RCI's penny-pinching & money-grabbing ...

[allyfree]

Lots of things they charge for irk me - especially given the general pricing of their cruises - but I persevere for the hard-won perks, such as they are.

The latest nonsense is charging to simply swap around 2 already-booked passengers from one room to the other for a cruise that doesn't depart for weeks yet ... the list is becoming endless ! Needless to say, we'll be staying with our original set-up ...

[ParisHilton]

How would they know?  I guess the face doesn't match the card that opens the door?

[allyfree]

2 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

How would they know?  I guess the face doesn't match the card that opens the door?

exactly ... it was for ease of cabin access if we've been on different trips but we'll just have to congregate in a bar until everyone is back on board 🤩

[mac_tlc]

Sounds like a trip down to Guest Services to get an extra room key is in order.

 

mac_tlc

[Starry Eyes]

We have gotten extra keys from guest services on previous cruises.  Having extra keys for the rooms might be convenient for your group.

The OP is from Scotland, so perhaps this is a UK booking rules experience that may not be encountered by people booking under North American rules.

 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, allyfree said:

The latest nonsense is charging to simply swap around 2 already-booked passengers from one room to the other for a cruise that doesn't depart for weeks yet

If the fee (reprice) is legit (may not be), it would have been there for a long time - nothing new.

[vjmatty]

When did they start charging just to change rooms within the same category? Does this include upgrading to a higher category room as well?

[Biker19]

Just now, vjmatty said:

When did they start charging just to change rooms within the same category?

We don't know the details of the OP's situation - there's usually no charge to change names.

[smokeybandit]

Either there's a miscommunication with the person you called, or there's more to this than just a name swap.

[DeputyDawg46]

If you swapped keys and they each have a credit card on file for a different room then that could be a problem when they charged anything.  Of course an extra room key swap and use the original key for charging could solve that.  Never had to do this so other folks may have a better solution if GS can't make the change.

[mjkacmom]

26 minutes ago, DeputyDawg46 said:

If you swapped keys and they each have a credit card on file for a different room then that could be a problem when they charged anything.  Of course an extra room key swap and use the original key for charging could solve that.  Never had to do this so other folks may have a better solution if GS can't make the change.

That’s exactly what we do when cruising with our kids.

[nelblu]

6 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Sounds like a trip down to Guest Services to get an extra room key is in order.

 

mac_tlc

I was traveling with family members on Oasis August 20 sail.  Since my daughter was traveling with teenagers, she asked if she could use my cabin bathroom/shower (I was solo) if needed.  Went to GS and they issued a 2nd cabin card, however, it was not eligible to incur charges. 

[allyfree]

8 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Either there's a miscommunication with the person you called, or there's more to this than just a name swap.

No... just a simple request to swap 2 guests - A&B in one cabin, C&D in the other but we agreed that A&C, B&D would work better in terms of the different excursion times we are all doing ... they wanted £35 per cabin!

[allyfree]

Thank you all for your helpful comments ... the idea of a second card sounds like the ideal solution

[ILOVEHI50]

3 minutes ago, allyfree said:

No... just a simple request to swap 2 guests - A&B in one cabin, C&D in the other but we agreed that A&C, B&D would work better in terms of the different excursion times we are all doing ... they wanted £35 per cabin!

As others have stated, just get an extra key for each room when you get on board from guest services.  There will be no charge.  We do this all of the time.  

[Ourusualbeach]

There are no changes to the North American booking policy where there is no cost for name changes, in fact I just did one a couple days ago.

[smokeybandit]

36 minutes ago, allyfree said:

Thank you all for your helpful comments ... the idea of a second card sounds like the ideal solution

I would call again and see if you get an agent who knows what he's talking about and make the change without any fees.

[allyfree]

13 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There are no changes to the North American booking policy where there is no cost for name changes, in fact I just did one a couple days ago.

Glad you were successful ... I called the UK contact line but as it tells you it has a random global response, I have no idea where the call was actually answered ... sounds like yet another instance of them making it up as they go along

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I would call again and see if you get an agent who knows what he's talking about and make the change without any fees.

OP is from Scotland, quite possibly different booking policies.  It's not like they can just make up a charge and add it, there would need to be a code for them to add the charge

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, allyfree said:

Glad you were successful ... I called the UK contact line but as it tells you it has a random global response, I have no idea where the call was actually answered ... sounds like yet another instance of them making it up as they go along

Different countries have different booking policies.