Naive parent(s) did not reserve/pay for 18month old

I'm new to Cruise Critics' message boards though I've been a bit of a lurker for months now. I hope that it's ok to vent here and that my doing so will help someone. My hubbie booked our Carnival Western Carib cruise online at the Carnival site. Since 'registering' our 18 month old son seemed to indicate that we would be paying full price for him, my husband decided that he would simply call Carnival before our departure to make sure that our son would be accounted for (in our 2-person reservation). We anticipated having him sleep on a travel toddler bed that we packed to take.

In any case, there are now no rooms for a family of 3 even if we were willing to pay full price for a third person. We will be cancelling our trip and hoping desperately for a voucher (to use when, I don't know). We were supposed to be sailing on this Sunday :mad: Truth be told, I'm not sure how any of the cruiselines can justify charging even a fraction of money for a child under the age of 5. Really??!!! Our son wouldn't even have been eligible for their toddler program since he's not yet 2 years old. Ok, thanks for listening.

Why would you think your child would be free? Carnival usually has great prices for a 3rd person. I just don't see where the logic is on thinking your child wouldn't cost anything. Had you plugged him in the reservation you would have seen the price for a baby. I don't think Carnival should have to offer you anything. This was not their mistake. I am taking our 3 kids ages 7,5,and 1. I paid full price for my toddler. Yep it sucks but oh well. Lucky for me Royal Caribbean has a nursery for my baby. I will gladly pay the fee to get a few hours to myself every night.

A ship is allowed to carry a total number of persons, regardless of their age. When your son comes on board, it means that there will be 1 less space that they can sell to an older passenger who will spend money. This is one of the reasons that they charge for infants.

Did you tell the Carnival people when you booked that there would be 2 adults and 1 infant or did you just assume that you did not need to tell them at all because he was an infant.

In the first case, Carnival messed up. In the 2nd case, you messed up.

DON

I'm new to Cruise Critics' message boards though I've been a bit of a lurker for months now. I hope that it's ok to vent here and that my doing so will help someone. My hubbie booked our Carnival Western Carib cruise online at the Carnival site. Since 'registering' our 18 month old son seemed to indicate that we would be paying full price for him, my husband decided that he would simply call Carnival before our departure to make sure that our son would be accounted for (in our 2-person reservation). We anticipated having him sleep on a travel toddler bed that we packed to take.

 

In any case, there are now no rooms for a family of 3 even if we were willing to pay full price for a third person. We will be cancelling our trip and hoping desperately for a voucher (to use when, I don't know). We were supposed to be sailing on this Sunday :mad: Truth be told, I'm not sure how any of the cruiselines can justify charging even a fraction of money for a child under the age of 5. Really??!!! Our son wouldn't even have been eligible for their toddler program since he's not yet 2 years old. Ok, thanks for listening.

Your husband screwed up by not asking the right questions or thinking he had to pay like everyone else. To assume you could just bring on another "soul" and not let anyone know was naive of him. Everyone has to be accounted for. He should have mentioned when he booked that he wanted to bring his child. Why should your child sail free? He is not any more special then someone else's older child who has to pay to sail.

Your child will take up room. He will poop, eat and sleep and possibly take the place of another passenger. I'm sorry this happened and I'm sure you are disappointed, but the mistake is yours. Why would you assume your child is free just because you didn't tell them until the last minute. You state that he knew he had to pay for him but decided to wait until the last minute to see if they would slip him in without charge. The fault is yours and no one else's.

I don't think the OP needs to be jumped on or flamed- especially as she admitted from the start that they made a naive assumption. If you're used to booking hotels on land and have never cruised before, especially if you're making a reservation just online and w/o any guidance from a travel agent or anyone else, I can understand the mindset of paying for a room, however many occupants are in it, rather than paying per person.

Additionally, Carnival's website, at least when we were researching their itineraries last year don't break down the price anymore as a full fare for pax 1 and 2 w/ less for pax 3+, but rather as a average fare per person for the number of pax you specify. It threw me off to see the fare go up per person with 2 in the cabin when the same trip with 4 in the cabin yielded a lower advertised per person price.

Unfortunately, it was a potentially expensive lesson in the ways of cruising - fares are per passenger and include all passengers as the ship can only hold so many bodies total, regardless of the age. Rooms are designated for the number of people allowed, regardless of whether or not some passengers will be sleeping in a bed. (We just booked a room for a group of 6, 2 of whom are babies.) I'm sorry you had to learn this the hard way. Most lines do discount the 3rd passenger, and NCL will does have a significantly reduced fare for passengers under 2 yrs old. Since you're new to cruising, there are other policy differences between sailing and a land vacation such as much more stringent regulations about what can and cannot be brought onto a ship for safety reasons, things shipboard plumbing cannot handle compared to land, and that pools (even the kiddie pool) have restrictions on non-potty trained infants because the water is not chlorinated like a land-based pool usually is, tips are often automatically added on to your shipboard account. If you read some of the guides on cruise critic or talk to a travel agent, you may get a better feel for the differences. Good luck and I hope you find a cruise itinerary that works out for you and your family!

I don't understand how this was a "naive mistake"?

Of course you need to register and pay for your son. He's a living breathing human being isn't he? He'll be eating, drinking, creating waste and taking up space just like the rest of us.

As someone who recently returned from a cruise with a 6 month old I remember several places in the registration process you have to input names, ages, and even passport information for ALL people going on the cruise. This is very clearly spelled out in the FAQ.

Land, air or sea you always tell companies who will be vacationing with you. Even if the child is free, the company needs to know who will be there for accountability, safety and insurance reasons. I've never heard of staying somewhere(even a hotel) and not revealing who will be in the room...except in the case where someone is trying to sneak someone in.

btw: even on cruises that offer kids sail free deals, you still have to pay taxes and other fees.

I think I have heard it all now.

I have sailed with a toddler - & any fare, taxes, tips are well earned from small children.

Highly doubtful tht Carnival will be forthcoming with a refund or voucher for the cancellation ... your only hope is if you have "cancel for any reason" insurance, in which case you would get back a percentage of your two-person fare.

At this point, your choices likely are (1) lose most or all of your money or (2) go without the toddler.

When we stay at a hotel we can bring a baby at no extra cost. The OP sounds like she thought a cruise is the same way. However it is their mistake, not Carnivals. When booking it clearly says "per person". Sorry this happened to them but since they are supposed to leave this week maybe it would be possible to get on another ship leaving the same day that has a cabin for 3 people. After all Carnival does have alot of ships.

I think most cruise lines will allow a child under 2 in a double occupancy stateroom. Did you beg carnival to allow him to sail, maybe someone else will cancel check back with them every day

I think most cruise lines will allow a child under 2 in a double occupancy stateroom. Did you beg carnival to allow him to sail, maybe someone else will cancel check back with them every day

Oh my, you are very naive if you think this...No matter how young, you must have a cabin for 3. EM

. We will be cancelling our trip and hoping desperately for a voucher (to use when, I don't know). We were supposed to be sailing on this Sunday :mad:

Just realize that if you cancel, you're going to lose all your money. If you cancel between 14-0 days of your cruise, they will not refund any money, nor will they issue a voucher. You're out whatever you paid for your cruise.

At this point, your choices likely are (1) lose most or all of your money or (2) go without the toddler.

This is true.

I think most cruise lines will allow a child under 2 in a double occupancy stateroom. Did you beg carnival to allow him to sail, maybe someone else will cancel check back with them every day

This "advice" is almost as bad as the advice the poster gave you on the cruise air forum to have your infant "pretend" to be your husband, so the baby could use your husband's airline ticket. It's totally incorrect.

Any cruise ship is allowed to hold only so many "souls". Once it reaches that capacity, you can have a cabin for six, but if the ship can only take two more, that's all you will be allowed to book in that cabin. Infants are considered the same as an adult.

I think most cruise lines will allow a child under 2 in a double occupancy stateroom. Did you beg carnival to allow him to sail, maybe someone else will cancel check back with them every day

This is totally not true. You cannot have 3 in a cabin for 2 on any cruiseline.

I still say they should see if Carnival can change them to a different ship that sails the same day.

It definitely does suck having to pay for children under 2, but I can completely understand why we do have to pay for them. We are bringing my 15 month old and 7 year old on a cruise in April. Sad to say.... but the 15 month old will probably eat way more food (and waste more food and drinks) then my 7 year old will.

I'm new to Cruise Critics' message boards though I've been a bit of a lurker for months now. I hope that it's ok to vent here and that my doing so will help someone. My hubbie booked our Carnival Western Carib cruise online at the Carnival site. Since 'registering' our 18 month old son seemed to indicate that we would be paying full price for him, my husband decided that he would simply call Carnival before our departure to make sure that our son would be accounted for (in our 2-person reservation). We anticipated having him sleep on a travel toddler bed that we packed to take.

 

In any case, there are now no rooms for a family of 3 even if we were willing to pay full price for a third person. We will be cancelling our trip and hoping desperately for a voucher (to use when, I don't know). We were supposed to be sailing on this Sunday :mad: Truth be told, I'm not sure how any of the cruiselines can justify charging even a fraction of money for a child under the age of 5. Really??!!! Our son wouldn't even have been eligible for their toddler program since he's not yet 2 years old. Ok, thanks for listening.

You made the wrong assumption. And in knowing everyone pays a fare, it's YOUR choice if you wish to pay that and bring him.

We always thought it was worth having our kids with us, since they were 1.

I think most cruise lines will allow a child under 2 in a double occupancy stateroom. Did you beg carnival to allow him to sail, maybe someone else will cancel check back with them every day

This is incorrect. He has to be booked somewhere, but obviously can sleep anywhere.

Everyone has to be considerate of how many places there are on the lifeboats.

Since 'registering' our 18 month old son seemed to indicate that we would be paying full price for him, my husband decided that he would simply call Carnival before our departure to make sure that our son would be accounted for (in our 2-person reservation).

I don't think the OP needs to be jumped on or flamed- especially as she admitted from the start that they made a naive assumption.

She made no assumption. Her husband made a choice because registering their son would mean paying full price for him. They obviously did not want to pay for their child and were trying to be clever and were trying to figure a way to get around it. She clearly states that he intentionally did not add him in and just expected to be allowed to "squeeze" him in at the end expecting to avoid being charged.

I don't think I believe you. Just in case you're serious, why don't you leave the child with a relative or friend?

Thanks for your very helpful response, NJFoodie. We're new parents. We've taken numerous plane trips (where there details available regarding traveling with children under two), but have never ever cruised before and don't know anyone who has cruised with a young child.

Again, our assumptions were naive, but I didn't think that the tone of the message board responses, overall, was warranted. Some of the responses were unnecessarily mean-spirited, in my opinion. I thought that parents, even those who have different opinions and experiences than others, were inclined to be supportive of other parents. My apologies if I missed some of the more pleasant/useful responses. After a while, I had to stop reading. In any case, I hope that the mean people (and everyone else, too) have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks also to you, Don, for sharing your reasoning.

I thought that parents, even those who have different opinions and experiences than others, were inclined to be supportive of other parents.

No, unfortunately, this isn't always true, which you will find out as your child gets older.

But, I don't see this issue as being supportive or not supportive of anything to do with parenting. I don't know why your DH made this choice, but it's been an expensive lesson. Please come back and post what Carnival says when you cancel.

She made no assumption. Her husband made a choice because registering their son would mean paying full price for him. They obviously did not want to pay for their child and were trying to be clever and were trying to figure a way to get around it. She clearly states that he intentionally did not add him in and just expected to be allowed to "squeeze" him in at the end expecting to avoid being charged.

Sadly, I tend to agree. By booking the child at the onset, a full deposit would have had to have been paid and then the entire amount at final payment time. OP's husband was trying to avoid that and possibly the entire fare for the child. OP says she has been monitoring these boards for months. There are threads all the time about kids sail free or special reduced third person fares - too many for anyone to claim they did not know.

Well, unless someone can keep the child for a week, OP's husband has made a very costly assumption.

I understand confusion among newbies who initially think cruising is like a hotel where a baby can stay in the room free since they don't need a bed or food and they use the pool with swim diapers, etc. I can see myself thinking the same thing before looking into it. However, this is an 18 month old. Even though a hotel will let an 18 month old stay for free, you can't bring the kid into any hotel restaurant and expect free meals the entire stay. This isn't an infant, it's a toddler who was going to need to eat a few times a day. Sounds like this is one of those situations where a travel agent would have been helpful rather than trying to book a brand new kind of vacation on ones own. Really sorry for the trouble and hope you end up able to make it on your cruise.

Best,

Mia

OP- Did you call Carnival or just look online? Some Carnival ships (built before 2000) allow a bed to be brought in. This can be done if the ship has not reached lifeboat capacity.

Be warned that you might end up paying more for Junior than for your own fare. Sometimes last minute fares are high.

Call and find out. Carnival will not refund your money.

This is totally not true. You cannot have 3 in a cabin for 2 on any cruiseline.

 

I still say they should see if Carnival can change them to a different ship that sails the same day.

I agree the OP messed up big but your wrong you can have 3 in a room for 2 infact we are doing it. When we called to add the 3rd the first wanted us to move to a 3 person room with the pull down beds but we asked to talk to a manager and explained that our DD is only going to be 12.5 months old and will be in a pack and play and that having a 3 person room with the pull downs will be less room for us not more. they worked it out and we have a 2 person room with 3 people. Now if the ship is full ie no more soles alowed (you only see this on holiday cruises) then your right but in that case you could have a room that holds 10 and only bring 2.

For the OP I would call back ask for a manager and explain that your DH messed up and give a sob story and they can prob work out to bring the baby if he/she sleep in a pack and play I know RCI is real helpfull however I have heard that CCL is not so try, and if you dont get from the first or even the secnd or third call try again, all the cruise lines are known for not giving the same answer twice.:eek: