Online check-in at Royal PDC - soooo tricky!

[mjd190]

We were at the Royal in November, and had booked with Air Canada. I tried using various versions of our name, with no luck. In desperation ( as it was 1am ) I tried the reservation number from Air Canada and it worked.
After that the check in went smoothly, although there were very few rooms to choose from. We ended up in 338 which I thought was great. It wasn't far to the beach, pools, or restaurants.
Hope you have a great time.

[UncleChucky]

I checked in this morning at 1:05am (est) and had no problems at all. Typed in my name and bingo I was in. I booked through Air Canada and on my confirmation I had a booking number, I had it just in case. Plus I got a room very close to the beach.

On thing I did notice is that on a PDF of the resort shows my room with double bed, but online it shows king. So I hope the online is what I get.

[debk]

Okay - details! What room did you select? We were there in 2006 and love to hear anything about it!

[Spire2000]

So no luck getting into the system. I've used every permutation of the names of everyone from the three couples travelling I can think of and nothing. Air Canada Vacations provided us with two different reservation numbers (PNR Hotel Reservation # and a Hotel Confirmation #). Neither work.

I believe I will have to wait for Air Canada Vacations to open in the morning. Kind of frustrating.

[Spire2000]

Wow. I finally got in just now after hours of frustration. How did I get in? I used Internet Explorer (IE) instead of Firefox. Seems the site doesn't like Firefox, so this is a tip for future users.

In IE, all I needed was my first name in the first field, my last name in the second field and the date of arrival. No need for my wife's name.

Sadly, once in I realized only 6 rooms are free and most in the smoking section, which we did not want. Also, the free rooms are scattered all around the resort, preventing the 6 of us from being close.

Finally, you should know that they need a credit card to finalize your online check-in. We've decided to take a gamble and wait until we arrive and ask for rooms together.

[steve balt]

why do they need a credit card, if the rooms paid already. i havent heard this from anyone else. im sure i will be checking this thread alot. i have to do my online reservation at the end on january.

[Lindseyae]

they ask for a credit card from everyone for incidentals. This has always occured when I've checked into a resort, which is what this systme is doing, only online instead of in person. Damages, additional services, etc. I know that ours ended up being charged for the internet time we used when there.

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by Spire2000

Finally, you should know that they need a credit card to finalize your online check-in.

I've not heard this to be the case either.

Did you book Royal Ocean view jr. suites?

I was wondering if maybe you booked standard jr. suites and while the system did let you in - in order to confirm your exact rooms (Royal service perk), it wanted your credit card info to charge the upgrade fee.

Ok, that was a stretch as far as an explanation goes - but it could be right!

Anyway, it would be good to hear from anyone else who used the online check in to see if they too had to enter CC info.

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by Lindseyae

they ask for a credit card from everyone for incidentals. This has always occured when I've checked into a resort, which is what this systme is doing, only online instead of in person. Damages, additional services, etc. I know that ours ended up being charged for the internet time we used when there.

Oh, so you had to enter CC info when you did the online check in too?

They didn't have online check in when I was there in Dec. 06 but I did give my CC upon check in.

[Sukidog]

Yep last year when I did on-line check-in we needed a cc # in order to get the room we wanted. We had booked and paid for with our travel agent a oceanview blah blah room Royal Service etc. Like the previous peep stated it is just like when you check in, in person and you provide the resort with a cc# for incidentals. It is another way of speeding up the process when you arrive and they already have your cc# on file. Niiicce!! I was leary at first to do this thinking that is was going to incur an unwanted charge, but nothing ever appeared on my cc and will not hesitate to do this again!!! In just a couple of weeks!!

[mrcool138]

Yep,

Same thing for us, when we went this past October. Nothing ever showed up on the card. No problems. Now... when can I go back????

[Titemiou]

Same for us. They ask the credit card number like in a normal check-in. They charge the non-inclusive fees like wine other than those included, massages, internet, paying services...and upgrading while checking-in. They are charged at the check-out.
I had $1 dollar charged for 10 minutes internet. That's all. No surprise charges.
You can choose your room if you've taken the Royal Service. For a standard suite, you can check-in but can't choose your room unless you upgrade while online.
We want to go back too nicest place we've been.

[Spire2000]

The prompt for the CC # surprised me because this will be my 5th visit to an AI (Mexico, Cuba and DR) and I have not once been asked for a CC # on check in.

Either way, the room selection was poor. We asked for King beds in a non-smoking room. There were a couple non-smoking rooms available, but with double beds. There were also about 5 King beds available but in smoking rooms. We're hoping that once we get there tomorrow and speak to someone in person, more options will be available (1 night w/double beds, the rest in king).

Look for my trip report next weekend or early next week. I plan to focus on things other trip reports don't to try to paint a more complete picture.

[Lindseyae]

you've probably seen this in other posts, but you'd never know the smoking rooms are smoking. I'm not sure if it's b/c of the marble instead of carpet, but the only way you notice is b/c you see ashtrays. Just an FYI if you do end up in smoking.