Upgrade

[KruzeKrazy!]

Shredie -

 

We've never been moved nor been tried to be moved from the specific suite we book. I do admit, however, I'm wary of it happening so I check the cruise personalizer regularly to be sure it doesn't...

[Colo Cruiser]

I wonder if the people who do get upgrades,have paid full price originally and not a sale price?

 

That's a wrong assumption to make. Upgrades depend on yield management. They are given at random.

 

When it comes to new cruisers I believe this could be very true.

We have encountered many who are cruising for the first time and were upgraded to suites. Just sayin......

[xrayjng]

I'm cruising Princess for the first time in December 2014. Went the cheapest this time. Inside cabin . A girl can dream !!!! Never say never!

 

 

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[rbg96]

I sailed on the Grand Princess S.F. to Hawaii in Jan of this year and had booked an ocean view on deck 5. Then a week before sailing I got an e-mail upgrade notice of an upgrade to a WINDOW SUITE on deck 6. No balcony but has 2 BIG windows and all the full suite perks. I was sailing solo and almost felt guilty about all the room and all the other unexpected stuff that came with it. But I got over it.

Upgrades can happen. Waiting to see if you get one just adds a little more excitement to the whole thing.

[Shadow205]

When it comes to new cruisers I believe this could be very true.

We have encountered many who are cruising for the first time and were upgraded to suites. Just sayin......

 

We had booked a balcony at a great price, definitely not full price when we were upgraded to the OS. We were new to Princess but not new to cruising. I know that it is rare to get that big of an upgrade but it does happen, we are prove of that.

We have booked the highest cat of inside for our voyage in January. Not expecting any upgrade but wasn't when we got one either. There is always a chance.

[mom2tcdx2]

Last time we sailed Princess was on the Grand, we booked Oceanview cabins. About 2 weeks before sailing we got an upsell offer which ended up being $100 per person to take a window suite. With the prices the suites sold for originally the $100 was a steal. We had 3 cabins and all three got the offer and we ended up with 3 cabins in a row. So while they may not upgrade, they do offer very, very sweet (suite) prices to upsell a cabin.

[caribill]

I sailed on the Grand Princess S.F. to Hawaii in Jan of this year and had booked an ocean view on deck 5. Then a week before sailing I got an e-mail upgrade notice of an upgrade to a WINDOW SUITE on deck 6.

 

Actually, that is a reasonable upgrade for Princess to make.

 

Above oceanview are balcony, mini-suites and full suites.

 

Nobody in a balcony cabin or mini-suite cabin would want to be upgraded to a window-suite since it does not have a balcony. (There have been many posts on Cruise Critic from people afraid such an upgrade would happen.)

 

So if they wanted to give you an upgrade (in order to resell your cabin?) it made sense to give you an unbooked window suite that those in higher categories would not want.

[gacruisergal]

Royal must be our lucky ship for upgrades. We were on a Trans-pacific years ago on the old Royal and got an upgrade from OV to Balcony. Years later on the old Royal Santiago to Buenos Aires, we got an up grade from balcony to Suite. Yesterday, on the new Royal October cruise from NYC to FLL we were notified of an upgrade from a balcony BB to a D4 Premium Deluxe Balcony aft. We have been on many cruise lines and cruise ship over the years but no other line has ever upgraded up except Princess and only on Royals..........

 

Spooky, better look for another cruise on Royal soon!

[LovetheSea]

We were upgraded from a balcony to a mini-suite this May on the Golden Princess. Bathtub YEAH!

Edited August 3, 2014 by LovetheSea

[Thrak]

We have a 17 day PC full transit booked next year. We're booked in an inside cabin but hoping for an upgrade to a full suite. Hey! I buy lottery numbers sometimes and the upgrade to a suite is more likely to come through than winning the lottery! :D

[AE_Collector]

I am always surprised at how many say they have done X number of cruises without getting a single upgrade. It makes me think that if questioned further most would then say "we never book a guarantee in case we get a location that we wouldn't like".

 

We have been having amazing luck at getting upgrades. Below is the results of our last 10 Princess Cruises in order from most recent cruise working backwards. Left side is what we booked and right side is what we got:

 

Obstructed OV to Balcony

Obstructed OV to Ocean View

Obstructed OV to Balcony

Obstructed OV - No upgrade

Obstructed OV - No upgrade

Obstructed OV to Ocean View

Obstructed OV to Ocean View

Balcony - No Upgrade

Obstructed OV to Balcony

Obstructed OV to Window Suite

 

No secret that booking Obstructed OV seems to be a good way to get upgrades but even so, we have done great! There is one more thing that we do which I am starting to think may be helping us out as well but I am not willing to share it at the moment.

 

Terry

Edited August 3, 2014 by AE_Collector

[caribill]

I am always surprised at how many say they have done X number of cruises without getting a single upgrade. It makes me think that if questioned further most would then say "we never book a guarantee in case we get a location that we wouldn't like".

 

 

Upgrades also go to those who have booked a specific cabin.

[AE_Collector]

Yes, we have occasionally done that but i think that most will agree that booking a Guarantee likely comes with the greatest liklihood of an upgrade.

 

Terry

Edited August 3, 2014 by AE_Collector

[Cruise Raider]

Nobody in a balcony cabin or mini-suite cabin would want to be upgraded to a window-suite since it does not have a balcony. (There have been many posts on Cruise Critic from people afraid such an upgrade would happen.)

 

I don't completely agree with this. I would take a window suite over a balcony any day. Those window suites comes with all the benefits of a full suite -- yippie! I was leery about this in the past but read a lot about those that love the window suites and now I would give up a balcony in a heart beat. I do agree there are probably others that would not but I definitely would not say 'nobody' would want it though.

 

 

Also, to the original post, I think Princess may still have an option for a 'meta' upgrade. I've booked a couple cruises lately though where the TA stated this was no longer available....but others have written it in. Basically, this is where you pick a room but have the option of any available upgrade, no upgrade or a 'meta' upgrade, which is an upgrade only to the next available cabin type....inside to oceanview or above, oceanview to a balcony or above, etc. This way, if you pick a nice oceanview room that you are happy with, they will not, in theory, just move you to another oceanview room that they consider a higher category. You would get at least a balcony if you were to get upgraded.

 

I recently booked an inside cabin and was upgraded (without any notice) to a full oceanview on the Plaza deck. I had to move the cruise to the following week. I was so disappointed....to date, that would have been the only real upgrade I have ever received.

 

We were once booked in those covered mini-suites in the aft section of the Emerald Princess. I marked my booking 'no upgrade' -- those rooms are fabulous. The cabin next door to us was empty the first night and then given to a couple -- first time cruisers -- they were in an inside cabin and upgraded them to one of the best mini-suites onboard with NO charge. So, yes it does happen....just not to me. Well, there was that one time....but won't be able to take advantage of it. Too bad.

[caribill]

I don't completely agree with this. I would take a window suite over a balcony any day. Those window suites comes with all the benefits of a full suite -- yippie!

 

There have been a number of posts from people with balcony cabins wanting to be assured they could not be upgraded to a cabin without a balcony. But, as you say, some people would not mind.

 

 

Also, to the original post, I think Princess may still have an option for a 'meta' upgrade. I've booked a couple cruises lately though where the TA stated this was no longer available....but others have written it in.

 

Yes, the meta upgrade option still exists. You need to find a better informed TA.

[Warrior Princess]

Never had an upgrade on a ship though my daughter has, never had an upgrade on a flight but friends have, we did once have an upgrade at a hotel in Singapore but the hotel had made a mistake in our arrival time down as 8pm not 8am and as there were no rooms available we were upgraded. Can still live in hope as we are almost ready for our next cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

 

Also, to the original post, I think Princess may still have an option for a 'meta' upgrade. I've booked a couple cruises lately though where the TA stated this was no longer available....but others have written it in. Basically, this is where you pick a room but have the option of any available upgrade, no upgrade or a 'meta' upgrade, which is an upgrade only to the next available cabin type....inside to oceanview or above, oceanview to a balcony or above, etc. This way, if you pick a nice oceanview room that you are happy with, they will not, in theory, just move you to another oceanview room that they consider a higher category. You would get at least a balcony if you were to get upgraded.

 

 

Meta is still available.

[retrembl]

Upgrade from balcony to suite? In your dreams only. Doesn't mean it never happens, but don't hold your breath. :)

 

We have been cruising every other year for the past 20 years and have never had an upgrade. We normally book a Cat D - Mini Suite on Princess and a Cat SY - mini suite on HAL and have never received or even offered and upgrade. That's not to say others have received upgrades.

[RockFamily]

We are leaving on our first Princess cruise to Alaska August 9th and we booked an obstructed OV guarantee and just noticed on cruise personalizer that we were assigned an OV. Yay!

[PathfinderEss]

I was wondering if we could get an upgrade to a suite? We have a balcony, and we told TA not to upgrade us. I have gone on ships site, and saw where there were many suites still available. If I ask TA to switch us to upgrade, what is the possibility?

 

If you wanted a suite why didn't just opt for one. Chance of an upgrade, slim to slim and none. Chance of an up sell, I would think that wasn't going to happen either. I'd have my TA call them and just buy up to a Suite catagory.

Edited August 5, 2014 by PathfinderEss

[shredie]

If you wanted a suite why didn't just opt for one. Chance of an upgrade, slim to slim and none. Chance of an up sell, I would think that wasn't going to happen either. I'd have my TA call them and just buy up to a Suite catagory.

 

I think the idea is that the balcony will be upgraded to suite at no cost to the passengers. They don't want to pay for a suite. It's probably like getting struck by lightening. It happens but not often. The upgrades you have been seeing here on the boards lately have been from balcony aft to balcony midship and so forth. For some of us, the "upgrade" isn't one. The best idea is to book the cabin you want instead of hoping a free upgrade will materialize.

[janecambridge]

We are leaving on our first Princess cruise to Alaska August 9th and we booked an obstructed OV guarantee and just noticed on cruise personalizer that we were assigned an OV. Yay!

 

We are on this cruise.congratulations.

[sashas_mom]

We have always booked balconies,,which I carefully select because I know where I want to be on the ship and always want a covered balcony, we've always said No Upgrade.

 

Circumstances have changed and I've booked an OV window on one cruise and an obstructed balcony on another. This is the first time I've even considered having it marked Meta Upgrade. These are not guarantee bookings, just marked Meta Uprade.

 

When I asked my TA if I can refuse the upgrade if I don't like where they put us and still keep my cabin, she said lately they have been giving her 24 hours for her clients to accept or reject the offer. From what I have read in these boards,what Peprincess considers an upgrade is rarely something I would consider an upgrade, i.e. to the front of the ship or under the Horizon Court, etc.

 

Any recent experiences where you have been given a chance to refuse the upgrade and kept your original cabin?

 

Any advice from my expert friends would be appreciated...

Edited August 6, 2014 by sasha'smom

[shredie]

 

Any recent experiences where you have been given a chance to refuse the upgrade and kept your original cabin?

 

Any advice from my expert friends would be appreciated...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2080352

[K2Cruises]

We recently returned from a nine day cruise around Japan on the Diamond Princess. When we booked the cruise we had selected a mini-suite which we knew we would enjoy. About two weeks before we left for Japan, our travel agent emailed us to let us know we had been upgraded to a penthouse suite. Not an upsell mind you but an actual no extra charge upgrade. We had previously joked that maybe we would be upgraded to a full suite and had discussed how much we would be willing to pay for an upsell but we never really expected an upgrade.

 

The penthouse suite was wonderful and we made use of all the extras that come with a suite, the free laundry, breakfast at Sabatini's, free mini bar, champagne, an extensive balcony, walk in closet, special treats on formal nights and much more. Generally we had a fantastic time! The only problem is that now we are so spoiled that we're not sure we can book anything less. That is the problem with receiving a wonderful upgrade but it's a wonderful problem to have.