Ever did a last minute room upgrade after you've booked your cruise?

[blnorman]

Just wondering has anyone out there ever was lucky enough to snag a better room on a better deck at a better rate if you wait closer to the actual sailing of the ship? I understand it may not be as successful when you are dealing with a more larger more modern ship, but I am traveling on a older ship that "appears" to not be sold out in any room catagory on my travel dates. Everything is still available interior,oceanview, balcony, suites.

 

When I called yesterday inquiring about a possible upgrade I was told by a rep a option is to wait until boarding the ship and ask if there where any possible upgrades in the event that someone cancels their reservation. So that is one option!!!

 

My other option and question I want to know is has anyone ever called the cruise line closer to the actual sailing to upgrade their room getting a better deal on the room upgrade or deck upgrade? I'm a first time cruiser so I'm no repeat customer who they may consider at a platinum or diamond level, but I am just curious if other people have really landed a sweet room upgrade all because of the timing that they called to inquire about possibly upgrading.

 

I wondered if they are deeply discounted rooms available as upgrade rooms a day or two prior to sailing?

[adriennerm]

I received two upgrades offers shortly before my sailing date. The first time was on the Sensation. It was a 3 day cruise. I originally had an inside on the Main deck with a trundle bed. The upsell fairy called about 5 days before we left and offered an upgrade to an Ocean View with an upper bed on the Empress deck for only $15. Needless to say, I took the upgrade. :D

 

Second time was about a month before sailing on the Valor. I had a balcony room on the lido deck. The upsell fairy called and offered me Ocean View Suite on the Empress deck for $600.40. I declined that offer.

[blnorman]

I'm waiting. LOL!!!!!

 

If the fairy call me with a $15 upgrade option.......

 

My reply is ........ I'll take the $15 upgrade to the next available section ALEX! LOL

[Momofthreeprincesses]

I had booked gty inside and got inside on Main when my cabin was released but I called last week when I saw rated dropping and for 20.00 more my PVP moved to inside on Lido.. I was happy.. 11 more days till I sail:)

 

 

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[river2014]

nope, they contacted me for a upgrade and it was to a much nicer and bigger room. It was about 2-3 before. sailing date:):)

[JillySue]

We went from a 4k to an aft ext for 300 a couple weeks before. They called us about our first cruise (we weren't interested in going from GS to Owner's) but I told them to call and make me an offer on the second. The did roughly 4 hours later! I had decided 300 was my limit and he said it right out of the gate so I took it. Figured I wasn't going to do a lot better than that.

 

On the other hand, my dad offered 500 to go from his OV to GS and got a "we'll call you next week" and by then they were all gone :/

[virginiab]

To the original poster:

 

As someone new to cruising, you may not know this, but what lots of us do is keep an eye on the prices for the cruise on which we are booked, and if we see the price for a better category of cabin come down to a price near or below what we were already paying, we call Carnival and change to the higher category of cabin. It may cost us a few bucks, or not, but the price is generally the same as you can see when you go to book at the Carnival website. And it is true that often there are last-minute bargains to be gotten that way.

[nydney1]

To the original poster:

 

As someone new to cruising, you may not know this, but what lots of us do is keep an eye on the prices for the cruise on which we are booked, and if we see the price for a better category of cabin come down to a price near or below what we were already paying, we call Carnival and change to the higher category of cabin. It may cost us a few bucks, or not, but the price is generally the same as you can see when you go to book at the Carnival website. And it is true that often there are last-minute bargains to be gotten that way.

 

Very well stated.

[sjcruiser]

We've done an upgrade on every cruise, and usually within the last few weeks or so of sailing. Some we have paid a small charge for, such as going from an IS to a BL for between $0.00 and $100.00. Other times we have used promos such as booking an IS at the early saver rate, and going from an IS to a BL Guarantee, and getting a balcony in a decent location along with a significant amount of OBC. We have never been called by the upgrade fairy to upgrade for free, and we always upgrade ourselves by checking the rates daily in some cases.

[JimAOk1945]

I've accepted upsell offers and also upgraded to a higher category when a good opportunity comes my way. Sometimes it pays off to check the cruise websites. Sometimes you will get a good deal in your email if you are signed up for last-minute deals, which some cruise lines offer.

 

Happy cruising. It's a great way to travel!

[Bob46]

My GF and I booked an inside on the Dream to save some money. Two weeks before the cruise I got a call to upgrade to a balcony for $300. I asked if they would do it for $200 and he said no. I checked to see if our rate had gone down and it hadn't, but balconies were pretty cheap. I emailed my PVP asking how much it would cost us to move to a cove balcony. She replied that to move to a specific cove it would cost $140 total (better than the $300 offer), but if I went with a tba, not only would it be nothing extra, but I would get $72 obc. We went with the tba.

[babs125]

I just got off of the Sept. 27th Fascination cruise. The day before the cruise, I got a call from Carnival asking if we wanted to move from our OV to a balcony. We said yes!!

[BenjiRodney]

I took an up sell for a suite on next months cruise, thought it was a great deal.

 

 

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[laxmom34]

We were booked inside, noticed the priced dropped so I called to upgrade to OV, just a couple weeks before sailing and received $392 in OBC.

 

 

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