Family of 4, 1st time booking connecting rooms

[kruzerci]

This is our first time booking a cruise with two connecting cabins. We are booking connecting rooms for us and our two kids (24 & 23). I have a couple of questions for those with experience. We have already linked both reservations for dining and air.

 

1) We have MTD. Do we need to make MTD reservations for both reservations at the same time? Or do we just book it for one reservation and both cabins will automatically be applied?

 

2) We have $250 OBC for our cabin between booking onboard and travel agent perks. The kids cabin has no OBC. I have linked the onboard accounts, as well, so I will be paying the kids Seapass charges. The two of us don't spend much on drinks since we have the DL, so since the accounts are linked, will they be able to buy drinks on their Sea-passes and it comes out of my cabins OBC? That would be ideal...

 

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks in advance!

[Familygoboston]

When you go to the pre cruise planner to make any reservations or book anything, there is a spot to "add others from another reservation" If you have the reservation number, you add them. If you've already " linked" the reservation, when you are booking some thing, like MTD reservations, the people in the other reservation (cabin) will be listed there for you to select or not to include in that particular reservation. Very simple, and it's not all or nothing you can add any one, 2, 3 or all 4 people. Very easy once you do it!

 

As for the account, if you set it up so you are paying for incidentals for both cabins with one card when you check in, the credit will apply to your single account which will be the expenses of both cabins. At least that's how it worked for us. If you notice the "credit" isn't being drawn down, while the kids are racking up bar bills a simple visit to the GS will fix it! (Lucky "kids";))

 

Also, I should point out that if you and you spouse are both Diamond, but your kids aren't (sounds like they can't use the DL from your post) you might want to rearrange the reservation to get your Diamond discount on both cabins (if the kids cabin is a balcony or suite). If you book one of you Diamond with one of the non diamond kids, into each balcony cabin, you will get the diamond discount on BOTH, instead of just one cabin. But it will only work of the kids are also in a balcony (including a BW or CP balcony) Even if you've already booked it, you should be able to switch it now and still get the discount. Just get extra keys made and sleep where you like, you are just changing the res to get a diamond in each cabin.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Clarea]

This is our first time booking a cruise with two connecting cabins. We are booking connecting rooms for us and our two kids (24 & 23). I have a couple of questions for those with experience. We have already linked both reservations for dining and air.

 

1) We have MTD. Do we need to make MTD reservations for both reservations at the same time? Or do we just book it for one reservation and both cabins will automatically be applied? Make reservations for both staterooms.

2) We have $250 OBC for our cabin between booking onboard and travel agent perks. The kids cabin has no OBC. I have linked the onboard accounts, as well, so I will be paying the kids Seapass charges. The two of us don't spend much on drinks since we have the DL, so since the accounts are linked, will they be able to buy drinks on their Sea-passes and it comes out of my cabins OBC? That would be ideal... Yes.

 

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks in advance!

See answers in RED above.

[Ashland]

In addition to the excellent advice above..I'll just add that you really don't have to make specific dining time reservations with MTD..We found when traveling with our adult kids..it was just as easy to show up when we were all ready to dine..as you never know what everyone may be up to at any particular time...Have a wonderful cruise.

[goodycruising]

Yep, well answered. We found with the seas pass that the person that signs for responsibility of the charges gets all the items showing as listed on their account, and the other person that has created the charge has the charge show on their account and then a credit immediately after when the charge gets transferred to the person paying. It varies for us as to who was on the computer making the booking, then that name has come up first. So you should be able to log onto the TV and see each person's spending, even though they will have a zero balance. Hope that makes sense!

Edited January 11, 2014 by kjsmith63

[austinhoops]

In addition to the excellent advice above..I'll just add that you really don't have to make specific dining time reservations with MTD..We found when traveling with our adult kids..it was just as easy to show up when we were all ready to dine..as you never know what everyone may be up to at any particular time...Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Actually, with a family, I would make reservations.

 

We did MTD as a family last summer. Although I booked our dining reservations a couple months out, I could not get any reservations between 5:45-7:00pm, only before and after those windows. So I held a 7:15 reservation, but planned to try to see if they could switch us to something around 6:30pm for two of the nights, once I got on board the ship. When I tried to make the change on board the ship (for ANY night), they said they could not accommodate us. Interestingly, the reservation host admitted to me that they needed to get two seatings, so if we came at 6:30, for example, it wouldn't allow them enough time for an earlier seating at that table, and she was concerned that it would be too late to seat a late-dining party after us. Despite the "My Time" label, my experience was that they really do still try to push you into the early or late window. This might be different if you are just a party of 2, as I have read here about people who switch their dining times easily on board, and my guess is there's more flexibility with a smaller party. We were a family of 5 sitting together and were not successful in getting any preferred time changes to our reservations once on board the ship, so I was glad that I had at least booked something within 45 minutes of the time window we wanted. If I hadn't pre-booked, it seemed the only times I could get changed to were really early (5:30) or late (8:00-8:30).

Edited January 11, 2014 by austinhoops

[kruzerci]

Thank you all so much! After all these cruises, this is the first time I felt like I was going into the situation "blind!"

 

We booked two cabins on one other cruise, but we didn't have any OBC and we had traditional late dinner, so it was relatively straightforward.

 

Again, thank you! I really appreciate the information. We booked ocean views instead of balconies (:eek:) for the first time in years. It will be different without the balconies, but I think it will be worth it, as opposed to sharing a JS with four adults.

 

If balcony prices drop, I will definitely take your advice Familygoboston. Thanks for the reminder. Right now balconies are almost twice the price of ocean-views and I can't justify the price difference for a family cruise.