So, who's really squished into a room? Plus so many questions..

[Birdie dog]

We never have. But, that may change. I booked the May 6 Hawaii cruise on opening platinum day. I'm in a deck two outside room. On opening gold day, I planned on booking a second room using my husband as lead. I had to work that day (in the ER) and it was busy. Between our crappy old computer system, and DCLs crazy website, I couldn't get the page to load, and I sure didn't have time to call. Anyway, by the time we got home the cruise was sold out. Well, I have a room, "so what's the problem?" you ask. Well, we travel with our two BFFs and they're both silver. I am always the lead booking in one room, my husband in the second (we usually get adjoining rooms) and we sort it out.
I watched for something to be released and so far, no dice. So, worrying that lifeboat space would be full I called and was allowed to add two TBAs to our room. So now we've at least got them on board, but we have 4 adults in one room. BTW, we've traveled with them many times and the 4 adults isn't the problem, the space is. I have no idea where we're going to keep all of our stuff for a two week trip. Has anyone done this successfully? I know we can use the showers in the spa so that will take some stress off the situation. Do you have any other tips. Oh, and I know that something may open up, but then, at the end of the day, I know I'm setting myself up for more stress. This cruise is so full of platinum and gold guests, when it comes time to book Palo etc, if we leave the room as is, we'll be able to get a reservation. Even if I put my husband in the second room I don't know that I'll be able to book them on the same things when gold opens up...
And a final question. We all were booked in adjoining (SPHs actually) on the May 2020 TA. We had OBBs and booked Platinum and gold for that cruise also. When the cruise was cancelled, we moved to the 2021 and kept our OBBs plus the rebooking credit. When I booked my Hawaii, I was allowed to move all of my existing credits from the TA to the Hawaii cruise. I have not added our friend's names to the cruise because they have all the same benefits and I feel like merging all of that into one room will be a mess and even a bigger mess if a room opens up for them and we have to pick it all apart again to move them into another space. I have my doubts that I'll even snag a room for them until closer to Hawaii's final payment. That's well after final payment for the TA (though I have doubts that it's going to happen in 2021). Before final payment, I"ll have to cancel and move them. If something opens later, will I be penalized for cancelling persons 3&4 from my room to move them to a room of their own?
Help! This is such a mess.

 

[Drfate102]

OK, first, remain calm. You are booked on a cruise to Hawaii, that is relaxing. don't stress about it and just take everything one step at a time. When you stress, that is when you make mistakes and do something you shouldn't. Look to see if another room opens, that cruise always has cancellations, but assume that none will and proceed accordingly. If another room opens, and you can get it, then make the modifications. The worst case scenario, you are on a cruise to Hawaii, rotating through the beds to be fair and spending less time in the cabin. Just pack a little bit extra patience and teteris everything when unpacking and leave what you can in the luggage.

 

[hrhdhd]

One random thought: if you do end up four in a cabin, you may want a private dinner at Palo.

 

[Deb T.]

I completely understand your anxiety over this. We were in a similar situation with our two adult children and were eventually able to get them moved to a different cabin. While still waiting for another cabin to open up, though, I made several contingency plans. First, a hard fast rule was everyone had to be responsible for keeping their own things neat and tidy in the cabin... absolutely no clothing strewn over the couch (or anywhere else) and no clutter on the desk or dresser (everyone was going to be assigned 2 drawers each to keep their junk in). Each person was going to use their own suitcase as a "drawer" for clothes and personal items, sliding it out from under the bed whenever necessary. Shoe holders are great for organizing toiletries and misc. stuff --- just remember you can't hang them over the door with metal hooks, you must use either strong magnetic hooks, a hanger, or ribbon. Public restrooms and spa showers are also very convenient to use. There's so much to do around the ship that you'll all mostly be out of the cabin during the day. I hope it all works out for you and your friends! Have a great cruise!!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We cruised Alaska with our 2 adult children, oceanview room. We were fine. Stayed organized. Laundry basket. Kept things neat. All worked out. Hawaiian cruise- hopefully sometime in my future! Enjoy!

 

[daedelus]

One thing to remember is that we have to think about is how you pack strategically. We have 6 in our crew (3 male, 3 female) split between 2 rooms, but we still need to plan carefully.

Generally we try to pack outfits that can multi-task and be switched around to minimize the clothing. Maybe look at one of those roll-able vacuum bags that you can squeeze the air out of to pack more efficiently. Once in the room, using the suitcases as drawers under the bed is a great idea! You might also want to pack some cheap wire hangers as well with to augment the small number you get in the closet - you can always leave them behind.

For us the toughest thing is the dresses and shoes for formal nights. That might take some extra planning.

Above all, remember - you're getting back on the ship, so relax and enjoy it! Even if your room ends up looking like a toddler's playroom, you're cruising! Just give your stateroom host an extra tip and let it go!

Cheers!

 

[DCLPrincess]

Sorry to be the Debbie downer but what if there is a corona outbreak and you're quarantined to your room? 2020 has made me look at all angles. Good and bad.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Sorry to be the Debbie downer but what if there is a corona outbreak and you're quarantined to your room? 2020 has made me look at all angles. Good and bad.

It appears that the prevailing thought regarding what a cruise line will do when someone gets COVID while onboard is that the patient will be moved to an isolation room. The others in their regular room will be quarantined. So there would be at least one less person in the room.

 

[John VN]

Sorry to be the Debbie downer but what if there is a corona outbreak and you're quarantined to your room? 2020 has made me look at all angles. Good and bad.

I'll 2nd the *Deb downer* thought.

 

[spiders]

So now we’re speculating about Corona in April & May of 2022?

Okay, just wanted to clarify

 

[mmouse37]

We are on this cruise as well and I remember you posting about this on that "other" social media site LOL. All I can say is I do believe rooms will open up before the PIF date. It may take diligence to keep checking. We are also booked in an ocean view on Deck 2 We have cruised with our teen kids and I am not gonna sugar coat it...it was tough. Part of the problem was we were early risers and the teens were not so being the nice mom that I am I would not put the light on so we were stumbling around in semi darkness to get ready to get out of the cabin. On the flip side we would get to bed before they would and we would hear them coming in late at night. Space was another issue. I would suggest just packing for one week and repeating outfits and mixing and matching. That is what I plan to do for Hawaii. Good luck to you in getting another cabin. I keep looking all the time and if I see something I will give you a heads up!!

I would not worry so much about Palo...with so many sea days if you get on the waitlist on the first day you will probably snag a spot for all of you. Oh, and showering the spa is a good idea...we have done that as well.

MJ

 

[DCLPrincess]

So now we’re speculating about Corona in April & May of 2022?

Okay, just wanted to clarify

I'm not speculating just thinking about possibilities.

It appears that the prevailing thought regarding what a cruise line will do when someone gets COVID while onboard is that the patient will be moved to an isolation room. The others in their regular room will be quarantined. So there would be at least one less person in the room.

Yes, if someone in your room had it they might be removed but what if it was someone else and they locked the whole ship in their rooms.

 

[ldo]

4 is totally doable. But you'd have to have an agreed schedule-such as who showers when--or men go to gym to shower and get ready. You can put suitcases under the bed and pull out to swap out clothing. there's plenty of time to pop in a few loads of laundry on sea days, so being A LOT less--only clothing for 5 days.
also start looking the week prior to final payment. I bet you'll see some cancellations.

 

[SWDisfan]

We never have. But, that may change. I booked the May 6 Hawaii cruise on opening platinum day. I'm in a deck two outside room. On opening gold day, I planned on booking a second room using my husband as lead. I had to work that day (in the ER) and it was busy. Between our crappy old computer system, and DCLs crazy website, I couldn't get the page to load, and I sure didn't have time to call. Anyway, by the time we got home the cruise was sold out. Well, I have a room, "so what's the problem?" you ask. Well, we travel with our two BFFs and they're both silver. I am always the lead booking in one room, my husband in the second (we usually get adjoining rooms) and we sort it out.
I watched for something to be released and so far, no dice. So, worrying that lifeboat space would be full I called and was allowed to add two TBAs to our room. So now we've at least got them on board, but we have 4 adults in one room. BTW, we've traveled with them many times and the 4 adults isn't the problem, the space is. I have no idea where we're going to keep all of our stuff for a two week trip. Has anyone done this successfully? I know we can use the showers in the spa so that will take some stress off the situation. Do you have any other tips. Oh, and I know that something may open up, but then, at the end of the day, I know I'm setting myself up for more stress. This cruise is so full of platinum and gold guests, when it comes time to book Palo etc, if we leave the room as is, we'll be able to get a reservation. Even if I put my husband in the second room I don't know that I'll be able to book them on the same things when gold opens up...
And a final question. We all were booked in adjoining (SPHs actually) on the May 2020 TA. We had OBBs and booked Platinum and gold for that cruise also. When the cruise was cancelled, we moved to the 2021 and kept our OBBs plus the rebooking credit. When I booked my Hawaii, I was allowed to move all of my existing credits from the TA to the Hawaii cruise. I have not added our friend's names to the cruise because they have all the same benefits and I feel like merging all of that into one room will be a mess and even a bigger mess if a room opens up for them and we have to pick it all apart again to move them into another space. I have my doubts that I'll even snag a room for them until closer to Hawaii's final payment. That's well after final payment for the TA (though I have doubts that it's going to happen in 2021). Before final payment, I"ll have to cancel and move them. If something opens later, will I be penalized for cancelling persons 3&4 from my room to move them to a room of their own?
Help! This is such a mess.

My only recommendation is packing cubes! If you haven’t used them they’re a lifesaver for using your luggage as drawers! Amazon has a ton to chose from.

 

[AgentMama]

I think something will open up for another room. Hopefully the cost will be reasonable when it does, but people are going to cancel.

 

[johnsbelt]

From what I saw for this year's Hawaii cruise, rooms will become available. When it's time to pay the full amount, a lot of people cancelled and Disney started to offer deals on category guarantee rooms (sorry forgot what they are exactly called). It was to the point that I would have considered booking a room if we hadn't had plans to go to Aulani already (that's another story) and my wife and I had a bad feeling this pandemic was going to really get bad.

Regarding the cancellation rate, even Pete mentioned on the DIS Unplugged in the last couple of weeks that there will be cancellations at the time when the money is due. So just be calm, make sure your finances are in order, and get ready to jump on it around the time the final payment is due. Actually, why not contact someone at Dreams Unlimited and let them do the stalking. It doesn't cost you any more for the cruise and they do the work. That's what I did and we got a room (category 9D, wanted a 5A) by using this method and am only a Silver member. Teresa was online at 6 am (I was a the top of her list for Sliver members) and sent me the email before I was out of bed. She will be looking for me to upgrade when that time comes and I'm confident I'll be in the stateroom I was dreaming of.

Just my 0.02 worth.

John

 

[johnsbelt]

And to add to my post, the pay in full date was similar to this year. Prior to Jan 1 and all of the info about the pandemic was coming out.

 

[Sun_soakin]

That stinks! I’d keep watching, I’m sure something will open up somewhere on the ship. There’s no way DH and I would want to share a room with others for 2 wks, how can there be any intimacy?! And, wouldn’t someone have to sleep on the bunk? It seems like adults are too tall for those beds (and they don’t seem as comfortable). Even my kids dislike sleeping on them (our 4 kids share our adjoining room).

 

[coloradocutie]

I also wonder if more rooms will open up when Summer 2022 gets announced... people may think Europe is more appealing than HI, especially if there are FCC involved allowing more for one's money...

 

[elaine amj]

We did a family of 5 (my Mom, DH and I along with two older teens) in a tiny regular sized stateroom on RCCL. It was small. But after some discussions with the while family, we decided the money savings was worth it.

It actually worked out pretty well. Only got tight dressing for dinner.

What we LOVED was buying magnetic clips from Amazon and clipping up bedsheet dividers between the beds. We got flat sheets from our steward although I have seen ppl bring them from home / use tablecloths. Really provided a small level of privacy and made it easier for sleeping (we often pulled it aside during the day). Some other clips were used as hooks on the wall for purses, sweaters, and lanyards. The magnetic clips were more versatile than magnetic hooks IMO.

We brought a decent amount of luggage with multiple changes of clothes (my teens changed twice a day at least) and still had 1-2 empty shelves around the cabin. And I remember Disney cabins being bigger. We gave each person a set of shelves/drawers and a small area of closet space. We packed a number of clothes on hangers in our suitcases as we had more luggage space than we needed with Southwest (easy to unpack - just grab each stack of hangers and hang straight in the closet).

We found pulling suitcases out from under the beds a hassle so had a few backpacks/totes tucked next to/under our beds to hold a few excess things like snacks and beach stuff.

Based on what everyone else says, you should be able to get an additional cabin which will be most comfortable in the long run. If not, I hope these tips help