Upgrades....to be or not to be

[KAR3600]

If you listed " upgrade" on your room did you ever get it? If so when did you find out? Thank you!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

If you listed " upgrade" on your room did you ever get it? If so when did you find out? Thank you!!!

 

There is no way to figure out upgrades.

Lots of factors involved.

You may or you may not get one.

You could get one up to a day or 2 before the cruise.

You never know!!

Edited April 29, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[sunsetbeachgal]

The only time I ever had my TA mark my reservation "do not upgrade" I was upgraded. :confused:

Edited April 29, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[Pam in CA]

If you listed " upgrade" on your room did you ever get it? If so when did you find out? Thank you!!!

The default for all bookings is "Will accept an upgrade" so unless you specifically change this to "No upgrade," you're among just about everyone else on the ship hoping for a free upgrade.

 

Most upgrades are to the same cabin type in a different location. Some upgrades are to a different cabin type (inside to oceanview, oceanview to balcony, etc.) Upgrades are dependent on supply and demand. They are computer-generated so in spite of a TA saying they "got you an upgrade," that's rarely the case. Often, prices are reduced so a TA may "upgrade" you without giving you the option of paying less for your cabin or accepting an upgrade.

 

You can hope for an upgrade but most people don't get one.

[toberman]

We almost always get an 'upgrade'... but it's within the same category ie. a higher value balcony (a different place on the ship). Only time we got a true upgrade was on initial booking when we got a balcony for the price of an OV. But we generally book a Gty... so, they can give us anything in that category.

We're just happy to be on the ship, but don't expect an upgrade just because you applied for it!!

[hllwdcruiser]

Two weeks prior to our sail date we received a move over and upgrade offer on our very first Princess Cruise which was a balcony GTY booking. The ship was oversold and they had to free up some cabins. The offer was to move over to the Crown (we were booked on the Ruby) leaving the following week which was a 10 day sailing instead of the Ruby's 7 day itinerary. The upgrade was to a mid ship mini suite. They also offered a generous OBC. Unfortunately, we couldn't accept due to job restrictions. It just about killed us to say no!

 

We also received an upgrade from a mid ship Caribe balcony to a mini suite a few years ago. We were informed through our TA a few weeks prior to that sailing as well.

 

Conversely, we made a last minute booking in February on a vastly undersold voyage (we had empty cabins all around us) Although we were not upgraded, we kept running into people who were. There were a lot of happy passengers that week! Some of them didn't find out about the upgrade until they were at the port.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Nope. Never. :(

[TanTien]

I just received an upgrade last week. Not anything special...we had a Caribe balcony toward mid-aft and shifted to a Caribe balcony mid-forward. Not sure why Princess thought one was better than the other but we took the change anyway. On hind-sight, I suspect that this happened for one of two reasons.

 

1 - This would make it more difficult for us (and others who were similarly upgraded) to request a price reduction benefit if/when there is a price reduction.

 

2 - (most likely the reason) When it appears there will be many unsold cabins due to a less than popular cruise, people who are already booked will be given upgrades so that Princess can sell the cheaper cabins with incentives so as to fill the ship.

 

We've had a few up-sells before (always took them) but this was the first free upgrade.

[Hotdog 52]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess on 4/19. We were upgraded from an obstructed oceanview, deck 8, to a balcony. It was on the very front of the ship, R201 but, we had smooth sailing. Our friends that were sailing with us also received the upgrade but to a lower deck. It was their first cruise. I think it depends on how many open cabins they have left a couple of weeks before they sail.:)

[caribill]

Not sure why Princess thought one was better than the other but we took the change anyway.

 

Trying to figure out the date of the following sailing in your signature:

Grand Princess, Hawaii (11/25)

[TanTien]

Trying to figure out the date of the following sailing in your signature:

Grand Princess, Hawaii (11/25)

 

it was Nov. 2013

Edited April 30, 2014 by TanTien

[Brenda8129]

In 29 Princess cruises, I have been given a true upgrade twice. Early in my cruising career I was upgraded from an obstructed OV to the highest OV. More recently, I was upgraded from an inside to an aft facing OV. :)

 

Now there have been price drops where I just upgraded myself to a higher category and kept the original price.

[mcgratru]

We had what was probably a once in a lifetime upgrade on our first cruise.

 

Booked OV on front of Lido deck about 9 months out and marked no upgrade. Got a 1100/cabin price drop about 7 months out. Still had original cabin when we left home on Saturday....got assigned a mid ship Caribe Balcony when we checked in on Sunday. That was on Ruby 12 day Med in July.

Edited April 30, 2014 by mcgratru

[dforeigner]

Last year we booked an inside room and a mini suite (both on the Emerald deck) and had it marked as do not upgrade. A week before the sailing we received a call from our TA that Princess was offering us to upgrade to the family suite. Well, I could not refuse such offer :D.

 

I kept this to my self and everyone was clueless until we got to the room upon embarkation.

[OnVacation11]

We just received an upgrade on our upcoming Ocean cruise from Obstructed View to Ocean View.

We did have 4 upgrades on some of our 20 previous cruises from Obstructed View to a Balcony. Some of them were very last minute.

[geoherb]

The only times we've received an upgrade were when we booked guarantee cabins. We have never received one when we booked a specific cabin.

[caribill]

The only times we've received an upgrade were when we booked guarantee cabins. We have never received one when we booked a specific cabin.

 

We have received upgrades both ways.