Age to cruise from Australia on Royal Caribbean

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi everyone

My daughter and friend are trying to book themselves a cruise for November this year.  They will both be 18 at the time of sailing.  Royal Caribbean's website state that you must be 18 to sail alone.  But when we try to book, it won't allow us to proceed as it says the lead passenger is not 21.  Can anyone suggest the best way to proceed? Am I missing something.   I tried to call Royal but got stuck on hold and had to hang up and haven't had a chance to call back.  I have emailed them but not received a response.  Is she better off going to a travel agent?

[RosieCanberra]

Sounds like a glitch. Using an online agent would allow her to book today, there are several sites. Our dollar is very low at the moment, it might be worth her while to wait a couple of weeks. It's around .69 cents this morning (which is better than yesterday's .68 cents though).

[Chiliburn]

I was under the impression that in Australia it’s 18 as with the legal drinking age and it’s 21 in the U.S.

But a friend in Sydney couldn’t book a cabin a couple of years back because she wasn’t 21. She had to take her mum.

Im pretty sure they went through a agent but try a agent anyway.

[Aus Traveller]

I don't know if this applies, but several years ago there were riotous 'schoolies' parties on P&O where deck chairs were thrown overboard etc. P&O then brought in a policy that in November and early December there had to be someone aged 21 or older in the cabin. Maybe try a dummy booking for another time of year.

[arxcards]

If they are trying to book direct online, make sure it is loading as the Australian version of the site (cruises will show in $AU). Apart from that, it may be a glitch, as the lead passenger only needs to be 18.

 

 https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/international-age-policy#:~:text=Royal Caribbean International's minimum age,New Zealand is 18 years.

[PrincessBelle39]

2 hours ago, RosieCanberra said:

Sounds like a glitch. Using an online agent would allow her to book today, there are several sites. Our dollar is very low at the moment, it might be worth her while to wait a couple of weeks. It's around .69 cents this morning (which is better than yesterday's .68 cents though).

I was thinking it might be a glitch.  We were hoping to get it booked today as its actually the cheapest we've seen it over the last weeks.  Not by a lot but they were happy with  the price.  We might keep an eye on it then.  

[PrincessBelle39]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I was under the impression that in Australia it’s 18 as with the legal drinking age and it’s 21 in the U.S.

But a friend in Sydney couldn’t book a cabin a couple of years back because she wasn’t 21. She had to take her mum.

Im pretty sure they went through a agent but try a agent anyway.

Yes it definitely says 18 on their website.  We've run across the issue in the US.  We've cruised twice out of Florida and had to split hubby and I up in the bookings to place a child (teen) in each cabin with an adult.  We then just got it changed onboard.

[PrincessBelle39]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

If they are trying to book direct online, make sure it is loading as the Australian version of the site (cruises will show in $AU). Apart from that, it may be a glitch, as the lead passenger only needs to be 18.

 

 https://www.royalcaribbean.com/aus/en/faq/questions/international-age-policy#:~:text=Royal Caribbean International's minimum age,New Zealand is 18 years.

Yes, Definitely the Australian version.  We've both tried on different laptops.  

[PrincessBelle39]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't know if this applies, but several years ago there were riotous 'schoolies' parties on P&O where deck chairs were thrown overboard etc. P&O then brought in a policy that in November and early December there had to be someone aged 21 or older in the cabin. Maybe try a dummy booking for another time of year.

Thanks. I've just tried a dummy booking for February and still got the same response.  I wondered if it was because they don't turn 18 for a couple of months so tried moving the birthday up to say they were 18 to see if this was the issue.  But that didn't make a difference either.  

 

I hope the schoolies aren't too much of an issue.  They are looking to be independent and have chosen to cruise as they are wanting to avoid the schoolies parties.

[Chiliburn]

23 minutes ago, PrincessBelle39 said:

Yes it definitely says 18 on their website.  We've run across the issue in the US.  We've cruised twice out of Florida and had to split hubby and I up in the bookings to place a child (teen) in each cabin with an adult.  We then just got it changed onboard.

You might get a free cruise if they have to take their mum.LOL.

Did you try a online agent?

[arxcards]

Seems the website won't co-operate, so ring them to book.

[PrincessBelle39]

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

You might get a free cruise if they have to take their mum.LOL.

Did you try a online agent?

Haha.  It's a thought.  Hubby and I are booked to get on, they day they get off.  Might have to extend. 🙂

No I haven't.  I was just googling now.  We usually book with a US agent as all our cruises have been US departures.  So I'm not sure of my options from here.

[PrincessBelle39]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Seems the website won't co-operate, so ring them to book.

I think that is my best option.

[MicCanberra]

I would call but perhaps a hold on the cabin would suffice until Monday.