Waitlisted for an upgrade? Beware!!!

[racepoint]

I booked and paid for our outside, obstructed view cabins a few weeks ago for a sailing on Golden in March. I requested to be waitlisted for an upgrade to two balconies, as there were no balconies available at the time I booked. I have checked in with Princess several times to inquire about the status of upgrades and was informed that any offer for an upgrade would come to me via e-mail and had a limited amount of time that I could respond. Well, my offer came . . .to my computer at work yesterday at 5:13 p.m. and allowed me until 7:00 p.m. last night, Pacific time, to respond. Needless to say, my upgrade came and went while I was home for the evening. I am still thrilled to be booked on this cruise, obstructed view or not. And, come to find out, a balcony upgrade was going to cost us $500/pp for a family of four. I just wanted to make others aware that when you give out your e-mail address, make sure it's an address that you have 24-hour access to because you only have a very short window of time (less than 5 hours, in my case) in which to respond.

[Katie333]

Interesting ... I didn't even know this option existed. Although I'm pretty fanatical about booking early so I usually end up with the cabin I want.

[PhillyCruiser]

Racepoint,

 

That's an incredible story...

 

However, consider what happened to us. We booked and paid for an obstructed view cabin on the Golden for the New Year's cruise three years ago. We needed a triple. Since we booked late, and it was the only triple available, we took it.

 

We arrived at embarkation, and checked in. At first, the clerk couldn't find our records. She excused herself and went to look at a table behind her. We just looked at each other and quietly had panic attacks. When she returned, she announced, "Oh, I see you've just been upgraded. We've put you in a triple on Caribe." Yes, a cabin with a really nice balcony!! I felt like we had won the lottery, and it was totally unexpected.

 

So, keep the faith. Positive things can happen right up to the moment you board.

 

Joan

[Froufie]

How very strange to be given so little time? I am also waitlisted for a balcony cabin on the Star - however I currently have no other cabin booked.

 

It was clearly explained to me that if a cabin became available I would be contacted (several options were provided), and then I would have 48 HOURS in which to decide whether or not I wanted it! (still not a hell of a lot of time considering I would need to make flight arrangements, etc). I told them to please contact me via fax, email and phone - given the short time frame I was also nervous about missing the call!

 

So far no call/fax/email yet??? (and trust me I am checking)....will let you know what happens if I am so lucky as to get a cabin!

 

Sorry you missed out - but frankly I agree the price would also have to be right!

 

Happy cruising!

[donna5]

How very strange to be given so little time? I am also waitlisted for a balcony cabin on the Star - however I currently have no other cabin booked.

 

It was clearly explained to me that if a cabin became available I would be contacted (several options were provided), and then I would have 48 HOURS in which to decide whether or not I wanted it! (still not a hell of a lot of time considering I would need to make flight arrangements, etc). I told them to please contact me via fax, email and phone - given the short time frame I was also nervous about missing the call!

 

So far no call/fax/email yet??? (and trust me I am checking)....will let you know what happens if I am so lucky as to get a cabin!

 

Sorry you missed out - but frankly I agree the price would also have to be right!

 

Happy cruising!

 

Keep calling and asking Princess if there are any cabins available in your cat. for that sailing. We were on a waitlist and I happened to call Princess to see where we were on the list. We had moved up and then the C.S. agent said wait there is a cabin avail. in that cat. Do you want it? I said grab it. So we got the cabin and ended up bypassing the waiting list. We only paid the deposit for the waitlist cat. We did not want anyother cat. on this sailing. Don't know why they didn't start taking from the waitlist. So don't count on being called or e-mailed if one comes available. Anyone could have gotten that cabin and they didn't have to be on the waitlist.

[RichardK]

Interesting ... I didn't even know this option existed. Although I'm pretty fanatical about booking early so I usually end up with the cabin I want.

 

:) :)

[racepoint]

I was warned by the Princess rep. that if/when I was notified of an available upgrade, I would only have a short period of time . . ."usually only 24-48 hours" in which to respond and I'm getting that others have been told the same thing. This is why I posted my actual experience with my "7 hour" response period. I have to reiterate that although I would loved to have had two balcony cabins for my family, I am thrilled to be booked in our side-by-side obstructed view cabins, just to be on this sailing with our other friends and relatives, and to have saved the $2,000 it would have cost to upgrade to the balconies. Not a problem!!

[oceanlovinmama]

just curious....you all mention calling Princess. When I did that last week to inquire why my room had been changed and I was told it was upgraded, I said I didn't consider it an upgrade to be placed at the front of the ship, in the same size room with the Promenade deck in front of my window. The CS agent assured me there were no other rooms to be had. I asked about paying for an upgrade and was told I could be waitlisted, so I said I'd think about it. I later called the travel engine I booked it through and she put me on hold while calling Princess ( I just wanted to know if there was something special about the room..a door instead of window or something) anyway, she came back and said they moved me back to my old room. I asked how because I had been told it was gone and no rooms were available. She then replied, rather snotty, that I was not suppose to call the Cruise Line direct that I should have gone through her to begin with.....Your experiences on this, and should I now ask my travel engine to see if there is an upgrade available???

[Toto2Kansas]

"She then replied, rather snotty, that I was not suppose to call the Cruise Line direct that I should have gone through her to begin with.....Your experiences on this, and should I now ask my travel engine to see if there is an upgrade available???"

 

Normally, if you booked with any travel agency, Princess will not even discuss your booking with you over the phone. You actually got lucky that they even talked to you about it. It is just a rule that has been in effect for as long as I can remember. If you enjoy dealing directly with the cruise line, then it is best to book it directly with them, even though you might not get the best price that way. :(

[racepoint]

I did not book through a travel agency this time. I had checked the prices and availability through several online inquiries and thought I'd just call Princess directly (with the thought that if I dealt DIRECTLY through the cruise line, I may be able to get cabins that weren't available elsewhere.) In any event, the price/pp was identical through all of the inquiries so I eventually booked through Princess. I've called them several times since then with questions and inquiries that they probably deem to be petty, but they've been very courteous and helpful and I never felt like I was being rushed so that they could take the next call. Thumbs up to Princess Customer Care;)