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Allowing Cabin Upgrade


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We have 3 people booked in an OV obstructed oceanview cabin but the obstruction is not bad. I have been reading on this board about choosing to allow cabin upgrade vs cabin meta upgrade. Many have said you have 48 hours to reverse an automatic upgrade. I would like to allow an upgrade but am concerned on the chance that it will be to a less desirable location.

 

What experiences have others had with reversing an automatic upgrade?

 

If I've booked through a big box agent will I be notified by them or by Princess directly?

 

And, finally, if I allow a meta upgrade to an OV cabin what qualifies as meta? Is it another OV that they deem is an upgrade or is it only to higher stateroom categories like suite, balcony, or full oceanview (OF, OC, OE, OF)?

 

Thanks

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We have 3 people booked in an OV obstructed oceanview cabin but the obstruction is not bad. I have been reading on this board about choosing to allow cabin upgrade vs cabin meta upgrade. Many have said you have 48 hours to reverse an automatic upgrade. I would like to allow an upgrade but am concerned on the chance that it will be to a less desirable location.

 

What experiences have others had with reversing an automatic upgrade?

 

If I've booked through a big box agent will I be notified by them or by Princess directly?

 

And, finally, if I allow a meta upgrade to an OV cabin what qualifies as meta? Is it another OV that they deem is an upgrade or is it only to higher stateroom categories like suite, balcony, or full oceanview (OF, OC, OE, OF)?

 

Thanks

 

 

I would question any time frame given to change back. Most of the time the original cabin is given to another passenger fairly quickly.

 

Meta means from and inside to an outside, or outside to a balcony, balcony to a mini. Mini to a suite.

It won't be a cabin in the same Cat you already have booked.

 

The TA should notify you but we find from comments here on CC that that sometimes never happens.

Edited by Colo Cruiser
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I was not notified of my recent upgrade. I pulled up my booking and we had been moved to a mini suite from a standard balcony.

I would like to know if specifying meta upgrade rather than any cabin upgrade lessens your chances. I wonder if restricting the type of upgrade might get you skipped over. Does it actually work?

Two years ago we accepted an upsell from balcony to mini suite. Could our being willing to pay increase our chances of an upgrade?

It's all very mysterious. I wanted to say meta upgrade only, but decided to roll the dice and we got lucky.

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I was not notified of my recent upgrade. I pulled up my booking and we had been moved to a mini suite from a standard balcony.

I would like to know if specifying meta upgrade rather than any cabin upgrade lessens your chances. I wonder if restricting the type of upgrade might get you skipped over. Does it actually work?

Two years ago we accepted an upsell from balcony to mini suite. Could our being willing to pay increase our chances of an upgrade?

It's all very mysterious. I wanted to say meta upgrade only, but decided to roll the dice and we got lucky.

 

 

No one knows anything. It's all speculation.

Edited by Colo Cruiser
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I was not notified of my recent upgrade. I pulled up my booking and we had been moved to a mini suite from a standard balcony.

I would like to know if specifying meta upgrade rather than any cabin upgrade lessens your chances. I wonder if restricting the type of upgrade might get you skipped over. Does it actually work?

Two years ago we accepted an upsell from balcony to mini suite. Could our being willing to pay increase our chances of an upgrade?

It's all very mysterious. I wanted to say meta upgrade only, but decided to roll the dice and we got lucky.

It is all handled by the upgrade fairy. She does not disclose the basis for her selections.

 

As to being notified, in July on the Coral to Alaska, about 4 or 5 days before we left, I noticed we had been upgraded from an ocean view to a mini suite which did not have a balcony. We were never notified of the upgrade.

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All bookings are set to "Will accept an upgrade" automatically by default. You don't "allow" as it's already set to an upgrade. To change that to not accepting or a meta upgrade only, call Princess or your TA to change the setting.

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We have 3 people booked in an OV obstructed oceanview cabin but the obstruction is not bad. I have been reading on this board about choosing to allow cabin upgrade vs cabin meta upgrade. Many have said you have 48 hours to reverse an automatic upgrade. I would like to allow an upgrade but am concerned on the chance that it will be to a less desirable location.

 

What experiences have others had with reversing an automatic upgrade?

 

If I've booked through a big box agent will I be notified by them or by Princess directly?

 

And, finally, if I allow a meta upgrade to an OV cabin what qualifies as meta? Is it another OV that they deem is an upgrade or is it only to higher stateroom categories like suite, balcony, or full oceanview (OF, OC, OE, OF)?

 

Thanks

 

You already have an OV. What do you consider a less desirable location? You won't be "upgraded" to a cabin with a more restrictive view. Are you sensitive to cabin location (forward vs mid-ship vs aft) or do you not want a higher or lower deck than you have or???

 

As noted by paul929207 above, you may not be notified of any upgrade. I was once upgraded from an IF (interior forward) to a B2 (mid-forward balcony) and I only found out about it by checking the personalizer. We were amazed and extremely happy about the upgrade. No idea why we got it.

Edited by Thrak
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In Response....

 

Thrak, I do think there are locations that would be a less desirable 'upgrade'... like oceanview on the Plaza deck under the Casino. And I do prefer to be in the middle portion of the ship and not at the far ends due to motion sickness.

 

Colo Cruiser, From reading posts on these boards it seems that there have been people who booked in an oceanview that were upgraded to another oceanview. I assume that was an upgrade from say OV to OC or something like that. Just wondering if this is prevented by choosing meta.

 

Also, I am not currently set to allow upgrade because the TA asked me and we said no. Even though it seems to be the majority consensus here that paying the extra dollars for a balcony for Alaska is not necessary. But, I think I would really love to have a balcony. It was $3k more for that though.

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In Response....

 

Thrak, I do think there are locations that would be a less desirable 'upgrade'... like oceanview on the Plaza deck under the Casino. And I do prefer to be in the middle portion of the ship and not at the far ends due to motion sickness.

 

 

I agree. We use Renmar's site to pick out a room based on the actual obstruction of the OV rooms. We stayed in E619 and E605, which is one of the lesser category OV rooms on the Grand Class and they are fabulous rooms. More expensive obstructed OV rooms might be considered an upgrade if the 'any upgrade' is chosen. We also stayed in E403 on the Crown ... awesome room and not even sure what they mean by obstructed except when they are in port, they put this round device up on the railing.

I would never want a room on the Plaza deck after staying on the Emerald deck ... it's our favorite. I have heard the rooms on the Plaza deck (probably just certain ones) can be very noisy and we've not had that problem on the Emerald deck ... ever!! But we pick those rooms with the least amount of obstruction and have been very lucky so far. As mentioned, Renmar's site is invaluable.

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We received what many would consider a bad upgrade from our obstructed view guarantee last month on the Caribbean Princess--to P201, a tiny cabin at the front of the ship. It's so small that one side of the bed was against the wall. I had to climb in from the bottom. The window is also set back so much that it really doesn't offer much of a view. In my opinion, this cabin should really be recategorized as an obstructed view--the lowest possible. But we still had a great cruise and loved the convenience of being on the Plaza Deck.

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I agree. We use Renmar's site to pick out a room based on the actual obstruction of the OV rooms. We stayed in E619 and E605, which is one of the lesser category OV rooms on the Grand Class and they are fabulous rooms. More expensive obstructed OV rooms might be considered an upgrade if the 'any upgrade' is chosen.

 

Wow, what a coincidence! Using Renmar's site, I chose and booked E605 for a September cruise just this afternoon, and specified meta-upgrade only. Nice to hear you liked it.

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We received what many would consider a bad upgrade from our obstructed view guarantee last month on the Caribbean Princess--to P201, a tiny cabin at the front of the ship. It's so small that one side of the bed was against the wall. I had to climb in from the bottom. The window is also set back so much that it really doesn't offer much of a view. In my opinion, this cabin should really be recategorized as an obstructed view--the lowest possible. But we still had a great cruise and loved the convenience of being on the Plaza Deck.

 

It could have been worse.

 

You might have been assigned to one of the outsides in that hallway that have two additional beds mounted on and sticking out from the wall.

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We need a cabin for 3 and are in an OV on the Grand to Alaska. Looking at the currently available rooms that would be an upgrade to another category there are only 2 balconies. Seems far fetched that we would get upgraded to a mini-suite.

 

So, if we get upgraded to an (unobstructed) oceanview we would be either below the Casino or above the Princess Theater.

 

Anyone have comments on how noisy it is above the Casino?

 

Also, I've read on here that on the Grand going forward from the E100's there is a door out onto the upper Promenade deck but it is not shown on the deck plans. The post was a little dated. Anyone know if there is in fact a door out to the deck?

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It could have been worse.

 

You might have been assigned to one of the outsides in that hallway that have two additional beds mounted on and sticking out from the wall.

 

I still have bruises on my head from one of those.

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We need a cabin for 3 and are in an OV on the Grand to Alaska. Looking at the currently available rooms that would be an upgrade to another category there are only 2 balconies. Seems far fetched that we would get upgraded to a mini-suite.

 

So, if we get upgraded to an (unobstructed) oceanview we would be either below the Casino or above the Princess Theater.

 

Anyone have comments on how noisy it is above the Casino?

 

Also, I've read on here that on the Grand going forward from the E100's there is a door out onto the upper Promenade deck but it is not shown on the deck plans. The post was a little dated. Anyone know if there is in fact a door out to the deck?

More than likely, Princess would offer an upsell rather than an upgrade. In recent years, most upgrades were to a higher category of the same type. That would mean for you from a lower OV to a higher category OV.

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I say no to the upgrade, however, I do go in and see if there are better cabins available that I would be interested in on the Princess website. I check often as it seems people drop out regularly. The price ended up being $122 for both of us to change to a mid-ship balcony from a forward balcony so I called my agent and advised him what I wanted. He made the change and charged me the difference and I got a cabin that I was happy with. Had I selected this cabin in the beginning would have been $800 more so it was worth checking on line occasionally and getting a cabin in a more mid position.

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Wow, what a coincidence! Using Renmar's site, I chose and booked E605 for a September cruise just this afternoon, and specified meta-upgrade only. Nice to hear you liked it.

 

I think you will like it. This is on the Grand class just to specify. The view was pretty much unobstructed and it is close enough to midship that you won't feel too much motion. It is also a nice quiet location, no noise from above or below and not too much traffic going by your cabin. You are close enough to the self service laundry as well, which is only about 10 cabins away to the aft. You will be situated between the midship and aft elevators so is very convenient.

I would definitely book this cabin again. Hope you enjoy!!

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  • 5 months later...

:o

I say no to the upgrade, however, I do go in and see if there are better cabins available that I would be interested in on the Princess website. I check often as it seems people drop out regularly. The price ended up being $122 for both of us to change to a mid-ship balcony from a forward balcony so I called my agent and advised him what I wanted. He made the change and charged me the difference and I got a cabin that I was happy with. Had I selected this cabin in the beginning would have been $800 more so it was worth checking on line occasionally and getting a cabin in a more mid position.

Hi lonig, where on the Princess website do you find which cabins are available? I have just booked a Category OV guarantee on Diamond Princess and am worried after reading this thread that maybe it was not such a good idea? Sandy

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Wow, what a coincidence! Using Renmar's site, I chose and booked E605 for a September cruise just this afternoon, and specified meta-upgrade only. Nice to hear you liked it.

 

What is Renmar's site??

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I am revisiting this thread as something has changed in the way you look for / book an obstructed oceanview and was wondering it the 'meta upgrade only' is also affected??

 

I was told before that a 'meta upgrade' would not allow them to upgrade you from an obstructed OV to a non-obstructed OV ... knowing full well that it has happened before, just that it is not supposed to work that way.

Now, the obstructed oceanview cabins, if you book them on the Princess site, can be located under the inside cabin option. So, does this now mean that the 'meta' upgrade only means that the upgrade you are willing to accept is to a Plaza deck (or non-obstructed) OV room?? I would mark my reservation 'no upgrade' if that is the case!

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On the June 8th princess sale.we paid for interior cabin.We booked back in March.during the sale the T.A Said they comp. Upgraded to Ov ocean view on Emerald.And my older brother needed a accessible cabin.and during same sale.he booked A OV oceanview.E302.and they comp. Upgraded him to Balcony A303.so that was 2 good upgrades.Thats a 5 day Cabo cruise.with over night in Cabo

Good prices.both triple cabins.my question if price drop do you still lower fare and keep same cabins.best regards.Bonnie

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:o

Hi lonig, where on the Princess website do you find which cabins are available? I have just booked a Category OV guarantee on Diamond Princess and am worried after reading this thread that maybe it was not such a good idea? Sandy

 

The only way to to go through the booking process to the point you can select a cabin. At that time you can look at each section of the ship and within each section each deck that has available cabins.

 

Yes, it is tedious and time consuming, but that is the only way.

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We have C753 booked on the Grand and marked it no upgrade, because we didn't want to change that great wake view and large balcony for a possible mini or window suite. Those might be upgrades, but not to us:p

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I am revisiting this thread as something has changed in the way you look for / book an obstructed oceanview and was wondering it the 'meta upgrade only' is also affected??

 

I was told before that a 'meta upgrade' would not allow them to upgrade you from an obstructed OV to a non-obstructed OV ... knowing full well that it has happened before, just that it is not supposed to work that way.

Now, the obstructed oceanview cabins, if you book them on the Princess site, can be located under the inside cabin option. So, does this now mean that the 'meta' upgrade only means that the upgrade you are willing to accept is to a Plaza deck (or non-obstructed) OV room?? I would mark my reservation 'no upgrade' if that is the case!

 

 

Nothing stops Princess from changing your cabin assignment. It's a request. They can change anything they want and as we have seen in the past have done so. :(

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