When does HAL send upgrade offers

[Florida_gal_50]

53 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

There are likely many factors but yes, on long cruises people are prone to cancel at the last minute.  Postponing action on a diagnosis is not possible for a 30+ days segment so people who could sail 7 to 14 days do cancel. I suspect also that a higher percentage of people on longer cruises carry cancel for any reason insurance.  And the obvious , long voyages do not always sail full.  
 

there are only select situations I try for an upsell, most of my cruises I buy the exact cabin I want.  My agent will call with offers on those but rarely do I budge.  It has to be quite good to move, like the one you described.  
 

 

Yes, I tire of hearing about buying the cabin you want. The only place I ever hear it is on cruise critic.  If you like it so much why entertain an upsell? Actually the full cruise was just a couple days longer than mine.

[Haljo1935]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

..🙂  

Many lines have moved to a "bidding upsell process" which is an interesting concept.  The offer is actually an invitation to bid on certain categories and there are usually minimum bids.  MSC is one line that routinely uses this method and it is popular.   Celebrity also uses a bidding process.

 

Hank

Princess now also utilizes a bidding process. I personally hope HAL does not adopt one.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Haljo1935

[Andi Land]

I sail June 24th and received an offer yesterday. I tried calling last week like someone here mentioned but was told I had no offers available to me. So, they do tie it to your booking in some way. For this cruise, I was booked in an inside room. I’m sure those are the last rooms offered an upgrade after they’ve gone thru all the higher categories. 

[Haljo1935]

@skidroe I can't say at what time frame I've received offers, but it's been under days from departure. They have come via email; Carnival puts them right on your Cruise Planner so you see them when you log in; HAL does not do that.

My experience is when I use TA (never used big box, so no comment on those) the email goes to the TA who is expected to forward to me. When booking directly with HAL, of course, it comes from HAL

FWIW, I have never received an offer when I've booked using HAL PCC. May have been offered and the PCC was responsible for sending it to me??

[tamsocal]

I have had offers from 3 days before to about 4 weeks. Most have come in the 8-21 day window. Have received offered for every category above inside in the past. Best was Pinnacle offer- and we took it. Same cruise also paid for upsell for my brother who was cruising with us and moved him from OV to SS (felt a little guilty us moving to pinnacle and him in OV or maybe he was in verandah- its been awhile & I cant recall...

Most recent was 16 days out. When I called only options were FOV and Vista Suites. only 3 Vista Upsells were available. He told me I had lots of choice for stateroom cabin because none of the guarantees had been assigned yet. The ship was still selling every category except pinnacle- Inside, IV, Balcony, Vista < SS, Neptune. (but some categories within a category were sold out- ie Vistas were avail but no Aft Vistas). I picked a cabin from about 25 options. Then the following day changed my mind about which cabin I wanted- so I called and changed. I noticed 2 days later (13 days out) that guarantees had been assigned. All categories except I, OV and Obstructed Verandah were sold out after guarantees were assigned. I doubt I would have had a complimentary upgrade from my free OV. I would have been happy in my OV but opted to change to Vista Suite (not really sure why LOL- we like the OV, love crows nest and would have been completely happy but I will love my vista suite too

[Florida_gal_50]

6 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

@skidroe I can't say at what time frame I've received offers, but it's been under days from departure. They have come via email; Carnival puts them right on your Cruise Planner so you see them when you log in; HAL does not do that.

My experience is when I use TA (never used big box, so no comment on those) the email goes to the TA who is expected to forward to me. When booking directly with HAL, of course, it comes from HAL

FWIW, I have never received an offer when I've booked using HAL PCC. May have been offered and the PCC was responsible for sending it to me??

I’ve used mostly a pcc.  It never comes from them.  It comes directly from hal.  There aren’t upsells on every cruise. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Florida_gal_50

[Mary229]

6 hours ago, Andi Land said:

me. So, they do tie it to your booking in some way. For this cruise, I was booked in an inside room. I’m sure those

Yes, it is tied to the type of cabin you are sailing.  They have a step up process.  I have been up sold twice from an inside to a suite but that is very rare and not in recent years.  
 

To other discussions I do get calls from my TA and I call.  I have only once received an email from HAL and that offer was pitiful. 

[Florida_gal_50]

If you cold call they will ask for your booking number.  That’s how the look for upsells.

[mightycruisequeen]

For the cruise we took in April, we received an upsell offer at about 3 weeks out, again at about 2 weeks out, and again at about 1 week out.  Each offer was a little more enticing, but we stayed strong💪 with the cabin we booked.  The offers were forwarded to us via email through our travel agent.

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by mightycruisequeen

[drsullivan]

My wife and I are on the Koningsdam June 24 7 day Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver. We booked a Neptune suite thru our TA last September. (We missed our July cruise because of covid)

We got an upgrade call/offer this past Saturday the 3rd…3 weeks before the sailing and we jumped on it. It came thru email to my TA who called me immediately. We are excited as this is our 1st Alaskan cruise and we’ve been waiting for several years to take it.

Rick in Nashville 

[leanstostarboard]

We used to get upsell offers pretty frequently before Covid.     We realized we haven't gotten an offer recently so last week we contacted our cruise consultant and asked that he assure that our profile indicated we will consider an offer.   Yesterday we were offered an upsell to a signature suite for our Alaska cruise sailing on Saturday. 

 

In the past we were offered an upsell 2 days before the ship sailed.   

 

I was offered an upsell once about 2 weeks before a sailing and I replied it was too expensive, call back when you lower the price.  I got a call and accepted an significantly lower price less than a week before sailing. 

 

 

[albingirl]

I've gotten them a month out, and then 2 weeks out, and then 1 week out. If the ship isn't sold out.  In that case, none were received. And people talk about cancellations freeing up cabins in that case, but it hasn't happened to us. Just make sure your initial booking isn't in a noisy area to begin with and you should be ok. 

[ottahand7]

On 6/6/2023 at 4:01 PM, Mary229 said:

For true upsells I don’t wait. I call one week after final payment, then again a month out, then 10 days out and finally before I head to the airport.  I usually get something when I ask, some offers better than others. 

Who do you call?  HA general phone line, your PCC or your travel agent? I have gotten them through my TA but now I work through HA.  

[tamsocal]

11 hours ago, mightycruisequeen said:

For the cruise we took in April, we received an upsell offer at about 3 weeks out, again at about 2 weeks out, and again at about 1 week out.  Each offer was a little more enticing, but we stayed strong💪 with the cabin we booked.  The offers were forwarded to us via email through our travel agent.

 

I didn't say strong LOL. where's my emoji for wimpy arms.

[Mary229]

22 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

Who do you call?  HA general phone line, your PCC or your travel agent? I have gotten them through my TA but now I work through HA.  

There is an upsell number but be ready to pay immediately.  Have your deck plan in hand as well as your credit card.  (888) 628-8107
 

if it is early I have my TA check. They have called us, through our TA,  immediately after final payment too.  Those offers are rarely very good 

 

cancellations are much more prevalent on long cruises.  Also if you are doing the later segment of a grand cruise there are usually not only cancellations but people who leave early due to unforeseen circumstances 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Mary229

[BermudaBound2014]

22 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Princess now also utilizes a bidding process. I personally hope HAL does not adopt one.

 

Why not? I've found the bidding process works great. What don't you like about it?

[Haljo1935]

18 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Why not? I've found the bidding process works great. What don't you like about it?

I think the current process, though perhaps outdated and "klunky," results in lower prices in a shorter time frame. Passengers don't have to accept the first offer they receive and can negotiate during the live conversation.

I've come away from some of those conversations with much better deals than the original offer was for (and completed during 1 call rather than in back & forth multiple calls) and have even been told something else became available during the call that I was able to consider. I think I might not have been able to do that using a bidding process.

[BermudaBound2014]

6 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

I think the current process, though perhaps outdated and "klunky," results in lower prices in a shorter time frame. Passengers don't have to accept the first offer they receive and can negotiate during the live conversation.

I've come away from some of those conversations with much better deals than the original offer was for (and completed during 1 call rather than in back & forth multiple calls) and have even been told something else became available during the call that I was able to consider. I think I might not have been able to do that using a bidding process.

 

That makes sense. Just know that if HAL does switch, the bidding system isn't terrible. It can result in extremely low prices for consumers since the price is based suppluy and demand. The machine wants to fill every cabin and will take insanely deeply discounted bids close to sailing if there availability.

[Avery's Gram]

Mine came yesterday, offering an up sell for $149 x 2 (solo traveler) for inside to ocean view.  Sailing is Saturday.  I ignored it….

 

Barbara M. In NH

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

That makes sense. Just know that if HAL does switch, the bidding system isn't terrible. It can result in extremely low prices for consumers since the price is based suppluy and demand. The machine wants to fill every cabin and will take insanely deeply discounted bids close to sailing if there availability.

I appreciate the feedback. And obviously if HAL institutes it, I'll likely be a player 🤔 Certainly, the system is programmed to fill cabins while maximizing revenue.

Sometimes I've seen the minimum bid not be what I consider to be a good deal and with no way to reach out to someone, that becomes a pass. Slightly different than the current process where the email or phone offer may not be attractive, but I can talk to someone and try to negotiate a better price. Is every call a success? Absolutely not, but at least I had a shot. These are from what I've seen on Princess, btw. I haven't upgraded with them since they started using a bid system.

If there is still availability after XX days of bids, is the minimum lowered and the process starts again or how does that work?

Thanks for the info.

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Florida_gal_50]

I agree it’s (not bidding for upsells) fine the way it is.  I don’t know why every cruise line needs to do things exactly the same.  If things work better on another cruise line for someone, maybe that’s the route that should be followed. 

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I think the current process, though perhaps outdated and "klunky," results in lower prices in a shorter time frame. Passengers don't have to accept the first offer they receive and can negotiate during the live conversation.

I've come away from some of those conversations with much better deals than the original offer was for (and completed during 1 call rather than in back & forth multiple calls) and have even been told something else became available during the call that I was able to consider. I think I might not have been able to do that using a bidding process.

 

55 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I agree it’s (not bidding for upsells) fine the way it is.  I don’t know why every cruise line needs to do things exactly the same.  If things work better on another cruise line for someone, maybe that’s the route that should be followed. 

There could be a hybrid.  An open transparent bidding  system to sell unused inventory , after its completion the negotiators can step up. It is how auction houses operate.  I have many times called the day after an auction and place a below reserve offer on an unsold item.

 

@Florida_gal_50  oops I meant to quote @Haljo1935

Edited June 8, 2023 by Mary229

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I agree it’s (not bidding for upsells) fine the way it is.  I don’t know why every cruise line needs to do things exactly the same.  If things work better on another cruise line for someone, maybe that’s the route that should be followed. 

 

No one was suggesting that HAL change things so that every cruise line does the same thing.

 

Specifically, I was just pointing out that if a change occurs it might actually work out better for the consumer. That's the route I want to take, the route that leads to the best consumer experience 😉 

 

[senorjim]

I call the upsell department directly and ask. The last time was for our October 2022 51 day cruise aboard Westerdam. I started calling about 6 weeks before sailing about once a week. About 2 weeks before sailing when I called I was told my timing was good as the offers just became available and hadn't been sent out yet. I upgraded from a VA verandah to a Signature Suite. We were very happy with the price and the extra room for that cruise!  The direct numbers I have for the upsell department are 1-888-628-8107 or 1-206-626-7381.  

Jim

 

[FreesiaE]

15 hours ago, Mary229 said:

There is an upsell number but be ready to pay immediately.  Have your deck plan in hand as well as your credit card.  (888) 628-8107
 

if it is early I have my TA check. They have called us, through our TA,  immediately after final payment too.  Those offers are rarely very good 

 

cancellations are much more prevalent on long cruises.  Also if you are doing the later segment of a grand cruise there are usually not only cancellations but people who leave early due to unforeseen circumstances 

Can those who booked via TA call this number or is it just for those who booked with HAL directly?