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My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in 9 days. Our babysitter canceled on us so I immediately called Carnival to add our 3 year old. They informed me that the ship is sold out. Now I have no idea what to do. They said that our room (balcony on the 9th floor) is not capable of having three people. What would happen if I was to show up with her when we board the ship??? I have no idea what to do. Please help!!! Thank you for your time.

 

Mexican Riviera cruise, seven days, leaves April 15

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My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in 9 days. Our babysitter canceled on us so I immediately called Carnival to add our 3 year old. They informed me that the ship is sold out. Now I have no idea what to do. They said that our room (balcony on the 9th floor) is not capable of having three people. What would happen if I was to show up with her when we board the ship??? I have no idea what to do. Please help!!! Thank you for your time.

 

Mexican Riviera cruise, seven days, leaves April 15

 

You better hope that someone does not show up at the pier at the last moment. A ship is allowed to carry a defined number of "souls" and is not allowed to carry any more. Your 3 year old is part of the count. Also, a 2 person cabin is a 2 person cabin.

 

There is hope that someone will cancel at the last moment and you will be OK but other than that, you are in trouble. Call Carnival several times per day to check.

 

DON

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My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in 9 days. Our babysitter canceled on us so I immediately called Carnival to add our 3 year old. They informed me that the ship is sold out. Now I have no idea what to do. They said that our room (balcony on the 9th floor) is not capable of having three people. What would happen if I was to show up with her when we board the ship??? I have no idea what to do. Please help!!! Thank you for your time.

 

Mexican Riviera cruise, seven days, leaves April 15

 

You better hope that someone does not show up at the pier at the last moment. A ship is allowed to carry a defined number of "souls" and is not allowed to carry any more. Your 3 year old is part of the count. Also, a 2 person cabin is a 2 person cabin.

 

There is hope that someone will cancel at the last moment and you will be OK but other than that, you are in trouble. Call Carnival several times per day to check.

 

DON

 

Yikes! :eek: I agree with the last poster. You'd better hope someone doesn't show up to your cruise that had a cabin that is for 3 people. Again a cabin for 2 is for 2. You need the extra berth to take your 3 year old. If you show up with your child and do not have a cabin for 3, you may risk not boarding at all.

 

Absolutely worst case may be to fly a family member to watch your 3 year old as a huge favor. But last minute flights will cost you.

 

I would ask the ship to wait list you for a cabin with a third berth immediately! I'd also start looking for another babysitter ASAP!

 

I wish you the best of luck and hope you still get to enjoy your cruise.

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What will happen? You'll be turned away, not allowed to board. It's not like going to a hotel where you can put your kid to bed just anywhere. If you didn't book for 3, they won't accept three.

 

I'm betting you probably didn't get cruise insurance either, especially insurance to cover "cancel for any reason".

 

About all you can do is try to find another sitter. Any family members? Church members? Co-workers who have kids who might be willing?

 

Keep calling Carnival, too...cancellations do occur and they might be able to move you. But if you can't find a sitter and/or space on the ship, you've lost the $$ you've spent on the cruise. I'm sorry!

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My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in 9 days. Our babysitter canceled on us so I immediately called Carnival to add our 3 year old. They informed me that the ship is sold out. Now I have no idea what to do. They said that our room (balcony on the 9th floor) is not capable of having three people. What would happen if I was to show up with her when we board the ship??? I have no idea what to do. Please help!!! Thank you for your time.

 

Mexican Riviera cruise, seven days, leaves April 15

 

You (or that is, your daughter) would not be allowed past the first security check point. Period. You cannot show up with an extra passenger at the pier and either bring her onboard or "book" her then.

 

If the ship is sold out, it wouldn't matter whether your cabin could hold four people; another passenger could not legally be added at all. And if your cabin is only berthed for two, you couldn't add her regardless of how much room was left on the ship. They cannot book three passengers in a cabin for two; they cannot book more than the legally allowable maximum overall number of passengers for the ship.

 

You should call multiple times per day between now and the morning of the 15th to ask about cancellations. I believe Carnival allows bookings up to 6 hours or so before departure time, but you must be booked in advance of showing up at the pier. There would have to be a cancellation not just of a passenger, but for a cabin that is berthed for more than two passengers and that is in an area of the ship where there is enough lifeboat capacity. If there is already a waitlist, those passengers would be offered an open cabin first.

 

Unless an appropriate cabin opens up in the next few days and becomes available for you, you're going to have to cancel your cruise. It is so close to the cruise date that the cancellation penalty will be very high and neither the cruise line nor travel insurer (if you have insurance) will refund you because your babysitter cancelled. I'm sorry to sound so negative, but your chances at this point are pretty slim. Do you have any other options for last minute babysitting?

 

Best of luck. I hope a miracle happens and it all works out for you.

 

beachchick

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Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You will be turned away.

For starters you have not completed any paper work for your daughter to get onto the ship. Remember when you booked the cruise -- you had to complete paper work.

Also you have not paid for the 3rd person.

And has been said -- there are only so many people (including children) allowed onto a ship.

Instead of calling Carnival daily -- you need to be hunting for a new baby sitter. Check and see if any of your relatives can help out.

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Did you buy cruise insurance? If so, you may be able to use it to cancel your vacation & get your money back.

If you didn't you may be able to sue your babysitter for the costs of the cruise you cannot take. I would talk to the baysitter about this. Perhaps the sitter can help you obtain an appropriate substitute.

What about a parent, an inlaw, a BFF? There's really nobody?

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Did you buy cruise insurance? If so, you may be able to use it to cancel your vacation & get your money back.

 

If you didn't you may be able to sue your babysitter for the costs of the cruise you cannot take. I would talk to the baysitter about this. Perhaps the sitter can help you obtain an appropriate substitute.

 

What about a parent, an inlaw, a BFF? There's really nobody?

 

Only if it includes the "cancel for any reason" clause. Otherwise, lack of a babysitter is not going to be a covered item. I hope for their sake that they do have insurance with the "any reason" clause.

 

Why would they be able to sue their babysitter for the cost of the cruise? If people could do that, the court system would be crowded with parents suing when a sitter had to cancel and the parents had to miss just about anything with a non-refundable cost. It's not that uncommon. If it's a relative or close friend babysitting, I can't imagine suing over this. We don't even know why the sitter had to cancel.

 

beachchick

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The ship sells by total of passengers relative to the number of lifevests and seats in life boats. Not by the number of cabins on the ship. There can still be unsold cabins but because other cabins my have 3,4 and may 5 people that changes things and the ships sells out faster.

 

So it's just not a matter of calling daily for cancelations it must be a cancelation for a 3 berth cabin and also needs to be a child's life vest still available.

 

You either have to cancel or find another sitter. Showing up to the pier is not going to resolve this matter.

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As the others have said if you bought travel insurance that covers "cancel for any reason" then you will be able to get your money back. You will not be allowed to board if you just show up with a third person in a two person cabin.

Have you talked to your travel agent about your options? Is it possible to transfer to a different ship that has room for a third person.

While it is true that you can check everyday hoping that someone cancels this would be my last resort as it is an unknown factor. Also on your sailing are there any other cabin catagories that you would be able to upgrade to that hold a third person?

 

Let us know what happens.

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You will not be able to bring her, as everyone below has said. If you can get wait listed on a cabin that can take three people, you will still have to pay for her (it used to be half but I am paying more like 75% for my third person this summer).

 

Your absolute best bet is to find another sitter. I completely empathize with you and I am praying you find someone. Please check back in and let us know what happened!

 

Fingers crossed...

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And to add what others said, if you show up with her, you WILL be refused boarding and you won't get one dime back from your cruise fare.

 

I hope you have cancel for any reason insurance.

 

Another thing you might try is to see if the cruise line will let you cancel this cruise and then put the money you spent on a future cruise. Sometimes, and thats rarely, they will take pity and they will let you do this.

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The ship sells by total of passengers relative to the number of lifevests and seats in life boats. Not by the number of cabins on the ship. There can still be unsold cabins but because other cabins my have 3,4 and may 5 people that changes things and the ships sells out faster.

 

So it's just not a matter of calling daily for cancelations it must be a cancelation for a 3 berth cabin and also needs to be a child's life vest still available.

 

You either have to cancel or find another sitter. Showing up to the pier is not going to resolve this matter.

I am curious as to why a ship does not have sufficient lifeboat (or raft) capacity to cover every berth on the ship?

And even if all 'more-than-two-berth' cabins are sold out, couldn't the line try to help the OP by doing a last minute switch with someone that has only two occupying one of those cabins? (I have often been in a cabin with an extra unsold berth.) I couldn't imagine they couldn't find at least one holder of one of those cabins on the big ship willing to voluntarily help the OP out....:confused:

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I would desperately seek a new sitter. If you cannot find one your options are limited...most of them are mentioned above. I can only think of one other (rather poor) option and one true long shot...

 

The bad option...Carnival might allow you to change the name of one passenger from the adult to the child, so one parent would take the kiddo and one would stay home...I am not sure that is better than everybody staying home, but it might be another choice if you lack cancel-for-any-reason insurance.

 

The long shot...you could go to your cruise roll call on this forum and plead for help. Maybe, just maybe, some solo traveler will kindly call and see if Carnival would allow them to add a second passenger to their room (on paper only, obviously the child would stay in your cabin, sharing your bed or sleeping on sofa with you giving the steward an extra tip for his trouble). a solo might have better luck, or as mentioned above, may be told no if the ship is really at total capacity. OR maybe, just maybe, somebody on the roll call will have a passenger who must cancel at this late date, possibly opening a slot (on paper only) for your third person in their cabin...Those are long shots, but going to the roll call and pleading for help costs nothing...if somebody does help, I trust you would compensate them generously.

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Some good suggestions have been offered, but this thread serves as a great heads-up to everyone who may ever need to make arrangements for leaving behind a child, or even a pet.

 

Many of us at one time or another have left children with grandparents, aunts, cousins, friends, or boarded a pet at a favorite kennel without giving a second thought to what we would do with the child or pet if our arrangements fell through at the last minute.

 

The lesson here is always to have backup plans, just in case.

 

This is much the same way that people are warned not to wait until the day of embarkation to try to fly to the cruise port, in case things do not work out as planned.

 

Best of luck to the OP in finding a solution.

Firsttimecruuzer, hope you will report back here and let us know how it works out. Lots of us on Cruise Critic will be keeping our fingers crossed for you.

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We just got off the Magic last Sunday and had a fabulous roll call. One family of 4 had a cabin for 3 because their 12 yr old had other plans. Those plans fell through and a couple in a cabin for 3 added her to their room. The 4 person family paid for their daughter and had her sleep with them in their 3 person room. It all worked out very well. I wish you the best of luck in your situation!

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They have more berths than lifeboat seats because folks like to choose different cabins...so they have a choice of accomodations for everyone. If there are many families aboard, every single 4 berth cabin may be full, which means that some of the 3 berth cabins can only be rented to couples.....

 

They do it to maximize their revenues.

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Many of us at one time or another have left children with grandparents, aunts, cousins, friends, or boarded a pet at a favorite kennel without giving a second thought to what we would do with the child or pet if our arrangements fell through at the last minute.

 

The lesson here is always to have backup plans, just in case.

 

You are so right! We once left our cat at a kennel that we thought was good. We got there, there was a dog scratching at the door to where the cats stayed. Plus the "kennel" where our cat stayed was very very very small (despite the false advertising of the website)!

 

My parents were with us and my mother was crying in the back seat of our vehicle while my father was telling her "don't you dare let your daughter see you cry over her cat." I was so sad. We had no other option. When we dropped our cat off, I simply said, "Let's go." I was crying on the way home to get our luggage for our flight.

 

Since then we learned to always check out where we plan to have our cats stay.

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And even if all 'more-than-two-berth' cabins are sold out, couldn't the line try to help the OP by doing a last minute switch with someone that has only two occupying one of those cabins? (I have often been in a cabin with an extra unsold berth.) I couldn't imagine they couldn't find at least one holder of one of those cabins on the big ship willing to voluntarily help the OP out....:confused:

 

You are kidding right? You really think the cruiseline - or any business - is going to spend hours upon hours calling all their customers to see if they want to switch cabins because someone needs a bigger cabin and didn't plan ahead and now they have a sob story. They would need an entire department to handle requests for everyone. This is why you book the max and cancel if you don't need the berth. It's also why you buy insurance or risk losing your money if something goes wrong.

 

OP, I don't mean you :D because your situation couldn't be helped.

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You are kidding right? You really think the cruiseline - or any business - is going to spend hours upon hours calling all their customers to see if they want to switch cabins because someone needs a bigger cabin and didn't plan ahead and now they have a sob story. They would need an entire department to handle requests for everyone. This is why you book the max and cancel if you don't need the berth. It's also why you buy insurance or risk losing your money if something goes wrong.

 

OP, I don't mean you :D because your situation couldn't be helped.

Perhaps you are right, but I don't think this type of situation would be that common...most of the time the last minute situation means deleting, not adding a passenger. And you wouldn't be looking for a larger cabin, just one with an extra berth. I don't think you would have to spend 'hours and hours' looking for a volunteer, especially if you look first for one with a poor location swapping for a better one.

I have been in a three berth cabin, and I would rather not have that extra berth encroaching in my 'air space' when I am sitting in bed....

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Perhaps you are right, but I don't think this type of situation would be that common...most of the time the last minute situation means deleting, not adding a passenger. And you wouldn't be looking for a larger cabin, just one with an extra berth. I don't think you would have to spend 'hours and hours' looking for a volunteer, especially if you look first for one with a poor location swapping for a better one.

I have been in a three berth cabin, and I would rather not have that extra berth encroaching in my 'air space' when I am sitting in bed....

 

How exactly would the cruise line do that considering that they've told the OP the ship is sold out? Plus, it's not the cruise line's job to handle something like this. They should not be expected to call anyone and ask them to switch cabins because another passenger has a last minute issue.

 

It's a tough situation, but it is not the cruise line's responsibility or the responsibility of other passengers to fix the problem.

 

beachchick

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Perhaps you are right, but I don't think this type of situation would be that common...most of the time the last minute situation means deleting, not adding a passenger. And you wouldn't be looking for a larger cabin, just one with an extra berth. I don't think you would have to spend 'hours and hours' looking for a volunteer, especially if you look first for one with a poor location swapping for a better one.

I have been in a three berth cabin, and I would rather not have that extra berth encroaching in my 'air space' when I am sitting in bed....

 

there is no easy way for the cruise line to find the "volunteer", so they'd have to make phone calls. they could theoretically move a guarantee booking, but even then there might be confusion and luggage tag issues at this late date. Many people would be reluctant to change cabins or would want compensation for their trouble. I hope the OP has found another sitter.

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The only thing I can think of adding is to check with original babysitter to see if it is the whole week she cannot babysit or just 2 or 3 days. If so, it would be easier to ask a friend or someone from your church to fill in. Make sure you offer nice compensation. I know the hard part is finding a friend who does not work.

 

Another thing I might try is if you have a teenage babysitter whose mother does not work, she might be willing to do the daytime babysitting if there is enough money to share.

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How exactly would the cruise line do that considering that they've told the OP the ship is sold out? Plus, it's not the cruise line's job to handle something like this. They should not be expected to call anyone and ask them to switch cabins because another passenger has a last minute issue.

 

It's a tough situation, but it is not the cruise line's responsibility or the responsibility of other passengers to fix the problem.

 

beachchick

 

there is no easy way for the cruise line to find the "volunteer", so they'd have to make phone calls. they could theoretically move a guarantee booking, but even then there might be confusion and luggage tag issues at this late date. Many people would be reluctant to change cabins or would want compensation for their trouble. I hope the OP has found another sitter.

 

I am not saying it is the cruiselines responsibility nor other passengers to do what they can to help out someone in this situation.

And if they cannot add another person regardless of extra berths available, so be it.

What I am saying is, if that is not the case, if the ship could accept another passenger, it would be a kind act if the ship could help someone out in this rare situation, and would be excellent public relations.

I know that as a passenger, if I could ever help someone out, I would be more than glad to, and would feel very good doing it. That would be a reward in itself, but if it got me a better location or something, that would be nice too.

 

Happy Holidays :)

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