Bad info from Cruise Critic?

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

I had read, on this site, that Princess now had three categories to select from when it came to accepting cabin upgrades. Will accept upgrade (default), do not upgrade, and a recently added category in which one could select to accept upgrade to a new category only.

 

We are booked on an upcoming Med cruise on the Crown in cabin E731. We selected this cabin early and made sure our booking was checked as "do not upgrade." I contacted my TA to have them let Princess know that we would accept an upgrade to a new category only (i.e. suite). My TA contacted Princess and was told that this was not so. We could only select from the upgradeable or do not upgrade categories.

 

Just thought others would like to know this information.

[Pia1913]

I had read, on this site, that Princess now had three categories to select from when it came to accepting cabin upgrades. Will accept upgrade (default), do not upgrade, and a recently added category in which one could select to accept upgrade to a new category only.

 

We are booked on an upcoming Med cruise on the Crown in cabin E731. We selected this cabin early and made sure our booking was checked as "do not upgrade." I contacted my TA to have them let Princess know that we would accept an upgrade to a new category only (i.e. suite). My TA contacted Princess and was told that this was not so. We could only select from the upgradeable or do not upgrade categories.

 

Just thought others would like to know this information.

 

The new choices have not yet been put into use. This was in the new information TA's received for bookings which commence on March 15th

[WVBill]

It was quite clear to me in the thread that discussed this - ("Fleetwide Recatagorization") - that this would not take effect until sometime later this Summer...

[ridolphi]

For agents who book using Onesource, the live booking engine agents use for Princess, there are now three possibilites listed to check, "do not upgrade", "upgrade to next category only, i.e. ocean view to balcony" or "will accept any upgrade". Now, that said, I have checked the ones that my clients prefer and can see it when I go into onesource to look at their booking, but whether or not it is in affect yet, and actually being used by Princess, I don't know.

 

I have not attempted this when speaking with an agent.

[Coral]

According to a friend who is an agent, this option showed up several weeks ago in their booking engine. Instead of 2 choices, they now see 3 choices (as stated above). This showed up weeks before the reorganization plan was released to agents. It is showing up for current sailings as my agent saw it on my sailing in May.

 

According to Princess reps - the option (meta upgrade?), has been available for a long time if you speak to a Princess agent who is aware of it. Not all agents are aware of it. This has been reported many times in the past year but I don't have any first hand experience with this. It was reported recently on another port just a few days ago.

[lawton54]

Not sure who YOUR TA talked to at Princess, or what other circumstances may come into play, but the option to select "Only Upgrade to the Next Stateroom Type (ex. Balcony to Minisuite)" is currently available for individual bookings.

[Coral]

The new choices have not yet been put into use. This was in the new information TA's received for bookings which commence on March 15th

 

This information has been out for awhile.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1571816

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

So even on this site there is confusion. Some say it is available now and some say it is only for new bookings after March 15th. I know I previously read on this site that it was available, but maybe I misunderstood. I know we can't discuss names of TA's, but the one I am using is a large TA. Thanks to all for your responses.

[paul929207]

So even on this site there is confusion. Some say it is available now and some say it is only for new bookings after March 15th. I know I previously read on this site that it was available, but maybe I misunderstood. I know we can't discuss names of TA's, but the one I am using is a large TA. Thanks to all for your responses.

The size of the TA is not the only point, there is also the individual agent you are talking to. If they are not up to date on coming changes, they may give you bad info.

[englishbird]

It is definately available now. I am an agent in The Uk and we use the polar system. It has been on there for a couple of weeks now.

 

:D:D

[MCC retired]

A TA using POLAR will get the correct info every time . A phone call

to PCL could result in the wrong info at times.

Been there , done that, in my TA days.

[tothemall&beyond]

There shouldn't be any confusion about when...

 

This is verbatim from the Recatergorization Announcement:

 

The new categorization will be introduced with release of our new 2013 Europe & Alaska Program. Cruises currently on sale will continue to use the existing cabin categorization.

...

No need to NUP bookings. With the improved upgrade logic, consumers can be more assured that receiving an upgrade means just that! So there is less need to opt out of the upgrade process by placing a NUP (no upgrade) earmark on the booking. For those requiring a specific stateroom,

they can use a NUM earmark instead. The NUM leaves them in their specific stateroom unless we are upgrading to the next cabin type (for example outside to balcony); then this booking would be upgraded.

...

Over the coming months, we will be implementing a number of changes to our reservations systems and our website to better support and display these selection choices to travel agents and consumers.

We anticipate that these changes will be ready by August 2012 and we will keep you updated on progress and implementation of the new systems and web display when we have more details.

In the meantime, we will be introducing a new Academy Module to support Travel Agents in their training for the new categorization.

[/i]

[fishin' musician]

Open To Any Upgrade

 

Only Upgrade to the Next Stateroom Type (ex. Balcony to Minisuite)

 

Do Not Upgrade

[Coral]

There shouldn't be any confusion about when...

 

This is verbatim from the Recatergorization Announcement:

 

The new categorization will be introduced with release of our new 2013 Europe & Alaska Program. Cruises currently on sale will continue to use the existing cabin categorization.

 

This refers to calling the cabins different names instead of BA, BB, BC, BD.

 

The option to upgrade outside of the category is currently available and has been for weeks. Several TAs have posted this information.

[Wileyd577]

I just went through this same thing. Called travel agent, called Princess, and neither were helpful. A thoughtful soul on these boards advised me to ask for a META upgrade only. I emailed Princess with that information. They were more than happy to mark my booking with META upgrade only(next category up). The new system of cabin types and upgrade options is a whole other can of worms...Good luck.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

I just went through this same thing. Called travel agent, called Princess, and neither were helpful. A thoughtful soul on these boards advised me to ask for a META upgrade only. I emailed Princess with that information. They were more than happy to mark my booking with META upgrade only(next category up). The new system of cabin types and upgrade options is a whole other can of worms...Good luck.

 

Thank you. This helps a lot. I'm glad I was not the only one confused from these postings.

[Wileyd577]

My travel agent tried. The lady at Princess was really nice. But I swear they have a real communication problem at times. The word META made the fog lift for somebody. I would hate to lose my super sweet BB on Caribe all the way aft, UNLESS they put me in a mini suite or suite....;)

[tothemall&beyond]

This refers to calling the cabins different names instead of BA, BB, BC, BD.

 

The option to upgrade outside of the category is currently available and has been for weeks. Several TAs have posted this information.

 

 

It's an excerpt from the Recat Announcement. I have the whole document, which includes the new upgrade policy. It is my understanding the new policy will go into effect as of March 15th, for cruises sailing in August 2012 and later.

[Coral]

It's an excerpt from the Recat Announcement. I have the whole document, which includes the new upgrade policy. It is my understanding the new policy will go into effect as of March 15th, for cruises sailing in August 2012 and later.

 

People have been talking about the "meta upgrades" for over a year on this website (if not longer) and Princess recently changed the TA booking engine to give TA's the option of offering this to their clients - in the past, this was only able to be done via a Princess rep. So this part has been available for awhile (in various ways - either through Princess for a long time or via TAs recently).

[bjkTX]

Thank you. This helps a lot. I'm glad I was not the only one confused from these postings.

 

You're not the only one confused - just the only one that bad mouthed CC over it.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

You're not the only one confused - just the only one that bad mouthed CC over it.

 

I apologize. I'm sorry you took it that way. I didn't mean to bad mouth anyone. All I said is that I got some bad info. That's not bad mouthing anyone. And from all of these posts it appears everyone is confused. Again, please accept my apologize if you were offended.

[TM]

Our stateroom had originally been coded as do not upgrade as I liked the specific location. However after reading about the new upgrade option to the next category I contacted my TA yesterday. He was very familiar with the new category and immediately was able to make the change in our booking. I don't know what kind of process he has on his computer with Princess but it should work for our Hawaii sailing on the Star in October.

[DWSteveB]

As I said in another thread, I used it last year, and I just got through doing it again this year. Meta is the key word. This year Princess told me that you had to call to get it, even TA's had to call, but it is clear that is not the case. Several people pointed out the option is available on the booking engine TA's use.

 

Some of the TA information on Cruise Critic says that this option (Meta) showed up on their engine a few weeks ago. Given that, maybe my Princess representative was correct, everyone had to call to request the Meta upgrade option, but that changed with the updated booking engine.

 

Whatever, I've been able to request it for the last year and a half or so. And last year I had a balcony I really wanted to keep. I requested Meta and ended up with a mini-suite on an upgrade. I assume they didn't put me down for no upgrade, and if they put me down for any upgrade I would have been very upset if I got one to a "better" balcony. I think it makes sense that they would put me in for a Meta, and if that didn't exist, they would have just put me down for no upgrade and I never would have been the wiser.

 

I read the Recategorization announcement and even it says things two ways. First it says there is "No need to NUP bookings." Then it says, "So there is less need to opt out of the upgrade process by placing a NUP..." So it goes from no need to less need in a couple of sentences. No wonder there is confusion at Princess!