Declining an upgrade ?

[wallypbear]

I was told by a Princess rep that if I check the box for upgrade I would receive an email with the upgrade( if available) and could turn it down and keep the room I choose when making initial reservation. it i. Is this true or false. I booked a BB and like the location. I would not like a BA but would accept a mini suite.

[cruiseron36]

If you like the cabin you have booked then tell your TA to mark as NO UPGRADE. If you leave your booking open to an upgrade you are at the mercy of Princess and may wind up with a cabin you do not like. When that happens it often is very difficult to get Princess to change.

[Toto2Kansas]

I was told by a Princess rep that if I check the box for upgrade I would receive an email with the upgrade( if available) and could turn it down and keep the room I choose when making initial reservation. it i. Is this true or false. I booked a BB and like the location. I would not like a BA but would accept a mini suite.

 

The best answer I can give you is 'Usually' you are contacted. But many times, we have had those post here that were never contacted and arrived at the ship to find they were assigned a different cabin then they had originally booked, and they couldn't switch back as the cabin they booked was already assigned to someone else. If you check your booking as 'will accept' an upgrade, that gives Princess the right to upgrade you to whatever they want, and many times, you don't have a choice in the matter. Good Luck!

[Tralynn]

If you are thrilled with the cabin you already have, (and Cat. BB is quite nice), I'd lock that in and remove the upgrade option.

[paul929207]

I was told by a Princess rep that if I check the box for upgrade I would receive an email with the upgrade( if available) and could turn it down and keep the room I choose when making initial reservation. it i. Is this true or false. I booked a BB and like the location. I would not like a BA but would accept a mini suite.

You MAY be contacted and given an opportunity to decline, but it is not a sure thing. Often by the time you hear you have been upgraded, your original cabin has been reassigned. Mark your reservation No Upgrade unless you would be happy with every cabin in every higher category.

[paul929207]

I was told by a Princess rep that if I check the box for upgrade I would receive an email with the upgrade( if available) and could turn it down and keep the room I choose when making initial reservation. it i. Is this true or false. I booked a BB and like the location. I would not like a BA but would accept a mini suite.

You MAY be contacted and given an opportunity to decline, but it is not a sure thing. Often by the time you hear you have been upgraded, your original cabin has been reassigned. Mark your reservation No Upgrade unless you would be happy with every cabin in every higher category.

[cruisemom42]

I agree with the above and also wanted to point out that while "within category" upgrades aren't that uncommon (e.g., BB to BA), it's a LOT less common to get upgraded to a mini-suite from a balcony category room.

[wallypbear]

Thank you all for your advice. I checked with Princess again and now was told pretty much what everyone here is saying by two out of three reps.The third rep told me Princess does a lot of upgrading to "balance out the ship" and it is quite common for upgrades in higher grade balcony staterooms to get a mini. I presently have C743 on the Emerald Princess.which I should probably stick with(mark no upgrade) and watch for rate drops on mini-suites......anyone hear about this meta/mega upgrade and how that works? Is this when Princess calls me and upgrades at a additional cost, balcony to mini-suite? Thanks everyone:), I LOVE CRUISE CRITIC!!! You always helps me to sort things out when I am undecided about what to do.

[Pam in CA]

I was told by a Princess rep that if I check the box for upgrade I would receive an email with the upgrade( if available) and could turn it down and keep the room I choose when making initial reservation. it i. Is this true or false. I booked a BB and like the location. I would not like a BA but would accept a mini suite.

The default for all new bookings is, "Will accept an upgrade" which means that except for those few who ask to have the default changed to "Do not upgrade", everyone is eligible. It's nothing special nor does it mean you'll automatically be offered an upgrade.

 

If you are offered an upgrade, they are supposed to notify you if you've booked directly with Princess. But sometimes they don't. Also, you cannot specify the type of upgrade you want, if offered. The checkbox for an upgrade is either checked or not checked. Upgrades are offered based on the number of cabins available in a category and demand for that category, and it's random; the computer does the decision-making based on an algorithm.

 

Most "upgrades" are a better category of the cabin type you are in; true upgrades from one cabin category (outside to balcony, balcony to mini-suite) happen far less often. I don't know whether it's true that the higher the category you book, the better your chances but I tend not to believe it. People often book the lower category of a cabin type first, creating demand for that lower category. On the other hand, anything can happen.

[FLACRUISER99]

.The third rep told me Princess does a lot of upgrading to "balance out the ship" and it is quite common for upgrades in higher grade balcony staterooms to get a mini.

You won't convince me that they do a lot of upgrading!!

[Toto2Kansas]

You won't convince me that they do a lot of upgrading!!

 

Count me in on that one. In 26 Princess cruises, only one true upgrade, and that was on the 26th cruise. The first 10 in balcony cabins (no upgrades), the second 10 in mini suites (no upgrades), and now we just give up and book the suite ourselves. Last spring we actually went down to a mini suite and just booked an AA, and finally were upgraded to a suite complimentary for the first time in all of these years. lol

[Pam in CA]

You won't convince me that they do a lot of upgrading!!

 

Count me in on that one. In 26 Princess cruises, only one true upgrade, and that was the 26th cruise. lol

Me neither. With 22 Princess cruises, I got my first upgrade of any kind, not just a true upgrade, on my Crown Princess cruise in September.

[bhopal21]

Count me in on that one. In 26 Princess cruises, only one true upgrade, and that was on the 26th cruise. The first 10 in balcony cabins (no upgrades), the second 10 in mini suites (no upgrades), and now we just give up and book the suite ourselves. Last spring we actually went down to a mini suite and just booked an AA, and finally were upgraded to a suite complimentary for the first time in all of these years. lol

 

And it came with a free ping pong table, I hear.:rolleyes:

 

Mike:D

[paul929207]

Count me in on that one. In 26 Princess cruises, only one true upgrade, and that was on the 26th cruise. The first 10 in balcony cabins (no upgrades), the second 10 in mini suites (no upgrades), and now we just give up and book the suite ourselves. Last spring we actually went down to a mini suite and just booked an AA, and finally were upgraded to a suite complimentary for the first time in all of these years. lol

Looks like you are on a roll now. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

And it came with a free ping pong table, I hear.:rolleyes:

 

Mike:D

 

Mike, you can be soooo mean....................:p But yes, our one and only true upgrade came with our own personal ping pong table directly above our bed on the pool deck, and a bunch of college kids that like to play ping pong until 1:00 AM. :(

[bhopal21]

The devil made me do that.:D:D

 

Sorry,

 

Mike:)

[goodyearbaggieboy]

I think if you are expecting an upgrade from balcony to mini suite that would be rare because as i think there are a lot less mini suites than balconies about 100 i think and most times an upgrade is just a sideways move and not upwards unless you are lucky as posted pick your cabin and stick with it.:)Hope this helps

[oratheeexplorer]

We took our first cruise last February on the Emerald......we were "upgraded" to C108.....which is on Caribe all the way at the front of the ship......balcony was wonderful, but never again will we take an upgrade......being at the very front, we felt a lot of motion.....kept me awake most nights with the extreme teeter tawtering from front to back.....so from now on we will pick a room and say "no upgrade"......live and learn I guess.....naive first timers :)

[DrivesLikeMario]

You won't convince me that they do a lot of upgrading!!

 

Me either. And OP, don't count on getting notification of being moved to another cabin. I've heard horror stories of people getting moved at the pier to cabins they did not want and by then, there was nothing to change back to.

[regnig]

I presently have C743 on the Emerald Princess.which I should probably stick with(mark no upgrade) and watch for rate drops on mini-suites......

 

You have a great room and balcony. This is a picture Pam in CA posted that shows the bit of extention on your balcony. It is soooo very quite at the end of the hall, I really think you will love it.

 

[wallypbear]

You have a great room and balcony. This is a picture Pam in CA posted that shows the bit of extention on your balcony. It is soooo very quite at the end of the hall, I really think you will love it.

 

 

Excellent photo!!! I am keeping C743 as no upgrade.......Had D733 on Caribbean Princess. LOVED IT! However price on AC mini's for my sailing are more than I care to spend.

[wineforhealth]

I booked with Princess and on my last upgrade I didn't like the room assigment. Princess offered me 5 different cabins to choose from.