First Upgrade Offer! Laughed At It!

[4cats4me]

I desperately wanted to upgrade our cabin from interior to balcony when i saw the balcony go on sale. It was going to be an extra $500pp but Princess wouldnt allow me to chnage the booking I had. They would only allow me to cancel the original booking and rebook at the new fare type/cabin type etc. they said I would lose my all the deposit i had paid because it was under 6 months before sail date - seems so crazy to me now reading about these upgrade offers.

 

 

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Some promos have have nonrefundable deposits. I noticed that last year while booking

 

 

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[fiorita]

We just got a up grade from a inside to a deluxe balcony we are on the Royal Princess for 17 days. I am happy. It did not cost anything.:D

Rita

[Thrak]

I probably would have just kept my Caribe balcony. However, as this is not an upgrade but an upsell offer the title of this thread is very misleading. I have accepted a few upsells but have also had a couple of true upgrades. Our second cruise we were upgraded from one of the worst balconies on Star Princess (Dolphin deck where the Promenade steps up a deck and everybody in the world walks right past your balcony) to a much better mid-ship balcony on Aloha deck. 15 days in a much better location for no cost. The second time we were upgraded from a IC category (L249) to a B2 category (C302) on Crown Princess for no cost.That is a huge multi-category upgrade.

 

One really shouldn't confuse "the upgrade fairy" with an upsell offer. Upsells are very common these days but a true upgrade can be a thing of beauty. (One just has to understand that sometimes what Princess considers an upgrade may not feel that way to the passenger who may well prefer the original cabin.)

[iceleven]

Looks like the difference in price between a balcony and mini is almost $900 PP. I would jump at a chance to upgrade to a mini for $250 PP. It's just not having a bathtub. The bathroom is twice as big as a normal balcony if not a bit bigger. You also have a larger living area with a sofa. Almost like having two small rooms to spend time in. The mini's are extremely comfortable for longer cruises. But to each his own. Enjoy your balcony stateroom

 

I agree. I've had both minis and Caribe balconies. The mini is much larger with a small sofa/sitting area. It's NOT just a tub and xtra tv. I definitely would take the offer if it was a 10+ day cruise that was not port intensive. It's actually quite nice to be able to sit on your sofa and just look out at the scenery without having to run out to the balcony and deal with the cold.

[britestar]

For a 10 day cruise I would have paid the $500 and enjoyed the extra space. I always welcome an upsell call, for us it is usually worth it.

[oskidunker]

I would do this except on the Pacific as that Balcony room has a sofa. I get up early and like to drink coffee. wife likes to sleep.

[CruisinMinnie]

We just got a up grade from a inside to a deluxe balcony we are on the Royal Princess for 17 days. I am happy. It did not cost anything.:D

Rita

 

Now that is an upgrade. I've never, in over 20 Princess cruises, been given an upgrade. However, I have been offered several upsells, one of which I've taken.

[elliair]

And how much extra would it have cost at the time you booked.

 

Don't know because we would never have booked a mini suite just to pay extra for a TV and a bath tub. Also, we have told our Travel Agent no upgrades, been there done that. This is the first time we ever been called and the word that was used was "upgrade, not upsell."

[elliair]

I don't understand this at all.

 

The OP was offered the opportunity to move from a balcony to a mini-suite at a fraction of the cost paid by most of the other occupants of mini-suites.

 

OK, we all have different views on value and I can understand someone taking the view that they can find better use for $500 than using it to upgrade to a mini-suite, BUT what I can't understand is why he/she should apparently get so angry because they received an offer they did not want.

 

Just turn it down and accept that it will be taken up by one of the many folks who would welcome such an offer.

 

Hopefully Princess will read this thread, use the information contained in it to identify the OP and then make a decision not to make the OP any future offers on the basis that it would appear they are only going to turn an otherwise satisfied customer into a dissatisfied customer.

 

Angry? Not angry, we laughed at it, to us it was a joke to pay $500 more for something that we would not use. If you look at our cruising history, and this is the first time we've been offered such a "deal," to us it is a joke. I have to wonder now about people who come here bragging about what a stupendous upgrade they got from the upgrade fairy and it didn't cost them a thing!

 

 

When we book a cruise, we tell them no upgrades unless it's to the Owner's Suite. We always get a chuckle from the Travel Agent. In other words, don't bother to ask. Just so happens this is a new travel agent, our other one retired.

 

Some one here said they'd jump on that deal. Well, call Princess and book a 10-day out of San Francisco on May 28 to Alaska and get that mini suite for $500 more.

[elliair]

I probably would have just kept my Caribe balcony. However, as this is not an upgrade but an upsell offer the title of this thread is very misleading. I have accepted a few upsells but have also had a couple of true upgrades. Our second cruise we were upgraded from one of the worst balconies on Star Princess (Dolphin deck where the Promenade steps up a deck and everybody in the world walks right past your balcony) to a much better mid-ship balcony on Aloha deck. 15 days in a much better location for no cost. The second time we were upgraded from a IC category (L249) to a B2 category (C302) on Crown Princess for no cost.That is a huge multi-category upgrade.

 

One really shouldn't confuse "the upgrade fairy" with an upsell offer. Upsells are very common these days but a true upgrade can be a thing of beauty. (One just has to understand that sometimes what Princess considers an upgrade may not feel that way to the passenger who may well prefer the original cabin.)

 

The word "UPSELL" was not used, the word 'UPGRADE" was used. And for the upgrade it's only $500 more. We'll keep our Caribe and we love the balcony, we're happy.

[cormike1]

Are your gratuities also higher if you are in a mini suite or higher. You would have to factor that in for the upsell and see if it was worth the money, would you not.

[laktex]

The word "UPSELL" was not used, the word 'UPGRADE" was used. And for the upgrade it's only $500 more. We'll keep our Caribe and we love the balcony, we're happy.

 

So you are happy - then stop moaning. It was a reasonable offer in my opinion - you didn't think so - and declined. You actually didn't win anything.

[just hooked]

It's a 10-day out of San Francisco to Alaska. We've always booked a Caribe balcony and have been happy with it. Never occurred to us to ever book a mini suite as we've never justified the extra cost. An additional $500 for a tub and a TV is not what we think is of any value.

 

I agree not a great deal, balcony on caribe is much better than a mini and $500 in pocket , would have done the same and turned it down ,

[Thrak]

The word "UPSELL" was not used, the word 'UPGRADE" was used. And for the upgrade it's only $500 more. We'll keep our Caribe and we love the balcony, we're happy.

 

That just means your TA doesn't know the difference or figured you wouldn't know the difference. Many people consider any cabin upgrade to be an actual upgrade rather than an upsell but the words really aren't synonymous. Like I said above, I've received two actual - FREE - upgrades, one of which was an amazing multiple jump in category. I've been offered (and accepted) several upsells as well but nothing nearly as amazing as the forward Lido inside to the huge B2 (HC Accessible) Caribe balcony on Crown Princess. On our last cruise we accepted an upsell from an inside cabin to a window mini-suite and were extremely pleased with the change. Yes, it was a "upgraded cabin" but I had to pay for it which means it wasn't a true, free, upgrade.

[lahore]

Each to their own - you spend your extra $500 on alcohol; not being a drinker, I spend it on space. What's to judge?

[nukesubsailor]

It's a 10-day out of San Francisco to Alaska. We've always booked a Caribe balcony and have been happy with it. Never occurred to us to ever book a mini suite as we've never justified the extra cost. An additional $500 for a tub and a TV is not what we think is of any value.

 

Only you can determine what is of value to you. In our case, booking a mini suite meant we would never go back to a balcony. The couch and extra room and tv got a lot of use. The shower in the tub gave us a lot more room than the tiny shower in a balcony cabin. In 25+ cruises we have only received one offer for an upgrade and that was on our second cruise. I can't prove it but I think Princess targets people who are doing their 2nd or 3rd cruise for upgrades. Why offer them to those who have cruised often enough with them to reach a high level in the loyalty program? They are already hooked on Princess.

[PrincessLuver]

Only you can determine what is of value to you. In our case, booking a mini suite meant we would never go back to a balcony. The couch and extra room and tv got a lot of use. The shower in the tub gave us a lot more room than the tiny shower in a balcony cabin. In 25+ cruises we have only received one offer for an upgrade and that was on our second cruise. I can't prove it but I think Princess targets people who are doing their 2nd or 3rd cruise for upgrades. Why offer them to those who have cruised often enough with them to reach a high level in the loyalty program? They are already hooked on Princess.

 

We are on our 20th Princess cruise coming up on a new ship and we just received a fantastic upsell from a balcony to a great mini on a 28 day cruise....it was well worth it and it was the first one we have ever been offered by Princess...:halo:

[RDC1]

Marking your booking no upgrade pretty much guarantees that you will not get an free upgrade offer. Those are usually done in house with the passenger getting notified after they are made. Technically a passenger has 72 hours to refuse the free "upgrade" and get the original room back.

 

The fact that your booking is marked no upgrade does not remove you from the sales department that will call and see if you want to upgrade your room for a reduced cost. That is why the call was termed as being an upgrade offer.

 

Bottom line you removed yourself from the free upgrade pool by marking your book no upgrade, and you refused the offer to upgrade at reduced cost.

 

This stream makes me think that everyone should post all of the more expensive fares that they did not want to book, because they had better use for the money and call the fares as being laughable.

[4cats4me]

Angry?

 

 

I have to wonder now about people who come here bragging about what a stupendous upgrade they got from the upgrade fairy and it didn't cost them a thing!

 

 

 

 

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In my case, I told the truth about my upgrade from a balcony cabin to a Vista Suite . It was only our second Princess cruise and we had booked a guarantee. We received our assignment only nine days before, but it was a complete fluke. We still have no idea why we received such an upgrade. We used to book cabin guarantees and many times we

Did receive step upgrades. It is when we started booking specific cabins and marking our reservation as no upgrades that the upgrades stopped, except last year when we received an upsell offer specific to only Elites and platinums.

 

Happy sailing

[shepp]

It's a 10-day out of San Francisco to Alaska. We've always booked a Caribe balcony and have been happy with it. Never occurred to us to ever book a mini suite as we've never justified the extra cost. An additional $500 for a tub and a TV is not what we think is of any value.

 

On a late-June 10-day sailing out of San Francisco, the price difference between a balcony and a mini is $900 pp. Obviously, somebody out there has a different notion of value than you or else the minis would be priced differently.

 

And by those standards, you were being offered a bargain. Condolences that Princess didn't grasp that you deserved something you hadn't paid for.

[mrgoalie]

It's a 10-day out of San Francisco to Alaska. We've always booked a Caribe balcony and have been happy with it. Never occurred to us to ever book a mini suite as we've never justified the extra cost. An additional $500 for a tub and a TV is not what we think is of any value.

I agree, no way would I have taken this offer.

[pris993]

Obviously this was not the offer for you... we always book a mini because we like the bath tub and the two tvs and extra space... so really depends...lol.

[cruzsnooze]

I never book any cabin below a mini because of the extra room. That second TV comes in a separate room with a sofa and chair and coffee table. Balcony cabins don't have 2 comfortable chairs, just the one barrel shaped chair and a desk chair. For a 10 day cruise $250 PP was a super deal by my standards. Glad you won't take any upsells because you leave them available to people who want them. I have never turned down an upsell, which is from a mini to a full suite and usually is a four digits figure.

[geoherb]

I would have also turned down the upsell offer. I like Caribe Deck balconies.

 

Our best upgrade was from an obstructed view guarantee to a cabin with a balcony (but technically categorized as a deluxe ocean view since there wasn't any furniture on the balcony).

 

We've never had an upsell that seemed worth it to us. The best offer--the one that tempted us--was from a balcony guarantee to a full suite for $199 per person. But it was only a 3-night cruise--not long enough to enjoy the suite. Plus we were booked back-to-back with the following 4-night cruise and did not did not want the letdown of switching back to an ordinary balcony cabin for the second cruise.

[tonit964]

Are your gratuities also higher if you are in a mini suite or higher. You would have to factor that in for the upsell and see if it was worth the money, would you not.

 

Yes, they are higher. I don't remember the actual amount though.