Possibility of a discounted upgrade?

[PSMike36]

Hey everybody -

 

My wife and I are currently booked in an interior room and I have been told by my travel agent that it is sometimes possible to speak with the "revenue staff" onboard about the possibility of a discounted upgrade. Obviously, subject to availability.

 

So.....I am wondering if any of you have done this on RCL? If so, how much of a discount was offered? If memory serves, the balcony rooms were an additional $1,000 at the time we booked.

 

We're cruising on the Freedom Jan 13th - 20th.

 

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer!

[dixieva]

I have never been on a ship that is not sold out. At least that's always what they tell you.

 

If you want to change your room best to look into that before you board. Sometimes rates go down after final payment on the rooms left to be booked.

 

Good Luck!

[spookwife]

there is about a .00000001% possibility of being able to upgrade at the pier.

 

ships routinely sail at capacity.

[3some]

If you want to upgrade now, there are some ocean view staterooms available in the mid 800s. No balconies are showing except for suites. They will probably all be gone by the time you board.

[edjny]

Hey everybody -

 

My wife and I are currently booked in an interior room and I have been told by my travel agent that it is sometimes possible to speak with the "revenue staff" onboard about the possibility of a discounted upgrade. Obviously, subject to availability.

 

So.....I am wondering if any of you have done this on RCL? If so, how much of a discount was offered? If memory serves, the balcony rooms were an additional $1,000 at the time we booked.

 

We're cruising on the Freedom Jan 13th - 20th.

 

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer!

 

One never knows when the prices decrease for an upgraded cabin. We upgraded recently to a Junior Suite when the price dropped to just a bit above a balcony price. We called RCL and quickly upgraded. A day later the cheap price was gone and returned to just about what it was previously.

 

A few suggestions for future cruises....

1. Initially book the cabin through the RCL web site or by calling RCL. This will enable you to call RCL up directly to make changes/upgrades immediately. The problem with booking through a travel agency is that you have to go through the travel agency for any upgrades/changes. They may not be as responsive to your needs/wants as calling RCL directly.

 

2. When on your next cruise, buy one or more 'Next Cruise' bookings. You can leave the date/cruise open. You will get a booking number. When you decide what cruise to book, just call RCL and give them this number.

 

3. After booking a cruise, check the cabin prices EVERYDAY on the web site. Some of the price breaks are there for a very short time duration. You have to look to find them and decide quickly what you want to do.

[Cigar King]

If there appear to be rooms available for an upgrade, I usually call a week or two prior to the cruise to enquire? I figure it can't hurt. So far, I have never been offered a discount. I'll keep trying though.

[christalannbutler]

From what I have learned:

 

1. After final payments, they will not give money back if a deal comes up. However, if you see that a category higher is the same price or less than what you paid, you can call customer service (or C&A) and get moved into the room.

 

2. Otherwise, the upgrade fairy begins 14 days or less before sailing and only if you are a C&A that selected that you would like upgrades in your profile. They start from highest C&A to lowest.

 

I am booked Jan 24-28 and saw that my sailing was on Hot Deals. I called last night and in less than 5 minutes I was upgraded to a room that was a higher category and better positioning on the ship.

 

I hope this helps!

[JMG]

After 9/11 getting upgrades at the pier was a real possibility. We upgraded several times using that method. As the years have past, the possibility of these upgrades had pretty much vanished. Also, the prices of staterooms has gone down due to the # of ships/berths that are available every week. As many have said, now the ships tend to sail at capacity. If one category is sold out, RCI might upgrade some people to provide more staterooms available for sale in that sold out category.

[PSMike36]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

 

We actually booked through a travel agent, so I dont think I could call RC directly and inquire.

[steveru621]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

 

We actually booked through a travel agent, so I don't think I could call RC directly and inquire.

 

Check the RCCL website first thing Tuesday morning or if you are a C&A member Monday (today) night there is a preview. If there is any discounts to be had that's where they usually show up. Then you can call your TA and they should be able rebook if there is still discounted cabins left.

 

That's what we did on Allure and snagged a JS for only $100 more than our balcony. It's almost a ritual for me to check RCCL every Monday night and Tuesday morning.

[PSMike36]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Much appreciated.