Adding Guest to Exsiting Reservation

[stewarttm]

I am so upset with Royal Caribbean. About 6 months ago I booked two rooms for the November 27th sailing on Independence of the Seas. I booked an interior stateroom (category K) for my sister and I and booked a balcony stateroom (category D1) for my mom as a single travel. At the time of booking I did not know who she would be traveling with, my dad or my aunt. Today, I went to add my aunt to my mom's room and I was told I was not allowed. :mad: The reason they are not currently taking reservations for a double occupancy in that room category, so I was not allowed to added her. They could put them in another category balcony room but I would have to do so at today's prices. :loudcry: I could add my aunt to the interior stateroom at the additional cost of $350 plus gratuities. Does anyone know if I transferred these reservations to travel agent would they be able to add my additional guest?

[Clarea]

Since you booked 6 months ago, you are beyond the 60 day limit to transfer the booking to a travel agent.

[cruisinfanatic]

I am so upset with Royal Caribbean. About 6 months ago I booked two rooms for the November 27th sailing on Independence of the Seas. I booked an interior stateroom (category K) for my sister and I and booked a balcony stateroom (category D1) for my mom as a single travel. At the time of booking I did not know who she would be traveling with, my dad or my aunt. Today, I went to add my aunt to my mom's room and I was told I was not allowed. :mad: The reason they are not currently taking reservations for a double occupancy in that room category, so I was not allowed to added her. They could put them in another category balcony room but I would have to do so at today's prices. :loudcry: I could add my aunt to the interior stateroom at the additional cost of $350 plus gratuities. Does anyone know if I transferred these reservations to travel agent would they be able to add my additional guest?

I would call back and try again. Ask agent there to go to resolutions if you don't get the answer you want to hear.

There are no D1's available as of now. When one is available, it will probably be no problem to add the extra person

[LeeW]

You could easily be in a situation where lifeboat limits have been reached for that cabin. Your mom might have to move to a different area of the ship to be allowed to have another person.

[torpeedo]

Can you book her into the interior and then she can just stay in the balcony cabin with your mother??

[bouhunter]

Couldn't you just add your aunt to the inside and have her live in that balcony room after you board? Hard to imagine the room steward would care or "report" it.

[stewarttm]

I can do that but it is the principle of the whole matter. By paying for a single I have already paid for 2 people (minus the port taxes and gratuities). I should be able to add her to the balcony room without any additional costs (except the port taxes and gratuities).

 

At this point I would be happy to paid to add her to the interior room if they would give me a ship board credit to offset it.

[Kamloops50]

As long as the lifeboat number for your cabins is at capacity . they legally can't add more people.

[datolim]

I can do that but it is the principle of the whole matter. By paying for a single I have already paid for 2 people (minus the port taxes and gratuities). I should be able to add her to the balcony room without any additional costs (except the port taxes and gratuities).

 

At this point I would be happy to paid to add her to the interior room if they would give me a ship board credit to offset it.

 

Ah! you just want to pay taxes and gratuities. RCL sees any changes as opportunity to make you cough up more money. $350 is fair amount to pay.

[gerif]

I can do that but it is the principle of the whole matter. By paying for a single I have already paid for 2 people (minus the port taxes and gratuities). I should be able to add her to the balcony room without any additional costs (except the port taxes and gratuities).

 

At this point I would be happy to paid to add her to the interior room if they would give me a ship board credit to offset it.

Common mistake. Once lifeboat capacity has been reached, there's nothing you can do. I know it doesn't help now but you should have booked someone with your mom at the time you booked her. Easy to cancel later or to change names but sometimes impossible to add. I think your only way of getting your aunt onboard is to add her to the interior. And, no, you are not owed anything for your lack of planning.

[What is in a name]

I called RCL when I booked directly and have a similar situation. (3 rooms with 5 people total). The RCL employee clearly stated that if my single occupancy room ever decides to add a 2nd occupant, they would only have to pay taxes and port fees.

So it should totally be doable, but it sounds like there is some external factor at play (lifeboat occupancy, etc).

 

Keep calling and checking back, you never know when something opens up or if the limitation gets cleared. Good luck!

[MikeBTN]

Even if you could transfer to a travel agent, they likely would not be able to help. More than likely lifeboat capacity has been reached for that life boat zone. I can't think of a single other reason why they would not allow double occupancy in a double-occupancy stateroom.

 

Sounds like you have your options - pay $350 or they don't get to go. As others have said, just because she is booked in the interior does not mean she is required to sleep there. Guest Services will likely even make her a room key if your mother goes with her and authorizes it.

 

In the future, book an additional guest in the stateroom with your mother. Changing the passenger is easy, ADDING one can cause some complications.

[Ashland]

I am so upset with Royal Caribbean. About 6 months ago I booked two rooms for the November 27th sailing on Independence of the Seas. I booked an interior stateroom (category K) for my sister and I and booked a balcony stateroom (category D1) for my mom as a single travel. At the time of booking I did not know who she would be traveling with, my dad or my aunt. Today, I went to add my aunt to my mom's room and I was told I was not allowed. :mad: The reason they are not currently taking reservations for a double occupancy in that room category, so I was not allowed to added her. They could put them in another category balcony room but I would have to do so at today's prices. :loudcry: I could add my aunt to the interior stateroom at the additional cost of $350 plus gratuities. Does anyone know if I transferred these reservations to travel agent would they be able to add my additional guest?

I think the mistake was to book your Mom as a single traveler (knowing/assuming) someone was going to decide to travel with her.....Would have been best to book your Mom's cabin as double occupancy, her and guest with name booked as TBD (to be determined).

 

We used to do this all the time with our adult son who wasn't sure who would be traveling with him...the cabin occupancy, life boat capacity and price then locked in. No problem calling RCI and giving them the TBD guests name at some point in time.

 

As stated above, too late for a TA to do anything.

[stewarttm]

Not a lifeboat capacity issue. If I needed to add 2 more people to the room (for a total of 3) I could do that. This is such a pain.

[Clarea]

Not a lifeboat capacity issue. If I needed to add 2 more people to the room (for a total of 3) I could do that. This is such a pain.

Have you checked the cost of adding your aunt and some other random 3rd person to the balcony and just have the 3rd person be a no show?

[stewarttm]

I wonder if I could add 2 then cancel one. I have until 29th of August for a 100% back cancellation policy. Thoughts?

Edited August 24, 2017 by stewarttm

[Clarea]

I wonder if I could add 2 then cancel one. I have until 29th of August for a 100% back cancellation policy. Thoughts!

I believe you can cancel the 3rd person up to 14 days before the cruise for a full refund.

[MikeBTN]

OK, that makes sense. D1s are generally held for 3+ passengers so that families can book them, so that could be what's going on. Honestly I'm a little surprised you were able to book a D1 with one passenger. D2s are exactly the same as D1s except that they have a maximum capacity of 2. Maybe look to move your mother & aunt into a D2? IMO the D2s often have better locations than D1, which, except for a few mid-ship options, are mostly far forward & aft. 9392 is directly mid-ship, but far from elevators. 9304 & 9312 are midship and close to the aft elevators. 9366 and 9368 slightly aft but close to the aft elevators. Those are all good options.

 

You'll find the price on 2 in a D2 is much more affordable than 3 in a D1.

 

There are 5 D1s available but you must have 3+ passengers. 10 D2s available for 2 passengers.

[katiel53]

The same thing happened to my father a few years ago. He booked as a single in a balcony cabin and paid double for his cabin. A few months later, he decided to have a friend go as he had to pay for 2 anyway. He called Royal Caribbean and was told no.

 

It turned out that several of the cabins had 3 or 4 people booked in them (whatever the capacity of the cabin is) and that he would not be able to add the friend. I felt that was unfair, but nothing could be done because the life boat capacity had been met.

 

After that, whenever he booked a cruise he did a TBA for the second passenger, so at least the space was reserved. He has since passed, so this is no longer something we are concerned about.

[Ourusualbeach]

I believe you can cancel the 3rd person up to 14 days before the cruise for a full refund.

^^^This.

 

Book an extra 2 people now and then prior to 14 days before your cruise cancel the third person.