Your No-Stress (Okay, Low-Stress) Guide to Booking a Cabin

It's official.

Even for a repeat cruiser, booking week can be rough. You're thrown from a state of anticipation to one of uncertainty and anxiety. Nothing can make it possible for 4,000 people to book 1,000 cabins, but I will do my best to prepare you for booking day.

What I can't do is tell you how much this year's cabins will cost. That info won't be released until Thursday. What we do know, from comcasttix.com, is that inside cabins start at $699, ocean view cabins start at $1099, balcony from $1299, and suites from $2399. This is consistent with 2011 pricing.

Via Rose Tours Terms and Conditions, a $300 per person deposit is payable with your reservation.  A second payment of $500 per person will be charged on November 29, 2011. The remaining balance will be charged the week of April 24, 2012. Payments must be made in the form of a credit card. Last year, there was also a $5 booking fee per passenger payable at time of booking.

If you cancel: the $300 deposit is non-refundable. Between November 29 and April 23, you will be charged a cancellation fee of 50% of the total cruise fare. After April 24, you won't get any refund and you'll be responsible for 100% of the fare and taxes.

Before On-Sale

1. Choose your roommates. Keep in mind that two- and four-person rooms are easier to come by than three-person rooms.
2. Decide on a budget. Don't forget port fees, taxes, and all the extras.
3. Using last year's pricing and the Destiny deck plan, create a wish list of cabin types in the order you will try to book. For example, you will first try for an 8D, then 8E, 8M, 8N, 9B, and so forth. I recommend planning at least 10. The deck plan will help you figure out how many of each room type are available. Include cabin category (e.g., "ocean view") in your list.
4. Decide who will try to book the cabin. BN members will book first, at noon Thursday, followed by past cruisers at 1 p.m. and general sale on Friday.
5. Choose early or late dining.
6. Decide if you will purchase travel insurance from Rose Tours. All passengers in the cabin must choose yes or no on travel insurance; you can't choose individually. (My advice is to shop around.) Remember, insurance will not help you if you decide later that you can't afford the trip.
7. Make sure the person booking has full names, DOB, email addresses, billing addresses, and credit card information for each person in your cabin. If you put in only one credit card, that card will be charged the deposit for everyone in the cabin. Each street address has to match the billing address on the credit card or the system will not process the card or the reservation. (Be smart. Don't email or tweet this information.)
   
8. Read the Rose Tours booking procedures and FAQs carefully.
9. Block off time in your calendar to be near a computer come sale time!

On Sale Day

1. Make sure the person(s) booking has all of your information plus the wish list of cabin categories and types. It helps to have these in a text file so you can copy and paste during booking. (If possible, have each roommate on the phone together during booking so you can have more than one person trying.)
2. When you log on to the ComcastTix site, you will see four options. Click the red "Tix" button next to the category of the room you want to book.

3. Past this screen will be a link to every possible room type and combination available in that category. That means there will be a separate link for 8D Double, 8D Triple, 8D Quad and so forth. The list can get very long. Be careful to click on both the cabin type AND the number of passengers you want to book.
4. If your first choice is not available, go back to the list and find your second, third, or fourth choice until you find an available room.
5. Using your text file of passenger info, copy and paste all the fields into the reservation form.
6. At this point, if more than one of your roommates has made it to the reservation form, make sure only one of you clicks submit! Multiple reservations will cause all of your bookings to get thrown out.
7. Cheer, dance, do a shot, whatever! You're on cruise 2012! Print your booking confirmation for safe keeping.

If You Don't Make It

First, don't stop trying to book until @NKOTB officially says all cabins are gone. Lots of people "play" with the system and "practice" booking without taking the cabin. They'll open up throughout the day.

Once all cabins are sold out, Rose Tours will open a wait list. Put your name down ASAP. Last year, the entire wait list was called and offered cabins before the cruise. If you are on the wait list, save your pennies! When Rose Tours calls, they'll want whatever payments have been received within a few days. That means if you get the call on December 5, you'll pay $800 at once, or if you get the call in May, you'll pay the full amount.


Do you feel prepared? What did I forget? Add your questions or tips to the comments!