Illogical Policies

[mnh]

I am not really complaing just wondering....I just had to cancel a NYE cruise that I had booked for many months because of a policy regarding teens in their own cabin. Thanks to a thread on CC I found out before I got the port and was denied boarding!

 

The policy in question concerns parents or court appointed guardians are the only ones who can book connecting rooms for their minor children....grandparents such as myself cannot....I was never told this when I booked with Royal.

 

I was told that the reasoning was there is an exterior door as well as the connecting door.....and as everyone knows teens cannot open that exterior door if their parent are in the connecting cabin!

 

I have booked a new NYE cruise on Carnival Magic.....so all is not lost, but I so wanted to cruise on Mariner before she left for Asia....my favorite ship!

[uksimonusa]

I am not really complaing just wondering....I just had to cancel a NYE cruise that I had booked for many months because of a policy regarding teens in their own cabin. Thanks to a thread on CC I found out before I got the port and was denied boarding!

 

The policy in question concerns parents or court appointed guardians are the only ones who can book connecting rooms for their minor children....grandparents such as myself cannot....I was never told this when I booked with Royal.

 

I was told that the reasoning was there is an exterior door as well as the connecting door.....and as everyone knows teens cannot open that exterior door if their parent are in the connecting cabin!

 

I have booked a new NYE cruise on Carnival Magic.....so all is not lost, but I so wanted to cruise on Mariner before she left for Asia....my favorite ship!

 

The policy is very illogical, we almost got caught out on our Explorer Cruise this summer, we always take our daughter, now 17, and a friend, sometimes 2 friends, and have always booked the girls in their own cabin, either next to or across from ours, as per RCI guidelines.

 

This time we were taking 2 friends, both of whom we have taken before, when I called C&A to have the balcony discount applied to our cabin, I was told that as things were booked, I would not be able to board, they stated that you can only take one unrelated minor, for every related minor you take. This seemed strange so I questioned it, as we have previously taken the same two friends on 2 other cruises. C&A told me that if I had more kids of my own then I could take more friends, I sarcastically asked, so if I have 10 kids, then I can take them and 10 friends and supervise and be responsible for 20 kids, yet because I only have one of my own then I can only take 1 friend? Correct I was told.

 

I pushed this all the way to Richard Fains office and this is what they did suggest and we ended up doing, was my wife, our daughter and 1 friend could be in one cabin, and me and the other friend in the other and then swap when we got onboard.

 

Once again this seemed illogical, as I was allowed to take an unrelated minor on my own, with no problem, but as a family we couldn't.

 

 

 

I know your case is a little different, as you are the Grand Parent and not the parent, but I am sure GrandParents take their Grand kids on cruises all the time, I think you got an over zealous rep when you called.

 

Sorry you will miss Mariner, but I think you should pass this along the chain of command and see if they can do something for you

[Ocean Boy]

 

 

I know your case is a little different, as you are the Grand Parent and not the parent, but I am sure GrandParents take their Grand kids on cruises all the time, I think you got an over zealous rep when you called.

 

 

Maybe the rep was over zealous or maybe the rep averted a major problem for the OP on arrival at the port.

[freeruthie]

I am not really complaing just wondering....I just had to cancel a NYE cruise that I had booked for many months because of a policy regarding teens in their own cabin. Thanks to a thread on CC I found out before I got the port and was denied boarding!

 

The policy in question concerns parents or court appointed guardians are the only ones who can book connecting rooms for their minor children....grandparents such as myself cannot....I was never told this when I booked with Royal.

 

I was told that the reasoning was there is an exterior door as well as the connecting door.....and as everyone knows teens cannot open that exterior door if their parent are in the connecting cabin!

 

I have booked a new NYE cruise on Carnival Magic.....so all is not lost, but I so wanted to cruise on Mariner before she left for Asia....my favorite ship!

 

We are on the Oasis on Oct 13 with a connecting cabin whose occupants are my grandson and my nephew, ages 16 and 15. I don't anticipate any problems. Grandparents take cruises with their grandchildren all the time.

[wieslaw]

I am not really complaing just wondering....I just had to cancel a NYE cruise that I had booked for many months because of a policy regarding teens in their own cabin. Thanks to a thread on CC I found out before I got the port and was denied boarding!

 

The policy in question concerns parents or court appointed guardians are the only ones who can book connecting rooms for their minor children....grandparents such as myself cannot....I was never told this when I booked with Royal.

 

I was told that the reasoning was there is an exterior door as well as the connecting door.....and as everyone knows teens cannot open that exterior door if their parent are in the connecting cabin!

 

I have booked a new NYE cruise on Carnival Magic.....so all is not lost, but I so wanted to cruise on Mariner before she left for Asia....my favorite ship!

 

Hi,

I read your post and the other posts on this thread ....... and I am also wondering, why the policy is different on the other cruise line ( I am guessing you were able to book the same people).

 

All the cruise lines compete to get all the guests they can to get their ships full ....... marketing probably does what it can ( even lower the prices as low as they need to) to attract more people, ..... each company has many people working in their legal departments so they know what is legal and what is not and how to find the loop holes .......

so , why would one company turn away potential cruisers and make some money ..... and another company takes them with open arms ?

 

There has to be something that 'they' ( RCI) know and want to avoid a potential problem.

[orville99]

The way we handled this with our grandkids, is the parents appointed us as legal co-guardians.

[freeruthie]

I am not really complaing just wondering....I just had to cancel a NYE cruise that I had booked for many months because of a policy regarding teens in their own cabin. Thanks to a thread on CC I found out before I got the port and was denied boarding!

 

The policy in question concerns parents or court appointed guardians are the only ones who can book connecting rooms for their minor children....grandparents such as myself cannot....I was never told this when I booked with Royal.

 

I was told that the reasoning was there is an exterior door as well as the connecting door.....and as everyone knows teens cannot open that exterior door if their parent are in the connecting cabin!

 

I have booked a new NYE cruise on Carnival Magic.....so all is not lost, but I so wanted to cruise on Mariner before she left for Asia....my favorite ship!

 

 

What I am not understanding is that when you book cabins, you or your travel agent put the ages of the people into the form. Why do they not stop you when the cruise is being booked? It makes no sense to me that you can book the cruise with the non related kids and there is nothing that stops you and tells you the booking of minors in such a way is not allowed.

[mnh]

It makes no sense at all to me....I could have kept my reservation if I switched to 1 cabin for the same price that I had paid for 2 cabins.....I certainly was not born yesterday!

 

I did book on Carnival Magic and was able to book 1 balcony and 1 inside across the hall.....their policy would not allow me to book a balcony cabin for a minor (even adjoing)....I do understand that reasoning and they caught that error less than 24 hours after booking and contacted me so I could make the change.

 

What gets my goat is that I booked the cabin on Mariner with a minor months ago and they accepted the booking.....only months later when I brought it to their attention did the problem surface. The ironic thing is the pricing....the cabins I booked had gone up $700.00 per person x 2 cabins.....RCI can now get $2,800.00 more for my cabins.

 

I cruise with my gd all time....she has 21 cruised under her belt....90 nights on RCI at age 13. The problem surfaces when you need an additional cabin.

 

I love RCI and have 200+ nights on their ships, but this has put a sour taste in my month and in the future I will certainly look at every option before booking!

[mnh]

We are on the Oasis on Oct 13 with a connecting cabin whose occupants are my grandson and my nephew, ages 16 and 15. I don't anticipate any problems. Grandparents take cruises with their grandchildren all the time.

 

You can book with 1 adult over 21 in each cabin and be ok....I travel solo with my gd.....so no one else over 21.

[mnh]

What I am not understanding is that when you book cabins, you or your travel agent put the ages of the people into the form. Why do they not stop you when the cruise is being booked? It makes no sense to me that you can book the cruise with the non related kids and there is nothing that stops you and tells you the booking of minors in such a way is not allowed.

 

I booked directly with RCI....maybe that was the problem!