Selecting a guaranteed cruise ship stateroom can often be the most budget-friendly choice for savvy cruisers, but when will you really learn what stateroom you will be sleeping in? Assignments might be made anytime, but often aren’t confirmed until just a day or two before embarkation or even on the day of sailing.

Royal Caribbean has now introduced a new option for travelers who have booked guaranteed staterooms but want to learn their cabin assignments ahead of time instead of potentially waiting until the last minute.

The “Early Assign” upgrade is a $30 (USD) fee that will reveal guests’ stateroom assignments sooner. Even more important to guests who might have preferences for where their room is located, the upgrade also permits cruisers to fine-tune their assignment before sailing.

Only one fee is required per stateroom, regardless of how many guests are booked in the room. Should guests want to change their assignment once it is revealed, there is no additional cost to shift within the same stateroom category.

Changes will be subject to availability and may not apply to all requests.

Early Assign is currently only available on select sailings and for select stateroom categories, including at least a few options in all the main category types: interior, oceanview, balcony, and suites. If popular and successful, the option is likely to be expanded fleetwide in the coming months.

The option is not available on casino fares and may be limited on specialty sailings or in conjunction with other promotional fares.

Guests may select Early Assign within certain windows based on the individual sailing length. For sailings of 6+ nights, the offer window is open 50-80 days before embarkation, while for sailings of 5 nights or less, the offer window is 30-60 days before sailing.

Within those windows, when guests choose Early Assign, their stateroom assignment will be shown within 24 hours.

Read Also: Royal Caribbean Suite Perks – Is It Worth Upgrading?

If travelers do select Early Assign, they should be aware that the $30 fee is non-refundable if a booking is cancelled, regardless of when the reservation may be cancelled.

To be clear, no additional perks related to boarding time, accessing their staterooms on embarkation day, tendering, or other onboard operations are included with Early Assign.

Guests who choose the option can, however, change their room location within the same category if there are alternatives available, with no additional charge.

Why Is Royal Caribbean Offering This Option?

Many cruise guests enjoy a good bargain with their cruise fare, but the anxiety of waiting for a cabin assignment can be maddening, especially if there is fear of overbooking situations.

Cruise Hive has frequently reported on oversold cruises, often from Royal Caribbean, with guests receiving what seem to be spectacular offers to entice them to be flexible with their travel plans just days before embarkation.

While the offers are generally outstanding enough to convince adequate numbers of travelers to adjust their plans, it is conceivable that some guests might be denied embarkation if there simply isn’t room for them onboard.

This would be most likely to happen to guarantee stateroom bookings, as they are not connected to any specific stateroom. Furthermore, because guarantee staterooms are the least expensive, the cruise line will lose the least amount of revenue if left-behind guests must be refunded.

It is possible that if guarantee stateroom guests have selected Early Assign, they would be much less likely to be in that unfortunate position, yet they will still be able to take advantage of the lower guarantee fares.

But is the fee worthwhile? For guests who truly don’t care where their stateroom is, the extra $30 for an earlier assignment may not be helpful.

Guests who are more nervous about their assignment and prefer to learn the details right away, however, the fee may be well spent.

As a matter of interest, guarantee stateroom rates can be several hundred dollars less than selecting a specific stateroom assignment. The extra $30 to get an assignment early and have the time to shift within the same category can be very well spent for guests eager for that early confirmation.