How Early do GTY Rooms Get Assigned?

[FFRealtor]

We are sailing on Liberty of the Seas Oct 19-25 2024 and have 8 GTY Interior staterooms booked ($700 savings on each stateroom for GTY). We booked on Feb 9, 2024 and within 10 days had all the staterooms assigned, 240+ days out! Is this the earliest you've ever seen a room assignment?

Also, we just booked 2 GTY Balcony Staterooms for a 12 Night Sailing on Odyssey of the Seas for Jan 2026. That cruise was 699 days out when we booked. I wonder what the chances are of us getting a room assigned are within the next few weeks or months. 

[cedricmr]

We always book in GTY.
Never had bad surprises. 
Until now, our cabins were assigned in a few days/weeks. But for our two 2025 cruises, this is not the case... I think Royal optimizes its available cabins

[Mike n Ky]

On 3/1/2024 at 8:50 PM, FFRealtor said:

We are sailing on Liberty of the Seas Oct 19-25 2024 and have 8 GTY Interior staterooms booked ($700 savings on each stateroom for GTY). We booked on Feb 9, 2024 and within 10 days had all the staterooms assigned, 240+ days out! Is this the earliest you've ever seen a room assignment?

Also, we just booked 2 GTY Balcony Staterooms for a 12 Night Sailing on Odyssey of the Seas for Jan 2026. That cruise was 699 days out when we booked. I wonder what the chances are of us getting a room assigned are within the next few weeks or months. 

I am not certain when they get assigned but 45 days out when you get to checkin and you get your boarding pass add it to Apple wallet and the last digit on the barcode is your cabin assignment. Others might be able to be more specific. lol

[OCSC Mike]

It can literally be anytime from many months out (like you experienced which is pretty rare) to very close to your sail date.

[Cactus527]

I've done two guarantees now. The first I booked in September 2023 and was assigned a room in October 2023 for March 2024. The second I booked January 2024 for December 2024 and was assigned almost instantly (as in 2-3 days after booking). Both were balcony rooms. I don't know how I got the luck of the draw with early assignments, but I'll take it!

[FFRealtor]

Update - A few days ago I was assigned the stateroom for January 2026 Sailing 692 days out! That has to be a record of some sort. It was a Guaranteed Balcony, unfortunately it was fully obstructed balcony on Deck 6, but had by travel agent get it changed to Deck 7 with only a 10% obstruction. Both of my room assignments were approximately one week from booking the GTYs.

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, FFRealtor said:

Update - A few days ago I was assigned the stateroom for January 2026 Sailing 692 days out! That has to be a record of some sort. It was a Guaranteed Balcony, unfortunately it was fully obstructed balcony on Deck 6, but had by travel agent get it changed to Deck 7 with only a 10% obstruction. Both of my room assignments were approximately one week from booking the GTYs.

Maybe they're assigning them earlier nowadays for whatever reason. Glad you were able to switch!

[jbrinkm]

Those of you who are getting them assigned really early - did you use a TA? My parents did a GTY through our TA and their room was assigned very quickly after booking, 5 months before sailing (then upgraded room category during a sale to a higher category, and it again was assigned within a few days, four months before the sailing). It made me wonder if GTYs booked through TAs are getting assigned sooner than GTYs booked directly. 

[DoomSlayer]

43 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Those of you who are getting them assigned really early - did you use a TA? My parents did a GTY through our TA and their room was assigned very quickly after booking, 5 months before sailing (then upgraded room category during a sale to a higher category, and it again was assigned within a few days, four months before the sailing). It made me wonder if GTYs booked through TAs are getting assigned sooner than GTYs booked directly. 

Only GTYs I have ever booked have been through the casino desk and have always been for balconies.  I never get assigned until about a month out, but I always assumed it was because I was a casino comp and low on the list.  They usually have good incentives for me to go GTY, like a lot of casino credits, so I am ok with it.  When I booked my trip for Easter, they offered to assign me a room when I booked or give me and my wife each $300 in casino credits if we did a GTY.  I guess in a sense, the casino paid me $600 to choose the GTY option.

[Ampurp85]

My GTY are casino, and I am a couple of months out and still not assigned. So, it seems if you book GTY on your own/TA they seemingly get assigned faster. 

[monctonguy]

I think it used to be much close to sail date, as I have booked these rooms often.

 

However, my next 2 cruises were GTY and assigned cabins were done about a month ago...so 8-10 mths out!

[KevinK]

16 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Maybe they're assigning them earlier nowadays for whatever reason. Glad you were able to switch!

Booked my GTY Suite on 11-2-23. for sailed date May 31.  Still waiting for the room #.

[teddy]

We sailed Anthem on 2/17/24 in a gty cabin.  We found out our cabin number about a week after we checked in (45 days prior to the cruise date). 

We have guaranteed cabins booked for Odyssey in Jan 2025 and Independence in Jan 2026.  I don’t expect to be assigned cabins until we check in. 

[Cactus527]

19 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Those of you who are getting them assigned really early - did you use a TA? My parents did a GTY through our TA and their room was assigned very quickly after booking, 5 months before sailing (then upgraded room category during a sale to a higher category, and it again was assigned within a few days, four months before the sailing). It made me wonder if GTYs booked through TAs are getting assigned sooner than GTYs booked directly. 

Through a TA both times

[Cruising_Figure_Skater]

I'm 64 days out, booked a GTY balcony on Oasis in August 2023. Still waiting on the room number (and it's driving me crazy - my first time cruising friend convinced me to do GTY to save money. I've always picked my cabin, so not liking the element of surprise!). 

Hoping it gets assigned soon, final payment date was March 3, I just want to know now haha! 

[Ampurp85]

7 hours ago, Cruising_Figure_Skater said:

I'm 64 days out, booked a GTY balcony on Oasis in August 2023. Still waiting on the room number (and it's driving me crazy - my first time cruising friend convinced me to do GTY to save money. I've always picked my cabin, so not liking the element of surprise!). 

Hoping it gets assigned soon, final payment date was March 3, I just want to know now haha! 

More than likely it will be assigned after check-in which is 45 days.

 

[Pattycruise]

This thread spurred me to check my GTY booking.  My Symphony in August has already assigned my GTY neighborhood balcony to a Central Park balcony. It was a casino comp if that makes a difference ,IDK. 

[Minuet888]

What is GTY?  Sorry if it is a stupid question but I selected my cabin specifically, do others not?

[teddy]

GTY is a Guaranteed Cabin.  It’s an option when booking to let Royal Caribbean chose your cabin.   You can chose the basic category….interior, ocean view, balcony, suite, but they place you in a cabin. 
 

It’s typically cheaper (but not 100% of the time), however one must be satisfied with having a cabin anywhere on the ship.  No takesies backsies.   Occasionally there will be an internet post from someone who booked a guaranteed cabin and was dissatisfied with the cabin they got. 
 

There are instances when people who were assigned their cabin and were able to call and get a different location, but the replacement cabin must be in the exact same category as the one assigned.  

[Cruising_Figure_Skater]

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

More than likely it will be assigned after check-in which is 45 days.

 

That's my thinking too so not too long. I booked through Royal directly, just for comparison. Super excited for my first Royal cruise, and my friend's first ever cruise!

[OCSC Mike]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

More than likely it will be assigned after check-in which is 45 days.

At which point you can at least do the bar code trick to find your cabin before it is officially assigned (usually). For those unfamiliar...

Bar Code Trick

Method 1. If you have an Apple device, add your set sail pass to your Apple wallet. Numbers will now appear under your bar code. The numbers after the dash represent your cabin.

Method 2. Scan the bar code with a QR scanner from another device and that should also show you the numbers.

NOTE: If you see "GTY" instead of numbers, you truly haven't been assigned yet. One tip off is that if you don't see a muster station on your set sail pass then you almost definitely don't have an assignment yet.

[jbrinkm]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

you can at least do the bar code trick to find your cabin before it is officially assigned (usually)

I'll also throw in that I found out my parents' room when I went to purchase specialty dining in the app because we were linked. If you are linked with another party, you can see their room number (once assigned), and vice versa. Even if it is just a mock booking, you'll either still see GTY by their names or their room number. 

[Pattycruise]

23 hours ago, teddy said:

There are instances when people who were assigned their cabin and were able to call and get a different location, but the replacement cabin must be in the exact same category as the one assigned.  

I called today Re: my August Symphony and moved my GTY neighborhood balcony which was assigned as a Central Park Balcony to a Boardwalk balcony.  Ive done both before and like each category are but I prefer a lower deck and more aft .  They did this with no issue.

I did  try to move to an ocean view balcony from my assigned Central Park balcony (it was a $12 difference between them on the website) but my original booking was  GTY neighborhood balcony so it would have cost me $900 to move to an ocean view balcony as they  went by the original booking category for the change.  Didn’t hurt to try! 

[ScottD]

Booked through a TA in 10\23 for this July. Still nothing. I was checking regularly but now I'm just waiting until check in, THEN I'll start checking regularly again. It's just an OV, so not really too concerned about location- more hoping for a lucky pick of all the way FWD or a spacious OV, but I know I'm more likely gonna be down in the deck 3 area, and I'm fine with that, too. 

[KevinK]

On 3/10/2024 at 12:55 AM, Pattycruise said:

This thread spurred me to check my GTY booking.  My Symphony in August has already assigned my GTY neighborhood balcony to a Central Park balcony. It was a casino comp if that makes a difference ,IDK. 

Mine is on May 31, casino comp also for a GTY Suite.  Still waiting to be assign..  I guess I have to wait till after April 16 check in date.

[FFRealtor]

On 3/7/2024 at 5:22 PM, jbrinkm said:

Those of you who are getting them assigned really early - did you use a TA? My parents did a GTY through our TA and their room was assigned very quickly after booking, 5 months before sailing (then upgraded room category during a sale to a higher category, and it again was assigned within a few days, four months before the sailing). It made me wonder if GTYs booked through TAs are getting assigned sooner than GTYs booked directly. 

For the first booking, I booked 8 staterooms with RC directly and then transferred the bookings to my TA approximately 2 weeks later, within those 2 weeks I was assigned the rooms. For the second booking, booked directly through TA. On this note, I would highly recommend using a TA, although I have only booked cruises myself in the past, the TA makes such a big difference... a weight off your shoulders.

[PhillyLady]

I just found this thread, and I thank everyone for sharing!  I just booked a GTY for April 2025, and I certainly had no thoughts of checking for a cabin number, but now I will keep checking. I definitely don't want to be near an elevator or laundry!

[ScottD]

6 hours ago, PhillyLady said:

I just found this thread, and I thank everyone for sharing!  I just booked a GTY for April 2025, and I certainly had no thoughts of checking for a cabin number, but now I will keep checking. I definitely don't want to be near an elevator or laundry!

Elevator rooms are actually highly rated and sought after on most Royal ships- those hallways are long and the elevator areas really produce no more noise.  

[RCIfan1912]

We only had a GTY once on Oasis and it was a great experience. We got a balcony very close to the promenade and it was really convenient. I want to say deck 6 but I can't remember exactly. I was worried a tad but turned out great. 

[PhillyLady]

Update--my cabin number is now listed 13 months out!! Not the best, not the worst.  Maybe I will try for the move-up later...

[bluer101]

We just got assigned to an accessible interior virtual balcony right by the elevators. Will take the larger room and being close to stairs and elevators.