freedomletsgo Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 Hello! So yesterday, the last two cabins on the Freedoms sailing March 8th opened up and had a great deal of about $1300/room. There are 4 people in my party, but the rooms were for 4 people each, and we would rather have 2 separate rooms for privacy. RC told me i can buy both rooms at the $1300 price and just not have two people in each show up. So technically we are paying for 8 guests, but the 3rd and 4th guest are very cheap, and we will get taxes/port fees back for them as well. Heck, maybe we bring a few friends along as it wont increase the cost of the trip XD! The issue is now i am trying to buy a drink package, and it is saying i have to buy one for every person in my room? I have been on many RCCL and i have never had to do this. The other guest in my room does not drink alcohol for medical reasons, so is there any way around this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgestang Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 Maybe you should have made your ghost guests children Otherwise you can buy the drink package on board. I also don't understand why you would need to pretend to book 4 people in each room.....and not just book each room with the 2 people who are going. Baked Alaska, RWDW1204, wllm1969 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedomletsgo Posted February 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 3 minutes ago, dodgestang said: Maybe you should have made your ghost guests children Otherwise you can buy the drink package on board. I also don't understand why you would need to pretend to book 4 people in each room.....and not just book each room with the 2 people who are going. I wish! They specifically said all of the rooms that were coded for 2 guests were booked I suspect even with 2, 2 person rooms it would be around the same price anyway. I will call my travel agent and see if they can switch the ghost guests to underage Baked Alaska and Hoski 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnickerTail Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 If the 3rd and 4th guests don't show up (which, they won't), their prepurchased onboard stuff should be refunded automatically. Not an ideal case, as you're fronting them the money for a month. As for how this happened, I would guess that instead of being creative, they copied the ages of the four people between the two rooms (if they had put in adults aged 18 you wouldn't be having this issue). If you TA can't change them to kids, they might change their birthdates to being under 21 for the cruise. That might also solve the problem. Good luck, and enjoy the cruise! Hoski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 1 hour ago, freedomletsgo said: The issue is now i am trying to buy a drink package, and it is saying i have to buy one for every person in my room? I have been on many RCCL and i have never had to do this. The other guest in my room does not drink alcohol for medical reasons, so is there any way around this? This is a change that occured in 2018 (I think). In some cases people have been able to call Royal and explain why their cabin mate can't drink. In some cases they have allowed cabin mates to purchase the refreshment package while the driker buys the deluxe package. YMMV. Cruisin' Queen, Ogilthorpe and Hoski 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWDW1204 Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 Agree with @dodgestang. Why fake 2 extra passengers? Cabin may be for 4 people, but I think that just means max capacity. Not that you have to have that many to book the cabin. As far as the drink package. All adults must get it if one gets it. But call RC Customer Service. They can help with an exception to policy. Hoski and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoski Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 Did you book direct with Royal or did you use a TA? Hubby and I get rooms that allow 4 for just the two of us all the time. Hubby even has a room booked in April that sleeps 4 but he is going solo. If booked with Royal directly I would call them again and talk to someone else. If booked with a TA I would question what they told you and how they booked you. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken23 Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 Also....now that you have the staterooms, and are paid in full (I assume). Ask your TA to ask them if now you cancel the "extra people", who Royal now cancel the whole reservation now it is paid in full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin' Queen Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 17 hours ago, twangster said: This is a change that occured in 2018 (I think). In some cases people have been able to call Royal and explain why their cabin mate can't drink. In some cases they have allowed cabin mates to purchase the refreshment package while the driker buys the deluxe package. YMMV. If they allow the other passengers in the cabin to have the refreshment package due to medical issues, they will put restrictions on their account so they will not be able to purchase any alcohol at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogalthorpe Haywood Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Cruisin' Queen said: If they allow the other passengers in the cabin to have the refreshment package due to medical issues, they will put restrictions on their account so they will not be able to purchase any alcohol at all. That’s not true, they can still purchase alcohol. No such restriction exist, Royal would never pass up money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK2793 Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 I don’t understand this ....... it sound like whoever booked it just wanted to make the COMMISSION on the cost of the extra people who they know aren’t going. I currently have a 2 bedroom grand suite booked on Independence in august for THREE of us ...... the room holds EIGHT people ...... at no time was I told I have to book 5 more fake people in the room to book it ..... SOMETHING IS SUPER FISHY HERE Baked Alaska and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 41 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said: I don’t understand this ....... it sound like whoever booked it just wanted to make the COMMISSION on the cost of the extra people who they know aren’t going. I currently have a 2 bedroom grand suite booked on Independence in august for THREE of us ...... the room holds EIGHT people ...... at no time was I told I have to book 5 more fake people in the room to book it ..... SOMETHING IS SUPER FISHY HERE It's Royal. Like lightning. Never the same way twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedomletsgo Posted February 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 42 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said: I don’t understand this ....... it sound like whoever booked it just wanted to make the COMMISSION on the cost of the extra people who they know aren’t going. I currently have a 2 bedroom grand suite booked on Independence in august for THREE of us ...... the room holds EIGHT people ...... at no time was I told I have to book 5 more fake people in the room to book it ..... SOMETHING IS SUPER FISHY HERE I am not sure why, but we did this while on the phone with RC. RC told me they would not book the 4person room for only two people. Even when I tired to book on the website, when I put in “2 guests 1 stateroom” it showed as sold out. When I would put on “4 guests 1 stateroom” there was availability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 You've alreay pd this cruise in full, but i wonder if you can still xfer to a TA. A good TA could sort this for you as you're not 60 days away from initial booking. I honestly do not know. A reputable TA, like MEI, does not charge a fee to be your TA. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedomletsgo Posted February 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said: You've alreay pd this cruise in full, but i wonder if you can still xfer to a TA. A good TA could sort this for you as you're not 60 days away from initial booking. I honestly do not know. A reputable TA, like MEI, does not charge a fee to be your TA. Period. TBH i do not really mind the whole "4 ghost" travelers thing. I still think $1300/room is a pretty great price given that i booked 3 weeks before sailing! I just want to get the beverage package sorted at this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstephensi Posted February 15, 2020 Report Share Posted February 15, 2020 I have had this problem in the past when booking with RCI. I ask for a booking supervisor and have him/her override the 4 person issue. It has always solved the problem. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 On 2/15/2020 at 1:11 PM, freedomletsgo said: TBH i do not really mind the whole "4 ghost" travelers thing. I still think $1300/room is a pretty great price given that i booked 3 weeks before sailing! I just want to get the beverage package sorted at this point Call up Royal and change the ghost passengers' dates of birth to be under the age of 21. That will take care of the requirement for the drink packages on those. As for the 2 adults, if one is a non-drinker you have to call up Royal to purchase the refreshment plan for them and then the alcohol package for the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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