Shareholder credit & 2 cabins

[junglejane]

DH and I each separately own 100 shares of Carnival stock in our 401K's. We're taking our adult children with us for the first time in a few years. Back in the "old days" when they were younger, we'd book DH and one teen in one room, and me plus the other teen in another room. Then when we got onboard we'd go to the passenger service desk and rearrange the rooms to put me and DH together and the teens together. We were always successful in getting the shareholder credit for both rooms. Does this still work in the age of medallions and drink packages etc? There's also the elite minibar setup. DH wants to try this arrangement again but I'm worried it'll be a big headache. Anyone done this recently?

[Cruise Raider]

4 minutes ago, junglejane said:

DH and I each separately own 100 shares of Carnival stock in our 401K's. We're taking our adult children with us for the first time in a few years. Back in the "old days" when they were younger, we'd book DH and one teen in one room, and me plus the other teen in another room. Then when we got onboard we'd go to the passenger service desk and rearrange the rooms to put me and DH together and the teens together. We were always successful in getting the shareholder credit for both rooms. Does this still work in the age of medallions and drink packages etc? There's also the elite minibar setup. DH wants to try this arrangement again but I'm worried it'll be a big headache. Anyone done this recently?

We’ve done this a lot recently and there is no problems at all.  You can simply go to the front desk and have the give access to open each other’s doors throughout the cruise.  

[junglejane]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We’ve done this a lot recently and there is no problems at all.  You can simply go to the front desk and have the give access to open each other’s doors throughout the cruise.  

So you don't actually ask Passenger Services to change their records of who is where, you just share access? Wouldn't that mean that any charges get billed to the original rooms? That probably doesn't matter too much since we're basically treating our kids, but in the past we actually had Passenger Services change their record onboard.

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, junglejane said:

So you don't actually ask Passenger Services to change their records of who is where, you just share access? Wouldn't that mean that any charges get billed to the original rooms? That probably doesn't matter too much since we're basically treating our kids, but in the past we actually had Passenger Services change their record onboard.

We’ve not changed the actual room assignments, just the access.  But, I’m sure you could go either way .. whatever works best for you is what you should do.  

[skynight]

The shareholder benefit is per stateroom, one per stateroom. If there are two qualified passengers in the same cabin only one will receive the benefit. If you wish to both receive the benefit then you have to book one shareholder in each cabin and then obtain cross cabin access once on board. In the "old" days you were successful because each shareholder was booked in a different cabin.

 

With the plus and premier fares (packages) you have a different issue. The first two passengers in the cabin are required to have the same package. If you have one parent and one child in a cabin both must get the same plus or premier fare. If the youth is under 21 sailing a U.S. itinerary then that youth has to get the package, but it will be for the non-alcoholic beverage package.

 

With the mini bar it is one per cabin no matter how many elites are in the cabin. If you and the husband are both elite and book into different cabins then each cabin will receive the mini bar.

 

The medallion has nothing to do with your questions. Think of the medallion as a cruise card in a different package.

 

2 hours ago, junglejane said:

So you don't actually ask Passenger Services to change their records of who is where, you just share access? Wouldn't that mean that any charges get billed to the original rooms? That probably doesn't matter too much since we're basically treating our kids, but in the past we actually had Passenger Services change their record onboard.

Charges don't get billed to cabins. They get billed to individuals. Each passenger has their own account which you have probably linked into a summary account.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

@skynight...that was a great explanation!

[junglejane]

Thanks for that helpful discussion. So it sounds like this idea will work, and the question is whether it's worth it for an extra $100 shareholder benefit and an extra minibar. (DH and I disagree on this.)

[NavyVeteran]

Another question is which of the four of you would want Premier or Plus. The two people booked in one cabin would need to have the same package, and the two people in the other cabin could have another one. If one of the parents and one of the adult children drink more than the other two, then this would be another advantage of splitting the booking.

You can definitely give all four of you access to both cabins if you want, and Princess does not care who sleeps where.

[Womble99]

You can always buy the Plus or Premier on board for one person in each cabin. The requirement for both is just when you book your cruise.

[cjpj]

5 hours ago, Womble99 said:

You can always buy the Plus or Premier on board for one person in each cabin. The requirement for both is just when you book your cruise.

I didn't know that!

[NavyVeteran]

5 hours ago, Womble99 said:

You can always buy the Plus or Premier on board for one person in each cabin. The requirement for both is just when you book your cruise.

Have you personally done this? I haven't seen it documented that you can.

Are your talking about the Plus or Premier fare or the completely over-priced stand-alone Plus or Premier drink packages?

[Cruise Raider]

If you have two people in one cabin, both are required to purchase the plus or premier fare package whether at the time of booking or once they are onboard.  
Only if you purchase the beverage package alone (not combined as a portion of the fare package), can you apply it to only one person in a double occupancy cabin.  
 

When they had decent solo cabin fares, my DH would get a cheap inside cabin and book the plus fare and I would get the premier.  He doesn’t care about the photos or more expensive wines like I do.  They have never had any trouble allowing him to use one of my included specialty dinners for him so, we could go once together.  Plus, we had a second cabin in case one of us got sick and didn’t want to spread it to each other or anyone else.  

[skynight]

6 hours ago, Womble99 said:

You can always buy the Plus or Premier on board for one person in each cabin. The requirement for both is just when you book your cruise.

Fairly certain this is not correct. Passengers 1 & 2 in a cabin are required to have the same fare/package, even when you purchase on board.

[startedwithamouse]

7 hours ago, Womble99 said:

You can always buy the Plus or Premier on board for one person in each cabin. The requirement for both is just when you book your cruise.

No, you can't. 

[Womble99]

12 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Have you personally done this? I haven't seen it documented that you can.

Are your talking about the Plus or Premier fare or the completely over-priced stand-alone Plus or Premier drink packages?

We had no problems doing this on our last cruise in January. I purchased Plus once on board and my wife didn't have a package at all.

 

And yes it was the Plus package not just the drinks package before the questions start.

Edited June 3 by Womble99