Adventure of the seas cruise 2 person restriction per stateroom cabin

[chengkp75]

Hopefully the Chief can weigh in on this, but I believe that those inflatable rafts cannot be counted as lifeboat capacity for passengers.

 

You are correct on that one.. they don't count because you cannot get on them from the ship via slide or any other way. You get to swim up to them.

 

Actually, all of those rafts are "davit launched", meaning the canister is picked up by a davit crane, swung over the side, inflated and lowered to the embarkation deck. The crew then get into the raft, and it can then be lowered either by the crew working the davit, or for the last raft of the group, from inside the raft. If the ships were not equipped with davit launched rafts, which allow a "dry" entry, every crew member on the ship would be required to have an immersion suit.

 

The main reason these are not counted towards the total capacity for passengers is that the arrangement of the promenade deck requires that the lifeboats be deployed and gone before the rafts can be deployed. This follows the reasoning that when the passengers get into their boats and evacuate, the signal that they believe is "abandon ship" is actually "fire and general emergency", and if the passengers get into their boats and leave the ship, the crew will still be at their emergency stations dealing with the emergency. Only after the passengers are away, will the Captain decide whether to have the crew abandon ship or not, and then they will leave their emergency stations and head to their abandon ship stations, and take to the rafts. Launching these rafts is more time consuming than the boats, another reason they aren't used for passengers, as the statutory time constraints on evacuation are only for the passengers. These 3 foot diameter, 6 foot long cylinders hold a 35 man life raft.

 

Some ships have what is called an "MES" or Marine Evacuation System for some passengers, in addition to the lifeboats. These are large rectangular structures on the promenade deck that hold 4 100 person liferafts and a "chute" connecting the promenade deck to one of the rafts. The whole thing goes over the side, inflating the rafts, which are connected together, and the chute. Passengers slide down the chute, slowed by baffles, and land in one raft. Crew then direct these people to the other rafts until each is at capacity, and then it is untied. The difficult part is when the final raft is being filled, and people are coming down the chute, not to get anyone injured in the process. These MES systems are counted towards the passenger capacity, as they are designed to get 500+ passengers away within the SOLAS time of 30 minutes.

[chengkp75]

Right, Biker, but then they apparently must need more lifeboats, or, I suspect, more life rafts - In addition to the rigid boats alongside a deck full of staterooms, they have these big drums with inflatable life rafts, which probably hold even more people than the boats. I don't understand why they wouldn't just haul a couple more of those onboard in order to be able to fill all the berths. We have sailed 2 years in a row at Spring Break, on Carnival and RC, and I believe both were very, very close to all berth max.

 

Okay, you're still a bit confused with terminology. There is "nominal capacity", which is all cabins filled at double occupancy, this is considered 100% capacity. Then there is "maximum capacity", which is the maximum number of passengers allowed by the capacity of the lifesaving devices (lifeboats and MES noted above, that can get the required number of people off the ship in a given time). This maximum capacity is some percentage above 100%, that will vary from ship to ship based on its nominal capacity, and the available lifesaving devices. Finally, there is a theoretical "all berths full" number (this can be one to two hundred "berths" more than the maximum capacity). This will never be reached, even on Spring break, as the reason there are more berths than lifeboat capacity is to give those who wish to book over double occupancy a choice in cabin category (inside, OV, balcony, suite, etc). Installing more liferafts would not meet the SOLAS requirements, unless they were the expensive MES systems, and even then, the basic hotel infrastructure, from AC to water consumption, to seating in dining venues and theaters, to the crew's emergency station assignments is based on the "maximum" capacity, not the "all berths full" capacity.

[cruiseguy1016]

This is one reason why we tell people to book 3 in the stateroom if there is the slightest chance someone else will be coming. You can cancel the third person up until 2 weeks before the cruise with no penalty.

 

I can tell you how it works before final payment. I asked RC this question twice and got the same answer both times, so I know it is probably correct.

 

The question I asked is if I book a third or fourth person with a non-refundable deposit and then cancel that person, what happens to the deposit?

 

The answer is that they apply the deposit to the cruise balance due. They will not issue a refund, but 100% of the deposit will go toward payment for the cruise for the remaining passengers.

 

After final payment they will issue a refund for the third/fourth person cruise fare, but I don't know if the refund includes the amount of the deposit.

 

I am very curious how this whole situation will affect our cruise next March. We have booked a 3 berth cabin for myself, DW and DD. It's not just any cabin, it's a corner aft, a cabin we really don't want to lose. I know it's still a long way off but, because of a job change, it looks like DD will not be able to join us. I don't plan on taking her name off the reservation until final payment, just in case she is able to make it. We'll know for sure by then if she can or can't go. My question is, if we cancel her (thus reducing occupancy to 2 in the cabin) will RCI move us to a 2 berth cabin so they can try to find 3 people to put in the corner aft? Can they move us without our permission? If we pay for her in full and then cancel 2 weeks prior to departure, will we get her cruise fare back? I might be willing to forfeit the deposit in order to keep the corner aft.

[Biker19]

My question is, if we cancel her (thus reducing occupancy to 2 in the cabin) will RCI move us to a 2 berth cabin so they can try to find 3 people to put in the corner aft? Can they move us without our permission? If we pay for her in full and then cancel 2 weeks prior to departure, will we get her cruise fare back?

Unlikely, but maybe. Yes. Probably.

[Clarea]

I am very curious how this whole situation will affect our cruise next March. We have booked a 3 berth cabin for myself, DW and DD. It's not just any cabin, it's a corner aft, a cabin we really don't want to lose. I know it's still a long way off but, because of a job change, it looks like DD will not be able to join us. I don't plan on taking her name off the reservation until final payment, just in case she is able to make it. We'll know for sure by then if she can or can't go. My question is, if we cancel her (thus reducing occupancy to 2 in the cabin) will RCI move us to a 2 berth cabin so they can try to find 3 people to put in the corner aft? Can they move us without our permission? If we pay for her in full and then cancel 2 weeks prior to departure, will we get her cruise fare back? I might be willing to forfeit the deposit in order to keep the corner aft.

Yes, they can move you. It may not be that likely, but they can. I would wait until two weeks (actually a few days ahead of that) before departure to cancel.

[hapster85]

I am very curious how this whole situation will affect our cruise next March. We have booked a 3 berth cabin for myself, DW and DD. It's not just any cabin, it's a corner aft, a cabin we really don't want to lose. I know it's still a long way off but, because of a job change, it looks like DD will not be able to join us. I don't plan on taking her name off the reservation until final payment, just in case she is able to make it. We'll know for sure by then if she can or can't go. My question is, if we cancel her (thus reducing occupancy to 2 in the cabin) will RCI move us to a 2 berth cabin so they can try to find 3 people to put in the corner aft? Can they move us without our permission? If we pay for her in full and then cancel 2 weeks prior to departure, will we get her cruise fare back? I might be willing to forfeit the deposit in order to keep the corner aft.

The way their doing things right now, I would definitely wait until closer to your sail date to cancel her. We just went through a similar situation. Daughter couldn't make it because of school/internship. When we asked about cancelling her, they wanted to move us. So we waited. Paid her fare in full. Around 60 days out, our sailing was nearly sold out, so we called again. Asked for a supervisor to contact Revenue, which she happily did. Approved to cancel 3rd person. Fare fully refunded.

[KmomChicago]

Okay, you're still a bit confused with terminology. There is "nominal capacity", which is all cabins filled at double occupancy, this is considered 100% capacity. Then there is "maximum capacity", which is the maximum number of passengers allowed by the capacity of the lifesaving devices (lifeboats and MES noted above, that can get the required number of people off the ship in a given time). This maximum capacity is some percentage above 100%, that will vary from ship to ship based on its nominal capacity, and the available lifesaving devices. Finally, there is a theoretical "all berths full" number (this can be one to two hundred "berths" more than the maximum capacity). This will never be reached, even on Spring break, as the reason there are more berths than lifeboat capacity is to give those who wish to book over double occupancy a choice in cabin category (inside, OV, balcony, suite, etc). Installing more liferafts would not meet the SOLAS requirements, unless they were the expensive MES systems, and even then, the basic hotel infrastructure, from AC to water consumption, to seating in dining venues and theaters, to the crew's emergency station assignments is based on the "maximum" capacity, not the "all berths full" capacity.

 

Thanks for the clarification. You're absolutely right about my confusion; this whole situation was not making a lot of sense to me. I had assumed that when they say the ship capacity is 2700 double, 3400 max, this meant there were precisely 700 extra sofabeds, trundle beds, or pullmans, no more and no less. Interesting to get the full picture.

[rootytootie]

I still check to see if it would change, just wishful thinking because I would like for my girlfriend to come with us.

[Desert Cruizers]

Another way to explain this, say X # cabins are assigned Lifeboat # 1 it holds #300 people. Once 300 is reached within those cabins, and some are holding 3 or 4 passengers, then no more people may be added to one of those cabins. For this reason if your thinking of adding a family member who is undecided, add them at the time of booking then if they can't go, cancel that passenger. As long as one of the passengers is the main person in that cabin.

[rootytootie]

I guess it was meant to be this way. I booked a separate room for my girlfriend to come with us. With great surprise she got a huge free upgrade. Booked the lowest fair which was an inside stateroom and now she has a panoramic view on the 12th floor!!! I did not tell her the good news and plan to surprise her when we board the ship, I cant wait to see her expression.