Interesting upsell observation

I have been monitoring a mid-March cruise for a friend that would like to get an upsell from a Signature to a Neptune suite.

Last week this cruise was part of the one week sale on Ten cruises that HAL has been running lately and the sale ended Tuesday. So, I figured that the upsell process would not begin until at least Wednesday.

Sure enough, my friend got an upsell offer on Wednesday afternoon, but the price was too high so he passed on it. At the time we looked at the available cabins and there were MANY Neptunes still open (at least 20) and at least 12 were SAs.

So today I rechecked the Neptune cabin inventory (on HAL website) and now they have closed off the SA cabins but are still selling the same SB and SC ones they have had open for a number of weeks, including yesterday.

This makes it appear that they are giving the SA cabins to people who respond to the upsell offer (they usually close off a category during the upsell process), which will result in people who purchase the Neptune guarantee cabins getting the SC and SB.

I have never seen this done before (closing off some of the Neptunes), so I thought it was interesting. Also, it tells me that alot of Neptunes likely still remain unsold.

For what its worth........

I have been monitoring a mid-March cruise for a friend that would like to get an upsell from a Signature to a Neptune suite.

 

Last week this cruise was part of the one week sale on Ten cruises that HAL has been running lately and the sale ended Tuesday. So, I figured that the upsell process would not begin until at least Wednesday.

 

Sure enough, my friend got an upsell offer on Wednesday afternoon, but the price was too high so he passed on it. At the time we looked at the available cabins and there were MANY Neptunes still open (at least 20) and at least 12 were SAs.

 

So today I rechecked the Neptune cabin inventory (on HAL website) and now they have closed off the SA cabins but are still selling the same SB and SC ones they have had open for a number of weeks, including yesterday.

 

This makes it appear that they are giving the SA cabins to people who respond to the upsell offer (they usually close off a category during the upsell process), which will result in people who purchase the Neptune guarantee cabins getting the SC and SB.

 

I have never seen this done before (closing off some of the Neptunes), so I thought it was interesting. Also, it tells me that alot of Neptunes likely still remain unsold.

 

For what its worth........

I have seen some of the Neptunes closed off before.

They could a) have guarantees that need to be assigned and they need to check what cabins are truly available

They could b) be processing the upsells.

The fact that the SB's and SC's are not closed off doesn't mean the upsells will get those IME (in my experience). They might have also offered the upsells to the SB's and SC's (which would be normal).

Normally, any upsell offer we have had, we got to choose our cabin. So, I suspect they are working out some logistics.

It will be interesting to see how this works out.

 

So today I rechecked the Neptune cabin inventory (on HAL website) and now they have closed off the SA cabins but are still selling the same SB and SC ones they have had open for a number of weeks, including yesterday.

 

What does "closed off" mean and how can one tell if a cabin is "closed off"?

Some times instead of putting "sold out" in for a category, they will put "closed".

Some times instead of putting "sold out" in for a category, they will put "closed".

Don't believe I've seen that but thank you for the education.

I have a Neptune guarantee on Apr 1st. Last week they showed no availability for a day and then they came back on. First they came back with just SB available. Next day it was just SA available. This morning it was SA and now nothing in Neptune is available. Before it went back to nothing there were 10 SA and 7 SB Don't know about guarantees of course

Thanks for this observations. Not that we do Suites, but I think you can apply the basic idea to the other categories.

We had an upsell offer from a high outside to a VA, which were all sold when we phoned, so we took a VB. HAL did start at the top of the list (VA) and worked down for the upsells.

Going in mid March and would love to know which cruise op was looking at......

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Going in mid March and would love to know which cruise op was looking at......

 

 

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March 19 Zuiderdam

The system is purposely convoluted so that folks cannot guess anything about upsells. Best bet is to have a very good PCC, and even better luck :)

I'm on the March 19 cruise as well in a Signature suite. Haven't received any upsell offers from the TA I booked through, yet anyway. But I also just booked recently. Will let you know if I receive one.

March 19th Zuiderdam sailing as well...in a Signature Suite. My upsell offer came yesterday. I booked through a PCC so I received an email directly from HAL.

March 19th Zuiderdam sailing as well...in a Signature Suite. My upsell offer came yesterday. I booked through a PCC so I received an email directly from HAL.

Congrats on your upsell-are you now in a Neptune? I don't think I'd take an upsell at any rate because it's my daughter & I. (If it was with my spouse probably would).

Are you on the roll call? We are both really looking forward to some warmth & relaxation.

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Congrats on your upsell-are you now in a Neptune? I don't think I'd take an upsell at any rate because it's my daughter & I. (If it was with my spouse probably would).

 

Are you on the roll call? We are both really looking forward to some warmth & relaxation.

 

 

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No...still in our Signature Suite...I passed on the upsell. It was $499pp and not really worth it to us. We've never ever been in a suite before, so just having a bigger room (with TWO showers and TWO sinks) is sheer luxury. We have one of the suites 'on the bend' too, so a bit more space overall. Can't wait to get into the warmth either (though it was 75 degrees here in Jersey today!). Perhaps we'll meet on the ship!

DaveOKC, I'm wondering if they're shuffling the assignments around today. Even though the Signature and Neptunes don't show as 'sold out' for the 19th, if you try and book one they come up 'unavailable'.

The SA suites are showing availability again on the Zuiderdam March 19. Sometimes they close them off when they are trying to make upsells.

We booked with Expedia. HAL says they can't change bookings without Expedia's permission.

Any idea whether upsells are done by the big travel companies?

We booked with XXXX. HAL says they can't change bookings without XXXX permission.

 

Any idea whether upsells are done by the big travel companies?

Not supposed to mention other travel agencies here. You could have merely stated you booked with a major on line agency.

Whether you can get upsells through these agencies has been debated frequently without resolution. Some have. Some haven't. If your objective is an upsell, probably best to book direct with cruise line.

We booked with Expedia. HAL says they can't change bookings without Expedia's permission.

 

Any idea whether upsells are done by the big travel companies?

It is my understanding that all upsells go out at the same time. However, IMO not all agencies bother to forward these on to their clients (not worth their time and effort).

As mentioned already, if you are at all interested in upsells, I would book through HAL directly (recommend using a PCC - personal cruise consultant assigned to you). If nothing else this causes the upsell email to come directly to you, not your TA, so that you eliminate the middleman and can respond faster (sometimes these upsells are taken very quickly).

The SA suites are showing availability again on the Zuiderdam March 19. Sometimes they close them off when they are trying to make upsells.

I see that. Now the Signature suites are showing as Sold OUT and the SB and SC are not available as well. The SAs are open and still showing the same 10 cabins as previously.

They seem to be changing this hourly - a bit unusual in my experience. In monitoring this cruise recently, I suspect that there are a high number of Neptunes still available. Given what I (and others) feel, they will not be filling these up under the current upsell offer price.

It is my understanding that all upsells go out at the same time. However, IMO not all agencies bother to forward these on to their clients (not worth their time and effort).

 

As mentioned already, if you are at all interested in upsells, I would book through HAL directly (recommend using a PCC - personal cruise consultant assigned to you). If nothing else this causes the upsell email to come directly to you, not your TA, so that you eliminate the middleman and can respond faster (sometimes these upsells are taken very quickly).

Or a TA who takes an interest in upsells. They are out there :). CC friends just got a nice upsell offer from their TA. She wasted no time contacting them ;).

Or a TA who takes an interest in upsells. They are out there :). CC friends just got a nice upsell offer from their TA. She wasted no time contacting them ;).

You are correct of course. I merely wanted to point out that all TAs do not handle upsells the same way, so that you should research this yourself if upsells are important to you.

You are correct of course. I merely wanted to point out that all TAs do not handle upsells the same way, so that you should research this yourself if upsells are important to you.

I absolutely agree :). Some TA's are very good at this and I think, enjoy their jobs and helping their clients. Others are just order takers.

Thanks for making the correction for me. I've seen this travel agency mentioned on the boards and thus interpreted the rule to mean we may not name a specific travel agent.

In general, "big box" online travel services seem to save money on the front end but customer service can be a nightmare with offshored call centers and cruise service buried under layers of call branching... yecch!

It would be good if Cruise Critic could address these problems-- especially for new cruisers. Not sure how to do that without being able to name the company we're talking about.

I plan to treat this cruise like any other upsell (directly with the travel company). Maybe we'll get lucky :-)

Again, thanks for making the correction... and the answer.

Not supposed to mention other travel agencies here. You could have merely stated you booked with a major on line agency.

 

Whether you can get upsells through these agencies has been debated frequently without resolution. Some have. Some haven't. If your objective is an upsell, probably best to book direct with cruise line.

Thanks for making the correction for me. I've seen this travel agency mentioned on the boards and thus interpreted the rule to mean we may not name a specific travel agent.

 

In general, "big box" online travel services seem to save money on the front end but customer service can be a nightmare with offshored call centers and cruise service buried under layers of call branching... yecch!

 

It would be good if Cruise Critic could address these problems-- especially for new cruisers. Not sure how to do that without being able to name the company we're talking about.

 

I plan to treat this cruise like any other upsell (directly with the travel company). Maybe we'll get lucky :-)

 

Again, thanks for making the correction... and the answer.

Cruise critic earns advertising money from multiple travel agencies.

I see no advantage in booking with any of these large on line agencies. They offer the same cruises at the same price you can get from booking directly with the cruise lines.

Instead, do your research and find a smaller agency that offers discounts. I usually get at least 10% off the book direct price with much better service.

No...still in our Signature Suite...I passed on the upsell. It was $499pp and not really worth it to us. We've never ever been in a suite before, so just having a bigger room (with TWO showers and TWO sinks) is sheer luxury. We have one of the suites 'on the bend' too, so a bit more space overall. Can't wait to get into the warmth either (though it was 75 degrees here in Jersey today!). Perhaps we'll meet on the ship!

 

DaveOKC, I'm wondering if they're shuffling the assignments around today. Even though the Signature and Neptunes don't show as 'sold out' for the 19th, if you try and book one they come up 'unavailable'.

Thanks for the info. We love Signature suites-nice having the extra room for sure.

I am going to the informal meet and greet but my daughter isn't. It's coming soon!