What was your recent experience on an upsell offer with HAL?

[Iamthesea]

7 hours ago, five. said:

It is Lake Hartwell and my hearts home. I have many great memories of cruises and sunsets, but my favorites will always be from my grandparents house.

Maybe my brother purchased your grandparents house. 😁

[tuolumne couple]

...just called the upsell desk. I was told that our cruise is sold out but to try again 30 days before sailing. That this is when they release the upsells. hmm. might be worth a try...

[storkington]

Thank you for all the information, I have been following this thread with some interest. I booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise leaving in 43 days on NA just this past week. I am only a 2* Mariner, having been on 2 cruises with HAL so far. Both times we got a really good deal on a Neptune suite, this time I am taking our adult daughter and we are booked in a Verandah (VD) (again, another great deal). Having done some mock bookings I see that our cruise is far from sold out (lots of cabins available in almost every category, including the suites), so hoping to get a good upsell offer. However, it needs to be good as currently our cruise is cheaper than our flights (we are coming from Alberta, Canada). I guess there is hope yet reading all your experiences!

[tuolumne couple]

So it's been a couple of weeks from the last post on this thread, so here's the update. We did get an upsell offer, after calling and waiting on hold music not very long, and accepted the upsell. We are on a back to back and the offer conveyed (after asking) to both sailings. Good things do happen!    

[storkington]

33 minutes ago, tuolumne couple said:

So it's been a couple of weeks from the last post on this thread, so here's the update. We did get an upsell offer, after calling and waiting on hold music not very long, and accepted the upsell. We are on a back to back and the offer conveyed (after asking) to both sailings. Good things do happen!    

Thanks for the update. As our cruise is now just 29 days away I might give the Upsell Desk a call on Monday. Fingers crossed. 

[KroozNut]

32 minutes ago, tuolumne couple said:

So it's been a couple of weeks from the last post on this thread, so here's the update. We did get an upsell offer, after calling and waiting on hold music not very long, and accepted the upsell. We are on a back to back and the offer conveyed (after asking) to both sailings. Good things do happen!    

How was the location on the 'upgraded' cabin as compared to your original location?

What I don't like about up sell offers is that they control the cabin assignment, by using language in the offer such as 'best available'. This is a red flag for me in that that new cabin location may not be in that great of a location, or it would have already been sold. It's important that I have control over cabin assignment.

[Florida_gal_50]

15 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

How was the location on the 'upgraded' cabin as compared to your original location?

What I don't like about up sell offers is that they control the cabin assignment, by using language in the offer such as 'best available'. This is a red flag for me in that that new cabin location may not be in that great of a location, or it would have already been sold. It's important that I have control over cabin assignment.

Nope you are 100 percent wrong.  I’ve taken a number of upsells and in every case I was able to pick my exact cabin out of what was available. It’s good to post accurate information. I highly doubt anyone is going to pick a worse cabin than what they have.  That makes no sense.

[KroozNut]

2 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Nope you are 100 percent wrong.  I’ve taken a number of upsells and in every case I was able to pick my exact cabin out of what was available. It’s good to post accurate information. I highly doubt anyone is going to pick a worse cabin than what they have.  That makes no sense.

 

That's the problem... 'of what was available'. Typically, cabins still available at that point in the 'booking game' are not the most desirous, or they wouldn't still be available. I simply prefer to select our cabin at the beginning of booking process, rather than wait until an upsell comes up at the very end and offers whatever may be left over at that point.

[Nodakboiler]

We always do dummy bookings to see exactly which cabins are open and keep the website open when calling. We used AARP gift cards to pay for the majority of our cruise (saving 10%) and when we got the upsell offer it ended up only costing a few hundred dollars more than it would have been for the original cabin- this was for a 28 day cruise verandah to signature suite. Well worth it!

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, KroozNut said:

 

That's the problem... 'of what was available'. Typically, cabins still available at that point in the 'booking game' are not the most desirous, or they wouldn't still be available. I simply prefer to select our cabin at the beginning of booking process, rather than wait until an upsell comes up at the very end and offers whatever may be left over at that point.

I don’t see one person saying you should do that.  People need to stop with this idea that only the worst cabins are available are available for upsells and guarantee assignments.  It comes across to me as sour grapes.  If you don’t want to take an upsell then don’t but to give advice is another.  It’s like me commenting on a sports team.  I know less than zero about sports.

[Florida_gal_50]

5 minutes ago, Nodakboiler said:

We always do dummy bookings to see exactly which cabins are open and keep the website open when calling. We used AARP gift cards to pay for the majority of our cruise (saving 10%) and when we got the upsell offer it ended up only costing a few hundred dollars more than it would have been for the original cabin- this was for a 28 day cruise verandah to signature suite. Well worth it!

I’ve looked ahead but the strange thing is that I’ve been given totally different numbers when I’ve called.  It’s absolutely a must do to look at a deck plan.

[DaveOKC]

8 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

That's the problem... 'of what was available'. Typically, cabins still available at that point in the 'booking game' are not the most desirous, or they wouldn't still be available. I simply prefer to select our cabin at the beginning of booking process, rather than wait until an upsell comes up at the very end and offers whatever may be left over at that point.

Not necessarily true.  Many times I have taken an upsell offer and gotten a great location.  Close to sailing date some people cancel and thus good locations do open up.  One time we got the sole Neptune open and it was right across from the Neptune Lounge!

 

[Nodakboiler]

We have upgraded to aft balconies and aft Neptune suites in the past which are definitely desirable cabins!

[tuolumne couple]

51 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

How was the location on the 'upgraded' cabin as compared to your original location?

Oh the location was perfect, no red flags and we are very happy. The email spells out all that you must do to prepare for your upsell offer. Got a list of suites ( you can choose your category) and chose the one we wanted. Easy Peasy. Happy Campers here. Wishing you all the best. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by tuolumne couple

[Real NHDOC]

I called in last week and found offers for my next three cruises through 4/1 were available even though my TA swears nothing came from HAL. We upgraded to Neptune or Vista suites from interiors on three cruises and were happy with the offers and locations of the cabins. Sometimes you need to do a double upgrade in order to get a Neptune suite offer because they sometimes limit the number of categories you can jump in an offer. In other words I first upgraded from interior to Veranda then call back and are offered to go from Veranda to the suites. Sometimes you can ask for going all the way up but sometimes they don’t provide it as an option. I think it has a lot to do with the luck of who answers the phone and how hard they want to work to make you happy. 
 

Still waiting on our 4/8-4/29 sailings to the Mediterranean on N-S. Hopefully something will open up soon for them but since we already have veranda cabins it’s not that important to upgrade. 

[storkington]

I called the Upsell Desk this morning when they opened and was on hold for 45 minutes. We were originally booked in a Verandah (VC) on Deck 6 Forward and I was offered a good price for a Signature Suite (SS) on the same deck Midship. Unfortunately all Neptune Suites are sold out, so I took the offer for the Signature Suite. This will be our first time in this suite, having previously been lucky enough to travel in Neptune Suites.

[Florida_gal_50]

51 minutes ago, storkington said:

I called the Upsell Desk this morning when they opened and was on hold for 45 minutes. We were originally booked in a Verandah (VC) on Deck 6 Forward and I was offered a good price for a Signature Suite (SS) on the same deck Midship. Unfortunately all Neptune Suites are sold out, so I took the offer for the Signature Suite. This will be our first time in this suite, having previously been lucky enough to travel in Neptune Suites.

When is your cruise?

[storkington]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

When is your cruise?

26 March to 2 April 2023

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, storkington said:

26 March to 2 April 2023

Thanks so much for the speedy answer!  Have a wonderful time.

[FlorenceItaly]

1 hour ago, storkington said:

I called the Upsell Desk this morning when they opened and was on hold for 45 minutes. We were originally booked in a Verandah (VC) on Deck 6 Forward and I was offered a good price for a Signature Suite (SS) on the same deck Midship. Unfortunately all Neptune Suites are sold out, so I took the offer for the Signature Suite. This will be our first time in this suite, having previously been lucky enough to travel in Neptune Suites.

Congratulations!  Did you receive an email or decided to call on your own?

[storkington]

52 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Congratulations!  Did you receive an email or decided to call on your own?

Thank you! I just called on the off chance, no email. 

[albingirl]

Upsells are not to be found when the ship is sold out. So, it's always good to book a cabin you can live with. Most of the time we have. It's hard to figure out all the white spaces in deck plans, though. Can be crew working areas, that can be noisy.

 

 

 

 

 

[storkington]

11 hours ago, albingirl said:

Upsells are not to be found when the ship is sold out. So, it's always good to book a cabin you can live with. Most of the time we have. It's hard to figure out all the white spaces in deck plans, though. Can be crew working areas, that can be noisy.

 

 

 

 

 

Our original cabin was one I was more than happy with, so if there had been no Upsell option or ones we weren't keen on, it would have been more than ok. 

[FlaMariner]

Reporting an upsell offer......

 

• sailing 3/24 Oosterdam South America 17 night
• booked VF balcony
• got email upsell offer yesterday (2/27 at t-minus 26 days), from big internet TA (yahoo, I've got them to send them now)
• move from VF balcony to Signature Suite SS to SZ for $749pp.  No Neptune offer.

 

Not interested. 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by FlaMariner

[FlorenceItaly]

@FlaMariner- Thank you for the specifics.  This is helpful.