Royal Caribbean will let you now pay $30 to find out your guaranteed cruise cabin sooner
In:Royal Caribbean is offering a new way to book a guaranteed cabin without having to wait as long for the room assignment.
Appealing to a common frustration among cruise ship passengers that let the cruise line pick their room in exchange for a cheaper price, the "Early Assign" program will ensure you aren't waiting months to have one picked for you.
Traditionally, there's no telling how long it could take before your room would be assigned after booking a guaranteed room. It could be days, weeks, or months. In fact, the exact room could technically be assigned on the day of embarkation.
Instead, there's a new program out to let you bypass the waiting by paying a nominal fee.
You pay for Early Assign, and it's like front-of-the-line access
Not actual logo, just something we made up!
Royal Caribbean announced a pilot program on Wednesday called, "Early Assign", where you pay a fee to have your guaranteed cabin assignment much faster than usual.
The cost is $30 per cabin.
As of right now, it's a pilot program and available only to U.S. bookings during specific pre-sailing windows:
- Cruises five nights or less: 30-60 days before sailing
- Cruises six nights or longer: 50–80 days before sailing
It's available for these room categories:
- WS
- XB
- XQ
- XN
- NQ
- YO
- YQ
- ZI
- ZQ
Guests will receive their stateroom assignment within 24 business hours of Royal Caribbean's receipt of payment in full.
In addition, Early Assign that lets you switch to another open cabin in your category, based on availability. This means if you prefer a different room location than the one you were assigned and there's an unsold room left in the same category as yours, you can switch to it.
To be fair, that's something anyone can do, regardless if they booked a guaranteed room or not. But perhaps Royal Caribbean is highlighting this because taking advantage of Early Assign provides more time so there would still be other unsold rooms.
If you opt in and pay the $30, the cabin is assigned immediately.
Early Access is not available for casino fares.
The $30 payment for Early Assign is non-refundable, regardless of cancellation. If a cruise booking is canceled, the Early Assign fee is forfeited and not refunded, regardless of cancellation timing.
Travel agents can book it on behalf of their clients, but there's indication that someone booking without a travel agent couldn't book it.
Is Early Access worth it?
It's clear that Royal Caribbean wants to address a complaint among cruisers who feel waiting until the last minute to know which room they've been assigned is less than ideal. Moreover, they're going to turn that need into a revenue generator.
While some cruisers may not care how long it takes to get a room assigned, others are less care-free. The question of "how long does it take to get a cabin assigned" is one of the more common frequently asked questions on the Royal Caribbean message boards.
The reason guarantee cabins exist is to help fill in unsold rooms. Royal Caribbean essentially offers you a lower price in exchange for letting them pick your room location.
It's also a tool cruise lines use to oversell cruise ships with the assumption last-minute cancellations typically occur.
By reducing the wait time involved in a guaranteed booking, it's like the "easy button".
The program reminds me of how some airlines offer early boarding if you pay extra.
One thing it won't do is allow you to pick a specific room or location. The cruise line says the new program does not guarantee deck, location, view, or specific stateroom attributes. Really, it's just a way to know your room location sooner.
I've booked guarantee rooms with mixed results
Over the years, I've occasionally booked guarantee rooms as a way to save money.
I primarily relied on it when I'm cruising solo, because my room location isn't as important when it's just me. Not only am I okay with a smaller room, but I'm not that particular. Plus, my kids aren't with me, so I don't need to have my cabin be near theirs.
In my experience, I've always ended up with a cabin at the end of a hallway and often a connecting room.
There's usually a reason unsold cabins remain unsold in the final months before the cruise begins, largely because it's further away from the elevators. Or it's attached to a connecting cabin with someone they don't know on the other side.
Still, the money saved by going this route is difficult to overlook.
Those that aren't susceptible to getting seasick and don't mind a longer walk to elevators may find the trade-offs well worth it.
I won't book a guarantee room for every cruise, but it is a useful option when I'm flexible in my travel plans.
