GTY room assigned & then re-assigned by RCL

[CatB]

Hi, first time cruise with RCL...and first time booking GTY cabin.  I was assigned a room few weeks ago before my sail on Jun 26.  But last night, I got another email with a new room assigned to us (and I never asked them to reassign us).  I prefer the first cabin they assign us, and not really like the one I got now.  I called the customer service and ask about that, and he said because I am booking GTY cabin, even I got a cabin assigned before, it will not be the confirmed cabin until 24 hours before sailing.   Just wondering if anyone have same experience, is this true?! 

Thanks!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

I have never booked a GTY room so can’t comment on your question.  I do hope you are able to enjoy your cruise regardless of the room situation.  

[Moby Dick]

Regardless of how it turns out, as PPPJJ... stated, I hope you enjoy your cruise.  

However, that is the chance you take if you go with a GTY booking.  You accept whatever cabin assignment, within a the category you selected, and Royal has the right to change it at anytime, up to 24 hours before your embarkation.  Sorry!

[CatB]

53 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I have never booked a GTY room so can’t comment on your question.  I do hope you are able to enjoy your cruise regardless of the room situation.  

I hope so too....it just a bit confusing....I thought once they assigned you a room, you are set... apparently not.  Will see how things go.  But thank you for your reply!

[CatB]

28 minutes ago, Suite Snob said:

Regardless of how it turns out, as PPPJJ... stated, I hope you enjoy your cruise.  

However, that is the chance you take if you go with a GTY booking.  You accept whatever cabin assignment, within a the category you selected, and Royal has the right to change it at anytime, up to 24 hours before your embarkation.  Sorry!

Thank you for your reply! I do prepare to be assign with any stateroom.  Just didn't think after they assigned you once, they can re-assign you again and again and again until 24hours before my embarkation.  That's a bit wired to me... But at least now I know what GTY really means...

[WAAAYTOOO]

Even with a GTY, you can call and ask to be moved to another available cabin within your category.  Maybe they could move you back to the original cabin.  You won't know if you don't try !  Good luck and have a great cruise.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Another point about GTY which you will want to remember for your next cruise. The room that gets assigned to you can be anywhere on the ship.  Forward, Aft, lower deck, higher deck, mid-ship, obstructed view…however most of the “optimal” rooms most likely will have been self-chosen.  Therefore what you are assigned may not be in the best location.  I prefer mid-ship or aft (always more aft than forward) and higher decks.  Because of that I will never book with a GTY because if I was assigned a forward lower deck room it would most definitely ruin my cruise.

Back to your point of why did they change your assigned room…because you did not actually choose it…it likely was still “open” to be assigned by a TA or Royal to someone requesting that particular room or location.  GTY is a promise you will receive the type of room you have paid for but it is more of a “last call” type of assignment.  Typically this type of room is not assigned until very close to sail date.

BTW…what ship are you on tomorrow?  Perhaps you can go to Guest Services once onboard to ask if there are any rooms in your category available that you might prefer?
Come back and let us know how your cruise turns out!

[OCSC Mike]

Short answer... when you choose to save $ with a GTY you're taking a gamble. We've done several b/c the cabin isn't very important to us.

I have preferences of where to be on the ship but my cabin location would never "ruin my cruise."

I currently have "unofficial assignments" (using the bar code trick) for 2 halves of a B2B in 3 weeks. I don't like the 1st one at all but I'm perfectly fine with the 2nd one. Hoping to move the 1st one and also have RoyalUp bids for both but if nothing changes, we'll still have a great time as always!

[Moby Dick]

9 hours ago, CatB said:

I hope so too....it just a bit confusing....I thought once they assigned you a room, you are set... apparently not.  Will see how things go.  But thank you for your reply!

Before I posted above I went into Royalcaribbean.com and did a mock reservations.  But, before that I did a FAQ for that subject, and nothing.  Maybe I wasn't using the right search wording but nothing on it.  So, I did the mock reservation/booking and where you chose your cabin and you chose the GTY, it only says that they will chose your room for you.  Nothing really informative about it.  So, I called Royal and that is what they told me, "up to 24 hours before.  I'm sure they have a written policy somewhere to cover their a$$es but I didn't find it.  

[AspiringCruisePlanner]

From the RC Australian site FAQ. Not searchable on the US site.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/what-is-a-guarantee-stateroom-and-how-does-it-work-

At times we may offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed category type (Interior, Oceanview, Balcony or Suite) on your chosen ship and cruise.

However, the exact grade, number and location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the port.

Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. Guests booked in GTY cabins may not be berthed with other travelling parties due to availability. Staterooms allocated may be subject to obstructed views.

[HeWhoWaits]

22 minutes ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you.

Including a reprice even though the GTY rate is less than you paid. Once a stateroom has been assigned, your rate is no longer GTY but the rate for that stateroom. We found this out when the GTY price for our May Ovation cruise became $202 per person lower than what we paid.

[Done]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Short answer... when you choose to save $ with a GTY you're taking a gamble. We've done several b/c the cabin isn't very important to us.

I have preferences of where to be on the ship but my cabin location would never "ruin my cruise."

I currently have "unofficial assignments" (using the bar code trick) for 2 halves of a B2B in 3 weeks. I don't like the 1st one at all but I'm perfectly fine with the 2nd one. Hoping to move the 1st one and also have RoyalUp bids for both but if nothing changes, we'll still have a great time as always!

What I found strange is doing some mock bookings and see GTY staterooms MORE expensive then Choose Your Own.  That makes zero sense to me.

[OCSC Mike]

27 minutes ago, Toby said:

What I found strange is doing some mock bookings and see GTY staterooms MORE expensive then Choose Your Own.  That makes zero sense to me.

It's a (one of many) RC IT glitch. I've seen it multiple times over the years. Definitely makes no sense.

[Moby Dick]

4 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

From the RC Australian site FAQ. Not searchable on the US site.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/what-is-a-guarantee-stateroom-and-how-does-it-work-

At times we may offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed category type (Interior, Oceanview, Balcony or Suite) on your chosen ship and cruise.

However, the exact grade, number and location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the port.

Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. Guests booked in GTY cabins may not be berthed with other travelling parties due to availability. Staterooms allocated may be subject to obstructed views.

That link is to Royal Australia and their system MAY be (a little) different than the U.S. system. 

[CatB]

16 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Even with a GTY, you can call and ask to be moved to another available cabin within your category.  Maybe they could move you back to the original cabin.  You won't know if you don't try !  Good luck and have a great cruise.

Thank you so much for your reply! I have called customer service, didn't get a good CS though, pretty much just explain to me over again what GTY means...totally miss my point.  

[CatB]

16 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Another point about GTY which you will want to remember for your next cruise. The room that gets assigned to you can be anywhere on the ship.  Forward, Aft, lower deck, higher deck, mid-ship, obstructed view…however most of the “optimal” rooms most likely will have been self-chosen.  Therefore what you are assigned may not be in the best location.  I prefer mid-ship or aft (always more aft than forward) and higher decks.  Because of that I will never book with a GTY because if I was assigned a forward lower deck room it would most definitely ruin my cruise.

Back to your point of why did they change your assigned room…because you did not actually choose it…it likely was still “open” to be assigned by a TA or Royal to someone requesting that particular room or location.  GTY is a promise you will receive the type of room you have paid for but it is more of a “last call” type of assignment.  Typically this type of room is not assigned until very close to sail date.

BTW…what ship are you on tomorrow?  Perhaps you can go to Guest Services once onboard to ask if there are any rooms in your category available that you might prefer?
Come back and let us know how your cruise turns out!

Thank you so much for your reply!  Yes, I have prepared to get any stateroom, just to try out what GTY is about.  The thing that make me so puzzle is, I got an official receipt of an assigned room few weeks ago.  Then get another receipt for another room assigned the day before, this is so confusing.... I don't mind they assign a room to me last minute, but when they already assigned to me, I have told my kids we have room assigned and they started to do research on the room location and plan ahead, then I was told by the CS even your room was assigned, it was not confirmed until 24hrs before the sail....sigh, wish I know earlier...  But now that I know, will choose a room next time instead.

By the way, my ship is Serenade of the Seas....First ever RC cruise!....will try talk to the Guest Service when we are onboard!  Thanks for the tips!

[CatB]

14 hours ago, Suite Snob said:

Before I posted above I went into Royalcaribbean.com and did a mock reservations.  But, before that I did a FAQ for that subject, and nothing.  Maybe I wasn't using the right search wording but nothing on it.  So, I did the mock reservation/booking and where you chose your cabin and you chose the GTY, it only says that they will chose your room for you.  Nothing really informative about it.  So, I called Royal and that is what they told me, "up to 24 hours before.  I'm sure they have a written policy somewhere to cover their a$$es but I didn't find it.  

Exactly!!! I was puzzling about this too. No details about GTY... again, I don't mind last minute stateroom assignment....but I don't really like assigned you a room and then re-assign again, and then they can do this as many as they want up until 24hours before the sail....this is the most annoying things to me....

[CatB]

13 hours ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

From the RC Australian site FAQ. Not searchable on the US site.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/what-is-a-guarantee-stateroom-and-how-does-it-work-

At times we may offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed category type (Interior, Oceanview, Balcony or Suite) on your chosen ship and cruise.

However, the exact grade, number and location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the port.

Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. Guests booked in GTY cabins may not be berthed with other travelling parties due to availability. Staterooms allocated may be subject to obstructed views.

Thanks for your reply!  I don't know if this one apply to US/CAN one.... if so, I have an official receipt of an assigned stateroom! then they re-assigned another stateroom to me, I called the CS...they said they can change whatever they assigned to me up until 24hrs before sail.  This is the most annoying part.  Definitely no GTY next time.

[CatB]

13 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Including a reprice even though the GTY rate is less than you paid. Once a stateroom has been assigned, your rate is no longer GTY but the rate for that stateroom. We found this out when the GTY price for our May Ovation cruise became $202 per person lower than what we paid.

Thanks so much for your reply!  I was thinking the same thing too. I have an assigned room, you think that would be the one....NO, the computer still have record of your GTY status, and that they can re-assigned your room again....so, until 24hrs before my sail, I may be re-assign a stateroom once again.... sigh.  Didn't know GTY is like that.

[CatB]

12 hours ago, Toby said:

What I found strange is doing some mock bookings and see GTY staterooms MORE expensive then Choose Your Own.  That makes zero sense to me.

Thanks for your reply!  Yeah, I have seen that too!! but when I called the CS to see if I can change that, they told me the GTY is cheaper than the "Choose your Own"....I was like No, the price is right in front of me, but they just don't seems to see that in their system.  Since the CS can pull out the cheaper GTY rate, so, I just go with that instead of the one I see online.

[WAYNO]

For the first time ever, apparently I was offered a GTY room today and didn't even know it.  This is a new experience for me and I don't know what triggered it.  I called up Casino Royale, asked to book the room they offered me, and when everything was done they said I would not know my room assignment until 24 hours before the cruise.  Really?  I said no way!

So then, they offered my a Junior Suite for an upcharge, and my room assignment would be immediate.

The rules and trickeries... They be evolving.   

[WAAAYTOOO]

9 hours ago, CatB said:

Thank you so much for your reply! I have called customer service, didn't get a good CS though, pretty much just explain to me over again what GTY means...totally miss my point.  

Sorry to hear that.  Try again.  They will definitely allow you to change your room IF they have another one available in the same category.

[OCSC Mike]

12 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Sorry to hear that.  Try again.  They will definitely allow you to change your room IF they have another one available in the same category.

Would love to even be able to try to switch if they would give me my official cabin assignments for my B2B in 20 days, lol.

Got a pretty crappy location for the 1st half (using the bar code trick). 2nd half is fine but no harm in checking for other options there either.

Sorry, just venting. We'll have a great time no matter what. If I truly cared about my cabin I wouldn't have booked the GTY ones I did.

[ReneeA]

On 6/23/2022 at 9:40 PM, CatB said:

Hi, first time cruise with RCL...and first time booking GTY cabin.  I was assigned a room few weeks ago before my sail on Jun 26.  But last night, I got another email with a new room assigned to us (and I never asked them to reassign us).  I prefer the first cabin they assign us, and not really like the one I got now.  I called the customer service and ask about that, and he said because I am booking GTY cabin, even I got a cabin assigned before, it will not be the confirmed cabin until 24 hours before sailing.   Just wondering if anyone have same experience, is this true?! 

Thanks!