Jump to content

How does this cruiseline handle booking 2 people in a cabin that holds 3 or 4?


Jimbo
 Share

Recommended Posts

We just "upgraded" to one of the bigger YC suites on Divina that is meant for 3 or 4 people.  It was challenging.  I could do a "mock" booking for 2 on my favorite online travel site and choose that room, but when I called my agent to see if we could get switched, he put me on a 3-way call with MSC and they wouldn't budge.  The MSC rep kept saying that room couldn't be booked for just 2 people, and more importantly, it wasn't coming up as an option on her screen as being available unless she tried to book it for 4 people. Unfortunately, when I went on the MSC site, I was seeing exactly what the rep was saying--not a choice for two, but only for 3-4.  

 

Not wanting to give up as long as I knew that the room was still available and our cruise is this month, I checked daily on the MSC site as I if I were trying to book the cruise again for 2.  Sure enough, one morning last week, it popped up as the only room available in YC for 2 people.  I called right away.  The phone rep said she'd check, put me on hold (just a few minutes--very short by MSC standards), came back on and said she had made the change.  Apparently, as long as they can see it on their screen as available, they can make the change.  The best time to get through is first thing in the morning around 8 AM EST.  Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IF your TA is able to book a cabin for more than 2 people, there is no guarantee MSC won’t move you if they need it for a larger party. 
When booking online, you only get the option to book a cabin for the correct number of people in your party. MSC reserves the right to change your cabin if needed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why on earth would anyone want to book a room for 4 with 2 persons. The cabin is not 1cm bigger, just higher chance to hit your head on the "hidden" Pullman beds 😄

 

Our maybe some people think in this case I can make sure one family with kids less on board, very strange. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

Why on earth would anyone want to book a room for 4 with 2 persons. The cabin is not 1cm bigger, just higher chance to hit your head on the "hidden" Pullman beds.

In many cases I agree and would prefer the cabin for two, especially in the case of Pullman beds hanging from the wall.  But in cases such as mentioned above in the Fantasia class YC the eight "square" cabins are highly sought after.  Not because they sleep four but because of the cabin layout.  Also on Fantasia class you have those small two person balcony cabins which are tiny compared to regular balconies but are classified and priced the same.  I think most people start looking at cabins designed for more people only when they know the extra beds wont affect them, such as a pull out couch, and are primarily looking for a better location and/or cabin configuration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

We just "upgraded" to one of the bigger YC suites on Divina that is meant for 3 or 4 people.  It was challenging.  I could do a "mock" booking for 2 on my favorite online travel site and choose that room, but when I called my agent to see if we could get switched, he put me on a 3-way call with MSC and they wouldn't budge.  The MSC rep kept saying that room couldn't be booked for just 2 people, and more importantly, it wasn't coming up as an option on her screen as being available unless she tried to book it for 4 people. Unfortunately, when I went on the MSC site, I was seeing exactly what the rep was saying--not a choice for two, but only for 3-4.  

 

Not wanting to give up as long as I knew that the room was still available and our cruise is this month, I checked daily on the MSC site as I if I were trying to book the cruise again for 2.  Sure enough, one morning last week, it popped up as the only room available in YC for 2 people.  I called right away.  The phone rep said she'd check, put me on hold (just a few minutes--very short by MSC standards), came back on and said she had made the change.  Apparently, as long as they can see it on their screen as available, they can make the change.  The best time to get through is first thing in the morning around 8 AM EST.  Good luck!

That is pretty much what we've run into as well.  TA said we could book one but chance MSC would move us.  In our case, we have two older kids (one boy, one girl) and the tiny couch is not going to work for them.  We ended up adding people so more than one room.

 

We have been able to get one of the more square rooms on Divinia for just two but I don't recall exactly how we accomplished that.

 

It seems they save the larger capacity rooms until last which probably (from some reports here) end up with just two people.  We added a room to a SS sailing for two people and they got the room for 5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

Why on earth would anyone want to book a room for 4 with 2 persons. The cabin is not 1cm bigger, just higher chance to hit your head on the "hidden" Pullman beds 😄

 

Our maybe some people think in this case I can make sure one family with kids less on board, very strange. 

Location Location.............need I say more?.....Larger Balcony,  better deck sandwiched between  2 decks of cabins rather then a public location above or below. That's some of the reasons.....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I originally checked online with a large cruise agency and saw that stateroom 11009 in Aurea class was available.  This is the two room suite with the wrap around balcony at the corner bow on Divina.  I wanted to book this directly with MSC as it was part of a B2B cruise.  When I called MSC they told me that it was not available.  I went back and booked the cruse with the cruise agency doing the booking by myself online.  This is the second time this agency has had space that was not available on MSC's website.  Both staterooms could accommodate three or four and it was just the two of us.  The first time we booked the sailing it was a year in advance.  We booked the large square room in the YC.  We just got back from both sailings and very much enjoyed our experiences with the two different staterooms.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Location Location.............need I say more?.....Larger Balcony,  better deck sandwiched between  2 decks of cabins rather then a public location above or below. That's some of the reasons.....

Exactly--plus in our case, the room is wider--more like a hotel room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...