Sea Pass Chinese Fire Drill

[pgaedke]

We have booked two rooms an the Mariner New Years Eve cruise. One of our favorite trips. It will be myself, my wife, my son, and daughter. We've cruised quite a bit but as the years have gone by, my kids have grown larger and larger. My son is now my size 6'4" at 15, and my daughter is as tall as my wife, 5'8" at 13! Because my kids are now full sized adults, we have booked two rooms for the 1st time. It was actually cheaper to get a balcony and an inside room than to have us all is one room. To make a long story longer, we booked through a travel agent, one of the big box stores, for the generous on board credit they offer, we have two reservations, my wife and daughter in one room, my son and myself in the other. I figure we can just sleep where we want but my wife brought up the fact that her key won't open the balcony room and if she switches keys with the boy, she won't be able to get a drink, and he will. How hard will it be to get the names changed or the cards changed? Should we do it now, or wait until we get on board?

signed,

Long Winded in Texas

[cb at sea]

It's not a problem to change once you board....go to the customer service desk and get the correct keys to each cabin for everyone. They do NOT care who sleeps where. The "adult in each room" thing is for booking purposes only! You can't just "switch keys", especially for getting on and off the ship...your photo is linked, so just tell them who will be in which cabin. You can get extra keys, if you want the kids to have access to your cabin, or you to theirs...those keys will not be able to be used as a "charge card" onboard...they will simply open the doors!

[casinocompman]

We often have similar problems...

 

We simply get duplicate keys made ("I lost mine") soon after we get on board. Then you can charge to the other room, or get in to any room as well.

 

Its very easy to do at the guest relations desk.

[casinocompman]

And to add to that - if you want to have people in rooms changed - it is extremely easy to do that too.

[pgaedke]

It's not a problem to change once you board....go to the customer service desk and get the correct keys to each cabin for everyone. They do NOT care who sleeps where. The "adult in each room" thing is for booking purposes only! You can't just "switch keys", especially for getting on and off the ship...your photo is linked, so just tell them who will be in which cabin. You can get extra keys, if you want the kids to have access to your cabin, or you to theirs...those keys will not be able to be used as a "charge card" onboard...they will simply open the doors!

Thanks

[matj2000]

I do that with my kids every trip and they are 6 & 10

[Bluegirl]

We have sailed in connecting cabins a couple of times with our two sons and have been told by multiple RCCL agents that booking an adult in each room is not necessary. As long as the cabin is connecting or adjacent or even *nearby*, they said, you can book the kids in their own separate room.

 

While that's handy, I don't mind having my own key to the kids' room. I don't trust them not to lose things as much as I trust myself (and believe me, I've lost plenty of keycards at sea).

[Ocean Boy]

You can get a spare key card for each others rooms. All your wife has to do is get a spare key to get in and out of the balcony room. She can use the other key card for everything else like purchases and getting on and off of the ship. And you don't have to pretend that you lost a card in order to get a spare.

[Merion_Mom]

Do NOT "pretend" that you lost a key.

 

They will cancel/deactivate the original card.

[reeran]

You can get a spare key to all of the rooms you paid for!

[newbiecruiser09]

Unless your TA won't allow you to, why don't you just switch your wife and your son now? (unless you need your wife and you booked in separate rooms for C&A benefits or something). RCI will allow you to book your kids in adjoining rooms or rooms directly across the hall from your room. Whoever told you you need to have an adult in each room was wrong (unless the rooms are not next to or across from each other)

[casinocompman]

Do NOT "pretend" that you lost a key.

 

They will cancel/deactivate the original card.

 

Not true. I do it all the time. I did it last week.

[Happy ks]

Just go to the customer service desk and have the keys changed, we did this every time we cruised with the kids.

 

The only thing I will add is that we had to wait until the ship sailed away to get it done. I waited in line for about 30 minutes to find this out the first time, subsequent cruises I just waited until evening...no lines at all.

[Fawkes_2426]

We'll be facing this for the first time next cruise. Do you have to wait until you're on board or can you do the key switch at check in?

 

Thanks

[Tucker in Texas]

Do NOT "pretend" that you lost a key.

 

They will cancel/deactivate the original card.

 

Not true. I do it all the time. I did it last week.

 

It is true. We thought we lost our key card and got a duplicate. Apparently, we hadn't lost it and I picked up the old key card which had surfaced thinking it was the current one. When leaving the ship for port, bells and whistles went off.

 

They let me disembark but when I came back to get on, more bells and whistles, a discussion with the "checker," and an escort and lengthy wait at the front desk to get it straightened out.

 

The front desk is well aware of reasons to request a duplicate key because of booking requirements of an adult in every cabin. No parent would want to have their children in a situation where they couldn't check on them randomly or have access to their cabin for various reasons.

 

Tucker in Texas