Can 1 person have/pay for 2 cabins?

[Kdiamond55]

Ok this is a question even Google wasn't able to answer for me.

 

My family of 4 (me, husband, 2 kids) plus my MIL want to go to Alaska. So I priced out a 2-bedroom family suite (which sleeps up to 6) for 5 people. But my MIL is concerned she might not want to sleep in the little second bedroom so we think, she'll get her own cabin, pay the solo rate (not cheap) and if she needs to retreat to it to sleep and shower she can. But by her being in our cabin as well she can participate in the suite things with us like breakfast and lunch with us, and priority tenders. Makes sense, right? (Just to be clear, there isn't a free deal for the 5th person, its pretty standard rate and no promos or anything, it's for a summer trip in the height of the Alaska season)

 

Apparently you can't do this????

 

Why in NCL's right mind would they want to turn down someone paying a pretty decent chunk of change for 2 cabins and eating and participating only as much as 1 person? We could do it all together if all of us go in one suite, but if we want two cabins we can't?

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with WHY. Is there a reason for this?

Edited January 22, 2016 by Kdiamond55

[djmess]

Ok this is a question even Google wasn't able to answer for me.

 

My family of 4 (me, husband, 2 kids) plus my MIL want to go to Alaska. So I priced out a 2-bedroom family suite (which sleeps up to 6) for 5 people. So then my MIL is concerned she might not want to sleep in the little second bedroom so she says, I'll get my own cabin, pay the solo rate (not cheap) and if I need to retreat to it to sleep and shower I can. But by her being in our cabin as well she can participate in the suite things with us like breakfast and lunch with us, and priority tenders. Makes sense, right? (Just to be clear, there isn't some free deal for the 5th person, its pretty standard rate and no promos or anything, it's for a summer trip in the height of the Alaska season)

 

Apparently you can't do this????

 

Why in NCL's right mind would they want to turn down someone paying (essentially) double for 2 cabins and eating and participating only as much as 1 person?

 

This ship is not anywhere near capacity, rooms are plentiful. I've racked my brain trying to come up with WHY. Is there a reason for this or is my agent pulling my chain?

 

It absolutely positively can be done. You just have to talk with the correct person. I have seen it. Just recently on the Escape

[Boschmann]

There was a recent thread with your exact situation. One person responded with an interesting opinion. The gist of their argument was that NCL would rather you cram as many people in one room because they will eventually sell the other room to someone else. They have no interest in your desire, they will get their full price on the second room plus the extra for the 5th in the suite.

 

The OP of the other thread even tried to pay for both (5th and solo) and NCL declined. As I have also found they will not have one person booked in two different rooms.

[triptolemus]

It absolutely positively can be done. You just have to talk with the correct person. I have seen it. Just recently on the Escape

 

This.

 

There have been a number of threads recently which indicate that NCL's previous position on this subject has changed in alignment with the OPs wishes.

 

OP, while I realized you mentioned TA, you should call and speak with NCL directly, yourself. There have been recent changes which TAs may not be aware of.

 

The benefit of booking this directly so you get exactly what you want may outweigh the couple of bucks of OBC you get from the TA minus all the frustration of forcing a reluctant TA to get it done for you.

Edited January 22, 2016 by triptolemus

[Boschmann]

Their inconsistancy is quite annoying. My "senior" PCC flatly refused my desire to do the OP's same (except I had six) request for the booking I made Dec 29th. Somene please explain how they made it happen.

[Kdiamond55]

Interesting. I am dealing directly with an NCL PCC as well. He flat out told me "1 person can't be in 2 cabins on the same sailing". He suggested we get two suites (of course) or a connecting mini suite which makes absolutely no sense.

 

I would like to read the other threads in regards to this...anyone have a link? I tried searching but I couldn't get anything to come up, I didn't even know what to search really.

 

As far as I am concerned, I could book the suite with 5 of us. Then the very next minute someone else could call up and book a solo balcony room and that would be their room. So it shouldn't matter whether or not that person is part of another cabin as well. It is a separate transaction.

[js]

Good luck OP. I hope it works out. The last I saw someonw do that on here was about a year or so ago. I think she has md or dr in her user name but really dont remember.

Edited January 22, 2016 by js

[triptolemus]

Older thread describing success:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939015

Edited January 22, 2016 by triptolemus

[fishywood]

 

As far as I am concerned, I could book the suite with 5 of us. Then the very next minute someone else could call up and book a solo balcony room and that would be their room. So it shouldn't matter whether or not that person is part of another cabin as well. It is a separate transaction.

 

Its not as simple as booking an extra hotel room. What your cruise fare purchases is not merely accommodations but international travel. Each sold passenger berth must be represented by a different name on the passenger manifest submitted to government authorities at embarkation and at each port.

 

I'm sure what you are asking for has been asked many times before: can someone book one suite and one non-suite under the same booking number but have all of the names registered in the suite? You really can't blame NCL for assuming anyone asking is trying to game the system, even though in your case you are offering to pay duplicate fares for one person to accomplish it.

 

And NCL certainly takes into consideration that an empty berth does not spend any money in the bars or casino--nor could they collect duplicate gratuities from your MIL even if she pays the fair twice (actually thrice in this case).

[Kdiamond55]

Thank you for that link. I will check again with my PCC and then go above him if I need to. They're there to help us, right?

Edited January 22, 2016 by Kdiamond55

[njhorseman]

Older thread describing success:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939015

 

Given how rapidly NCL policies and procedures seem to change these days, I wouldn't want to rely on an exception to normal practice that was approved two years ago being allowed today. No harm in asking though.

[Boschmann]

As far as I am concerned, I could book the suite with 5 of us. Then the very next minute someone else could call up and book a solo balcony room and that would be their room. So it shouldn't matter whether or not that person is part of another cabin as well. It is a separate transaction.

 

I was told if I tried this that as soon as they figured out that the person was already booked in another room the booking would be cancelled. I thought it may have been complications to do with them collecting double taxes.

 

The other threads offered no solutions, just a lot of OP harrassment.

 

As for the Nalagh case I dont think she had her name (or anyone elses) isted as a passenger of both rooms. I can pay for many rooms, as long as my name is only in one. She just had the reservations linked to be both in her name so the four adults were listed in the suite and the three kids could be in the balcony w/o an adult.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Boschmann

[triptolemus]

Whatever... all I'm saying is I've read recent accounts here that describe success with what OP is trying to do. The search terms are WAY too common to try to find those threads.

 

If OP can't get it done, then they either cram everyone in the SC or book the connecting mini.

 

If they book the connecting mini, that will give them the opportunity to return to cruise critic forums and argue about whether or not the mini would be entitled to the goddamn suite perks.

[Kdiamond55]

I'm not a complainer by any means and am not trying to pull a fast one on NCL and am basically just trying to read up on as much as I can before giving up. The search terms I tried came up with pages and pages of irrelevant threads. I wouldn't start a thread without having tried to search it first. I've been on this board a very long time and am not a frequent thread starter - I mainly come to research and help others answer questions I happen to know the answers to. In case anyone wanted to know. ;)

 

All help is appreciated whether or not it might be relevant. If it can't be done it can't be done. But I could at least try.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Kdiamond55

[Boschmann]

I believe that more recent thread got deleted after a lot of accusations the OP was trying to get undeserved suite perks. It got nasty so I didn't make any replies. I know that I and I believe kdiamond55 were not trying to get perks for family in non-suites, at least not intentionally. NCL and many others here will say if you want more full size beds or another bathroom then book another suite for them. That was my only option.

[MotherofTrips]

What would be the difference in cost if you didn't actually pay two fares for your MIL and booked 2 of your 5 in an adjoining suite?

[cruzsnooze]

How can one person occupy two cabins? The cost of a fifth person in a suite so so low that it looks like it could be gaming the system for suite perks. I think that's why NCL says no to your request.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

It makes total sense to me why you want to do this. NCL is really stupid if they don't allow it. Keep trying.

[Boschmann]

What would be the difference in cost if you didn't actually pay two fares for your MIL and booked 2 of your 5 in an adjoining suite?

 

In my case it got complex as we are all adults. Putting six in an SJ was $6570 and any couple who wanted an adjoining IC on deck 12 was $1700. To get another cheapest SJ suite for two cost $4650 and price for SJ for four only drops to $5600. So the theoretical one SJ for six and one "extra" IC would cost total $8270 and one SJ for six and two extra IC would be total $10150. SJ for four and SJ for two cost total of $10350, and three SJ's for two people cost total of $13950. In the end it was about $2000 and $3000 more to get two or three suites respectively. If I was willing to pay that I would just go for the Garden Villa. The only other consideration was that if they had their own room they also would get the UBP and SDP (choose 2). The Suite perks on the Star are not that great so I opted for what I could afford and got three non-suite rooms so we could always be (drunk & well fed) together without someone feeling they got the better deal or left behind. Sure, I could cram all six into an SJ for less than the three non suites, but that is not a vacation I want to go on.

[toyotaford]

There are people who say they have done what OP has done but I don't understand how. I wanted to do the exact same thing once and was also told that the same person could not be on the manifest twice. I have a great PCC and have many cruises with NCL and feel if it could have been done when I wanted to do it they would have done it. I wasn't trying to cheat anyone. I wanted to book 4 people in the family suite and pay for all 4 people. But I didn't want to give up the nice bedroom and didn't want my parents to have to sleep in the small bedroom so was going to get them an OV just to sleep in. I wanted them to be able to have the suite perks I was paying for for the 3rd and 4th guest but have a comfortable size bedroom to sleep in. Never did get it done.

[DMH15]

This is just my opinion. If someone is occupying a non suite room they are not entitled to suite perks. If one has family and/or friends on board who are in a suite then there is a fringe benefit such as having ensuite dining to include non-suite guests and also that they might be included in group reservations made by the Concierge.

 

We all know that the max occupancy is not the same as a preferred or comfortable occupancy. By cramming extra people into a suite at a much significantly less rate, sometimes even free, it is a trade-off. All get the perks but it is because the suite occupants have gained perks for all at the expense of some comfort. However, some people want it both ways. To desire to gain perks at a nominal or free rate without that trade off is not fair. It would not be fair to other suite guests who all paid suite prices and it would not be fair to NCL, even with the nominal 2nd fare. It goes back to the question, what if everyone did this? What if every suite with an occupancy of 4 double booked 2 in a suite and 2 in an inside? And every suite with an occupacy of 6 did 3 and 3? This could double the size of the suite pax. NCL would lose out with two bookings with only one person spending on board, which is significant for the cruise line. And if the sailing is full, NCL might miss out on a booking to another guest because of the double booking.

 

Again, this is just my opinion on the matter. My sister, niece and I will share a PH on the Jade next year. Three in the suite. Our trade off for this is that my sis and I will have to share a queen size bed. She's not thrilled.

 

Of course, if NCL makes this exception, it's their ball and they make the rules.

[Casino Comp Chick]

Ok this is a question even Google wasn't able to answer for me.

 

My family of 4 (me, husband, 2 kids) plus my MIL want to go to Alaska. So I priced out a 2-bedroom family suite (which sleeps up to 6) for 5 people. But my MIL is concerned she might not want to sleep in the little second bedroom so we think, she'll get her own cabin, pay the solo rate (not cheap) and if she needs to retreat to it to sleep and shower she can. But by her being in our cabin as well she can participate in the suite things with us like breakfast and lunch with us, and priority tenders. Makes sense, right? (Just to be clear, there isn't a free deal for the 5th person, its pretty standard rate and no promos or anything, it's for a summer trip in the height of the Alaska season)

 

Apparently you can't do this????

 

Why in NCL's right mind would they want to turn down someone paying a pretty decent chunk of change for 2 cabins and eating and participating only as much as 1 person? We could do it all together if all of us go in one suite, but if we want two cabins we can't?

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with WHY. Is there a reason for this?

 

Put the kids in an adjoining cabin and the adults in the suite. The kids will be granted all haven access and perks as if they were in the suite and you can divvy up the sleeping arrangements as you see fit.

[Kdiamond55]

In this case there is no deal, all 5 suite passengers pay equal amount or very close to it. Its an expensive cabin.

 

It's logistical really, my MIL gets sea sick and thinks she might need a mid-ship cabin to retreat to in case she does. She wants a balcony also, which is definitely not cheap for one person. This whole thing would cost more than 2 regular suites (but all the suites are forward which is the worst place for people who get sea sick). We aren't trying to get anything for free, just trying to have a little extra (and pay for that extra).

 

My PCC suggests getting a mini attached but that doesn't make sense because we will all be separated and my daughter will inevitably want to stay with her and then I'm separated from my kids. Also the mini is forward where the suites are.

 

What I'll most likely end up doing is get 2 mid ship balconies and an inside across the hall for my kids and pay half of what I was going to pay. Good job NCL on losing out on all that guaranteed money on a ship that Is less than half full (and its the Jewel which isn't the most popular Alaska ship).

[Kdiamond55]

Put the kids in an adjoining cabin and the adults in the suite. The kids will be granted all haven access and perks as if they were in the suite and you can divvy up the sleeping arrangements as you see fit.

 

How does that work? NCL has always made me put one adult in one room with each kid (even when attached).

 

That doesn't resolve my other issue with sea sickness but I would like to know about that.

[khaide612]

Onboard revenues. If 1 person is booked in 2 rooms, they are losing the onboard revenue from drinks, casino, restaurants, bingo, shopping, excursions, etc. that another body may have spent. If 2 people booked the cabin that the 1 person is using that could be double the onboard revenue.