Anyone else been ‘upgraded’ to the first deck?!?!

This will be my 8th cruise, but my first on holland America...not impressed so far, I booked a certain category to be on a higher deck closer to my parents suite and they ‘upgraded’ me to the 1st floor :rolleyes: I have had no luck with customer service- they blame me for going through Travelocity and Travelocity blames them...so frustrating!!

Some specifics please...you went from inside to outside? Smaller inside to larger inside? What category to what category?

Did you mark your booking as "no upgrade"?

As commonly discussed here, and pretty sure it applies to other cruise lines as well, if you book through a TA, all your dealings must be through that TA.

Which ship. What cabin category did you book. What cabin did you receive. Not enough information to help you.

There are many cases where a cruise line considers a cabin on a lower deck to be in a "higher" category - more midship, larger square footage, etc. As others have noted, unless booking is marked "no upgrade" with HAL they can upgrade you without notice and are under no obligations to re-accommodate you to your original cabin. Any communications with HAL will have to be through your Agency of Record (Travelocity).

Unfortunately when booking online this is an all too easy a detail to be overlooked as it is buried in the fine print and not something easily apparent to consumers. To my knowledge most 3rd party booking sites do not have a way to opt out of auto-upgrades. Booking with a knowledgeable, experienced travel agent or HAL PCC might have helped prevent this, as most would ask if you wished to accept complimentary upgrades or not.

Thanks for the responses, I booked an inside cabin on the Amsterdam, I’ve just never been on the 1st deck before, so I made sure to book a catagory that wasn’t on the first deck. I booked my parents in a Neptune suite and wanted to be close to them since we will probably be spending more time on their deck. I guess it’s not the end of the world, I’m just disappointed on the location and hope I don’t get too claustrophobic down there. Definitely will not be booking through a 3rd party again and time will tell if I will want to sail in HAL again...

Getting out of the blaming game. Have you spoken nicely to Travelocity to see if they can find another cabin for you? There are many classifications of staterooms within each category; inside, outside, veranda suite, neptune suite. Staterooms are never classified by deck. With HAL's new computer system you may not even see online what the classifications are but Travelocity should have that information.

You did right by booking a Neptune Suite for your parents. You can spend time with them and then get on the elevator and retire to your room to sleep. Not so bad. Have a nice cruise.

Why didn't you look for a cabin near your folks and book that room as your choice instead of Holland Am picking a cabin for you. Have been on many cruises and we always pick the cabin WE want and not hope for a good upgrade.

I have been booking inside cabins for quite awhile now since I rarely spend any time there....only to sleep & change clothes. There are so many lovely places on the ship to sit and look at the water both inside and outside......If I'm going to spend time in my cabin I might as well stay home! Spent 14 days on Amsterdam deck 2 last July and loved every minute. Have a great cruise!

If you were upgraded to a J interior cabin on Main Deck, then you definitely received an upgrade over the inside cabins on the upper deck.

J cabins are large with a nice sitting area.

Thanks for the responses, I booked an inside cabin on the Amsterdam, I’ve just never been on the 1st deck before, so I made sure to book a catagory that wasn’t on the first deck. I booked my parents in a Neptune suite and wanted to be close to them since we will probably be spending more time on their deck. I guess it’s not the end of the world, I’m just disappointed on the location and hope I don’t get too claustrophobic down there. Definitely will not be booking through a 3rd party again and time will tell if I will want to sail in HAL again...

Phone Travelocity and see if they can arrange for you to get a cabin on the same deck as your parents. You very likely got a nice upgrade, but you have nothing to lose by trying to downgrade to the category you booked originally.

You won't notice any difference re claustrophobia between any inside cabin on any deck, imho.

I always choose the cabin I like, if I see price drops ask to reprice the booking

Thanks for the responses, I booked an inside cabin on the Amsterdam, I’ve just never been on the 1st deck before, so I made sure to book a catagory that wasn’t on the first deck. I booked my parents in a Neptune suite and wanted to be close to them since we will probably be spending more time on their deck. I guess it’s not the end of the world, I’m just disappointed on the location and hope I don’t get too claustrophobic down there. Definitely will not be booking through a 3rd party again and time will tell if I will want to sail in HAL again...

Not sure how a different deck (other than LP) would feel claustrophobic, and there isn’t that much difference between insides (except some are larger than others) unless you get one of the sideways cabins. If you get seasick An upside of being low is less ship rocking. ( I’m my personal case, I want the rocking)

Why didn't you look for a cabin near your folks and book that room as your choice instead of Holland Am picking a cabin for you. Have been on many cruises and we always pick the cabin WE want and not hope for a good upgrade.

Let's not be critical of the OP - I think what happened was that they did book a cabin they wanted, but did not know to mark the reservation "do not upgrade". Then HAL thought they were doing the OP a favor by "upgrading them for free to a higher "ranked" cabin. However, this moved the OP from deck 7 to 1. I do not blame the OP for being upset, but it should be the TA as they should have explained all of this at the time of booking.

As many of us have said numerous times, HAL's idea of an upgrade is not necessarily the same as mine!

If you were upgraded to a J interior cabin on Main Deck, then you definitely received an upgrade over the inside cabins on the upper deck.

 

J cabins are large with a nice sitting area.

I don't think the J insides on Amsterdam are very large. If it was on Nieuw Amsterdam, you would be right.

To the original poster, this could happen on any cruise line, not just HAL. Booking directly through HAL doesn't keep them from moving you, unless as other posters have already stated, you specify no upgrades.

The most claustrophobic cabin I've had was on an upper deck, so go figure.

Roz

I’ve just never been on the 1st deck before, so I made sure to book a catagory that wasn’t on the first deck. ... I’m just disappointed on the location and hope I don’t get too claustrophobic down there.

How far out is your cruise? If not past final payment, you could maybe cancel and rebook.

OP

Sorry you are disappointed in the cabin that HAL has chosen for you.

That was nice that you booked a Neptune Suite for your parents. But if you do that the next time -- book a cabin near them -- don't do a guarantee.

Let us know if you do get a cabin change.

I don't think the J insides on Amsterdam are very large. If it was on Nieuw Amsterdam, you would be right.

I was thinking that she was on the Niuew Amsterdam.

In any case, I have been in J inside cabins on both Vista class ships and on the Rotterdam. Our preferred cabins are inside, low and amidships.

While the J class on the Rotterdam is not as large as on the Vista class ships, it is still a very nice sized cabin .

Have been on the main deck on my last 2 cruises and the cabin I was in was BIG for an inside! Not that I spend that much time there,but it was nice to have extra room!

I'm not clear on whether you booked a specific cabin, near your parents, and just didn't mark it 'Do not upgrade', or if you booked an inside guarantee.

If you booked a guarantee, HAL had every right to assign you to any cabin in that category or higher. You may not have realized there were other cabins in your category on other decks, but HAL was well within their rights.

If you did book a specific cabin, but didn't note no upgrades, then HAL also was within its rights to upgrade. They can (and have) even done so when a specific cabin was so marked, but it happens much less often.

With a few exceptions of extra large insides, all the large insides, and the outsides, on the Amsterdam are the same size within their class.

If you were assigned a J-category cabin on the lowest deck, they are well-positioned for a smooth ride. You may also have gotten lucky and been assigned one of the 'sideways' cabins. They are extra roomy.

On our recent 2 month Volendam cruise, we were booked in a guaranteed ocean view cabin and ended up in a terrific 2 porthole cabin on deck 2 which was an upgrade from our guarantee. After the first month, we were required to move and we were once again upgraded to a larger full window cabin on deck 1. While we would have preferred to stay in the original cabin, the second one was also nice.

Many people get upgrades that they don’t think are an upgrade.

On pretty much all lines.

One reason we always mark our booking, “no upgrade”.

This is proof that there is no way to make everyone happy. There is nothing wrong with your disappointment, but HAL at least tried, there is no way they could have known why you wanted the cabin on 7. Of course, that is where the no-upgrades option comes in, and working with a human travel agent rather than an online site. When you do get a hold of Travelocity, the customer service rep may not even know there is such an option, or even how to fix it.. they don't specialize, they just get the next call in the cue.

Don't feel claustrophobic on deck 1. You are above the water, and it is no different than any other deck on the ship.

Did you link your reservation with your parents’ reservation? If you did this, then you can indicate that both cabins must be upgraded together. In this case, that wouldn’t have happened since they were already in a Neptune Suite. But I guess it’s already been decided for you this time. But I would say this is not the fault of HAL since you went through a TA to make your reservation. You can check the capacity of the ship and if available, you could try to change cabins once you’re on board if you don’t like the cabin upgrade you received. Good luck.