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Let’s face it – all of us want to spend as little as possible for our next amazing cruise. After all once you are onboard how much you paid, say compared to the cabin next to you, has no impact on how you are treated or what you can enjoy onboard. This is even true when it comes to suite guests who booked something cheap and bid a small amount and “win’s” an upgrade you still get all the perks of someone who paid retail at booking.
There are all kinds of ways to get deals when it comes to cruising like taking advantage of sales (yes there is always some kind of sale going on) or pre-purchased discounted cruise cash like NCL’s “cruise next” offers or using points like I often do to pay for the cruise (and tips in advance) or even “free” cruises offered for a status match. All of these can save you some cash and you still get to enjoy that amazing voyage. But there is one cost savings move I would avoid:
Cruise lines want to sail full. In fact they want to sail MORE than full, that is, more people per cabin to maximize every chance to make the voyage a profitable one for the cruise line. But things can happen on your way to the ship and you may not make it (a reason for travel insurance). What then?
As you can see from the shot above cruise lines (most of them anyway) offer you a cabin that is assigned when you get to the ship. The reason for this is that cruise lines know, like airlines, that you can over book a cruise because some will not make it and why not sell the same cabin twice if you can for more profit. Also some may pay to upgrade to a better cabin and then, rather than let a cheap one sail empty, you give that one to one of these guests who booked a nonspecific or assigned cabin.
But this can be risky! Why? Take a look.
Per Business Insider we learn that recently this happened:
“Several would-be Quantum of the Seas guests were left behind when the ship ran out of cabins. While a rare occurrence, the growing demand for cruises may lead to more oversold itineraries in the future.” – businessinsider.com
Yikes right?!
It turns out a number of times over the past year Royal Caribbean has had this exact same thing happen, that is, the ship was oversold and there were no more cabins for those who showed up, fully paid, and were not allowed to get on the ship!
This is why I would never ever book a cruise where I was not able to select a cabin of whatever type I wanted. I would never risk, after having paid to fly to the port city and spend a few days (and cost) in hotel fees and other expenses to get to the ship just to watch it sail away without me and me having to now find a way home.
Will cruise lines make it “right” if they do this to you? They may try to offer you another cruise (maybe even a longer one) to try to say they are sorry or simply offer you a refund and send you on your way. I don’t think either of these kinds of offers would be an acceptable resolution.
Bottom line is don’t risk your vacation by saving a few bucks to leave your room up to chance because, while rare, you may be left on the dock if you book this way! – René
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As someone who just got off a cruise where I got “upgraded” to a nicer balcony suite that was just below the pool deck chair noise (night and day), I’d prefer to just pick my room. I think it’s better to book the cheapest assigned cabin and then either bid or be upgraded when the cruise ship is trying to sell those lower-cost rooms but then again I cruise off-peak mostly.
A great follow-up story would be what each line’s policy is, when this overbooking occurs. Or more importantly, do any lines actually refuse the refund?
I think this unassigned option is best for people who live within a short drive of the embarkation port and are willing to accept a last-minute land-based trip in the city of embarkation, on a roundtrip (closed-loop) cruise. So Florida residents, southern California residents, and people who live near Charleston, Galveston or Mobile. Or a staycation back at home, using the refund money in a different way. Obviously this is not a good option if you have to fly to the port of embarkation.
The risk of missing the ship if you have an unassigned cabin is definitely higher these days because the cruise lines seem to be overbooking, having to fill ships to pay down massive debt piled up during COVID-19. I’m also seeing ships reported by sites like VTG as being sold out, when numbered cabins are bookable, and sites like VTG reporting ships with space, when the cruise line is showing space sold out. Cruise line booking sites, like HAL, seem to have odd and unpredictable issues. Still, the cost to cruise, if you can get to port without flying, remains mostly favorable compared to flight-rental car-hotel-restaurant vacations. This may be the year to do nautical mileage runs and bucket list trips (except around Israel and the Suez canal), before the cruise lines lift prices. However, shipboard food and entertainment quality seems less than preCOVID-19 levels – check recent ship reviews closely from multiple sources.