If I book as a solo traveler, can I add a person before my sail date?

[Bookish Angel]

I am looking to book for myself on Allure in February, 2012. Should my husband be able to get the time off, can I add him to my booking? I will have already paid the double occupancy rate, anyway.

 

Perhaps I should contact RCL with this question?

 

Thanks for your help.

[cooncat]

I believe you can. I think all you will need to pay is the additional port fees. Check with RCI though.

[CodyC815]

Yes, sometimes I book a room by myself just to claim the room, then I find someone else to go. The only problem with this is that the ship could fill up and reach maximum capacity before you're able to add your room mate.

[critterchick]

Why don't you add him now? It's easy enough to cancel him prior to final payment and have RCI calculate the single rate for you.

[Bookish Angel]

Yes, sometimes I book a room by myself just to claim the room, then I find someone else to go. The only problem with this is that the ship could fill up and reach maximum capacity before you're able to add your room mate.

 

 

Why would the ship reaching max capacity matter if I have already paid the double occupancy rate? I sure don't want to share a room with a stranger!!!

[CodyC815]

Why would the ship reaching max capacity matter if I have already paid the double occupancy rate? I sure don't want to share a room with a stranger!!!

 

You wouldn't, but there are more beds onboard then allowed. They only have x amount of lifeboats, and if the 3&4 bunk rooms fill up they would take space away from the other rooms, if that makes sense. A ship might have 2100 beds but only space in the boats for 2000 people, once it has 2000 people onboard they can't sell anymore space.

[Bookish Angel]

Why don't you add him now? It's easy enough to cancel him prior to final payment and have RCI calculate the single rate for you.

 

 

That way, we have options.

[Tucker in Texas]

If you add a second person, it will be at the price you book at and not the going rate at the time you are adding the person.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Eng23]

I am looking to book for myself on Allure in February, 2012. Should my husband be able to get the time off, can I add him to my booking? I will have already paid the double occupancy rate, anyway.

 

Perhaps I should contact RCL with this question?

 

Thanks for your help.

I have asked my travel agent this same question. I was told yes you can add another person and all you would have to pay additionally is port charges for the second person. I am travelling solo in October and have paid the double occupancy rate, so the cabin is paid for two people but only occupied by one.

[critterchick]

I have asked my travel agent this same question. I was told yes you can add another person and all you would have to pay additionally is port charges for the second person. I am travelling solo in October and have paid the double occupancy rate, so the cabin is paid for two people but only occupied by one.

 

Please read Cody815's response, though. If you wait until the last minute to add another person, you may find that there isn't room for another person, whether you've paid for a second or not.

[Eng23]

You wouldn't, but there are more beds onboard then allowed. They only have x amount of lifeboats, and if the 3&4 bunk rooms fill up they would take space away from the other rooms, if that makes sense. A ship might have 2100 beds but only space in the boats for 2000 people, once it has 2000 people onboard they can't sell anymore space.

If the ship has 2100 beds that means there would be at a minimum 4200 people on board based on double occupancy alone. The ships from what I have seen carry lifeboats with a capacity of 150 people, there are also other forms of lifeboats that are actually rafts that are stored in the barrel like looking containers mounted on the ships. These rafts will activate once the container is released from the ship and they hit the water. These rafts vary in size and can accomodate 24-50 people. Your logic is sound but it would be interesting to know how the cruiseline does the math for figuring a ships maximum capacity since they usually tell us everything is based on double occupancy.

[johneeo]

it would be interesting to know how the cruiseline does the math for figuring a ships maximum capacity since they usually tell us everything is based on double occupancy.

 

Maximum capacity has nothing to do with double occupancy.

 

They have lifeboats that can accomodate X amount of bodies. Once X is met, there will be no more passengers allowed to book.

 

So, if you book a single and pay whatever, you are one body. If X gets met, they will not allow you to bring another body aboard.

[brfan]

Maximum capacity has nothing to do with double occupancy.

 

They have lifeboats that can accomodate X amount of bodies. Once X is met, there will be no more passengers allowed to book.

 

So, if you book a single and pay whatever, you are one body. If X gets met, they will not allow you to bring another body aboard.

 

One other thing it is isn't just the total lifeboat capacity, but the lifeboat the OP is assigned to. Once that lifeboat hits capacity, she wouldn't be able to add someone even though there might might be capacity elsewhere onboard. The only option then would be to move to another cabin where there is capacity, but that likely would cost more, if a room change was allowed.

[Beth C]

I initially put a cruise on hold as a single as I wasn't sure who was going with me - when I called to switch it from a single to double the price was recalculated at that day's rate regardless of what the 'double rate' was when I initially booked (which had been around $500 for the single and up to $700 pp when I switched it to double... luckily the price dropped back down a few days later!)

[Paulxyz2004]

Your logic is sound but it would be interesting to know how the cruiseline does the math for figuring a ships maximum capacity since they usually tell us everything is based on double occupancy.

 

It´s not the cruiseline doing the math. The max capacity is set by the classification society. Usually the max capacity is lower than the number of berth onboard, so even if a cabin has additional berth, there is no guarantee you can put a person in it.

[Eng23]

Maximum capacity has nothing to do with double occupancy.

 

They have lifeboats that can accomodate X amount of bodies. Once X is met, there will be no more passengers allowed to book.

 

So, if you book a single and pay whatever, you are one body. If X gets met, they will not allow you to bring another body aboard.

I understand that. I was trying to figure how they come up with the figure that they consider to be maximum capacity. I was using the double occupancy statment since that is the term I hear from the cruise line in most things that they reference.

[Eng23]

It´s not the cruiseline doing the math. The max capacity is set by the classification society. Usually the max capacity is lower than the number of berth onboard, so even if a cabin has additional berth, there is no guarantee you can put a person in it.

So the simple formula is count the number of lifeboats and multiply that by the lifeboats capacity to get a ships maximum capacity number.

Using this formula for example: Freedom of the Seas has 30 lifeboats with a capacity of 150 people which would = 4500 passengers. This website lists Freedom of the Seas capacity at double occupancy is 3634. So it seems that the Freedom's maximum capacity is well beyond the double occupancy number.

[johneeo]

I understand that. I was trying to figure how they come up with the figure that they consider to be maximum capacity. I was using the double occupancy statment since that is the term I hear from the cruise line in most things that they reference.

 

Keeping it simple, say they have 50 lifeboats. Each lifeboat can hold 100. The maximum capacity would be 5,000.

 

Whether the 5,000 are all in double occupancy cabins, or a combo of some double occupancy, some single occupancy, some triple, some quad, that is all immaterial.

 

Pretty simple.

[Danish]

I booked solo for cruise in August, and now my friend found out, that she could get off work and would like to follow me.

I asked if I could add her to my cabin, but it was so expensive.

I paid USD 800 for a single cabin - I should pay another 700 USD to add her to my booking.

For 1500 USD on a 4 night cruise to Bahamas? We could have had a Junior instead of the Ocean view cabin I had booked.

 

So my advice is - book for 2 persons - and then change, if your husband can not attend.

 

Cheers

bente

[gerif]

So the simple formula is count the number of lifeboats and multiply that by the lifeboats capacity to get a ships maximum capacity number.

Using this formula for example: Freedom of the Seas has 30 lifeboats with a capacity of 150 people which would = 4500 passengers. This website lists Freedom of the Seas capacity at double occupancy is 3634. So it seems that the Freedom's maximum capacity is well beyond the double occupancy number.

 

What about the crew? Do they not get lifeboat space as well? Just asking.

[Paulxyz2004]

So the simple formula is count the number of lifeboats and multiply that by the lifeboats capacity to get a ships maximum capacity number.

Using this formula for example: Freedom of the Seas has 30 lifeboats with a capacity of 150 people which would = 4500 passengers. This website lists Freedom of the Seas capacity at double occupancy is 3634. So it seems that the Freedom's maximum capacity is well beyond the double occupancy number.

 

:confused::confused::confused: Huh, 4500 is well beyond 3634 ???

 

 

Anyway, as I said it´s the classification society setting the max capacity of a ship and there´s a lot more to it than to count number of seats in life boats.

 

Rescue vessel capacity has to be available not only for passengers, but as well for the crew. Of course they need overcapacity as well, as in an emergency there might be an amount of lifeboats / rafts that can´t be used. They will take that into account as well. I´m sure there are probably many more things to take into account, but one more will be how fast they can evacuate what amount of persons.

[johneeo]

What about the crew? Do they not get lifeboat space as well? Just asking.

 

The crew must go down with the ship.:eek:

 

Just kidding, of course they do. There must be a space on the lifeboats for every body on board.

[Wendy-Europe]

So the simple formula is count the number of lifeboats and multiply that by the lifeboats capacity to get a ships maximum capacity number.

Using this formula for example: Freedom of the Seas has 30 lifeboats with a capacity of 150 people which would = 4500 passengers. This website lists Freedom of the Seas capacity at double occupancy is 3634. So it seems that the Freedom's maximum capacity is well beyond the double occupancy number.

 

 

Sorry about that - but you are wrong:

 

Today ships have nearly twice the lifeboat capacity as their passenger capacity - to secure - in case of a listing ship you are unable to launch some of the lifeboats - so today passenger ships have enough lifeboats on BOTH sides of the ship to accomodate each passenger.

 

And the visible lifeboats are not the full amount of lifeboats. They have these ""used as tenders" lifeboats and the other ones - the inflatable ones - the biggest ones are for 150 people.

 

 

Wendy

[Bookish Angel]

We will probably just book together for now to reserve the space and see what happens closer to our sail date.

[cruisinfanatic]

I initially put a cruise on hold as a single as I wasn't sure who was going with me - when I called to switch it from a single to double the price was recalculated at that day's rate regardless of what the 'double rate' was when I initially booked (which had been around $500 for the single and up to $700 pp when I switched it to double... luckily the price dropped back down a few days later!)

Maybe things work different outside the USA