Does rccl ever give free upgrades

[Cruise Cat]

I asked my TA about this the other month, but not why you may think. I had a horrid thought that after getting the room I wanted (Aft D1) that they might upgrade us to a JS on the side. Two days ago, we snatched the corner D1 with the wrap-around balcony. So, unless they upgraded us to some sort of Royal Suite with a hot tub in it, I would be very PO'd if they changed us. My TA said she would not 'approve' an upgrade.

 

If you book through a TA, do they actually have veto authority over an upgrade or would they even know if RCCL approved it?

 

I have my own theory on upgrades after filling out my on-line forms yesterday: You fill out your occupation on the form, so they could generally estimate youor income range. You also fill out a cruise history, both with them and others. Even though it is just a number, they can pull this up quickly. I know, because they back checked a previous cruise of ours over the phone when I joined. So, they know how many cruises ou have taken with them and what rooms you had.

Here is where the sales logic kicks in for them. They can assume if you are on say your third cruise with them, you will probably enjoy your cruise and come back to them again. If they see your previous two cruises were in inside cabins, they may think that if they upgrade you to an oceanview, that the next time you book, the oceanview will be your first choice from now on, so they have you hooked. Same logic of upgrading from an oceanview to a balcony, etc. Your estimated income from the occupation you and your spouse put down probably figures into the equation too as well as age. They can't 'hook' you on a higher category room if they think you can't afford it each time. This would also explain multiple jumps in categories as they see someone on their first cruise on an inside cabin but they put down occupations indicating a high income potential. They want to make sure these people really enjoy their first cruise and may think that if they get them in a room with a balcony the very first time, they will have a great experience and will always book a balcony in the future. I think this would also explain some of the stories we've seen lately about them bumbping up C&A membership levels of some cruisers for no reason.

Just theories.........

[cruisecrasy]

Carnival so naturally the policy will be different. Have always found them to be more generous with upgrades in the past. Key word here - past - 'cause with lots more folks cruising there aren't many to be had these days anywhere. 'Shucks' but thats life right. Wait a bit and when the economy downturns those 'free' upgrades may return for awhile anyway! Happy cruisin' & dreamin'!!

[cme]

We were upgraded from a window on deck 3 to a balcony on deck 9 my very first cruise. I have been on 5 since then and have not.

 

 

 

Carrie

[marcmedic]

My sister-in-law is sailing with a large group of us that are going. She was the sole occupant of a nice E1 on deck 8 in the middle of the ship. When she made final payment she noticed that her cabin number was different. She was upgraded to a D1. Only bad part is it is the second to last one to the back of the ship. Not the best location. TA says that Royal Caribbean can upgrade you at any time and doesn't have to ask for permission. Well now there are no other balconies for her to switch to. She didn't need the extra 20 square feet. I just wonder what would have them move 1 person to a bigger room? Must have been 3 or 4 that wanted her E1 for them to be willing to do this. By the way...if they upgrade you and then give your room away...you can't get it back. Not that big of a deal in the long run but it seems that they should at least ask if you want the free upgrade.

[BACB]

On my first cruise-RCCL Radiance- I was told at check in that there was a room change from a balcony to a junior suite. No charge. On my first Princess cruise-Caribbean Princess- I was told at check in that there was a room change from a mini suite to a penthouse suite. No charge.

Both times I was with my husband. He must be the charm because I was not upgraded from a mini on Enchantment with my sister and I am leaving on Voyager this Friday with friends, D1 balcony, and not expecting any upgrade.

[Straughn]

Based on the number of threads with questions about how much does it cost to upgrade at the pier, there are a fair number of cruisers who will gladly pay some amount more for a better cabin. Why should RCCL upgrade, especially from a regular cabin to a suite, when the possibility exists that someone would be willing to pay something more for a better cabin.

 

I don't think they can upgrade you w/o your knowledge. I do know that you can be bumped from the family suites if you are only 2 people and they have a larger family who wants the space. This happened to a couple we met on a cruise a couple of years ago. The regular suites were not available, so they took the FS. They got a call about 6 weeks out and said that they were being moved because a family of 6 wanted a FS. They were put in a smaller cabin, but got some $$ on their cruise account for compensation. The couple did say that their TA had warned them that they could be moved if a larger group wanted the space.

 

We are on Grandeur in September. As of now, 4 of the 5 OS are unsold, the RS is unsold, and several of the GS & JS are vacant. It will be interesting to see what the RCCL website shows available the day before we sail and what is occupied once the ship sails.

[dwardlaw]

I was upgraded to a cabin without my knowlege. I was not happy because I had booked a hump room. So now I had more space, but the hump rooms where blocking our view.

[TaylorgoCruz]

What is a hump room?

[Jimbo]

You have to ask ? ;)

 

Jimbo:)

[TaylorgoCruz]

Oops, sorry... Getting old, you know...

[CAPTAIN'STABLE]

Im just asking because I was a avid Carnival cruiser until may 2 2005, and on just about all my cruises with carnival, Princess and Holland american I got a good upgrade, Not all cruises but most. On my sovereign of the seas June cruise I inquired about an free upgrade because the ship wasnt sold out. I was told by customer service the only way you can get an upgrade with rccl is pay for it. It really doesnt matter I will still sail with rccl but Im just curious If customer service was right or not . Thanks for your imformation in advanse James

 

The reason that I know the answer is that I have been upgraded by RCL several times.

 

However I do not know why I was selected to be upgraded. I can offer a guess, and that is because I am a DIAMOND PLUS MEMBER, but I am not sure that this was the reason. This is because I was also upgraded before iI became a DIAMOD PLUS MEMBER

[xpcdoojk]

Welcome back S man....

 

You are a brave guy posting on a Cruise Cat thread.

 

jc

[aftmdne]

My husband and I booked our first cruise with Royal Caribbean last July, 2005, to sail at the end of August, 2005. We booked an oceanview, I think on Deck 4. A few weeks before we were to sail, we logged onto the RC website and found to our surprise that we had been upgraded to an aft balcony cabin on Deck 7. We were not notified of this change, and would not have known until we got to the pier if we had not logged on. We booked through cruise.com, but if they were notified of the change they never let us know.

 

We live about an hour from the port in Baltimore, and I always wondered if they didn't give us a better room to give us the incentive to cruise with them again since we live so close. Whatever the reason, it spoiled us, and if we could afford it we'd have booked a balcony this time too! We are going on the same ship next month, but this time we are at the bottom of the boat. But a cruise on the bottom is better than no cruise at all!!!:)

[Cruise Cat]

From what my TA told me the other day, there is some sort of "comment field" in the booking system they all use and she has put in a notation not to upgrade me. She said she has never had a problem with them respecting notes like that.

[joerabbi]

What is a hump room?

 

No, that is not what it is. :eek:

 

It is one of the rooms that stick out a bit farther on the side of the ship due to the ships structure. They are prized for the view and balcony privacy (they don't have anyone above looking down on their balcony). :)

[LuvMyVette]

Hi Everyone:

 

DH/I returned from VOS on July 24 and at the time of check-in we asked about an upgrade. We were informed to check with Guest Relations on the ship. For the heck of it we did and that same day we received a message.

For an additional $600 we can upgrade from an E1 (Balcony on Deck 9) to a Junior Suite on Deck 9. Of course we said no.

On my second cruise with RCI we were bumped up a few decks but had the same type of cabin (Oceanview). Since then we never received any free upgrades.

Either way I'm going to enjoy my cruise but in all honesty I miss those type of surprise "perks" for repeat passengers. RCI definitely has changed over the years but not enough to make me change cruise lines.

[gobnu1]

Just upgraded from a D1 to the Royal Family Suite. Quite a shock, so yes it does happen.

[flyerwife]

Just sailed for the first time on Royal Caribbean (Aug 21 sailing of the Mariner). I had 2 rooms booked, one for the kids and one for us. Ours was an inside guarantee. To our surprise, they upgraded ours to an outside room (which really was a 2 category upgrade.)

 

Maybe the fact that I only booked the cruise 3 weeks prior to sailing helped in scoring the upgrade???? Or maybe it was the fact that I had 2 rooms booked. Certainly wasn't due to the rate I paid, as I was on a very inexpensive fare.

 

:)