Question about family suites...

[laginog]

Is there any way around the 5+ people in a family or 2 bedroom suite? We are looking at the Explorer or Radiance to Alaska in 2017. We have 4 people going, and I am handicapped & our Mom is elderly with health issues. It would be a huge help to have us all in one room. Can you book for 5 then remove the last person before final payment? Or be a "no show" at check in? Not trying to be immoral or "cheat" but trying to work out what's best for us in this situation. There aren't too many, if any, accessible cabins connecting.

 

Thank you!!!

[Clarea]

Is there any way around the 5+ people in a family or 2 bedroom suite? We are looking at the Explorer or Radiance to Alaska in 2017. We have 4 people going, and I am handicapped & our Mom is elderly with health issues. It would be a huge help to have us all in one room. Can you book for 5 then remove the last person before final payment? Or be a "no show" at check in? Not trying to be immoral or "cheat" but trying to work out what's best for us in this situation. There aren't too many, if any, accessible cabins connecting.

 

Thank you!!!

If you want to pay for an extra person, you could book 5 and have one be a no show. Removing before final payment might cause them to move you.

[cb at sea]

As you get closer to sail date, they will open the "minimum number of guests" suites to anyone...These HAVE to be booked on the phone. So call and ask! And if they can't do it now, just keep calling! Most likely, you'll still pay whatever the cabin costs....whether you have 5 or less....

Edited February 28, 2016 by cb at sea

[Clarea]

As you get closer to sail date, they will open the "minimum number of guests" suites to anyone.........

Only if they have not yet been booked, which the OP may not want to wait for.

Edited February 28, 2016 by clarea

[foxgoodrich]

Is there any way around the 5+ people in a family or 2 bedroom suite? We are looking at the Explorer or Radiance to Alaska in 2017. We have 4 people going, and I am handicapped & our Mom is elderly with health issues. It would be a huge help to have us all in one room. Can you book for 5 then remove the last person before final payment? Or be a "no show" at check in? Not trying to be immoral or "cheat" but trying to work out what's best for us in this situation. There aren't too many, if any, accessible cabins connecting.

 

Thank you!!!

 

Umm....:o....the short answer is Yes. We were 2 couples on a Jewel Alaska cruise in September. We booked a 2 BR suite and we booked with a 5th person who was a no show at the pier. He was a real person (my adult son) but he never intended to go with us. In our case, we booked under a 'kids sail free' promotion, so the only charge for the 5th passenger was port charges/tax. That was refunded since pax #5 was a no show, so it was a complete wash for us. (HOWEVER...as you probably guessed, the fare for pax 1 & 2 were jacked up prior to the kids sail free promotion. So we pretty much paid the price they wanted for the suite.) Anyway, the 4 of us were willing to pay the price, so no matter.

 

You might be able to remove #5 before final payment and keep the suite. Sometimes, depending on how the cruise is selling, they actually drop the minimum occupancy on the family suites. (Our plan was to drop #5 officially if they did that, but on our cruise it didn't happen.) My TA made a discreet inquiry before final pay about dropping the 5th pax on our booking, but she was told they might move us. So we left it alone and had a no show at the pier.

 

One word of caution, though - our 2 bedroom suite on Jewel was not accessible. It was spacious enough, but neither bathroom was HC accessible.

Judy

Edited February 28, 2016 by foxgoodrich