If you booked a Royal Caribbean cruise with a GTY (Guarantee) stateroom, you’ve probably heard that your room assignment can show up anytime which is absolutely true. Royal Caribbean can assign a GTY room months in advance, a few weeks before sailing, or even right before embarkation. There’s no consistent pattern, and every sailing behaves a little differently.
Some cruisers get their assignment just two weeks before their trip, while others, especially those booking very early for popular holidays, have been assigned rooms nearly a year out. There’s really no rhyme or reason to the timing. Royal Caribbean adjusts inventory constantly as cabins open, sell out, or get shuffled around, and GTY assignments happen whenever they fit into that juggling act.
If your GTY room is assigned far in advance and you’re not thrilled with the location, the good news is that you can often switch to a different cabin within the same category at no charge. The simplest way to check availability is to do a mock booking on Royal Caribbean’s website and see which rooms are showing as open in your category. If you spot something better you can call Royal Caribbean or your travel agent and request the switch.
GTY bookings can feel like a gamble, but when assignments come early, you at least have the chance to pick a better spot. And if your assignment shows up late, that’s normal too, it’s just part of how Royal Caribbean balances the ship.