Two 19 year olds in a cabin - is that allowed??

Hi All

Question - I am planning a cruise with my niece and her friend. Both are 19 years old. We were talking about my niece & her friend getting one cabin, and me getting another (one of my co-workers might end up coming along and would share my cabin).

Does Royal Caribbean allow 19 year olds to have their own cabins? I thought the cut-off age was 18, but I just want to make sure.

Enchantment, August 2000

Enchantment, August 2002

Enchantment, January 2003

Carnival Pride, July 2003

Serenade, October 2003

Here is the reply I got from RCI when I asked for a couple that I know from work.

Thank you for your e-mail.

Regarding your inquiry, the minimum age requirement for sailing is 21

years. Guests under the age of 21 will not be booked in a stateroom

unless accompanied by an adult 25 years or older.

This age limit will only be waived for:

A. Underage married couples. Proof of marriage is required at pier

check-in. (The "proof of marriage" is the document the guest will receive

from the official presiding at the ceremony; the critical component of

the document is that it be notarized with the signature of the

official).

B. Minor children who are sailing in an *adjacent stateroom or across

the hall to that of their parents or legal guardian(s). This exception

should be limited to the majority of children being within the same

family; (example: if the parents are in a double occupancy stateroom &

their 3 children are in an adjacent quad occupancy stateroom, an additional

fourth child not of the same parents may be added).

Royal Caribbean International also enforces the following age

requirements onboard all its ships:

On Alaska cruises, guests must be 21 years old or older to drink

alcoholic beverages. On European and South American itineraries, guests 18

years old or older may consume alcohol. For all other itineraries,

guests ages 18 through 20 may only drink beer and wine. To drink other

types of alcoholic beverages, guests must be 21 years old or older.

Applicable regulatory age restrictions apply while the ship is in port, and

until it enters international waters.

* Please note: An individual's age on the date of sailing determines

his or her status for the entire sailing. Royal Caribbean International

reserves the right to ask for proof of age.

Thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

Maria Perez

Customer Service Representative

Thank you for the reply.

So.... according to RCI, we can do this as long as we get adjoining rooms? Am I reading that correctly??

Enchantment, August 2000

Enchantment, August 2002

Enchantment, January 2003

Carnival Pride, July 2003

Serenade, October 2003

yes, that is my understanding.

jc

My family is sailing on the Majesty on Sunday (our first cruise) and we had a similar issue. My parents want to have thier own room far away from us! What our travel agent did was book my father and 18 year old sister in one room and me (i'm 21) my boyfriend (who is 22) and my mother in another room. When we get to the ship we are going to put my sisters luggage tags on my moms luggage and vica versa. Then my sister is going to room with me and my boyfriend and my parents will room together. The travel agent said they do this all the time and it's really not a problem. I hope this helps!

Meghan

If you do indeed go with another adult, you can book an adult in each of the rooms and then get the sea pass cards changed when you check in (i.e. you will be with your friend and the two kids will be together), even though the rooms aren't adjacent. I have done this a number of times now with no problem. In one case, we put 3 girls (15, 16 and 17) together in a room not adjacent but fairly close.

Mark

Just to give a warning. We did this four years ago on Carnival Fascination. I was booked with my daughter's friends and My daughter and hubby were booked together. We switched on ship. NEVER AGAIN.

Not only did the girls get an assistant waiter in trouble "fratinizing " with him but they also had an older man trying to get them to come to his cabin "for drinks". At the time the girls were fifteen, sixteen and 2 nineteen year olds.

Now I wouldn't have a problem if the cabins are adjoining across the hall from each other but the TA had booked the girl's cabin like on the opposite side of the ship. There are just too many creeps on these cruises-middleaged aged and older men lusting after young girls instead of women their age or at least over 21.

Carnival Tropicale 10/15/98 Western Caribbean

RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/22/99 Bahamas

Carnival Fascination 09/23/00 Southern caribbean

HAL Statendam 05/20/01 Alaska

RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/08/01 Bahamas

Pacific Princess 09/29/02 Bermuda

Carnival Inspiration 12/14/03 Western caribbean

Carnival Miracle 04/09/04 Bahamas

If it's just you and your niece and her friend, you will all have to be booked into the same cabin. RCI requires that passengers under 21 must be booked into a cabin with a passenger 25 or older. Also, your niece and her friend are both going to have to have notarized letters signed by both of their parents allowing them to go on the cruise with you, and designating you as their "guardian" for the duration of the cruise - since neither will be cruising with a parent. In addition, I would have both of them buy third-party trip insurance to alleviate you from any financial burden due to any medical expenses. US health insurance has limits if you're outside the country, and usually doesn't cover things like air evacuation and hospitalization in a foreign country. In order to get two cabins, there will need to be two adults over 25. For booking purposes, you and your niece would have to be in one cabin, and your friend and your niece's friend in another. Then, once you board, you just ask for extra room keys and switch cabins. Switching luggage tags won't help at all, since your SeaPass card will have your picture on it. Adjoining cabins would be fine, but you'll need another adult to go along with you. Read that "majority" thing.

We have done this many times when our boys were teenagers..........we put one son and his friend, both 15 in one cabin and my other son and his friend, both 17 in adjoining inside cabins and my husband and I were right across the hall. Have never had a problem when booking with my TA.

It is not an issue and don't let anyone on this board tell you otherwise.

The cabins do not have to be adjoining, just close to each other, and you do not need to book an adult in each one. We have sailed eight cruises on RCI with our children and children's friends and we have never booked them with an adult in each cabin. The policy is that minors be with adults 25 and over in a cabin close by.

Go and have a great time.

We booked back in September and are leaving tomorrow and they made us reserve rooms using my husband in one with our son and myself in another across the hall with our daughter. I am glad to hear that changing the sea pass cards at check-in will not be a problem

If the rooms are close to each other they generally don't have a problem putting the kids in their own room.

Diane

Explorer of the Sea 12/5/04

Legend of the Sea 9/12/04

Voyager of the Sea 8/24/03

Sovereign of the Sea 07/01

Call RCI at 1-800-327-6700. There's a BIG difference if children are cruising with their PARENTS. The OP is an AUNT.

Our family reunion is booked for next year and my DS & DIL are in one cabin and across the hall are the "kids", 20 & 17. There is no problem as long the parents are close.

Incidentally, it is important for the original poster to have letters authorizing him/her to give authorization for medical care. Although in some places 18 is legal age for giving permission (sp?), that is not true everywhere.

Norma

RCI says the "legal" age is 21. Minors are under 21. It has nothing to do with whatever US state may say who's a minor and who's not. The cruise line states the guidelines for age requirements. Anyone under 21 travelling without a parent needs that notarized letter. Yes - they can drink wine and beer, and use the casino if they are 18 - 20, but must have written parental permission. What's deemed a legal "adult" in the US, is not necessarily what's deemed an "adult" on a cruise ship. Once again, I will say that there's a difference between parents cruising with minors, and NON-PARENTS cruising with minors.

I will also be in this same position. We will be cruising in August. DH and DS will be in one cabin and I and my DD will be in the other cabin. If I remember from our last cruise together back in 2002, the sea pass cards with our pictures were "encrypted" with our cabin #. If we move DS in with DD, then the sea pass cards issued will be wrong. Am I to understand that once we all get onboard, we can get new sea pass cards made up? Someone, please explain. Thanks.

We had absolutely no trouble booking our 15-yo DD and a 15-yo friend into a cabin across the hall from ours, and I think booking it like this will save us a lot of trouble switching the booking, cards, etc. when we board. (We will ask for extra "key cards" so that we can get into the girls' cabin and they can get into ours.) Our TA originally thought RCCL wouldn't book it this way, but when she got them on the phone they said it was fine. So check directly with RCCL (or have your TA do so)...

Julieds is exactly right.

The problems people are having is with their travel agents ignorance of the RCI policy. It's the travel agents who are elling people that they have to book one adult in each room. This not the RCI policy and it's a pain in the %$# going to the desk and rying to change door keys (seas passes around).

It also doesnt matter if it's your own kids or a realitive,the policy refers to family. The family rule is not enforced either. We have sailed with many of our children's friends. You just need a letter of care authorization and they will put the kids in a room on their own nearby.

Beg to disagree. Travel agents get their information directly from the cruise line. I have said for a very long time that RCI is one of the worst lines in terms of their res. agents giving out innaccurate information. Try calling 1-800-327-6700 three times about this situation, and see if you get the same answer. Very unfair to blame the travel agents, as RCI is where they get their information from! (Where did you think travel agents got their info.?) RCI is also really bad about their own res. agents offering "resident" special prices, and then charging hundreds of dollars at boarding because the passenger did not meet the "residency" requirement. Lots of complaints about that!!

I no longer use Travel Agents for this very reason. There are a few good ones just like every other industry but for the most part I can do a better job myself. Who really cares more about your Vacation than you do?

Every line has different policies, some do require an adult be booked in every room, RCI does not. You can go online and read this policy yourself. Travel Agents tend to lump these kinds of rules into one general pot, and serve them out to everyone, no matter who they are booking and no matter what line.

We are experienced cruisers and I can do a far better job making all of the arrangements myself. For inexperienced cruiser who is not certain what they want, than I highly recommend using a Travel Agent, but you have to shop for a good one, and don't take everything they tell you as the gospel truth.

I do not have one bad thing to say about RCI Customer Service or Reservations Agents. They have always been very informative and knowledgeable in my experiences. I always fax the specific dining room coordinator of the ship I am sailing on with my dining request (Table for Two) and I have always received it, unlike when I let a Travel Agent handle this.

"Every line has different policies, some do require an adult booked in every room. RCI does not."

Hmmmm. I just called RCI, and first spoke with "Austin", who confirmed that minors under 21 must be booked into a cabin with an adult 25 or older. I then spoke with "Ross", who told me the same thing. I'm an experienced cruiser, too (24-25...can't remember) Please provide me with the RCI link that states 19-year olds can be booked into a separate cabin if not cruising with a family member. Also - please re-read that "majority" thing, where it says that if there are more minors than adults (as in the OP situation), then each 19-year old will need a 25+ year old booked into the cabin with them. julieds was not the only adult (there were two of them) taking two 15-year olds, so not a problem. It does matter if a non-family minor is cruising! Oh - I've worked as an outside TA for many years, and am not at all "ignorant" of the RCI policy, but it sounds like you are, as supported by your quote.

Two years ago on NCL (kids were 11 & 13) we had to book one adult in each room, and we just got the keys switched and it was no problem.

This year on RCL the kids (now 13 & 15)are booked together across the hall from us. Also no problem.

Both times the kids were near us (next door or across the hall).

That's because they're your kids, who are cruising with their parents. No problem doing that on any cruise line that I'm aware of! I'm talking about non-family minors, where there are more minors than adults.

I'm sure you are right. I was just relating my experience to the general discussion. Taking along children that are not your own creates a number of special circumstances, from getting them out of the US, to obtaining medical treatment, to, I am sure, cabin arrangements.

I had a feeling imsulin was a TA. It always comes out eventually.

I'm on the phone with Michael at RCI as we speak and he says I can book my wife and I in a cabin and across the hall book my 17 year old son and his two best friends 18 & 19, on the Monarch next month?

Thanks Michael. Goodbye.

I have better things to do than trade insults with imsulin who appears to be the authority on cruising.

I just want to incourage CruisinBabe to go as planned with the two cabins, as she had originally planned . Her and her friend in one and her niece and her friend in the other. There are hundreds of these scenarios on RCI ships every week and no one is saying a word about it, except for a few board people on these message boards who would ban anyone under forty from going on a cruise if they had the chance.