Family cruise with 2 cabins and adult child wants to cancel

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

Ah, the joys of parenthood! 😆

Back in May last year, I booked a family cruise for this coming August: me and my wife in one cabin, our adult children (23 & 20) next door. During the last Black Friday sale at 55% off, I also booked the UDP for all 4 us, as well as the Premium Drink packages for me and the wife, as well as our 23-year-old son.

He has just informed me he's received a "better offer" for the week we're travelling and wants to cancel.

The TA has advised if we cancel him off ther reservation now (before Final Payment), RCL will likely apply the solo supplement on the cabin, adding about $500 to the cost of the stateroom for our younger child. He has suggested, however, that if we wait until closer to the sailing, they will likely just allow the current rate to prevail. That makes sense, and I would obviously prefer to go that route. 

I'm posting here -- assuming this isn't an entirely unique situation and others have experience here -- to ask not just about the overall fare, but how best to manage the drinks and UDP. In the Cruise Planner, it appears as if I can only cancel the whole reservation, not just single people off it, so if I cancel the drink package entirely and rebuy, it'll be at the current, higher cost.

Any advice on how to handle this situation with minimal impact to my budget?

 

[smplybcause]

I think you misunderstood the whole cancel after final payment. Unless I'm missing some fine print, you'd essentially have to let the 23 year old no show. You'd get his taxes and fees back, but not his fare. 

 

I'm not sure on the other things because it sounds like you logged into your account and bought everything in one transaction even though it's two cabins? I've only ever been given the option to buy things for those with my cabin. 

[Starry Eyes]

To keep the current price, the son can be a no show.  You will eventually get taxes and fees back.  You could probably cancel his cruise planner purchases sooner (unless you think the young man might be fickle and change his mind again!). Still, that leaves you paying for four, which begs the question…Is there a compatible friend or family member who might like to take that spot at rather low cost?  Or would that ruin the family dynamic?  As long as one name remains the same from the original booking (daughter), one is allowed to change other names on the reservation.

Edited March 23, 2022 by Starry Eyes

[Jingerwoppy]

Disown him.  There is no better offer. 🙂 

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

39 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

I think you misunderstood the whole cancel after final payment. Unless I'm missing some fine print, you'd essentially have to let the 23 year old no show. You'd get his taxes and fees back, but not his fare. 

 

I'm not sure on the other things because it sounds like you logged into your account and bought everything in one transaction even though it's two cabins? I've only ever been given the option to buy things for those with my cabin. 

I'm actually okay with not getting any refund on the 23-year-old. The price on the cabin was so reasonable, I just don't want them to hit me with a solo supplement for $500 more than what I've already paid. 

The two cabins are booked under separate reservations, but linked in Cruise Planner. Linking reservations allows one to book for the whole party, in this case, 4xUDP and 3xDDP.

27 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

To keep the current price, the son can be a no show.  You will eventually get taxes and fees back.  You could probably cancel his cruise planner purchases sooner (unless you think the young man might be fickle and change his mind again!). Still, that leaves you paying for four, which begs the question…Is there a compatible friend or family member who might like to take that spot at rather low cost?  Or would that ruin the family dynamic?  As long as one name remains the same from the original booking (daughter), one is allowed to change other names on the reservation.

I would like to cancel the Cruise Planner purchases, but I don't see a way to cancel off individuals. I can cancel the entire UDP and the entire DDP purchases, but then I would lose out on the great Black Friday pricing I got. Ideally, I could just select him and remove his bookings and keep the rest.

Our daughter has asked about bringing a friend, but I'm not too keen on the idea (I don't really like her friends!). I'd rather take the loss and still enjoy my vacation and not have to worry about someone else's kid.

23 minutes ago, Jingerwoppy said:

Disown him.  There is no better offer. 🙂 

Trust me... I've considered it many times!! HA!

[riekl]

I completely disagree with your TA.  You have more power now before final payment then after.  With that said I don't see any option to get your money back, you could cancel him, but my guess is his fare was bought on some kind of bogo50 offer that rccl loves so much, this makes that second passenger very cheap often cheaper then the solo supplement.  You can absolutely cancel the UDP and no show the taxes and fees which will be pennies comparatively speaking.  But getting the cruise fare back is not likely.  

 

Unless (and its a huge unless) you want to cancel the cabin entirely prior to final payment and have your 20yo son be 3rd guest in your room on the couch.  

[Starry Eyes]

12 minutes ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I'm actually okay with not getting any refund on the 23-year-old. The price on the cabin was so reasonable, I just don't want them to hit me with a solo supplement for $500 more than what I've already paid. 

The two cabins are booked under separate reservations, but linked in Cruise Planner. Linking reservations allows one to book for the whole party, in this case, 4xUDP and 3xDDP.

I would like to cancel the Cruise Planner purchases, but I don't see a way to cancel off individuals. I can cancel the entire UDP and the entire DDP purchases, but then I would lose out on the great Black Friday pricing I got. Ideally, I could just select him and remove his bookings and keep the rest.

Our daughter has asked about bringing a friend, but I'm not too keen on the idea (I don't really like her friends!). I'd rather take the loss and still enjoy my vacation and not have to worry about someone else's kid.

 

I can understand not wanting to bring someone else’s kid.  But sometimes there’s a grandma or aunt or such who might like to be asked.  By the way, if you did change that name, I would not be surprised if those cruise planner purchases tied to the original passenger’s name were automatically canceled (so don’t change the name unless you are sure your son won’t change his mind/be allowed to change his mind)

[LeeW]

While you can't cancel cruise planner purchases online without cancelling the whole group you can likely call and cancel only one person. 

 

But if that person no-shows for the cruise those should come back to your credit card since they weren't used.  In theory...

 

 

[smplybcause]

2 hours ago, Jingerwoppy said:

Disown him.  There is no better offer. 🙂 

 

Right?! I'm trying to think what I would choose at 23 over a cruise with drinks and specialty dining paid for. That's a nice free vacation! Someone give me a free vacation!! Kid will regret turning it down later, especially if OP makes them pay on future cruises so they have skin in the game. 

[smplybcause]

2 hours ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I'm actually okay with not getting any refund on the 23-year-old. The price on the cabin was so reasonable, I just don't want them to hit me with a solo supplement for $500 more than what I've already paid. 

The two cabins are booked under separate reservations, but linked in Cruise Planner. Linking reservations allows one to book for the whole party, in this case, 4xUDP and 3xDDP.

 

Aye so yea you can't cancel one without canceling everyone. You'll get the refund eventually when he no shows, but if you cancel you're stuck rebuying everything at current prices. I think even though linked you could at least cancel and rebuy the drink package for just two if the price is ever the same. Not sure if UDP has to be the whole cabin? 

 

As for the solo supplement... it's pretty much never more than the cost of 2 in a room unless you choose gty. (A lot of the time royal won't let solo cruises buy gty.) The only way the overall cost would go up is if the cost of the cruise is currently higher than you booked - that's not really the solo supplement it's just the current pricing. ie if when you bought it was 500pp and the price is the same but for a solo it's 1000 then it's not really an increase because you were paying 1000 for the cabin. But if say the solo rate is now 1500 it's almost guaranteed it's that because the per person rate is 750 now... meaning if you booked a cruise now for 2 people you'd be paying the 1500 for the cabin. 

 

[cruizzing]

As someone mentioned above, call them. I had a similar issue last week and needed to cancel only 1 pax's add-ons and while I couldn't do it online, they could do it on their end over the phone. But if there's a chance he may change his mind, may want to wait until you get closer to the sailing date to keep your current prices of cruise planner purchases.

[smplybcause]

2 hours ago, riekl said:

my guess is his fare was bought on some kind of bogo50 offer that rccl loves so much, this makes that second passenger very cheap often cheaper then the solo supplement.

 

I don't constantly price cruises, but I've honestly can't recall seeing on royal where the fare of one person is more than what the fare of two people is. I've definitely booked during the sales where it's x off the second passenger and my solo fare was exactly the same as the fare for two people (with the exception of gty fares you often can't book as a solo).

[MikeTheNFT]

You're fine - they won't hit you with a solo supplement if he no shows. Just cancel anything else for him (beverage, dining, etc) and have him not show up, and you're golden.

 

That said, keep watching or have your TA keep watching, and at some point the price might go down for solo vs pair, so you might save some. But you definitely won't have to pay more for a no show (and as others have said, you'll get some money back when they refund the port fees/taxes).

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

For those of you who suggested going the "no show" route... can you please just clarify for me? Are you suggesting I don't notify RCL that our son won't be coming until embarkation? Like, at check-in?

If I go that route, I will call them to see if he can be removed from the cruise planner purchases so that I won't lose the pricing I'm currently enjoying (thanks to @cruizzing for confirming that!)  

[Starry Eyes]

57 minutes ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

For those of you who suggested going the "no show" route... can you please just clarify for me? Are you suggesting I don't notify RCL that our son won't be coming until embarkation? Like, at check-in?

If I go that route, I will call them to see if he can be removed from the cruise planner purchases so that I won't lose the pricing I'm currently enjoying (thanks to @cruizzing for confirming that!)  

Yes, a no show means you do leave the name on the reservation until sailing.  Just check in without him; no need to say anything at all, as if you hope he makes it to port on time.  
Remember that you are better off keeping your cabin adjacent to (or across the hall from) your daughter’s, as she is underage to sail without a more mature adult per RCI NA policy.
As she will end up solo in the cabin, she may get an extra C&A point per night (not a sure thing as she was not booked as a solo)….if you and you wife are trying to collect points and want a shot at those points, you could shuffle names so DD is, on paper, in a cabin with a parent while the other parent is set to sail with the no show.  As spouses accounts are linked, both spouses benefit from the points ; if one spouse already has more points (has sailed more in the past) that one should should be placed with the no show to maximize couple’s accumulation.  Once on board sleep where you wish.

 

 

[cruizzing]

My experience was if you swap people from room to room, their cruise planner purchases get canceled as they are now under a new reservation. YMMV, but that was my experience. 

[rdtpm64]

1 hour ago, cruizzing said:

My experience was if you swap people from room to room, their cruise planner purchases get canceled as they are now under a new reservation. YMMV, but that was my experience. 

What does YMMV mean?  I've seen it often and can't figure it out.  LOL

[cruizzing]

Just now, rdtpm64 said:

What does YMMV mean?  

Your mileage may vary - meaning your experience may be different. 

[rdtpm64]

1 minute ago, cruizzing said:

Your mileage may vary - meaning your experience may be different. 

Thanks!

[fsjosh]

23 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

Right?! I'm trying to think what I would choose at 23 over a cruise with drinks and specialty dining paid for. That's a nice free vacation! Someone give me a free vacation!! Kid will regret turning it down later, especially if OP makes them pay on future cruises so they have skin in the game. 

 

At 23 if my parents told me that I was going to go on a cruise with just my family, and I have to room with my sister, I would have bailed too. lol  

Everyone's situation is different of course, but at 23 they are probably enjoying their life and independence and would rather hang out with their friends than be "stuck" with their family for a week. 

[smplybcause]

46 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

At 23 if my parents told me that I was going to go on a cruise with just my family, and I have to room with my sister, I would have bailed too. lol  

Everyone's situation is different of course, but at 23 they are probably enjoying their life and independence and would rather hang out with their friends than be "stuck" with their family for a week. 

 

It's possible! At 23 I had just started my first career job and was broke after getting my first solo apartment and all that expense. Would have taken almost any vacation since I couldn't afford one for well over a year! And actually I think my first vacation was a family one too because it was cheap lol 

 

Plus my family is lame and goes to bed by 10 - just like our family cruises when I was in my 30s it was like I was by myself after 10pm. And cuz I stay up late they don't expect to see me until close to lunch lol. 

 

If a family is more uh...clingy than mine I guess I could see it. 

[brillohead]

My son skipped his high school graduation just to go on one more cruise before he shipped to OSUT (Army).  

He'll be getting out sometime in December, and in January we're doing B2Bs on Allure to celebrate his 23rd birthday, his discharge from the Army, and his first cruises since 2018. (He's paying his own room and DBP.)

Not all 23yos are alike. 

[xxHadleyxx]

5 hours ago, fsjosh said:

 

At 23 if my parents told me that I was going to go on a cruise with just my family, and I have to room with my sister, I would have bailed too. lol  

Everyone's situation is different of course, but at 23 they are probably enjoying their life and independence and would rather hang out with their friends than be "stuck" with their family for a week. 

This.  Admittedly my 23 year old is cruising with me next moth (paying his own way), and we are both  excited for the trip...but wouldn't be upset at all if he had prefered to spend 2 weeks with his friends because that is kind of a normal thing to want as you grow up, and especially in that transitory 20s age range.  

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by xxHadleyxx

[Joseph2017China]

I wouldn't worry too much, your 23 year old canceled, so treat him like an adult and ask him for 50% cost of the room, the beverage price, and the UDP price.  If you get a refund, give the refund to him.  

[flamingos]

Any luck finding a friend of your daughter's to take the cruise?