Booked guarantee rate, cabin assigned, price went down - do I need to give up cabin?

[Clarea]

Can you clarify something for me: can't you just type in your new cruise info into the RCCL website to check for price drops? Why do you need to pay for this- are they seeing price drops that nobody else can see? Never understood this one....

Sometimes price drops occur and only last for a few hours. Unless you have the time to check the website constantly, you may miss the drop. Even if you catch the drop, then you need time to contact Royal or a travel agent before the price changes. Paying a very nominal fee to get an email within minutes of a price drop is worth it to some.

[Merion_Mom]

When they re-priced, you also lost $25 of your balcony discount.

 

(in case you didn't know)

 

The reason is that you are now within six months of sailing.

[MisterBill99]

Can you clarify something for me: can't you just type in your new cruise info into the RCCL website to check for price drops? Why do you need to pay for this- are they seeing price drops that nobody else can see? Never understood this one....

 

Sometimes price drops occur and only last for a few hours. Unless you have the time to check the website constantly, you may miss the drop. Even if you catch the drop, then you need time to contact Royal or a travel agent before the price changes. Paying a very nominal fee to get an email within minutes of a price drop is worth it to some.

Even if the discount isn't just for a few hours, most people don't want to have to (or don't have the time or inclination to) check the cruise line's website a couple of times a day to check prices.

 

I've heard that some TA's automatically get notified of price drops. My former TA claimed that his system notified him, but I never saw any evidence of this (I did not switch TA's because of this, he became a lawyer and was doing the TA thing very part time). I know that the fish site has a lifetime membership that TA's can use, presumably to track all of their client's bookings but it seems like it would be a LOT of work to process the emails, since the subject line doesn't even say what cruise the notice is for (and there may be more than one cruise per email). My current TA does not notify me of price reductions, but with my fish notifications that is not a problem.

 

I actually did not sign up for the notifications right away, it took me a few months of not wanting to spend the money before I realized that the $5 I had to give them would more than pay for itself with the first notification, and it has.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[goodycruising]

I'm inclined to believe that it has something to do with the differences in laws from one country to the next. I know that there are some extreme differences in the booking rules for UK vacationers, and I imagine the same holds for Aussies.

 

If it's so bothersome for you, you might try booking through a USA travel agent in the future.

 

I must say I have been a bit wary, but yes, I might have a look at that.

[CyberTag]

Very interested to hear where you get assigned. We were on the Anthem 16 day in May and switched to a guarantee from a D2. Got assigned a spa Jr. Suite and saved $1000 thanks to the fish! You will love he Anthem!!!

[xxHadleyxx]

I can't comprehend why in Australia we can't even ask for a change on one guarantee assignment. We booked a B2B gty balcony on both legs of a Radiance cruise, and were assigned E cabins that were 5 cabins apart. We asked to change one of them to the same cabin as the first leg, which was still open, and were categorically told NO. No changes allowed at all.

 

Yet in the US you can ring and pester them for months with request after request. I don't understand the different conditions for each country. I really has been a thorn in our side not to be able to change one small thing. The cabin we asked for was more forward that the one we were assigned. It was not even like we were asking for a better position!

 

.

 

It is the same for Germany (cannot make any change once the gty is assigned, even to an empty same category room--as those in the US and Canada can). The double standard for these sorts of things, which does not seem to be a legal issues as the deposits and cancellations are, really seems odd to me as well.

[xxHadleyxx]

Well, it would appear that being Diamond doesn't play into it!

 

Depending on the sailing, Diamond may not be that big of a deal at all. Us diamonds were a huge percentage of the passengers on our Oasis cruise and there were a whole lot of D+ and Pinnacles outranking us. Add to it that getting a better gty assignment has never been a stated benefit, I wouldn't even think to look at my C&A status as a way to up my odds on that particular roll of the dice.

 

And, I guess my logic works differently than your: I would figure if several other people had already been assigned nicer rooms on that sailing, then there must be fewer nicer rooms left in the pool and my odds of getting a lower category room would be higher on that next attempt. Besides, I figure that overall they probably try to start with nicer gty placements so people are less likely to want to go back in the pool to save a few bucks--otherwise, why even tell where you have been placed you until after final payment?

 

In any event, I am glad that at the end of the day you are happy to have the money back in exchange for the less attractive room.

[denatravels]

Sometimes price drops occur and only last for a few hours. Unless you have the time to check the website constantly, you may miss the drop. Even if you catch the drop, then you need time to contact Royal or a travel agent before the price changes. Paying a very nominal fee to get an email within minutes of a price drop is worth it to some.

 

 

Ok-- NOW I understand. And it's really not that expensive AT ALL. Just created an account-- will purchase credits as soon as I am 100% sure that I'm keeping my exact Alaska itinerary intact. It's worth $1.98 to apply 2 credits to watch these very expensive cruises!! (and still have 3 remaining left)

[Biker19]

Ok-- NOW I understand. And it's really not that expensive AT ALL. Just created an account-- will purchase credits as soon as I am 100% sure that I'm keeping my exact Alaska itinerary intact. It's worth $1.98 to apply 2 credits to watch these very expensive cruises!! (and still have 3 remaining left)

 

The other useful feature of that site is the historical pricing stats. You can look up your cruise and see what the pricing trend was last year - that will give you an indication of both absolute prices and the trend.

 

One caveat with that site - it only checks prices a few times a day, so some of the really short lived sales (up to 6 hrs) might be missed even with that site. And even if it does catch it, you have to monitor your e-mail to take action.

[molly361]

Ok-- NOW I understand. And it's really not that expensive AT ALL. Just created an account-- will purchase credits as soon as I am 100% sure that I'm keeping my exact Alaska itinerary intact. It's worth $1.98 to apply 2 credits to watch these very expensive cruises!! (and still have 3 remaining left)

 

Even of a less expensive cruise if I can save money it is worth it, to me at least ;)

[marci22]

One caveat with that site - it only checks prices a few times a day, so some of the really short lived sales (up to 6 hrs) might be missed even with that site. And even if it does catch it, you have to monitor your e-mail to take action.

 

Yes, I have missed a couple of really good drops when this happened.

[MisterBill99]

The other useful feature of that site is the historical pricing stats. You can look up your cruise and see what the pricing trend was last year - that will give you an indication of both absolute prices and the trend.

The history is nice to look at (and free) but I tried to use the historical pricing from last year when trying to figure out when to book our Bermuda cruise (on Summit) this past summer and the price drops from last year did not mirror what I saw this year. How, it can tell you whether the current price is a good deal. I also find it very interesting to see how RCI plays games with prices leading up to a promotion (like how the prices go up prior to BOGO being applied to a specific cruise or how they go up steadily after the promotion starts).

 

One caveat with that site - it only checks prices a few times a day, so some of the really short lived sales (up to 6 hrs) might be missed even with that site. And even if it does catch it, you have to monitor your e-mail to take action.

It would be nice to have a text message alert but they haven't implemented that.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Clarea]

... It would be nice to have a text message alert but they haven't implemented that.

Every phone has an email address for texts. For example, if you have AT&T, the email address for texts is <phonenumber>@txt.att.net. Just enter this for the email address and you will get a text.

[Biker19]

The history is nice to look at (and free) but I tried to use the historical pricing from last year when trying to figure out when to book our Bermuda cruise (on Summit) this past summer and the price drops from last year did not mirror what I saw this year.

Right, it seems that the demand plus some of the rhetoric from CEO Fain (about no discounting) may alter historical trends in pricing.

[MisterBill99]

And, I guess my logic works differently than your: I would figure if several other people had already been assigned nicer rooms on that sailing, then there must be fewer nicer rooms left in the pool and my odds of getting a lower category room would be higher on that next attempt. Besides, I figure that overall they probably try to start with nicer gty placements so people are less likely to want to go back in the pool to save a few bucks--otherwise, why even tell where you have been placed you until after final payment?

 

In any event, I am glad that at the end of the day you are happy to have the money back in exchange for the less attractive room.

It's not about logic, it's about what I saw in real life. I got a D7 and others who booked guarantee after me in my roll call thread got better categories. And I gave up 3 D7's when I repriced it and rather than just giving me those back, they gave me DO's. We'll see what happens this time.

 

I question whether the "less likely to want to go back in the pool to save a few bucks" plays a part in it at all, unless you want to say that the DO is a direct consequence of my switching a second time. You make an interesting point about telling people their assignment before final payment. Certainly they could wait, and they even tell you that you won't find out until right before the cruise, but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule (except in the case of someone on our Summit cruise who booked a suite guarantee, never got the assignment and eventually learned that they didn't have a suite for her)!

 

BTW the price has gone back up to the Thursday price drop, so it really was a weekend special.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[marci22]

It's not about logic, it's about what I saw in real life. I got a D7 and others who booked guarantee after me in my roll call thread got better categories. And I gave up 3 D7's when I repriced it and rather than just giving me those back, they gave me DO's. We'll see what happens this time.

 

I think it's just random. I have seen people get the same cabin back when they went back into the guarantee, or something better, or something worse. ymmv

[mrsbojamp]

This is only the 3rd time I've done a guarantee. The first time was for a junior suite that was a last minute cruise to Bermuda. I was assigned immediately after booking, which made sense to me because we were already within the final payment window. Last year I booked a guarantee mini-suite on NCL Breakaway because it was cheaper than the balcony room I already booked. I did not get my room assignment until several weeks after final payment. I was very happy because it was mid-ship on a good floor. So I was really surprised that they assigned cabins just about right away on the Anthem. As I said before, I am very pleased with my most recent assignment - even though I was quite amazed that it was a better cabin than my first guarantee on this cruise. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the assigning process.

[MisterBill99]

So I got my cabin -- and it's a D4! 13520, right by the Solarium. I guess I will check to see if there is anything available that I like better, but clearly this has worked out to my advantage, and any sort of logic that one might try to find in GTY cabin assignments can be tossed out the window.

 

I checked to see if I could switch back to 13572, which has a slightly larger balcony, and which I had been in when I switched to D4 when the prices first dropped, but it's not available. Looks like only 4 D4's are available at the moment (which makes it even stranger that I got for as a GTY assignment). I asked my TA to try and move me to 13560, which is a little further back.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Starry Eyes]

So I got my cabin -- and it's a D4! 13520, right by the Solarium. I guess I will check to see if there is anything available that I like better, but clearly this has worked out to my advantage, and any sort of logic that one might try to find in GTY cabin assignments can be tossed out the window.

 

So two price drops later, you ended up with a higher category assignment...that is great!

Definitely do not expend energy trying to assign logic to the gty assignment process. It is murky, probably intentionally so...gty often comes with a lower price in exchange for a gamble (and flexibility for the cruise line).

[mrsbojamp]

Congrats! I checked out the website that you mentioned. Turns out I was already registered on there! Hmmmmmm.......could it be senility settling in?

[Clarea]

So I got my cabin -- and it's a D4! 13520, right by the Solarium. I guess I will check to see if there is anything available that I like better, but clearly this has worked out to my advantage, and any sort of logic that one might try to find in GTY cabin assignments can be tossed out the window.

 

I checked to see if I could switch back to 13572, which has a slightly larger balcony, and which I had been in when I switched to D4 when the prices first dropped, but it's not available. Looks like only 4 D4's are available at the moment (which makes it even stranger that I got for as a GTY assignment).

Excellent! I think I'd stay there now, unless the next price drop is huge.

[MisterBill99]

Excellent! I think I'd stay there now, unless the next price drop is huge.

The price is back up to $1461 today and I have 2 weeks before final payment so I'm thinking it's not getting any cheaper. And it will be much tougher to risk the D4 than it was the D7 (or DO).

 

Just heard back from my TA and she was able to move me to 13560, which isn't quite as far forward. Maybe someone will drop one of the bigger balcony cabins when final payment is due. I do feel sorry for the folks outside of the US who cannot switch. It would be really interesting to find out definitively why that is the case.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[Clarea]

The price is back up to $1461 today and I have 2 weeks before final payment so I'm thinking it's not getting any cheaper. And it will be much tougher to risk the D4 than it was the D7 (or DO).

The only thing I would look for now is if the JS comes down into your price range.

[MisterBill99]

Congrats! I checked out the website that you mentioned. Turns out I was already registered on there! Hmmmmmm.......could it be senility settling in?

I'm saying no, unless you had credits that you'd paid for! There are several cruise sites that I'm surprised that I signed up for, especially when they send me email and I wonder where they got my email from (only to find out that I have a userid there).

Edited October 5, 2015 by MisterBill99

[familycruising4ever]

The price is back up to $1461 today and I have 2 weeks before final payment so I'm thinking it's not getting any cheaper. And it will be much tougher to risk the D4 than it was the D7 (or DO).

 

Just heard back from my TA and she was able to move me to 13560, which isn't quite as far forward. Maybe someone will drop one of the bigger balcony cabins when final payment is due. I do feel sorry for the folks outside of the US who cannot switch. It would be really interesting to find out definitively why that is the case.

 

So glad you got assigned a better cabin! You're actually just a few doors down from me as we have 13568. Welcome neighbor! 😎