The mini-suite upgrade that will never happen

[CruiseSceptic]

Normally getting an upgrade email is the best news ever. I was so excited to be on Enchanted this year. Royal was amazing round Italy, Greece and Kotor in 2017 and after 3 years away from cruising it was great to be back and also this  time with a Balcony. Last week we got upgraded to a mini-suite but its like the UK show Bullseye in the 80s when they wheeled out the car or speedboat at the end. "Here's what you could have win". Chances of me being on that cruise in that mini-suite on 1st August out of Rome are the same odds as my lottery numbers coming up.

 

Instead I'll be in a caravan on the south coast of England cooking my own food every night! At least my family and friends are fit and well.

[hpeabody]

Me too, My upgrade is on the Sky September Trans Atlantic back from Europe.  Not Going To Happen 😞

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by hpeabody

[AF-1]

It would have been nice to get an upgrade;  now you will have to wait until next year to see if anything happens.  

[jennybenny]

I just wish they’d give a good faith upgrade for rebooking 

[Mike45LC]

Cynic that I am, if I were Princess, I'd be giving everyone free upgrades for June and July cruises, knowing that they'd be canceled.

 

[Cruise Raider]

27 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

Cynic that I am, if I were Princess, I'd be giving everyone free upgrades for June and July cruises, knowing that they'd be canceled.

 

 

Looks like maybe that is what they did, too.  Nothing puts off potential cruises more than being lied to.  Yes, we have to be gullible to accept these offers ... but, it's still shameful for offering these terms.  We were offered additional OBC to not cancel our spring cruise that was canceled...poof!  Then, we booked a cruise and were given a complimentary upgrade to our favorite mini suite ...also canceled.  Poof!! It's easy to give away upgrades and good deals for sailings that they know will never happen.  Still no refunds back on either.  

[Mike45LC]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Looks like maybe that is what they did, too.  Nothing puts off potential cruises more than being lied to.  Yes, we have to be gullible to accept these offers ... but, it's still shameful for offering these terms.  We were offered additional OBC to not cancel our spring cruise that was canceled...poof!  Then, we booked a cruise and were given a complimentary upgrade to our favorite mini suite ...also canceled.  Poof!! It's easy to give away upgrades and good deals for sailings that they know will never happen.  Still no refunds back on either.  

Raider, I hope that Princess was acting in good faith.  After all, we were hopeful that our two Spring 2020 cruises would go forward, until the gov't made it clear that the cruise lines were being shut down.  

 

I hope your refunds are processed quickly, and that your future sailings are smooth!

 

[pms4104]

4 hours ago, CruiseSceptic said:

Normally getting an upgrade email is the best news ever. I was so excited to be on Enchanted this year. Royal was amazing round Italy, Greece and Kotor in 2017 and after 3 years away from cruising it was great to be back and also this  time with a Balcony. Last week we got upgraded to a mini-suite but its like the UK show Bullseye in the 80s when they wheeled out the car or speedboat at the end. "Here's what you could have win". Chances of me being on that cruise in that mini-suite on 1st August out of Rome are the same odds as my lottery numbers coming up.

 

Instead I'll be in a caravan on the south coast of England cooking my own food every night! At least my family and friends are fit and well.

Princess likely will upgrade you to a full suite ... before they cancel the sailing.

[MJSailors]

    My DH and I are booked on the Sky Princess for an Eastern Caribbean cruise this coming November. In February,before all the travel closings occurred, we received an e mail from Princess. We were given a complimentary  upgraded from a Deluxe Balcony to a Mini Suite.

     We will be cancelling this cruise soon. While I was hoping that the Covid-19 situation would greatly improve by November, the thought of being on a ship with over three thousand passengers does not appeal to us at this time. 

Our age and some health concerns puts us in a vulnerable group should we contract Covid-19. We would not enjoy a vacation where we would be concerned about the state of our health for the length of the vacation. Neither does the idea of being quarantined on a ship for an extended period of time make us feel comfortable about taking this cruise.

    Whether Princess  offered this upgrade to encourage us not to cancel could’ be considered. We have received similar upgrades in the past. The timing of the upgrade suggests that it was done in good faith by Princess . More recent upgrades offered after travel restrictions have been in place could be more circumspect.

[tanyaewa]

I think that’s terrible and very bad customer service.  Fix your website if it’s auto populating upgrades.  It’s very bad form to tease your paying customers with offers that will never materialize.  Embarrassing for them really.  They need to get into their website and take out the cruises that will not be available.  Now.  Or at the very least there should be a banner informing of the likelihood that they will be cancelled.  We put up with a lot from these cruise lines websites.  They have lots of staff they could task with sorting it out.  Retailers would never offer unavailable merchandise on their websites or they would get a terrible reputation...... ahem......

[40yearcruiser]

Our upgrade from a balcony to a mini-suite was on a 29-day cruise we would have been on right now.  The upgrade was given to us long before the COVID-19 raised it's ugly head. Unfortunately, the cruise was not to be.  However, we did have an upgrade to a mini-suite 3 years ago on a 42-day cruise so that was very nice. The ship was overbooked and for some reason Princess really wanted our balcony cabin for someone else.  

 

As to the cruise lines selling cruises now, they don't know any more than we do how much longer this virus will be a threat. You can be certain they don't wish to have to cancel any of their future cruises but need to be prepared with bookings when they get the go-ahead. The first cruises back will undoubtedly be less than full because of the fear that we are bombarded with daily, but at some point cruising will resume . I still have cruises booked for end of August and over New Years and really hope we will be able to go.  

[tanyaewa]

I’m not sure why people defend the actions of the cruise lines - allowing them to get away with this.  You can’t book a hotel room or a flight right now BECAUSE THEY DONT KNOW WHEN they will resume.  Same thing with the cruise industry but we don’t hold them to the same standards 

 

[kate59]

On 4/29/2020 at 9:21 AM, Cruise Raider said:

 

Looks like maybe that is what they did, too.  Nothing puts off potential cruises more than being lied to.  Yes, we have to be gullible to accept these offers ... but, it's still shameful for offering these terms.  We were offered additional OBC to not cancel our spring cruise that was canceled...poof!  Then, we booked a cruise and were given a complimentary upgrade to our favorite mini suite ...also canceled.  Poof!! It's easy to give away upgrades and good deals for sailings that they know will never happen.  Still no refunds back on either.  

I am still in hope our 56 night cruise goes ahead from October. I have had several upgrades nothing great but ok. On our roll call there where a lot of people there 12 months ago, on our roll call we have recently had 102 cancel the cruise that we know about. It seems as people cancel many are getting upgrades and the prices of the inside cabins are more expensive now that I paid 18 months ago.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, tanyaewa said:

I’m not sure why people defend the actions of the cruise lines - allowing them to get away with this.  You can’t book a hotel room or a flight right now BECAUSE THEY DONT KNOW WHEN they will resume.  Same thing with the cruise industry but we don’t hold them to the same standards 

 

 

I have had no problem booking those for a July cruise.

 

For Princess cruises, I suggest only using Princess' EZAir with the flexible fare. Unlike booking a flight directly with an airline, if you cancel the cruise with EZAir, you get your airfare returned if you have already paid it.

[tim_2111]

4 hours ago, kate59 said:

I am still in hope our 56 night cruise goes ahead from October. I have had several upgrades nothing great but ok. On our roll call there where a lot of people there 12 months ago, on our roll call we have recently had 102 cancel the cruise that we know about. It seems as people cancel many are getting upgrades and the prices of the inside cabins are more expensive now that I paid 18 months ago.

I hope that our Southampton to Dubai cruise goes ahead in October. I can see that plenty have now cancelled, as you said, but the price of an inside has almost halved since we booked 18 months ago... it went up to just short of £5K and now can be booked for around the £2K mark. Unfortunately, I can't see us being visited by the upgrade fairy soon!!!

[Malleykatt]

We are booked on 27 July from Southampton on Regal for a British Isles cruise. I booked 2 obstructed balconies and we were upgraded to 2 mini suites. Not going to happen is it.

can't decide whether to push it back a year or try for Sky heading to St Petersburg......who knows what will happen.

I work in a school and cannot see being in a normal situation there for ages with social distancing set to be imposed for a while to come. We all have to make changes so we can beat this.  Stay safe all.

[windsurferfirst]

On 4/28/2020 at 10:05 PM, CruiseSceptic said:

Normally getting an upgrade email is the best news ever. I was so excited to be on Enchanted this year. Royal was amazing round Italy, Greece and Kotor in 2017 and after 3 years away from cruising it was great to be back and also this  time with a Balcony. Last week we got upgraded to a mini-suite but its like the UK show Bullseye in the 80s when they wheeled out the car or speedboat at the end. "Here's what you could have win". Chances of me being on that cruise in that mini-suite on 1st August out of Rome are the same odds as my lottery numbers coming up.

 

Instead I'll be in a caravan on the south coast of England cooking my own food every night! At least my family and friends are fit and well.

We are supposed to be on that sailing. Also booked for September on Enchanted which I suspect won't happen either. I am even thinking our December 27th cruise is also toast. 

As you say we are healthy and safe so we are thankful for that.

[AF-1]

8 hours ago, tanyaewa said:

I’m not sure why people defend the actions of the cruise lines - allowing them to get away with this.  You can’t book a hotel room or a flight right now BECAUSE THEY DONT KNOW WHEN they will resume.  Same thing with the cruise industry but we don’t hold them to the same standards 

 

Why would you say you can not book a hotel or flight now?   I have booked hotels for July, and Oct.  No problem at all.  I have flights booked for July and Oct also.  Not sure why you said this.

[Tedferg]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I have had no problem booking those for a July cruise.

 

For Princess cruises, I suggest only using Princess' EZAir with the flexible fare. Unlike booking a flight directly with an airline, if you cancel the cruise with EZAir, you get your airfare returned if you have already paid it.

I saw that United allows cancellation / change until end of 2020 without penalty.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I saw that United allows cancellation / change until end of 2020 without penalty.

 

But you must use the finds on United flights. With EZAir flexible reservations, the funds can be used on another airline.

[Tedferg]

OK I did not read the fine print !