Which has a better chance of the upgrade fairy visiting?

[Jenna]

If you book a guarantee room versus an "chosen" room of the same category, do you have a slightly larger chance of getting upgraded if you are in the guarantee or vis versa? Or is it about the same chance?

[ChipLondon]

Did you not hear, the Upgrade Fairy is only working 3 days a month now, and only 2 hours on each day. If you want a better cabin, my advice is to book one, even Pinnacle members state that the fairy has moved on.

[Jenna]

Did you not hear, the Upgrade Fairy is only working 3 days a month now, and only 2 hours on each day. If you want a better cabin, my advice is to book one, even Pinnacle members state that the fairy has moved on.

 

I'm not looking for the fairy (tho if she showed up I wouldn't complain :p) so this thread has nothing to do with my booking a cabin. I was honestly just curious.

[emdia43]

We just got upgraded at the pier, from the cheapest inside to a midships balcony room :) this makes three times that I have had significant upgrades. Keep it up!

[cruise wizard]

Jenna - (a neighbor almost) - it has been my experience that booking a "guarantee" would have more than a 50/50 chance of an upgrade because if your "guarantee category" is sold out and no cabins available then you may be upgraded to the next category. As mentioned before.....the "upgrade fairy" has been reported missing. Not a lot of C&A upgrades anymore!!!!

[constantcruiser]

In nearly 40 cruises, the only times I've been upgraded were when I booked guarantees. And it has always happened right after final payment. It's probably easier to fill empty cabins with passengers who still need room assignments than it is to reassign someone else just to give them an upgrade. But like others have said, it's been several years since the Upgrade Fairy has visited us.

[voyager70]

I've just about given up on the upgrade fairy. As a Diamond member I've booked about every category possible (including guarantee) and never been offered an upgrade :( From what I've read, new cruisers seem to have the best odds of getting an upgrade as an incentive to keep them cruising with RCI.

[janice4559]

...the assigned cabin would have the better chance because the usual reason for an upgrade is to "free up" a popular category so they can fill up the ship.

[yogimax]

We just got upgraded at the pier, from the cheapest inside to a midships balcony room :) this makes three times that I have had significant upgrades. Keep it up!

 

Are you talking about free upgrades?

 

If so, what is your secret?

[emdia43]

Are you talking about free upgrades?

 

If so, what is your secret?

 

Yes, free upgrades.

When we got to the check in desk the Clerk said "there's a notation on here and I'm not sure what it means"- he went looking for a supervisor.

I couldn't imagine what it would be and was just hoping there was some simple problem - then he came back and said "you have been upgraded to a balcony room"- I wish I knew the secret I would apply it every time...

[Magicat]

We purchased a Q guarantee and got bumped to an M. Still an interior but at least we got put on deck ten well above the waterline. We have another guarantee for the Oasis and have our fingers crossed.

[Iamthesea]

We just got upgraded at the pier, from the cheapest inside to a midships balcony room :) this makes three times that I have had significant upgrades. Keep it up!

 

Did you originally have a GTY booked?

[rubrrick]

From what I know, and what I have experienced...........if you are a first time cruiser, and Royal Caribbean knows that, based on their knowledge of your income and their product........you might find yourself upgraded from a balcony to a suite...........and sometimes even from an outside cabin.

 

They are betting on the come.........that you will be hooked, and spend the extra with them on your next cruise.

 

Then there are those of us, that, at one time got upgraded, but have not seen anything in over a year, although we have put in about 12 or more cruises since then. And ChipLondon talke about people like us, that are Pinnacle Club members.........and not that we complain, but I'm getting ready to slow down in my work, so it will be more GS's and maybe JS's, which is not my favorite, but I'm going to either slow down in cruising, as I love OS's, but in the last year we have probably split our cruises between OS's and GS's.

 

However, booking a GS, with the hope of being upgraded, as mentioned before, has not happened to us in the past year and a half!:cool:

 

Rick

[Iamthesea]

From what I know, and what I have experienced...........if you are a first time cruiser, and Royal Caribbean knows that, based on their knowledge of your income and their product........you might find yourself upgraded from a balcony to a suite...........and sometimes even from an outside cabin.

 

They are betting on the come.........that you will be hooked, and spend the extra with them on your next cruise.

 

Then there are those of us, that, at one time got upgraded, but have not seen anything in over a year, although we have put in about 12 or more cruises since then. And ChipLondon talke about people like us, that are Pinnacle Club members.........and not that we complain, but I'm getting ready to slow down in my work, so it will be more GS's and maybe JS's, which is not my favorite, but I'm going to either slow down in cruising, as I love OS's, but in the last year we have probably split our cruises between OS's and GS's.

 

However, booking a GS, with the hope of being upgraded, as mentioned before, has not happened to us in the past year and a half!:cool:

 

Rick

If you are taking 12 or more cruises a year :eek:, it's a no wonder that your work is slowing down. :D

[ggo85]

We've taken probably 20 cruises on several lines (RCCL being the most frequent) and have never received an upgrade on any. We always book a specific room.

 

We did have a situation a couple of cruises ago with RCCL where they called about a week before the cruise and asked us if we wanted to "downgrade" from a GS to a JS.:eek: Apparently, they'd overbooked . . . or something.

 

They first started tellinig me how there wasn't much difference in the cabin size, that we'd be on the same deck, that we'd still get the double cruise credit. They offered something like $500 OBC and other "weird" benefits -- can't recall what they were but they certainly weren't memorable or worthwhile. They did NOT say that we could continue to keep the suite benefits, such as Concierge Lounge, priority seats for shows, etc. (although, in fairness, I was too stunned to ask).

 

Our answer was a flat "no." We kept our cabin. I guess they sweetened the deal until someone took it.:rolleyes: I guess you'd call that the "downgrade devil" (vs. the upgrade fairy).:p

[Iamthesea]

That would be a tough one. :rolleyes: Were they also lowering your stateroom price to that of the JS, in addition to the OBC? If that was the case, and they still allowed the Suite benefits, I believe we would have to take it. That $500 + reduction in cruise cost could go a long way! :) It would be hard to give up that GS bathroom, however.

[hollon]

We just got upgraded at the pier, from the cheapest inside to a midships balcony room :) this makes three times that I have had significant upgrades. Keep it up!

did you go to the pier coordinator or just ask when you checked in? also what ship were you on?

[B-52]

From what I know, and what I have experienced...........if you are a first time cruiser, and Royal Caribbean knows that, based on their knowledge of your income and their product........you might find yourself upgraded from a balcony to a suite...........and sometimes even from an outside cabin.

 

They are betting on the come.........that you will be hooked, and spend the extra with them on your next cruise.

 

Then there are those of us, that, at one time got upgraded, but have not seen anything in over a year, although we have put in about 12 or more cruises since then. And ChipLondon talke about people like us, that are Pinnacle Club members.........and not that we complain, but I'm getting ready to slow down in my work, so it will be more GS's and maybe JS's, which is not my favorite, but I'm going to either slow down in cruising, as I love OS's, but in the last year we have probably split our cruises between OS's and GS's.

 

However, booking a GS, with the hope of being upgraded, as mentioned before, has not happened to us in the past year and a half!:cool:R

 

Rick

 

That is how it happened for us, our 2nd cruise, free upgrade to a GS. The concierge confirmed your above statement, it is a target group they are after.

 

Incidentally, we have been in a GS every cruise since. I quess they do know what they are doing.

 

D+ have a less chance, although it can happen, because they know D+ are already loyal. They want to pull in newer people to the fold.

[emdia43]

did you go to the pier coordinator or just ask when you checked in? also what ship were you on?

 

We were on Allure. We arrived at check in, the clerk said there was a notation on the screen which he wasn't sure about - he went to find a

supervisor, and when he came back told us we had been upgraded to a balcony.....we didn't ask for it.

I had a basic inside booked, room 3838 and they moved us to 8594...:D

no idea why

[emdia43]

Did you originally have a GTY booked?

 

 

No, I had booked an inside cabin many months ago. Room 3838.. the cheapest room as we usually only shower and sleep in it... we got upgraded to 8594.

[hollon]

We were on Allure. We arrived at check in, the clerk said there was a notation on the screen which he wasn't sure about - he went to find a

supervisor, and when he came back told us we had been upgraded to a balcony.....we didn't ask for it.

I had a basic inside booked, room 3838 and they moved us to 8594...:D

no idea why

Glad for you :)

[sunnyv]

We were on Allure. We arrived at check in, the clerk said there was a notation on the screen which he wasn't sure about - he went to find a

supervisor, and when he came back told us we had been upgraded to a balcony.....we didn't ask for it.

I had a basic inside booked, room 3838 and they moved us to 8594...:D

no idea why

We have 8594 on the Oasis booked for 3 people because it has a sofa bed. Can you tell me if the sofa was by the balcony or the closet?

[awhcruiser]

Agreed!

Did you not hear, the Upgrade Fairy is only working 3 days a month now, and only 2 hours on each day. If you want a better cabin, my advice is to book one, even Pinnacle members state that the fairy has moved on.

[ggo85]

Upgrades are ALWAYS capacity controlled. If the "better" cabins are sold out, there won't be upgrades. If there are open cabins, some folks likely will get upgrades.

 

I would think that RCCL (or any other line) might first try to sweeten the deal for those willing to pay for upgrades. Better to get SOME money for an upgrade vs. giving one away. But, at the end of the day, the loyalty they will get from an upgrade (which costs them little to nothing) beats letting those cabins go empty.

 

Not sure there's a "right" answer to your question. Assume that (as is the case for our upcoming cruise) there is an open Royal Suite that goes unsold. I would bet it would be offered first to an Owner's Suite booking, not a suite guarantee. That could obviously create a "ripple effect" that could cascade the guarantee to a GS (vs. JS). Could RCCL offer the RS to a suite guaranty? Sure.

 

Because you don't know who else is sailing with you, you can't begin to predict why RCCL would offer upgrades to someone other than you -- or to you. You can bet that complex computer programs analyze this . . . well beyond the scope of this forum.:rolleyes:

[RSLeesburg]

Funny you should mention this. We are booked into a GS, and thought about trying to negotiate a paid upgrade to OS. The price for the OS has dropped, so thought I would see if RCI would drop it a bit more ;). If so, that would free up a GS, which are currently sold out on our cruise. I think the JS cabins are also sold out.