Trouble Finding Staterooms

[mmackeymouse]

We are looking at a 3 day cruise in November, and having a bear of a time finding SPECIFIC staterooms. You used to be able to search for the availability of certain staterooms. I take it this is no longer the case?

The website is only giving us 2-3-up to 8 cabins at any one time for any one category. Is the cruise really that full?

Also, the only 5E cabins are GTY, you can't actually select a room.

I know this is probably an old subject, but I did a search on any number of combinations of terms, but didn't find anything current, so just wanted to see what up-to-date conventional wisdom is.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

We are looking at a 3 day cruise in November, and having a bear of a time finding SPECIFIC staterooms. You used to be able to search for the availability of certain staterooms. I take it this is no longer the case?

The website is only giving us 2-3-up to 8 cabins at any one time for any one category. Is the cruise really that full?

Yes, it is possible depending on the actual date and category being selected. Especially if it is for Nov of this year as those have been on sale for a while now.

Also, the only 5E cabins are GTY, you can't actually select a room.

That's not at all unusual. The 5E cabins are incredibly popular and often sell out when dates are released.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I booked a Novemeber 26th cruise on the Fantasy 2 weeks ago, there wasn't many rooms left in the 5A category. I was able to book room 9544, the others were right next to the elevator I think.

 

[Expatriat]

My biggest complaint about the booking side of DCL's new website is the inability to search for specific cabins by number that are not in the site's automatic rendering of a block of cabins per category. I know for a fact that they are NOT showing certain cabins that have not yet been booked. I have wondered whether they want to withhold those for potential GT, FLR, MTO offerings, or if they want to fill particular cabins first for some reason. Whatever their motivation, it could eventually cause me to stop booking DCL. At DCL's prices, I want to be able to select one of my specific favorite cabins when available and not just one they choose to show me. The old site was far superior in this.

 

[moremouse]

My biggest complaint about the booking side of DCL's new website is the inability to search for specific cabins by number that are not in the site's automatic rendering of a block of cabins per category. I know for a fact that they are NOT showing certain cabins that have not yet been booked. I have wondered whether they want to withhold those for potential GT, FLR, MTO offerings, or if they want to fill particular cabins first for some reason. Whatever their motivation, it could eventually cause me to stop booking DCL. At DCL's prices, I want to be able to select one of my specific favorite cabins when available and not just one they choose to show me. The old site was far superior in this.

I totally agree!!

I don't think DCL has ever been user-friendly, to me anyway. I can't stand not being able to see the cabins and categories easily.

Try going to Expedia or Cruise and see if you can more easily see what's available. You could also call DCL and see what they've got. I know... not convenient. I may stick with Expedia next time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I totally agree!!

I don't think DCL has ever been user-friendly, to me anyway. I can't stand not being able to see the cabins and categories easily.

Try going to Expedia or Cruise and see if you can more easily see what's available. You could also call DCL and see what they've got. I know... not convenient. I may stick with Expedia next time.

Well, they, also, just show a selection of rooms (usually 6-8) available in the selected category. Probably because that's how DCL gives them the information.

 

[Expatriat]

Exactly!

 

[mmackeymouse]

That's not at all unusual. The 5E cabins are incredibly popular and often sell out when dates are released.

Okay, but clearly, they didn't sell out. So, why go GTY I guess is my question, and not let people pick their cabin? I don't mind going GTY,BUT I do mind which deck we are on.

I totally agree!!

I don't think DCL has ever been user-friendly, to me anyway. I can't stand not being able to see the cabins and categories easily.

Try going to Expedia or Cruise and see if you can more easily see what's available. You could also call DCL and see what they've got. I know... not convenient. I may stick with Expedia next time.

All the third-party sites have the same data as DCL. I am guessing DCL feeds directly into them, so they basically go off whatever DCL releases.

The DCL site has never been user-friendly, you are correct. In the past the "recommended" cabins were never the ones I was interested in. But, I was able to search by specific number, and it was almost always available.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So, why go GTY I guess is my question,

As far as I know, DCL goes GTY once a certain percentage of rooms within a specific category sell. So they have wiggle room for moving people around.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We are looking at a 3 day cruise in November, and having a bear of a time finding SPECIFIC staterooms. You used to be able to search for the availability of certain staterooms. I take it this is no longer the case?

The website is only giving us 2-3-up to 8 cabins at any one time for any one category. Is the cruise really that full?

Also, the only 5E cabins are GTY, you can't actually select a room.

I know this is probably an old subject, but I did a search on any number of combinations of terms, but didn't find anything current, so just wanted to see what up-to-date conventional wisdom is.

This has nothing to do with your current thread but I've been waiting to find out if you are going to your cousins wedding or if you're missing it????

 

[Flossbolna]

Okay, but clearly, they didn't sell out. So, why go GTY I guess is my question, and not let people pick their cabin? I don't mind going GTY,BUT I do mind which deck we are on.

My theory is that Disney often offers a lower category as GTY when they don't have availability in this category, but a lot of availability in higher categories. Since they can upgrade you to anything higher, it gives them bookings that can be moved around to fill the ship as they need. Since 5E is the lowest category for a non obstructed veranda, I could see that they offer 5E GTY in order to just fill up all the different category 5 staterooms. I have noticed that for example 11C often sells out very quickly (cheapest room on the ship), but then around PIF date suddenly 11C becomes available as GTY again and stays available until shortly before the cruise. We took advantage of that for our Norway cruise, downgraded from 11B to 11C, saved nearly 200 $ and were assigned a 11B cabin - even a sideways one as we had originally booked.

 

[mmackeymouse]

This has nothing to do with your current thread but I've been waiting to find out if you are going to your cousins wedding or if you're missing it????

Haha, thanks for your interest. We are going to the wedding, yes. It kind of threw a small wrench into our plans, but we dealt with it. We are doing Sunday-Friday at WDW, then a 3 day cruise, ending on Monday, so getting a full week plus Monday off will be a little difficult but...it is what it is.

Ultimately, it ended up working out, as instead of having to do two trips, one out to the wedding and one to Disney, we are able to do a three legged trip, so we will possibly save money in the long run. And, it will be one less flight. Although technically, we probably would have driven to the wedding, so it may not save as much after all.

My sister and her husband had final say, with a then 15 month old. They just thought it would be less rushing than a 4 day on Monday and then a day or two at the parks. And, I was happy with whatever.

 

[OKW Lover]

I booked a Novemeber 26th cruise on the Fantasy 2 weeks ago, there wasn't many rooms left in the 5A category. I was able to book room 9544, the others were right next to the elevator I think.

You'll be happy with that location. We were on the Dream earlier this month in 9540 and 9542 (connecting cabins). The walk to the forward or mid-ship elevators/stairs was very short. Easy walk up to deck 11 for the pool.