Is a Name Change of a Guest Allowed with NON Refundable Deposit?

[epcopres]

We have 4 in our room and is it considered a penalty to change one of the add on guests name. Its only a penalty to drop or cancel one of the guests, is that correct?

[Biker19]

You can drop down to two guests up to two weeks before sailing without penalty.One name has to stay as originally booked - you can change all the others.

[epcopres]

Cool, I knew that was the old policy but didnt know if that was still the way it worked with the new non refund policy.

[katiel53]

You can drop down to two guests up to two weeks before sailing without penalty.One name has to stay as originally booked - you can change all the others.

 

 

I guess I don't understand your answer. If someone is booked under a non-refundable fare and decides not to go and has someone else go instead, wouldn't that in effect be canceling the person being removed thus having the penalty of $100? I thought that this was the purpose of having the non-refundable deposit,

 

I tried to find the answer on the website, but I wasn't able to. To me, if the name change is allowed, gratis, then that's great, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the non-refundable. If I booked 4 people and 2 backed out, with the non-refundable deposit, I don't see that Royal Caribbean will give a total deposit refund to the two backing out before final payment.

 

Honestly, I don't know what the answer is and I hesitate to call because of getting different answers to the same question. Thanks.

[Biker19]

I guess I don't understand your answer. If someone is booked under a non-refundable fare and decides not to go and has someone else go instead, wouldn't that in effect be canceling the person being removed thus having the penalty of $100? I thought that this was the purpose of having the non-refundable deposit,

.

RCI doesn't really care who goes on the cruise - they have their money. The purpose of the NRD is to dissuade people from cancelling altogether or changing to a different date/ship. Anyone in a cabin above the usual two is probably almost all profit for RCI, so I assume that's why they are more lenient with allowing those to cancel quite late without penalty..

[hapster85]

[never mind]

[steveru621]

We were just told by NEXT Cruise, any changes, including cabin upgrades, would incur a penalty of $200.

[molly361]

We were just told by NEXT Cruise, any changes, including cabin upgrades, would incur a penalty of $200.

 

That's not true according to the terms below- I had not heard that before

 

Any booking originally created as non-refundable will maintain this status for the life of the reservation, regardless ofsubsequent category changes. Change fees are only incurred should an adjustment to the ship and/or sail date occur;therefore, no change fee will be assessed upon swapping between category types on the same ship and sail date.

[Biker19]

We were just told by NEXT Cruise, any changes, including cabin upgrades, would incur a penalty of $200.

We have had reports on here already of people upgrading without any penalty.

[Ourusualbeach]

We were just told by NEXT Cruise, any changes, including cabin upgrades, would incur a penalty of $200.

 

Not surprising that you were given wrong information. Changes involving the same ship and sail date are allowed.

 

If the change occurs within 6 months of sailing you would most likely lose the OBC that was from booking a NRD.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Ourusualbeach

[steveru621]

That's not true according to the terms below- I had not heard that before

 

Any booking originally created as non-refundable will maintain this status for the life of the reservation, regardless ofsubsequent category changes. Change fees are only incurred should an adjustment to the ship and/or sail date occur;therefore, no change fee will be assessed upon swapping between category types on the same ship and sail date.

 

I understand and agree that's what it says now. We were told all of this will change before the end of the year.

 

Including putting one D+ in each cabin to get a C&A discount will no longer be allowed. Which they really can't stop. But she did say Guest Services will no longer change seapass cards for cabin assignment.

 

 

This is information off the Anthem. As with everything it may depend on who you talk to, but she was very specific.

 

Just a note of caution.

[Biker19]

Like on a forum like this, rumors of what may happen can start anywhere, including on the ship.

[Biker19]

But she did say Guest Services will no longer change seapass cards for cabin assignment.

This one I would believe as reports from RFID Seapass card equipped ships have that sorta happening already.

[js]

I understand and agree that's what it says now. We were told all of this will change before the end of the year.

 

Including putting one D+ in each cabin to get a C&A discount will no longer be allowed. Which they really can't stop. But she did say Guest Services will no longer change seapass cards for cabin assignment.

 

 

This is information off the Anthem. As with everything it may depend on who you talk to, but she was very specific.

 

Just a note of caution.

 

Thank you for this information. I have five cabins booked and with non-refundable deposit can save almost $1,000. Anyway, I have my dd in a cabin with a "friend's name" but we really don't know who she will be brining so wasn't sure if I moved my booking to non-refundable if this would be a problem, also wasn't aware this is an option only until up to 6 months.

 

But, I have a question regarding separating D+ or any loyalty level for discounts.

One of my cabins I have booked is for my 20 year old son and his 20 year old friend.

Royal will not let 20 year olds be in a cabin on their own (my ds is away in school doesn't even sleep home now) so on paper my dh and my ds's friend is in one cabin, and I am in another cabin with my ds on paper.

I sure hope since my cruise is in August that I can get keys switched.

[steveru621]

We have had reports on here already of people upgrading without any penalty.

 

I was very specific with her. I asked if I you give RCI $6,000 for a same ship/date cabin upgrade, RCI will charge me a $200 change fee? She said yes, that is about to change.

 

I for one, hope she had no idea what she was talking about.

 

Don't shoot the messenger, please! :D:cool:

[DonnaK]

I understand and agree that's what it says now. We were told all of this will change before the end of the year.

 

Including putting one D+ in each cabin to get a C&A discount will no longer be allowed. Which they really can't stop. But she did say Guest Services will no longer change seapass cards for cabin assignment.

 

 

This is information off the Anthem. As with everything it may depend on who you talk to, but she was very specific.

 

Just a note of caution.

In our experience, they haven't allowed changing seapass for cabin assignment in a long time (the last time we were able to do that was 8-9 years ago). Instead, they give us extra cards which open the cabin door only, so the person who changed cabins must carry two cards - the original one for onboard charges and getting on/off the ship, and the extra one for the cabin where they are sleeping.

 

On Anthem, they would not give us an extra card (because of the technology inside the card, which makes them expensive), but it wasn't a big deal. The first time, we had the WOW bands and our cards, so we just switched the wow bands and used them only for the cabin door, and used the cards for charging and getting on/off the ship. Other times, we booked connecting cabins (or adjacent balconies and had the divider opened) so we all had access to both rooms.

[Biker19]

I was very specific with her. I asked if I you give RCI $6,000 for a same ship/date cabin upgrade, RCI will charge me a $200 change fee? She said yes, that is about to change.

 

I for one, hope she had no idea what she was talking about.

 

Don't shoot the messenger, please! :D:cool:

If true, that would be a pretty good money grab by RCI, but it would try to bring policies closer in line with other markets where cabin changes are probably quite rare (due to all the penalties in place).

[steveru621]

This one I would believe as reports from RFID Seapass card equipped ships have that sorta happening already.

 

Yeah, that's what we heard. But they did switch our keys. It was funny, was like watching an airline employee typing forever. He kept typing and trying to change the RFID designation. Finally after a big sigh, he printed new cards.

 

It's always bad for a company when rumors start with agents that are supposed to know what the hell is coming up.

[js]

I was very specific with her. I asked if I you give RCI $6,000 for a same ship/date cabin upgrade, RCI will charge me a $200 change fee? She said yes, that is about to change.

 

I for one, hope she had no idea what she was talking about.

 

Don't shoot the messenger, please! :D:cool:

 

How about those who booked before the change? Would they be grandfathered?

I won't be looking for an upgrade since we have five cabins of family together and have my cousins coming with their three cabins (so 8 total) but know that I will be needing a name change.

 

Thanks so much for this information. I appreciate your letting us know.

[steveru621]

In our experience, they haven't allowed changing seapass for cabin assignment in a long time (the last time we were able to do that was 8-9 years ago). Instead, they give us extra cards which open the cabin door only, so the person who changed cabins must carry two cards - the original one for onboard charges and getting on/off the ship, and the extra one for the cabin where they are sleeping.

 

On Anthem, they would not give us an extra card (because of the technology inside the card, which makes them expensive), but it wasn't a big deal. The first time, we had the WOW bands and our cards, so we just switched the wow bands and used them only for the cabin door, and used the cards for charging and getting on/off the ship. Other times, we booked connecting cabins (or adjacent balconies and had the divider opened) so we all had access to both rooms.

 

And that's a big problem, no consistency. We were actually given two new replacement cards on Anthem.

 

Our last three cruises, (non RFID) changing cabins and getting new cards has not always been easy, but it was done. I found they just didn't know how to do it, or didn't understand the request. A supervisor got it done quickly.

[js]

Yeah, that's what we heard. But they did switch our keys. It was funny, was like watching an airline employee typing forever. He kept typing and trying to change the RFID designation. Finally after a big sigh, he printed new cards.

 

It's always bad for a company when rumors start with agents that are supposed to know what the hell is coming up.

 

Would there/will there be a way for us to get extra cards?

My dh/ds's friend is in one cabin and my ds/I are in another cabin since my ds/friend are 20.

At the end of the day, they will have their own cabin and my dh and I will have our cabin.

My ds will need a card to get into his cabin and my dh will need a card to get into my cabin.

 

We sail Allure in August.

[steveru621]

How about those who booked before the change? Would they be grandfathered?

I won't be looking for an upgrade since we have five cabins of family together and have my cousins coming with their three cabins (so 8 total) but know that I will be needing a name change.

 

Thanks so much for this information. I appreciate your letting us know.

 

I wish I knew. We booked May 2019, and were told very specifically no free changes. The other 4 we had booked in June 2017, I assume are OK.

 

Well even today when we need/want to make changes I always ask if we will lose ANYTHING.

[steveru621]

Would there/will there be a way for us to get extra cards?

My dh/ds's friend is in one cabin and my ds/I are in another cabin since my ds/friend are 20.

At the end of the day, they will have their own cabin and my dh and I will have our cabin.

My ds will need a card to get into his cabin and my dh will need a card to get into my cabin.

 

We sail Allure in August.

 

Sorry I have no idea. It may depend on what agent you ask.

 

I'm sure they are going to get a lot of pushback on this.

[js]

Sorry I have no idea. It may depend on what agent you ask.

 

I'm sure they are going to get a lot of pushback on this.

 

Thank you. They should just let 20 year olds be allowed in a cabin on their own LOL

 

Oh well. I guess I will just wait, it's not like I'm canceling now for that reason.

[uksimonusa]

Thank you. They should just let 20 year olds be allowed in a cabin on their own LOL

 

Oh well. I guess I will just wait, it's not like I'm canceling now for that reason.

 

They do, as long as it is next to or opposite the adult family member