Switching Passengers Between Staterooms After Boarding: Possible?

Hi all,

My DH and I both received 'comped' cruises on MSC through the Mohegan Sun casino. He received an inside and I got an ocean view. We want to invite his sister and another friend of hers to go with us but MSC is saying that we can't put us in one cabin and the other two people in the other cabin. To make it more complicated, DH and I plan to upgrade my OV to a suite with the Aurea package to most fully enjoy the cruise. If we have to book me and his sister in the suite with the package then at the very least DH loses all the benefits of the package. His sister is fine staying in the inside cabin so that is not an issue.

Any thoughts or experience with trying to get the names and keys switched after boarding? Our comp certificates only say that the people who were using the certificates must be on board, not that they have to remain in their originally booked stateroom.

Thanks everyone! :)

Keys aren't a problem. The issue will be onboard accounts.

Keys aren't a problem. The issue will be onboard accounts.

Thank you Kamloops50. That absolutely makes sense but I was hoping to actually change the names on the rooms after boarding so my husband would have a key to our suite with his name on it ( in order to be identified as an Aurea 'receiver' etc.). Do you think that is possible? As far as billing, he's fine with keeping his credit card attached to the inside room and he and his sister can work it out after all is said and done from the cruise.

I guess I just don't DH to lose out on the Aurea perks etc.

Thanks again!

I would hazard a guess that MSC will not do it but you can try and ask if it is possible, where the issue causes a problem is if there was to be any kind of emergency and the names do not match the cabins of a roll call.

Technically, what you want to do is give one of your free cabins to someone else! MSC is not going to allow that.

Perhaps in appreciation of the free cruise, your sister and friend could pay to upgrade the 2nd cabin to Aurea also? Would solve the problem.

Perhaps in appreciation of the free cruise, your sister and friend could pay to upgrade the 2nd cabin to Aurea also? Would solve the problem.

That wouldn't solve the problem, as the second cabin cannot be allocated to the sister and friend.

That wouldn't solve the problem, as the second cabin cannot be allocated to the sister and friend.

I think it would. Wife & sister booked in one cabin - husband & friend booked in second cabin. There is nothing to prevent them switching cabin arrangements once on board - there are no "bed checks" on cruise ships. Families can book multiple cabins and switch and swap among cabins as suits them. The problem here is having only one cabin on the Aurea package.

The inside cabin and the Aurea suite might have different assigned muster stations.

Passengers are guided to the muster station according to the cabin but with "switched"

passengers the passenger count doesn't match up.

I think it would. Wife & sister booked in one cabin - husband & friend booked in second cabin. There is nothing to prevent them switching cabin arrangements once on board - there are no "bed checks" on cruise ships. Families can book multiple cabins and switch and swap among cabins as suits them. The problem here is having only one cabin on the Aurea package.

No, it's not! It doesn't matter what 2 cabins they have. They can switch cabins ... but they wouldn't have the correct cruisecards to access their respective cabins! :rolleyes:

Just pay the $5 for the wristbands and swap them to match the desired room. Just remember not to pay for anything with them.

I think it would. Wife & sister booked in one cabin - husband & friend booked in second cabin. There is nothing to prevent them switching cabin arrangements once on board - there are no "bed checks" on cruise ships. Families can book multiple cabins and switch and swap among cabins as suits them. The problem here is having only one cabin on the Aurea package.

Cabin stewards have a record of who is in which cabin!

I’m not sure about msc but i was able to switch cabins on a previous holland America cruise. It made things much simpler as we were planning on doing a key swap (I had booked a room for my two sons and one for my husband and I we had to put an adult in each room at booking and onboard they allowed us to switch granted we had adjoining cabins)

In the even msc doesn’t allow it I’d consider the following. Book whoever drinks the most into the aurea room (or purchase drink packages for the other room). Switching room keys will be a little annoying because it is your pass to get on and off the ship so you can’t just switch keys for the cruise. With that being said you guys can switch as needed when onboard as long as you switch back. Just make sure your purchases are made with the correct card.

The other aurea benefits:

Priority boarding- most likely you won’t be using it since you’re travelling with 2 people who don’t have it

Anytime dining- assuming you all want to eat together you will have a fixed dining time so you can all eat together

2 massages- they are for the cabin so book both to your cabin on your card

Access to the thermal area- is this something you want to do together or would you and your sister enjoy it more since it’s gender specific so most of it you and your husband couldn’t do together

Access to sun deck- are you planning on hanging out with the other 2 in which case you probably won’t use it much

I may have missed some but look through the benefits and decided if it’s still worth it if you and your husband can’t switch cabins (since I have a feeling that even if they move you cabins they won’t move the experience so aurea will stay with the people originally booked into the cabin)

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Thanks to all who have replied! I'm currently thinking to upgrade both rooms to balcony with Aurea perks. That way, no issue with accessing perks etc. and we can probably at least get duplicate keys for each rooms so everyone has the keys they need. I think that will work....

Any other thoughts?

Thanks again!:)

Thanks to all who have replied! I'm currently thinking to upgrade both rooms to balcony with Aurea perks. That way, no issue with accessing perks etc. and we can probably at least get duplicate keys for each rooms so everyone has the keys they need. I think that will work....

Any other thoughts?

 

Thanks again!:)

Sounds like a plan. Enjoy your cruise!

MSC don't issue duplicate keys. Each time a cruisecard is issued, the previous one gets cancelled.

Joey ... Hit the nail on the head, the main issue is leaving the ship which means you would have to switch cards due to your photo being attached to the card for the cabin you are booked in.

Hi again everyone. Thanks so much for all your replies and I wanted to share the final decision.

After speaking with MSC for the fourth time I was made aware that the Aurea package wasn't available to balconies on a casino comped cruise so a suite was the only eligible Aurea stateroom. I priced the balcony upgrades for each room and added drink packages compared to the suite (with Aurea) and the suite was literally only a few hundred dollars more.

So....yes....I upgraded both rooms to suites with Aurea and I'm so happy! No differences for boarding, dining, sundeck, drinks...everything! Everyone's key will be equal and our cabins are steps away from each other so we should all have the same muster station.

And we are going to surprise his sister and her guest. Should be great fun!

Thanks again all. :):):)

Glad to hear you've found a satisfactory solution to the problem. No doubt that's going to be a wonderful surprise. Hope you all have a wonderful cruise! :)

Sounds like a good resolution ... :D

Sounds great. Enjoy your cruise.

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@tymike I found this old thread and was wondering how the onboard plan of swapped keys worked out for your cruise?  Did you just trade keys back-and-forth with each other or did Guest Services actually change who was in each room to make it easier?

Thanks!

Hi AngryBirdah,

It worked out no problem.  I went to guest services and asked to swap rooms/keys etc.   If I remember right they did switch the names on the rooms and the billing as well.  Hope this helps!  Of course that seems like it was in another lifetime pre-covid!  

On 9/26/2018 at 7:52 PM, Beamafar said:

 

No, it's not! It doesn't matter what 2 cabins they have. They can switch cabins ... but they wouldn't have the correct cruisecards to access their respective cabins! :rolleyes:

MSC have (personal experience) given other group members access to group cabins after a visit to guest services so key card would work. The issue here receiving the perks associated with Aurea. That would only be given to the person allocated to that cabin.

Whilst unlikely, OP is going to have to go to guest services to get access put on their DH's cruise card. They may as well also ask about swapping out the names. They can only say no. 

On the muster point someone raised. On the assumption that names aren't changed, all parties must ensure they go to their originally assigned muster points.