2 Person vs 4 Person Balcony Rooms

[bmatrose]

I'm in the process of trying to book a Balcony room and a Inside room on the August 23rd Enchantment of the Seas.  The Balcony would be for my wife and I and the Inside room would be for my kids ages 14 and 12.  Since they are kids I need to make sure the rooms are across or next to each other.  When I go to book the Balcony with 2 Adults, all that is left is Balcony Guarantee and no option to book specific rooms.  If I try Booking a Balcony with 3 or 4 Adults I get the choice of about 20 different balconies, a few of them with an empty inside room across from it.   Has any one had luck getting RCCL to overide the system to allow my wife and I to book one of the four person rooms with only 2 people?  I tried calling but the insist I cant do it.  I know if I booked one of the Guarantees I'm sure I will end up in one of the four person rooms but it will be too late to insure the kids are close by.  Any suggestions would be great.

[Clarea]

How about booking 3 of you in one balcony and one in the inside.  You can switch once you get onboard.   This would be more expensive as you would pay for 3 people in the balcony and 2 people in the inside (200% single supplement) but perhaps the 3rd person's fare would be less and could justify paying for 5.   At least look at the numbers.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, bmatrose said:

  I tried calling but the insist I cant do it.  

Try calling a couple of more times - you might get lucky.

 

You might take a chance and book the  X GTY and some inside, then hope to get an assignment fairly soon and move one or both cabins so they are across from each other.

[bmatrose]

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

How about booking 3 of you in one balcony and one in the inside.  You can switch once you get onboard.   This would be more expensive as you would pay for 3 people in the balcony and 2 people in the inside (200% single supplement) but perhaps the 3rd person's fare would be less and could justify paying for 5.   At least look at the numbers.

Its about $450 extra to do that.  I did consider it.

[bmatrose]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Try calling a couple of more times - you might get lucky.

 

You might take a chance and book the  X GTY and some inside, then hope to get an assignment fairly soon and move one or both cabins so they are across from each other.

I tried a 2nd time through Facebook and got the same answer.  I thought about that.  I was going to book the interior Room on deck 7 that had open balconies across from it and hope for the best.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, bmatrose said:

Its about $450 extra to do that.  I did consider it.

 

Another technique that is less expensive, but not 100% reliable is to book 3 in the balcony, the 3rd being a dummy name that won't be coming.  Then cancel that person just prior to 2 weeks before the cruise.  If you have refundable deposits, then you should get a full refund for that 3rd person cancellation.

 

They could still move you when you downgrade to 2 people, but it's very unlikely at the 2 week mark.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, bmatrose said:

I tried a 2nd time through Facebook and got the same answer.  I thought about that.  I was going to book the interior Room on deck 7 that had open balconies across from it and hope for the best.

The other option is to wait till inside final payment when they'll probably lift the number of occupant restriction.

[Ourusualbeach]

How does the price for 4 in a JS  compare.

[bmatrose]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

The other option is to wait till inside final payment when they'll probably lift the number of occupant restriction.

I think that's what I'm going to do....Keep checking the site until it opens up.  It seems like they only have a handful of 2 person balconies on enchantment and the great majority of them are 4 person.  I was just hoping they could overide so families can plan on being near each other.  My other options is to get two inside next to each other and save the money from the balcony.

[bmatrose]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

How does the price for 4 in a JS  compare.

Its about $500 more and we really like having the 2 rooms so we get the 2 bathrooms.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, bmatrose said:

I think that's what I'm going to do....Keep checking the site until it opens up.

The gamble there is that prices may rise - typical for an Aug cruise. One other option is to book all of you in that  GTY X cabin and then book an inside across from it after assignment and move the kids there (and assume they don't move you).

[bmatrose]

Is there a possibility that a travel agent may have rooms allocated but not booked yet?  Is there somewhere I can look for that?

[bmatrose]

If I was a higher tier do you think they would make the exception.  I'm only at Emerald, a few nights away from Diamond.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, bmatrose said:

If I was a higher tier do you think they would make the exception.  

Very doubtful C&A level has any affect on this issue.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Biker19

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, bmatrose said:

Is there a possibility that a travel agent may have rooms allocated but not booked yet?  Is there somewhere I can look for that?

The vast majority of travel agents do not hold specific cabins in group space.  They hold space in a category and face the same dilemma that you are in.  They still have group space yet it is only a guarantee.

[HOSKI]

The issue with a gty is that you must be next to or across from the kids.  I would book the dog in with you and your wife to get the room you want then cancel the dog a week before sailing.  You would get their portion refunded and get the rooms you wanted. 

[Krazyfuntimes]

You could always book you and one kid in one room and your wife with another kid in the other room. We do this and then put all the kids together. Only need to get a new key card. 

 

This way the room does not have to be right across or next to exactly.

 

Good luck!

[HOSKI]

11 minutes ago, Krazyfuntimes said:

You could always book you and one kid in one room and your wife with another kid in the other room. We do this and then put all the kids together. Only need to get a new key card. 

 

This way the room does not have to be right across or next to exactly.

 

Good luck!

Great idea I forgot we did this in December. 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Krazyfuntimes said:

You could always book you and one kid in one room and your wife with another kid in the other room. We do this and then put all the kids together. Only need to get a new key card. 

 

This way the room does not have to be right across or next to exactly.

 

Good luck!

Yes you could do that but are you prepared to keep those cabin arrangements if yo7 get assigned cabins that aren’t close by.

[Krazyfuntimes]

33 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes you could do that but are you prepared to keep those cabin arrangements if yo7 get assigned cabins that aren’t close by.

 

This would not apply to a guarantee room but 2 rooms you pick in advance.

[Ourusualbeach]

6 hours ago, Krazyfuntimes said:

 

This would not apply to a guarantee room but 2 rooms you pick in advance.

 

Im not sure what you mean that it wouldn’t apply.

 

You wouldn’t be allowed to book the guarantee rooms with 2 kids listed in one room.

 

Also  and more importantly my point was that if you did book either 2 guarantees or 1 guarantee and one cabin that you selected and your 2 cabins ended up being far apart are you prepared to keep one adult and one child sleeping together in the cabin.  

 

While I know you can change sleeping arrangements on board (and I have done this many times with our kids) depending on the age of the kids I would certainly not be comfortable with the kids being in a cabin by themselves unless it was close by.

 

By taking even one cabin as a guarantee you run the risk of cabins being on opposite ends/ sides of the ship or different decks.

[Krazyfuntimes]

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

Im not sure what you mean that it wouldn’t apply.

 

You wouldn’t be allowed to book the guarantee rooms with 2 kids listed in one room.

 

Also  and more importantly my point was that if you did book either 2 guarantees or 1 guarantee and one cabin that you selected and your 2 cabins ended up being far apart are you prepared to keep one adult and one child sleeping together in the cabin.  

 

While I know you can change sleeping arrangements on board (and I have done this many times with our kids) depending on the age of the kids I would certainly not be comfortable with the kids being in a cabin by themselves unless it was close by.

 

By taking even one cabin as a guarantee you run the risk of cabins being on opposite ends/ sides of the ship or different decks.

 

I was saying that it would not apply if you booked any guarantee cabin, only if you picked your own cabin. Otherwise like you say there is no way to guarantee they will be nearby. You can't book two minors in a cabin alone as a guarantee as well.

[whitshel]

I'm with Bob, book 1 balcony with you and your wife and a dummy kid (the fare is $310) then book the kids in a room across from you.  (there are quite a few available).  Then right before final payment see if you can cancel the 3rd person  off your room and keep the room.  If they wont let you, you end up paying about $380 extra for the cruise.  My guess is you will be able to keep the room because I count only 6 balcony cabins total on that ship that only sleep 2, all of the rest sleep 3 or more.

 

BTW, I just did this (kinda) on our Liberty cruise, I booked during the kids sail free event, my wife and I plus a dummy kid (only paid $80 in taxes) to get one of the large corner balconies which you have have 3 people in.  Worked like a charm for an extra $80 to get this balcony