HELP - what to do, neice's friend cant go!

[zoiebear]

So my sister has 2 OV rooms booked, one for her and her husband and one for her daughter (18) and her friend (18). We are 34 days out till cruise. Now her friend cant go and we are trying to decide to just do a "no show" for the friend - and is it best to just say she is checking in separate or tell them at check in she is not coming??

 

I know there are other threads out there on this, but my other part is...

 

What would happen if they cancel the friend and then want to move the daughter into the room with them and just have 3 in one room? Is that something Carnival would do or would it be like a total cancel and rebook?? Or would there be a ton of added fees to do this?

 

Does anyone know about or have experienced this before - going from 2 rooms/4 people, to 1 room/3 people?

 

Thanks!

[katiel53]

My thought is to just tell the person checking your niece in that her roomie isn't going to board. I think that trying to add the niece to the cabin with the parents at this time is going to make the parents pay more and I don't even know if there is room in the cabin for a 3rd person.

 

I don't know if there is insurance involved so that is also a consideration. If not, just don't have the friend show up, check in and say she's not going, no raise in price for anyone and the friends port charges should be refunded. I, personally, haven't ever done this, but from reading the posts on here, that's what I would do.

[kelkel2]

I agree I would do the no show at the port. Her port fees would then be refunded and no one's rates would go up.

[Out to sea!]

At 34 days out, what would be the point of moving daughter to parents cabin? Also, is the parent's cabin a 3 person cabin (if not, then not even a chance of moving)? Just don't say anything about the missing person and the daughter gets a cabin to herself. Either way, the friend is paid for and unless they have insurance and the cancellation is for a reason covered by the insurance, they are out the money.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Out to sea!

[poison7fl]

Wait until check in that one will not be joining you.

 

Once on board, get another spare room key for the other room, it won't be a problem.

[serene56]

if you have insurance you need to cancel.

If no insurance there is no reason to say anything except to get back her port and tax money.

 

But I will say that I am impressed that you were able to book the 18 year in her own cabin with your daughter.

[Out to sea!]

if you have insurance you need to cancel.

If no insurance there is no reason to say anything except to get back her port and tax money.

 

But I will say that I am impressed that you were able to book the 18 year in her own cabin with your daughter.

 

Why is that. You can have children I believe from age 13 in their own cabin. Age 13-16 they must be within 3 cabin doors of the parents (or guardians in this case), 17-20 within 5 cabin doors of the parents. No problem whatsoever.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Out to sea!

[zoiebear]

So, since we are in the stage of no cancellation refund anyway (forfeit deposit which is pretty much the whole fare), if we did cancel her ahead of time, she isn't going to get her money back anyway and the room is still being paid for double occ, so would they still charge her even more being solo in the room even though its still paid for two??? Just curious...

[zoiebear]

I agree I would do the no show at the port. Her port fees would then be refunded and no one's rates would go up.

 

 

 

Would the prepaid gratuities also be refunded? Would definitely leave extra just to not short the room steward from a double occ gratuity, but wondered if they would be refunded...

[zoiebear]

if you have insurance you need to cancel.

If no insurance there is no reason to say anything except to get back her port and tax money.

 

But I will say that I am impressed that you were able to book the 18 year in her own cabin with your daughter.

 

It was no problem at all - just had to call and get it done over the phone, wouldn't let us online. I don't think the room even had to be next to each other since they are 18.

[zoiebear]

At 34 days out, what would be the point of moving daughter to parents cabin? Also, is the parent's cabin a 3 person cabin (if not, then not even a chance of moving)? Just don't say anything about the missing person and the daughter gets a cabin to herself. Either way, the friend is paid for and unless they have insurance and the cancellation is for a reason covered by the insurance, they are out the money.

 

Just so my niece does not have to be in the room alone...she's only 18 and a senior in high school...not sure she's thrilled staying in a room on a huge ship alone! :eek: Now I'm in my 40's and I love my DH, but sometimes a room alone on a huge ship sounds pretty good!! LOL :D

[cruiser fanatic]

When you are checking in at the port you can let them know that she is not coming. That is the best option.

[cb at sea]

They will NOT move the single into the aunt/uncle room....she will simply stay in the room she was booked into...as a singled Since they are past the "refund" stage, there is no added charges...they've paid for 2 in the cabin...they don't care if there's only one.

[SadieN]

Is there another someone to take the friend's place. Under most fares pax can be changed for a $50 fee.

[k2excursion]

So, since we are in the stage of no cancellation refund anyway (forfeit deposit which is pretty much the whole fare), if we did cancel her ahead of time, she isn't going to get her money back anyway and the room is still being paid for double occ, so would they still charge her even more being solo in the room even though its still paid for two??? Just curious...

 

According to the rules (which are sometimes broken), when 2 people go down to 1 in the room, a penalty is assessed, and that amount is totally removed from the booking. That amount can no longer be used as payment. A penalty is a penalty, not a payment. You have already paid for 2 in the room, but the penalty must be removed from the payments, and you would immediately have to pay whatever is now due with the 200% solo supplement added in. Another way to view it is that you pay whatever the penalty is at the time of cancelling, minus the refunded taxes. There's just no way that you can go from 2 down to 1 and not have to pay the penalty, just because 2 cruise fares are being paid either way. That's like saying that you don't have to pay your speeding ticket just because you paid more than that amount in state taxes. It just doesn't work that way. The penalty is a separate charge that must be paid, in addition to 2 cruise fares on the solo booking. Doing the no-show avoids this extra charge. If Carnival didn't charge this penalty, not only would it not be a penalty, they are now vulnerable to people being able to easily do a name change for free.

 

But having said all that, I would still say to call Carnival and see if they might wave the penalty. They have been known to not just bend, but to totally obliterate their own rules on a case by case basis. You could get lucky.

 

Also, I would look into switching it to a 3-person room. Friends of mine did exactly this before, but they did it before final payment, which probably makes a difference. But they were Early Saver, which I thought would involve a $50 penalty, but it didn't. 2 bookings became 1 booking, as all people were put into 1 room instead of 2, and no penalty was assessed, because none of them were being cancelled. The person being cancelled will still have a penalty (which would be taken out of your overpayments once it becomes one 3-person booking), but there might not be any additional penalty for switching to a 3-person room. If you are able to do this, they will have to move to a 3-person room, which might involve having to upgrade & pay extra in cruise fare. Let us know how it works out.

Edited December 23, 2014 by k2excursion

[latunxitom]

I agree I would do the no show at the port.

[Out to sea!]

So, since we are in the stage of no cancellation refund anyway (forfeit deposit which is pretty much the whole fare), if we did cancel her ahead of time, she isn't going to get her money back anyway and the room is still being paid for double occ, so would they still charge her even more being solo in the room even though its still paid for two??? Just curious...

 

Yep.

[serene56]

Why is that. You can have children I believe from age 13 in their own cabin. Age 13-16 they must be within 3 cabin doors of the parents (or guardians in this case), 17-20 within 5 cabin doors of the parents. No problem whatsoever.

 

If the nieces parents are not going she should be booked in a cabin with someone who is 25 or older.

 

As long as the kids are your own-- they can have their own cabin.

[serene56]

So, since we are in the stage of no cancellation refund anyway (forfeit deposit which is pretty much the whole fare), if we did cancel her ahead of time, she isn't going to get her money back anyway and the room is still being paid for double occ, so would they still charge her even more being solo in the room even though its still paid for two??? Just curious...

 

If you cancel the niece you will get back her port and taxes-- with that you paid double occupancy anyway

[Orison]

if you have insurance you need to cancel.

If no insurance there is no reason to say anything except to get back her port and tax money.

 

But I will say that I am impressed that you were able to book the 18 year in her own cabin with your daughter.

 

Why? I put my 6 year old in her own cabin, as our cabin had a max of 2.

It was however adjoining, but I understand you can have older in their own cabin as long as it's within a couple of cabins of the parents.

[Orison]

Is there another someone to take the friend's place. Under most fares pax can be changed for a $50 fee.

 

^^^THIS>

 

In any case, it always pays to call and let THEM tell you your options. I had to do that once, and I did get money back, however, it was not any kind of restricted fare.

 

They're not ogres. They WILL see what they can do for you. To simply do a no show, you have ZERO options.

[serene56]

Why? I put my 6 year old in her own cabin, as our cabin had a max of 2.

It was however adjoining, but I understand you can have older in their own cabin as long as it's within a couple of cabins of the parents.

 

your 6 year old is your own child and you as the parents are sailing with them. If you took a cousin or a nephew- and parents were not sailing-- they will need to be booked in with you