What can I do with this GTY cabin hack?

[Mum2Mercury]

On 1/24/2023 at 1:01 AM, RCCL Fan said:

I booked my first ever GTY reservation and my first ever non balcony/suite stateroom.

 

Our usual junior suite was $2044 per person, the GTY oceanview was $399 per person ... 

That's some savings!  You are officially my hero!  

 

Since we retired and can cruise more often, we have started booking inside guarantees and are 100% satisfied with that choice.  I hope you'll be as happy with your guarantee as we've been.  

On 1/24/2023 at 8:43 AM, PamelaHunt said:

I can't help with the  question about changing your room, but I have booked a connecting w/o knowing who was on the other side.  The first time was on Anthem, it was my first cruise and the TA we used in our rinky dink town put us in an interior gty and that is what we ended up with.  We were completely unaware of the people next door - we're quiet, they were quiet.  The 2nd time I chose the room knowing it was a connecting, but it was in the best location for me and again, I was completely unaware there was anyone there.  

We had a connecting room on our last cruise.  I think I heard our neighbor sneeze once.  On the other hand, we once shared a door with some really noisy neighbors -- oh, wait, those were my kids.  

 

Assuming we don't need connecting rooms, I've always preferred to skip them: 

- Typically a connecting room has only a chair, whereas a non-connecting room has a loveseat.  We'd rather have the larger seating. 

- While most neighbors are quiet, you have a greater potential for noise with a connecting door.  

- I never considered that leaving connecting cabins was a kindness to families /groups who might want them -- but now I agree with that sentiment. 

On 1/24/2023 at 9:25 PM, fredmdcruisers said:

Try calling in and saying "I booked a guaranteed cabin but see a better cabin. Can I move to it?" You will be told no. It is only through duplicity that you can move, misleading staff. 

And, in the process, you are causing other potential cruisers to settle for a lesser cabin that you didn’t want instead of having their pick of all non-guarantee cabins.

Do you teach your kids to cheat?

Wrong.  It's fine to ASK -- to ask nicely and to be willing to take no for an answer -- if you can be moved to another room.  It's not cheating at all, and RC has every opportunity to say, "No, you rolled the dice and lost".  

On 1/25/2023 at 12:29 PM, Starry Eyes said:

Thanks for posting this.  When your executive friend said “least desirable” cabins I wonder if he meant lower category or poorly selling category on that sailing. 

Agree that "least desirable" can have different meanings.  Some people want to be on a higher floor, others want to be near the gym, others want to be aft.  

 

Regardless, we have sailed in a guarantee several times lately, and we've been placed mid-ship every time.  My theory is that people want to pick their own rooms, but they don't want to pay that bit extra to be mid-ship.