Doesn't make sense to me

[Tntt]

I booked a 3 nt on the independence sailing in November, I booked a interior room to accommodate my spouse and I and our teen son. I got on the website and I seen a more spacious promenade interior and a panoramic Oceanview  available but it was  for 4 people, but when trying to book for 3 it wouldn't let me so I called royal to ask why I couldn't upgrade to the other room since they both accommodate 3 or 4 people, the rep stated that the system would not let them upgrade me because the room is for 4 people. This really doesn't make any sense to me, I dont understand what is the difference between a room that holds 3 in comparison to a room that holds 4 and if a customer is willing to pay the upgrade fee for a bigger room I don't understand why this is not allowed. Should I just wait to see if I get a royal up offer and then try to upgrade?

Edited September 22, 2022 by Tntt

[Another_Critic]

Is the price acceptable when priced for 4?  If so, add a 4th person and have them be a no show (taxes/fees will be refunded when they no show).

[MandyMooToo]

I am sure someone will correct me if I misstate something here but I think they try to reserve those "family sized" cabins for parties that actually need space for four people.  So if you have two people and you want to book and cabin made for four that party has taken up a 4 person cabin and that group will not fit in a three person cabin.  Plus if it is a four person cabin they could get the fees for four people whereas a three person cabin gives fees for three people.  

[Biker19]

12 minutes ago, Tntt said:

Should I just wait to see if I get a royal up offer and then try to upgrade?

That or try again in a few days as that restriction may lift.

[Ret MP]

Unfortunately, Royal's phone answerers, at least far too many, are just that, "PHONE ANSWERERS".  Under trained, uncaring, and in some cases, have the IQ of a rock.  I've found that it got worse with having people work from home during the pandemic.  They all need to be moved back into the mother ship and trained/supervised much closer.  

 

There are always exceptions.  I booked a reservation directly with Royal, yesterday.  I couldn't have been handled any more professionally.  This guy was amazing.  It was a first that I was so happy with RCCLs reservations agent/representative.  

 

I would suggest to anybody that is not comfortable with the answer(s) you get from a "phone answerer" at RCCL, call right back and ask again.  I've found that if I ask for a supervisor, it isn't any better or they will only tell you that one isn't available and they will have a supervisor call back which doesn't happen.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Ret MP

[Engineroom Snipe]

10 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Unfortunately, Royal's phone answerers, at least far too many, are just that, "PHONE ANSWERERS".  Under trained, uncaring, and in some cases, have the IQ of a rock.  I've found that it got worse with having people work from home during the pandemic.  They all need to be moved back into the mother ship and trained/supervised much closer.  

 

There are always exceptions.  I booked a reservation directly with Royal, yesterday.  I couldn't have been handled any more professionally.  This guy was amazing.  It was a first that I was so happy with RCCLs reservations agent/representative.  

 

I would suggest to anybody that is not comfortable with the answer(s) you get from a "phone answerer" at RCCL, call right back and ask again.  I've found that if I ask for a supervisor, it isn't any better or they will only tell you that one isn't available and they will have a supervisor call back which doesn't happen.

 

 

Onboard the Oasis on September 11,  last week, I went to Next Cruise in the late afternoon on the day of embarkation while my wife was recharging her batteries (napping in the Solarium in a perfect place that was not affected by the mist and rain). All three representatives were available. I had unlimited time to ask questions, verify information, and book my next cruise. The representative REALLY knew her stuff. Thanks to reading hundreds of threads on this site, I had a list of questions to confirm my expectations without any gray areas. Thank all of you for posting on Cruise Critic. I feel confident that there will be no surprises or misunderstandings.

[Ret MP]

6 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Onboard the Oasis on September 11,  last week, I went to Next Cruise in the late afternoon on the day of embarkation while my wife was recharging her batteries (napping in the Solarium in a perfect place that was not affected by the mist and rain). All three representatives were available. I had unlimited time to ask questions, verify information, and book my next cruise. The representative REALLY knew her stuff. Thanks to reading hundreds of threads on this site, I had a list of questions to confirm my expectations without any gray areas. Thank all of you for posting on Cruise Critic. I feel confident that there will be no surprises or misunderstandings.

Yes, I have found that the "Next Cruise" desk is a lot more knowledgeable and professional.  Hell, they have to be, they are a "face to face" sales force.  

 

My only bad, or not so good experience with the "Next Cruise" sales person was that the items they sell other than actual cruises (BOA C.C. for example) they many not tell you about the more important/critical disclaimers of the product.  For example:  The BOA C.C. points can only be used, when using the points to pay for a cruise, on the actual fare, not the insurance, taxes/fees, or gratuities.

  

On the other hand, the RCCL Customer Service representative I talked to yesterday told me to not pay the gratuities in advance and when I settle up with my onboard account, pay for everything, if you have enough points, with the Royal/BOA reward points, but you have to transfer the points over to you sailing in advance of sailing on the BOA website.

 

And yes, most cruise social media sites, including this one, is a very fine source of information.  You just have to know how to tune out some of the B.S. and accept that we all have different experiences, opinions, writing styles, educational levels, come from all over the world and tolerance levels.  

[HicksRA]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

Is the price acceptable when priced for 4?  If so, add a 4th person and have them be a no show (taxes/fees will be refunded when they no show).

This may be your best option. 
Obviously, they want 4 paying customers for the cabins instead of three. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

9 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Yes, I have found that the "Next Cruise" desk is a lot more knowledgeable and professional.  Hell, they have to be, they are a "face to face" sales force.  

 

My only bad, or not so good experience with the "Next Cruise" sales person was that the items they sell other than actual cruises (BOA C.C. for example) they many not tell you about the more important/critical disclaimers of the product.  For example:  The BOA C.C. points can only be used, when using the points to pay for a cruise, on the actual fare, not the insurance, taxes/fees, or gratuities.

  

On the other hand, the RCCL Customer Service representative I talked to yesterday told me to not pay the gratuities in advance and when I settle up with my onboard account, pay for everything, if you have enough points, with the Royal/BOA reward points, but you have to transfer the points over to you sailing in advance of sailing on the BOA website.

 

And yes, most cruise social media sites, including this one, is a very fine source of information.  You just have to know how to tune out some of the B.S. and accept that we all have different experiences, opinions, writing styles, educational levels, come from all over the world and tolerance levels.  

Your last paragraph is true of almost any blog or discussion in life. I have to weigh all of the perspectives and try and filter the golden nuggets from the silt. It takes effort but the results  can be golden 😉.

[shellunderwater]

4 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Your last paragraph is true of almost any blog or discussion in life. I have to weigh all of the perspectives and try and filter the golden nuggets from the silt. It takes effort but the results  can be golden 😉.

I believe you misspelled something as "silt".  Autocorrect?

 

🤣

[TravelGirlinDallas]

1 hour ago, Tntt said:

the rep stated that the system would not let them upgrade me because the room is for 4 people.

That is odd. I have booked 3-4 person rooms for just my husband and I. And I recently booked for my family of 3 an "ultra-spacious" balcony on Allure that sleeps 6. I wonder if it has to do with how booked up the ship is already when you tried to make the change?

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, shellunderwater said:

I believe you misspelled something as "silt".  Autocorrect?

 

🤣

I used "silt" as a noun which describes sand or sediment in water. In this case, goldminers used to shovel silt into a sieve or type mesh to allow water to wash away the sediment and if lucky, get a few gold nuggets from their efforts.  I did get a laugh though that someone could read it as something else.

 

🤣😁 You might have read it the way my mind thought of it.

[Engineroom Snipe]

5 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

That is odd. I have booked 3-4 person rooms for just my husband and I. And I recently booked for my family of 3 an "ultra-spacious" balcony on Allure that sleeps 6. I wonder if it has to do with how booked up the ship is already when you tried to make the change?

I just booked a three person room for two people recently. 

[Ret MP]

1 minute ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I just booked a three person room for two people recently. 

I booked a room almost a year ago for a cruise in Jan 24, the room holds 8 and we are a party of 4.  However, it may grow to 8 eventually.  But, I didn't have a problem booking a room/cabin for 8 with only 4, initially.

[reallyitsmema]

14 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

That is odd. I have booked 3-4 person rooms for just my husband and I. And I recently booked for my family of 3 an "ultra-spacious" balcony on Allure that sleeps 6. I wonder if it has to do with how booked up the ship is already when you tried to make the change?

 

There is really no rhyme or reason to when the cruise line will let cabins with a higher capacity be booked by fewer passengers.  I have been able to book a coveted corner aft that sleeps 4 for only 2 with permission from revenue because there were no balconies for 2 available.  People just have to keep asking to get the cabin that is there.

[Ret MP]

Although I don't think this is the case in this situation, there are two different ship's capabilities.

1. Cabin occupancy levels

2. Ships maximum 

 

It is possible to reach the ship's maximum level of crew and passengers while still having empty bunks/beds. 

[Cruise Wonderland]

48 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

That is odd. I have booked 3-4 person rooms for just my husband and I. And I recently booked for my family of 3 an "ultra-spacious" balcony on Allure that sleeps 6. I wonder if it has to do with how booked up the ship is already when you tried to make the change?

 

Sometimes it is allowed, sometimes not. Each sailing is different.

 

I believe you are correct. It depends on whether that sailing is selling well. If revenue team thinks that the family cabins are / will be popular, then they may restrict a reservation which does not match the maximum capacity of that cabin.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Cruise Wonderland

[The Grumpus]

I noticed this when booking Odyssey for the three of us.  Staterooms that hold greater than double occupancy are separated by "Stateroom with occupancy up to 3" and "Stateroom with occupancy up to 4".  Scanning through online pictures to find the differences, the only thing I could find was that the staterooms with the bed next to the balcony held 4 and the staterooms with the bed towards the front door held only 3.  Otherwise, they are the same stateroom size and same couch.  They would also not allow me to book any of the "4 person" staterooms.  I assume doing it this way somehow increases overall passenger count & revenue. 

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Although I don't think this is the case in this situation, there are two different ship's capabilities.

1. Cabin occupancy levels

2. Ships maximum 

 

It is possible to reach the ship's maximum level of crew and passengers while still having empty bunks/beds. 

 

Headcounts for muster stations also come into play but still has nothing to do with booking a cabin for fewer people than it can accommodate.  Popular rumor is that they are trying to pack in the most passengers to maximize onboard revenue.  It could also be that they want to keep the higher-capacity rooms available for those who really need them.  I remember once trying to book a 2BR GS when we took my MIL on a cruise.  It would be perfect because it had two bathrooms.  I think back then it was called a 2BR Family Suite or something.  Anyhow, they told me it require a minimum of 5 guests.  We ended up with a GS + JS and it worked fine.  

[CruisinFinsUp]

If the cabins are in different areas, different muster stations, and that muster station is full or close to full, then any cabins in that area will be restricted in capacity to what is left for muster.  

So only double occupancy may be allowed due to muster capacity.  

 

Or, they may be reserving it for a group of 4.   

 

Or the sales rep may have been wrong.