Can Princess "force" an upgrade?

[BoopTennis]

hi, if I don't have DO NOT UPGRADE marked on my booking (I have a specific cabin booked), can/will Princess ever upgrade/change my cabin without asking first? I am not against an upgrade if right location but would want to be able to choose whether to accept it or not.  (not that I am expecting an upgrade, but I just don't want any surprises).  Do they always ASK you first?

[Tak8]

I have no personal experience with this, but I have read here about passengers who received upgrades they didn't want.  Are you working with a travel agent?  Then you have to depend on that person contacting you.  I'm sure others will recall specific examples.  

[dickinson]

They always ask if it is an "upsell"... meaning it will cost you money.  If it is free... then no they do not tell you.  You can contact Princess or your TA if you used one to have it marked "no upgrade" or mehta upgrade only ( that is where they can move you from inside to outside or balcony etc).

 

[pms4104]

No, Princess may not ask first ... we always pick a specific cabin and mark the booking Do Not Upgrade ... a couple years ago we lost our cabin to an "upgrade"  ... took me over a week back and forth with Princess to get back our original cabin

Edited March 31, 2019 by pms4104

[BoopTennis]

Thanks guys, I will mark it as NO UPGRADE.  I have always done that in the past, but just thought I would double check!

[Baystate]

I've had this happen.  I called right after I received the email and had to fight tooth and nail to get my cabin back. The so-called upgrade was not a "real" upgrade to me.  Now I mark my reservation No Upgrade. 

[skynight]

When providing complimentary upgrades Princess does not normally ask and wait for response. They just assign you to a cabin in a higher category. The only real way to monitor that I know of is to check your cruise personlizer each day. T.A.'s probably will not be notified in advance and may not notify you of an upgrade.

When they offer upsells you have to accept. Upsells are on a first response basis.

[BoopTennis]

one more question - I booked thru Princess directly not through a TA -- is there a way to mark it DO NOT UPGRADE online or do I need to call Princess to get it done?

[bemis12]

1 minute ago, BoopTennis said:

one more question - I booked thru Princess directly not through a TA -- is there a way to mark it DO NOT UPGRADE online or do I need to call Princess to get it done?

 

You will have to call.  There's no way to do it in the personalizer.

[BoopTennis]

thank you

[ontheweb]

7 minutes ago, skynight said:

When providing complimentary upgrades Princess does not normally ask and wait for response. They just assign you to a cabin in a higher category. The only real way to monitor that I know of is to check your cruise personlizer each day. T.A.'s probably will not be notified in advance and may not notify you of an upgrade.

When they offer upsells you have to accept. Upsells are on a first response basis.

That happened to us on the former Ocean Princess. I only found it on the personalizer. I called our TA, and after he checked the location of the upgrade, I decided I did not want it.

 

He said he did not receive a notification, but Princess said they had sent it. It took him a lot of time with Princess, to get it undone. It was too late to get our original cabin back, but we were assigned one very close to it.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree they DO NOT always ask when they upgrade you.

There have been comments where people were upgraded even when the have “do not upgrade” on their booking.

i say keep an eye on the booking regardless.

Sometimes your original cabin is gone and you cannot get it back.

[BoopTennis]

yikes.  that sounds scary.  Well, I called Princess and got it marked as NO UPGRADE so let's hope this works

[grak]

My sister and I booked a specific cabin, marked no upgrade.  We were on the ship checking in...in Europe no less..and were assigned an upgrade that we didn’t want. We fussed with everyone to no avail.  Mind you, we booked this with a TA nearly a year in advance and no prior notice was given. 

[BoopTennis]

😬

[paradiselivin1]

52 minutes ago, grak said:

My sister and I booked a specific cabin, marked no upgrade.  We were on the ship checking in...in Europe no less..and were assigned an upgrade that we didn’t want. We fussed with everyone to no avail.  Mind you, we booked this with a TA nearly a year in advance and no prior notice was given. 

 

That's the worst!  We just booked a world cruise and would be extremely unhappy if they moved us. So far, hasn't happened to us but never say "never"...

[Coral]

Princess (in their fine print) can put you anywhere on the ship in at least the category you paid for. Even if you say "no upgrade". Same as they don't have to guarantee the ports  you are going to.

[AF-1]

Coral,  where is the fine print?  Is this in the passage contract on the website and your cruise personalizer?

 

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Coral,  where is the fine print?  Is this in the passage contract on the website and your cruise personalizer?

 

Yes - they reserve the right to put you anywhere. They have to. What if there was plumbing issues in your room that could not be resolved or something worse such as a murder. They need to cover their bases. 

[paul929207]

On an Alaskan cruise in 2017, we twice declined an upsell from obstructed view to balcony. A week or so later I noticed we were upgraded to a mini suite without a balcony.

[AF-1]

49 minutes ago, Coral said:

Yes - they reserve the right to put you anywhere. They have to. What if there was plumbing issues in your room that could not be resolved or something worse such as a murder. They need to cover their bases. 

I get it. Thanks. 

[crawford]

6 hours ago, Baystate said:

I've had this happen.  I called right after I received the email and had to fight tooth and nail to get my cabin back. The so-called upgrade was not a "real" upgrade to me.  Now I mark my reservation No Upgrade. 

First cruise to Alaska, we booked with my kids in an inside and the wife and I in a Caribe midship balcony across the hall. Got to the ship only to find out our balcony cabin had been "upgraded" to the Baja deck. Never realized Princess would change cabins on us and our TA never informed us that this could happen. Lesson learned. 

[XBGuy]

I have received "Congratulations, You've Been Upgraded" e-mails two or three times.  Yes, they did it and, then, sent the e-mail.  Each time we looked at the upgrade and decided we didn't want it.  Calling Princess we were able to be put back in our original choice.  It seems, however, that there is a time limit in which you have to call with your declination.  It's either 24 or 48 hours.

 

I book directly with Princess.  So, there is no travel agent in the middle.  Also, I am retired and am checking my in-box regularly.  So, I've never missed such a notice.

 

Interestingly, my last "Upgrade" e-mail came in January for an impending cruise in April. 

 

Nope. don't want it.  Call Princess and get them to move us back.

 

In February, I received an "Upsell" offer for the same cruise.

 

Nope, don't want it.  Ignore e-mail.

 

I have been following cabin sales in this section for this cruise.  In January there were five balcony cabins sold in the forward section of the A Deck--ours, the farthest forward and the four closest to the elevators.

 

I'm pretty sure some in that area took the upsell.  A couple days ago there were four cabins in that area marked "Sold"--ours and three others.

 

My coffee shop buddy and I have talked about this, and we are wondering whether. if sales lag, Princess might might just "close off" that section and move us to another cabin.  

 

Three weeks until embarkation.  We'll see what happens.

 

OP., I really think you are in good shape with your reservation marked "No Upgrade."

[Bruin Steve]

10 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

...we are wondering whether. if sales lag, Princess might might just "close off" that section and move us to another cabin.  

 

I was thinking about that issue regarding our upcoming April 15 cruise on Emerald Princess.  The ship is only about 72% sold...

There are several areas of the ship where it appears only one or two cabins are sold out of a block of 10-15...My first thought was "Why don't they just move those people more midship where they have open cabins?"

But it occurred to me why they cannot easily do that...The cruise is a 3 night Vancouver to LA...But many of the people onboard are taking it along with the following 15 night LA to Fort Lauderdale cruise as an "18 night cruise"...People in that situation likely booked the same cabin clear through and wouldn't want only the first leg upgraded and have to pack up and move three days into their trip.

 

Now, for me, I've been offered four upsells thus far--to a full suite ($289 pp), twice to a mini-suite ($99 pp and $49 pp) and then to a Club class mini-suite ($199 pp).  I've turned it down all four times.  I am currently in a "Premium" Caribe deck balcony at exactly mid-ship.  Even $49 pp to move to a slightly larger cabin with a smaller balcony...and possibly lose my midship location...is, to me, not an upgrade...But I've questioned if I would even want it if offered for free?  It's close...Not sure I'd want if if it moved me way forward or way aft...If it were a "Club Class Mini"--which, by definition is at midship, I'd take it...I just wouldn't pay a lot for it in an upsell...If they wanted to upgrade me to a full suite, sure, I'd take that...

 

It will be interesting to see what they will do with that many unsold cabins...and only two weeks from the sail date...

[Coral]

37 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

My coffee shop buddy and I have talked about this, and we are wondering whether. if sales lag, Princess might might just "close off" that section and move us to another cabin.  

 

Several years ago a friend was on a Transatlantic. He said it was 2/3 full and they didn't have anyone on Plaza deck of cabins (Grand Class ship).

Edited March 31, 2019 by Coral