Gold opening day booking multiple rooms question

[Wisteria]

Hi All!

I plan on booking a cruise my DH and me, and for another couple who have never cruised DCL before for September 2022 during the gold opening day. I want to book two connecting rooms for us both on opening day, however I will be the only gold status during the booking time, DH is silver. I was going to book two rooms, one with myself and one friend, and my DH with the other friend so we could book activities at the same time (DH will be gold by the time we can book activities for this cruise). However, my understanding now is that I can only book rooms on gold opening day if there is a gold status member in each room, which would mean with the current travelers I could only book one room.

My question is, if I book another person, say my sister/mom/dad, who are all gold status, to the reservation with my husband/friend on gold opening day, will I be able to remove them from the reservation without any issues or price changes (ie will I lose opening day pricing for the remaining passengers) after the fact? Has anyone done this before?

Also, once we get onboard the ship, will I be able to change the official room arrangements so that DH and me are in one room and our friends are in the other? I have read about DCL issuing blank keycards to the other room so you have to carry around two cards, but I've also read that they can just reprint new cards for you with the changes.

Thanks for the help!

 

[JWelch62]

My understanding is that you can't remove the lead guest. I asked a CM about this when booking a cruise and placing my wife in one room, and me in another.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My understanding is that you can't remove the lead guest. I asked a CM about this when booking a cruise and placing my wife in one room, and me in another.

But the gold person doesn't have to be the lead name. As long as a gold person is in the room, that's the level the room is considered.

 

[Marc D]

But the gold person doesn't have to be the lead name. As long as a gold person is in the room, that's the level the room is considered.

Indeed, but my understanding is that the Gold member needs to be lead to be able to book on opening day. It is the case when you book online at least.

 

[Wisteria]

Indeed, but my understanding is that the Gold member needs to be lead to be able to book on opening day. It is the case when you book online at least.

This is good to know, thank you all! Originally after realizing I couldn't book two rooms I was just going to book the other room on silver opening day, but one of our friends has bad anxiety and since this is her first cruise (DCL or otherwise) she is extremely concerned that we won't get connecting rooms on the correct deck, in the correct location of the ship, etc.... Anyway, I wasn't sure if there was a way around this or not.

So for the lead person, my sister is a minor. Can a minor be a lead person? Also, am I correct in my understanding that even though she is gold status I can't book a room with her in it on opening day unless the lead person is also gold status?

If only the pandemic hadn't hit, then this wouldn't have been an issue!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is good to know, thank you all! Originally after realizing I couldn't book two rooms I was just going to book the other room on silver opening day, but one of our friends has bad anxiety and since this is her first cruise (DCL or otherwise) she is extremely concerned that we won't get connecting rooms on the correct deck, in the correct location of the ship, etc.... Anyway, I wasn't sure if there was a way around this or not.

So for the lead person, my sister is a minor. Can a minor be a lead person? Also, am I correct in my understanding that even though she is gold status I can't book a room with her in it on opening day unless the lead person is also gold status?

If only the pandemic hadn't hit, then this wouldn't have been an issue!

Don't know about whether a minor can be lead name. But, yes, the room will still be considered gold (once booked), if one person in the room is gold level. You should give DCL a call and see if they can answer the question as to whether the lead name has to have the gold status to book on the gold day, or just someone on the reservation needs to be gold.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I don’t know that you can or cannot book a connecting room with only one gold person.
I do know that the first name listed on the reservation must stay on the reservation.

 

[cruisermag]

I booked multiple rooms on a cruise and had my son (gold) who was a minor in another family members room to get the perks.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I booked multiple rooms on a cruise and had my son (gold) who was a minor in another family members room to get the perks.

I believe OP is wanting to put a minor (gold member) in the second room but is unsure whether a minor can be the lead name on the reservation. The lead name on a reservation cannot be changed, from what I understand. Doing so means a cancellation of the reservation.

 

[lanejudy]

The lead name cannot be a minor - but I don’t know if a minor CC member booked into the cabin qualifies for advanced booking. This has come up before - I’ll see if I can find it.

 

[lanejudy]

Here's one from last year indicating a silver child qualified for booking on silver opening day.

This is an old thread but at least 2 posters indicated using a child as the CC member to book opening day.

Neither is the thread I had in mind, but it does seem to answer the question that OP can book a second room with the minor sister as qualifying Gold status. I just don't know what happens if that guest is later removed...

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Here's one from last year indicating a silver child qualified for booking on silver opening day.

This is an old thread but at least 2 posters indicated using a child as the CC member to book opening day.

Neither is the thread I had in mind, but it does seem to answer the question that OP can book a second room with the minor sister as qualifying Gold status. I just don't know what happens if that guest is later removed...

I think the guest that OP is thinking about removing was an adult gold level member that isn't actually going on the cruise. But using the name/CC level to be able to book a room. Then removing them later.

 

[Wisteria]

Thank you for the links!

I think I have a game plan based off the information that has been gathered...

Plan A: Book one room online with my gold CC account with myself + friend, and have my mom book another room online with her gold CC account with DH (silver) as lead + either her, my dad, or my sister as the second (gold). This would be the first choice, as then it is easy change the second passenger name. However, I am unsure if she would be able to book DH as the lead since he is not currently gold, as Marc D stated above.

Plan B: Call Disney to book second room to have DH as lead and sister as gold minor. This should work according to the post from lanejudy, however there will be a couple hour delay from when I can book the first room online to when I can call to book the second room.

Plan C: Have mom book second room to "hold" it, then cancel and hopefully rebook with the correct people. Issues with this would be availability of the room category and how quickly it can be rebooked before someone else grabs it.

I will try to remember to update this forum once I go through the process. I'm hoping there won't be much issue booking two connecting oceanview rooms, but with people really itching to get back to cruising I'm afraid that the demand will be high even for a less popular cruise and room selection. But I can't really blame them since I am definitely in the category of itching to get back to cruising!
We are really hoping to be able to go on the October 8-night Southern Caribbean on the Fantasy, but it seems to be in limbo right now. But I have high hopes for 2022 Hawaii!

 

[DCSWO]

Or wait until Wednesday, book your husband in the second room. Problem solved.

 

[DareTooDream]

I will try to remember to update this forum once I go through the process. I'm hoping there won't be much issue booking two connecting oceanview rooms, but with people really itching to get back to cruising I'm afraid that the demand will be high even for a less popular cruise and room selection. But I can't really blame them since I am definitely in the category of itching to get back to cruising!

Hi Wisteria! Do you have an update for us yet? How was the whole process? Were you able to book having the lead person NOT be the gold member? I'd appreciate any info/tips. Thanks!

 

[Birdie dog]

I booked adjoining rooms today and yesterday. I booked one room with myself as the platinum yesterday and called back this morning to book the second room under my husband (gold). Interestingly we moved a placeholder and the lead in the room is not my husband, but our friend who is silver. But, since he's in the room, (in name) we could book that way.

 

[AquaDame]

I booked adjoining rooms today and yesterday. I booked one room with myself as the platinum yesterday and called back this morning to book the second room under my husband (gold). Interestingly we moved a placeholder and the lead in the room is not my husband, but our friend who is silver. But, since he's in the room, (in name) we could book that way.

I wanted to say this would be the case, but will the reservation be OK if your husband ends up not sailing..? (I would think it would be fine, but that was another question that was asked and I'm not 100% on the answer...)

 

[Dug720]

I booked adjoining rooms today and yesterday. I booked one room with myself as the platinum yesterday and called back this morning to book the second room under my husband (gold). Interestingly we moved a placeholder and the lead in the room is not my husband, but our friend who is silver. But, since he's in the room, (in name) we could book that way.

Just for the future, if you want a door in between, the travel-speak for that is "connecting". Adjoining rooms can be across the hall, diagonal, back to back, or next to each other but without an internal door between them. It's an important distinction - not as much on cruiseships where you are booking the exact room, but in hotels where you are not and have to request it. A good TA or reservations agent will clarify what you mean, but there can always be slip ups where assumptions are made. Best way to remember it is "All connecting rooms adjoin, but not all adjoining rooms connect."

 

[Birdie dog]

I wanted to say this would be the case, but will the reservation be OK if your husband ends up not sailing..? (I would think it would be fine, but that was another question that was asked and I'm not 100% on the answer...)

I never change anything around until we sail (we've done this several times with the same friends) due to booking other things like Palo and cabanas. You have to keep one original person in the room. But, if I cancelled my husband they'd lose any onboard activities booked. They wouldn't lose the room though.

 

[Wisteria]

Hi Wisteria! Do you have an update for us yet? How was the whole process? Were you able to book having the lead person NOT be the gold member? I'd appreciate any info/tips. Thanks!

My experience was the following:

On opening day I was able to book a single room online. When booking, the person who is signed in MUST be the the lead/primary guest on the reservation. This was automatically filled in and there was no way to change this.

If you have a minor, or don't have an account for someone with silver/gold/platinum but want to book a room on an opening day with them in it, you must call. Like stated earlier and with my experience, if you call DCL the person with the silver/gold/platinum status isn't required to be the lead/primary guest (in the case of a minor, they can't be), just as long as they are assigned to the room. I called to confirm this.