Jump to content

MSC Upgrade Strategy?


Motegi
 Share

Recommended Posts

I know that there is no surefire way to predict who is offered an upgrade and who is not but:

 

We are booked into a "guarantee" cabin that has only two cabins left according my mock bookings on the website. There are many cabins available one category up.

 

The MSC PVP that we spoke with when we made the reservation said that because our "guarantee" cabin is so limited that we have a high likelihood of being upgraded to the next category.

 

So right now all we have paid is the initial deposit. We have a good amount of time before the final payment is due.

 

So here comes the strategy. For the best chance of an upgrade:

1) Should we wait until the last two cabins in our category have sold before we make final payment?

2) Should we make payment now and hope that they upgrade us to clear up more space for the lower priced category?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that there is no surefire way to predict who is offered an upgrade and who is not but:

 

We are booked into a "guarantee" cabin that has only two cabins left according my mock bookings on the website. There are many cabins available one category up.

 

The MSC PVP that we spoke with when we made the reservation said that because our "guarantee" cabin is so limited that we have a high likelihood of being upgraded to the next category.

 

So right now all we have paid is the initial deposit. We have a good amount of time before the final payment is due.

 

So here comes the strategy. For the best chance of an upgrade:

1) Should we wait until the last two cabins in our category have sold before we make final payment?

2) Should we make payment now and hope that they upgrade us to clear up more space for the lower priced category?

 

I assume you are talking "next experience level" ....If so, remember, if you are upgraded from, for example, Fantastica to an Aurea cabin (due to your experience cabin no longer being available)...the experience amenities DO NOT come along. So as long as you are ok with this.... hang tight and play it out. Now if they offer you an upgrade to the next experience level at an additional price..... the experience amenities come along

Edited by lcpagejr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a guarantee cabin on Preziosa for August 2018 and have not yet paid more than our deposit but we have already been allocated our cabin number which is just an ordinary balcony for our experience. Mock bookings I have made show NO remaining cabins for our class. Waiting to pay the balance of your cruise charges will NOT increase your chances of an upgrade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a guarantee cabin on Preziosa for August 2018 and have not yet paid more than our deposit but we have already been allocated our cabin number which is just an ordinary balcony for our experience. Mock bookings I have made show NO remaining cabins for our class. Waiting to pay the balance of your cruise charges will NOT increase your chances of an upgrade.

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

We have not yet been allocated a cabin and there are only two left in our category.

 

If we had a cabin assigned then I think the situation would be different.

 

I was thinking that if others go online and book those two cabins before MSC assigns is ours then it might increase our chances for an upgrade. On the other hand I was thinking that if I made final payment now it might push them to allocate one of the two remaining cabins to us right away.

 

Since we have time I think we’ll hold out and see what happens like lcpagejr says.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to MSC those who booked a higher experience are more likely to be upgraded. For instance I booked two guarantee cabins inside, however one was booked Bella and the other Fantastica. The Bella received an interior cabin, while the Fantastica received a balcony cabin. Oddly we ended up booking that way because during our phone call they stated the Bella experience became sold out so the next guarantee we could take was Fantastica, and they lucked out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We booked a guarantee Fantastica balcony and that's what we got! Their idea of a good cabin I think but not mine. Deck 9 but right next to the midships lift foyer. I don't like being around lots of people so prefer somewhere further forward or aft. It would have been better on a higher deck too, I'm not claustrophobic but don't like being too far away from open decks.

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm happy to report that the strategy worked.

 

We got upgraded this morning from a Guarantee Oceanview up to a Balcony cabin on deck 14!

 

The Oceanview category must have sold out overnight so they assigned us to the next available category.

 

We're super excited about it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We booked inside guarantees just after Christmas for the June 9th sailing on the Seaside. There were no more 4 person balconies available so we booked the cheapest route, two inside guarantees, hoping we'd be placed somewhere decent. We only paid the deposit for both bookings.

 

Within 3 weeks we were assigned cabins and upgraded to 2 balcony cabins on deck 13! I don't know the rhyme of reason why but it was a nice surprise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...