I am in need of advice from any veteran cabin sharing singles. How does one go about paying for their half of the cruise? Understandably the cruise lines will only accept one payment and send the tickets to one address.
I would not be keen on sending money to a complete stranger in hope that they will actually buy the ticket in my name. Nor would I expect that they would want to pay for the whole lot and trust that I would turn up to re-emburse them. I am probably too cynical but once bitten twice shy and all that!
I've only shared a cabin with a stranger once. But in my case, I had made the initial deposit. The cabin mate paid her share (plus her portion of the deposit) with a credit card to my TA and I paid the remainder. I think the TA submitted the separate payments directly to the cruise line, but there wasn't any problems with the way that was done.
You really need a TA in this situation, or ask the other person who is their TA and contact them directly.
Any travel agent will do 2 billings for a cabin. The cruise ship only gets their money in lump sum. I have shared costs on several cruises and no problems with paying for my half
Same as above. I generally travel with another lady from another state. One of us makes the reservations with a travel agent and each of us provide credit card into to the TA and have our documents delivered to us individually. We've had no problems and have done this through three different agencies.
Jay,
I was just wondering about the same thing when I saw your post. With the exception of a cruise line "guaranteed share" program, I have never shared a cabin. I also have concerns about the payment issue, but I guess it works out. I believe I may check this out for future cruises. As with many other cruising issues, I suppose we will learn more details through research, such as these boards.
Hi Jay. You sound English so I thought I'd answer. (Anglophile here.) I'm from So. Cal and I've traveled to every continent and in every way possible, and this cruisemates thing is the best thing imaginable. It used to cost over $100 a year for this newsletter which was really weird with odd ads (more like for singles looking or something). Anyway, I've traveled alone and with ex-husband and with friends and with school, and on business, but lately I tried twice with this kind of situation. The first was a cruise to Antartica and there was three to a cabin for $1600 (instead of $5000) and only 100 people going on this ocean liner so of course there was a waiting list. Most wouldn't have, but I said I would room with a couple. The couple of course never thought (hoped) someone would want to room with them but I did. Anyway, it turned out great -- very kosher -- nice unmarried couple from Australia. He was a drunk and I've never lived with that, but it expanded my horizons. She lunched every Tuesday at my favorite restaurant in Melbourne where I spent Christmas that year. It's a small world. In that case, I just paid my $1600 to the cruise. (In other words, you can arrange with them to pay your share.) The second time was a single's group I belong to and we decided to go to Vegas. Most events get 12 to 40 people, but this brought in over 200. Everyone was on the message boards, single or couples, trying to get roomates to lower the cost of the rooms cause we were staying at the exensive Stratosphere for the weekend. I wound up (and not knowing them beforehand) and they didn't know each other, but we gave our emails in response to the postings and then we just made the arrangements. One of my roomates already had the room so it was paid for, and he just hoped I'd show up to give him my money. We discussed beds, etc. like sleeping in the same bed. I said I didn't care but he was quite proper and wanted me to sleep in the other double bed with the girl. (At one point we were looking at a 4th roomate.) When we got to the hotel (he and I took a Vegas Party Bus), we met the other girl and she gave him his money as well and we all registered together. Hope that helps! It's good and bad, you know. I have heard horror stories like with elderly roomates that have toilet problems and stuff, but I think if you're careful, it will be okay.
Not sure if this is do-able, but have you thought of something like an ebay account or a PayPal account for payment? When the account has the funds, which cloaks bank info, the money is then forwarded for payment. I'm wondering the same thing myself since I may be booking online and using my credit card, unable to send a check, then waiting for the other portion of deposit to be forwarded from the "stranger" cabinmate. I think PayPal is probably the way to go with this, although, if they can't accomodate, I'll be looking for other possibilities.
You're wise to be cautious. I booked a cruise with stranger. We used my TA, but the booking became a real nightmare anyway. I ended up cancelling the cruise and fortunately got all my money back.
Never again for me! My next cruise will either be with a friend, or I'll wait until I can afford the single supplement.
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How do you pay for your half?
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