Is it usual to not be able to choose your cabin on Princess?

[MMDown Under]

My friend wanted to do a cruise on Princess to Fiji but couldn't choose her own cabin.  Is this usual? She is now doing cruise from Sydney to Noumea and Vanuatu on Royal Caribbean. 

[Muffinz]

if you're booking online direct with Princess it can sometimes show there are no cabins available - as many are bought up by Travel Agents, so your friend was probably best to contact a T/A and ask about availability 

[MMDown Under]

5 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

if you're booking online direct with Princess it can sometimes show there are no cabins available - as many are bought up by Travel Agents, so your friend was probably best to contact a T/A and ask about availability 

 

5 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

She did try to book through TAs.  But not possible.

 

[MicCanberra]

It really depends on the fare you choose.

[cruiser3775]

Maybe your friend chose a "guaranteed cabin" when he/she booked?  When you do that, you don't get to choose a specific cabin, just the category of cabin eg. inside, balcony etc. When a cruise is nearly fully booked, guaranteed cabins show up as the only choice left, in many cases.

Here is a clear explanation of what guaranteed cabins are, and the advantages and disadvantages.

www.sophisticatedtravel.com/what-is-a-guaranteed-cabin-or-stateroom-its-a-gamble/

[MMDown Under]

38 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It really depends on the fare you choose.

it was to celebrate a special birthday so don't think price was an issue.

[MMDown Under]

2 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Maybe your friend chose a "guaranteed cabin" when he/she booked?  When you do that, you don't get to choose a specific cabin, just the category of cabin eg. inside, balcony etc. When a cruise is nearly fully booked, guaranteed cabins show up as the only choice left, in many cases.

Here is a clear explanation of what guaranteed cabins are, and the advantages and disadvantages.

www.sophisticatedtravel.com/what-is-a-guaranteed-cabin-or-stateroom-its-a-gamble/

no, not a guarantee cabin, she just couldn't book any cabin of her choice,

[OzKiwiJJ]

How close to the sail date was she trying to book? Some itineraries book out well in advance and then there may only be guarantee cabins available.

 

Or if she clicked the wrong button at the start of the booking ie "Allow Princess to choose" rather than "Choose my own cabin" she wouldn't have been given the option to choose a cabin.

[Jean C]

I must admit I find it very annoying that you can't always select your own specific cabin on Princess - if that'sthe case, I go elsewhere.

 

Even if you've chosen to pay the slightly higher fare to select your own cabin, you select your room type, select "choose a room now", select location and go through what's available on each deck, only to get a message that Princess don't currently have any rooms available to select in this location and if you select the option they will guarantee a stateroom in this or a comparable location prior to sailing.

 

This happens many, many months prior to sailing, not just for last minute bookings, for example, for a sailing in March 2026 (not the world cruise).

[cruiser3775]

Sometimes the cruise specialist travel agents have a block of cabins available that booking direct with the cruise line does not show.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Jean C said:

I must admit I find it very annoying that you can't always select your own specific cabin on Princess - if that'sthe case, I go elsewhere.

 

Even if you've chosen to pay the slightly higher fare to select your own cabin, you select your room type, select "choose a room now", select location and go through what's available on each deck, only to get a message that Princess don't currently have any rooms available to select in this location and if you select the option they will guarantee a stateroom in this or a comparable location prior to sailing.

 

This happens many, many months prior to sailing, not just for last minute bookings, for example, for a sailing in March 2026 (not the world cruise).

Some cruises really do book out that early. I'd been watching the Feb 2025 Diamond repositioning cruise up to Tokyo for a couple of months with no sign of an available balcony cabin to choose. I rang my Princess Planner just on the off chance and she found one cabin that had just become available. I was very lucky.

[Jean C]

16 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Some cruises really do book out that early. I'd been watching the Feb 2025 Diamond repositioning cruise up to Tokyo for a couple of months with no sign of an available balcony cabin to choose. I rang my Princess Planner just on the off chance and she found one cabin that had just become available. I was very lucky.

I think part of the problem is when Princess sells cruises with multiple embarkation and disembarkation ports. For example, for the 2026 cruise you can't choose a specific cabin from Auckland while there are many to choose from Sydney. They only allocate a few for Auckland and I suppose they juggle allocations later 😔 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Most of the time I have been able to choose my own cabin as I book up to a year in advance but when its closer to sailing like 3 or 4 months I've booked a reserve guarantee cabin a few times. That way I don't end up in an "F" class cabin. They are in the worst places. "E" and above a fine. I've been right at the front, down the back and anywhere in between, upstairs, downstairs, all good. When I choose my own I tend to go for aft, mid aft. I like to feel the boat move a bit.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

it was to celebrate a special birthday so don't think price was an issue.

Price has nothing to do with what I said, there are 2 fares, one with Princess allocation,  one with you picking a cabin, this is different to just getting a guarantee cabin and apart from the top end suites, are available in any type of cabin.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Or if she clicked the wrong button at the start of the booking ie "Allow Princess to choose" rather than "Choose my own cabin" she wouldn't have been given the option to choose a cabin.

This is what I was referring to,

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Jean C said:

I think part of the problem is when Princess sells cruises with multiple embarkation and disembarkation ports. For example, for the 2026 cruise you can't choose a specific cabin from Auckland while there are many to choose from Sydney. They only allocate a few for Auckland and I suppose they juggle allocations later 😔 

Yes, that is part of the problem and that is easily checked by seeing if there are cabins available from the other embarkation ports. But at least Princess does offer the option of multiple embarkation ports where they can. I don't think other cruise lines do that very often if at all.

[MMDown Under]

Checked wth my friend.  She tried online and with a TA.  Online said cabins will be allocated and would be issued just prior to sailing.  Then she checked with a friend TA who said that is how Princess does bookings.  So she selected Royal Caribbean as she could pick her cabin.  

[cruiser3775]

That's not my experience with Princess. I have always been able to book a specific cabin.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Checked wth my friend.  She tried online and with a TA.  Online said cabins will be allocated and would be issued just prior to sailing.  Then she checked with a friend TA who said that is how Princess does bookings.  So she selected Royal Caribbean as she could pick her cabin.  

The TA doesn't know what s/he is talking about.

 

We've always chosen our cabin on all our Princess cruises.

[Jean C]

I've always chosen a cabin number too, however I have to book well in advance. I wish Princess would show all available cabins rather than hedging their bets and saying they guarantee a room in the selected or a comparable location.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Jean C said:

I've always chosen a cabin number too, however I have to book well in advance. I wish Princess would show all available cabins rather than hedging their bets and saying they guarantee a room in the selected or a comparable location.

It's not quite that simple as just holding back cabins for guarantees. Often they leave as many cabins open for selection until they reach a "magic" number of selected cabins plus guaranteed cabins. At this point they might still offer that category of cabin as a guarantee as they know there will be cancellations prior to the start of the cruise. Often a category available as a guarantee may only have one nominal cabin available and once that guarantee is booked that category becomes sold out. Remember the guarantee is for that cabin category or better so they have a bit of leeway there.

[Jean C]

With respect, the problem for people who prefer to choose a cabin rather than have one allocated, is that they may end up in a "better" or, as Princess word it "comparable", location that isn't desirable to the passenger, ie starboard side when scenic cruising or the sun/shade is predominantly on port side, maybe an uncovered balcony when you want civered, or more central but under the pool deck or a walking/jogging track, over the theatre or a noisy bar, or by a lift lobby where people gather and natter at all hours, under a seawalk or at the rear of the ship with early morning anchor noises that they may not appreciate.

 

I appreciate that not everyone is as picky but I for one would only take "pot luck" if the fare was super cheap making the holiday a real bargain not to be missed. Just my view.

Edited May 3 by Jean C

[Jean C]

And  while I'm on a roll, I fully understand the traditional guarantee cabin, I just don't like the new fangled option to choose your own cabin, usually for a fee, only to have Princess say there are none to select in that location and they guarantee you a cabin there or similar 🙁

[Aussieflyer]

20 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

That's not my experience with Princess. I have always been able to book a specific cabin.

I have found on quite a few occasions though that when I select Choose My Own Cabin, there is a message back for numerous decks, ship locations, categories that no cabins are available and Princess will allocate one later. As I like to choose my cabin location I have never accepted this and either hunt for a different deck/location/category or decide not to do that cruise at all.

There is also an issue with booking solo fares with some (especially shorter cruises) not allowing solo bookings (supposedly they allocate a certain number for solos only). It is very annoying to go through the whole online booking process and then get an error message at the end. This was confirmed by the Princess planner who rang me about some other bookings.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Jean C said:

And  while I'm on a roll, I fully understand the traditional guarantee cabin, I just don't like the new fangled option to choose your own cabin, usually for a fee, only to have Princess say there are none to select in that location and they guarantee you a cabin there or similar 🙁

It's not really a fee. In some cases they don't offer the lowest category, eg BF, for selection. The cabins you can select start with the BE category so show as a slightly higher price. This is stupid, IMHO, as some people actually want to select BF cabins. 

 

And when there are only a few cabins in the next available category to select they may get snapped up quickly so the fare for selecting is then the next highest category.