2 Cabin Booking Question

[20165]

We usually book 2 cabins for our cruises, one for us, one for our kids, both kids under 18. The configuration we have booked in the past was one of us, adults, in each cabin with 1 kid. However, the current cruise we booked over the summer through NCL, they recommended that we book the kids in one cabin and us, the adults, in the other. They said there was a better promotion for doing that as well as the fact that all of our room keys would match our cabins meaning we wouldn't have to get the kids a separate keys for their cabin when we get on the ship. Ok, all good so far.

However, we are now 3 months out from the cruise when when i went to make my final payment on both cabins, i found that they way they booked the kids cabins was to change one of their b-days to make him 21. They said that once i paid, i would be able to change that which is true, i can change it online now that i made my final payment, however, i cannot accept the final contract in online checkin because he is under 18 so i cant complete the online checkin.

So, NCL now tells me that we need to sign some forms that say that we, the adult cabin, takes responsibility for the kids cabin, however, we cant do that until we are 60 days out. We are concerned we are going to continue to have issues and were wondering if anyone else has had this experience and how it turned out?

 

Now, the obvious quick answer is to just put 1 adult in each cabin like we always did, and when trying that, they said that since we are past all of the promotion timlines that we originally booked under, we would loose them up with turns out to be $1-2k of promotions.

 

Any past experience info on a situation like this would be greatly appreciated.

thx

[Kingmaker_inc]

Bump.

[mnventure]

I will be doing this on my next cruise. My reservations currently say my 13 year old is 21.

 

I have previously seen posts where others have done this as well. They said they the adults were able to check in to their cabin online and print e-docs. But they checked in the kids room at the port. They said that NCL let's kids be in rooms by themselves when they are in a connecting room to the adults they are traveling with, but their computer reservation system doesn't recognize which rooms are connecting. They said as was well when they checked in at port.

 

I would just plan on it taking a little longer to do all the stuff before embarking. And I would just print extra luggage tags with your room number on it (for their suitcases - you can move their suitcases from your room to theirs).

 

Hope this helps. I felt better about doing it this way (also due to the promos) after I read several posts from others that have successfully done this. :)

[sdswogger]

I am also doing the same. If you pull up the NCL cruise contract it states that the children can be in connecting or adjacent rooms. I had booked directly with NCL and they stated that when the time had come to print the E-Documents to call NCL and have them "manually load them" and then E-mail them to me for the childrens room. Hope this is true and helpful.

[sdswogger]

I am also doing the same. If you pull up the NCL cruise contract it states that the children can be in connecting or adjacent rooms. I had booked directly with NCL and they stated that when the time had come to print the E-Documents to call NCL and have them "manually load them" and then E-mail them to me for the childrens room. Hope this is true and helpful.

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Guest_Ticket_Contract_03_2014.pdf

[AngAndBoys]

Yup, same story, same nervousness about it. I also read on here that they can fix it via email before the cruise and you don't have to wait until embarkation to change your kid's birthday. Was told they have to do it this way to make their computer system accept the reservation but that it is perfectly legitimate.

[asdjl]

Hi,

 

I did this on the GA last year. I sailed with my 3 kids (13, 10, and 8), my husband did not come on the cruise

 

I did not have to sign any form. They did fudge one of the kids ages for the computer, we could not do online check in because of this. It was no big deal, we checked in at the dock, even without luggage tags, docs, etc. Everything was fine. As far as I know, they changed the ages to the correct ones upon check in, we had no issues.

 

It's one of the reasons I cruise NCL, on CCL you can book multiple cabins, but kids under 13 or 14 cannot be in a balcony without an adult. And I liked the connecting rooms, it made it seem bigger and we had access to 2 TV's, 2 bathrooms, more room etc.

 

I would not worry about it, I think they do it all the time. I think it has to do with the computer program not allowing under a certain age in the cabin, but then it can be over ridden at check in

[Casino Comp Chick]

I spoke to NCL the other day, same scenario and was told the same thing, I am not worried about it, I set up a reminder to call at the 60 day mark in June. People have been doing this for years so I do not foresee any problems.

[20165]

thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like its not that uncommon which was my main concern. Trying to make this a seamless as possible... Also, i didnt mention that the cabins are connecting and that seemed to be a requirement as well so i think we are all set.

Thanks again

Edited April 22, 2015 by 20165

[20165]

So, we received the email given we are now 60 days out, and signed it meaning we replied to the email as stated in their email accepting responsibility for the cabin. However, we are still not able to check their cabin in online. We also received acknowledgement that they did receive our email. I know some of the posts above say you cant checkin until you get to the terminal, but 1 said they did so im wondering if anyone else has been able to check in online once they 'signed' that document?

thanks

[20165]

So, we received the email given we are now 60 days out, and signed it meaning we replied to the email as stated in their email accepting responsibility for the cabin. However, we are still not able to check their cabin in online. We also received acknowledgement that they did receive our email. I know some of the posts above say you cant checkin until you get to the terminal, but 1 said they did so im wondering if anyone else has been able to check in online once they 'signed' that document?

thanks

 

bump

[4774Papa]

My Daughter and Son in Law book two cabins and book one adult in each and provide the true age of the children. Then, they allow the teens to stay in one room (connecting cabins). Never had a problem with that.

[asdjl]

I promise you, not doing the online check in was no big deal, we had zero issues; even not having luggage tags, etc. The porters helped us out, the check in NCL people had no issue, I can't imagine it being any different if we had done online check in. I was still able to book things, etc. beforehand

[20165]

I promise you, not doing the online check in was no big deal, we had zero issues; even not having luggage tags, etc. The porters helped us out, the check in NCL people had no issue, I can't imagine it being any different if we had done online check in. I was still able to book things, etc. beforehand

 

I do agree that the port check in shouldn't be a big deal, however, we are now finding we cannot book an excursions or make dinner reservations online for the cabin that has the kids only in it. Get an error saying that one person must be 18 yo to book shore excursions or dinner reservations. Ugg. We are back to one adult in each cabin next time regardless of the promotions...

thx

[20165]

Warning, do no book cabins without at least 1 adult in them if you plan on booking any type of shore excursions, shows, gifts, etc prior to the cruise. This has been a total nightmare. Let me tell you, and remind myself in the future when i book another cruise next year and i go back and read this what a nightmare this has been.

 

To recap, you cant book anything online for the cabin with no adults. Ok we understand that so we call to book some shore excursions, shows, dinners, etc. Heres how it goes down each time you call. Our first mistake was not booking everything all at once and calling multiple times.

Recap.

10-15 minutes explaining to the NCL rep why we booked the cabin that way. Even through they, NCL travel agent, told us to.

15-20 minutes waiting for the NCL rep to book whatever we are trying to book at that time. Long pause, then they come back and tell us they cant book anything for the kids cabin either.

15-20 minutes convincing the rep that they need to get a supervisor to override whatever they need to to book the excursion. Finally found out that the secret was they change the birth date, book whatever we are trying to book at that time, then change it back.

10-15 minutes for the supervisor to actually do the change.

 

Result is about an hour on the phone with ncl and a lot of pain. We had one rep that said there was no way to do this and we need to cancel our reservations and rebook, possibly loosing our connecting cabins. We would actually be ok doing that and loosing the UDP if we were guaranteed not to loose the cabins because this has been such a nightmare. and to make things worse, we are traveling with a larger group so when they decide to book a dinner, show, etc, we get to do the phone thing again, see above timeline...

 

So moral to the story and future note to self, never book this way again if you plan on booking any pre cruise activities. Ugg