Changing Stateroom Occupants for CC Benefits

[Aby]

Hi everyone,

I've done a ton of searches on this topic, and while I've learned quite a bit, I wanted to put it all together in one place and make sure that I'm not missing anything and have all the facts right. I would appreciate any thoughts and experiences you care to share!

Here is our current set up:

Cabin #1 - Me (primary guest) & DH - Silver Cruisers
Cabin #2 - Dad (primary guest) & Mom - New Cruisers

We're starting to look at excursions and Palo and such now, and I've realized how much simpler it would be if we all had the same booking window at 90 days. So, I'm thinking of calling DCL to switch so that Cabin #1 would be Me and Mom, and Cabin #2 would be DH & Dad. That way, we could book everything together at the 90 day mark.

So, if we did this, we would need to do the following:

1) Assign a credit card to each person (during online check in?) so that my expenses are separate from my moms, and same for DH and dad. (Maybe double check after the first day or two to make sure charges are going to the correct cards??)

2) Once we board, one person from each cabin goes to GS to request an extra room key so that DH has access to my cabin and Mom to Dad's cabin for sleeping arrangements.

3) Mom would have to remember when charging anything to her KTTW card to write down MY stateroom number on the slips (not the one she's actually staying in) and similarly for DH.

Is there anything else I'm missing??

Also, a few miscellaneous questions...

For room service - if you order something with a charge, or want to charge the tip to your account....whose KTTW card do they charge? I don't remember them every asking me for my card when they delivered. Would they just do up a slip for the lead reservation? If we switch rooms for example, but mom orders RS to their room, does she sign the slip with my cabin#?

For the onboard credit we have from our OBB - we have 200$ on each cabin. Will this get applied to the primary guest for each cabin?

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I want to make sure I have everything figured out before I ask mom & dad how comfortable they would be with doing it this way.

Thanks in advance!

Aby

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi everyone,

I've done a ton of searches on this topic, and while I've learned quite a bit, I wanted to put it all together in one place and make sure that I'm not missing anything and have all the facts right. I would appreciate any thoughts and experiences you care to share!

Here is our current set up:

Cabin #1 - Me (primary guest) & DH - Silver Cruisers
Cabin #2 - Dad (primary guest) & Mom - New Cruisers

We're starting to look at excursions and Palo and such now, and I've realized how much simpler it would be if we all had the same booking window at 90 days. So, I'm thinking of calling DCL to switch so that Cabin #1 would be Me and Mom, and Cabin #2 would be DH & Dad. That way, we could book everything together at the 90 day mark.

So, if we did this, we would need to do the following:

1) Assign a credit card to each person (during online check in?) so that my expenses are separate from my moms, and same for DH and dad. (Maybe double check after the first day or two to make sure charges are going to the correct cards??)

2) Once we board, one person from each cabin goes to GS to request an extra room key so that DH has access to my cabin and Mom to Dad's cabin for sleeping arrangements.

3) Mom would have to remember when charging anything to her KTTW card to write down MY stateroom number on the slips (not the one she's actually staying in) and similarly for DH.

Is there anything else I'm missing??

Also, a few miscellaneous questions...

For room service - if you order something with a charge, or want to charge the tip to your account....whose KTTW card do they charge? I don't remember them every asking me for my card when they delivered. Would they just do up a slip for the lead reservation? If we switch rooms for example, but mom orders RS to their room, does she sign the slip with my cabin#?

For the onboard credit we have from our OBB - we have 200$ on each cabin. Will this get applied to the primary guest for each cabin?

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I want to make sure I have everything figured out before I ask mom & dad how comfortable they would be with doing it this way.

Thanks in advance!

Aby

Room service is charged the the "lead" name on the room. I would think that whatever room orders the room service, the charge would go to that room's lead name.

 

[Aby]

Thanks Shmoo - I was thinking that was probably the case for room service.

Any thoughts on the rest of it - does it all sound right?

Aby

 

[sambycat]

Sounds about right! I would be sure to ask for extra keys, we did all of this on our last cruise and the guy in GS helpfully said I will make you new KTTW cards and they were never quite right. Also people need to go to the muster station as assigned by rooms with DCL.

Truthfully, as a silver it's likely that even if you didn't do this, if you procured dining reservations and all but the most in demand excursions, you'd still be able to get everyone together once you get onboard.

 

[katellynne]

yes, the new room cards from guest services were less than reliable!! if i remember correctly they were simply to unlock the door to the other cabin...they didn't function as your kttw card. but since i wasn't one of the ones affected i may be remembering incorrectly.

are those 2 reservations linked? if so, try changing the names back at check in the port. your parents might lose their silver status lanyards and possibly the silver stateroom gift but they will be back in their own room and with the right kttw cards-no extra ones to worry about!! now i haven't done this but it was just suggested to me by a ta who did this for my in laws on our upcoming cruise. they are new and since my parents are platinum they put both men and both ladies into a cabin so we could book excursions all at once.

i will saw it is a bit inconvenient onboard to not 'live' in the cabin you are booked in. but it is only a minor inconvenience...you just get called the wrong name a lot lol.

oh, and as for charging privileges if you are linked you can assign charging privileges to people in other linked cabins so that would take care of that problem...easier than trying to remember which cabin number to use. so your dad and husband could be in one room and you and your mom in the other. then your dad pays for your mom and your husband pays for you (depending on who is primary guest).

clear as mud?

oh, and i think room service will be charged to the cabin they deliver to! now if it is a non charge (a lot of RS is free) then just have a stack of ones to pay tips with. If it is a charged item, you will probably just have to work it out between the 4 of u because i am pretty sure the room where they deliver is what gets charged.

 

[Aby]

Truthfully, as a silver it's likely that even if you didn't do this, if you procured dining reservations and all but the most in demand excursions, you'd still be able to get everyone together once you get onboard.

I was thinking this as well, but the worrier in me worries, LOL! When we took our first cruise to Alaska in 2011, we were first time cruisers, and we were able to book everything we wanted except for Palo Brunch, which we were able to book when we boarded. It's been awhile, but I don't remember many of the excursions being sold out when we were able to book, except anything involving a helicopter to the glacier or a private tour, which we aren't interested in at all. But it seems like a lot of the excursions in Alaska state that they have "extreme limited availability" so it puts a bit of doubt in the back of my mind.

I was also a little worried about knowing for sure that we'd be in the same group in an excursion if we booked at separate windows. Part of it is not knowing how the reservation system works when booking for multiple cabins. If I book myself and DH on an excursion at a certain time, and my parents want to join us, if I log into my reservation again once their window has opened, will I be able to "see" them add them directly to the same excursion? Or will I have to cancel the 2 of us and rebook all 4 of us? If I signed onto their reservation and booked the 2 of them separately, I'm assuming that there is no guarantee that we would be in the same group even if it was at the same time? Am I over thinking this?

Part of me just wants to leave it be and let the chips fall where they may, but we are treating my mom & dad to Alaska and I want it to be perfect. I thought switching us out would be easiest for the booking windows, but at the same time it adds more hassle on the cruise end. So I'm not sure now!

Thanks for all your help!

Aby