Selecting My Cabin on HAL

[ASolosailer]

I need help. When I am attempting to plan my own cruise on a HAL ship, I can not locate the screen that allows me to choose a specific cabin, i.e. Deck 8 Cabin VA8095.  It just tells me my cabin details will be given to me before I sail.  On Royal Caribbean, I am allowed to select a specific cabin so i know where I will be on the ship.  Does anyone know how I can select a specific cabin on HAL ship BEFORE I am asked to pay for it?????  Thank you.

[DaveOKC]

Did you book a Guarantee rate?  If so, you cannot pick your cabin.

 

[jayhawk66]

When you are on the screen that shows that they will select your cabin select “change my room” and then you will have the option to pick the room that you want.

[Mary229]

Some fares on HAL are automatically guarantees.  Right now the Have it All sale allows to select but if you pick the lower rate you cannot select.  Also if you are doing a segment of a longer cruise you will not be able to select.   That said, HAL really should have a better website for reservations, it is not easy.

[KirkNC]

It sounds like you are booking a guarantee cabin.

[Mosaic]

Try a dummy booking online, there will be a dialog box that pops up giving you a choose of some rooms---choose your own---or let them select.  Then just do not finish the booking.  They do not show all available choices, but do give exact room numbers....

[oaktreerb]

4 hours ago, ASolosailer said:

I need help. When I am attempting to plan my own cruise on a HAL ship, I can not locate the screen that allows me to choose a specific cabin, i.e. Deck 8 Cabin VA8095.  It just tells me my cabin details will be given to me before I sail.  On Royal Caribbean, I am allowed to select a specific cabin so i know where I will be on the ship.  Does anyone know how I can select a specific cabin on HAL ship BEFORE I am asked to pay for it?????  Thank you.

Choose your category, stateroom, change stateroom, select, select new room, next step, next step to get deck #’s.  The deck #’s offer stateroom numbers by forward, midship, aft.  Toggle through  save changes, next step, previous step.  It is not easy and it takes a lot of practice to master.  The page assumes that you will want an inside guarantee which is really frustrating.  Even when you select a Neptune Suite it will assume you want a guarantee and will offer a room number but that number is just a placeholder,  You can see what is available but only 10 staterooms in the category.  There are plenty of available staterooms  available but they will only show you 10.  You can choose a stateroom just for fun to see how it works.  You will pay more for choosing a specific stateroom.

 

Take a look at the deck plans, decide which stateroom you want and call the HAL reservations desk to see if it is available.  I did this yesterday.  The stateroom I wanted was not offered onscreen but it was available.

 

Good luck.  Do not finish the booking by giving them a credit card number unless you are sure you know what you are doing and want to book it.  I place my bookings with a live body at HAL so that I know exactly what to expect.  

[oaktreerb]

On the HAL website choose THE EXPERIENCE,  Choose your SHIP,  choose VIEW SHIP DETAILS, choose DECK PLANS.  That will give you the layout of each deck.  VA8095 on the Eurodam is under the Lido.

[PSR]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

Take a look at the deck plans, decide which stateroom you want and call the HAL reservations desk to see if it is available.  I did this yesterday.  The stateroom I wanted was not offered onscreen but it was available.

 If you decide to pick an exact cabin on HAL's site, you can check the exact one you want (even if it's not grayed as available) by entering it's number in the box at the bottom left on the selection page (I think it says something like "type in cabin number" or something like that). If it is no longer available, it will say "not available". If it IS available, the room number will show in the cabin number area and you can proceed with booking online, or not, your choice.

[Djptcp]

Change My Room is what I use to book a specific cabin. Easy to do. You will see it when you see the pricing page - it's on the left.

[Sea42]

I find it easier to look at 3rd party sites. Many will show you the deck plans with specific cabins that are available on each deck. Much easier for me. You can still book through HAL, but it will take much less time to see if what you want is available.

[KroozNut]

On 1/7/2021 at 10:45 AM, Mary229 said:

Also if you are doing a segment of a longer cruise you will not be able to select.

 

We are on a segment of a longer sailing and were able to select the specific cabin we wanted.

[Mary229]

5 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

We are on a segment of a longer sailing and were able to select the specific cabin we wanted.

Not any more. I was also on one in 2016 but some time since then they changed it.  I even called and asked if I waited to later to book and was told unless it was an upsell offer I would not be able to select my cabin.  Of course on those long cruises all of the suites and balconies sell out immediately and the thought of being assigned to an OV or Inside randomly (for 35 days) was too scary for me.  

Edited January 9, 2021 by Mary229

[rodndonna]

On 1/7/2021 at 5:55 PM, oaktreerb said:

On the HAL website choose THE EXPERIENCE,  Choose your SHIP,  choose VIEW SHIP DETAILS, choose DECK PLANS.  That will give you the layout of each deck

  

OMG!!! New to  HAL and have been gripping about my not being able to research the ship in more detail - somehow clicking the EXPERIENCE button was not intuitive to me. Thanks!

[AV8rix]

5 hours ago, rodndonna said:

  

OMG!!! New to  HAL and have been gripping about my not being able to research the ship in more detail - somehow clicking the EXPERIENCE button was not intuitive to me. Thanks!

IMO the reworked site is not intuitive to ANYONE -- and I'm a regular HAL cruiser.

[VMax1700]

5 hours ago, rodndonna said:

  

OMG!!! New to  HAL and have been gripping about my not being able to research the ship in more detail - somehow clicking the EXPERIENCE button was not intuitive to me. Thanks!

Intuitive is not in the lexicon of HAL website errrrrr Developers (I use that word advisedly)!

[Cruise Suzy]

I take a more obvious route to get the deck plan PDFs - there are actually 2 ways.

 

From the Homepage, scroll down to the picture of Niew Amsterdam (or whichever one is currently shown) where it says "Find your ship". From there select the ship you want and then "View ship details". The deck plans, including PDF, are at the bottom.

 

Or choose "Our ships" at the bottom of the Homepage and proceed as above.

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, Av8rix said:

IMO the reworked site is not intuitive to ANYONE -- and I'm a regular HAL cruiser.

I think my problem is that when I research the holiday - I pick an itinerary and then drill within that to get all the details. However, when you do that, it just provides a bit of an overview of the ship, but no links to the details of the ship. 

 

I actually would call this a 'shortcoming'  in their website design, but will not let it alter my opinion of HAL since I have yet to sail with them (-:

 

 

[KroozNut]

9 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Not any more. I was also on one in 2016 but some time since then they changed it.  I even called and asked if I waited to later to book and was told unless it was an upsell offer I would not be able to select my cabin.  Of course on those long cruises all of the suites and balconies sell out immediately and the thought of being assigned to an OV or Inside randomly (for 35 days) was too scary for me.  

 

This is a recent, current booking for an Apr '22 sailing on a smaller segment of a longer itinerary in which I was able to select a specific cabin at time of booking.

 

 

[Mary229]

56 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

This is a recent, current booking for an Apr '22 sailing on a smaller segment of a longer itinerary in which I was able to select a specific cabin at time of booking.

 

 

I tried for Buenos Aires to FLL Winter 2022 world cruise segment, I tried online, I called and my agent called and there is no option.  Perhaps it is cruise specific but we were both told exactly the same thing that passengers on segments can no longer select the room.  Maybe I will try again but I can't see being stuck in a really bad room for 35 days.

[KroozNut]

55 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I tried for Buenos Aires to FLL Winter 2022 world cruise segment, I tried online, I called and my agent called and there is no option.  Perhaps it is cruise specific but we were both told exactly the same thing that passengers on segments can no longer select the room.  Maybe I will try again but I can't see being stuck in a really bad room for 35 days.

 

You're right, it may be cruise specific; and/or dependent on which segment of which cruise.

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I tried for Buenos Aires to FLL Winter 2022 world cruise segment, I tried online, I called and my agent called and there is no option.  Perhaps it is cruise specific but we were both told exactly the same thing that passengers on segments can no longer select the room.  Maybe I will try again but I can't see being stuck in a really bad room for 35 days.

I think you are confronting a new reality.  Cruise lines (not just HAL) want to preserve cabins for those booking the longest segments or full cruise.  They get precedence (which is only right) so that they can have the same cabin throughout a long voyage.  In order to accommodate those folks, those of us booking shorter segments must often settle for a category guarantee until much closer to the cruise.  As the cruise date becomes closer the line might open up cabin selection if they think that there is no longer much interest in folks booking the really long segments.  

 

Does a guarantee mean you get stuck in a bad cabin?  Perhaps.  But our experience with guarantees has been generally pretty good because folks that have decent cabins are often moved due to upsells and upgrades.  But it is true that a category guarantee is like rolling the dice.  Pick a category that does not have any really lousy cabins and it is not a problem.  But lets be really honest with ourselves.  It makes no sense for a cruise line to give early choices to those booking shorter segments.

 

Hank 

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

I think you are confronting a new reality.  Cruise lines (not just HAL) want to preserve cabins for those booking the longest segments or full cruise.  They get precedence (which is only right) so that they can have the same cabin throughout a long voyage.  In order to accommodate those folks, those of us booking shorter segments must often settle for a category guarantee until much closer to the cruise.  As the cruise date becomes closer the line might open up cabin selection if they think that there is no longer much interest in folks booking the really long segments.  

 

Does a guarantee mean you get stuck in a bad cabin?  Perhaps.  But our experience with guarantees has been generally pretty good because folks that have decent cabins are often moved due to upsells and upgrades.  But it is true that a category guarantee is like rolling the dice.  Pick a category that does not have any really lousy cabins and it is not a problem.  But lets be really honest with ourselves.  It makes no sense for a cruise line to give early choices to those booking shorter segments.

 

Hank 

I understand that but was disheartened to be confronted with the reality.  I can wait. 

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

It makes no sense for a cruise line to give early choices to those booking shorter segments.

 

 

 

It may indeed make no sense, but as I mentioned, I was able to do just that for my next sailing. So there apparently are exceptions.. and I'm not complaining. 🙂

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

It may indeed make no sense, but as I mentioned, I was able to do just that for my next sailing. So there apparently are exceptions.. and I'm not complaining. 🙂

We have also been able to do it on shorter segments.  But the number of cabins allocated for those segments is very limited (especially when booking far in advance).    We have booked some shorter segments of Grand Cruises when we could only get a guarantee at the time we booked.   Later on in the booking process cabins would be released for the shorter segments although we sometimes are content to stick with guarantees which often gets us better cabins then if we had chosen from the available inventory.

 

Hank