Why can't I book a four berth cabin?

I was speaking to a customer yesterday who was trying to book a last minute deal with Royal Caribbean cruises for a four berth family cabin. The cabin they wanted was available and would sleep four people. However Royal Caribbean would only let them book two people into the cabin. They wouldn't sell the cabin my customer wanted as a four berth.
I explained to the gentleman why he couldn't book it but he wasn't very happy with the explanation.
It occurred to me though that a lot of other people might be confused about this issue so I thought I'd explain it in todays post.


You'll never see them and unless you asked the right person you'd never know they're there but every cruise ship is divided up into 'saftey zones'.

Each 'zone' relates to one lifeboat onboard the ship. All cruise lines health and safety policies state that you can't have more people in a zone than there are seats available in a lifeboat.
So for instance, say one zone was almost full and the lifeboat attached to that zone would only fit another two people in it; even if there was a cabin in that zone that would sleep four people, you wouldn't be allowed to book it as a four berth; only two people would be allowed in it.
This is to make sure if the worst ever did happen there would be enough lifeboats for everybody onboard and they could get into them in an orderly fashion.

I can see where seeing a four berth cabin on the deck plans as available but not being allowed to book it would be annoying but the cruise lines do have our safety in mind with these rules.

Hope this explains things.

Happy cruising