Kids Sail Free

[Karie]

Talked my entire family into going on a Royal cruise next Feb. We booked 9 cabins in total. Our group is mostly adults but one of my brothers has 3 children and a vacation isn't super affordable for him generally, but I researched the kids sail free promotion which stated kids 12 and under sail free on qualifying cruises but you still pay the taxes, fees and gratuities for them. I ensured we chose a date that fit within the qualifying guidelines and talked him into going based on this incredible deal that 2 of his 3 children would qualify for. I was ecstatic that they had this insane promotion! Being as there was so many of us I booked through a travel/cruise agent. I provided her all the info for our group and each families cabin choices. I had gone through the booking motions on the Royal site to price out what each room style would cost. Because there were so many of us I did not receive all of the invoices for each family/cabin for a few days. Upon looking through the invoices I noticed that my brother, the brother sailing with 2 children qualifying for the kids sail free promo, was charged  $1016 more for guest 1 and 2 in his cabin than I was charged for my husband and I for the same cabin. I called our agent immediately to inquire what happened here. She said that Royal charges a higher fare for guest 1&2 in cabins with 4 guests as guest 3&4 are free. I was completely shocked as this essentially means the kids sail free was a sham because the cost is just transferred to the fare of the parents. I sold my brother this trip based on this deal and now he is paying over a $1000 more than the rest of our group who booked the same exact cabins but aren't sailing with children. I asked my agent if we could change his room to an interior so at least if he had to pay more it could be in a less expensive cabin, but she said after booking and paying the deposit we could only upgrade him not downgrade him. I tried to contact Royal directly, but they told me since I booked with an agent there was nothing they could do. Ultimately this is my fault. The deal seemed to good to be true and it definitely was. I was just really disappointed and would have preferred there be no deal offered at all than to be tricked into thinking I was getting a deal just to have the cost shuffled around as another charge. As much research as I have done on cruising I've never seen anyone mention this happening.  Has anyone else had this happen?

[Matt]

Welcome to the message boards.

When you got the point of booking everyone, you knew the total price before telling your agent to book it, right?  And then later you looked at the invoices and broke down the per person cost?

I'm trying to understand better if the issue is you were okay with the price, but then are frustrated at the price breakdown? Or am I misunderstanding the problem.

---

Kids Sail Free's rules are pretty straight forward.

Third guests and higher who are 12 years old or younger on select 4 nights or longer sailings are eligible for free cruise fare. Taxes and fees still apply.

[WAAAYTOOO]

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.

[Xaa]

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.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

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?  

[Karie]

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!

[Villageidiot]

Can the family in the other eight cabins chip in to help the one brother with the higher cost? It would be about $125/cabin based on what you wrote. I would propose this if it was my family going on a great vacation. Hope it all works out and you enjoy the cruise.

[DoomSlayer]

Sorry you are having a little bit of sticker shock.  Once you start booking more than 2 people to a room, it gets complicated.  As others stated, a cabin for two is a different class/subclass than a cabin for four, so you cannot compare your fare with your brother's as his will be based on a different cabin type.  As far as being upset with the travel agent, I would be too.  They should not have paid for the cabin for you without first disclosing the full cost for each person.  Travel agents do have the ability to place short holds on rooms so they can consult and communicate with their customers about things like this.

My personal experience is I call my travel agent and tell him what I want.  He then does his magic with Royal and calls me back or sends me an email to confirm what he is setting up and how much it will cost.  I then give him permission to charge my card if it is ok and he completes the transaction.  Unfortunately, once a payment has been made on a nonrefundable fare, it is done and cannot be changed without cancelation penalties.  Royal is correct by referring you back to your travel agent as you are not their direct customer.  Your problem right now is with the travel agent, not Royal.  I would suggest using a different travel agent in the future.

Looking forward though, how do we turn this around to a positive experience?  You have a large group going, would they be willing to help your brother out a little with the extra cost to make this a great experience with your entire family group?  If I were facing this dilemma with my brother, I would be willing to chip in a little because I know he is on a tight budget living on military wages.  Your situation may be a little different, but just trying to help turn this around.

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted out and have a wonderful time!!!

[Atlantix2000]

10 hours ago, Karie said:

Upon looking through the invoices I noticed that my brother, the brother sailing with 2 children qualifying for the kids sail free promo, was charged  $1016 more for guest 1 and 2 in his cabin than I was charged for my husband and I for the same cabin. I called our agent immediately to inquire what happened here. She said that Royal charges a higher fare for guest 1&2 in cabins with 4 guests as guest 3&4 are free.

But are your cabins actually equivalent?  No, because a cabin for 4 costs more than a cabin for 2.  You can't compare the price of 2 adults in a cabin for 2 with the price for 2 adults and 2 kids in a cabin for 4.  You have to compare against the price of a cabin of 4 adults in a cabin for 4.  THEN, you'll see that the kids do sail for free.

[Colombia20102018]

10 hours ago, Karie said:

I asked my agent if we could change his room to an interior so at least if he had to pay more it could be in a less expensive cabin,

Is this true for sure? If I was booking nine cabins with an agent, I would definitively ask the agency if they can throw a discount or some on board credit and then use the OBC to pay for tips or something. I had an agent that did this for just two cabins but lately I book all the vacations myself. 

[Karie]

@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!!

[Karie]

@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.

[TakeMeSomewhere]

I am not saying your TA is wrong about not being able to downgrade your brother's room to an interior but I will say that I have booked clients in a balcony and then they changed their minds and requested to move to an oceanview. As the final payment hadn't been made, and there were oceanviews available for the number of passengers, I was able to change their room from a balcony to an oceanview.

Two things come to mind in this situation, there aren't any interior rooms that will allow the number of passengers for your brother's room (I am assuming 4 or 5 which greatly limits availability). The other thing is that going from the current room to an interior will most likely reduce the commission the TA will earn, while upgrading would most likely increase the commission. 

If the booking has been made within 30 days you can change your TA or move the booking to Royal. 

[Karie]

@Atlantix2000, well thats the crux of it! I was misguided in my thinking that all of the cabins have sofa beds thus thinking most just accommodate up to 4 guests. I have heard about room classifications, I just thought that was in relation to the view and the placement of the cabin, not the capacity it holds. I obviously see my error now and will be more knowledgeable moving forward with future bookings.

[DoomSlayer]

1 hour ago, Karie said:

@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.

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.

[Karie]

@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. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

1 hour ago, Karie said:

@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. 

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!!!)!

[Pattycruise]

On 3/29/2023 at 3:37 PM, Karie said:

@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. 

It had been booking 8 cabins you would receive the equivalent of the lowest paid fare as a credit I believe. (I did this about 8 years ago so I’m not recalling specifics) I had my travel agent split my credit amongst all of the cabins we booked. 
it sounds like you have a new TA who isn’t too interested in assisting you. I’ve never heard of not being able to downgrade a cabin! As someone else pointed out, maybe there’s no cabin large enough left? I’d do a mock booking and check.  If the TA is still uncooperative I’d look for a supervisor in the agency.  “Dear supervisors, I have 8 cabins booked and when we all get onboard we’ll be looking to book our next family cruise, I’d this issue with downgrading a cabin always the case?”

also, if you do decide to book another cruise while onboard be sure to do the paperwork that removed this TA from your next booking.  You will then have 30 days to move a new booking made at next cruise to a travel agent of your choice.  If you do not DO the paperwork to remove this TA From a next cruise booking you’ll find it more difficult to get rid of them. 
 

btw, when you do mock bookings be sure to set the C&A# , state of residency, 55+, police/military in case any of those get an additional discount but change parameters by family.

[twangster]

When booking eight or more double occupancy cabins there can be a concept of groups and that potentially opens up some different aspects that aren't available normally.  When a collection of cabins qualifies as a group and there are eight qualifying cabins there can be something called Tour Conductor credits.  The initial block of eight doesn't always equate to a free cabin (sometimes that takes 16 or more cabins) but the tour conductor cabins can go a long way to reduce the cost of all or one cabin depending how you elect to apply it.  

It's difficult to articulate all that goes along with groups in a post.  It's complicated.  Group space initially consists of cabins with two occupants but cabins with more than or less that can be added into group space in most but not all cases.  It's complicated and your TA will need to engage Royal's group department to see what is available for the cabins you have booked with them, assuming everyone booked through the same agent.  If not everyone booked through the same agent that changes a lot.  

Since you have a TA this is something to discuss with your TA and if your collection of bookings can leverage group tour conductor credits this may be a way to offset the costs for the family members as you see fit.  

[Karie]

@Pattycruiseand @twangster, thank you both for the info and suggestions. I will do some mock bookings and see what I find. I intend on booking with Next Cruise while on board so the TA info is good to know. The agent I worked with said she'd been doing this for years, so I'm not sure where our disconnect is. I booked all the cabins with her so we all have same TA. I will do some follow up with her on the tour conductor incentive and the downgrade after I do the mock and see if we can bridge our gap. 7 of our rooms are ocean balcony, 1 is interior.

Thanks again!

[RCVirgin22]

I feel your pain, I've tried multiple ways to book with my Sister and her Family but no matter how I went about it I just couldn't get a good deal. It all felt haphazard and designed to work around any deals/saving promotion they were running. For me I'm used to the gouging as I travel solo, but my Sister's family doesn't have a lot of funds to send on some things and it seemed too expensive for them. I thought for sure my placing one or two of the kids in my cabin then at least me paying double occupancy wouldn't go to waste, then the other kid would sail free. IDK for some reason it just didn't pan out like I thought it should. And I'm not on for playing games.