Group with one 21+ adult and three under-21, can we board ?

[bernard000]

 

Hello everyone, I have a question about how to proceed with the Royal Caribbean Age Policy.

According to the Royal Caribbean Age Policy:

Quote

No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older. 

And

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This age limit will be waived for children sailing with their parents or guardians in connecting staterooms

We're planning a trip to Florida in August and we were thinking about taking one of Royal Caribbean's cruises. Since our group has two 19 year olds, one 20 year old and one 43 year old (We're not a family, just friends), is there any way we would be able to arrange our rooms so we could board on the cruise? For example, booking two interior connecting staterooms? Or the only option is to book one of those bigger suites that can accomodate 4+ guests? (I think we would be more confortable if the former was possible).

Thanks in advance for helping and sorry if my english is somehow incorrect (english is not my first language).

[NS8VN]

Welcome to the forum!

You are correct that all 4 you will need to all stay in one room to make this work.  The first rule you posted is the only one that matters as the 43 year old is not the parent of any of the rest of you.  Even if you were related but not parent/child the second rule would not help you.

Good luck, and with August only 3 months away you will want to get things booked soon if you decide to cruise.  It is a busy time and rooms are likely already in limited supply.

[Matt]

FWIW, on my upcoming Alaska cruise, we have two rooms booked and my kids are booked in a room by themselves (ages 7 and 3).  

I'm honestly not sure how we got around that, because in most other situations with two rooms, my wife was booked in one room and me the other.  

I'd suggest working with a travel agent and see if they can work some magic!

[tiny260]

And the 19 and 20 year old may still have to have a consent to travel form signed by a parent or legal guard in.

As @Matt says, you probably should have a Travel Agent work this out for you because there could also be legal consideration that have to do with where your legal residencies is documented to, this is not meant as disrespectful, but you said your first language was not English.

[KathyC]

6 hours ago, Matt said:

FWIW, on my upcoming Alaska cruise, we have two rooms booked and my kids are booked in a room by themselves (ages 7 and 3).  

I'm honestly not sure how we got around that, because in most other situations with two rooms, my wife was booked in one room and me the other.  

I'd suggest working with a travel agent and see if they can work some magic!

My kids were booked in their own room when they were 15 & 17, connecting to ours, and it was Royal who put them there.  We were all four in one room, and they upgraded us to two connecting rooms and moved the two of them into the new booked room.  So I think it's not as much of an issue than it reads as is.  

[melski94]

I'll echo that using a travel agent is the best way to go.  Technically the rule is that you can book a room that is connecting, adjoining or directly across from someone over 21.  So you could be in a balcony and they can have the rooms right next to yours or directly across from your door.

3 hours ago, tiny260 said:

And the 19 and 20 year old may still have to have a consent to travel form signed by a parent or legal guard in.

Actually they don't.  They are considered legal adults and they do not need a form signed by their parents. In fact, they are supposed to sign the cruise contract themselves and they sign any onboard waivers themselves. My daughter turned 18 right before our last cruise and I could no longer sign for her even though I was traveling with her...although I still signed for her just like I do for my hubby 

[NS8VN]

As OP posted, RCCL specifically makes an exemption when a parent/guardian is a part of the reservation.  So what Matt and Kathy experienced is normal and within the rules.  Since nobody in this group is related the exception does not apply here.

But I do agree that a good TA might be able to make it happen.  Worth a shot at least.

[jzing]

We are traveling with extended family and some friends in July.  We are bringing my daughters 3 18 year old friends.  We have 3 rooms.  We had to put my daughter with one friend, me with another, and my husband with the third.  Daughter was ok with the friend as long as she was in an adjacent room to a parent.  We will swap me for the friend in the room with my husband when we board.  This is what RCI told me to do when I called them directly to verify what my TA was doing.  They were specific about the adjacent room being OK for my daughter and friend.

Travel agent actually booked us wrong at first, we didn't know we all had to be together so we had the two friends in an interior room on our hall.  About 110 days out she called and explained we all had to be in adjacent rooms.  Luckily, there were enough rooms free that were able to move to 3 balcony rooms not too far from our group.

Has anyone done this before?  They told me we can get extra key cards for the rooms but I am not sure how long that will take.

[HeWhoWaits]

8 hours ago, jzing said:

  They told me we can get extra key cards for the rooms but I am not sure how long that will take.

Go to Guest Services the first time there's not much of a line. The process to get additional cards goes very quickly.