Booking Stragey

[rkorchid]

I booked a cruise that sails Saturday (7/25) with HAL a year ago for an outside cabin.

 

A few months ago I was offered an upsell to a window room for a small increased amount and I took it.

 

Then I started to get offers for Lanai and Vista cabins.

 

Even though the cruise showed as sold out I began to get offers at reduced prices for upsells.

 

Ok, I caved and bought into a Lanai cabin at about $3,000 pp total less then the original posted price.

 

I guess my question is for a future cruise do I just book the Lanai that I want, or should I book something less and hope to get a good price discount at the last minute with an upsell?

 

I realize I do have much more choice of a specific cabin if I purchase in advance.

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[cruz chic]

Part of the problem is that upsells are never guaranteed. If you feel like gambling then you can afford to wait and see if the upsell materializes. If not, I'd book the cabin that interests you.

[serendipity1499]

I booked a cruise that sails Saturday (7/25) with HAL a year ago for an outside cabin.

 

A few months ago I was offered an upsell to a window room for a small increased amount and I took it.

 

Then I started to get offers for Lanai and Vista cabins.

 

Even though the cruise showed as sold out I began to get offers at reduced prices for upsells.

 

Ok, I caved and bought into a Lanai cabin at about $3,000 pp total less then the original posted price.

 

I guess my question is for a future cruise do I just book the Lanai that I want, or should I book something less and hope to get a good price discount at the last minute with an upsell?

 

I realize I do have much more choice of a specific cabin if I purchase in advance.

__________________

 

I do not enjoy waiting for prices to decrease.. We book the specific cabin we would be happy with.. I worked for an airline, spent many years on standby & no longer want to do that.. We decide on a cruise, pick the cabin we want & book it.. Sometimes we book a year in advance & other times just a few months in advance..

 

We took an upsell to a lanai once & enjoyed it so much that we're hooked! There are not that many lanai cabins, so if we have a chance to book a lanai, we would pick the one we want & book it.. It's not worth it to us to wait for an upsell offer which may or may not come our way...

 

We booked our Balcony cabin for November just a few weeks ago...If an upsell offer comes in, we at least have the option to take it or not take it.. We will be just as happy with our chosen cabin.. If we are travelling with others, we normally have our Travel Agent mark our reservations, "Do not upgrade"..

Edited July 24, 2015 by serendipity1499

[rkorchid]

I do not enjoy waiting for prices to decrease.. We book the specific cabin we would be happy with.. I worked for an airline, spent many years on standby & no longer want to do that.. We decide on a cruise, pick the cabin we want & book it.. Sometimes we book a year in advance & other times just a few months in advance..

 

We took an upsell to a lanai once & enjoyed it so much that we're hooked! There are not that many lanai cabins, so if we have a chance to book a lanai, we would pick the one we want & book it.. It's not worth it to us to wait for an upsell offer which may or may not come our way...

 

We booked our Balcony cabin for November just a few weeks ago...If an upsell offer comes in, we at least have the option to take it or not take it.. We will be just as happy with our chosen cabin.. If we are travelling with others, we normally have our Travel Agent mark our reservations, "Do not upgrade"..

 

Thanks for your response.

 

Since we haven't sailed yet I still don't know what I think about the Lanai cabin.

 

But I think I agree with you. The certainty of the cabin is probably worth the potential discount.

[take us away]

Enjoy your cruise! It is on my bucket list so want to her your impressions when you return.

 

My 'booking strategy' is to book the cabin I know I will enjoy, watch for price decreases, and if an upsell is offered - consider it.

[DaveOKC]

I like to book a cabin I would be happy with and then hope for an upsell. If I get an upsell, great, if not, I am still happy.

 

I only book a guarantee if I know I will be happy with any cabin in that category or higher (such as a SB on the R and S class ships).

 

Further, I mark my reservation "do not not upgrade", again unless I know I will be happy with any cabin in any higher category. There are some categories that I would rather have the lower "ranked" cabin that I reserved instead of the one ranked higher by HAL.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also prefer to book the cabin we want.

Some people are lucky with upgrades and upsells and others are never offered anything.

I don't like to gamble.

[Randyk47]

We also prefer to book the cabin we want.

Some people are lucky with upgrades and upsells and others are never offered anything.

I don't like to gamble.

 

+1. In 22 years of cruising we've always booked a specific cabin and have always cruised in that cabin. Only once were we offered an upsell and, contrary to the offers often mentioned here, it was for the full published fare difference so no bargain. And, by the way, over those 22 years we've booked directly with the cruise line, through a PCC, with a brick and mortar TA, and with Internet TAs so at least for us method of booking has had no impact.

[iancal]

We are retired. We usually book inside the final payment window. We usually select one or two itineraries, perhaps three ships each, and keep an eye on pricing. When 'our price' hits we book. We do the same for other types of travel. Half the time we end up booking a verandah gty. We have always been happy with the cabin. More than once we have made travel/air arrangements and then booked the cruise anywhere from a week to a month out.

 

We typically make our selection based on a combination of ship, itinerary, and price. Last fall we needed a one way flight home from Europe. The cruise air pricing between lines varied greatly and this became a fourth variable for us.

[mhb1757]

I am not particular about cabin location so unless we are traveling with family and want cabins near each other we go with a guarantee cabin. Our last 4 cruises with a GTY have all resulted in good upgrades. Usually the upgrade is within the same category (I.e., Hh GTY - obstructed view outside to a nice mid-ship unobstructed outside, or a low end verandah to a VA or VB).

We have been offered up sells a few times but they have never been anything that seemed like much of a bargain (only slightly less than brochure price) so we have never taken one.

Again, we just book the category what we would be happy with and that fits the budget and then are happy with what we get. If you want to be in a specific location and/or cabin type then the GTY route isn't for you.

[Moriah]

There are some categories that I would rather have the lower "ranked" cabin that I reserved instead of the one ranked higher by HAL.

 

I absolutely agree with this. I know some people think I'm nuts but I would sail in any category other than a regular verandah cabin. I would not want to be "upgraded" from an ocean view or lanai to a regular verandah, for instance. I've taken an SS guarantee and sailed in an SB and I consider that a bonafide upgrade, and I've gladly taken an upsell from an SS to a Neptune suite, but I would never ever take an up-sell from anything "lower" to a regular verandah.

 

There is so much variability in what people like...