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Is it possible to change to different cabin once booked?


Ken Edgar

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When I booked our May northbound Alaska cruise, I had the choice to pick from several balcony cabins and I just randomly picked one on the port side but now that I thinking about it, seems we will only have a view of the open ocean for most of the trip and a room on the other side of the ship would probably be better. 

Is this really something to worry about and is it possible still to switch to another open cabin now that its booked?

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1 hour ago, Ken Edgar said:

When I booked our May northbound Alaska cruise, I had the choice to pick from several balcony cabins and I just randomly picked one on the port side but now that I thinking about it, seems we will only have a view of the open ocean for most of the trip and a room on the other side of the ship would probably be better. 

Is this really something to worry about and is it possible still to switch to another open cabin now that its booked?

You can check your cabin at anytime up to your cruise.  My last cruise I changed my cabin 2 days before my cruise.  If you change categories you need to make sure of the price change.

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When we researched it, north bound, starboard, and south bound, port. In reality, I honest do not think it matters and in the inside passage there are views and possible wildlife sightings on both sides. When doing the glaciers, the ship circles around to cater for both sides. Alaska, is amazing and most of the time will be spending on land. When on the ship, dinner, relax, socialise and sleep to get ready for an action packed day on land. If it bothers you, you can change to the same category. Enjoy  

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9 hours ago, Ken Edgar said:

When I booked our May northbound Alaska cruise, I had the choice to pick from several balcony cabins and I just randomly picked one on the port side but now that I thinking about it, seems we will only have a view of the open ocean for most of the trip and a room on the other side of the ship would probably be better. 

Is this really something to worry about and is it possible still to switch to another open cabin now that its booked?

Some of my best Alaskan cruises have been in interior cabins where it really doesn't matter port or starboard.  

Keep in mind when within the inside passage both sides of the ship see land.  When outside of the inside passage the ship will be at least 12 miles away from land, generally a bit farther, so they are in international water and the shops and casinos can open.  Due to the curvature of the coast and ships tending to sail a straight line to reach distant ports like Juneau as quickly as possible there typically is no clear advantage to either side.  Whale sightings  occur everywhere in the open sea on both sides of the ship.  

Just like the myth that you MUST have a balcony to enjoy an Alaska cruise, having sailed to Alaska six times I feel the whole "must be on that side" to be an equal myth that is not going to influence the outcome of an Alaskan cruise experience.  All things being equal if it makes you feel better, book land side so that FOMO doesn't ruin your day. 

Cruise lines have caught on and in some cases charge a premium for that side and in that case you are much better putting that money into better shore excursions.  

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2 hours ago, whitsmom said:

We did the Northbound and saw land on both sides of the inside passage.  We had AT&T cell reception better than at home on that cruise 🤩

LOL, we also had great AT&T reception on that cruise!

Alaska was my first cruise and so I had no clue...ended up with a port balcony and saw tons of wildlife.  Have cruised quite a bit since then, and have changed cabins multiple times.  Sometimes I find a better deal, sometimes I do more research and like a location better.  As long as you are thinking about switching, it's worth it to check prices in other categories.  If by chance they've gone down since you booked, you could always upgrade yourself.  

To me, though, far more important than what side of the ship is what is above or below my cabin.  I prefer other cabins so I am insulated from noise, but some people prefer higher or lower decks to be closer to whatever.  

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9 minutes ago, twangster said:

I pick a cabin location close to the stairs and one deck away from somewhere I can go outside.  One flight of stairs up or down.  

Where would that be on the Radiance?

Have you noticed that Royal has combined the Bridge Cam and the Map Channel into one?  IIRC, they used to be separate.  My stateroom TV was always on the bridge cam to see what was going on outside. Now it’s more map than live cam.

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4 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

Where would that be on the Radiance?

Have you noticed that Royal has combined the Bridge Cam and the Map Channel into one?  IIRC, they used to be separate.  My stateroom TV was always on the bridge cam to see what was going on outside. Now it’s more map than live cam.

That varies by ship.  Some recently still have a dedicated bridge cam.

On Radiance class deck 4 forward close to the forward elevator lobby for access to the exterior promenade deck on 5.  Another location I seek is deck 10 forward.  There are a handful of interior cabins there and then it's one flight of stairs up to the solarium.

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