aaronthegiant

Great news: We called back and this time around Royal Caribbean was able to switch the room to the bed configuration we originally thought we were getting! Either something opened up, or this 2nd representative was more in tune with the scenario. She definitely was more concerned with making our first cruise a successful one, and was very welcoming.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice and suggestions. We hope this post will help other 1st time cruisers as well. Special thanks to Royal Caribbean for coming through in the end!

Great news: We called back and this time around Royal Caribbean was able to switch the room to the bed configuration we originally thought we were getting! Either something opened up, or this 2nd representative was more in tune with the scenario. She definitely was more concerned with making our first cruise a successful one, and was very welcoming.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice and suggestions. We hope this post will help other 1st time cruisers as well. Special thanks to Royal Caribbean for coming through in the end!

They are not like the pull out kind at home. They slide out flat kind of like a futon does.

 

I found this video of a balcony on Enchantment that will give you an idea of the size of the cabin. Really no room for a rollaway or an air mattress on the floor if the sofabed is open.

 

Nope, you're right...no room for an air mattress even with the slide flat sofa bed. But that air mattress will fit on the balcony! Ha!

The cruise line will not put a rollaway in a balcony cabin, there is no room. An airbed will also be very tight, if not impossible, if the sofabed is opened.

Does the sofa bed pull out like a traditional home sofa bed, or do you lay with your feet at one arm of the couch, and head at the other arm/end?

Not sure I understand your comment about talking with a travel agent you would have priced yourselves out of booking. A travel agent would IMO have been your best decision as a first time cruiser and likely none of what you reference would have happened. IMO on line is not the way for inexperienced cruisers to book as there is no human involved to guide you.

 

Also not sure why RCI would have assigned the room. Unless you purchased a GTY rate, you - not the cruise line - pick the stateroom when you book on line. On line will suggest rooms in a category but the ultimate choice is yours. The websites describe in a key how each room is configured - Pullmans, sofa bed, etc.- and those that are available in each configuration. If available, you would then select the one you want.

 

Unfortunately different representatives levels of expertise vary and perhaps you have dealt with one less knowledgeable than another. Again, a good reason for a travel agent. But, as you mention, that is hindsight.

 

The likely reason they are not able to accommodate your preference is that there may not be the specific Pullman / sofa bed combination available in your selected category on your sailing any longer, hence the suggestion to need to upgrade to a different category to do so. (They may not have been when you booked as well).

 

My advice would be to call back and talk with another representative to see exactly what staterooms are available and in what category that would provide the bed configuration, and if within affordability, pay the higher rate to get it. The two adults on a sofa bed - which is not very comfortable to begin with - and the kids in the twins IMO will not work. Change it while you can.

We were trying to keep the cost down, and the price had already jumped up a couple hundred dollars. If an agent had suggested our only option was a higher priced room category, we likely would not have booked. So, like I said, at least we’re destined to cruise now!

We let them choose the room, again for the lower price. It was also about $200 cheaper that route. Obviously we realize the implications of that now.

Thank you for the input! We’ve had some great suggestions within minutes of posting this article.

You should post this over on the Royal board, you will get better help there.

Thank you. I did, and there are quite a few suggestions already. Thanks for the help! Those interested can follow here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2653269

And they would, gladly, if there was one available. You even said in your post that there are no rooms with the pull down bed available in your category.

 

Personally, my attitude would be to tell the teens they have to share the sofa bed because that's what's available, but that's just the attitude my family grew up with. You make do with what you have. It's just four nights; suck it up buttercup :cool::cool:

 

For future reference, however, it definitely seems like you would be well served with a good travel agent, or at least paying very very close attention to the deck plans. This isn't unique to Royal Caribbean, all the cruise lines will have the same issue. There are several categories of rooms, and only a set number with a specific bed configuration. Some will have two pullmans, some one pullman and a couch, some just a couch.

That’s right, suck it up buttercup!

We didn’t realize it’s considered an upgrade or different category regarding the bed configuration. Thought it was more of a “request” for a Pullman (if you didn’t get one), like asking for a rollaway at a hotel. Lesson learned.

I agree with champagne, what do you think would be a fair solution/what do you think Royal should have done? There are no rooms in your cabin category that have the bed layout you want; so there's not really anything Royal can do unless somebody else cancels and you are able to transfer cabins that way. A free upgrade also doesn't seem like it would be fair.

 

You booked a cabin that sleeps 4 and are in a cabin that sleeps 4, there's no guarantee that the cabin would have three beds, just that it has a bedding configuration that can fit 4 people.

 

When you booked the cabin, did you check the deck plans? The deck plans should show the bedding situation (sofa bed, pullman, etc) for the cabin so you could see what you were getting before you put down a deposit. If you booked a guarantee room, then you're definitely out of luck because that basically says "I don't care what room I get, as long as it's in our category (a balcony that can sleep 4)"

 

As I see it, there are only a few options:

 

 

Give the kids the twin beds and take the sofa

Upgrade rooms to get the layout you want

Split into a two room booking

Cancel and book on a different ship - eating any loss of deposit if it's after final payment or you booked a non-refundable.

 

Unfortunately I don't see anything that Royal Caribbean could do differently. It's not that they don't want to help you, it's that the room you want and the room you actually booked aren't the same, and there's no open rooms available with the layout you want.

Yes, we let them choose the cabin for us. In our heads we thought we were getting three beds; a big bed for the couple, sofa bed for one teen, Pullman for 2nd teen. Some of the wording just slipped by us since we’re not experienced with cruises.

We’re definitely gonna roll with the flow. All of these are great suggestions within minutes of the post.

For future reference when you look at the ships deck plan there are little symbols which indicate what additional features are in each cabin Like sofa beds, additional pull down beds,connecting cabins etc.

It might not be ideal but what about bringing an airbed with you which you could blow up that one of the kids could sleep on.

Excellent idea on the air bed...thanks!

Keep checking. It could be that another cabin in your category will open up or you may able to upgrade at little cost. Good luck.

Oh, ok. Thanks for the suggestion.

Just out of curiosity...what should the solution be?

We thought they might switch us to a cabin with the pull down bed. We had no idea there are so many different configurations and cabin categories.

Copied from “First Time Cruisers” by suggestion:

After several weeks of researching cruise companies and ships/itineraries, we finally took the plunge and booked a 4 night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas. This would be the first ever cruise for our family, and the process can be a bit intimidating, so it was quite a leap of faith we took. In hindsight, it appears our first mistake was booking online directly on RC’s website. However, if we had talked with a travel agent or representative before booking, we may have priced ourselves out of booking. So, at least this has forced us on the ship!

Here’s the issue. We thought our balcony stateroom would have a pulldown bed in addition to the main bed (two twins together) and sofa bed. We have a teenage son and daughter that don’t want to share a bed (the double sofa bed). I called RC customer service after they assigned the room and they said no rooms are available for us to switch to without upgrading for a significant price difference. Their solution, which we’re stuck with, is to have the kids each take the separated twin beds, and the couple share the double sofa bed. I’m 6’8” 300 lbs, so it’s not the most comfortable solution.

Anyone experience a similar issue, or have an alternate solution? We really thought RC customer service would try to keep the experience positive in hopes of acquiring a loyal repeat customer, but they simply fell flat. Their only concern after our stalemate was to try and upsell us on some excursions. Uh, no thank you.

After several weeks of researching cruise companies and ships/itineraries, we finally took the plunge and booked a 4 night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas. This would be the first ever cruise for our family, and the process can be a bit intimidating, so it was quite a leap of faith we took. In hindsight, it appears our first mistake was booking online directly on RC’s website. However, if we had talked with a travel agent or representative before booking, we may have priced ourselves out of booking. So, at least this has forced us on the ship!

Here’s the issue. We thought our balcony stateroom would have a pulldown bed in addition to the main bed (two twins together) and sofa bed. We have a teenage son and daughter that don’t want to share a bed (the double sofa bed). I called RC customer service after they assigned the room and they said no rooms are available for us to switch to without upgrading for a significant price difference. Their solution, which we’re stuck with, is to have the kids each take the separated twin beds, and the couple share the double sofa bed. I’m 6’8” 300 lbs, so it’s not the most comfortable solution.

Anyone experience a similar issue, or have an alternate solution? We really thought RC customer service would try to keep the experience positive in hopes of acquiring a loyal repeat customer, but they simply fell flat. Their only concern after our stalemate was to try and upsell us on some excursions. Uh, no thank you.