Upgrade after final payment if higher cat costs less

[odysee]

We have successfully upgraded after final payment by paying the (sometimes very small) difference.

Has someone been able to upgrade if final cost was less ?  Eg from veranda to concierge or Aqua if these were less than originally booked veranda.

Just asking as I always thought new cabin has to be at least $ 1 more.  On our planned sailing, seems prices after final payment are really going down and we might have paid more for veranda than Aqua is going to cost.

Not looking to get refund of difference, just to be upgraded, even willing to pay slight admin fee if necessary.

Edited March 3, 2019 by odysee

[mfs2k]

I booked concierge after final payment date. A week later Aqua price dropped $50 below what I paid for concierge. I didn’t have to pay any additional money and got upgraded through my TA. 

Edited March 3, 2019 by mfs2k

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, odysee said:

 Eg from veranda to concierge or Aqua if these were less than originally booked veranda

That's exactly what happened to me. Booked GTY veranda. Was assigned obstructed. Ten days later CC categories 1 and 2 dropped lower than what I paid for veranda so I made the switch to a fabulous C2 at no extra charge even got to keep my OBC.  

[RickT]

Can’t hurt to ask.  The last time I was in that situation was over 5 years ago and was not allowed to upgrade unless the new cabin category was at least $1 more.  Sounds like others have been successful.  Good Luck.

[drakes2]

15 minutes ago, RickT said:

Can’t hurt to ask.  The last time I was in that situation was over 5 years ago and was not allowed to upgrade unless the new cabin category was at least $1 more.  Sounds like others have been successful.  Good Luck.

They seem to be doing it on a regular basis now. On my upcoming cruise I booked directly with Celebrity with no issues for an upgrade. Last year the same thing happened but booked with outside  TA.  He had some difficulty getting me an upgrade to CC took 3 calls until successful. Persistence pays off and I gave him an excellent review on their website.

[Tourist1292]

The C2 room became cheaper than my 1A cabin a month after final payment. They let me upgrade to C2 and add 2 perks to make it a higher cost than my original booking. I ended up paying $240 for the upgrade of the room but I also get $350 OBC and classic beverage packages for 2.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Tourist1292

[captket]

This is only our second trip with Celebrity and was wondering how one goes about getting an upgrade. Is there a list or alert email or do you do the investigating?  How do you find out if there are cabins opening up?

Sorry about the novice questions.

[jkgourmet]

3 minutes ago, captket said:

This is only our second trip with Celebrity and was wondering how one goes about getting an upgrade. Is there a list or alert email or do you do the investigating?  How do you find out if there are cabins opening up?

Sorry about the novice questions.

 

I go to the X website fairly regularly after final payment is due, and VERY occasionally before final payment.  But it's very hit and miss.  Cabins that are available at 10am might be gone at 11am.  And visa versa.

 

Since we nearly always sail in an inside or OV guarantee, I'm looking for a change On nearly every cruise we take.  Been successful always when there have been price drops, not when the price is the same or more (which is usually the case for us.)  BUT I don't always accept what is offered because sometimes it's worse than what they assigned us with our GTY.  Or requires giving up our perks, which is NOT happening.

[tjunmin]

10 minutes ago, captket said:

This is only our second trip with Celebrity and was wondering how one goes about getting an upgrade. Is there a list or alert email or do you do the investigating?  How do you find out if there are cabins opening up?

Sorry about the novice questions.

 

I usually just check the website to see if there is a price drop. If it does, I call Celebrity and request the upgrade - I usually book directly with Celebrity, not through a TA.

 

In my personal experience, I never had an issue upgrading after final payment, even if the new price is lower than what I originally paid. It is understood that Celebrity will not refund you any amount, after final payment.

[odysee]

Thanks for responses

[captket]

Thanks for your helpful responses!  I guess a follow up or related question would be about the "refit" and cabin size. I read somewhere that they are adding cabins to the Millennium and that some of the new cabins are smaller. Does anyone have any info on that?  As much as I want an upgrade I don't want anything smaller than what we already have (Verandah) even if aann upgraded stateroom.

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, captket said:

Thanks for your helpful responses!  I guess a follow up or related question would be about the "refit" and cabin size. I read somewhere that they are adding cabins to the Millennium and that some of the new cabins are smaller. Does anyone have any info on that?  As much as I want an upgrade I don't want anything smaller than what we already have (Verandah) even if aann upgraded stateroom.

You should be ok.   I don't recall hearing any Verandah's being added.  There were a number of interior and Ocean View cabins added.    The ones being discussed that are potentially smaller are the new ones installed Starboard where the Spa use to be (adjacent to the gym). 

 

There have been a number of cabins that have been reclassified from 3-4 passengers to 2 passengers.

[cachouonacruise]

On an Alaska cruise on Infinity, prices dropped sharply after final payment. I contacted my TA with the information and little expectation. My TA was almost apologetic for not being able to grant us a refund ( I was not expecting one) and surprised us with a free uprade all the way from OV to AQ! I sure did not expect that either and we had a beautiful experience! I am very thankful to X for their approach! 

 

In conclusion, if noticing a price drop after final payment, nothing is guaranteed, but a polite request could have a positive and surprising outcome! Definitely worth trying! Good luck! 

[jelayne]

The Millenium added 13 Aqua cabins on Deck 10 By reconfiguring the Spa/fitness area.  The same is being done on tge Summit so I think it is safe to assume that will be the same on the Infinity & Constellation.  

[captket]

1 hour ago, cachouonacruise said:

On an Alaska cruise on Infinity, prices dropped sharply after final payment. I contacted my TA with the information and little expectation. My TA was almost apologetic for not being able to grant us a refund ( I was not expecting one) and surprised us with a free uprade all the way from OV to AQ! I sure did not expect that either and we had a beautiful experience! I am very thankful to X for their approach! 

 

In conclusion, if noticing a price drop after final payment, nothing is guaranteed, but a polite request could have a positive and surprising outcome! Definitely worth trying! Good luck! 

Thanks for the information. I booked on the website so I will have to deal with them.  Since you ended up with an AQ cabin, what made the experience better?

[Tourist1292]

2 minutes ago, captket said:

Thanks for the information. I booked on the website so I will have to deal with them.  Since you ended up with an AQ cabin, what made the experience better?

You may be able to transfer your booking to a TA.

[cachouonacruise]

30 minutes ago, captket said:

Thanks for the information. I booked on the website so I will have to deal with them.  Since you ended up with an AQ cabin, what made the experience better?

 

The two main elements that made our AQ better, were:

 

A larger cabin on deck 9, with a verandah below the large overhang, which protected us from rain and wind. Watching Hubbard Glacier and wildlife from our verandah was definitely a treat!

 

Blu Restaurant! (I can’t compare the food to the Main Dining Room, since we ate all week in Blu.)  My wife and I feel that we always eat well on cruises anyway. The difference in Blu: From Day 1... every body knows your name! Eating at Blu was definitely a beautiful experience! Service was excellent!!!

 

Our next two cruises on X are booked in CC... I look forward to see the differences in the experiences! 

 

 

 

[BridgeMates]

7 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

 

I go to the X website fairly regularly after final payment is due, and VERY occasionally before final payment.  But it's very hit and miss.  Cabins that are available at 10am might be gone at 11am.  And visa versa.

 

Since we nearly always sail in an inside or OV guarantee, I'm looking for a change On nearly every cruise we take.  Been successful always when there have been price drops, not when the price is the same or more (which is usually the case for us.)  BUT I don't always accept what is offered because sometimes it's worse than what they assigned us with our GTY.  Or requires giving up our perks, which is NOT happening.

 

We've just booked our first OV guarantee. I didn't want to do it, but couldn't resist the price/perks.  If you get assigned to an undesirable cabin, can you request a change to another OV cabin in the same category if there are any available? 

[helen haywood]

Yes.

[jkgourmet]

6 hours ago, BridgeMates said:

 

We've just booked our first OV guarantee. I didn't want to do it, but couldn't resist the price/perks.  If you get assigned to an undesirable cabin, can you request a change to another OV cabin in the same category if there are any available? 

 

Yes.  But you'll rarely find any in the same category that are available.  Especially on X.

 

We've done guarantees on nearly all of our 25+ cruises on seven different mass market cruise lines.  With the exception of one balcony guarantee, ALL have been inside or OV cabins.

 

Here's the rule:  If you're considering a GTY, you MUST be satisfied with the worst cabin in your category.  Period.   If you consider ANY cabin in your category an "undesirable cabin, " don't book a GTY.

 

IF the ship isn't full, we've been upgraded, typically within the same category (the worst OV cabin to a better OV cabin) and occasionally to another category (OV to obstructed balcony).  Usually we take the upgrades because the location is better, but we've said no thank you a couple of times.  And yes, we've been 'stuck' with that 'worst' cabin on the ship several times.  And we STILL had a great time and still book Guarantee cabins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by jkgourmet

[drakes2]

3 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

Here's the rule:  If you're considering a GTY, you MUST be satisfied with the worst cabin in your category.  Period.   If you consider ANY cabin in your category an "undesirable cabin, " don't book a GTY.

If you're not happy with your Guarantee assigned cabin you can always ask to be put back in the Guarantee pool.  I've done it twice and moved up to a great cabin in desirable location.

[sanger727]

On our last cruise we booked a balcony under ‘go big’. After final payment the prices dropped way down and they made the included promotion ‘go better’. At that point concierge was less than we paid and Aqua was more. We were given the option to upgrade to concierge for free or pay to upgrade to aqua, however, no matter what we would keep the ‘go big’ promotion. We couldn’t switch to ‘go better’ even though it was included at the new price.

[TFree]

They seem to be no longer enforcing the $1 rule.  I just upgraded (after final payment) from an S1 Sky Suite to a Celebrity Suite, where the Celebrity Suite dropped today to $100 pp less than what I had already paid for the Sky Suite.  The Big Box travel agent told me there was not even a hint of any push back from Celebrity.

 

Tom & Judy

[scrapcreator]

We were offered an upgrade to Aqua for $80 total on our upcoming Alaska cruise on the Millennium . We chose to keep our cabin because the location of our C1 cabin and the size of our balcony is better than the cabins we were offered.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I got upgraded from my 1A to the specific cabin I chose in CC and went from 2 perks to 4, all at no additional cost.  My travel agent handled this.  Solstice to Alaska in May.