Rearranging cabin assignments at checkin?

[Brewer2811]

My father-in-law booked a cruise for the whole family (10 of us) in three cabins (2 balcony cabins for his daughters' families and an oceanview for him and his wife). In order to take advantage of his and his wife's Mariner Club status and get a good price on the balcony cabins, he put himself in one balcony with three others, his wife in the other balcony with three others, and the last two of us in the oceanview. Obviously that means that the names on the cabins are not who is really going to stay in them. Is it going to be a problem if we ask at check-in to rearrange the cabin assignments so the families are together, or is there a better way to handle this?

[SunNFunCruzer]

Oh...! that's really interesting.  I know that Maintenance cards can be master-programmed to open all or a set block of rooms.  I wonder if you could all just ask to have access to all 3 rooms.  Seems a much cleaner solution.  And more legal.  My guess is that contractually one of the grandparents has to remain tied to each of the balcony rooms. What a nice sacrifice.
 

I don't see a reason why the cruiseline would need to know exactly who is sailing in what room, unless someone had a mobility issue or some other reason that a staff member would be assigned to look for them individually in an emergency.

 

Has anyone else ever had dual or tri-room access loaded on to a single Ship card?

[Mary229]

Ummm, I am going to follow. The cruise line does need to know who is attached to each card, that is how they monitor who comes and goes on/off the ship and the spending accounts.  I don't think the answer you get today from HAL is going to be any different than the answer you are going to get at checkin.  This is an interesting thread, I can't wait to hear the final results.  

[SunNFunCruzer]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

The cruise line does need to know who is attached to each card, that is how they monitor who comes and goes on/off the ship and the spending accounts.  

 

That's exactly why they can't just switch cards.  Presumably some of the occupants are adults, some children, so some will have access to alcohol, while others won't.

 

If loading access to another room is possible that should solve the issue, but, can this be done?

[Ryten]

We had a similar situation where my wife and I had future cruise deposits and wanted to take our two adult children. We booked two rooms with my wife and I each taking one of the kids, (while only having to pay/apply the $100 cruise deposit per person). At the time of final payment, our PCC switched the rooms so my wife and I were in one room and the kids in the other. It took all of thirty seconds for the PCC to sort it out.

[SunNFunCruzer]

41 minutes ago, Brewer2811 said:

 Is it going to be a problem if we ask at check-in to rearrange the cabin assignments so the families are together, or is there a better way to handle this?

 

 

If you switch cards adult to adult and make sure that you are always together when leaving and returning to the ship, a room card swap, could, in theory, work.  But if you're separated and there's an emergency, having the wrong card will be a problem.  You will need a picture and name to match at all checkpoints.

[oceanmom]

I'd suggest avoiding the issue at check-in as I believe those are port employees? and not able to deal with printing new cards, etc. If talking to the PCC route doesn't work--which was a different situation, wait until you are on-board and work out the key issue there.

 

We have often had extra keys made for our daughters or us to have access to the other cabin. Do not just switch cards with each other if you try to get off the ship or for specialty dining or even the MDR as the photos pop up on the computer screen and questions may arise (as SunNFun says above).  The extra keys were plain white.

 

It may be a hassle for you, but we have been able to have the room folios (on-board accounts) all put on one room and then we sort out who owes who how much later (although we do it to have the refundable OBC all go to us since we pay for the second cabin). The folio will show the name of the person who is making the charge to the account.

 

Hopefully your cabins are next to each other so the kids will go in the same lifeboat as their parents.

Edited May 21, 2019 by oceanmom

[SilvertoGold]

Also, your mail would be a mess!  I hope your TA gets this rearranged before you leave for the ship. then everything is straight with no security problems.

Edited May 21, 2019 by SilvertoGold

[Brewer2811]

56 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

The cruise line does need to know who is attached to each card, that is how they monitor who comes and goes on/off the ship and the spending accounts.

Yeah, I have no intention of switching cards with anyone - nobody else needs to pay for my drinks (or see how many I had)!

 

25 minutes ago, oceanmom said:

We have often had extra keys made for our daughters or us to have access to the other cabin.

This sounds like the way to go.

 

25 minutes ago, oceanmom said:

Hopefully your cabins are next to each other so the kids will go in the same lifeboat as their parents.

That's an issue I hadn't even thought about. Luckily the kids are assigned to the rooms with their mothers and one grandparent. It's the dads (my brother-in-law and I) that are on our own!

 

14 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

I hope your TA gets this rearranged before you leave for the ship. then everything is straight with no security problems.

I would like that, but it's unlikely to happen - my father-in-law is the one who booked everything, and he doesn't see it as a problem and has no intention of doing anything about it.

[DaveOKC]

52 minutes ago, Brewer2811 said:

Yeah, I have no intention of switching cards with anyone - nobody else needs to pay for my drinks (or see how many I had)!

 

This sounds like the way to go.

 

That's an issue I hadn't even thought about. Luckily the kids are assigned to the rooms with their mothers and one grandparent. It's the dads (my brother-in-law and I) that are on our own!

 

I would like that, but it's unlikely to happen - my father-in-law is the one who booked everything, and he doesn't see it as a problem and has no intention of doing anything about it.

 

Tell your FIL - "its not a problem until its a problem, and THEN its a BIG one".

 

[doone]

That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.......please come back and let us all know how it goes........good luck.

[taxmantoo]

2 minutes ago, doone said:

That sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.......please come back and let us all know how it goes........good luck.

I am not usually a clairvoyant or a prophet, but I have a feeling that any sequel or report would begin by "It was all HAL's fault ... " 🙄

[doone]

1 minute ago, taxmantoo said:

I am not usually a clairvoyant or a prophet, but I have a feeling that any sequel or report would begin by "It was all HAL's fault ... " 🙄

😉

[Brewer2811]

2 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

I am not usually a clairvoyant or a prophet, but I have a feeling that any sequel or report would begin by "It was all HAL's fault ... " 🙄

If my father-in-law was telling the story, then yes, it would probably start that way. I, however, know how this all started...😉

 

We sail on June 16 - I'll try to update this post when we get back with all the details.

[SilvertoGold]

14 minutes ago, Brewer2811 said:

If my father-in-law was telling the story, then yes, it would probably start that way. I, however, know how this all started...😉

 

We sail on June 16 - I'll try to update this post when we get back with all the details.

 

 

Gracious of you to consider letting us know.   Hope all goes well.  Have a great time!!

[MNmariner]

We have done this twice when sailing as a family of 16 on NCL. I realize you are asking about HAL but I’ll tell you our experience. 

We arranged the rooms because of the “drinks “ package and 2 of the adults don’t drink. After we boarded the ship we just went to the front desk and asked for an additional room key. This key would only open the door to the cabin.  We used our original card to get on and off the ship, purchases, etc. 

Very easy - no problems. I did bring a “sharpie” to mark the room only key. 

Hope this helps. 

[PSR]

6 hours ago, Brewer2811 said:

get a good price on the balcony cabins, he put himself in one balcony with three others, his wife in the other balcony with three others

 

This is kind of beside the point, but I've never gotten a better cabin price based only on my Mariner status....🤔

[3rdGenCunarder]

12 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

This is kind of beside the point, but I've never gotten a better cabin price based only on my Mariner status....🤔

 

The website says something like "log in for better prices," but I never see a better price when I log in. However, there was a "private sale" recently, available only if you got the email with the booking codes. Maybe that's what OP means. 

 

OP, make sure your FIL understands that he may have to be the one to go to the front desk since he made all the reservations. 

[Mary229]

He is taking advantage of Mariner discounts on the third and fourth people in cabins.   That was my ummmmm

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

He is taking advantage of Mariner discounts on the third and fourth people in cabins.   That was my ummmmm

 

Ah, I see. I wonder if shuffling occupants will affect the discount, or if the ship will just let it go.

 

[PSR]

3 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

He is taking advantage of Mariner discounts on the third and fourth people in cabins.   That was my ummmmm

 

Didn't think of that; we only travel as a couple.

[Mary229]

Just now, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Ah, I see. I wonder if shuffling occupants will affect the discount, or if the ship will just let it go.

 

That is why I suggested they call now.  The answer is going to be the same today as it is when they get there.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just now, Mary229 said:

That is why I suggested they call now.  The answer is going to be the same today as it is when they get there.  

 

Maybe not. There's a chance the ship won't pay attention to whether there was a discount for the kids or not. Ships are inconsistent in enforcement/interpretation of rules. I hope OP comes back and tells us what happened.

 

[Brewer2811]

1 hour ago, MNmariner said:

After we boarded the ship we just went to the front desk and asked for an additional room key. This key would only open the door to the cabin.  We used our original card to get on and off the ship, purchases, etc. 

Very easy - no problems. I did bring a “sharpie” to mark the room only key. 

Hope this helps. 

It does help - thank you. As much as I would like everything to be “correct” as far as who’s in what room (even though it doesn’t really matter), I think this is the easiest approach and likely what we’ll do. 

[kentuckycruiser]

My parents did that once when taking us (the children) and the grandchildren. They have high status and my dad was listed for one room and my mother another.  However, I remember it got glitchy because my dad and brother have the same first and last name. All of my brother's expensive cocktails and spa treatments ended up on my parent's room charge and so on. Not that they weren't able to straighten it all out, but it didn't take much to get my parents flustered. More than once, did I hear my father say "We are never doing this again".