Booking 2 cabins with C&A member in each....any flexibility when on board?!

[Bazza]

Merry Christmas fellow RC fans/friends/family 

Hopefully a quick question for some of you experts. I did search for an answer but couldn't find the specific thread so if there is one please share and we can cut this one short!

Booking a cruise in January 2026 and taking our 'kids' with us for the first time, as well as the partner of one of them. (They are mid 20s but still kids to us!).

The youngest will have a solo cabin, but eldest and his partner will have a guaranteed balcony. Wife and I will choose our balcony.

When getting indicative costs through the RCI website it applied some discounts which when I spoke to my TA she said was linked to my C&A Diamond status. My TA then said that if my wife and I booked a cabin each, my son with me and his partner with the wife, we would both get our discounts applied. That is great for saving a good few pounds/dollars but would it cause issues when it comes to room allocation on board and room keys etc?

Are RCI flexible/helpful in allowing us to change names between the cabins before, or even when on board, so couples are together without having to rely on 1 key card per couple?! Could obviously 'swap' cards if required except when needing to board/depart the ship but will be much easier if able to amend.

Thanks and have a great festive period one and all!

 

  

 

 

[Pooch]

Royal doesn’t care who sleeps where.  Go to guest services and get an extra card for each room.  You will need to be sure everyone uses their original seapass card for on board purchases so they go to the correct account.  So wife & son will use original seapass cards for purchases and “extra” cards to access the switched room.

[Bazza]

Thank you 

[AshleyDillo]

They will give you a room key only as @Pooch mentioned.  One person in each cabin will have to carry around two SeaPass cards, but the slight inconvenience is worth the hassle to save the money.

[Bazza]

Thank you @AshleyDillo @Pooch

 

Happy Holidays as you say your side of the pond!

[Pattycruise]

4 hours ago, Bazza said:

Merry Christmas fellow RC fans/friends/family 

Hopefully a quick question for some of you experts. I did search for an answer but couldn't find the specific thread so if there is one please share and we can cut this one short!

Booking a cruise in January 2026 and taking our 'kids' with us for the first time, as well as the partner of one of them. (They are mid 20s but still kids to us!).

The youngest will have a solo cabin, but eldest and his partner will have a guaranteed balcony. Wife and I will choose our balcony.

When getting indicative costs through the RCI website it applied some discounts which when I spoke to my TA she said was linked to my C&A Diamond status. My TA then said that if my wife and I booked a cabin each, my son with me and his partner with the wife, we would both get our discounts applied. That is great for saving a good few pounds/dollars but would it cause issues when it comes to room allocation on board and room keys etc?

Are RCI flexible/helpful in allowing us to change names between the cabins before, or even when on board, so couples are together without having to rely on 1 key card per couple?! Could obviously 'swap' cards if required except when needing to board/depart the ship but will be much easier if able to amend.

Thanks and have a great festive period one and all!

 

  

 

 

Go to guest services and tell them you want to CHANGE GUESTS.  they can do this.  No need for extra keys 
There MAY be some residual impacts from doing this, not typically anything major.  If you have crown and anchor gifts coming to the cabin they will likely go to the original location and not move with the guest.  Also ensure the credit cards on file are moved, it’s supposed to be automatic but we had some dumb issue once-best is to check the app once the guests are swapped. 

[Bob Burd]

I just was just on Radiance and we did what Pattycruise said to do.  I went to just get room keys, but the guy at the service desk asked if I just wanted to change the guests.  I jumped on that and had no problems.  Put the other couple's credit card on their room and we were good to go for the rest of the cruise.  Now if only my casino luck was just as good, it would have been a perfect cruise!

[twangster]

The ability to change guests in cabins can vary ship to ship.  Ask for sure, but if they say no then ask for extra key cards.  

If you get extra key cards make sure everyone uses their original keycard at each port of call to get off and back on the ship.  

[Va4fam]

15 minutes ago, twangster said:

The ability to change guests in cabins can vary ship to ship.  Ask for sure, but if they say no then ask for extra key cards.  

If you get extra key cards make sure everyone uses their original keycard at each port of call to get off and back on the ship.  

What happens if one cabin has two occupants and the other has a single occupant and you move one of the occupants to the single occupant when you get on the ship?  Does the original single occupant still get "double" C & A points because that's how cabin was booked or does it go away when the other occupant moves in?

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

What happens if one cabin has two occupants and the other has a single occupant and you move one of the occupants to the single occupant when you get on the ship?  Does the original single occupant still get "double" C & A points because that's how cabin was booked or does it go away when the other occupant moves in?

Points are calculated on cabin booked, not cabin berthed or occupied.  

This is why Royal Up from a non-suite to a suite doesn't gain any additional points.  With an RU the cabin booked doesn't change, only the cabin berthed changes.

[VeronicaS1970]

We attempted this on Ovation this past May. It was a cluster. Keys to rooms ok, but OBC and cc info was messed up 7 ways from Sunday. I have never spent as much time at guest relations as I did on that cruise. 

DD is now diamond in her own right, so she gets the discount same as we do. Again, it may have just been that sship sailing but we vowed to not do it that way ever again.

[Pattycruise]

2 hours ago, VeronicaS1970 said:

We attempted this on Ovation this past May. It was a cluster. Keys to rooms ok, but OBC and cc info was messed up 7 ways from Sunday. I have never spent as much time at guest relations as I did on that cruise. 

DD is now diamond in her own right, so she gets the discount same as we do. Again, it may have just been that sship sailing but we vowed to not do it that way ever again.

We did this on a sailing with 4 cabins-moving people.  It was quite the chore.  I did write down exactly what we needed, and I was able to move most of the OBC to me.  )these cabins were all paid for by me).  I had an extremely competent guest service agent. 
on a different ship it was 2 cabins swapping 2 people , no OBC moving.  It truly was a pain.  Idk how something so seemingly simple could become so difficult.,

it’s really hit or miss.

[THE TeresaMcChane]

We just did this on Oasis in November.  Went to guest services and just switched 2 people and all was fine.  We did make sure there was a separate charge card attached to each person when we did the online check in so it followed the person.