Cabin changed after booking

[JoiesCruzin]

I booked a HAL cruise/tour for Alaska choosing our room and deposit given. Have recently paid balance in full.

When looking to make some advance bookings, I saw that my cabin was changed. I did not ask for this,

my TA did not either. This cabin is not the same as what was booked. Can they just change cabins w/o notification?

What can I do, if anything. 

 

 

 

[BobbiSox]

First thing to do is call them. I have never encountered this problem, but there is probably some 'fine print' somewhere that allows them to do so. 

[richwmn]

If you did not specify "no upgrades" then HAL can change your cabin to one they list as better.

 

In addition, if the cabin you chose is in the Covid isolation area, you would also be moved.

 

[JoiesCruzin]

Thanks for your quick replies, I do have my TA looking into this. Was just wondering if this happens. I have been on 14 cruises never happened before. Book balcony or higher. 

[Navybikermom]

I’ve had mine change without notice, both before COVID and after. I booked an interior cabin on deck 4 for the upcoming cruise in March and when I did my preliminary check-in, it showed a different cabin one deck up. No warning whatsoever, but I don’t care. It’s a slightly larger interior one, so I’m good with that. 

[DaveOKC]

As noted above, unless you mark your reservation "do not upgrade", HAL can move you to a "better" cabin" (in their opinion not yours).  Whenever we take the time an effort to book a specific cabin, we mark our reservation do not upgrade.  Remember, HAL will still offer you paid upsells if you do this and we have taken them up on this many times.

 

With the low occupancy rates currently, I expect to see many people given  free upgrades, but mostly to cabins in the same category (Inside, Oceanview, Balcony, etc.).

 

[JoiesCruzin]

Actually, my TA is trying to get an answer. The do not upgrade is not the problem, my TA said she checked the upgrade box. The switch is not better, is down a deck, has no sofa, my spouse needs the sofa. Thanks for your reply. 

[Djptcp]

Two weeks ago, DH and I embarked on a Carnival cruise and at check in we were told our cabin had been changed (to the better) due to cabin maintenance issues. Well, it wasn't better at all We always book a balcony or suite mid-ship and the change was to another balcony 1 cabin from the forward of the ship! I have some mobility issues and never book anything way forward or way aft. DH went to Guest Services to request a change and they couldn't guarantee it and we would have to wait until that evening to see if anything was available. That seemed too complicated so we kept the changed cabin and discovered that others in neighboring cabins had also been changed due to cabin issues - we had all been booked on Deck 6. We let Carnival know in our return surveys we were not pleased. We have another Carnival cruise booked for May and received a free upgrade to a suite the other day - coincidence or not?

[richwmn]

51 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

As noted above, unless you mark your reservation "do not upgrade", HAL can move you to a "better" cabin" (in their opinion not yours).  Whenever we take the time an effort to book a specific cabin, we mark our reservation do not upgrade.  Remember, HAL will still offer you paid upsells if you do this and we have taken them up on this many times.

 

With the low occupancy rates currently, I expect to see many people given  free upgrades, but mostly to cabins in the same category (Inside, Oceanview, Balcony, etc.).

 

 

20 minutes ago, JoiesCruzin said:

Actually, my TA is trying to get an answer. The do not upgrade is not the problem, my TA said she checked the upgrade box. The switch is not better, is down a deck, has no sofa, my spouse needs the sofa. Thanks for your reply. 

As @DaveOKC mentioned, it might be "better" in HAL's opinion.  We all have preferences, but the cabin categories are what constitutes "Better".

[highscar]

On my payment receipt it says  Description  “any cabin upgrade”. How should I read this.  

[DaveOKC]

13 minutes ago, highscar said:

On my payment receipt it says  Description  “any cabin upgrade”. How should I read this.  

I think this means that HAL can move you to any cabin ranked higher in their system.

[highscar]

@DaveOKCthank you. I’ll keep an eye on that.   First time that’s been on my receipt.       Have been updated a couple of times.   

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, highscar said:

@DaveOKCthank you. I’ll keep an eye on that.   First time that’s been on my receipt.       Have been updated a couple of times.   

I think the current low occupancy rate on cruises is resulting in more frequent free upgrades.  I know that in Dec we had a Neptune "guarantee" and were assigned an SA in a prime location - could not have been much better IMO. 

[JoiesCruzin]

I would believe it to be an upgrade if my cruise was soon. It will not depart until 05/29/22. I think they booked that room for us at the beginning. I will keep posed as to the outcome. Thanks all. Really appreciate to hear from you.

[ontheweb]

This happened to us on Princess. We were upgraded, but I did not like the upgrade (beneath the casino bar and I thought it would be noisy). Princess claimed it was too late to get our original cabin back, and that they had e-mailed the change to our TA. Our TA said he never got the e-mail. To make a long story short, he did get us back to near where we were, but not the same cabin.

 

I do not think either was lying, but the e-mail of the notification which would have given us time to turn it down got lost in cyberspace.

[DaveOKC]

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

This happened to us on Princess. We were upgraded, but I did not like the upgrade (beneath the casino bar and I thought it would be noisy). Princess claimed it was too late to get our original cabin back, and that they had e-mailed the change to our TA. Our TA said he never got the e-mail. To make a long story short, he did get us back to near where we were, but not the same cabin.

 

I do not think either was lying, but the e-mail of the notification which would have given us time to turn it down got lost in cyberspace.

One more reason I check all my reservations from time to time, as things can change and you not be notified.  Happens with hotels, airlines (alot), cruises, etc.

 

[ontheweb]

Just now, DaveOKC said:

One more reason I check all my reservations from time to time, as things can change and you not be notified.  Happens with hotels, airlines (alot), cruises, etc.

 

That is how I found out as I looked at the Princess personalizer.