Musical chairs with cabins not for me!

[BobbyD]

Let's see if I can keep this simple. In August 2015 while on the Grandeur I booked two cabins on the same future cruise on the Allure for March 2017. The cruise is for my wife and I, and my sister and her significant other. I am Emerald while my sister has only a couple of cruises under her belt. The Future Cruise rep convinced me that to save money I should split up my wife and I between the two cabins so that both cabins can get the C&A balcony discount. He said people do it all the time and then we can switch keys when we get on board. I went along with it because a discount is a discount and since a RC employee said I should do this, what the heck!

 

Since then I have been thinking about this and have not been convinced I made the right decision. I know other people have done this but there would be three credit cards involved initially and it just seemed too much of a hassle with the potential for chaos once on board. I just haven't been comfortable with the idea.

 

Fast forward to today. I called my TA to make sure that another Future Cruise reservation was transferred over to them from this summer. It just so happens that my sister's adult daughter will be replacing her significant other on the cruise (long story). I spoke with my TA about adding the daughter to the reservation and told them about the "plan". She confirmed my fear about all that could go wrong with the process. Getting another key is one thing but switching the account, etc. could be problematic.

 

So, I said let's just put it back to where it should be. My wife and I in one cabin and my sister and her daughter in the other cabin. We would lose the C&A discount for my sister's cabin with my wife moving out and the TA thought that we would have to reprice the cabin at today's prevailing rate, losing the Future Cruise OBC as well as having to make up the deposit because I booked under a reduced deposit option. The reason, she thought, was because my wife was the main reservation on the account and had the C&A discount with the Future Cruise. She repriced the fare for me and it was about $225 more. Honestly, the piece of mind would have been worth the extra $$$. Not sure why this was bugging me because I am not always a rule follower :D but it was. Okay, truthfully I didn't want to get on board and then proceed to get scolded by my wife for all the issues this might have caused. Ok, I said it. I'm afraid of this woman!!

 

I would have taken my lumps and proceeded with the cabins as they are if we would have lost the cabin because the two cabins are next to each other. The TA put me on hold and said she would check out all the details with RC and then get back to me to get permission to make any changes. I was on hold for quite a while. To my surprise, the TA came back and said it was my lucky day. She said she felt like Monty Hall and Let's Make a Deal. The RC agent told her that I could keep the same cabin, keep the OBC, keep the reduced deposit, and keep the same cruise fare. The only thing that would change would be that I would lose the C&A discount for that one cabin. Wow, I was shocked and extremely pleased!

 

The purpose of this post is not to debate whether or not my original plan would have worked. I would have made it work one way or another. It just wasn't something I wanted to deal with. If you want to write about how you did the same thing before and it was fine, great. But, what I wanted to share was the fact how accommodating RC was. There are many posts that bash RC's customer service. In this case they were more than fair and the story had a great ending! The TA said that many times it just depends who you get online. As we all know, calling customer service of any organization can get you multiple answers depending on when you call. Thanks RC!

[dani negreanu]

The RC agent told her that I could keep the same cabin, keep the OBC, keep the reduced deposit, and keep the same cruise fare. The only thing that would change would be that I would lose the C&A discount for that one cabin. Wow, I was shocked and extremely pleased!

 

Indeed, your lucky day !! Enjoy your cruise, nice story & ending :)

[CORKY_Q]

The purpose of this post is not to debate whether or not my original plan would have worked. I would have made it work one way or another. It just wasn't something I wanted to deal with. If you want to write about how you did the same thing before and it was fine, great. But, what I wanted to share was the fact how accommodating RC was. There are many posts that bash RC's customer service. In this case they were more than fair and the story had a great ending! The TA said that many times it just depends who you get online. As we all know, calling customer service of any organization can get you multiple answers depending on when you call. Thanks RC!

 

Happy that it worked for you.

[easyboy]

Glad you are extremely satisfied with RCCLs customer service

[cruisinfanatic]

Let's see if I can keep this simple. In August 2015 while on the Grandeur I booked two cabins on the same future cruise on the Allure for March 2017. The cruise is for my wife and I, and my sister and her significant other. I am Emerald while my sister has only a couple of cruises under her belt. The Future Cruise rep convinced me that to save money I should split up my wife and I between the two cabins so that both cabins can get the C&A balcony discount. He said people do it all the time and then we can switch keys when we get on board. I went along with it because a discount is a discount and since a RC employee said I should do this, what the heck!

 

Since then I have been thinking about this and have not been convinced I made the right decision. I know other people have done this but there would be three credit cards involved initially and it just seemed too much of a hassle with the potential for chaos once on board. I just haven't been comfortable with the idea.

 

Fast forward to today. I called my TA to make sure that another Future Cruise reservation was transferred over to them from this summer. It just so happens that my sister's adult daughter will be replacing her significant other on the cruise (long story). I spoke with my TA about adding the daughter to the reservation and told them about the "plan". She confirmed my fear about all that could go wrong with the process. Getting another key is one thing but switching the account, etc. could be problematic.

 

So, I said let's just put it back to where it should be. My wife and I in one cabin and my sister and her daughter in the other cabin. We would lose the C&A discount for my sister's cabin with my wife moving out and the TA thought that we would have to reprice the cabin at today's prevailing rate, losing the Future Cruise OBC as well as having to make up the deposit because I booked under a reduced deposit option. The reason, she thought, was because my wife was the main reservation on the account and had the C&A discount with the Future Cruise. She repriced the fare for me and it was about $225 more. Honestly, the piece of mind would have been worth the extra $$$. Not sure why this was bugging me because I am not always a rule follower :D but it was. Okay, truthfully I didn't want to get on board and then proceed to get scolded by my wife for all the issues this might have caused. Ok, I said it. I'm afraid of this woman!!

 

I would have taken my lumps and proceeded with the cabins as they are if we would have lost the cabin because the two cabins are next to each other. The TA put me on hold and said she would check out all the details with RC and then get back to me to get permission to make any changes. I was on hold for quite a while. To my surprise, the TA came back and said it was my lucky day. She said she felt like Monty Hall and Let's Make a Deal. The RC agent told her that I could keep the same cabin, keep the OBC, keep the reduced deposit, and keep the same cruise fare. The only thing that would change would be that I would lose the C&A discount for that one cabin. Wow, I was shocked and extremely pleased!

 

The purpose of this post is not to debate whether or not my original plan would have worked. I would have made it work one way or another. It just wasn't something I wanted to deal with. If you want to write about how you did the same thing before and it was fine, great. But, what I wanted to share was the fact how accommodating RC was. There are many posts that bash RC's customer service. In this case they were more than fair and the story had a great ending! The TA said that many times it just depends who you get online. As we all know, calling customer service of any organization can get you multiple answers depending on when you call. Thanks RC!

you did a lot of worrying for nothing and to boot you lost the discount on one cabin. A credit card is tied to the person using it regardless of the cabin they are in. Your TA should have known this.

The sign card that you are issued is tied to the credit card and is never changed. The 2 switching cabins would be given an extra key card for the cabin switching to and can't be used for purchases

Edited September 3, 2016 by cruisinfanatic

[gagirl7143]

you did a lot of worrying for nothing and to boot you lost the discount on one cabin. A credit card is tied to the person using it regardless of the cabin they are in. Your TA should have known this.

The sign card that you are issued is tied to the credit card and is never changed. The 2 switching cabins would be given an extra key card for the cabin switching to and can't be used for purchases

 

 

I agree. Each person irregardless of cabin can be paid for by any card. You are issued a room key card only for the other cabins and accounts are always separate when you do as you originally planned. Needless worry. Too bad you didn't keep things simple and stick to plan.

 

 

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[Esmerelda]

We always book my husband and I in separate cabins with other adult children so we get our Diamond discount on both cabins. We just make the change once onboard. We have never had any issues. Our travel agent always knows what we are doing. I'm glad it worked out to your satisfaction. Its something I would never give a second thought too. :p

[Beachammo]

I know how you feel......

 

I'm scared of my wife too!!

 

I hope she doesn't see this!

[Clarea]

I know how you feel......

 

I'm scared of my wife too!!

 

I hope she doesn't see this!

I'm going to email her a link.

[kmorg1234]

Very glad you are pleased with the final outcome, but seems like you worried a whole lot! Enjoy your cruise.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Your TA ia a moron - you were not lucky but she was clueless and could have cost you $$$ RCI just followed the rules no repricing or switching necessary!

 

My Advice - loose that TA ASAP!

[Beachammo]

I'm going to email her a link.

 

Bob

 

You made me laugh....thx

[cruisecookie]

We always book my husband and I in separate cabins with other adult children so we get our Diamond discount on both cabins. We just make the change once onboard. We have never had any issues. Our travel agent always knows what we are doing. I'm glad it worked out to your satisfaction. Its something I would never give a second thought too. :p

 

Please clarify: Do you just get an extra key for each room or do you actually get new seapasses that show you and your husband in one stateroom and your adult children in the other stateroom?

 

Once on board, where do you go to make the change -- Guest Services or Crown and Anchor?

[Clarea]

... Once on board, where do you go to make the change -- Guest Services or Crown and Anchor?

Guest Services.

[IsanTom]

I agree with you 100%!

[mollyeilis]

I'm so glad you are pleased with the outcome.

 

Okay, truthfully I didn't want to get on board and then proceed to get scolded by my wife for all the issues this might have caused.

 

What issues do you worry it would have caused? Like, specifically.

 

Because tons of people do this, Royal suggests it (suggested that YOU do it, even), they know what they are doing with it...there almost certainly would have been no issues.

[robtulipe]

Please clarify: Do you just get an extra key for each room or do you actually get new seapasses that show you and your husband in one stateroom and your adult children in the other stateroom?

 

Once on board, where do you go to make the change -- Guest Services or Crown and Anchor?

 

We've done this a few times, last time being for both B2B Freedom cruises we did last October and the ones making the cabin change has always have gotten a new seapass card for the cabin they have changed to once onboard so they only had to use one card for both onboard charges and cabin entry.

This got our American friends both our D+ and Canadian pricing which was less than the actual amount they would have had to book at in USD even though the CAD was valued at around $0.72US. I paid for both cabins on my Cdn credit card and they paid us in USD, using the interbank exchange rate, thus they got a great price and we got USD for our cruise and other vacation expense without bank or credit card exchange profit and conversion fees.

I've also read here on CC of others who had to use two onboard cards, one for cabin entry and the other for onboard charges once they changed cabins.

I set up the onboard charges as individual ones when doing the online check in and once onboard and the cabin change was done, each couple changed the onboard billing to one account for both occupants, DW and DH, in their cabin.

Edited September 4, 2016 by robtulipe