Room

[tlp517]

I'm sorry for posting here. I tried looking at cabin info page, but all it returned was for multiple cruise ships and decks(and yes, I clicked on RC forum). Can anyone post a link for the cabin info? I had interior guarantee and just found out I was put on deck 3. Horrible? Or do I need to put up high bid on royal up? I bid other interiors, obviously denied, but saw a bunch of open balcony rooms. I think bids started at $100p/p for those.

[firefly333]

We dont even know what ship you are on. Lol it's a cabin, not a room.

 

Deck 3 isnt horrible, might be a longer walk. If there are cabins open the exact same category, you can usually get moved to another, like 4v to 4v... on another deck. If that's what you prefer.

[tlp517]

5 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

We dont even know what ship you are on. Lol it's a cabin, not a room.

 

Deck 3 isnt horrible, might be a longer walk. If there are cabins open the exact same category, you can usually get moved to another, like 4v to 4v... on another deck. If that's what you prefer.

Sorry, I thought I added that. Its Freedom of the Seas. I've only traveled on Mariner and Navigator my past 4 cruises.  Freedom is new to me

[Another_Critic]

8 minutes ago, tlp517 said:

Sorry, I thought I added that. Its Freedom of the Seas. I've only traveled on Mariner and Navigator my past 4 cruises.  Freedom is new to me

 

Freedom class (Independence, Liberty, Freedom) and Voyager class (Mariner, Navigator, Adventure, Explorer, Voyager) are very similar design; Freedom class is slightly longer.

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Another_Critic

[firefly333]

11 minutes ago, tlp517 said:

Sorry, I thought I added that. Its Freedom of the Seas. I've only traveled on Mariner and Navigator my past 4 cruises.  Freedom is new to me

The biggest difference for me was the pizza place, sorrentos is separate from the cafe. Still in the promenade but it's down a ways. A extra place to grab a drink or snack. 

[Tree_skier]

Inside cabins are inside cabins. Close the door and they all look the same.  Except for proximity to the elevators I don't know it makes much difference. I'm sure you will be fine.

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, tlp517 said:

I bid other interiors, obviously denied, but saw a bunch of open balcony rooms.

??? Royal initial denials usually come 2-3 days out from sailing and it's for all categories.

 

Biker, who would never bid on the same major cabin category.

Edited July 15, 2023 by Biker19

[OCSC Mike]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Deck 3 isnt horrible, might be a longer walk. If there are cabins open the exact same category, you can usually get moved to another, like 4v to 4v... on another deck. If that's what you prefer.

Location is subjective. If you don’t want to be on deck 3, take the above advice and switch to another available cabin in the same category if there are any (assuming you booked from the US, some other countries don’t allow it). Call RC if you booked direct or have your TA do it if you used one.

 

Personally, I wouldn’t want to be on deck 3. I prefer to be somewhere in between the pool deck & promenade so it’s not a bad walk up or down to the places I frequent, I try to avoid elevators when possible. Plenty of others may like deck 3 though.

Edited July 15, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[jeh10641]

I prefer inside, low deck, midship. Never used a guaranteed class. Distance is not a factor for us. We are both in our 80s but walking is good. Rarely use the stairs unless it is only a deck or two.  Do not want to be located under or above public spaces that have long hours of use. Prefer a cabin with cabins above, below, next to and across the hallway (companionway). I have heard from many sources that guaranteed cabins are usually those that most cruisers would not willingly choose.

 

Jim

[OCSC Mike]

27 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

I have heard from many sources that guaranteed cabins are usually those that most cruisers would not willingly choose.

 

Having purchased many GTY's, I have multiple issues with this notion. I would never willingly choose yours based on your description. Everyone has their own preferences so not sure how you determine which cabins "most cruisers would not willingly choose."

 

I guess RC could use data gathered from which cabins are picked the least but, again, that doesn't mean the person who chose the GTY wouldn't have chosen a particular cabin.

 

Perhaps more importantly, GTY's make the most sense if you don't care a great deal about location, so that demographic shouldn't mind all that much what they get.

 

As with most things, different strokes...

Edited July 16, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[Another_Critic]

49 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

I have heard from many sources that guaranteed cabins are usually those that most cruisers would not willingly choose.

 

I don't recall ever getting an undesirable cabin with any of my [19 and counting] guarantee bookings, but I'm not particular with my cabin location.  I save money with GTYs, plus I've gotten some nice upgrades.  YMMV.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Another_Critic

[smokeybandit]

I would imagine most people booking have no idea about the desirableness of the cabin they pick. They're more likely just to look at a deck plan and pick a room based on location to something important to them.

[Another_Critic]

On several occasions where there were only a few "wouldn't be my first pick" cabins available, I've actually paid a few dollars more and booked a guarantee.  Sometimes I assigned "wouldn't be my first pick", and other times I've been assigned a "better" cabin (location and/or category). 

[jeh10641]

19 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Having purchased many GTY's, I have multiple issues with this notion. I would never willingly choose yours based on your description. Everyone has their own preferences so not sure how you determine which cabins "most cruisers would not willingly choose."

 

I guess RC could use data gathered from which cabins are picked the least but, again, that doesn't mean the person who chose the GTY wouldn't have chosen a particular cabin.

 

Perhaps more importantly, GTY's make the most sense if you don't care a great deal about location, so that demographic shouldn't mind all that much what they get.

 

As with most things, different strokes...

Hi, Mike,

I am only reporting on what I have heard from a lot of You Tube cruise bloggers/vloggers. My preference is to choose my cabin with the assistance of my travel agent. As I mentioned, I prefer midship, lower deck, inside but will venture into other areas based on value. What the bloggers say is that guaranty cabins tend to be either forward or aft, upper deck, obstructed, noisy, etc. I am happy that you like the guaranty cabins. Just not my thing. To each his own. Happy travels.

Jim

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

I am happy that you like the guaranty cabins. Just not my thing. To each his own. Happy travels.

 

Agreed and same to you.

 

I was just making a general point that "less desirable" is subjective. You go out of your way to choose a location I find undesirable.

 

And FWIW, once prices went nuts, I pivoted away from GTY's and started booking TA group rates farther in advance... so I pick our cabin now, and we've been picking a location you would likely find undesirable.

 

It's definitely "to each his own." There's no right or wrong way to cruise. We all like what we like.

[jeh10641]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Agreed and same to you.

 

I was just making a general point that "less desirable" is subjective. You go out of your way to choose a location I find undesirable.

 

And FWIW, once prices went nuts, I pivoted away from GTY's and started booking TA group rates farther in advance... so I pick our cabin now, and we've been picking a location you would likely find undesirable.

 

It's definitely "to each his own." There's no right or wrong way to cruise. We all like what we like.

When and where do you cruise next? We are onboard on October 15. Prices HAVE been really crazy. I booked this trip in April 2022. I have seen my cabin price more than double since then before dropping slightly.

Royal's stock price has nearly tripled in the same period! Should have bought some.

 

Jim 

[OCSC Mike]

12 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

When and where do you cruise next?

 

Wonder in 3/24, 6/24, 7/24, and 3/25 (spring break and summer when teacher wife is off). It's in my signature if you don't have them hidden.

 

I booked them all in the past few months. The March prices weren't bad in the current climate but everything is relative. June wasn't awful. July was a bit pricey. We're used to Summer prices but I used to still find last minute deals since we live an hour from PC (hence all the Wonder cruises) but they seem to be few and far between now; that's why I switched gears. I was ignorant of TA group rates until not that long ago but, again, I also didn't need them.

 

All that said, all those 2024 cruises are insanely more expensive than what we paid if I mock book them now on the RC site.

Edited July 17, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[jeh10641]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Wonder in 3/24, 6/24, 7/24, and 3/25 (spring break and summer when teacher wife is off). It's in my signature if you don't have them hidden.

 

I booked them all in the past few months. The March prices weren't bad in the current climate but everything is relative. June wasn't awful. July was a bit pricey. We're used to Summer prices but I used to still find last minute deals since we live an hour from PC (hence all the Wonder cruises) but they seem to be few and far between now; that's why I switched gears. I was ignorant of TA group rates until not that long ago but, again, I also didn't need them.

 

All that said, all those 2024 cruises are insanely more expensive than what we paid if I mock book them now on the RC site.

Hi, Mike,

I live near Seattle so local cruises are somewhat limited. I traveled to Alaska for over twenty years when I was working for book publishers and got to visit a lot more than the cruise ports. My wife never wanted to travel there when I was being paid to go. Now she wants to go and I have to pay!

 

If you look at my expanded signature, you can see I began to cruise (albeit sporadically) in 1959.

 

After my retirement in 2011, our travels expanded for a couple of reasons. First, our parents who had retired to SE Florida had all passed away freeing up vacation time. And I wanted to see places I had been reading about for most of my adult life.

 

As you might imagine, ports are very important to me. I try not to duplicate any unless I missed something because of time constraints. When we take a transatlantic cruise, we prefer East to West so that adds up to two or three weeks of additional travel in Europe. October will be our third since 2008. From Barcelona (2008), Rome (2016) and Southampton (2023).

 

Thanks for all the great comments. I love "talking" to you.

Jim

[OCSC Mike]

32 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

As you might imagine, ports are very important to me. I try not to duplicate any unless I missed something because of time constraints.

 

Yep, that makes sense. Other than our one special 18-day land/sea trip to Alaska 2018 (which was amazing but cost a small fortune compared to 7-nights in the Caribbean), we're obviously content with our one hour drive to bounce around the Caribbean for now. We've also got a ways to go until retirement.

 

I'm sure we'll do more interesting cruising someday. Would love to do a TA eventually as long as it's on a large ship.

 

Good talking to you as well.

[jeh10641]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Yep, that makes sense. Other than our one special 18-day land/sea trip to Alaska 2018 (which was amazing but cost a small fortune compared to 7-nights in the Caribbean), we're obviously content with our one hour drive to bounce around the Caribbean for now. We've also got a ways to go until retirement.

 

I'm sure we'll do more interesting cruising someday. Would love to do a TA eventually as long as it's on a large ship.

 

Good talking to you as well.

Hi, Mike,

Sorry it is taking me so long to get back to you but among of my retirement vices is to go out to lunch M-F, talk to friends while there and read a book. There are times I wish we lived in Florida near a cruise port. Mostly though I am glad we do not. Spent many weeks visiting family there and realized we have it pretty good here. Alaska as a cruise destination is fantastic. I would also love to visit Norway fjords. As a family, parents, brother and I, went there in 1962 and visited Bergen, Flam, Stavanger and Oslo. Loved it then, would love it more now.

 

Jim

[OCSC Mike]

44 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

There are times I wish we lived in Florida near a cruise port. Mostly though I am glad we do not.

 

Wife and I grew up in the Philly 'burbs, moved here after college in 2000. Living near PC (and my wife's family) are on the short list of positives I can come up with for living here, lol. I don't blame ya.

[jeh10641]

14 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Wife and I grew up in the Philly 'burbs, moved here after college in 2000. Living near PC (and my wife's family) are on the short list of positives I can come up with for living here, lol. I don't blame ya.

If you ever leave Port Everglades, as the ship exits into the Atlantic, there are two residential towers fronting the beach (port side of the ship) called Point of Americas. My parents lived on the NE corner of Building 1 (the shorter of the two) on the 23rd floor (three down from the top). They lived there until 2000 when my surviving mother moved to a senior complex inland. We used to love to blow the airhorns for arriving and departing cruise ships.

[MandyMooToo]

We prefer inside cabins on decks 2-6 but will book higher decks.  So many people feel like inside cabins are steerage class like we are still sailing on the Titanic but that really isn't the case.  My husband and I are both prone to motion sickness so low and midship is what we shoot for.  The darkened cabin due to no windows or balcony helps with sleep also.  We do try to take the stairs often but if going to the pool deck from our cabin we will take the elevators as I do not have the desire to climb 10+/- decks, ha ha!  That would be the biggest con for us with a low deck but the tradeoff is worth it.  

Edited July 20, 2023 by MandyMooToo

[jeh10641]

18 hours ago, MandyMooToo said:

We prefer inside cabins on decks 2-6 but will book higher decks.  So many people feel like inside cabins are steerage class like we are still sailing on the Titanic but that really isn't the case.  My husband and I are both prone to motion sickness so low and midship is what we shoot for.  The darkened cabin due to no windows or balcony helps with sleep also.  We do try to take the stairs often but if going to the pool deck from our cabin we will take the elevators as I do not have the desire to climb 10+/- decks, ha ha!  That would be the biggest con for us with a low deck but the tradeoff is worth it.  

Hi, MandyMooToo,

I agree with you. I would rather spend the money saved on Inside Cabins on upgraded onboard activities such as shore excursions and specialty dining. If you look hard enough with a good agent, you can find larger inside cabins (not always).

Jim

[KroozNut]

On 7/15/2023 at 3:37 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Location is subjective. I prefer to be somewhere in between the pool deck & promenade so it’s not a bad walk up or down to the places I frequent, I try to avoid elevators when possible.

Walking is healthy, so a good thing... especially on a giant floating buffet. 😁