We were asked to switch rooms on our cruise from a family stateroom?

[elena7seas]

The adjoining staterooms on S class have neat entryways that turn into a common entry hallway between the two rooms making it easy to keep the rooms open to each other with, in effect, a short open hallway connecting them with only one door leading to the outside corridor. I guess everyone could have their own opinions but I don't see why a child's young age would make them too young for this arrangement any more than having a separate sleeping room in a FV cabin would.

 

You or your friends need to check directly, or through your TA, with Celebrity and not mess with the web site on this unless you can confirm that the cabins are unsold but Celebrity refuses to sell them to the party of four at this time. Only then would it make sense to just monitor the web site. I've read of families of 4 getting these cabins from time to time in the past although I have no idea how often this happens nor all the circumstances. If you find out if the cabins are unsold at least they can check back from time to time or use one of the cabin price/availability monitoring sites to watch for it to be released.

 

Larry, do you know if families of four can "waitlist" a FV so that they could be advised if the booking becomes available to a family of four?

 

Thanks, as always, for all your help.

[momofmeg]

Two of the four in that the family are children that are too young to be in a cabin by themselves - the family stateroom would be perfect because with the second bedroom the kids could nap or go to sleep at night without necessitating the parents having to tiptoe around or turn off all the lights.

 

So I just tried to check (although I know it's way too early for the FVs to be released for next June for parties less than 5) - I selected "Veranda" staterooms and then was given a choice of Sunset Veranda, Veranda and Accessible Verandas. If the FVs were released, would they appear on this page and say something along the lines of "Family Stateroom"?

 

Celebrity has connecting cabins. I would see no problem with that and you get 2 bathrooms which would be nice. Now I can see why with young children you would not want to book a room across the hall unless your children are teens- (which is allowed-parents get a balcony and kids get an inside) but with a connecting door- the problem is solved.

 

I know once we booked with our daughter and her friend and we were offered cabins with connecting doors-which we declined, as we were all 4 adults. Personally. I think these should be reserved for families with young children first. Or perhaps someone with aging parents whom need to be monitored closely.

[BethV114]

I'm going to get on my soapbox for a quick minute and then step down so everyone can flame me. I'm really bothered by the attitude that several of the posters to this thread have taken, which is that they assume the worst of people without knowing all of the facts of the situation or even acknowledging that there could have been a legitimate reason that Celebrity asked the OP to change. Yes, the OP did take the time to pick out that particular cabin months in advance. So, yes, the OP feels that she is entitled to that particular cabin. But what if the family that Celebrity was requesting the move for had been in another FV or suite with separate bedroom and were being forced to evacuate through no fault of their own. We faced such a situation on our Eclipse cruise - 3 adults and one 1 1/2 year old child. A pipe was leaking into the bedroom of our Celebrity Suite and we were facing a possible move, but ended up being unable to do so because the only cabin available was a standard balcony, which we knew would not work for us. We would not have considered asking Celebrity to ask a passenger to make a switch for us, but having been in that situation ourselves, we would certainly move to accomodate a similar situation if we could.

Moving to the arguments that you know what you're getting when you book, so should select an appropriate cabin and not expect to move once on board - What if the family had never cruised before and had relied on their TA to book an appropriate cabin? While many of us that use CC are savy travelers, there are a large number of people out there who have no idea what they're doing and rely heavily on their TAs. That's not so say that I think anyone should have to move to accommodate them. I'm just saying that perhaps we could look a bit more kindly on them.

Finally, several have mentioned that they find it suspicious that the OP was asked to move from her coveted corner aft FV. How does the OP know that no one else was asked? Isn't it entirely possible that Celebrity was putting out feelers to everyone in an FV, or that the OP was simply one of many other FV guests to be asked? Why do we need to jump to the conclusion that since the OP had a corner aft, there must be some nefarious reason for having been asked to move?

I'm getting down off my soapbox now. Flame away! :eek:

[teajak]

I'm going to get on my soapbox for a quick minute and then step down so everyone can flame me. I'm really bothered by the attitude that several of the posters to this thread have taken, which is that they assume the worst of people without knowing all of the facts of the situation or even acknowledging that there could have been a legitimate reason that Celebrity asked the OP to change. Yes, the OP did take the time to pick out that particular cabin months in advance. So, yes, the OP feels that she is entitled to that particular cabin. But what if the family that Celebrity was requesting the move for had been in another FV or suite with separate bedroom and were being forced to evacuate through no fault of their own. We faced such a situation on our Eclipse cruise - 3 adults and one 1 1/2 year old child. A pipe was leaking into the bedroom of our Celebrity Suite and we were facing a possible move, but ended up being unable to do so because the only cabin available was a standard balcony, which we knew would not work for us. We would not have considered asking Celebrity to ask a passenger to make a switch for us, but having been in that situation ourselves, we would certainly move to accomodate a similar situation if we could.

 

Moving to the arguments that you know what you're getting when you book, so should select an appropriate cabin and not expect to move once on board - What if the family had never cruised before and had relied on their TA to book an appropriate cabin? While many of us that use CC are savy travelers, there are a large number of people out there who have no idea what they're doing and rely heavily on their TAs. That's not so say that I think anyone should have to move to accommodate them. I'm just saying that perhaps we could look a bit more kindly on them.

 

Finally, several have mentioned that they find it suspicious that the OP was asked to move from her coveted corner aft FV. How does the OP know that no one else was asked? Isn't it entirely possible that Celebrity was putting out feelers to everyone in an FV, or that the OP was simply one of many other FV guests to be asked? Why do we need to jump to the conclusion that since the OP had a corner aft, there must be some nefarious reason for having been asked to move?

 

I'm getting down off my soapbox now. Flame away! :eek:

No flames just one question. Why didn't Celebrity explain the situation to the people being asked to move?:confused:

[bunciedog]

Good for you :), perhaps we should all just make that little bit more of an effort sometimes.

 

 

I think I would have moved. The other family must have had some serious needs to be moved or there wouldn't have been such offers. It would have made me feel better, as a person, to help these people out. But, that's just me.

 

Recently I became seriously ill just before boarding a Southwest flight home from a 14 day cruise, and even though we could have boarded early, I was too sick to board until the last minute....my only thought was I wanted to go home. My husband and I took the last seats available, middle seats several rows apart. After take off I couldn't bear the pain any more and went to the lavatory where a flight attendant became concerned and called for medical help. After about 45 minutes (maybe the worse in my life) the crisis passed and I felt well enough to go back to my seat. While my husband and I and the attendants and a couple of nurse passengers, and a doctor on the phone, were deciding what to do with me, a few passengers got together and changed up seats so that my husband and I could have two seats together at the very back of the plane so we could have some privacy. Such a wonderful act of kindness will forever be in my heart. And I am going to try to spend the rest of my life being the person who steps up when needed to help someone else out, even without being asked.

[BethV114]

No flames just one question. Why didn't Celebrity explain the situation to the people being asked to move?:confused:

 

Good response. I think that's a two way street and there was a breakdown in communication. Celebrity should have given the OP more information and clearly the OP has no difficulty asking questions, so she should have asked for additional information. I think that it's one thing to say "I don't have enough information to comfortably agree to that situation, so no thank you" and quite another to not ask for additional information and then come home and assume the worst of people without knowing the whole story. It just makes me kind of sad that people are more inclined to automatically think the worst of others, rather than giving them the benefit of the doubt.

[Gracie115]

No flames just one question. Why didn't Celebrity explain the situation to the people being asked to move?:confused:

 

 

THAT is the whole point........X did NOT explain themselves and got nowhere with the request at least partially because they were not forthcoming.....

[warmwinds]

Twice the OP has said the only reason they were given was that the other party was traveling with a small child and wanted 2 rooms.

 

Don't we all.

 

We traveled for years with our child in an inside, and we survived.

 

If maybe they heard the word "suite" and thought it meant two rooms, it's unfortunate that they didn't have a better TA or the ability to look at deck plans. They made a mistake, so you just suck it up for the cruise you are on and then next cruise you know better, and let your TA know (if they even used one) what happened.

 

If it was the last cabin on the ship when they booked, again, oh well.

 

Barring any true emergency, I really have a hard time believing all of you would simply up and move. As I've said, I've done it on planes when people wanted to sit together, and it has meant that I've given up my aisle to sit in a middle. I was the one who was inconvenienced, but it was just for one flight and I survived. I hope the people I switched for appreciated it.

 

But give up my coveted cabin for no good reason (not even to mention the PITA to pack and unpack, even with help) - no, sorry.

[momofmeg]

No flames just one question. Why didn't Celebrity explain the situation to the people being asked to move?:confused:

 

I would think because it was not a serious problem for the young family-perhaps they just pitched a fit and insisted Celebrity ask. Personally I would have questioned them when they called "is there a specific reason this family needs more room- other than simply wanting more room?" If I was told no-then I would say "no way, I booked this way in advance" If there was a valid reason then I would consider their reason and make my decision on how valid I felt it was. for example (1)"the child has colic and is fussy." not valid enough or (2)'the child is autistic or has Down Syndrome has been very disruptive in public and we asked the parents to keep the child in the cabin when they become uncooperative." I would consider valid.

 

Bottom line we can suppose this and that all we want to-but with the information the OP was GIVEN-I see no problem with their staying put-and like others said if it was more serious why was this not explained to the OP? The way I see IF it was more serious than Celebrity was at fault-not the OP.

[Gracie115]

Good response. I think that's a two way street and there was a breakdown in communication. Celebrity should have given the OP more information and clearly the OP has no difficulty asking questions, so she should have asked for additional information. I think that it's one thing to say "I don't have enough information to comfortably agree to that situation, so no thank you" and quite another to not ask for additional information and then come home and assume the worst of people without knowing the whole story. It just makes me kind of sad that people are more inclined to automatically think the worst of others, rather than giving them the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

Certainly it was NOT up to the OP to ask for more information, that should have been forthcoming from the first moment X made the request. I don't think anyone here is failing to give the people who wanted to move the "benefit of the doubt" since NO ONE knows the real reason....but someohow I think if there was a truly valid, truly needed reason for the move then X would have said that from the beginning. They didn't, all they said was the family wanted two rooms, that's NOT a good enough reason to give up your stateroom. Oh, and the SS, which was offered as the "upgrade" truly is not....on the "M" class ships SS's are barely more than a regular veranda cabin....something that was fixed on the "S" class ships.

[MicCanberra]

I'm going to get on my soapbox for a quick minute and then step down so everyone can flame me. I'm really bothered by the attitude that several of the posters to this thread have taken, which is that they assume the worst of people without knowing all of the facts of the situation or even acknowledging that there could have been a legitimate reason that Celebrity asked the OP to change. Yes, the OP did take the time to pick out that particular cabin months in advance. So, yes, the OP feels that she is entitled to that particular cabin. But what if the family that Celebrity was requesting the move for had been in another FV or suite with separate bedroom and were being forced to evacuate through no fault of their own. We faced such a situation on our Eclipse cruise - 3 adults and one 1 1/2 year old child. A pipe was leaking into the bedroom of our Celebrity Suite and we were facing a possible move, but ended up being unable to do so because the only cabin available was a standard balcony, which we knew would not work for us. We would not have considered asking Celebrity to ask a passenger to make a switch for us, but having been in that situation ourselves, we would certainly move to accomodate a similar situation if we could.

 

Moving to the arguments that you know what you're getting when you book, so should select an appropriate cabin and not expect to move once on board - What if the family had never cruised before and had relied on their TA to book an appropriate cabin? While many of us that use CC are savy travelers, there are a large number of people out there who have no idea what they're doing and rely heavily on their TAs. That's not so say that I think anyone should have to move to accommodate them. I'm just saying that perhaps we could look a bit more kindly on them.

 

Finally, several have mentioned that they find it suspicious that the OP was asked to move from her coveted corner aft FV. How does the OP know that no one else was asked? Isn't it entirely possible that Celebrity was putting out feelers to everyone in an FV, or that the OP was simply one of many other FV guests to be asked? Why do we need to jump to the conclusion that since the OP had a corner aft, there must be some nefarious reason for having been asked to move?

 

I'm getting down off my soapbox now. Flame away! :eek:

No flames from me either, I described a similar scenario but thought that X could have explained it better or offered better compensation.:D

[herbanrenewal]

Maybe I'm crazy but I really can not believe ANYONE would give up a coveted room reserved months in advance.

 

It's not that I am not empathetic, just, really who planned ahead and knew what they wanted? Who did not plan and know what they were purchasing.

[JFontaine]

Picture this: elderly husband (or wife) in the FV - maybe inexperienced cruisers - answers the phone, and hears "suite, $300, for a child" and without realizing what is being asked, says sure. Spouse comes in to see the cabin attendant moving their clothes. Now they are committed. What a mess.

 

If Celebrity really needed the cabin the offer would have been far more generous - free cruise, etc. To them it means almost nothing.

 

To the poster who got on a plane so sick that she had to board last - you were very lucky. I would've checked into a hotel (or a hospital) until I was well enough to travel. Not only did you endanger yourself, but you risked creating an emergency landing which costs a fortune and inconveniences everyone. I can only imagine that you were so sick that you and your husband were not thinking clearly.

[Lard Greystoke]

To the poster who got on a plane so sick that she had to board last...I can only imagine that you were so sick that you and your husband were not thinking clearly.

 

It's always nice when the originator of a thread gets a simple and clear answer, the thread goes away after having served its useful purpose, and we all move on with our lives. As opposed to sprouting into more dark corners than a bad case of bathroom mold.

[Desertbelle]

.....

 

To the poster who got on a plane so sick that she had to board last - you were very lucky. I would've checked into a hotel (or a hospital) until I was well enough to travel. Not only did you endanger yourself, but you risked creating an emergency landing which costs a fortune and inconveniences everyone. I can only imagine that you were so sick that you and your husband were not thinking clearly.

 

Not that it's anyone's business, and I am sad someone would think that I would put a whole plane at risk without thinking, but I was having a reoccurring attack of a problem I have had on and off for many years...the pain started while we were in the airport. It's extremely painful to me and the attacks last between 30 minutes and 2 hours and afterward I am almost immediately OK and exhausted. I had been away from home for over 2 weeks and all I could think was I needed to be home. My choices were to sit in the airport while the pain subsided, watching my plane home take off, and trying to arrange new transportation the next day, OR board the plane and get through it the best I could. If for one minute I thought something else was amiss I would have called for an ambulance myself. The hard part was convincing the airline attendants that I would be fine, I just needed some time, but a woman who refuses to leave the lavatory for a long time seems to make them nervous....I didn't ask for help, it was somewhat forced upon me. Of course they had a nurse check me and when I told her the problem she waited with me and my husband for the pain to pass and helped me back to my seat after it ended...I slept the rest of the way home....home sweet home. I didn't endanger anyone and if they would have made an emergency landing it would have been against my wishes....and I would have been over it and sleeping before the landing.

[JFontaine]

Getting back to the original topic - you said:

 

"I think I would have moved. The other family must have had some serious needs to be moved or there wouldn't have been such offers. It would have made me feel better, as a person, to help these people out."

 

My point is - and has been demonstrated on this interesting thread - kindness is a complicated thing. It needs to be on both sides of the ledger if possible - the giver and the taker. I wish you all the best - good health, safe travels.

[northwoods2]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts, it has been interesting to read them. I posted this not looking for an answer but to share an interesting situation. There is no right answer - it all depends on many different things on the sides of both parties involved.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts, it has been interesting to read them. I posted this not looking for an answer but to share an interesting situation. There is no right answer - it all depends on many different things on the sides of both parties involved.

So true, what is feels right for one person, feels wrong for another.:D