Do upsell offers appear before or after final payment is due?

Is there any rhyme or reason as to when Princess starts reaching out with upsell offers?

No, It remains very mysterious. An upsell offer I imagine would happen prior to final payment date so it can be included in your payment. An upgrade can happen up to check-in.

We've just taken an upsell from balcony to full suite for a sailing 3rd Sep 2016. Well after final payment date, so they wanted payment right away. I guess the nearer to the sail date there are more offered.

My experience in receiving upsell offers is that they arrive via email in the range of three to four weeks prior to travel, well after final payment.

The upsell I agreed to came a couple of weeks before the cruise but well after final payment and I had to pay when I talked to Mary in cabin control and agreed to the upsell.

I always start watching closely about 2 weeks after final payment. That has been the usual time that I have received the up-sell email. Just had a final payment due today for a September Pacific Coastal cruise and there are a ton of open balconies and mini suites, so hopefully an email will be on the way in the near future, and if not - I still get to go on a cruise so who could complain :D ?

Upgrades can happen anytime.

Upsells usually happen after final.

Moveovers usually within a week or 2 of sailing.

If offered an up-sell, be ready to pay the difference and also check with your travel insurance carrier because when the value of the cruise goes up--so does the premium. If you do not increase the value of the premium you may not be fully covered.

This is what I have noticed. We have gotten quite a few offers over the years.

Upsells typically happen after final payment and around 4-8 weeks before sailing.

I monitor the website. When I see the room(s) that I am hoping for start to go (normally there will be a significant decline in available rooms over a 2-3 day period). I alert my TA to look for an email. She lets me know ASAP the offer comes through. I give her my CC info and keep my fingers crossed as she calls the dedicated Princess line.

So here is the real life example:

We were scheduled to to sail in an MA GTY on June 25- Royal Med. Over the months before the cruise, there were between 10 and 14 suites available at any time I checked (which was normally every day). Exactly 8 weeks before the cruise, I noticed that that the inventory for available suites dropped from 11 to 6 in a 24 hour period. I emailed my TA- who was trying to call me at the same time. She had just received notice. I immediately gave her my CC and she called to leave a message with the Princess Desk (a special desk just for this type of thing). She was persistent and we were able to grab the last OS on the ship.

Our experience, with multiple cruise lines, is that any upsell offer usually comes around 2-4 weeks prior to sailing.

Our upsell offer came about 8 weeks before our British Isles cruise this May, so yes, it was after final payment. But do keep a close eye on your e mails. The usual procedure is that you call in to the number given you in the email, then they return calls in the order they are received. I normally check my personal emails only a couple of times during a work day, it was just coincidence that I received the message about 10 minutes after it was sent. I called right away, from my car, and got a return call about 2 hours later. And yes, we grabbed it -- an upsell from a midship mini suite to a Penthouse suite for a good price. PS--- we had Princess insurance and they also automatically increased it and charged us the premium difference.

Upgrades can happen anytime.

Upsells usually happen after final.

 

Moveovers usually within a week or 2 of sailing.

That seems a bit surprising to me. Why wouldn't they try to upsell an unsold cabin and get some additional revenue before they resort to giving it away as an upgrade?

If offered an up-sell, be ready to pay the difference and also check with your travel insurance carrier because when the value of the cruise goes up--so does the premium. If you do not increase the value of the premium you may not be fully covered.

I have never heard of that. Forgive me, is this just a stateside thing? My travel insurance carrier doesn't even know how much I paid for the cruise in the first place. Could you explain this to me please?

I have never heard of that. Forgive me, is this just a stateside thing? My travel insurance carrier doesn't even know how much I paid for the cruise in the first place. Could you explain this to me please?

In the US, when you buy travel insurance you have to specify the cost of the trip per person. The cost of the insurance is based on this amount in part. Trip insurance generally includes trip interruption coverage, so when our Princess cruise departed a day late due to fog, I got reimbursed for 1/7 of our cruise ticket cost even though Princess put us in a hotel for the night. Had Princess not paid for the hotel, I would have claimed that cost also. If your cruise cost $2000 per person and your air was $1000 but you only listed a cost of $2000 and you make a claim for trip interruption, you will not get the full reimbursement that you might expect.

You also specify the age of each cruiser--the older the cruiser, the more the insurance costs because they figure that older people are more likely to have medical situations.

Thanks for the explanation, moki'smommy. It's not something we have to do in Europe, which is why I had never heard of it! The only thing I had to declare was pre-existing medical.

After reading alot of threads in here I did read once that a couple got to the cruise ship terminal and was giving an upgrade when they checked in:D. I sure hope that happens to us:rolleyes:.

After reading alot of threads in here I did read once that a couple got to the cruise ship terminal and was giving an upgrade when they checked in:D. I sure hope that happens to us:rolleyes:.

That happened to us. Booked a 12 day Med. cruise in inside cabin on Royal Princess. Checked in at Barcelona and was given different cabin which was a handicap accessible balcony. No emails to us or TA about cabin change, booking was marked do not upgrade as we were next to family members but upgrade cabin was just down the hall and was wonderful [emoji16]

Upgrades can happen anytime.

Up to the mysterious upgrade fairy.

 

Upsells usually happen after final.

Likely do to folks who find they can't make the cruise and so cancel at time of final payment

 

Moveovers usually within a week or 2 of sailing.

Likely do to overbooking or groups wanting to sail

There is simply no way for us to know what (if anything) will be offered. Some folks get great offers. Some folks get "meh" offers. Most folks get no offers at all.

We have only cruises 7 times so far. We have booked inside cabins 4 times but only had an inside cabin once (on our first cruise). We've been magically upgraded from a poopy balcony to a great balcony. We have been miraculously upgraded from the lowest class of inside cabin to a HC balcony cabin on Caribe deck (wowie zowie!). We have taken a good upsell from an inside to an unobstructed OV. We have taken a good upsell from an inside to a window mini-suite. (We did turn down a very inexpensive upsell from a balcony to a mini-suite as we specifically wanted the aft-facing balcony on Caribe deck.) We have never received a move-over offer but... :)

Others have cruised about a zillion times and never received an upgrade or an upsell offer. There is just no way of understanding how it works.

I also believe that the more popular (easier to fill) cruises may have fewer upsells. The old "supply and demand" will always be put into play. Those cruises that are harder to fill (shoulder season) may have more cabins to move around. I suspect that holiday cruises rarely have upsells...could be wrong but just a thought.

This is what I have noticed. We have gotten quite a few offers over the years.

 

Upsells typically happen after final payment and around 4-8 weeks before sailing.

 

I monitor the website. When I see the room(s) that I am hoping for start to go (normally there will be a significant decline in available rooms over a 2-3 day period). I alert my TA to look for an email. She lets me know ASAP the offer comes through. I give her my CC info and keep my fingers crossed as she calls the dedicated Princess line.

 

So here is the real life example:

We were scheduled to to sail in an MA GTY on June 25- Royal Med. Over the months before the cruise, there were between 10 and 14 suites available at any time I checked (which was normally every day). Exactly 8 weeks before the cruise, I noticed that that the inventory for available suites dropped from 11 to 6 in a 24 hour period. I emailed my TA- who was trying to call me at the same time. She had just received notice. I immediately gave her my CC and she called to leave a message with the Princess Desk (a special desk just for this type of thing). She was persistent and we were able to grab the last OS on the ship.

Another example is: we are on the 9/11/16 sailing of the Ruby to Alaska. I got an upsell email at noon on July 26th. This was for an fully obstructed oceanview room to a balcony. As soon as I saw it, I called the one person handles all upsells phone number and ext. one hour and 20 minutes later. One usually has to leave a message as she is very busy lady!!! Usually she calls back within 2-4 hours, but could be the next day. While you are waiting for her call, go onto Princess site and find all the balcony cabins left to be picked at that moment. When she called she offered me a specific cabin(which happened to be a good location) which I could accept or keep my orginal oceanview cabin. However, if you have a better cabin for your desires, be sure to ask for that specific cabin. I did and she looked it up and said "Oh" that is available too." So you can look and see if you even want to upsell. When she calls, you can either just say no or pick that specific cabin. I took the deal because I got a pretty good last minute location with a savings of just over $1500. I immediately went into my account to print out new boarding passes and luggage tags and all the new information as to cost and stateroom numbers were there! You do keep any perks you received upon original booking (OBC, etc.), but you do not get more(i.e. more OBC from going to oceanview to balcony.) She just charged the difference to the cc that is on the account for the cruise. That simple.

So good luck in the future to all.

Pooh

I book with a large online travel agency- would I be offered an Upsale directly from Princess or would the agency be notified?

I book with a large online travel agency- would I be offered an Upsale directly from Princess or would the agency be notified?

Goes through the agency who passes it on to you....... and if they don't pass it on quickly you will most likely be out of luck.

First come first served.

"go onto Princess site and find all the balcony cabins left to be picked at that moment."

Can some one tell me step by step how to check what cabins are left? Have been to Princess site and have not been able to figure this out.

"go onto Princess site and find all the balcony cabins left to be picked at that moment."

 

Can some one tell me step by step how to check what cabins are left? Have been to Princess site and have not been able to figure this out.

Go to the Princess web site and go through the steps to book a cruise on your ship and sailing date.

Pick the category you want. It will then show you the ship divided into several sections. You then have to pick a section. Depending on what is available, you will have several decks to choose from. Look at each deck and count the cabins available in that category in that section of the ship and on that deck. Repeat for each deck that category of cabin is available. Then do it again for each section of the ship.

No, it is not quick to do all that.

And if you want to look at another category, do it all again after serlecting that category.

Then you need to note the totals down somewhere so you don't forget them, and so you can check them again the next day, and the next, and the next ... :)

I'm currently tracking my next cruise. Around six weeks to go, inside cabins are sold out but there are over 100 oceanview and balcony cabins unsold, and one suite. I'm very curious to see what happens as the departure date gets closer. :D