How Do They Fill Empty Balcony Suites??

[jvitatoe26]

Hello again! I have a question (again!)...I was looking at basically every category of room on every deck to see what was available still for my sailing in May. There is a significant amount of Scenic OV's, Balconys, Aft Extended Balconys, Ocean Suites, Grande Suites etc available ALL OVER the ship. The only thing I did not see was any Spa rooms.

 

So, my question is how do they fill these rooms if they are still empty close to sailing? Do they contact former guests or diamond/platinum members for free upgrades (I am neither...obviously lol). Do they offer booked guests a chance to upgrade? Do they just discount the price on carnival.com? Is this something I should be watching for as sail date is near? I am in an interior on deck 7...nothing special :rolleyes:.

 

Maybe I am wrong and they sail with the empty cabins??

 

Thanks for the help!

[awval999]

Hello again! I have a question (again!)...I was looking at basically every category of room on every deck to see what was available still for my sailing in May. There is a significant amount of Scenic OV's, Balconys, Aft Extended Balconys, Ocean Suites, Grande Suites etc available ALL OVER the ship. The only thing I did not see was any Spa rooms.

 

So, my question is how do they fill these rooms if they are still empty close to sailing? Do they contact former guests or diamond/platinum members for free upgrades (I am neither...obviously lol). Do they offer booked guests a chance to upgrade? Do they just discount the price on carnival.com? Is this something I should be watching for as sail date is near? I am in an interior on deck 7...nothing special :rolleyes:.

 

Maybe I am wrong and they sail with the empty cabins??

 

Thanks for the help!

 

 

From what I'm aware they will call people booked on Balconies and ask if they want to pay to upgrade. Then they will call OV and ask if they want to upgrade to Balcony, etc. Then they will try to sell the Inside rooms dirt cheap to last minute buyers.

[jvitatoe26]

Okay, so am I to understand that I shouldnt be "fare watching" these rooms too closely as odds are I wont end up in one w/o spending a good chunk of $, but I should instead keep paying attention to see if my interior room category has fallen to dirt cheap so I can apply for price protection. Correct?

[D4]

They lower the prices online and they also call people to upsell them. When people move up, that frees up rooms in other categories.

 

We've been platinum for about 5 years and since then we've always booked balconies and almost always have received an upsell call. We often take them up on it :)

 

They usually work hard to sail full. Online prices drop closer to the cruise date.

[browneyedwoman]

Sadly it seems as if they reward people who booked cheaper cabins by giving them away to them with this sale.

[Trish12345]

On the Valor (7 day S Caribb) a month ago, we booked Room 9206. I like the cabin at the very front of the ship, port side, preferably on the Lido if possible. I think it was a Jr Suite.

 

The Valor replaced the Victory in San Juan so that left Room 9202 as the front room. 9202 is a Captains Suite, two bedrooms from my snooping. :D

 

We then priced 9202, a little over $5000 for 2 people. Ouch!!! The room was not booked until about 5 days before cruise. I checked often. A family of 5 was in the room, room showed about $7000 for 5 people. I never saw this room on sale and I checked daily as I am nosy.

 

They could have upgraded from a smaller room but the advertised price was always $5000 for 2 people. I wonder...

 

btw - do not book Room 9206 on the Valor as the balcony of 9202 looks directly into your room!!

[Colorado Kat]

If there are still empty cabins very close to sailing, they offer special "Pak & Go" rates. People within easy driving distance to ports benefit most.

[sueandtimj]

Hello again! I have a question (again!)...I was looking at basically every category of room on every deck to see what was available still for my sailing in May. There is a significant amount of Scenic OV's, Balconys, Aft Extended Balconys, Ocean Suites, Grande Suites etc available ALL OVER the ship. The only thing I did not see was any Spa rooms.

 

So, my question is how do they fill these rooms if they are still empty close to sailing? Do they contact former guests or diamond/platinum members for free upgrades (I am neither...obviously lol). Do they offer booked guests a chance to upgrade? Do they just discount the price on carnival.com? Is this something I should be watching for as sail date is near? I am in an interior on deck 7...nothing special :rolleyes:.

 

Maybe I am wrong and they sail with the empty cabins??

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the help!

 

About 2 1/2 - 3 weeks prior to our sailing, the prices of all the unsold cabins dropped drastically, sometimes more than once a day until the ship was pretty much sold out.

[Tapi]

Last time we sailed on the Fascination, we booked a lowly 6A cabin in the back of the Riviera deck. We received an upsell call offering the Owner's Suite for an additional $600pp :eek: (No thanks, not when we paid $239pp. If I wanted to spend that much on a cruise I would've booked a different cruise altogether). We did take an upsell to a midship cabin on the Empress deck for an aditional $10pp though! :o

[JimAOk1945]

We have sailed on Carnival four times, but never have been offered a free upgrade. However, we had an interested experience with the "Upsell Fairy."

 

In 2011 we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by going on a cruise. We had booked a Grand Suite with an extended balcony on the Carnival Ecstasy. We got a call offering us a upsell to the Penthouse Suite (also called the Owner's Suite) when she still sailed out of Galveston, TX. There are only two of these gigantic suites on the ship. We had been on the Ecstasy before and never realized they were there. The cabin measures 916 sq ft and the balcony 110 sq ft.

 

Most people don't even know they are there because they are sort of out of the way and tucked out of sight. It was and upsell not a free upgrade, but since it was our anniversary, I said yes. I guess they needed someone to fill that humongous suite! :p

 

My wife took pictures and posted them on her personal website. You can see them at the link below.

 

http://nancysoasis.com/OS/OS.html

 

Happy Sailing Everyone. It's a great way to explore the world!

[jvitatoe26]

We have sailed on Carnival four times, but never have been offered a free upgrade. However, we had an interested experience with the "Upsell Fairy."

 

In 2011 we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by going on a cruise. We had booked a Grand Suite with an extended balcony on the Carnival Ecstasy. We got a call offering us a upsell to the Penthouse Suite (also called the Owner's Suite) when she still sailed out of Galveston, TX. There are only two of these gigantic suites on the ship. We had been on the Ecstasy before and never realized they were there. The cabin measures 916 sq ft and the balcony 110 sq ft.

 

Most people don't even know they are there because they are sort of out of the way and tucked out of sight. It was and upsell not a free upgrade, but since it was our anniversary, I said yes. I guess they needed someone to fill that humongous suite! :p

 

My wife took pictures and posted them on her personal website. You can see them at the link below.

 

http://nancysoasis.com/OS/OS.html

 

Happy Sailing Everyone. It's a great way to explore the world!

 

OMG!!!! That suite is bigger than the condo I live in!!! How lovely for you!!! What a great experience :)

 

Free was probably a really really poor choice of words, I should have said inexpensive, or reduced price on upgrades! Thanks for all of the info!

[CWcruisers]

I'm a Diamond member and I can assure you, they don't offer free upgrades to us.

 

Most of the time, the I don't even get called by the upsell fairy.

[jvitatoe26]

I'm a Diamond member and I can assure you, they don't offer free upgrades to us.

 

Most of the time, the I don't even get called by the upsell fairy.

 

Hi! Free was a poor choice of words on my part. What I meant to ask was if these rooms were offered to the most loyal cruisers at a reduced cost if they are empty at/around sail date, or if they just sail with these rooms empty. It just seems so bizarre to me that so many of these "premium" rooms of varying prices are still available this close to sailing. But who knows, maybe my idea of "so many" or "premium rooms" or "so close to sailing" isnt even accurate...I'm new and inexperienced at all this :)

[CWcruisers]

It seems newer people get more upsell calls then the old customers. That really is Carnival's market so they want to impress them.

 

Most ships sail full and as someone said, the closer they get to sailing, the more calls the upsell fairy makes trying to get people to bite on an upgrade.

 

May is still quite a ways away. If you booked ES, keep watching, prices may adjust the closer you get.

[bride123105]

If there are still empty cabins very close to sailing, they offer special "Pak & Go" rates. People within easy driving distance to ports benefit most.

 

They did "pack and go" on my last cruise. Suddenly a balcony was less than what I had paid for an interior. I was booked Early Saver and filled out an early saver form and nothing happened. :(

[CWcruisers]

They did "pack and go" on my last cruise. Suddenly a balcony was less than what I had paid for an interior. I was booked Early Saver and filled out an early saver form and nothing happened. :(

 

 

Did the rate for your interior go down also? The ES form is only for the type of cabin you booked. You may have been able to get an upgrade to a balcony cabin. Not sure what the restrictions are on the Pack and Go sale.

[bride123105]

Did the rate for your interior go down also? The ES form is only for the type of cabin you booked. You may have been able to get an upgrade to a balcony cabin. Not sure what the restrictions are on the Pack and Go sale.

 

The interior rate did go down also. I called my PVP and he told me to fill out an ES form and check the upgrade box to get a balcony. I now regret that I didn't just call the general line and see if someone could upgrade me that way.

[MszKitty]

I'm a Diamond member and I can assure you, they don't offer free upgrades to us.

 

Most of the time, the I don't even get called by the upsell fairy.

 

 

Not Diamond, but Platinum Milestone (at least thats what my card says) with 25 cruises and I've never been offered any sort of upsell or upgrade either.

[RWolver672]

From what I've read on here, in most cases when they do call for an upsell, it's the same price that you could have gotten yourself prior to the call. You have to be on the ball when you get one of these calls and know what the going price of that cabin has been. In a few instances if they are desperate, they will lower the price to entice you to bite.

[MrPete]

Hello again! I have a question (again!)...I was looking at basically every category of room on every deck to see what was available still for my sailing in May. There is a significant amount of Scenic OV's, Balconys, Aft Extended Balconys, Ocean Suites, Grande Suites etc available ALL OVER the ship. The only thing I did not see was any Spa rooms.

 

So, my question is how do they fill these rooms if they are still empty close to sailing? Do they contact former guests or diamond/platinum members for free upgrades (I am neither...obviously lol). Do they offer booked guests a chance to upgrade? Do they just discount the price on carnival.com? Is this something I should be watching for as sail date is near? I am in an interior on deck 7...nothing special :rolleyes:.

 

Maybe I am wrong and they sail with the empty cabins??

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Used to be free.

 

Now they call with all kind of incentive offers for $$. And they keep going till they find a taker.

[D4]

From what I've read on here, in most cases when they do call for an upsell, it's the same price that you could have gotten yourself prior to the call. You have to be on the ball when you get one of these calls and know what the going price of that cabin has been. In a few instances if they are desperate, they will lower the price to entice you to bite.

 

We started receiving the upsell calls when we became platinum about 5 years ago. I do think they like rewarding loyal customers plus their upsell phone calls can go much faster when they are dealing with experienced cruisers that are familiar with the different cabin categories and deck plans. There is so much less explaining they have to do on the call. Remember their jobs are to finish getting the ships filled quickly.

 

Each time we've received an upsell call, I've gotten online while on the call and checked the prices. The upsell prices have been significantly lower than the online. We book balconies, so we've received upsell offers to move to extended balconies and suites. Sometimes we upgrade; sometimes we don't. You always have the option to take the person's number and call them back, but others may have already accepted the offer so it might not still be available when yoo call back.

 

Remember if you accept an upsell you may need to increase your insurance coverage to insure the additional cruise cost if you have a policy with pre-existing medical waiver or cancel for any reason coverage.

 

On Princess, we receive upsell offers on email instead of a phone call.

[aggieastrosfan]

18 cruises with Carnival and never an upsell call. But back in 2004 I did inquire to our TA about upgrading to a suite, and didn't do it due to cost. A week later, we had been given the upgrade for free.

 

I'll just have to keep carrying that as a distant memory! :rolleyes:

 

 

Meredith

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Leo's Rule]

We have sailed on Carnival four times, but never have been offered a free upgrade. However, we had an interested experience with the "Upsell Fairy."

 

In 2011 we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by going on a cruise. We had booked a Grand Suite with an extended balcony on the Carnival Ecstasy. We got a call offering us a upsell to the Penthouse Suite (also called the Owner's Suite) when she still sailed out of Galveston, TX. There are only two of these gigantic suites on the ship. We had been on the Ecstasy before and never realized they were there. The cabin measures 916 sq ft and the balcony 110 sq ft.

 

Most people don't even know they are there because they are sort of out of the way and tucked out of sight. It was and upsell not a free upgrade, but since it was our anniversary, I said yes. I guess they needed someone to fill that humongous suite! :p

 

My wife took pictures and posted them on her personal website. You can see them at the link below.

 

http://nancysoasis.com/OS/OS.html

 

Happy Sailing Everyone. It's a great way to explore the world!

 

Can you take me on your next cruise? :p That was awesome!!!!

[jwalk03]

My last 2 cruises I have booked an interior on the very bottom deck. and both times have gotten upgraded to the very top deck (lido the first time, and panorama the second time) for $20 per person. Really hoping that happens again for my Sept cruise! (or that the current sale is extended past 8/31 sailings, to get the upgrade for free!)

[ricky123]

I have been one of the people upgraded from a balcony room to a suite.

I called my PVP 2 weeks before my sailing and asked if there was any suites available.

there was a junior suite and a suite available. Me and another couple we were sailing with

paid $300 to be bumped up to the suite and the other couple picked the junior suite!

it was well worth it.

Call your PVP and do the same. Friends of ours cruised on the Pride in January and did the same thing.