I'm afraid my mom will be turned away at the pier! Any advice/suggetions????

[Cruising Jedi]

Hello! Sorry for the novel that follows. I guess I blather on when I'm nervous. LOL.

 

I have a situation here that I am wondering if anyone else here has dealt with and what was the outcome??

 

My mother-in-law booked a cruise for her and my mother (both widows and she thought it would be a nice thing!). So, my mother-in-law took care of everything....we thought.

 

When they came over last night to prepare for their cruise which leaves this morning(!), I noticed that my mother's date of birth on the cruise documents was wrong. My mother-in-law said she had noticed it was wrong, but did not think it was any big deal.

 

At that time I called RCI and they said they would have to deal with the travel agent, I called the travel agent and they said that RCI would not change anything because the people that deal with travel agents had gone home for night! They tell me I will have to call back when everyone opens up again this morning.

 

So, this morning I get told it would have had to have dealt with it all yesterday, and now it was too late! Anyway, the first time I called I got an employee who said, "Oh, that is no problem, she can just have that fixed when she checks in." This did not sound right to me so I called back my agent again and she said RCI told her that probably my mother will be denied boarding. :eek:

 

I have been on the phone for hours trying to rectify this, and my mother is 38,000 feet in the air flying to Los Angeles possibly for nothing. The thought really is making my stomach churn. I feel so bad for her, she is scared to death of flying anyway and to think she could be flying for nothing makes me sad.

 

ANYWAY, sorry this is so long!!! I am almost done if anyone is still with me.

 

My question is, is there anything that can be done at this point and/or does anyone know of a situation where this happened and what was the result?

 

Also, one of the people at RCI I spoke said that at this stage a change could be made for either a $35 fee or a $100 fee, she was not sure which, but now everyone is saying, "Ummm, no. That can't be done."

 

I will be on pins and needles until I hear from my mother.

 

And, if I call RCI after the ship sails, will they tell me if my mother got on or not? Because if not, I may even try to fly out to L.A. and help her through things because she will be clueless.

 

Would RCI really leave a 70 year old lady standing alone at the pier 3000 kilometres from home? LOL.

 

I feel sick about this and I will go make myself a cup of tea. But I am just curious if anyone knows about this situation?

 

Oh, finally, I know it is not RCI's fault - I figure it is 50% the travel agent's fault for somehow getting the wrong information to RCI (the travel agent has the right date of birth in their records) and 50% my mother-in-law's fault for not noticing or thinking it was serious enough. Unfortunately, the one who stands to be screwed is the innocent one - my mom!

 

And yes, we have now learned that my mother-in-law is at the stage where she can no longer be trusted with the important details, unfortunately.

[1corona4u]

If it's right on the passport, then I think it's no big deal...not sure they even look that hard at the druise doc's. Don't worry about it, and if they say anything, just tell them it's a typo.

[Cruising Jedi]

If it's right on the passport, then I think it's no big deal...not sure they even look that hard at the druise doc's. Don't worry about it, and if they say anything, just tell them it's a typo.

 

Oh, thank you I hope you are so right that it is not as big a deal as I'm thinking - you know how security is nowadays.

 

But you have made me feel better and I appreciate it so much.

[Heidict]

I hope everything goes okay for her. Let us know if she was able to board.

[katydyd]

My travel agent routinely gets my D.O.B wrong on my docs (I don't know how, everyone elses is fine), and I've never had a problem getting on. Honestly, no one's even mentioned it, and one time I was listed as 56 (I was 36 at the time).

[Cruising Jedi]

I hope everything goes okay for her. Let us know if she was able to board.

 

Yes, I certainly will! I know they will be landing soon.

[Cruising Jedi]

My travel agent routinely gets my D.O.B wrong on my docs (I don't know how, everyone elses is fine), and I've never had a problem getting on. Honestly, no one's even mentioned it, and one time I was listed as 56 (I was 36 at the time).

 

OMG - THANK YOU! LOL.

[Rala]

Hi Jedi !

 

Did your mom and mother-in-law print out a Set Sail pass? If so, they may never know about her birthdate. We used the Set Sail pass on our recent (Nov. 4) cruise and they never even looked at our other documents.

 

Try not to worry. I think it will all work out as some of the previous posters have said. But do let us know. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you!

[ConnCruise]

Not that I know what I'm talking about, but my guess is with a passport and a drivers licence (or other photo ID) she should have little trouble.

 

Not to get into a profiling thing here, but your Mom does not probably fit into any categories that would raise any eyebrows. I think.

[cruisinfanatic]

Hello! Sorry for the novel that follows. I guess I blather on when I'm nervous. LOL.

 

I have a situation here that I am wondering if anyone else here has dealt with and what was the outcome??

 

My mother-in-law booked a cruise for her and my mother (both widows and she thought it would be a nice thing!). So, my mother-in-law took care of everything....we thought.

 

When they came over last night to prepare for their cruise which leaves this morning(!), I noticed that my mother's date of birth on the cruise documents was wrong. My mother-in-law said she had noticed it was wrong, but did not think it was any big deal.

 

At that time I called RCI and they said they would have to deal with the travel agent, I called the travel agent and they said that RCI would not change anything because the people that deal with travel agents had gone home for night! They tell me I will have to call back when everyone opens up again this morning.

 

So, this morning I get told it would have had to have dealt with it all yesterday, and now it was too late! Anyway, the first time I called I got an employee who said, "Oh, that is no problem, she can just have that fixed when she checks in." This did not sound right to me so I called back my agent again and she said RCI told her that probably my mother will be denied boarding. :eek:

 

I have been on the phone for hours trying to rectify this, and my mother is 38,000 feet in the air flying to Los Angeles possibly for nothing. The thought really is making my stomach churn. I feel so bad for her, she is scared to death of flying anyway and to think she could be flying for nothing makes me sad.

 

ANYWAY, sorry this is so long!!! I am almost done if anyone is still with me.

 

My question is, is there anything that can be done at this point and/or does anyone know of a situation where this happened and what was the result?

 

Also, one of the people at RCI I spoke said that at this stage a change could be made for either a $35 fee or a $100 fee, she was not sure which, but now everyone is saying, "Ummm, no. That can't be done."

 

I will be on pins and needles until I hear from my mother.

 

And, if I call RCI after the ship sails, will they tell me if my mother got on or not? Because if not, I may even try to fly out to L.A. and help her through things because she will be clueless.

 

Would RCI really leave a 70 year old lady standing alone at the pier 3000 kilometres from home? LOL.

 

I feel sick about this and I will go make myself a cup of tea. But I am just curious if anyone knows about this situation?

 

Oh, finally, I know it is not RCI's fault - I figure it is 50% the travel agent's fault for somehow getting the wrong information to RCI (the travel agent has the right date of birth in their records) and 50% my mother-in-law's fault for not noticing or thinking it was serious enough. Unfortunately, the one who stands to be screwed is the innocent one - my mom!

 

And yes, we have now learned that my mother-in-law is at the stage where she can no longer be trusted with the important details, unfortunately.

It's not 50% the TA's fault as they don't give Royal Caribbean birth date information. Whoever did the online checkin did it wrong.

[newmexicoNita]

As a TA and one who, on occassion makes mistakes I think I can say the birth date isn't nearly as important as the spelling of the name. Please keep us informed, but I don't think they will turn her away. Let this be a warning, check closely next time, but I don't think I really need to say that do I. Our granddaughter is getting married on the Zenith in less than 2 weeks. Of course, you can imagine who did all the cabin bookings. Well docs came the other day and thank goodness I checked each one. About 1/2 of them had names mispelled. On our docs the birthdate is not listed, btw. It may have something to do with your being from Canada with perhaps, different requirements for boarding. I still do not think you have any reason to be concerned. NMnita

[Cruising Jedi]

Hi Jedi !

 

Did your mom and mother-in-law print out a Set Sail pass? If so, they may never know about her birthdate. We used the Set Sail pass on our recent (Nov. 4) cruise and they never even looked at our other documents.

 

Try not to worry. I think it will all work out as some of the previous posters have said. But do let us know. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you!

 

Well, no they never did print out a set sail pass so all they have is the docs. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for the good thoughts!

[Cruising Jedi]

Not that I know what I'm talking about, but my guess is with a passport and a drivers licence (or other photo ID) she should have little trouble.

 

Not to get into a profiling thing here, but your Mom does not probably fit into any categories that would raise any eyebrows. I think.

 

Yes, she does have ID and you're right, she is not probably the type to raise any suspicions. It is just that RCI themselves seemed so dang skeptical.

[Cruising Jedi]

It's not 50% the TA's fault as they don't give Royal Caribbean birth date information. Whoever did the online checkin did it wrong.

 

Yes, it IS partially the TA's fault - there was no online check in, it was all done the old-fashioned way, the travel agent did all of the booking and entering and whatever. These are two old-fashioned, non-computer literate ladies who relied upon the agent to do everything for them!

[1corona4u]

I still think she'll be ok. I can't say that on either of my recent cruises, they have spent more than 3 seconds looking at the docs. On the NOS one, they just looked at the page titled Charge account & Cruise Ticket, which has no personal info on it.(which was actually the page they took from the book)

[Cruising Jedi]

As a TA and one who, on occassion makes mistakes I think I can say the birth date isn't nearly as important as the spelling of the name. Please keep us informed, but I don't think they will turn her away. Let this be a warning, check closely next time, but I don't think I really need to say that do I. Our granddaughter is getting married on the Zenith in less than 2 weeks. Of course, you can imagine who did all the cabin bookings. Well docs came the other day and thank goodness I checked each one. About 1/2 of them had names mispelled. On our docs the birthdate is not listed, btw. It may have something to do with your being from Canada with perhaps, different requirements for boarding. I still do not think you have any reason to be concerned. NMnita

 

Thank you, it is great to have the perspective of an agent! I am glad to hear what you have to say; yes at least the spelling of the name was 100% correct.

 

Thanks for the reassurances.

 

Maybe I am too over-protective of my mother but I won't relax until I know for sure she is ON THAT BOAT! LOL.

[Ericknow32]

It's not 50% the TA's fault as they don't give Royal Caribbean birth date information. Whoever did the online checkin did it wrong.

You are not correct here. I have been with my TA when she is booking, the cruise line does ask for the birthday.

[cruisinfanatic]

You are not correct here. I have been with my TA when she is booking, the cruise line does ask for the birthday.

I've been a TA for 3 years and have never been asked for birthdates with Royal Caribbean.

[bartelbee]

Last year, we discovered that my husband's name was printed out incorrectly (last name was listed as first name) the night before embarkation. When I called RCCL. they sounded horrified. All they could tell us was go to the dock and hope for the best. At the dock, we were greeted with horrified looks and were directed to the desk where you pick up last minute documents. There, this guy spent five minutes staring at our documents with a grim expression and then he takes out a pencil, and writes in the correct name. If we had known it was that easy, we could have penciled it in ourselves.

We then had no trouble checking in, though we were advised (again with the utmost solemnity) that we had to go to Guest Relations to get this taken care of. Three times we went to the desk only to be told to come back later. Finally, my husband was issued a new card with the right name on it, but everything else-our bill, our onboard booked reservation for a new cruise, C&A invitations--had the wrong name on them and it never made any difference.

[Oppgaard]

As a TA myself, I don't think your Mother will have any problems. Last year on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, one of my clients found out at the pier that his Driver's license had the wrong birthdate on it. He had never noticed it before but he was still let on the ship.

 

Royal Caribbean does NOT ask the agent for dates of birth, only age categories. Carnival however does ask the date. Each cruise line is different.

 

Please let us know how things worked out.

 

The reason RCI wants to make a fuss is so they can charge that change of information fee and they can't do it at the pier because you find out how simple it is. At least that is my take on it.

[Oppgaard]

As a TA myself, I don't think your Mother will have any problems. Last year on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, one of my clients found out at the pier that his Driver's license had the wrong birthdate on it. He had never noticed it before but he was still let on the ship.

 

Royal Caribbean does NOT ask the agent for dates of birth, only age categories. Carnival however does ask the date. Each cruise line is different.

 

Please let us know how things worked out.

 

The reason RCI wants to make a fuss is so they can charge that change of information fee and they can't do it at the pier because you find out how simple it is. At least that is my take on it.

[ewheelock]

Well, after all of this what was the outcome?

[FrankiRN]

They've always asked for my birthday too. Actually this last cruise I booked, I wasn't sure of the birthdate of my friend who is going with me, and my TA said that RCCL just wants the age of the person now, not the dates. Thought that was weird, but that's what she said.

[manitoba girl]

We have cruised several times with the wrong last name printed.Actually they person that made out the tickets printed them under a very famous Canadian french singer( her last name is Dion) that we kind of share a last name with except our name is the same only spelt the Nova Scotian way( D'Eon).Even then some of the companies computers cannot include the aposterphe and we have had no problem on any cruise.

I hope everything works out OK

[Merion_Mom]

Credit card number. That's what they want. That's what has to be right. All the rest of it? piffle. :D :D :D