Are free upgrades gone now with the bidding for upgrade option?

[mattR]

When booking was asked if we would allow our cabin to be eligible for an upgrade.  I see that Princess has an upgrade bidding option which makes me think that free upgrades are probably a thing of the past? 

[wallyj]

People have reported non paid upgrades still happen, probably fewer than in the past before the bidding system. Upgrades within a category such as going to a better location for the same ‘meta category’ still seem to happen, going from interior to Oceanview are higher are rarer but still happen.

 

I know a passenger who is booked on upcoming Sapphire Dec 1, 2023 sailing, was upgraded from booked interior to a balcony, he did not bid to upgrade, it was a complimentary upgrade from Princess and was booked within the last few months.

 

This is not common, but shows, complimentary upgrades still exists.

[dog]

2 hours ago, mattR said:

When booking was asked if we would allow our cabin to be eligible for an upgrade.  I see that Princess has an upgrade bidding option which makes me think that free upgrades are probably a thing of the past? 

Not a thing of the past for us- September ‘23 Royal Princess BW to BB complimentry upgrade.

[PurpleTraveller]

I just received a free upgrade from a midship BW Obstructed Balcony on Royal Princess to a mid-aft BB Balcony despite my booking being marked "No Upgrade". My cruise is this Saturday and I received the upgrade on Friday last week. I have never received a free upgrade in twelve Princess cruises and this was the first cruise I didn't want an upgrade. So free upgrades can still happen.

 

[CaptainPedantic]

We've been lucky to get free upgrades on 2 of our last 3 Princess cruises - one from deluxe balcony to mini-suite (which was great, although on Sky Princess the balconies are much smaller on the mini-suites), the other upgrade from standard balcony to deluxe. That after going 12 years without a single Princess upgrade. Very nice when it happens!

[Jimmys Chippy]

Watching YouTube it seems that even those with Gold and Ruby status seem to consistently bag an upgrade by being Vloggers. Maybe we should all walk on the ship pointing cameras at ourselves, and not forgetting to fluff up our own self importance, and we’ll all be in a suite in no time.

[SCX22]

We got an upgrade on a 22 day Med cruise on the Enchanted Princess this November.  We booked the lowest Interior guarantee and were upgraded to a Deluxe Obstructed Balcony.  The ship wasn't full.  We knew this because many of the ship's officer's families were on board.  Also, many third party mechanics that sailed with us who were doing maintenance on the ship's propulsion.  

 

I think it depends on the fare that you paid (we have a friend who when he does pay the single supplement, always gets an upgrade), how full the ship is, and now, how many upgrade bids make the cut.  We usually book the lowest Interior guarantee and when we do, we've always, at bare minimum, a location upgrade.

Edited November 30, 2023 by SCX22

[Rick&Jeannie]

5 hours ago, Jimmys Chippy said:

... and we’ll all be in a suite in no time.

Yes, but I'm afraid that we would all be in the *same* suite!

[suekel]

I booked a free casino cruise, guarantee balcony.  Upgraded to a aft premium deluxe balcony about 3 months out which was a nice surprise.  

[highloyo]

Booked 2 BW Deck 8 obstructed balconies on the Oct 21 Calif Coastal cruise about 4 months ahead in June. To my surprise when printing luggage tags a few days before I noticed the cabins had changed to Deck 10 and Deck 12 BB balconies. The different decks weren’t a problem for us even though the original cabins were separated by 3 cabins on the same deck. We weren’t notified of the upgrade at all.  

[Jimmys Chippy]

8 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yes, but I'm afraid that we would all be in the *same* suite!

It may get a little snug, sure, but I’m sure we’ll all get along just fine.