Upgrade offer , is it worth it ?

[AlVNY]

Good morning . Checked my booking this morning for our sailing on the Horizon in November. We are booked in 6426 balcony cabin on deck 6 . We were offered an upgrade to Spa Balcony cabin on deck 14 for $314. Is it even worth the upgrade ? If anyone has any opinions on this please let me know. Thanks in advance . 

[d-train]

That is less than the price for the thermal suite for two people.

Loved using the thermal suite on Horizon - nice facility in Cloud 9.

Plus the little "spa gifts" if that's your thing.

 

But your balcony will not be covered - not sure if deck 6 balconies are covered either though...

 

I would do it just to get the thermal suites included, since we would purchase than anyway...

Save a few bucks...

 

 

[ninjacat123]

I have been upsold on Sunshine from a balcony to a Spa Suite for $200 and thought it was worth it for access to the tile chairs, etc. and the bigger room.  To me, $314 seems kinda steep for a balcony to balcony move and you're getting Spa access.  Plus you are way up on the ship which could bother you sea sickness-wise and you are a hike from everything.  Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!

[ninjacat123]

Looking at Horizon deck plans, your balcony on 6 should be covered.

[AlVNY]

47 minutes ago, d-train said:

That is less than the price for the thermal suite for two people.

Loved using the thermal suite on Horizon - nice facility in Cloud 9.

Plus the little "spa gifts" if that's your thing.

 

But your balcony will not be covered - not sure if deck 6 balconies are covered either though...

 

I would do it just to get the thermal suites included, since we would purchase than anyway...

Save a few bucks...

 

 

Thank you for your response. To tell you the truth we love having the balcony (that's why we always book them) not having covering is not a deal breaker as we really only use it early morning as we are pulling in to port and in the evening for a little while. My wife is not completely sold on Carnival yet so I'm just trying to make her have an enjoyable cruise. 

[AlVNY]

46 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Looking at Horizon deck plans, your balcony on 6 should be covered.

Thank you ninjacat123 for that information. Its nice that it is covered but it's not a deal breaker either way.

[AlVNY]

51 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I have been upsold on Sunshine from a balcony to a Spa Suite for $200 and thought it was worth it for access to the tile chairs, etc. and the bigger room.  To me, $314 seems kinda steep for a balcony to balcony move and you're getting Spa access.  Plus you are way up on the ship which could bother you sea sickness-wise and you are a hike from everything.  Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!

My wife does get motion sickness once in a while so that is definitely something that needs to be considered. 

[wemjam]

1 hour ago, AlVNY said:

Good morning . Checked my booking this morning for our sailing on the Horizon in November. We are booked in 6426 balcony cabin on deck 6 . We were offered an upgrade to Spa Balcony cabin on deck 14 for $314. Is it even worth the upgrade ? If anyone has any opinions on this please let me know. Thanks in advance . 

It really is up to you.  I would "price" the room they are offering you straight up and see what the savings is they are offering you.  I have seen where their upsell is not really that much different in price, and one time it was even higher than buying the same room outright.

 

Also, only you can decide if the added benefits of the spa room are worth the cost for you, also is the location good for you.  Finally is the $314 doable within your budget.

 

[dolphfan]

The thermal suite is fantastic. We really enjoyed it. 

[KmomChicago]

I’m the dissenter here. Through a “series of unfortunate events” we ended up in lovely spa balconies on sister ship Radiance and the spa experience is just not for us. We did visit the thermal suites and tile lounges and wouldn’t pay extra for them. 
 

You do get bathrobes in the room, the decor is slightly different/ classier than Gen Pop and the hallway was always quiet without any hollering kiddos or riffraff up there in the higher rent district. Those were noticeable benefits of the location.
 

All very nice certainly if these details add enough to your enjoyment. Yokels like me, not so much. Fine for free but not worth a $$ increase.

[wemjam]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

I’m the dissenter here. Through a “series of unfortunate events” we ended up in lovely spa balconies on sister ship Radiance and the spa experience is just not for us. We did visit the thermal suites and tile lounges and wouldn’t pay extra for them. 
 

You do get bathrobes in the room, the decor is slightly different/ classier than Gen Pop and the hallway was always quiet without any hollering kiddos or riffraff up there in the higher rent district. Those were noticeable benefits of the location.
 

All very nice certainly if these details add enough to your enjoyment. Yokels like me, not so much. Fine for free but not worth a $$ increase.

Love the "Gen Pop" and "Higher Rent District"

 

Ya, we have done spa rooms a couple times because the price difference was negligible (like $50 or something) when we booked it and we like being as high and in as quiet an area as possible.  In October on family cruise we all had it and the only ones that used any of the amenities were my brother and his girlfriend.  We have a spa room again in a couple weeks (again was only $50 more than a balcony a couple decks down), and probably won't use the spa again.  Just not our cup of tea.

 

The only time I go to the spa is for my pedicure which is my one gift to myself every cruise on the first day.

 

 

[AlVNY]

After speaking it over with my wife she decided to keep the room we have. Money will be better spent on some more nights in the specialty restaurants. Thank you all for your responses. 

[KmomChicago]

26 minutes ago, AlVNY said:

After speaking it over with my wife she decided to keep the room we have. Money will be better spent on some more nights in the specialty restaurants. Thank you all for your responses. 

Good choice and I agree several up charge restaurants is better value for the $300.

[kelkel2]

34 minutes ago, AlVNY said:

After speaking it over with my wife she decided to keep the room we have. Money will be better spent on some more nights in the specialty restaurants. Thank you all for your responses. 

I don’t blame you. I guess if you were planning on purchasing a spa pass already, it would be worth it. But otherwise I wouldn’t be able to justify it either 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

We just received an email offer to 'upgrade🥴' starting at $114.  It's not for a better room, just a higher floor.  The funny thing is, this was a free casino offer and we could have taken any available standard or extended balcony on any floor.   We ended up taking two rooms on deck 5 because we wanted rooms together with adjoining balconies. 

 

More than 20 cruises with Carnival, and this is the first time I ever received an upgrade or upsell offer.

 

[csm5986142]

10 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

’m the dissenter here. Through a “series of unfortunate events” we ended up in lovely spa balconies on sister ship Radiance and the spa experience is just not for us. We did visit the thermal suites and tile lounges and wouldn’t pay extra for them. 

 

I'm with you 100% - same happened to us on Panorama.  Glad we got to try it, but the ship spas are not for us (we found it to be extremely crowded, not relaxing at all).  I'm not sure if this is the case on all ships, but we had to skip a port and they were selling day passes like crazy (way too many in my opinion).  

But I did absolutely love the very quiet cabin environment.

[ninjacat123]

I just received an upsell for a Jan 2024 cruise.  I have two "bowling alley" balconies booked on Empress level and for an upsell of $42 per cabin I could be in a regular balcony room on Lido.  No thanks, I like the bigger balcony two floors down.😉

[csm5986142]

36 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

We just received an email offer to 'upgrade🥴' starting at $114.  It's not for a better room, just a higher floor. 

 

It's interesting to me that a higher floor is considered an upgrade, I would rather be closer to the water.  I think your location on deck 5 is better.

[txcruiser1234]

We got a curious offer today to move from a "large" balcony (kind of a regular balcony turned sideways with the bed facing the balcony that runs the length of the cabin) to a regular balcony three floors up for $44.

 

The first bullet point in the upsell marketing blurb made me chuckle:

 

UPGRADE YOUR Balcony ROOM

• Tip: Higher decks are always better
• Get faster, easier access to all the onboard fun
• Enjoy the convenience of staying closer to the pool, dining spots, Lido Deck, Promenade and more favorites

 

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, txcruiser1234 said:

We got a curious offer today to move from a "large" balcony (kind of a regular balcony turned sideways with the bed facing the balcony that runs the length of the cabin) to a regular balcony three floors up for $44.

 

The first bullet point in the upsell marketing blurb made me chuckle:

 

UPGRADE YOUR Balcony ROOM

• Tip: Higher decks are always better
• Get faster, easier access to all the onboard fun
• Enjoy the convenience of staying closer to the pool, dining spots, Lido Deck, Promenade and more favorites

 

See my post!  Same thing!!🤣

[Qextor]

 

7 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

The first bullet point in the upsell marketing blurb made me chuckle:

'Upgrade your Balcony room: Higher decks are better!'

It make me chuckle as well.  That email worked, though - I thought the upsell cost of $180 was worth it to get a Terrazza Cabana (the Carnival Venezia's version of a Havana cabana), an upgrade from the regular balcony I had on Deck 7.  It will be great for my mom - the restaurants and so forth are all in the aft of the ship, minimizing the amount of walking she will need to do.  She'll also enjoy sitting out on the patio.  I've always wanted a Cabana, but they were always too pricey, so this upgrade has me really excited for this cruise.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 5/1/2023 at 10:42 AM, AlVNY said:

My wife is not completely sold on Carnival yet so I'm just trying to make her have an enjoyable cruise. 

I would look into the Havana area since you're going to be on the Horizon.  If you're not familiar with it, it's on deck 5 aft and it's a private area that only those sailing in a Havana cabin have access to.  You also need to be 12+ in order to stay there.  Stayed in this area for two separate 8 night bookings and they were great.  There are inside, aft balcony, patio balcony and suites available.  Since you rarely use your balcony, an inside would do the trick and you can use the savings towards Cheers if you imbibe or excursions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MwlzIuY4B4

 

[jsglow]

16 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I just received an upsell for a Jan 2024 cruise.  I have two "bowling alley" balconies booked on Empress level and for an upsell of $42 per cabin I could be in a regular balcony room on Lido.  No thanks, I like the bigger balcony two floors down.😉

VERY sneaky.  We loved our bowling alley in Europe.  They tried to pry that out of our hands frequently.  We're WAY too smart for that. 👍

[jsglow]

On 5/3/2023 at 4:38 AM, KmomChicago said:

You do get bathrobes in the room, the decor is slightly different/ classier than Gen Pop and the hallway was always quiet without any hollering kiddos or riffraff up there in the higher rent district. Those were noticeable benefits of the location.
 

All very nice certainly if these details add enough to your enjoyment. Yokels like me, not so much. Fine for free but not worth a $$ increase.

LOVE IT. We're thrilled when we can get a 'low rent' cabin and pay a fraction.  Pre-pandemic our best deal ever was a 7 night Glaciers (Alaska) for $349pp including tips in an obstructed OV on Princess; no gambler bonus or anything. We enjoyed Glacier Bay NP from top deck while those that paid 5 times as much watched from their chilly and shaded Balcs.

[kdr69]

I just got an upsell offer yesterday 66.00 to ove from my Cove Balcony on Jubilee to a deck 15 balcony to be "closer" to the fun.  I find the Cove Balconies on deck 5 to be closer to the fun on Excel Class as most everything is on 6-7-8 so i declined the offer.