Okay, what shall I do next to make this work?

[Geldhart]

I would like to hear from people who have done this before (multiple times even).

 

My family and I are looking at going on Freedom of the Seas for the Aug 26 sailing. We are already booked on Jan 27th, but will be cancelling that due to issues that have come up making us either take an earlier cruise, or having to delay up to another year.

 

Looking at pricing, the costs of 4 of us in a balcony vs 2 in balcony and 2 in an Interior are almost exactly the same. I have put a courtesy hold (25 March about 0900 CST) for cabins 8615 and 8616. The thought is to put myself and my wife in 8616 and the kids (Girl 11, Boy 8) in the other. We are comfortable as parents with that arrangement - at home our bedrooms are further apart than that.

 

The Questions:

 

1. Are these cabins "close enough" for RCCL to let us put our kids in the separate cabins?

 

1. Since on the site I can't put 0 Adults, 2 children in a cabin how do I do

this?

 

2. Can we set it up so we have keys to their cabin (and let them have keys to ours, so they can use the balcony as well?)

 

3. How do we limit the spending on the cards? We do want to let them spend their budget amount without having to come to us for everything. While my daughter would be good if she had access to the entire amount on Day 1, we would need to break up my son's account by the day if possible.

 

4. For "Checking In" are there charges for calling to different rooms and leaving Voice Mail?

 

Thanks. Only done 1 cruise before, and never with the kids.

[jmom5]

1. Your best bet would be to book you with one child and your wife with the other. Depending on what cvp you talk to, they may or may not let you book the kids together. But if you book with you in one room and your wife in the other, as soon as you get onboard, go to guest relations and have it changed to the arrangement you want. They do this all the time and I have done this a couple of times.

 

2. I haven't requested a separate key for my kids rooms, but at night when we're going to bed, we just take one of their keys with us to our room. It seems that I have read on here where someone has gotten a key to their kids room, but I don't know this as fact.

 

3. You can put a spending limit on the kids cards, again, go to guest relations to do this. I don't have experience putting a daily limit, so I am not sure if they can do this or not. I guess you could go to guest relations everyday to have to limit increased a little each day if they can't do the daily limit.

 

4. No charges for phone use between cabins.

[cb at sea]

You may get extra keys for each cabin.

 

Yes...they may make you register an adult in each cabin for booking purposes, but once onboard, you can switch around...and get the correct keys for everyone's charging purposes...although, it will all go to one account, in a family's case!

 

I would simply talk to the kids and TELL them what they're allowed to spend daily...you can check the spending on your tv....they are old enough to keep track! Or, you can just put cash on their cards, and when it's gone...it's gone! Good money lessons for kids!

[goodmud]

When we were on Oasis, we booked one adult in each room and one kid. Then when we got on board, we went to guest relations and asked for an additional key to each room. That way we had a key to their room, and they had a key to our room. It wasn't a problem at all.

 

We did not put a spending limit on our kids because they were older, 15 and 18, and understood how much they could charge to the card. I do believe that you can set a limit though.

 

Have a great cruise!

[masonpips]

Mine in red

 

The Questions:

 

1. Are these cabins "close enough" for RCCL to let us put our kids in the separate cabins? I'm w/others, book yourself in one, wife in the other

 

1. Since on the site I can't put 0 Adults, 2 children in a cabin how do I do

this? Pretty sure you have to call for this unless you do the wife in one, you in the other

 

2. Can we set it up so we have keys to their cabin (and let them have keys to ours, so they can use the balcony as well?) Yes. They'll give you additional keys if you request. Take a Sharpie or something like that to identify them

 

3. How do we limit the spending on the cards? We do want to let them spend their budget amount without having to come to us for everything. While my daughter would be good if she had access to the entire amount on Day 1, we would need to break up my son's account by the day if possible. We've set limits at $50 for the beginning and then upped it to $70 or something (I believe, dh did this). Just be aware that you have to get in line at Guest Services and sometimes it takes awhile for the $$ to show up (which makes NO sense, but happens) and it seems to be a nightmare - based on my dh's multiple trips to Guest Services. I would suggest a maximum limit at the beginning and checking it daily on the TV

 

4. For "Checking In" are there charges for calling to different rooms and leaving Voice Mail? Nope. Also suggest bringing a cheapo white board or using stickies on the door/inside the room

.

[cruisinfanatic]

6604 and 6605 are directly across from each other and you will not need to switch around people in the cabin

[MM4M]

I have done what JMOM has suggested and it worked just fine. Try to board early so you can go to guest relations right away or you may get stuck in the line later in the day...the line gets really long very quickly! As others have posted, you can set limits for kids and calls are free. I would also suggest post it notes for your rooms. They work great for getting messages back and forth!

[akcruz]

If the cabins are directly across the hall you can book the kids by themselves, but you have to call to make payments. The on line system will not let you do it. As for keys we always get an extra for the kids cabin and one for ours so they can get to us if needed. The spare keys stay in the others cabin unless needed.

 

As for spending I have put a limit on my sons card in the past but it is total for the cruise, nit daily. After a few cruises we no longer limit spending that way, but it let the kids know what they can spend, then sit down with them and verify what was spent each night on the tv. We do get the soda card so DD usually has a balance of 0, but DS spends his limit at the arcade :(

[uksimonusa]

I would like to hear from people who have done this before (multiple times even).

 

My family and I are looking at going on Freedom of the Seas for the Aug 26 sailing. We are already booked on Jan 27th, but will be cancelling that due to issues that have come up making us either take an earlier cruise, or having to delay up to another year.

 

Looking at pricing, the costs of 4 of us in a balcony vs 2 in balcony and 2 in an Interior are almost exactly the same. I have put a courtesy hold (25 March about 0900 CST) for cabins 8615 and 8616. The thought is to put myself and my wife in 8616 and the kids (Girl 11, Boy 8) in the other. We are comfortable as parents with that arrangement - at home our bedrooms are further apart than that.

 

The Questions:

 

1. Are these cabins "close enough" for RCCL to let us put our kids in the separate cabins? You may get away with it, dependson who answers the phone, technically they do not meet the requirements

 

1. Since on the site I can't put 0 Adults, 2 children in a cabin how do I do

this? Book by phone

 

2. Can we set it up so we have keys to their cabin (and let them have keys to ours, so they can use the balcony as well?) Yes you can get "extra Keys" to each room that have no charging

 

3. How do we limit the spending on the cards? We do want to let them spend their budget amount without having to come to us for everything. While my daughter would be good if she had access to the entire amount on Day 1, we would need to break up my son's account by the day if possible. Have never done this, have alway trusted the kids to stick to their limits, with no problems'

 

4. For "Checking In" are there charges for calling to different rooms and leaving Voice Mail? No

 

Thanks. Only done 1 cruise before, and never with the kids.

 

See answers in red above

[newbiecruiser09]

I would not worry about your DS and his spending limit unless he will be wondering the ship alone, unsupervised (which I would not recommend for an 8 yr old). Our DD was 7 last cruise and the only time she spent $$ was when she was with us (in the shops, arcade, etc) When she was in AO it was not an issue and other than that, she was with us or her big brother (who is very responsible with $$). She did not go to the arcade alone (and really she was more interested in AO, pool activities etc) so that was not an issue. We put a total cruise limit on each kid and they both did not spend it all.

[Familygoboston]

As others have said, this is easy and done all the time. Book one adult one child in each cabin, but do make sure that you are all at the same muster station. You don't want a late night emergency with children that young going to a different station alone! Or AO bringing kids to a muster station where you will not be. This is unlikely unless your two cabins are right at a cut off point or Aft where the port/starboard line is. If you call, the rep can tell you if both cabins are in the same muster station

 

You dont really need to mark the cards...the extra card will clearly say the name of the adult who is booked in that cabin "mom- spare key" right on it. Moms actual sea pass will just have " mom" and her info on it and she will carry that and "dads - spare key" . Your child will carry his sea pass with his name on it and a card that says " Dad- spare key". The only hassle is carrying two cards so make sure the kid you move into the cabin after booking is the one most able to manage/ understand which is which!

[Geldhart]

I would not worry about your DS and his spending limit unless he will be wondering the ship alone, unsupervised (which I would not recommend for an 8 yr old). Our DD was 7 last cruise and the only time she spent $$ was when she was with us (in the shops, arcade, etc) When she was in AO it was not an issue and other than that, she was with us or her big brother (who is very responsible with $$). She did not go to the arcade alone (and really she was more interested in AO, pool activities etc) so that was not an issue. We put a total cruise limit on each kid and they both did not spend it all.

 

You are quite right on the 8 year old - he would NOT be unsupervised. The 11 year old has earned a bit of a longer leash, and would be able to go off on her own for a bit, as long as we know where she is, and she BETTER be where she says she is - if not, we put the shorter leash back on (metaphorically speaking of course).

 

Given that I will just put the full amount they can spend on their cards on Day 1 and leave it there.