Need to swap one of our cabins to be next to our children

[bronxwarrior]

Hi all! We are sailing on April 9 on Allure. I have two rooms on different decks. One room is attached to a connecting room (on a lower deck) and the other is not. I want to reach out to the travelers and offer them a higher deck to swap with the room connecting to my children. Royal won't reach out to them, how can I ultimately arrange a swap with them?  My kids are teens and should be okay, but for piece of mind, I'd prefer them next to me. 

 

Please help! 

 

David (davidlevine08 at gmail '.' com)

[SpeedNoodles]

Honestly, I don't see any way to do this, short of trying to find someone in the hallway on embarkation day and asking (which, imo, would be pretty rude and not received very well).

[wordell1]

43 minutes ago, bronxwarrior said:

Hi all! We are sailing on April 9 on Allure. I have two rooms on different decks. One room is attached to a connecting room (on a lower deck) and the other is not. I want to reach out to the travelers and offer them a higher deck to swap with the room connecting to my children. Royal won't reach out to them, how can I ultimately arrange a swap with them?  My kids are teens and should be okay, but for piece of mind, I'd prefer them next to me. 

 

Please help! 

 

David (davidlevine08 at gmail '.' com)

You would have no way to do it before boarding and there would be a lot required to do it after. I wouldn't take your offer even for a better cabin because there would be a lot of complications as everything is tied to your room number.

If you weren't willing to be separated, you shouldn't have made the booking.

[TeRriii]

You want to swap cabin with strangers ? Then you need to swap your Sea Pass card as well to access the cabin.

You know your Sea Pass connected to your credit card right ?

[DoomSlayer]

I’m confused how you even booked this to be honest. Their policy is that there must be at least one adult in each room unless they are in adjacent cabins or directly across the hall from adults linked in their reservation.

[bronxwarrior]

1 hour ago, wordell1 said:

You would have no way to do it before boarding and there would be a lot required to do it after. I wouldn't take your offer even for a better cabin because there would be a lot of complications as everything is tied to your room number.

If you weren't willing to be separated, you shouldn't have made the booking.

I am willing, read before you reply. One adult and one minor per room. 

[DoomSlayer]

20 minutes ago, bronxwarrior said:

One adult and one minor per room. 

Makes sense now, thanks for clarifying.  My only advice is to just make sure everyone knows their assigned muster stations if people are going between rooms.  As others mentioned, there are a lot of logistics like attached credit cards, muster rosters, and damage liabilities that will make a room swap hard, if not impossible, to do.  Instead, focus on having fun, set rules for your teens (like honoring curfew), and check-in with each other regularly.  Go to guest services and ask that the adults be given a room card for access to the other room on your linked reservation.  Have fun on your trip -- Allure is a great ship for the family!

[Ryan79]

Don’t count on this happening. You will make the people staying in that other cabin have a miserable time trying to get everything changed over. I would hope you are going to at least offer them some significant compensation for all the hassle you are wanting them to incur for your convenience. This is where planning comes in handy.

[Xaa]

6 hours ago, bronxwarrior said:

I am willing, read before you reply. One adult and one minor per room. 

It sounds like you applied your passengers in a way that would allow the rooms not to be together (or to get the lower priced GTY) and now you want to hopefully jump through hoops and get a set of strangers to jump with you?  I don't think it's going to work out.  In the end, you're likely to have what you chose.  The teens will be perfectly fine.

[RafaellaCG]

I think your best bet for finding them would be to look here and on facebook for your sailing and see if you can track them down. Maybe you can get it swapped before the sailing lf both parties are willing?

[whitsmom]

We always pick our cabins at booking to avoid this exact thing. 

[tjcruisers]

11 hours ago, TeRriii said:

You want to swap cabin with strangers ? Then you need to swap your Sea Pass card as well to access the cabin.

You know your Sea Pass connected to your credit card right ?

I had to switch rooms before. Guest services just transfers everything over to the new room and prints you new sea pass cards. It's a 2 minute process

[recogneyes]

10 hours ago, bronxwarrior said:

I am willing, read before you reply. One adult and one minor per room. 

You are only a few days away from sailing so my suggestion would be to contact Royal now and see if there are any cabins left in the category that you booked and see if you can be moved to new cabins at least on the same deck.   I'm assuming you booked GTY staterooms - with Royal sailing at or near capacity most dates, it's a gamble to hope to be able to get rooms reassigned but doesn't hurt to ask.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

12 hours ago, bronxwarrior said:

Hi all! We are sailing on April 9 on Allure. I have two rooms on different decks. One room is attached to a connecting room (on a lower deck) and the other is not. I want to reach out to the travelers and offer them a higher deck to swap with the room connecting to my children. Royal won't reach out to them, how can I ultimately arrange a swap with them?  My kids are teens and should be okay, but for piece of mind, I'd prefer them next to me. 

 

Please help! 

 

David (davidlevine08 at gmail '.' com)

Unfortunately (and this is just my own opinion) this should have been planned out when you originally booked and not a week before the cruise begins.  If you booked as GTY you should’ve assumed there would be only a very small chance that your rooms would be together.  If this was a last minute cruise decision that chance to get rooms together or close-by or even on same deck became even smaller!  Sorry about this…hopefully your teens are very trustworthy and will honor your rules for them while on this cruise!

[Pooch]

Or one parent stays in each room as booked.  I don’t think I’d want my kids on another deck alone.  Even responsible kids can be talked into poor decisions.  I wouldn’t want to take the chance someone talks themselves into the room alone with my kid.

[Cello56]

Honestly there is no way you are going to get complete strangers to switch cabins with you at the start of the cruise. My suggestion would be to have one adult in each cabin like you booked it. 

[twangster]

You could talk to guest services upon boarding to see if they have anything available closer to each other in the event someone doesn't show up.

Stuff happens and sometimes folks don't take the cruise but Royal provides no relief when someone can't sail at the last minute so it's not uncommon for a few cabins to become available from no-shows.  It's unlikely to be the cabin next-door but maybe you can get closer.   

No guarantee but it never hurts to ask.  

[BrianB]

I agree with @twangster…check with guest services after embarkation closes to see if there are any no-shows.

Oh, and don’t ask me to change seats on an airplane because you didn’t book early enough to get seats together, or got a cheaper price by booking middle seats and now want me to give up my chosen seat because ‘my family needs me!’.
Been there, heard that. Don’t care.

[Ryan79]

45 minutes ago, BrianB said:

I agree with @twangster…check with guest services after embarkation closes to see if there are any no-shows.

Oh, and don’t ask me to change seats on an airplane because you didn’t book early enough to get seats together, or got a cheaper price by booking middle seats and now want me to give up my chosen seat because ‘my family needs me!’.
Been there, heard that. Don’t care.

Like the saying goes: A lack of planning on your end doesn’t constitute an emergency on my end. Anyone asking me to switch anything due to their poor planning had better be offering me some serious cash consideration on the spot. My going rate for a change in plane seat is $200 per hour of flight time. For a cruise, you better have a few $k on you!! Poor planning can be expensive and I have no issue being one of those expenses!! 

[Ryan79]

2 hours ago, tjcruisers said:

I had to switch rooms before. Guest services just transfers everything over to the new room and prints you new sea pass cards. It's a 2 minute process

Did you switch rooms with a complete stranger or to an unoccupied room? Those are completely different transactions. Also, the line for Guest Services on embarkation isn’t 2 minutes. Yes, the line is short if you go early, but How are you going to get the complete stranger to show up at GS early with no prior contact? This isn’t quick or easy and absolutely not 2 minutes

[twangster]

48 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

Did you switch rooms with a complete stranger or to an unoccupied room? Those are completely different transactions. Also, the line for Guest Services on embarkation isn’t 2 minutes. Yes, the line is short if you go early, but How are you going to get the complete stranger to show up at GS early with no prior contact? This isn’t quick or easy and absolutely not 2 minutes

Yes the line can be long at GS during embarkation but the actual process of switching cabins doesn't take long. 

However GS won't know until after sail away if they have any cabins at their disposal.  By visiting right after boarding you can get your name on a list and once the cruise has departed, then GS can see if there are any no-shows to work with.

[Cello56]

Another thing to remember is that the other guests might have chosen their cabin for a specific reason. Perhaps they wanted that particular deck, or needed to be near the elevators. Just because you are offering them a cabin on a higher deck does not mean that they will consider that a better cabin. For example on ships with a Royal Promenade lots of people want to be on deck six since it is a quick trip down one flight to where the action is. On Oasis class ships we always book on deck eight since you can walk through Central Park to quickly traverse the length of the ship. 

[SpeedNoodles]

 

1 hour ago, Cello56 said:

Another thing to remember is that the other guests might have chosen their cabin for a specific reason. Perhaps they wanted that particular deck, or needed to be near the elevators. Just because you are offering them a cabin on a higher deck does not mean that they will consider that a better cabin. For example on ships with a Royal Promenade lots of people want to be on deck six since it is a quick trip down one flight to where the action is. On Oasis class ships we always book on deck eight since you can walk through Central Park to quickly traverse the length of the ship. 

Agreed.  I no longer book rooms on higher decks (unless it's a Crown Loft)  because they aren't near anywhere we spend time.

[FireFishII]

I would not switch to a higher floor due to motion sickness.  But I also think it does not hurt to ask politely.  You may find a couple or family that does not mind the swap.  Good luck!

[Sharla]

You also don't know if the party in the room next door to you will fit into the room you're asking them to move to. They might have 3 or 4 guests and your room only sleeps 2. 

Balcony does not equal balcony in all cases.

[Ampurp85]

I was just going to say how there are too many variables, a lot are already mentioned, when trying to switch when you board. If a rep cannot help you over the phone, you really need to resign yourself to the fact you may be apart. 

Personally, there is no way I would swap a cabin and if you can afford to give someone cash for doing it, you should be able to afford moving rooms the proper way. 

[Donna G]

I'd be worried about shore excursions and drink packages etc that were already linked to my room.  It's not like you are just changing a seat on a plane, so much more involved.  Or what if the room on the other side of them has their other family members they want to be near.  My husband won't even change seats in the movie theater when we pick seats. But I do wish you good luck and hope whatever happens works out for you. 

[brgreens]

47 minutes ago, Donna G said:

 My husband won't even change seats in the movie theater when we pick seats.

He and I would get along just fine.... 

[Blulady]

On 4/2/2023 at 8:29 PM, bronxwarrior said:

  My kids are teens and should be okay, but for piece of mind, I'd prefer them next to me. 

 

 

That implies to me that, even though you booked an adult in each room, your plan is for the teens to occupy the room w/o an adult.  Your kids might be fantastic, but I would not want to be in a cabin next to teens with no parental supervision.  Just my opinion.

[Pen]

Our first cruise was GTY.  Never again.  Hated not knowing where we would get stuck and worried whether it would be convenient to anything.  I love to plan, so room selection is part of that process.  I personally wouldn't be receptive to switching.  And Royal isn't having any problem filling up these ships.  I guess in the future you may want to make sure you choose connecting rooms for both rooms.

[Pen]

28 minutes ago, Blulady said:

That implies to me that, even though you booked an adult in each room, your plan is for the teens to occupy the room w/o an adult.  Your kids might be fantastic, but I would not want to be in a cabin next to teens with no parental supervision.  Just my opinion.

Not saying the OP's teens are not well behaved but wasn't it recently a bunch of vandalism was done by unsupervised teens on a ship.....

[Pooch]

And OP is gone.

[Linda R]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:44 PM, DoomSlayer said:

I’m confused how you even booked this to be honest. Their policy is that there must be at least one adult in each room unless they are in adjacent cabins or directly across the hall from adults linked in their reservation.

Depends on the age of the kids

[Linda R]

I doubt very much you will be able to make a change.  Plus the other party may have booked that cabin for reasons of their own. Like I do. Deck level, view, near friends, or location.  Probably needed to book different cabins when you made initial reservations to avoid this.

[Cello56]

Another thing to consider is that your children will be assigned a different muster station from you. While it is extremely unlikely that you will ever have to muster, it could happen. I would be frantic if my teenage kids were not with me during a life threatening emergency. 

[San415]

On 4/4/2023 at 12:19 PM, Blulady said:

That implies to me that, even though you booked an adult in each room, your plan is for the teens to occupy the room w/o an adult.  Your kids might be fantastic, but I would not want to be in a cabin next to teens with no parental supervision.  Just my opinion.

I am personally sick  and  tired of being anywhere on the ship with tweens and teens with no parental supervision. I know, I know these parents feel that their angel wonderchild would never get up to pranks and if they did, why it would just be them being kids. Those same parents must not care that 4% of the population is the rate experts feel are pedifiles, or they just don't care about the safety of their kids.

Sorry to snap, but kids are the only issue we ever have on cruise ships. I have cruised with my 2 kids and my Granddaughter, when I was with them then, and even now, I am Mom and / Nanny first, and not the individual I am when I am not with them. The way people let their kids just go do what ever with no input from a Mom or Dad can really ruin a vacation for the rest of us.

[VeronicaS1970]

Just an aside- next week is spring break for MANY northeast schools, so these ships are going to be full of folks who paid top $$$ to cruise that week.  Yeah, not a snowballs chance on CocoCay you are getting some stranger to switch with you. 

You cannot book GTY one parent/one child then expect others to change to accommodate your desires. This entitlement stuff needs to stop honestly. And nope, not switching seats on the plane either. Paid to choose my seat, I am going to occupy it, not interested in your sob story. 

[Xaa]

10 hours ago, San415 said:

I am personally sick  and  tired of being anywhere on the ship with tweens and teens with no parental supervision. I know, I know these parents feel that their angel wonderchild would never get up to pranks and if they did, why it would just be them being kids. Those same parents must not care that 4% of the population is the rate experts feel are pedifiles, or they just don't care about the safety of their kids.

Sorry to snap, but kids are the only issue we ever have on cruise ships. I have cruised with my 2 kids and my Granddaughter, when I was with them then, and even now, I am Mom and / Nanny first, and not the individual I am when I am not with them. The way people let their kids just go do what ever with no input from a Mom or Dad can really ruin a vacation for the rest of us.

Don't discount the ability of adults to act like fools as well.  Internet is full of videos of adults acting poorly on cruise ships.  I'm not sure I've seen any with children.  In my vacationing life, adults have ruined more than children.

I'm with you on the issue of supervising for safety, but your concern is twofold.  Their safety and your sanity.  Let me know the next time you see a tween plop a towel and a book on a front row pool chair and disappear for 4 hours.