GTY Cabin logic

[MRCJ]

Ahoy, 

Looking for knowledge from anyone who might have experienced similar.

Recently returned from 3rd RCCL cruise, 1st with children, and whole family enjoyed it so much we are considering another quite soon. In fact we’re ready to book immediately if we can get the right deal. Cruising will be the main family vacation for the foreseeable methinks.

The sailing we are considering has GTY Balconies available to book for 2 pax, however not for 4 berth which we would need (mainly for budget to take advantage of the “kids sail free” but also due to some other considerations). 4 berth cabins have only recently become available, which may have something to do with why GTY not possible for 4 pax.

My question, as sailing date gets closer (2 months at time of posting) what is the likelihood of GTY fare for 4 berth becoming available?

Fully appreciate supply and demand thing, there are 50+ cabins available to book at time of posting (yes I counted), but I feel we are being penalised somewhat, if 2 pax can get a GTY then why not 4? If that 50+ was lower it would make more sense to me..
 

Has anyone got experience of GTY fares being released closer to the sail date? Greatly appreciate any guidance.

[Xaa]

No penalized.  2 person cabins are in greater supply than 4 person.

I don't think your odds would be higher getting closer.  At 60 days you're already close.

Also, I think summer sailings are excluded from KSF, but I could be wrong about that.

[Ampurp85]

Summer sailings are excluded form KSF and as stated 4p cabins aren't as plentiful as 2p cabins or even 3p cabins as a fact. I have yet to see a GTY for a 4p cabins, doesn't mean they don't exist but is there a need for a 4p GTY? I doubt it as those cabins are being sold at a premium price. 

[Ryan79]

If you NEED a specific cabin type with specific features, don’t play the GTY game. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Is there really that much of a difference in price that you just wouldn’t choose you own cabin?  I have not booked a GTY and most likely never will as I do not want forward on any ship and seems to me GTY rooms typically end up being in more undesirable areas (well, at least from what I have seen on these posts).

 I am happy you have found your new vacation mode!  Cruising is definitely the way to go!

[teddy]

The cruise will most likely only get more expensive, so keep that in mind. 
 

If you decide to book two 2-person cabins and want them next to each other, be aware that you won’t get that with booking guarantees.  
 

As mentioned above, 4-person cabins are much more limited than 2-person ones.  If you want one, you’ll need to book a specific one. 
 

Waiting may end up with you have even less options.  
 

Here’s what we did:  We are bringing our middle son, his wife, and their two daughters on a cruise in February 2024.  After talking to our travel agent, we booked a specific 4- person cabin for them back in December to ensure they had a cabin for all of them.   My wife and I went ahead and booked a gty since it’s only the two of us. 
 

Whatever you do, enjoy your cruise. 

[twangster]

GTY rates are not standard, rather they are used when the company knows historically they may need a little kicker to help sell out the ship.

Since they are not a standard rate that is always offered it becomes difficult to estimate when they may or may not appear.  They aren't always the best rate either, or fixed.

I was recently in a position to book a particular ship and date for a specific reason.  This was done on short notice after final payment due date.  The best rate was a GTY balcony rate.  I was prepared to sail in an interior to save money but there were no interior or ocean view offered. 

I booked a decent rate that I could afford.  It was more than I wanted to spend but it was acceptable to me.  In the weeks since I booked the GTY rate for a balcony went up then it went up again and again.  I saw it more than double what I paid.  Same GTY balcony, double the price. 

The takeaway is that GTY is not always offered and the rate is not fixed.  Don't ever count on a GTY being your best approach.  Find a ship and sail date you want and if it is a rate you like book it.  If not then don't. 

[MRCJ]

9 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Is there really that much of a difference in price that you just wouldn’t choose you own cabin?  I have not booked a GTY and most likely never will as I do not want forward on any ship and seems to me GTY rooms typically end up being in more undesirable areas (well, at least from what I have seen on these posts).

 I am happy you have found your new vacation mode!  Cruising is definitely the way to go!

Sadly yes, if it were in the ball park it would be booked already.

$4k for GTY (2 PAX) - should similar rate apply and we get KSF = no brainer.

$9.4k for choose your cabin (4 PAX) = As this is an unplanned (so far) trip, we were hoping to grab a real last minute bargain. 

[MRCJ]

28 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Summer sailings are excluded form KSF and as stated 4p cabins aren't as plentiful as 2p cabins or even 3p cabins as a fact. I have yet to see a GTY for a 4p cabins, doesn't mean they don't exist but is there a need for a 4p GTY? I doubt it as those cabins are being sold at a premium price. 

Perhaps rare, but they do exist, our recent sailing was a GTY 4-PAX Balcony on Symphony booked 4 months ahead. Maybe we got lucky.

From the replies so far, it seems that might be the case. 

[Jolly Ogre]

Don't wait to book it will only get more and more expensive.

Book as early as you can for as far out as you can to get the best pricing possible.

I usually book 18-24 months out to get the best pricing.

[DoomSlayer]

I personally would be a little weary of a GTY booking at this point in time in general unless your cruise dates are extremely flexible.  Royal has had some recent "Inventory" issues resulting in overbookings on their ships -- and GTY rooms without cabin assignments are probably first on the chopping block.

[twangster]

6 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

I personally would be a little weary of a GTY booking at this point in time in general unless your cruise dates are extremely flexible.  Royal has had some recent "Inventory" issues resulting in overbookings on their ships -- and GTY rooms without cabin assignments are probably first on the chopping block.

Have we seen actual evidence of this?

As a bargain shopper I'm assuming my solo $600 interior booked two years ago would be the first on the table when they have someone willing to book a GTY interior for two guests that is selling for 3 x what I paid. 

[DoomSlayer]

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

Have we seen actual evidence of this?

As a bargain shopper I'm assuming my solo $600 interior booked two years ago would be the first on the table when they have someone willing to book a GTY interior for two guests that is selling for 3 x what I paid. 

There were a few cruisers at the terminal when I boarded Allure on the 14th that were having their boarding denied.  Unhappy to say the least.  They apparently ignored their offers to change their itineraries when they got the emailed to them.  Two couples kept arguing with the agent that the "Room Guarantee" guaranteed them a room onboard even though they didn't have cabin assignments yet.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, DoomSlayer said:

There were a few cruisers at the terminal when I boarded Allure on the 14th that were having their boarding denied.  Unhappy to say the least.  They apparently ignored their offers to change their itineraries when they got the emailed to them.  Two couples kept arguing with the agent that the "Room Guarantee" guaranteed them a room onboard even though they didn't have cabin assignments yet.

They weren't wrong. 

[DoomSlayer]

Just now, twangster said:

They weren't wrong. 

I agree, I would have been upset too.  I felt sorry for them.  It's not like flying where an overbooking situation generally means just a few hours of inconvenience.

[twangster]

1 minute ago, DoomSlayer said:

I agree, I would have been upset too.  I felt sorry for them.  It's not like flying where an overbooking situation generally means just a few hours of inconvenience.

On the flip side, it's great to see Royal filling a mega ship in Texas.  Too bad they over-filled it. 

[RafaellaCG]

Wow, that's awful of Royal, I hope they compensate them accordingly, I would be livid.

[RafaellaCG]

14 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

There were a few cruisers at the terminal when I boarded Allure on the 14th that were having their boarding denied.  Unhappy to say the least.  They apparently ignored their offers to change their itineraries when they got the emailed to them.  Two couples kept arguing with the agent that the "Room Guarantee" guaranteed them a room onboard even though they didn't have cabin assignments yet.

Do you have any more info on this? How many people/what kind of compensation they were offered/if they're suing?

[DoomSlayer]

8 hours ago, RafaellaCG said:

Do you have any more info on this? How many people/what kind of compensation they were offered/if they're suing?

I don't have more info than what I saw while I was in the terminal.  I only saw 2 couples talking (a little loudly) to the staff about it at the first station where they check your boarding pass and ID as you get off the escalator.  I don't know if they were separate or traveling together and I did not stick around to see what the outcome was.

[Pattycruise]

On 5/23/2023 at 10:39 AM, DoomSlayer said:

There were a few cruisers at the terminal when I boarded Allure on the 14th that were having their boarding denied.  Unhappy to say the least.  They apparently ignored their offers to change their itineraries when they got the emailed to them.  Two couples kept arguing with the agent that the "Room Guarantee" guaranteed them a room onboard even though they didn't have cabin assignments yet.

I’ve had lots of issues with my emails from Royal, which I’ve accepted will never be resolved, despite my constant checking my account to ensure it’s MY email address associated with my C&A number, that I’m the only email on my account etc.  one of my friends received MY emails for a cruise she was not going on.    I’ve not received any emails for the presidents cruise I am booked on, neither has my husband.  I have only one guarantee cabin booked out of all of my upcoming cruises and now I’m nervous as heck that I’ll be the one showing up to port only to find out there is no cabin for me.  Of course I’ll be checking the app for my cabin assignment, but I’ll still be concerned about this nonsense of overbooking.