How do we add two kids to "sold out" cruise?

[bridegirl]

I need some help from all you DCL experts.

We are booked for two category 2 rooms and two category 3 rooms for the Nov. 20 Thanksgiving Western Magic.

Here's the "bodycount" that we booked:
room 1 (category 2) - 2 adults, 2 kids
room 2 (category 2) - 2 adults, 2 kids
room 3 (category 3) - 2 adults
room 4 (category 3) - 2 adults

The second category 3 room was supposed to be my adult DS and her boyfriend. However, they just found out that they cannot go.

We have some friends who would like to take over the ressie - but they have 2 adults and 2 children and DCL is saying the cruise is "sold out" meaning we can't add extra bodies to that category 3 room.

Do you guys have any ideas/insight into how we could work this out?

I tried also checking expedia, which someone else had mentioned here, and expedia will let you book a room with 2 adults for our cruise, but won't let you book a room with 2 adults and 2 kids.

I guess the ship is a at a "kids maximum"????

Thanks for any help.

Susy

 

[Mary Anne]

I think it's sold out as far as kids. I think you're only option is waiting to the 60 day mark and hope that a few families with kids cancel. Good luck.

 

[bridegirl]

How can I find out if kids cancel?

Is there a waitlist?

Does my TA just keep checking?

The problem is, I guess if I can't fill the room, then I need to cancel it by 60 days out, right?

My sister is not going for sure - so as of now, it's an empty room. I guess I can try and find a party of just 2 adults that want it.

Thanks for any help/advice.

Susy

 

[Mary Anne]

If it was me I would hold it to the last second I could. Assuming those that know they are not going will cancel between now and the 61 day mark and you'll still be able to use it. You have nothing to lose by holding it till then. Disney will get rid of it to just Adults after that mark.

 

[clh2]

I am only posting this based on what I've learned from the DIS - not from any experiences I have had.

Disney has a policy that they will not let rooms change from Family A to Family B. They will allow anyone in the room to change except the main person who is listed on the reservation.

Since your DS and the boyfriend both are not going - I doubt Disney would let you keep this reservation and give it to your friends.

My guess is - they probably already have a waitlist of families that might want a Cat 3, who would have priority over your friends.

While yes - there may be cancellations prior to the 60 day mark - If your friends are able to get the room - I would suggest doing this sooner than later and keep calling to see if the kids can get added.

 

[CM_Mom]

bridegirl, I think how you can do changes depends on whether the rooms were booked individually or as a group reservation. Sounds like some discussion with your TA is advised with maybe a 3 way call to DCL to set your mind at ease.

 

[bridegirl]

TA says we can change the name of the people in the room - that's not the problem

The problem seems to be either the full body count on board - or the full kid count on board

I had hoped somebody had a resource like expedia or one of those where some "kid spots" might still be lurking available

Here's a weird question:

There are still other category rooms available - if those don't sell by 60 days out - is there a chance they will let me "up" my bodycount?

Thanks to everyone for your advice. DIS'ers are the best.

Susy

 

[invaderzim]

Believe it or not, DCL has a limit to how many children they allow on the cruise. It is not that the ship may be "sold out" or all of the staterooms are actually taken, it is probably that they have reached their capacity for children.

 

[silver7]

When we first tried to book for that cruise date (the day after Labor Day) we were told they were sold out for my ds12. Then a few days later things opened back up. So there is always hope!

I sent you a pm.

 

[PinClubs]

I usually book while onboard. When I do I book 2 of my 4 family members to save on the initial out of pocket expense. For every person in your room you have to pay a $250 deposit.

If I book 4 right away I need to come up with $1,000 instead of $500. The CM is aware of what I am doing and always reminds me not to wait too long to add the other two.

If the ship reaches capacity before I add my children it is possible that they wouldn't be able to go.

It seems strange that they would have a "kid" limit.

Good luck,

Jeff

 

[eye R.N.]

I needed to cancell DS 15 and move DD18 and DD12 into our room. I was told the ship was closed to parties of 4. So even though the girls are on the cruise already,we couldn't move them. Keep taliking with your TA things may change once folks know their school calanders.

 

[bridegirl]

Eye RN -

Did your situation work out in the end? Or is it still in play?

That does seem even stranger than my problem.

I wonder what the actual rules are for how they "fill up" the ship?

Thanks for your advice,

Susy

 

[lbgraves]

Actually, I am glad that they keep a count of all the kids booked in each age group. This is the only way that they can manage the number of kids in the clubs since every child on the ship is guaranteed a spot. The quality of the programing just wouldn't be the same with twice as many kids in the club or lab IMO.

Eyern, do you already have a room assignment? Maybe they have just sold out of all the 4 person capacity staterooms. Not all of them have the pull down bunk. That's the only reason I could think of for them not being able to transfer both girls to your room.

 

[CM_Mom]

eyern, don't know your situation but if your girls are already on the cruise, I'm assuming they're booked in a room with someone else, such as their grandparents. If that's the case you can probably switch rooms with them if you're willing to do that.

On our cruise, we has two rooms for DH, DD and me and for Mom and Aunt. Because we booked two weeks before sailing we didn't know room assignments till we got to port. After boarding and looking at the rooms, we decided that "our" room would work better for "the ladies" and "their" room would work better for the three of us so we went to guest services and they worked out a solution where we could switch.

As I said, I don't know your situation but this might help.

Back to the original post. They will only allow the number of children onboard that the club and lab are staffed to serve safely. You wouldn't have a Magical cruise if your children don't have a Magical time also.

 

[westjones]

If you book a new room through a TA that has rooms 'on hold', you may be able to get in.

It looks like All Seasons Travel may still have rooms for that sailing:

http://cruises.allseastravel.com/c/5/5738/1154152_5738.htm#11-20-2004

We are on a sold out cruise in December also, but there are still rooms available through All Seasons. I think they book the rooms and hold them until a certain point in time. I really don't understand how it works, but they seem to have rooms when DCL doesn't.

DJ

 

[dbond]

bridegirl, Your TA may have to insist on speaking with a manager. The DCL CM's have capacity limitations on their computer systems that only a manager can overide. A mgr. can get around some things, but not always and maybe not this far out.

Also, if you find something available on a TA website, that does not mean that DCL has access to that space. TA's often buy the space from DCL, it's as if it is already sold, so DCL has no idea if that space is actually available or not. The TA inventory that does not get booked, actually reverts back to DCL closer to the sailing. Also, we discovered the hard way, that sometimes the TA inventory is wrong. They think they have something, they give you a room # and take your CC# and then call back later and say they were not able to book the room after all.

DCL will allow you to waitlist. I would think that this far out, you would have a great chance of getting what you need through the waitlist.

 

[eye R.N.]

The ressie has DH and DD 18 in the cat 8 and Myself, DD12, and son in the second room. Cancelling the son was no problem. Moving me to the cat 8 was no problem. To move DD12 it would have involved switching her reservation to a friends room. Then she could stay in the catagory 8 but be listed on our friends room.

Normally I would have done this, but were it got really complicated was the friend is coming from Scotland and it would have involved international calls to travel agents. To add to the confusion, we booked on board last year for the first "alternate itinary" cruise and there is a $400 stateroom credit in play. In the end keeping the room is the best alternative.

Who would have thought you'd have to think this hard about a vacation