Novice cruiser need info about Carnival Legend

A while back I made reservation with a carnival agent for a three
families to go on a cruise in late august. When the agent found out
that we needed five rooms and that five of the travelers were former
cruisers, she put a previous cruiser in each room --- in an effort to
save all of us a lot of money. She said it would not matter who was
on each room reservation, -- and that we could all just switch room
keys after we boarded. Then I found out that the room key is also the
"se and sail" card which acts as a room key and a charge card....and
also serves as your identity to get on the ship.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

On 7 May 2007 14:48:46 -0700, wrote:

A while back I made reservation with a carnival agent for a three
families to go on a cruise in late august. When the agent found out
that we needed five rooms and that five of the travelers were former
cruisers, she put a previous cruiser in each room --- in an effort to
save all of us a lot of money. She said it would not matter who was
on each room reservation, -- and that we could all just switch room
keys after we boarded. Then I found out that the room key is also the
"se and sail" card which acts as a room key and a charge card....and
also serves as your identity to get on the ship.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

Dump this agent.
--
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wrote:

A while back I made reservation with a carnival agent for a three
families to go on a cruise in late august. When the agent found out
that we needed five rooms and that five of the travelers were former
cruisers, she put a previous cruiser in each room --- in an effort to
save all of us a lot of money. She said it would not matter who was
on each room reservation, -- and that we could all just switch room
keys after we boarded. Then I found out that the room key is also the
"se and sail" card which acts as a room key and a charge card....and
also serves as your identity to get on the ship.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

I think it's arguably an attempt to defraud the cruise line of
revenue. And (at least on the ships I've been on) they take your
picture when you get your ship's card, upload the pictures to the
ship, and verify that the picture matches your face when you board.

You could probably get away with this if you never leave the ship, or
if everyone manages to coordinate switching cards before boarding, but
it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

The kind of switch your agent suggests might also lead to trouble if
customs and immigration or the TSA decides to check the manifest
against occupancy.

I don't think the charge card aspect is a problem. They're used to
people paying for other people's charges, so you can probably have any
credit card pay the charges for any ship's card - just make sure you
have separate accounts for each occupant, and not a single charge for
each room (I assume that Carnival does that, since Celebrity and NCL
do).

Call Carnival and ask for their opinion. If they say it's OK, you can
probably check in legitimately and have the room assignments switched
once you're onboard.

On Mon, 07 May 2007 18:54:44 -0700, Jack Hamilton wrote:

I think it's arguably an attempt to defraud the cruise line of
revenue.
Hi Jack,

FWIW, this scheme was devised according to the OP by the "carnival
agent". This would indicate that he said he booked directly with
Carnival by one of their own employees rather than a travel
professional.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--

wrote:
A while back I made reservation with a carnival agent for a three
families to go on a cruise in late august. When the agent found out
that we needed five rooms and that five of the travelers were former
cruisers, she put a previous cruiser in each room --- in an effort to
save all of us a lot of money. She said it would not matter who was
on each room reservation, -- and that we could all just switch room
keys after we boarded. Then I found out that the room key is also the
"se and sail" card which acts as a room key and a charge card....and
also serves as your identity to get on the ship.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

We're doing the same thing next month on the Liberty. We had to do it
because they said we couldn't have kids booked by themselves in their
own cabin. So I'm booked in 1 cabin with one kid, and my wife with the
other.
We'll be switching cabins after we get onboard and get new keys at the
pursers desk when we get onboard.
It's done all the time for different reasons. Relax, it'll all work out. :-)

Bill

--
Visit my Caribbean Princess website:
www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com

"Jack Hamilton" wrote in message
...
wrote:

A while back I made reservation with a carnival agent for a three
families to go on a cruise in late august. When the agent found out
that we needed five rooms and that five of the travelers were former
cruisers, she put a previous cruiser in each room --- in an effort to
save all of us a lot of money. She said it would not matter who was
on each room reservation, -- and that we could all just switch room
keys after we boarded. Then I found out that the room key is also the
"se and sail" card which acts as a room key and a charge card....and
also serves as your identity to get on the ship.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

I think it's arguably an attempt to defraud the cruise line of
revenue. And (at least on the ships I've been on) they take your
picture when you get your ship's card, upload the pictures to the
ship, and verify that the picture matches your face when you board.

You could probably get away with this if you never leave the ship, or
if everyone manages to coordinate switching cards before boarding, but
it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

The kind of switch your agent suggests might also lead to trouble if
customs and immigration or the TSA decides to check the manifest
against occupancy.

I don't think the charge card aspect is a problem. They're used to
people paying for other people's charges, so you can probably have any
credit card pay the charges for any ship's card - just make sure you
have separate accounts for each occupant, and not a single charge for
each room (I assume that Carnival does that, since Celebrity and NCL
do).

Call Carnival and ask for their opinion. If they say it's OK, you can
probably check in legitimately and have the room assignments switched
once you're onboard.


It is NO big deal. The room key has nothing to do with immigrations or
anything. It is the key to your cabin and your charge card on board. They
can reconfigure the key to open your door to the cabin in which you stay. No
big deal at all.

When I called her back voicing my concerns, she said that carnival is
very used to the practice of switching rooms and keys and that I
should worry about this? What do you think?

FWIW, we were on the RCCL Splendour OTS and decided to switch cabins
with another in our group. We just took the four people and keys to the
Purser's desk and asked that the identity of the people be switched. It
was done painlessly and easily.

Nonny
--
---Nonnymus---
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.