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Booking Hotel though RCL vs on your own


BarbC

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We will be doing an Alaskan cruise in Aug 2020 leaving from Seattle.  Our travel agent looked into booking us a hotel room though our cruise package, my question is which is better to run it though RCL or just do it on our own.  If we book though RCL they provide transportation to the ship but not if we book it.  Can anyone give me their thoughts or experience on these two options

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We have never tried it, because we get reward points for staying at certain hotels. Taxi to the pier is $40, no matter where you are picked up in Seattle. If you book through RCI, do you get any choice in the hotel or room? Is their price the same as you would pay for booking the same hotel? We always book our own. We prefer king size beds. If we plan on being in the room more than overnight, we like a mini frig and microwave. Make sure you know exactly what RCI is offering. 

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40 minutes ago, BarbC said:

We will be doing an Alaskan cruise in Aug 2020 leaving from Seattle.  Our travel agent looked into booking us a hotel room though our cruise package, my question is which is better to run it though RCL or just do it on our own.  If we book though RCL they provide transportation to the ship but not if we book it.  Can anyone give me their thoughts or experience on these two options

I would first check RCCL's pricing and then I would do the leg work on my own. Most of the time, you will find a better pricing than what RCCL offers and even a better hotel. If transportation is a major factor, keep in mind that RCCL's hotel pricing includes it. Just add what the round-trip transportation ONLY would be from RCCL to your own research and decide. I'm sure a simple Uber, Lyft or taxi can match it or give you a better pricing.

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I have not booked a hotel through RC but did cruise out of Seattle last August.  The hotel options are not that close to the pier.  We ended up settling on Marriott Waterfront and really enjoyed it.  They have a shuttle sign up when you check in and it was definitely a popular pre cruise hotel given how busy that shuttle was!  I think it was $15 per person but I don't remember.  We were a large enough group that it made more sense to book a private transfer.  I would highly recommend Marriott Waterfront, I did manage to book a gov rate at about $250 I think....  Book early too!  Also if you happen to be driving to Seattle, I found really cheap parking close by to the hotel by using the Clipper parking lot (passenger Ferry between Victoria and Seattle).

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Thank you for all the quick responses.  I have started looking on our own but wasn't sure what the charge would be for transportation to the ship.  Though RCL they give you 3 hotels to chose from each with a different price for each.  It does include the transport fee to the ship in the price.

      Courtyard Seattle Southcenter - $182.13 per person per night

       Double Tree Seattle Airport - $168.54 per person per night

       Fairmont Olympic - $287.80 per person per night

 

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38 minutes ago, BarbC said:

Thank you for all the quick responses.  I have started looking on our own but wasn't sure what the charge would be for transportation to the ship.  Though RCL they give you 3 hotels to chose from each with a different price for each.  It does include the transport fee to the ship in the price.

      Courtyard Seattle Southcenter - $182.13 per person per night

       Double Tree Seattle Airport - $168.54 per person per night

       Fairmont Olympic - $287.80 per person per night

 

Based on my experience last year, those prices are great deals even it didn't include transportation!  I am jealous and would probably splurge on the Fairmont for both location and a bit of luxury!

 

Edit:  I did not read that very well.  Per person makes a big difference. I would continue to look on your own.  Sorry I got little excited there!

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43 minutes ago, BarbC said:

Thank you for all the quick responses.  I have started looking on our own but wasn't sure what the charge would be for transportation to the ship.  Though RCL they give you 3 hotels to chose from each with a different price for each.  It does include the transport fee to the ship in the price.

      Courtyard Seattle Southcenter - $182.13 per person per night

       Double Tree Seattle Airport - $168.54 per person per night

       Fairmont Olympic - $287.80 per person per night

 

I only checked the Courtyard, but if it is truly "Per person, per night" that is high, on Marriott's web sight (I booked a fictitious weekend trip in August) it is $185 per night for 2 adults.

If that is merely the price per night it is good.

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Those are good hotel prices.  We booked our Seattle hotel for June a few months ago and couldn't find anything in the area we wanted to be under $265 (so we paid $265, lol) and will be spending a lot of time walking and with an Uber (we're going in a couple of days early to have some fun in Seattle, our favorite town, and to let the DH's flying anxiety meds wear off (he doesn't remember anything that happens within the first about 24 hours after he takes them).

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Just now, tiny260 said:

I think if you go to the bottom of the Royal site and look for Air2sea and click on it, I think the hotels are part of that page.

I know airfare and ground transportation are.

Thanks!  I want to look into it for future cruises.  We found such a fun hotel in Seattle that I wouldn't dream of giving it up, but there are future cruises (at least that's the plan ... crossing fingers).

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4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I didn't even know that Royal COULD book a hotel room for you !  I know they do airfare but didn't realize they would be a hotel.  Learn something new every day !

That makes two of us!  Obviously we need to cruise more Raye!  For more experience lol.

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In downtown Seattle specifically, I've had excellent results using Hotwire. Does that prove I'm old?? Haha! Unless your primary concern is point accumulation at a specific hotel chain, since it's the whole "don't know where until you book" thing. Otherwise, there really are no bad locations as far as getting around -- they're pretty much the same.

I find the prices through Royal to be 35-60% higher (since it's the whole per person thing) than doing the hotel on your own. It's only worth it if transportation to the ship is overly expensive when purchased separately.

Just my two cents!

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1 hour ago, KristiZ said:

In downtown Seattle specifically, I've had excellent results using Hotwire. Does that prove I'm old?? Haha! Unless your primary concern is point accumulation at a specific hotel chain, since it's the whole "don't know where until you book" thing. Otherwise, there really are no bad locations as far as getting around -- they're pretty much the same.

I find the prices through Royal to be 35-60% higher (since it's the whole per person thing) than doing the hotel on your own. It's only worth it if transportation to the ship is overly expensive when purchased separately.

Just my two cents!

HotWire didn't work for me in Seattle because I couldn't narrow down the area of search to where we wanted to stay, or I would have gone that route.

oops, that was Priceline. I didn't try HotWire.

 

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27 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

HotWire didn't work for me in Seattle because I couldn't narrow down the area of search to where we wanted to stay, or I would have gone that route.

oops, that was Priceline. I didn't try HotWire.

 

Hotwire's pretty good about letting you narrow the neighborhoods -- for example I would choose "Downtown" and "Seattle Center" if I was looking for a pre-cruise place.

For the OP, Hotwire is not so great for cheap rates a year out, but as you get closer I'd definitely consider it!

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Our travel agent was the one who let us know about booking though RCL.  Will have to check out the hotwire when it gets closer to our sailing date.  I will check to see if we go ahead and book though RCL if we can cancel should I find a better deal as time gets closer.   Does anyone know about the average cost for transportation to the ship from a hotel

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