Current 3 for free upgrade issue

[RoyalC]

Upgrade Per Princess " "Applies to booking the stateroom location you wish to sail in for the price of the lowest category within that stateroom type during this promotion only. Offer is based on availability in like to like stateroom types (Interior to Interior, ...etc"

I called my agents and they tell me no. Here is what one said. Let me know if this is your experience with the "promo." I was expecting to book the lowest price interior and then pick the category I wanted. :confused:

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1:27:45 PM : Joey: the way that the upgrade portion of the promotion works is that you would want to book into the category that you want. So if you are wanting an IA, you'll want to book into an IA, as the upgrade promotion in a way is applied, as the pricing you will be seeing for the IA category, would technically be the pricing for 1 category below that.

 

1:27:55 PM : Joey: Does that make sense?

 

1:29:40 PM : Joey: So what I explained is generally what it says per the cruise lines web site. You would want to book into the category that you would like to be upgraded to.

 

1:29:50 PM : Joey: So if you are wanting category IA. You would want to book into category IA.

 

1:30:10 PM : Joey: As then the upgrade is automatically applied, as the pricing shown is technically the pricing of 1 category of inside stateroom below that.

 

1:30:25 PM : Joey: This amenity/option of the promotion is always hard to fully explain.

 

1:31:28 PM : ME: So what does the lowest category within that stateroom type mean? Lowest would mean lowest, not one below, correct?

 

1:31:40 PM : Joey: Correct.

 

1:32:09 PM : ME: So why wouldn't it be $2048 for an IA?

 

1:34:05 PM : Joey: One moment please, while I look into this for you.

 

1:36:26 PM : Joey: So looking into the 3 for free promotion. It doesn't look like that the category IA may not qualify as an upgrade option. When looking into the promotional upgrade break down. I'm showing that the upgrades are as follows.

Category IF upgrade to category ID, Category I E upgraded to Category IC and then Category ID upgrade to Category IB.

Category IA doesn't qualify for the upgrade promotion.

 

1:37:41 PM : steve: Interesting. They should change their wording. I'll look into this info and see if any cabin selections will work for this. Thanks!

 

1:37:56 PM : Joey: I agree completely as I can see how it can be misleading.

Edited October 29, 2017 by RoyalC
removing dead space

[mysaddlebred000]

suites do not qualify for this promotion.

[RoyalC]

suites do not qualify for this promotion.

 

Indeed, but that has nothing to do with the original question.

[skynight]

"Upgrade offer excludes select categories, including but not limited to premium categories and suites." From a brief look at a random 7 day voyage it appeared that while cat. IB was included cat. IA was fared slightly higher, which was $7 higher in the sample I looked at. So in this example IA was excluded. Look at the Princess web site for your cruise and search all the interior cats. You will see which ones are included and which ones are excluded.

[JF - retired RRT]

From what I read in your post, your TA doesn't understand how the 3 for free works.

If you look at the Princess website and go to the cruise you want, then click the button for "inside". You'll see that the price for all insides from the front to the back on the deck you're looking at is the same. In other words: I want to book an inside on Aloha deck. Click on inside, click on Aloha deck, the deck plan for Aloha deck is displayed. All inside cabins cost $600 (just sayin'). If I go to Baja deck, all the inside cabins cost $650 (again, just saying).

In real life, I had an obstructed balcony aft booked on a cruise in 2019 on the Royal...no promotions. About 1 month after I booked, the 3 for free started. I called Princess (no TA yet) and asked if it applied to me. Answer: yes. Can I change cabins at the same price, again "yes". I moved from aft to mid-ship in one of the enormous mid-ship balconies for the same price!!

Get a new TA...if I understood your question correctly.;)

[Cruise Raider]

As explained quite well in the post above this, the 3 for Free cabin upgrades really means that all cabins in the same super category are priced the same, regardless of their location ... with some exceptions (eg: pricing for premium balcony categories).

Normally, if we are looking at inside cabins, the forward cabins are the lowest in price, followed by the aft cabins. Next in price increases you would see the mid-forward and mid-aft being the same price as each other but higher than the forward or aft cabins. The midship cabins are the highest in price. So, when the 3 for free is offered, all these inside cabins would have the same pricing (right on the Princess online booking site). You will not get the same pricing by choosing the highest inside cabin category if you expect to go to an oceanview. You can repeat the above explanation for obstructed OV cabins but I don't believe you can opt to pay for an obstructed OV cabin and get the same pricing for an unobstructed OV cabin. So, it's not really a free upgrade as much as pricing being the same for all cabins within that super category, which is only based on the location on the ship.

 

You can also opt for to put an 'any upgrade' or 'meta upgrade' notation on your booking. The meta upgrade means they can only upgrade you to the next super category or better (inside to OV or better, OV to balcony or better, balcony to mini-suite or full suite) instead of just putting you in a different inside location if you have an inside cabin. They don't always notify you when your cabin has been upgraded but you can check on your booking on their website to check. It's usually done closer to final payment. I've never fared well with the 'any upgrade' option on Princess so I always opt for a meta upgrade only ... but in 2 dozen cruises on Princess, I've only received one once ... inside to obstructed OV.

[mysaddlebred000]

Indeed, but that has nothing to do with the original question.

 

 

has more to do with it than a heck of a lot of other post questions

 

Cruise Raider gave an excellent description of this promotion. all cabins in each category are priced the same. But they can"t do that in suites because prices might be $500, $1000, $2000 or more as you go up the suite categories . There is no way they would price a vista suite the same as the grand suite.

 

It is an odd promotion.

[WarEagle76]

We booked a 12 night Med cruise for next Spring earlier this year. It’s an itinerary we wanted for a special occasion and the fare at time of booking our Club Class cabin was very high. We booked with an FCC. Then the beverage package offer came along and we added that. We booked through an an agent but I always keep tab on the fares and stumbled across the new promotion the day it became available. Not only did we get our Club Class cabin for the same price as a regular mini-suite, but a huge reduction in price, prepaid gratuities (for 12 nights), and additional OBC. Even losing the beverage promotion we are saving about 3k for the two of us over our original booking.

[pink845]

We have an Asian cruise booked for next spring. We did the 3 for free promotion. When I booked, I booked GUARANTEE Inside. We got free gratuities and free OBC. It is a long cruise, so a lot of OBC - $300 to be exact. The day of the booking, my booking confirmation showed " GUAR / IF, Lower, Forward. Six months later, it shows GUAR / IC Upper Mid Forward. Hopefully, I am better of now that before. It is on the Golden. I am anxious to see where they put me. On some cruises, we just go with the flow and take what we get. Price means everything to us.

[yags]

We are going to Alaska on the Grand in June of 2018 picked a premium balcony and paid for a standard balcony under that upgrade provision of the 3 for free.

[RoyalC]

As explained quite well in the post above this, the 3 for Free cabin upgrades really means that all cabins in the same super category are priced the same, regardless of their location ... with some exceptions (eg: pricing for premium balcony categories).

Normally, if we are looking at inside cabins, the forward cabins are the lowest in price, followed by the aft cabins. Next in price increases you would see the mid-forward and mid-aft being the same price as each other but higher than the forward or aft cabins. The midship cabins are the highest in price. So, when the 3 for free is offered, all these inside cabins would have the same pricing (right on the Princess online booking site). You will not get the same pricing by choosing the highest inside cabin category if you expect to go to an oceanview. You can repeat the above explanation for obstructed OV cabins but I don't believe you can opt to pay for an obstructed OV cabin and get the same pricing for an unobstructed OV cabin. So, it's not really a free upgrade as much as pricing being the same for all cabins within that super category, which is only based on the location on the ship.

 

You can also opt for to put an 'any upgrade' or 'meta upgrade' notation on your booking. The meta upgrade means they can only upgrade you to the next super category or better (inside to OV or better, OV to balcony or better, balcony to mini-suite or full suite) instead of just putting you in a different inside location if you have an inside cabin. They don't always notify you when your cabin has been upgraded but you can check on your booking on their website to check. It's usually done closer to final payment. I've never fared well with the 'any upgrade' option on Princess so I always opt for a meta upgrade only ... but in 2 dozen cruises on Princess, I've only received one once ... inside to obstructed OV.

 

As I thought I also explained quite well, this is not the case. This is why I posted. I understand what you are saying, but that is not the case here. Two travel agents also called Princess on this. The cruise in question is Ruby Alaska, April 28, 2017. Cat IF inside is $799 or $849 depending on the agency, or direct booking. You cannot use either of those prices to "upgrade" to a mid-ship. In fact they only let you move up one sub category on this cruise, and pricing varies on ship location. The price difference between a forward/aft cabin vs mid is $200.00 via agency. The pricing set-up on this cruise is no different than the Royal Dec 10, 2017 cruise I was tracking before. The sad part is I called Princess twice and two large online agencies and everyone gave a different answer to the promotion regarding upgrades.

[RoyalC]

has more to do with it than a heck of a lot of other post questions

 

Cruise Raider gave an excellent description of this promotion. all cabins in each category are priced the same. But they can"t do that in suites because prices might be $500, $1000, $2000 or more as you go up the suite categories . There is no way they would price a vista suite the same as the grand suite.

 

It is an odd promotion.

 

Ruby Princess April 2017 Alaska= not priced the same. We all know suites is excluded. It states that. I was not talking about suites. I guess this one is included under "other exclusions" or however they state it.

[shukapaw]

We ran into this same situation when booking a Caribbean cruise for next summer. We selected the inside rate (which would normally be an IF rate) when we went to select a cabin, we were able to select any available cabin in the IF, ID, or IB categories for the price of the IF cabin. The mid-ship cabins, classified as IA, were NOT available. This is where their disclaimer "Upgrade offer excludes select categories" comes into play. If you want the mid-ships, you need to pay the full mid ship price

 

When we booked, the ship was almost empty so we selected an IB cabin immediately next door to the IA cabins.

 

~Brian

[ehogan]

I am a bit confused. We booked a cruise which sails March 2019 and which appears to be almost sold out. It was booked under the free gratuities, OBC and cabin upgrade offer.

 

We have been assigned an IF category cabin. So how does the cabin upgrade apply...does it mean that closer to sail date we will get an upgrade or is our cabin set?

 

Thanks.

[Steelers36]

I am a bit confused. We booked a cruise which sails March 2019 and which appears to be almost sold out. It was booked under the free gratuities, OBC and cabin upgrade offer.

 

We have been assigned an IF category cabin. So how does the cabin upgrade apply...does it mean that closer to sail date we will get an upgrade or is our cabin set?

 

Thanks.

 

No, it won't work that way. What do you mean by "assigned a IF cabin"? Did you book a GTY IF? Why would you do that if can select up to a IB for the same price? Unless you prefer the location. It is up to you to select the category and location you want for the same price (anything from IF thru IB). If you don't want to select a cabin, then do GTY, but why not pick GTY IB to get best category for the price? I don't see how you would be assigned IF unless the other categories are sold out or you selected IF at booking time.

 

If you want something else, contact Princess or your TA and get it changed before the promotion ends.

[ehogan]

Thanks Steelers36. I was working with a Princess TA, and I just specified an inside cabin, and he assigned the IF. I will call him...you would think he would have done better. I will go for a guarantee.

[tennisobo]

We booked our January Caribbean cruise under this promo. We got a corner stern balcony (B749 on the Crown) for the price of the lowest category standard balcony. This is a premium balcony stateroom. So the promo worked perfectly for me. We got the pre-paid gratuities and onboard credit as well. Between the promo, our TA, using our FCDs, and the stockholder credit we ended up with $400 obc. I’m happy.

 

 

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