Accept Any Upgrade?

[stoddaj1]

Have booked our first Holland America cruise and noticed in our balcony booking it states "accept any upgrade".  While we would love an upgrade we do not want to be in the extreme bow or stern of the ship.  If an upgrade is assigned, do we have any recourse if the location does not suit us?  Or do we just have the upgrade request canceled should we not want to take the risk?  

[sailawayward]

Are you booking a Guaranteed Cabin or is this for Club Orange?

[stoddaj1]

1 minute ago, sailawayward said:

Are you booking a Guaranteed Cabin or is this for Club Orange?

No, we have booked a specific balcony cabin.  

[Cruise Suzy]

You may not agree with what HAL considers a better stateroom. For that reason our TA always marks our bookings "Do not upgrade." Our friends did not mark theirs that way and received an upgrade from a carefully selected inside to a fully obstructed oceanview under a pool. They were able to have their TA contact HAL and get a somewhat better location but couldn't get their original stateroom as it had been assigned to someone else.

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

You may not agree with what HAL considers a better stateroom. For that reason our TA always marks our bookings "Do not upgrade." Our friends did not mark theirs that way and received an upgrade from a carefully selected inside to a fully obstructed oceanview under a pool. They were able to have their TA contact HAL and get a somewhat better location but couldn't get their original stateroom as it had been assigned to someone else.

I agree!  Mark it do not upgrade.  Your idea and HAL's as to a better cabin may not be the same.  Plus, you will still receive "upsell" offers to a higher category, for a price of course but usually a good deal.

 

[Haljo1935]

23 hours ago, stoddaj1 said:

Have booked our first Holland America cruise and noticed in our balcony booking it states "accept any upgrade".  While we would love an upgrade we do not want to be in the extreme bow or stern of the ship.  If an upgrade is assigned, do we have any recourse if the location does not suit us?  Or do we just have the upgrade request canceled should we not want to take the risk?  

Best to have the booking noted "no uograde" as there is no guarantee where the upgraded cabin might be located. And chances of getting back the original cabin should you not like the upgraded one are about non-existent. Upgraded cabin doesn't necessarily mean cabin type - it could simply be a location the cruiseline considers to be better.

You will still receive paid "upsell" offers.

[TimeForExploring]

When would HAL do the upgrade if they were going to? We are booked in a verandah cabin leaving on Nov 1, 2023. I didn't know anything about this but just looked at my confirmation and see that it says "any cabin upgrade." Would they do it right before we got on the ship? 

[DaveOKC]

30 minutes ago, TimeForExploring said:

When would HAL do the upgrade if they were going to? We are booked in a verandah cabin leaving on Nov 1, 2023. I didn't know anything about this but just looked at my confirmation and see that it says "any cabin upgrade." Would they do it right before we got on the ship? 

Yes, right up until you board.  Usually last 1-2 weeks though.