My observations

[Colo Cruiser]

Caribbean Princess - I've booked 3 interior aft cabins through my TA, all on the same deck.

 

Have just been told that Princess upgraded one of the cabins by 1 category to more mid-ship.

 

Problem is that the upgrade put that 1 cabin mid-forward on a different deck.

 

Our TA knows that it is VERY important to us that all 3 cabins are in close proximity to each other (which is how it was originally booked). Our TA has let Princess know this as well.

 

My question - is there any way for my TA to tell Princess that we are not interested in upgrades?

 

(If it means the cabins will be in different areas of the ship, it's not worth the upgrade to us).

 

Yes! Have the booking marked "NO UPGRADE".

 

These scenarios with cabins together never work out well because they never move anyone to the same area.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I have a question for those that have been upgraded. Do you book a specific room and mark No Upgrade but still get an offer for an upgrade or are you always in a guaranteed room? I always mark No Upgrade because I'm pretty specific about where I want to be but I would certainly like to be upgraded to a suite. Is this where I would indicate only a meta upgrade would be accepted?

[Colo Cruiser]

I have a question for those that have been upgraded. Do you book a specific room and mark No Upgrade but still get an offer for an upgrade or are you always in a guaranteed room? I always mark No Upgrade because I'm pretty specific about where I want to be but I would certainly like to be upgraded to a suite. Is this where I would indicate only a meta upgrade would be accepted?

 

You will not be upgraded to another GTY.

If thats what you are asking.

We have never received an upgrade offer if we mark it no upgrade.

 

Yes Meta would be to the next availbale Cat type. ;)

[pathi]

When we got our upgrade the booking was marked Meta Upgrade only. We always book mini's on emerald deck, and do not want an uncovered balcony on Dolphin.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

When we got our upgrade the booking was marked Meta Upgrade only. We always book mini's on emerald deck, and do not want an uncovered balcony on Dolphin.

 

Thank you both for your answers.

[dchip]

There probably is some rhyme and reason for upgrades. On the Sapphire 28 day cruise to Tahiti, there were 8 cabins I know for sure that were upgraded.

 

We had all booked the highest category obstructed view. We picked our specific cabin. We were all upgraded. Us to a balcony cabin along with my DS and DBIL who were next door.

 

I do believe this had to do with selling guarantees and then needing the cabins.

 

If ever there was a time in 15 cruises to be upgraded, that was IT. :D

 

Cheers, Denise

Edited March 5, 2014 by dchip

[Sapphire56]

If you want to be in a specific place in a ship, deck, mid ship, aft etc. then do not accept an upgrade unless you know that you will like the new position. If you accept an upgrade you may get a cabin, albeit a better, bigger, balcony, suite etc. below the promenade decks or pool area where people complain of chairs being dragged about above their head or being above kitchens and smelling the food being cooked etc. Just be aware of this possibility. We always request 'no upgrade' because we want to be in a certain place on the ship and do not want to be in other places.

 

It is of course personal choice and if you really don't mind where you are positioned on the ship then ask them to mark your booking as 'upgrade acceptable'.

 

We have cruised 10 times and never been offered an upgrade but as I have mentioned we always ensure that we opt out.

 

Good luck to all those that want them, I hope you are successful and get a great cabin.

 

Happy cruising.

[likeadisguise]

Upgrades are never "offered" -- the new cabin assignment is just made in the system. That's why they call it a complimentary automatic upgrade.

 

The only time you'll get an offer where you have to make up their mind and let them know is if there's something more going on, like an upsell.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Loonbeam]

I've explained it before but here is how upgrades work...

 

Like every other line, Princess uses what is called Yield Management software. Basically, the software tries to figure out what each cabin on a given cruise is 'worth' on an ever changing basis, based on a complicated algorithm that very few people at Princess are versed in the details of, and even less outside of. This is the same program that sets and updates cabin pricing.

 

If you are booked in a specific room and Princess' system determines that it can make more revenue by selling your room again, it looks for another cabin in a higher class that is currently showing a lower probability of either being booked at all or is expected to book at a lower revenue point (cabin price is NOT the only factor, but as noted above, I have no idea what the formula is). If you are in that cabin, you get upgraded. If your booking is marked no upgrade requested, then the system will move to the next cabin with a similar price profile. If all cabins in a price block are marked no upgrade then the system may still upgrade one of them if the revenue variance is big enough.

 

If you are booked in a GTY, the system will determine the cabins that currently show the lowest revenue projections in your cabin class or higher than assign you that room, at which point you go into the system above, with two exceptions. Until final assignment, you are assigned that cabin as a placeholder, additional calculations may change it, additionally, you will never be considered no upgrade requested. The system determines final assignment date based on a number of factors, and it is separate for each GTY class. This is why you can get a room assignment 4 weeks out, 4 days or 24 hours as a GTY.

 

Status MAY be (again, very few people know what actually is and NO ONE on this board is one of them) a factor in upgrades if the revenue calculations on a set of cabins are similar, as may things like past spending habits, etc. But the biggest driver overall is revenue.

 

It is important to note that of course, manual changes can be made. No idea what the protocol is on those, and they are more likely to happen closer to sailing, when the software can't identify any more probable revenue growth potential via upgrade but there are still cabins open. "Hey, it's 2 days out, this suite is not gonna sell, so lets bump those folks on their 50th anniv"

 

The key takeaway is there is no way to predict what is more likely to get an upgrade. Every single itinerary is different from the next, even on the same ship and route, depending on what's booked. If we were able to identify every single upgrade with all the key factors given across Princess for 6 months, maybe we could tease out some nuggets from the data

[ggprincess2004]

Caribbean Princess - I've booked 3 interior aft cabins through my TA, all on the same deck.

 

Have just been told that Princess upgraded one of the cabins by 1 category to more mid-ship.

 

Problem is that the upgrade put that 1 cabin mid-forward on a different deck.

 

Our TA knows that it is VERY important to us that all 3 cabins are in close proximity to each other (which is how it was originally booked). Our TA has let Princess know this as well.

 

My question - is there any way for my TA to tell Princess that we are not interested in upgrades?

 

(If it means the cabins will be in different areas of the ship, it's not worth the upgrade to us).

 

EDIT - I have just been told that the cruise lines have the right to change the cabins whenever or as often as they like, so there are chances that they will change them up until the day you depart. Is this true, even if you are assigned a specific cabin number when you booked?

 

In addition to marking no upgrade, it is important that your TA link the bookings. That is helpful in keeping the cabins in close proximity.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I think the only way to know for sure is to survey all those who have reserved upgrades, and besides the logistical nightmare (even if you have access to all those people), there are people who might think they got an upgrade or may have received one and not know it. I would guess that's the case more often than not -- consider how many people that tell you they've been on a cruise within the last five years or so, but can't remember the ship's name (I remember telling someone at a party what ship they were on in Alaska the year before just from hearing that they left on a Saturday and from Seattle -- they were amazed. I was more amazed that one could be on a ship for a week and not remember which one just months later).

 

We've gotten moreover offers from Princess (before our first Princess cruise and the most recent) and have been upgraded on Carnival (my first cruise, but later ones too), but I think it has to do with your cabin category, not your loyalty status. Since we've been booking specific cabins and marking our booking "no upgrade" the last few times, we're hoping not to get moved.

[6travelers]

Well, after reading all posts, I will add my upgrade experience! Had booked two Emerald deck mini's. Had the last mini with the bigger balcony and the mini next door. Both were marked "NO UPGRADE" what so ever. Have cruised on Princess many times and am platinum. Couple of weeks before sailing got a phone call from Princess asking if we would like to have both aft corner full suites on Aloha deck. The representative said I did not have to accept and could keep my cabins and gave me the afternoon to discuss with others traveling with me. I asked why the offer and was told a passenger wanted our specific cabin and was doing b2b's. Well, we ended up saying yes and what a great cruise we had with those amazing gigantic balconies and full suite amenities etc So, I believe in our instance it was a cabin category.

Edited March 5, 2014 by 6travelers

[Loonbeam]

Added this as an FAQ to my FAQ site, slightly modified.

 

I've explained it before but here is how upgrades work...

 

Like every other line, Princess uses what is called Yield Management software. Basically, the software tries to figure out what each cabin on a given cruise is 'worth' on an ever changing basis, based on a complicated algorithm that very few people at Princess are versed in the details of, and even less outside of. This is the same program that sets and updates cabin pricing.

 

If you are booked in a specific room and Princess' system determines that it can make more revenue by selling your room again, it looks for another cabin in a higher class that is currently showing a lower probability of either being booked at all or is expected to book at a lower revenue point (cabin price is NOT the only factor, but as noted above, I have no idea what the formula is). If you are in that cabin, you get upgraded. If your booking is marked no upgrade requested, then the system will move to the next cabin with a similar price profile. If all cabins in a price block are marked no upgrade then the system may still upgrade one of them if the revenue variance is big enough.

 

If you are booked in a GTY, the system will determine the cabins that currently show the lowest revenue projections in your cabin class or higher than assign you that room, at which point you go into the system above, with two exceptions. Until final assignment, you are assigned that cabin as a placeholder, additional calculations may change it, additionally, you will never be considered no upgrade requested. The system determines final assignment date based on a number of factors, and it is separate for each GTY class. This is why you can get a room assignment 4 weeks out, 4 days or 24 hours as a GTY.

 

Status MAY be (again, very few people know what actually is and NO ONE on this board is one of them) a factor in upgrades if the revenue calculations on a set of cabins are similar, as may things like past spending habits, etc. But the biggest driver overall is revenue.

 

It is important to note that of course, manual changes can be made. No idea what the protocol is on those, and they are more likely to happen closer to sailing, when the software can't identify any more probable revenue growth potential via upgrade but there are still cabins open. "Hey, it's 2 days out, this suite is not gonna sell, so lets bump those folks on their 50th anniv"

 

The key takeaway is there is no way to predict what is more likely to get an upgrade. Every single itinerary is different from the next, even on the same ship and route, depending on what's booked. If we were able to identify every single upgrade with all the key factors given across Princess for 6 months, maybe we could tease out some nuggets from the data

[DrivesLikeMario]

Yes, OP, I totally agree with your observations. Here I am sitting, waiting for my next cruise. Ship is wide open and I've put will accept a meta upgrade from my measly inside cabin. Will I get one, I doubt it. I never do. I'm anxious for Princess to prove me wrong. :D

[Colo Cruiser]

Added this as an FAQ to my FAQ site, slightly modified.

 

 

You may as well remove everything but the last paragraph....

 

 

Only the complicated algorithm knows for sure.

[likeadisguise]

Linking bookings just means those passengers wish to be seated together for traditional dining. It has nothing to do with cabin location or proximity.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[islandatsea]

We booked online on the Princess website & picked an totally obstructed(had a little ocean view) ocean view forward. Email from Princess said we were being upgraded to almost midship with(almost full view) partial ocean view. About 1 month later, email from Princess says being upgraded to (almost midship) balcony. Last time cruised with Princess was 1999 which made a total of 4 cruises with Princess. This upcoming cruise will be cruise #5 & first time upgraded since cruising with Princess. Happy to be back with Princess :).

[Colo Cruiser]

We booked online on the Princess website & picked an totally obstructed(had a little ocean view) ocean view forward. Email from Princess said we were being upgraded to almost midship with(almost full view) partial ocean view. About 1 month later, email from Princess says being upgraded to (almost midship) balcony. Last time cruised with Princess was 1999 which made a total of 4 cruises with Princess. This upcoming cruise will be cruise #5 & first time upgraded since cruising with Princess. Happy to be back with Princess :).

 

Welcome back.

[Zoolou]

3 cruises in with Princess...never had an upgrade...last cruise most of the Captains Circle Events for Returning Passengers per invite only.....we never received anything for those events..even complained to the Circle Host and nothing was done....Still Love Princess but will look elsewhere as well...wouldnt have before

[islandatsea]

Welcome back.

 

Thanks............forgot to mention that this will be our first balcony ever !! Could be dangerous to the wallet.

[Nancyquilts]

3 cruises in with Princess...never had an upgrade...last cruise most of the Captains Circle Events for Returning Passengers per invite only.....we never received anything for those events..even complained to the Circle Host and nothing was done....Still Love Princess but will look elsewhere as well...wouldnt have before

 

The Captains Circle event is generally a free drink - maybe two, and a chance to hear the captain say how glad he is that everyone is there. Once you're platinum you'll be able to see the three top cruise couples get a paperweight and a bottle of champagne and pose with the captain for a picture.:D

[bdjam]

It's very rare that I don't get an upgrade on a booking, even if it is only a couple of categories. BUT, my travel agent has been in business for 40 years and has booked heavily with Princess the whole time. So they know her and that she delivers them business...

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks............forgot to mention that this will be our first balcony ever !! Could be dangerous to the wallet.

 

Yes, you know there is no going back after experiencing that balcony.

[kendon]

Aren't upgrades usually a function of you having the room that Princess wants, and can sell for more money....even if they make it worth your while with OBC? The two upgrades we had fell into that type of situation.

[QueenB4]

We are sailing for the first time with Princess on an Alaskan cruise in June. When checking on the website, I noticed that we had been upgraded from our forward mini-suite to a mid-aft mini-suite on the Island Princess. I had our TA call and turn down the upgrade as we would have to move from a covered balcony on the Caribe deck to an uncovered one on the Dolphin deck. The TA told Princess that we would be open to receiving any other upgrades as our cruise approaches....Princess said that since we were turning this one down, we would be removed from the queue for any other upgrades.