Bruce, he's recently widowed (1 1/2yrs) and he wanted to take someone but didn't know who. Just a quirk my younger brother has. FYI, it was a $9K cost. Curious, what do you think happens if he pays for a name change for the vacant second passenger, they show and he doesn't?
Wonder what the logic is that the primary can't be changed (still 170+ days out)? Seems like one of many cruise industry "money grabs". We can cancel/change for anything (and issue you a credit, no refund) but you can't cancel/change for any reason and we get to keep your money!!
Wonder what the cruise industry would be like if they had to disclose the total cost of the cruise experience, including all fees, taxes, gratuities, etc in their advertising and at the time of booking, prior to committing. That would be interesting.