Upsell. Would you do it?

[WVU_Neal]

Hi Folks,

 

We just received an offer to upgrade from a Category D Oceanview stateroom guarantee to a Vista Suite on the Prinsendam sailing on Sept. 6. Price is $699 each.

 

We are tempted but not sold on this upsell.

 

Your thoughts and suggestions?

 

Neal & Susan

[KAKcruiser]

If the extra money wouldn't cause a financial hardship, I would definitely do it. Having a balcony is a nice feature. How many days is your cruise? That would influence my decision, also.

[CruisinTexans]

We find the Vista Suites (balcony cabins) on the Prinsendam to be quite small. I think the outside cabins have more room The weather should be nice to use a balcony. The SS category (signature suites) are really nice, but I would rather have an outside than a Vista Suite.

 

leslie

[colbe]

Be very careful not to take one of the added cabins on the Promenade deck.

AA200-AB219

[RMLincoln]

I don't know where you are going or for how long... Sounds like the ship isn't selling out, something I think is unusual for Prinsendam...

 

Every cruise is different, every ship is different. We waited for the second round of options, until about 2-3 weeks out, on our fall cruise in the eastern Med, 12 nights on Nieuw Amsterdam which has a lot of balcony rooms. We asked our HAL PCC about an upsell and he came back with an offer for $85pp from a large inside to a balcony guarantee. We rolled the dice for this short cruise for not very many dollars and got a nice midship balcony room. I think we did well but the price hadn't dropped much from our booking price so not too surprising that it didn't cost much for the upsell.

 

Would your balcony room be a guarantee and could you live with anything? Will the weather be good enough to use it? Would you rather have the $1400 for shore excursions etc?

 

Can't say if it's worth it for you but $1400 does buy a lot of extras so it probably wouldn't be worth it to me unless it's a long cruise.

 

We're leaving next month for 48 nights on Amsterdam... not a lot of balcony rooms and the premium from OV to balcony has been running almost double, up $5000pp.... so we are in OV and will do fine. I'd like to get an offer of $700pp for a balcony on our upcoming cruise, but that's dreaming for me!

 

Have a great cruise. I doubt I'll ever cruise on Prinsendam before they sell her, enjoy every day! m--

[WVU_Neal]

The cruise is 14 days, Amsterdam to Barcelona. Very port intensive. When I called HAL yesterday afternoon, the agent said they were Cat. AA on Upper Promenade and there were 5.

 

We love the idea of the Verandah, not so much at $1400.

 

If they don't get takers, does HAL offer a second round of up sells.

 

I've sailed a number of ships, this is our first with a guarantee and up sell offer.

 

I appreciate the opinions offered so far.

 

Neal

 

 

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

If you can afford it -- then do it.

 

Love a balcony/verandah to sit out and people watch -- star gaze.

 

If HAL doesn't get a taker, there may be another round of upsell offers --b ut don't count on it.

[kazu]

The offers go out to a lot of people at the same time.

 

First come, first served. If no one bites, then there will be a second round of offers.

 

Generally, we look at what the difference in price was originally. The price should be at least 1/2 of what the difference was before at least to be a decent deal.

 

It comes down to if $100 per day is worth it to you to have a balcony.

 

If most think it is not, then yes, there could be a second round of offers. If others think it is worth it, the cabins will be gone.

 

Best to do what is right for YOU and if YOU think it is is worth it.

 

If you are hesitating, it sounds like it is not?

[RuthC]

Personally, that seems to be a lot of money for the amount of use you would get out of it. If there are not a lot of sea days when you can sit outside, then when will you be using the balcony? Is that amount of use worth it to you?

 

I had an A-cabin on the Prinsendam, and loved it. My memory from visiting in an AA-cabin and an outside is that they were all the same size (with a slight variation between shower and tub cabins). So, the only difference is the addition of a small balcony.

 

You might get an upgrade to that balcony cabin anyway! That's how I got mine. ;)

[JVilleGal]

If you are still thinking about it the up sell is now gone. You usually have the time on the telephone and then they move on to ask someone else. It's take it then or lose it. Sorry!

 

 

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[WVU_Neal]

After thinking about it more, we took the upsell!

 

Category A Vista Suite on Upper Promenade.

 

Thanks for all your comments.

 

 

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[OlsSalt]

What is the per day cost of the upgrade? That is how we make our decision. We have a range where we think it is a good value. Mainly if it is a Neptune upgrade.

[Ken the cruiser]

After thinking about it more, we took the upsell!

 

Category A Vista Suite on Upper Promenade.

 

Thanks for all your comments.

 

 

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Smart Move! You're going to enjoy that balcony so much you'll never want to book anything else in the future. There is nothing like sitting on your own balcony whether you're entering a port, leaving a port or just cruising the open seas! Have a fun cruise!

[kazu]

After thinking about it more, we took the upsell!

 

Category A Vista Suite on Upper Promenade.

 

Thanks for all your comments.

 

 

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I hope you really enjoy it. A is a good location, generally :). Have fun:)

 

What is the per day cost of the upgrade? That is how we make our decision. We have a range where we think it is a good value. Mainly if it is a Neptune upgrade.

 

I posted the approximate cost earlier - I think for the two of them it was around $100 per day, but my memory is short, so you may need to scroll up and double check my math ;)

[WVU_Neal]

Smart Move! You're going to enjoy that balcony so much you'll never want to book anything else in the future. There is nothing like sitting on your own balcony whether you're entering a port, leaving a port or just cruising the open seas! Have a fun cruise!

 

 

We sailed on the Oosterdam back in March with a verandah and enjoyed it a lot. We would not have gone back except that the original price difference between Oceanview and Verandah was like $1900 each.

 

Yeah, we'll enjoy it. Already planning to bring a bottle of sparkling wine to enjoy out there for sail away.

 

Neal

 

 

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[Boytjie]

I don't know where you are going or for how long... Sounds like the ship isn't selling out, something I think is unusual for Prinsendam...

 

Both Sept 6 sailings on the Prinsendam (14-day and 30-day) show sold out.

[STI]

Be very careful not to take one of the added cabins on the Promenade deck.

AA200-AB219

Wondering Why? We are considering AA200. Thanks

[OlsSalt]

Wondering Why? We are considering AA200. Thanks

 

There have been numerous corroborating reports about problems, vibrations and noise in those added-on aft deck cabins. I noticed they are offered for lower prices for that class when shopping the Prinsendam, now I think I understand why.

 

However, there are reports that some love them so I would be very careful about the specific cabin numbers that might be registering the most complaints, and not discount the entire aft section. This means you will need to do a lot of cabin number research on the various websites. Hope it works out for you.