It pays to persist! (Reservations drama... but we got there in the end)

[littledaisychain]

Just a little story some might enjoy... or learn from...

 

We had booked two side by side interior rooms on the Explorer.

 

We realised it would be very squishy with a portacot/pack n play for our 1 year old so we looked into Promenade rooms and realised it wasn't that much more expensive. (Yes I know, they are not much bigger at all, but the layout is more workable I believe. Plus, we could get a better location - and a view!)

 

DH called RCI and asked if we could change our booking, they palmed him off and basically said no, there was nothing available. He also asked whether we could change to interconnecting interiors and they said no. He rang again and spoke to someone different and they said the same thing!

 

So DH went ahead and made a second booking for two interconnecting Promenade rooms on the RC website (despite being told that none were available!).

 

Meanwhile, I went to a local travel agent who was very nice but came to the same result as the RC reps. Basically, a Promenade room is listed as 2 passengers so they wouldn't allow us to add a third, even though she is an infant. They were insisting we book a 3 pax room which is silly because she's way too small to sleep on a bunk/sofabed even if we wanted her to!

 

We also tried an online travel agent. No dice.

 

Finally DH called RC one more time. He finally found someone helpful and rational who could see the logic of the situation and added our infant to our Promenade room. I should add - I had read right here on CC that it had been done many times before, so YAY for CC!

 

SO, now we have our two awesome, interconnecting deck 8 Promenade rooms, and we are so happy and excited! :D

 

It's just a shame it took so much legwork to make it happen...:rolleyes:

[plainolivepizza]

That DH. What a man.

[jticarruthers]

Once again proving the point, if you don't like/don't believe what RCI tells you, keep calling and eventually you will get someone who will give you what you want :)

[luvsun22]

Kudos to your persistent DH (and you) and shame on the travel agents who did work that hard to find the answer you wanted! Congratulations on getting the rooms you wanted!

[rudeney]

In the Disney forums, we call this "The Carousel of Policy".

[nivek82]

Glad it worked for you. We did the same thing when DD was a baby. I remember calling because we could do it online and first was told no until I said "for an infant." They put me on hold but we got the room anyway. 😀

 

One thing to note is if you're going to use the provided pack and play it might be in the room until the first night turndown. Wasn't a big deal except for our first cruise we thought we could get the kid a nap early but didn't work. We were fine on other cruises because we knew what to expect and planned accordingly.

[littledaisychain]

Once again proving the point, if you don't like/don't believe what RCI tells you, keep calling and eventually you will get someone who will give you what you want :)

 

Haha! So true. This is only my third cruise but I'm learning so much... :rolleyes:

[plainolivepizza]

In the Disney forums, we call this "The Carousel of Policy".

 

Haha! I like that.

[ken_nyc]

Glad it finally worked out for you!