Free cruise for two from RCI and adding kids

[cocoyang]

Hi all,

 

I'm new to this forum and hope to get some help for booking a free cruise with RCI. 

 

My husband got a complimentary cruise offer from Club Royal during our most recent sail. We have 30 days to book a free cruise for two. We have selected a ship and itenary and only need to pay about $160 extra for the two of us. But because we have two kids (under 12) and definitely want to bring our kids with us on vacation. The total cost then becomes 2 extra cruise fare + upgrade to a 4 people cabin, which will cost over $2000 extra. 

 

My questions would be, when RCI has "kids sail for free", or any other type of promotion, could it be applied to existing booking? It will save us a lot money if we could wait till promotions are out, but our offer has an expiry date. 

 

Could I book the free curise just for me and my husband before our offer's expiry date and wait till later on when there are better promotions to add my two kids? Will our booking be eligible for the promotion then and will we risk not being able to secure a 4 person cabin?

 

If we book for 4 now and pay extra $2000, when there are promotions out, could we request price adjustment?

 

I also would like to know if we shall book with Club Royal directly or shall we book with a TA?

 

I really appreciate your help if you have any experince or knowledbe about adding people to free cruise offer.

 

Thanks so much!

CoCo

[KingAd]

I booked a comp cruise for January a few days after the kids sail free promo ended. The woman taking the reservation told me to keep checking the site as the kids sail free should be back up within a month or so. Just have to call back and have her fare refunded.

[MagicFen]

On 9/17/2022 at 7:35 PM, cocoyang said:

Hi all,

 

I'm new to this forum and hope to get some help for booking a free cruise with RCI. 

 

My husband got a complimentary cruise offer from Club Royal during our most recent sail. We have 30 days to book a free cruise for two. We have selected a ship and itenary and only need to pay about $160 extra for the two of us. But because we have two kids (under 12) and definitely want to bring our kids with us on vacation. The total cost then becomes 2 extra cruise fare + upgrade to a 4 people cabin, which will cost over $2000 extra. 

 

My questions would be, when RCI has "kids sail for free", or any other type of promotion, could it be applied to existing booking? It will save us a lot money if we could wait till promotions are out, but our offer has an expiry date. 

 

Could I book the free curise just for me and my husband before our offer's expiry date and wait till later on when there are better promotions to add my two kids? Will our booking be eligible for the promotion then and will we risk not being able to secure a 4 person cabin?

 

If we book for 4 now and pay extra $2000, when there are promotions out, could we request price adjustment?

 

I also would like to know if we shall book with Club Royal directly or shall we book with a TA?

 

I really appreciate your help if you have any experince or knowledbe about adding people to free cruise offer.

 

Thanks so much!

CoCo

Hi Coco,  I just booked a "free" cruise as well for the day after Christmas.  You MUST pay taxes, tips and any upgrades from an inside cabin.  For my daughter and I, I had to pay approx. $650. to upgrade to an ocean view from an inside cabin.  This price does not include the room gratuities. If you want the child sail free, I would assume you have have to pay regular prices for two adults first to get that. HOWEVER, the rule does state it is per stateroom.  You only book with the Club Royal when you have a casino promotion to book.  Otherwise, ask your travel agent to do the leg work for you. Good Luck! 

[PigsCanFly]

We always have included our adult son on our "free" cruises from the casino on RCL.  Wife and I typically each receive a offer from a cruise.  We have been able to combine the two offers to offset part of the 3rd passenger fare.  The gratuities and port charges are always x 3 for us.  Is you each have a "free" room offer, you may be able to book 2 connecting rooms with 1 adult and 1 child each and leave the connecting doors open.  Good luck.

[cocoyang]

Thanks! Is your offer from Club Royal and did they say they can apply promotions to existing booking? From what I heard, no promotions can be applied to "free cruise offer". So I was thinking shall I just book a seperate inside cabin for my two boys (our offer is oceanview), who will be 13 and 10 by the time we sail. I'm trying to find what's the best way to book so we could save the most adding our two kids.

 

On 9/21/2022 at 11:41 AM, KingAd said:

I booked a comp cruise for January a few days after the kids sail free promo ended. The woman taking the reservation told me to keep checking the site as the kids sail free should be back up within a month or so. Just have to call back and have her fare refunded.

[cocoyang]

On 9/21/2022 at 2:29 PM, MagicFen said:

Hi Coco,  I just booked a "free" cruise as well for the day after Christmas.  You MUST pay taxes, tips and any upgrades from an inside cabin.  For my daughter and I, I had to pay approx. $650. to upgrade to an ocean view from an inside cabin.  This price does not include the room gratuities. If you want the child sail free, I would assume you have have to pay regular prices for two adults first to get that. HOWEVER, the rule does state it is per stateroom.  You only book with the Club Royal when you have a casino promotion to book.  Otherwise, ask your travel agent to do the leg work for you. Good Luck! 

Thank you and is your "free" cruise also from Club Royal? Our offer is oceanview for two (we also have balcony for two options, but we picked the oceanview ship and itenary). We are trying to do the math, booking togeter (not sure if promos will be applied after), or book a seperate cabin just for my kids. Need to figure this out very soon...

[cocoyang]

On 9/24/2022 at 12:11 AM, PigsCanFly said:

We always have included our adult son on our "free" cruises from the casino on RCL.  Wife and I typically each receive a offer from a cruise.  We have been able to combine the two offers to offset part of the 3rd passenger fare.  The gratuities and port charges are always x 3 for us.  Is you each have a "free" room offer, you may be able to book 2 connecting rooms with 1 adult and 1 child each and leave the connecting doors open.  Good luck.

Thank you for your reply. No I don't have an offer, just my husband has this offer (free oceanview for two), so we are trying to see how to book to save us the most. 

[Gregg00ss]

I have booked a comped cruise before and added my daughter as a 3rd person for free under the kids sail free promotion.  Had to pay taxes/fees for her but there was no additional charge for her.  So you can use that promotion with a comp offer.  I know you can add people to a reservation pretty much at any time, so I would assume if the kids sail free was applicable at that time, it would apply.  There is no guarantee though that a room that will fit 4 will be available down the road, that is a chance you have to take.  

 

Personally, I would book the room with you and your husband in it for now.  Maybe do a mock booking with 4 of you and see what room you want.  When you book through casino request that room that way you know it will fit 4.  When times comes to add kids see how it goes.  If they won't honor the kids sail free and you don't want to pay the cost to add them, cancel the cruise.  Taxes/fees are always refundable so you shouldn't be out any money.  I would be weary of dropping $2000 to add the kids now hoping it will get refunded unless you REALLY want to go on this cruise and/or you are ok paying the $2000 if need be.