Karie

Personally, as the travel planner for my family….I’d price out the hotels first if money is one of your concerns.  Staying in Miami can be pricey.  
I’ve stayed at an airport hotel that offers $10 per person shuttle but if I’m with my family if 4 or more than I may as well Uber to port as it will save a few $.
lastly, booking hotels with the expectation people will actually do anything in the area may not be realistic . Unless you are ordering options to people they will not necessarily go out to explore.  Arriving late on a Friday for a cruise on Saturday dies not leave much time for tooling around. You might be better off finding a hotel with a pool that’s open late.

Hi everyone! Thank you for the responses! I have only been on 1 cruise but I watch a billion cruise videos and I had never seen anyone talk about this particular issue. I made several errors here! First, when gathering cost info for my family I entered myself and my husband into each room choice (interior, ocean view, balcony facing every which way and the guarantee) on the Royal site, wrote down the total cost for each selection and then for anyone traveling with children I added an additional $154 fees/ $116 gratuity per child and then relayed said total. I did not go thru each person's mock booking with their actual passengers. I did not realize that would alter anything. We will most definitely go on this cruise and have a spectacular time. I'm over the moon that my family gets to do this! I guess my frustration comes from just being surprised by it. I had one expectation in my mind, I voiced that expectation multiple times and at no point did anyone say hey FYI, I think what you think you're saving is not really gonna play out here. I would have booked him differently had I realized the error I was making! Bottom line, we will all pool together on this and its not the end of the world. Lesson learned for next time! I kept telling myself my math was too good to be true! Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated and why I love following the cruise community!

My wife wants to be a contestant and keeps bringing it up every cruise. I keep saying no way. Too many questions I'd have to answer with a lie, otherwise I'd be sleeping on the balcony

When I booked 13 rooms for our never able to sail due to COVID family cruise…I booked through Royal’s Group Dept.  They named me the “Tour Conductor” and I was in charge of calling whenever I found price drops or whatever.  Each room (not person) would have a $50 OBC and I was given a credit that equaled the price of one passenger (basically half of my room fare was free).  Had I been able to book 3 more rooms my room fare (not taxes, etc) would be free.  At time of cancellation due to COVID my credit equaled $680…which they did give to me as part of the FCC settlement (Never want to relive that again!!!)!

Unfortunately, @Karie this is the way that Royal (and I suspect, all of the Lines) price the Kids Sail Free offers.  Essentially, b/c your brother will have to be in a cabin that accommodates 4 people, his room rate is higher than those that do not need accommodations for more than 2.  It's a cabin classification issue, not necessarily a per-person charge issue.  Is it a sham ?  Maybe, in a way.
I understand your frustration.  You worked out the price (prior to booking) based on the wrong cabin category, unfortunately.  Then, when you got the actual booking confirmation, the pricing was completely different from what you assumed it would be.  Perhaps it's a good lesson learned.  Be sure that you confirm the final price BEFORE you allow anyone to book the cruise and make a deposit.
I have read many accounts of how the KSF promo has saved many people money...so it can and does...but it looks like it is a big disappointment in your case.

I'm really sorry for your experience @Karie.
The disconnect you are having is that your room and your brother's room are not "the exact same room".  His is in a more rare cabin that can accommodate more passengers.  I think your assumptions were natural as people often relate to cruise cabins the way they relate to rooms in a hotel.  They aren't the same in that way.
As a cruiser with a 12 year old, I can promise you that KSF is a real promotion and provides real savings.  When it is not running, my son, as the third guest, would have a fare about 1/3 of the first 2 (which are always higher for that room type).  When KSF is going on, he is $0.
Again, I hate the real trouble this is causing for you and I understand how you would equate Kids Sail Free to I can add a kid for free to the fare I have on my room booked for 2 (that only accommodates 2).  The real math however is choose a room that accommodates 3, price it up for 2 people and then price it for 3 with the third being 12 and under.  You will then see what was easily missed initially.

As everyone else has mentioned the price of a room for 4 people is definitely different than the pricing of a room for 2.  Had you mock booked a room for 2 and a room for 4 (without kids) you would see that the room for 4 is priced differently.  Now if you then priced that room for 4 but changed the 3 and 4 passengers to kids…you would then see what the savings would have been.  It would be the price minus the 3 and 4 passengers.  Yes, it would still be higher than a room for 2…different categories cost different prices.
I hope your family is able to get by this and enjoy an awesome vacation together.  If you are on a ship where the balcony dividers can open and your rooms are next to each other…ask your steward to open the dividers!  My family is on Oasis in July/Aug and have 5 rooms side by side.  First thing I plan to do is ask to have those dividers opened up!
**if you divide the cost of your brother’s room by 4 (forget the fact that KSF…there is still 4 in the room) is the cost per person lower than dividing the room with 2 by 2?  

@Villageidiot, yes we absolutely can pitch in, that is exactly what we will do! There's nothing that will stop me from having a good time on vacation! My frustration mainly comes from feeling like I did my due diligence and then I still missed an important piece. We did the same thing with our airline miles. The rest of just pooled our miles together to make sure we had enough to get his family to Florida. This particular brother is very focused on saving for a house, not going on vacation. I'm very focused on our families making memories together having adventures! So we do whatever is needed to accomplish both!!

@DoomSlayer, we will definitely pitch in. I will not let my sticker shock ruin any vacation! All of us going together was important to me, so we will definitely make up the difference. I just mainly wish I would have realized.
I thought all of the ocean balcony cabins had a sofa pullout so I did not realize he would be in a different classification with a cabin of 4. He is a family of 5 but his teenage daughter I put in a room with my adult daughter. And then I requested the girls' cabin just be in between our cabins. Even with price ring higher than i originally acvounted for, a cruise is the most affordable/inclusive vacation I've ever been on and the service is definitely worth the price. I just felt a little mislead and really even that's on me.

Hi everyone! Thank you for the responses! I have only been on 1 cruise but I watch a billion cruise videos and I had never seen anyone talk about this particular issue. I made several errors here! First, when gathering cost info for my family I entered myself and my husband into each room choice (interior, ocean view, balcony facing every which way and the guarantee) on the Royal site, wrote down the total cost for each selection and then for anyone traveling with children I added an additional $154 fees/ $116 gratuity per child and then relayed said total. I did not go thru each person's mock booking with their actual passengers. I did not realize that would alter anything. We will most definitely go on this cruise and have a spectacular time. I'm over the moon that my family gets to do this! I guess my frustration comes from just being surprised by it. I had one expectation in my mind, I voiced that expectation multiple times and at no point did anyone say hey FYI, I think what you think you're saving is not really gonna play out here. I would have booked him differently had I realized the error I was making! Bottom line, we will all pool together on this and its not the end of the world. Lesson learned for next time! I kept telling myself my math was too good to be true! Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated and why I love following the cruise community!

@TakeMeSomewhere, that is interesting. When I went on my last cruise i used a different agency that had been recommended by a friend. I had a great experience with that agent and fully intended to go with her again. However, the timing was bad, when I initially reached out to her about booking she informed me she was going to be gone on a cruise herself and would get back to me upon her return. Upon her return unfortunately we were unable to connect in time and the KSF offer said you had to book by Feb 27th, so I went with a different agency to ensure we made the deadline. The new agency was super friendly, very helpful on booking day and got us all in by the 27th. We booked the 26th or 27th of Feb, I received the invoice on March 8. I made the inquiry into the cabin cost, was told to give her 24 hours to get something figured out. 7 days passed and I still hadn't heard from her so I followed up again and was told no downgrade only upgrade, and sorry about that. We've just passed the 30 days now. At booking I also inquired about the group incentives that are talked about on Royals website for groups of more than 16 who book 8 or more rooms. I was told that this agency had a promotion that gave $50 OBC to each cabin booked  and that there was also some additional incentive that would be offered to me as the planner of the large group but that she was unsure what that would be and would let me know. I still haven't gotten any word on that. Is there generally a group discount or incentive offered? Or should I just let that go? I work in customer service so I never want to be the annoying customer, but I also really value follow up and clear communication. 

@Villageidiot, yes we absolutely can pitch in, that is exactly what we will do! There's nothing that will stop me from having a good time on vacation! My frustration mainly comes from feeling like I did my due diligence and then I still missed an important piece. We did the same thing with our airline miles. The rest of just pooled our miles together to make sure we had enough to get his family to Florida. This particular brother is very focused on saving for a house, not going on vacation. I'm very focused on our families making memories together having adventures! So we do whatever is needed to accomplish both!!

Hi everyone! Thank you for the responses! I have only been on 1 cruise but I watch a billion cruise videos and I had never seen anyone talk about this particular issue. I made several errors here! First, when gathering cost info for my family I entered myself and my husband into each room choice (interior, ocean view, balcony facing every which way and the guarantee) on the Royal site, wrote down the total cost for each selection and then for anyone traveling with children I added an additional $154 fees/ $116 gratuity per child and then relayed said total. I did not go thru each person's mock booking with their actual passengers. I did not realize that would alter anything. We will most definitely go on this cruise and have a spectacular time. I'm over the moon that my family gets to do this! I guess my frustration comes from just being surprised by it. I had one expectation in my mind, I voiced that expectation multiple times and at no point did anyone say hey FYI, I think what you think you're saving is not really gonna play out here. I would have booked him differently had I realized the error I was making! Bottom line, we will all pool together on this and its not the end of the world. Lesson learned for next time! I kept telling myself my math was too good to be true! Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated and why I love following the cruise community!

I just came back from a cruise earlier this month with my youngest kids -- 5 of us total too.  We had 2 rooms, one for my wife and I, the other for the 3 teenage kids.  I defiantly appreciate how confusing it all is when booking.
My teenage daughters had a blast.  Check out the teen programs on the ship with your niece.  My daughters went the first night and found the activities were more for younger teens, but they made some new cruise friends there their age that night and they ended up hanging out together outside of the program during the evenings and at sea days.

Hi everyone! Thank you for the responses! I have only been on 1 cruise but I watch a billion cruise videos and I had never seen anyone talk about this particular issue. I made several errors here! First, when gathering cost info for my family I entered myself and my husband into each room choice (interior, ocean view, balcony facing every which way and the guarantee) on the Royal site, wrote down the total cost for each selection and then for anyone traveling with children I added an additional $154 fees/ $116 gratuity per child and then relayed said total. I did not go thru each person's mock booking with their actual passengers. I did not realize that would alter anything. We will most definitely go on this cruise and have a spectacular time. I'm over the moon that my family gets to do this! I guess my frustration comes from just being surprised by it. I had one expectation in my mind, I voiced that expectation multiple times and at no point did anyone say hey FYI, I think what you think you're saving is not really gonna play out here. I would have booked him differently had I realized the error I was making! Bottom line, we will all pool together on this and its not the end of the world. Lesson learned for next time! I kept telling myself my math was too good to be true! Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated and why I love following the cruise community!

@DoomSlayer, we will definitely pitch in. I will not let my sticker shock ruin any vacation! All of us going together was important to me, so we will definitely make up the difference. I just mainly wish I would have realized.
I thought all of the ocean balcony cabins had a sofa pullout so I did not realize he would be in a different classification with a cabin of 4. He is a family of 5 but his teenage daughter I put in a room with my adult daughter. And then I requested the girls' cabin just be in between our cabins. Even with price ring higher than i originally acvounted for, a cruise is the most affordable/inclusive vacation I've ever been on and the service is definitely worth the price. I just felt a little mislead and really even that's on me.

@Villageidiot, yes we absolutely can pitch in, that is exactly what we will do! There's nothing that will stop me from having a good time on vacation! My frustration mainly comes from feeling like I did my due diligence and then I still missed an important piece. We did the same thing with our airline miles. The rest of just pooled our miles together to make sure we had enough to get his family to Florida. This particular brother is very focused on saving for a house, not going on vacation. I'm very focused on our families making memories together having adventures! So we do whatever is needed to accomplish both!!

@DoomSlayer, we will definitely pitch in. I will not let my sticker shock ruin any vacation! All of us going together was important to me, so we will definitely make up the difference. I just mainly wish I would have realized.
I thought all of the ocean balcony cabins had a sofa pullout so I did not realize he would be in a different classification with a cabin of 4. He is a family of 5 but his teenage daughter I put in a room with my adult daughter. And then I requested the girls' cabin just be in between our cabins. Even with price ring higher than i originally acvounted for, a cruise is the most affordable/inclusive vacation I've ever been on and the service is definitely worth the price. I just felt a little mislead and really even that's on me.