peeks in their cabin at night, wander by the door and listen to what is going on (if anything), etc. :D

IMHO, only take the chance if you can deal with not being in same station and possibly not being in same floor, as previously mentioned. There's another thread here of a guy who got a guarantee and was told it was on deck 6. He didn't want deck 6 but bought it anyway. Then, he was mad when he was told he couldn't change.

If you can be happy with not being on the same floor/muster station, go for it. If not, would hate for you to be uncomfortable during your cruise.

I just did a guarantee and I am traveling with my adult son and his wife(our res is linked)

We got cabins right next to each other(a little too close for me) my wife is thrilled.

Just called RCCL and was able to upgrade both rooms to guarantee balconies for $200 a room...BUT each room has a $200 OBC on it. They also said they would make a note to try to get our rooms close. Score!

My oldest is turning 17 next week and is about 6 weeks post-op from brain surgery. He is doing great so we are enjoying a little get away before the next set of scans that may lead us down the radiation/chemo path. Talk about a kid deserving of a little relaxing time at sea! If our rooms are not close, I will look at it as a blessing in disguise. I was the one able to take off work with him as he recovered, while dad had to work. If he ends up bunking with dad, I'm sure they will enjoy the bonding time. :D

Just called RCCL and was able to upgrade both rooms to guarantee balconies for $200 a room...BUT each room has a $200 OBC on it. They also said they would make a note to try to get our rooms close. Score!

 

My oldest is turning 17 next week and is about 6 weeks post-op from brain surgery. He is doing great so we are enjoying a little get away before the next set of scans that may lead us down the radiation/chemo path. Talk about a kid deserving of a little relaxing time at sea! If our rooms are not close, I will look at it as a blessing in disguise. I was the one able to take off work with him as he recovered, while dad had to work. If he ends up bunking with dad, I'm sure they will enjoy the bonding time. :D

Glad it worked out, and wishing very good luck to your oldest son.

Your son and your family is in our prayers. Wishing only the best for him.//Maria

Thanks!

Just called RCCL and was able to upgrade both rooms to guarantee balconies for $200 a room...BUT each room has a $200 OBC on it. They also said they would make a note to try to get our rooms close. Score!

 

My oldest is turning 17 next week and is about 6 weeks post-op from brain surgery. He is doing great so we are enjoying a little get away before the next set of scans that may lead us down the radiation/chemo path. Talk about a kid deserving of a little relaxing time at sea! If our rooms are not close, I will look at it as a blessing in disguise. I was the one able to take off work with him as he recovered, while dad had to work. If he ends up bunking with dad, I'm sure they will enjoy the bonding time. :D

So, DH agreed to the gty plan:). And then you got a nice deal on the upgrades.:)

Since you have a good Attitutude about cabin location, you should have a good cruise no matter where they put you. still, my fingers are crossed that you get great assignments (or are able to swap to make them great)

Please come back and tell us what you get.

Good luck and all the best to the family

So, DH agreed to the gty plan:). And then you got a nice deal on the upgrades.:)

Since you have a good Attitutude about cabin location, you should have a good cruise no matter where they put you. still, my fingers are crossed that you get great assignments (or are able to swap to make them great)

Please come back and tell us what you get.

Good luck and all the best to the family

Yep, got the green light from DH! Only one that was a little reluctant was 14 yo that is a worrier. Now that he knows I will stay with him if we are far apart, he is good as well.

I found a site last night that shows all the open cabins and I like our chances! But you are right...nothing is going to ruin our cruise!

I will report back when cabins are assigned. :)

Yep, got the green light from DH! Only one that was a little reluctant was 14 yo that is a worrier. Now that he knows I will stay with him if we are far apart, he is good as well.

I found a site last night that shows all the open cabins and I like our chances! But you are right...nothing is going to ruin our cruise!

I will report back when cabins are assigned. :)

As of yesterday, when I looked at available balconies for your cruise, I also liked your chances. It is nice that the whole family bought into the upgrade; it would be easy to understand if a family had a split decision about potentially splitting up.

here's hoping your gamble pays off royally (and to positive attitudes even if the cabins are far apart).

Just logged in and saw my cabin assignments. We have 7378 and 7520. One almost all the way forward, one almost all the way aft. One starboard, one port. Of course there are no open rooms to try to work a switch. :rolleyes:

Do I wish it would have worked out differently? Yes.

Do I wish that the little note that they put on our reservation would have gotten us the adjoining staterooms that were available last night? Sure.

Am I mad or upset? Not even a little! I knew what I was doing and the chance I was taking. :)

Two weeks from right now I am going to be sipping a Rum Runner on a Cruise Ship! Can't get much better than that! Life is good!

Just logged in and saw my cabin assignments. We have 7378 and 7520. One almost all the way forward, one almost all the way aft. One starboard, one port. Of course there are no open rooms to try to work a switch. :rolleyes:

Do I wish it would have worked out differently? Yes.

Do I wish that the little note that they put on our reservation would have gotten us the adjoining staterooms that were available last night? Sure.

Am I mad or upset? Not even a little! I knew what I was doing and the chance I was taking. :)

Two weeks from right now I am going to be sipping a Rum Runner on a Cruise Ship! Can't get much better than that! Life is good!

Thanks for the update. Have a great cruise!!

PS Keep checking- cabins could open up at any time

Thanks for the update. Have a great cruise!!

 

PS Keep checking- cabins could open up at any time

Thanks! I will keep checking. You never know! :)

So, if I have been assigned D2 cabins, what should I look at for a possible change? I assume that any of the E cabins would be fair game to ask, but I'm not sure if D1 or D3 is considered the "upgrade" category and therefore not possible to move into.

Mind you this is if anything opens up. :D

So, if I have been assigned D2 cabins, what should I look at for a possible change? I assume that any of the E cabins would be fair game to ask, but I'm not sure if D1 or D3 is considered the "upgrade" category and therefore not possible to move into.

Mind you this is if anything opens up. :D

If you have a guarantee and are assigned a D2, then you are stuck with a D2.

We had a guarantee for a D8 and we're assigned a D3.

Thanks! I will keep checking. You never know! :)

check now...

I see another deck 7 D2 available for your cruise. not optimal, but if you take it, your cabins will be closer than now.