Can I add a second person to a cabin after booking it for one person?

[dfwguy62]

I'm getting fidgety to cruise again and am eyeing a western Caribbean week on NCL in January. I'm perfectly fine with cruising solo and have already done it twice. I also have friends who MAY be able to join me, but won't know until later in December, probably. Can I book the room as a single traveler, recognizing I would pay the price of two. And then POSSIBLY add a second person to the room later on? If my friends can't go, I'll go solo. If they can go, they can pay me for their share (no need to force them to pay NCL or anything like that). Anyone with experience doing this on NCL?

[DMH15]

Yes, I did it myself. I booked almost 6 months before my mother decided to join me!

[flowerchild]

Yes. We weren't sure if my sister would be able to join my mom on our next cruise, so we reserved it as a single. When my sister decided, we added her and she paid her deposit. Our original invoice was redone to reflect two passengers per cabin. We did this about 4 months after the original booking.

[time2cruise1]

Yes. We weren't sure if my sister would be able to join my mom on our next cruise, so we reserved it as a single. When my sister decided, we added her and she paid her deposit. Our original invoice was redone to reflect two passengers per cabin. We did this about 4 months after the original booking.

 

Just did the same thing but keep in mind when you add the second person later the fare could go up in addition to the taxes. The fare at the time of the addition is used not what you booked for. In my case the fare had gone up $400 pp so adding the second passenger was $459 instead of just the $59 in taxes and gov fees.

[mpk218]

I dont know , but would it not make more sense to book 2 now and show up as one if need be ? As mentioned above , you would lock in todays price. ;)

OR you can take me ...

[dfwguy62]

Ok, that's good info and a good idea on booking for two right now. So I'll reverse things and re-ask for verification. I guess I can put someone's name for passenger #2. And at a later date, simply call and remove them if they don't go. I don't have to enter specific passenger details like passport # until much closer to the sail date, right? All I need until a couple weeks out is a name and age, I think? right? But if I use one person's name now and someone else actually decides to go with me, can I swap out a name without penalty? I'm negotiating with a couple friends and not sure who will actually go if anyone.

Edited October 6, 2009 by dfwguy62

[time2cruise1]

Ok, that's good info and a good idea on booking for two right now. So I'll reverse things and re-ask for verification. I guess I can put someone's name for passenger #2. And at a later date, simply call and remove them if they don't go. I don't have to enter specific passenger details like passport # until much closer to the sail date, right? All I need until a couple weeks out is a name and age, I think? right? But if I use one person's name now and someone else actually decides to go with me, can I swap out a name without penalty? I'm negotiating with a couple friends and not sure who will actually go if anyone.

 

That is what I have done. The only difference is you pay Tax and Gov fees for both even if they don't show up.

[mpk218]

That is what I have done. The only difference is you pay Tax and Gov fees for both even if they don't show up.

 

 

Ahhh good point..;)

[coka]

I have done this frequently...added a person at the last minute to my solo cruise. The only other glitch not mentioned is if the ship is at full occupancy last minute. Although your cabin might have a spare bed, there may be other cabins that have three or more people. You could (and this has happened to me prior to the current state of the economy) find out a person can not be added.

 

If you book now for two, you pay two people plus two taxes/twice the port charges. If you book for one you pay for two people plus one tax/once the port charges. Having watched the prices of cruising this past year, the liklihood of an inside/oceanview going up as the cruise nears is not likely. Sailing in January is not a busy time after the holidays and prior to school winter vacations...

 

Knowing only what you wrote above, I would book for one, then add the second later. Know I would answer differently if you were talking about a generally busy week such as President's week or March spring breaks, etc.

 

Worst case scenario...you go solo and your friends make a quicker decision in the future!

 

coka

[dfwguy62]

Thanks Coka. I think that's what I'll do. I'm intentionally trying to avoid the busier weeks, so I think I'll risk it. My friends are losers, so they probably won't go anyway. :-)

[ianmerc]

I often cruise solo. It is better to book as one and add a person later because of the taxes and fees. In the cases where i have added someone it has never been an issue. Even if the ship fills up there is always another bed in your room. There are no cabins for one person (which is why singles pay double the price) so it does not matter if you decide at the last minute to add someone. If you add from 2 to 3 then that is something else.

Also you can change the name of a passenger for a fee of $50 dollars which i did last year. It may or may not have gone up since that time but it can be done.

[MrLee]

I often cruise solo. It is better to book as one and add a person later because of the taxes and fees. In the cases where i have added someone it has never been an issue. Even if the ship fills up there is always another bed in your room.

 

Although it is rare, they could refuse to sell that bed if they've reached their quota. They are only allowed to carrry a certain number of passengers regardless of empty beds.

 

As I said it's a rare occurence but it COULD happen.

[rrobynec]

How about adding a third person to a cabin booked for 2?

It does have capacity for a third......

Also, what if we decide to switch cabins? Do we need to cancel and rebook?:confused:

[freddy penguin]

How about adding a third person to a cabin booked for 2?

It does have capacity for a third......

Also, what if we decide to switch cabins? Do we need to cancel and rebook?:confused:

 

I have added a 4th person twice to a cabin with capacity for 4 with no problems.

[Nelie]

Man you guys are great i was just thinking of this same thing for an idea i had. Wow freaky.

 

anyway thanks for the help:D

[Toyz711]

we had problems with this, for the family's alaska cruise. had 4 cabins books: a balcony for DH and my, a insides single for FIL, a inside with SIL/DH and an oceanview for niece/DH. when we tried to add MIL (was willing to share cabin with her ex)...no way, ship was at it's cap for passengers. all the cabins were in different areas of the ship, thought if we could add her to any of the cabins (all had pullmans or fold-out couch), she could move to the spare bed in her ex's cabin. guess all the space on the life boats were full?

[billie5]

But perhaps you could have volunteered to take MIL without a seat in any of the lifeboats! :):)

[jetskier]

Book the second person as TBD (To be determined). I have done this in the past to lock in the current rate. This way you dont have to worry about being charged a name change fee.

 

A third or fourth person can be added at anytime as long as the cabin can hold that many and the ship is not sold out. A ship can sell out by selling all available cabins or it can sell out by exceeded capacity by having a lot of cabins with 3/4 in them. That is why you will see a ship sailing at 110% of capacity.

 

On the NCL Spirit for example the capacity is based upon two to a cabin at 1966. But it can hold max capacity of 3760 with 3/4 to a cabin.

Dave

[billie5]

Jetskier,

The maximum capacity of the Spirit is widely reported as 2475. I have seen the number 3760 before, but it must be some sort of theoretical capacity. I can not recall the difference between the so-called lower berth capacity (the two to a cabin number you correctly report) and the maximum capacity being greater than an increase of about 25% on any cruise ship. It is certainly not double -- or there will be a lot of swimmers accompanying the lifeboats in an accident. :)

 

Bill

[reallyme]

I'm getting fidgety to cruise again and am eyeing a western Caribbean week on NCL in January. I'm perfectly fine with cruising solo and have already done it twice. I also have friends who MAY be able to join me, but won't know until later in December, probably. Can I book the room as a single traveler, recognizing I would pay the price of two. And then POSSIBLY add a second person to the room later on? If my friends can't go, I'll go solo. If they can go, they can pay me for their share (no need to force them to pay NCL or anything like that). Anyone with experience doing this on NCL?

 

Interesting topic. I was told before I could always add a 2nd person.

However, I am on the phone right now with NCL and they are telling me lifeboat capacity has been reached and I cannot add a second person to the Escape transatlantic 9 days from now.

[mjkacmom]

Interesting topic. I was told before I could always add a 2nd person.

However, I am on the phone right now with NCL and they are telling me lifeboat capacity has been reached and I cannot add a second person to the Escape transatlantic 9 days from now.

 

You can only add another person if the lifeboat capacity in your section has room for them.