Online Room Selection - Anybody else notice changes?

[t4jes]

Just did it and it even though I selected to choose my own room it was chosen for me [emoji53]. Thank you so much for this post though because upon doing my mock booking I noticed there was a price reduction for my cruise and called my TA and saved another $50!!

 

So glad that some good was able to come out of this! Wish it was the same case for me. :)

 

Thanks to everybody for posting.

 

After some playing around, I realized that I was able to access the "more options" button when I used Chrome, but not when I was using Safari. So strange.

 

Something's definitely changed with their programming, but it looks as for now, it's a browser issue with some browsers.

[cruizinisthebest]

The site is not working at all for me right now on IE. When I use Chromebook, I'm not getting a pre-selected room like others are seeing. Screen says "pick your own room" and that's it. I only noticed that option when trying to book two cabins and asking if you want Carnival to pick nearby rooms for you.

[LMaxwell]

I just booked through the site today and it gave me a room, no alternatives. I switched dates even, same ship, gave me the same room again. However by the deck plans I can live with the location. I did not book a guarantee and did not book early saver.

[cruiselovin'momma]

I checked with Chrome and IE and was able to pick from multiple cabins. Available cabins were shaded in green just like normal. For the ones who can't choose, I hope this is not another of their website "changes" that they are trying!

[Earthworm Jim]

The funny thing is that I picked Early Saver for the test booking I tried (about a year out) and it only gave me the one room despite the fact that the description of Early Saver still says "Choose your room location".

 

They'll have to eliminate that line with this new design.

 

I realize it's the wave of the future with so many people now using tablets and phones to access the internet instead of computers, but I hate the increasingly common website designs that are all big icons, such as you get finding a cruise on the new site. Great for someone using their finger and flipping through pages. Lousy for those of us scrolling interminably with a mouse. I'd much prefer an old fashioned list to these big squares.

[amyh13]

There is nothing on my screen that says "more options" Hoping this is all a glitch that they will fix!

 

There isn't a "show other options" for me either in chrome. And I can't get it to work at all in IE.

[deliver42]

I booked a cruise on the Magic for 2018, and with Edge, I was able to pick from several cabis, which were green. I just hit the cabin, and the choice was immediately given.

[Texas Skip]

So what's probably happening is that they're doing some A-B testing of the website changes. This is a pretty common thing, basically some people will see one version of the website, and others will see a different one. After running the experiment for a length of time, they'll look and see what percentage of people booked with different options enabled or disabled.

[undercat]

So what's probably happening is that they're doing some A-B testing of the website changes. This is a pretty common thing, basically some people will see one version of the website, and others will see a different one. After running the experiment for a length of time, they'll look and see what percentage of people booked with different options enabled or disabled.

 

 

This makes sense.

 

I used a different computer and the Chrome browser today for a mock booking, and I was assigned a cabin with no option to change or view other cabins. I don't like that non-option at all. At least Royal's auto assignment still lets you view deck plans and select a different cabin. If the goal is to make it easy for newbies, without alienating the experienced cruisers, Royal's approach is a good compromise. If the no-choice Carnival version wins, I foresee more telephone bookings, longer wait times on hold for a representative, or more people turning to travel agents rather than dealing with Carnival phone reps.

 

Personally I'd resort to the book-and-change. Book what they're assigning me (if I "must" book at all) then call afterwards to switch cabins and get what I really want. Still inconvenient, though.

Edited March 8, 2016 by undercat

[13cheermom]

Finally just gave up and loaded Firefox to get the listing with all cabins available rather than just one. Wish they would hurry and get this straight and realize not having the options to choose will result in more work for them in the long run.