Booking Only 1 Cabin for Family of 4 - Is this a mistake?

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Don't have enough money to bring them. Someone has to stay home to turn off the lights.

Good night Jimbo.

[taglovestocruise]

A 12 year old and a 19 year old sharing a undersized pull out sofa... Post some pics in in the Add Some Humor thread. happy cruising 

[familycruzinnewbie]

We did 4 in a cabin on Carnival 4 times, but last time we did inside for the first time and kids were 15 and 18. Quite a bit squishy. I was always worried about 4 to a room on Royal as they seem to have some weird setups for 4 on some of their ships. And with GTY you don’t know which layout you are getting. Not sure what worst case scenario is for your category. 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

No Meant. Mrs & Mr Walton, John Boy and Mary Ellen.

 

You been to Walton Mountain yet?

 

Between Charlottesville and Lynchburg 

[Jimbo]

41 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

You been to Walton Mountain yet?

 

Between Charlottesville and Lynchburg 

Never knew it was there, we are about 165 miles from there, 2 hours and 50 minute drive. We will have to check it out sometime.

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

43 minutes ago, familycruzinnewbie said:

We did 4 in a cabin on Carnival 4 times, but last time we did inside for the first time and kids were 15 and 18. Quite a bit squishy. I was always worried about 4 to a room on Royal as they seem to have some weird setups for 4 on some of their ships. And with GTY you don’t know which layout you are getting. Not sure what worst case scenario is for your category. 

Thought you couldn't book a GTY with Royal for 4 ?

[bayportkat]

We actually booked inside cabins and for the 5 of us, 3 cabins came to about the same as a cabin for 2 and 3 due to the significant increase in price for the third person.  The only issue is that you are closer to your cruise and there are fewer cabins available.  Also, you may need to put one adult and one child (even though the oldest is 19) in each room, at least on paper.  We had to have my oldest who is also 19 in a connecting cabin or immediately next to us to be able to book the cabin.  Good luck!  I hope you can find a way to book another cabin- I think you will be a happier family that way.  The suggestion of an interior and a balcony was a good one if the price works out?

[Abby323]

So after 3 1/2 hours tonight working with our TA, RCCL considers the change a "refare" so they want to charge me what the price would have been for both rooms in February with my original booking instead of what it is today since I am past final payment- cruise is a little less than 2 months away.  That amount is a few hundred dollars more and at this point I was very frustrated and just decided to keep things the same for now.  Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.  If I can muster up the patience to try for an interior room instead at a different time I may do that.

[Abby323]

58 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Thought you couldn't book a GTY with Royal for 4 ?

Looks like you can't now for 4 people for this cruise but you could a few months ago when we booked with a TA.

[LGW59]

4 hours ago, Abby323 said:

I am fairly new to cruising.  It's been over 6 years since our last cruise so our children were younger and getting more than 1 cabin was not even an option for us back then.  So when I booked a cruise on the Symphony for this summer I didn't even think about booking 2 cabins now that my boys are 12 and 19.  I booked a GTY balcony.  Mistake number 1 was I thought it would be ocean view.  It will likely be a neighborhood balcony which we are ok with now.  But after looking at the prices, I could get 2 GTY balconies for only $50 more.  1) I am not sure I could even change my reservation without a fee of some sort. I did book in February so have the CWC so I think I can with no problem for the same sailing 2) If I could make the changes without a huge fee, I worry that the rooms would be too far apart from each other.  I really don't want to pay the extra $$$$ to pick our own rooms.

 

So basically I am wondering, will I regret having my family (my husband and 12 & 19 year old sons) all in the same cabin together?  I'm thinking since I am the only one that takes longer than 10 minutes to get ready that we should be ok with just 1 bathroom for the most part.  It just seems like we may be in the minority of having 3 adults and 1 pre-teen in just 1 cabin together so I am really questioning getting the second cabin.  Will we all feel crammed and miserable?  Anyone else here cruised with 3-4 in a room with no small children?

If you can do it for $50 just do it already, 4 ppl in a standard closet er I mean cabin would be ridiculous.  We can’t make the decision for you.  Even if more than $50 I’d def pony up, though I’d of not put myself in that position to begin with.

[topnole]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I think there is someone in our roll call who is packing 4 in a balcony for world cruise.

 

274 nights

 

May god have mercy on them

May god have mercy on all of you.  Some poor workers and other passengers are going to have to hear all the complaining for months on end.  

[reallyitsmema]

27 minutes ago, Abby323 said:

So after 3 1/2 hours tonight working with our TA, RCCL considers the change a "refare" so they want to charge me what the price would have been for both rooms in February with my original booking instead of what it is today since I am past final payment- cruise is a little less than 2 months away.  That amount is a few hundred dollars more and at this point I was very frustrated and just decided to keep things the same for now.  Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.  If I can muster up the patience to try for an interior room instead at a different time I may do that.

 

One saving grace is the sofabed on Symphony should be the kind that is more like a trundle and you can have the bed made up at two different heights to give each of them a defined space.

[kitkat343]

I'm sorry they wanted to reprice the cabins and charge you a few extra hundred more.  It might be worth calling back again when you get closer to sail date to see if they can give you a better price.  Or ask really nicely at the front desk when you are on the ship.  Good luck.

[Tinytinkmom]

1 hour ago, Abby323 said:

So after 3 1/2 hours tonight working with our TA, RCCL considers the change a "refare" so they want to charge me what the price would have been for both rooms in February with my original booking instead of what it is today since I am past final payment- cruise is a little less than 2 months away.  That amount is a few hundred dollars more and at this point I was very frustrated and just decided to keep things the same for now.  Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.  If I can muster up the patience to try for an interior room instead at a different time I may do that.

Sorry that you weren’t able to make the change at the current pricing…. While two rooms would be nice, one is 100% doable!  We’re a family of four (two girls that are 18 and 12), and have been on 16 cruises as a family (with 3 more in the next year) - all in one room together.  We rarely hang out in the room during the day (especially all together), so if you’re just using the room to sleep, it’s not a big deal.  Have a fun trip!

[rudeney]

My wife and I can barely make it for 7 nights with two of us in a GS having only one bathroom.  Three adults and a 12yo in one balcony room?  I figure that will end up on "film at 11".  

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, Abby323 said:

cruise is a little less than 2 months away. 

Have not seen it reported recently and certainly no wins, but RCI did advertise the possibility of bidding on two cabins via Royal Up.

[Mum2Mercury]

We stayed 4-in a room when our kids were small, and it was fine.  We have always been light packers, so clutter in the room wasn't a problem.  But you're talking about two large boys -- big difference.  Definitely go with the second room: 

 

- It'll get you another bathroom, and that alone will be worthwhile.  

- The sleeper beds are small -- smaller than the sleeper sofa we once owned.  

- If you get balconies, ask your cabin steward to remove the divider between them.  It'll give you one large balcony, and you'll be able to come-and-go between cabins without going out into the hallway.  We did that once, and it was wonderful.  

Edited June 4, 2022 by Mum2Mercury

[poocher]

10 hours ago, rudeney said:

My wife and I can barely make it for 7 nights with two of us in a GS having only one bathroom.  Three adults and a 12yo in one balcony room?  I figure that will end up on "film at 11".  

I don’t know but our family of four always stayed in one room no matter what kind of vacation we were on.  Frankly never occurred to me to get 2 rooms.  Son slept with dad, daughter with me.  Amazingly we all survived and still like to travel together.  Our home only has one bathroom and again we all survived.  
Ok, full disclosure, we sprung for an owners suite on our last cruise.  But still only one bathroom!

[LuCruise]

We stayed 4 in a Boardwalk balcony room in Symphony.  Our kids were 13 and 9 at the time so younger than yours but it was doable and we managed.  The nice thing with Symphony is that the sofa bed turns into a trundle bed so each kid got their own mattress.  

 

If 2 rooms is an option then that's better but we would book one if needed...but we get connecting rooms.  In fact, we recently upgraded 1 boardwalk room to 2 connecting rooms on Oasis as the price dropped and it wasn't much more for 2 rooms.  With 2 guarantee rooms, you most likely won't be side by side.

[Tree_skier]

18 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I think there is someone in our roll call who is packing 4 in a balcony for world cruise.

 

274 nights

 

May god have mercy on them

What's the over/under on the day number that the first of the four is tossed off said balcony.

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

I don’t know but our family of four always stayed in one room no matter what kind of vacation we were on.  Frankly never occurred to me to get 2 rooms.  Son slept with dad, daughter with me.  Amazingly we all survived and still like to travel together.  Our home only has one bathroom and again we all survived.  
Ok, full disclosure, we sprung for an owners suite on our last cruise.  But still only one bathroom!

 

We've stayed in hotel rooms with one kid, but not both.  Actually, we have a daughter and a granddaughter, and we had custody of the now 27yo granddaughter, so we never had two kids together at the same time.  We would stay in a hotel room, and we have stayed in cruise ship suites with three of us and one bathroom.  It worked.  I was just being facetious about my wife and I needing two bathrooms.  

 

We were watching some old home video last night and came across our DCL trip back in 2006 with the then 11yo.  We had a 1BR suite on the Wonder and I had forgotten it had two bathrooms.  It was actually a great suite compared to the OS/GS offered by RCCL.  The bedroom was totally separated from the living/dining room with an actual door, and it had a huge walk-in closet.  I remember years ago trying to book a 2BR suite on RCCL when we took my MIL.  They required us to have at least 4 guests to book it.  I guess I should have "fake booked" an extra guest and had them be a no-show.  We ended up paying more to get one GS and one JS.  

[LadyZolt]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:23 PM, Jimbo said:

No Meant. Mrs & Mr Walton, John Boy and Mary Ellen.

 

On 6/3/2022 at 4:33 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Don't forget Jim Bob and Ben.

 

And Grandma, Grandpa, Jason, Erin, Elizabeth and Reckless (the dog).  Goodnight, everyone!  🙂

[Marie51]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:57 PM, Ocean Boy said:

One cabin would not work for me. I don't care how much you all love each other.

Agree completely. If I couldn’t find someway to change this I would rather cancel the cruise then go with four people in the same cabin.

[MadamG2U]

I wouldn’t do this. Two rooms two bathrooms 

[sailor05]

Gotta love Royal. Do everything possible to make you unhappy. They better be watching themselves if they want to continue to prosper. Seems that their customer service is starting to "royally" suck.