Brand spanking new cruiser...questions

[susquehannaretriever]

I recently booked my family (DW,DD,DS) and extended family on the Legend for next year. I have been reading these posts every day and continually hear of people getting upgraded, having the cost of their cruise go down, etc. I booked thru a TA. SO...should I occassionally ask her about an upgrade? Do I call & ask her to check the price if it goes down? I don't want to bug her constantly but at the same time I don't want to miss out if an occassion arises. Also how does one get an upgrade? Is it just luck or do you guys pester someone or...?

 

Thanks for any and all answers:D

[gypsyrose]

Depends on how you booked. If you booked a specific room, you won't get an upgrade. I book a guarantee and do not know where my room will be until I get to the pier. I have not sailed enough to really know the ins and outs of the rooms. I book a balcony guarantee knowing I will have a balcony room, just not which floor. It is also possible that I could be upgraded to a suite (oh please:) ) I booked thru Carnival and check the website weekly, when the price goes down I call my PVP and he adjusts my final payment. I have heard that if it goes down after final payment they will give you an onboard credit. Keep reading the boards, as you said, there is a wealth of information.

[susquehannaretriever]

I didn't book a specific room, just a guarantee (yes I learned what that was on here too :) ). So I guess I could possibly get an upgrade. Don't get me wrong I am not determined to get upgraded or pay a lower price; just don't want to miss an opportunity if I am able to do so.

[gypsyrose]

I agree with you. I will be happy wherever they put me. But....it sure would be nice to be upgraded to a cat 12. And let me tell you, I jumped for joy when my cruise finally dropped in price. It was only $40 pp but hey, I can buy a lot of souvenirs for that.:)

[MrPete]

The only time I contact my TA is if I hear there 's a special being offered on my sailing. I am sailing two weeks later than you!

 

 

And when I call her, I always say "I don't mean to be a pest".... She laughs, and says you should see some of the PITA's out there.

[oriolesfan22]

You also asked how you get an upgrade.....that's one of cruising's biggest mysteries! We're past cruises with Carnival, cruise during hurricane season and book early. One theory that I've read here on CC is that all three of these things should lead to better upgrades. We've gotten little upgrades, but nothing big! We've gone from 6A to 6B a few times, 6A to 6C once. We've got a balcony guarantee booked for September, so we'll see what we get then. I've also seen posts from first time cruisers who have booked an inside cabin and they've been upgraded to a balcony. I just shake my head at that and ask, "huh?" You've probably read it before, but you really have to believe it - when you book a guarantee cabin you just have to be happy with what you get. Basically we paid for a 6A and received a 6A and slightly above. If you go into it thinking "maybe we'll get a suite", it's going to be disappointing. We learned that after our first few cruises.

 

All that said, hope you have a great cruise and if you have any other questions, please keep posting and I'll try to help whenever I see your posts!

[richfret]

Let's put it this way. We are booked for our 8th cruise. We have received 2 upgrades during that time. The first upgrade occurred on our very first cruise when we were originally booked for an interior room on the bottom deck. We were elated!!! .............. We went up one deck. The second upgrade occurred on the Spirit when we were upgraded from a middle of the ship, window cabin to the first balcony cabin at the front. Not good! The main air intake vent is located there and it is a big problem. The pros knew that, we didn't. See where we are headed. Now I know you will read about all kinds of upgrades like coal tender to a Suite but do not count on it and "Buyer beware!" with some upgrades.

 

Usually when some one brings up the upgrade issue on these boards, it will be answered with about 50 rosy reports of upgrades received on past cruises. True but remember, there can be close to 3,000 cruisers on some of these ships. Besides, who wants to share a cabin with the Captain any way?

 

So good luck and who knows. You just might be one of those 50 cruisers that will have a upgrade story to tell about.

[susquehannaretriever]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the information. People on here seem to be great w/ answering questions from new cruisers (altho' I am sure the same question, like so many of mine, keep getting asked time & time again :o )

[momof4boys]

DH and I booked one OV for us and one Inside cabin for our boys early Dec. 04 for a mid July sailing. We booked specific rooms across hall on Empress deck. On June 1, '05 our TA called and said CCL wanted to upgrade us to a penthouse suite (cat.12) and OV (for boys) on Upper deck. We happily acceptd! Not sure how or why but.......WOW! It was Awesome. Problem is........I don't think we will ever book without booking a balcony!

[Cruiseaholic817]

DH and I have been very lucky with our cruises. We have been upgraded on each one. I am not sure if the first one was a balcony guarantee but the following 2 were. The first one, our honeymoon, we were upgraded to a suite!!!! It was amazing! The problem is...being that we had a balcony, we haven't booked for anything other than that! :) The suite was a definite treat just a bit pricy for us to continuing booking something like that! lol

We are leaving on the Legend next week and have been upgraded for that one as well. :) I wonder if we will receive another upgrade by the time we leave. That happened to us last time! As a matter of fact I have to call my PVP to discuss a onboard credit because I noticed last week that the price went down. By the way, I tried checking the price today but carnival site isn't listing that cruise anymore. I guess it is getting too close to sailing time so I am probably better off just keeping in touch with my PVP.

IMHO Carnival is great with upgrading and at times great with onboard credit. DH and I are very happy with what we have experienced in regards to it. Happy cruising! :)

[cherun]

This is our first cruise and we booked through Carnival, PVP recommended booking a guarantee for chance of upgrading, being new we said OK. Just looked today and we went from Inside 4A to Ocean View 6B, pretty excited about, was going to happy just being on a cruise for the first time, this will enhance the adventure.:D

[dan40]

Read Cruiser Rich's post again. The first UPGRADE cabins to be filled are those that NO TA wanted to book for a client [under the disco, under the galley, etc.] Also remember that all [with very rare exceptions] cabins within a Category Number are exactly the same size, same amenities, same service. The letter changes the deck only. The only thing a higher deck gets you is a shorter elevator wait or the choice of not using the elevator to get to the Lido deck. And a lower deck is slightly better for the Mal-de-Mer sufferers. I'd guess that if you get an upgrade at all, the chances are better than 98% it will be in letter only.

That is not to say that there are no great upgrades, but of all the 1a to suite upgrades I hear about, I believe 0 out of 1000.

We have sailed in 4a type cabins and in suites, with lots of OVs and balconies in between. Also on low,low budget [now defunct] cruiselines and top o the line upscale lines. OK suites and balconies [esp. aft] were better, but the cruises were all wonderful no matter what type cabin we had.

Once we had a 5a on a Fantasy class ship that was the 2nd cabin back from the bow, bottom or next to bottom deck. It was a long zig-zag walk to the cabin. Bad? Hardly, the cabin was huge, as big as a suite on many ships. It had 2 portholes set into the bulkhead and Barb loved to crawl in there and read and watch the water go by. Of course, when they dropped anchor outside a port, the noise was incredible. I came 3 ft straight up out of bed. And when they used the bow thrusters [evidently attached to our mattress] when docking, it was time to get up. Actually we laughed about it but no doubt some would be very upset with that room.

 

The cruise is important, the cabin is part of the small stuff..

 

Dan