Interesting upsell

[wesport]

I am sailing on the Rotterdam, and booked a VH obstructed balcony 9(night)as I am sailing alone and had to pay double. Got an email offering me and upsell from my VH guarantee to the  the best obstructed VH balcony for $398. Since I have been to the Caribbean many times, I dont care about where the cabin is and will do nothing, but thought HAL is getting creative. 

[albingirl]

28 minutes ago, wesport said:

I am sailing on the Rotterdam, and booked a VH obstructed balcony 9(night)as I am sailing alone and had to pay double. Got an email offering me and upsell from my VH guarantee to the  the best obstructed VH balcony for $398. Since I have been to the Caribbean many times, I dont care about where the cabin is and will do nothing, but thought HAL is getting creative. 

you can wait and see if the offers get better, closer you get to the cruise.  Yes, I book the cabin I want and if an upsell comes in that's good, I'll take it.  That offer doesn't look appealing, by the way.  Kind of ridiculous.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It sounds like a nice treat ..

[Mary229]

That is creative, is it a treat or is it extortion?

[RuthC]

Let me get this straight---you have booked a VH, and HAL wants to 'upgrade' you to a VH for $398? To a different cabin in the same category??? 

I'll go with calling it 'extortion'. 'Ludicrous' also works. 

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

Let me get this straight---you have booked a VH, and HAL wants to 'upgrade' you to a VH for $398? To a different cabin in the same category??? 

I'll go with calling it 'extortion'. 'Ludicrous' also works. 

Yeah, at first I thought the OP was being sarcastic, but then they said they don't care about the view...so very confused now...

[Bill B]

If The OP booked the cruse again, it would probably cost $398 extra for the 'Pick Your Room' option. 😂

[KAKcruiser]

It must be a mistake because it doesn't make any sense.

[POA1]

Wouldn't all the VHs cost the same? The upgrade cost looks like $199 pp double occupancy x 2. That would not be too bad to move to a fully unobstructed (VE or better.)

[Real NHDOC]

Typically the paid upgrade offer is to the best available in the same category.  In the OP's case it would be from a guarantee veranda to whatever veranda is available all the way up to a V. 

 

Now is it possible the only verandas left are VH's so they were offered to "choose" instead of taking the guarantee but I agree it's not much of an upgrade. 

[wesport]

The upsell was from a guarantee VH obstructed to the best available VH obstructed. In HALs defense , some VH are sideways with a larger balcony, but still a vh with obstruction. This is on the Rotterdam. 

[wesport]

My mistake . When I re read, it was from the obstructed to the best unobstructed. I think I need new glasses. It makes sense now . Sorry for the confusion. 

[Real NHDOC]

55 minutes ago, wesport said:

My mistake . When I re read, it was from the obstructed to the best unobstructed. I think I need new glasses. It makes sense now . Sorry for the confusion. 

Yep, this is the typical offer.  If you call in they will tell you what's available all the way up to V category. 

[shippmates]

Wesport on my last cruise on the Rotterdam I got an upsell offer.  At first it seemed good until I called and it was double that rate due to sailing solo.   

[recruiter 28]

We booked a VH obstructed and were offered a balcony upgrade at $199 pp.  We agreed and were offered a V cabin on deck 5 Rotterdam  but moved to a VA cabin on deck 6 (which was directly above the original V cabin on deck 5).  Strange that deck 5 was a higher category in the very same location???  Be aware that upgrading also increased the cost of the original price of our platinum protection plan.    But we felt it worth the $$ to be in a better cabin.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I got this offer for our last cruise on the Koningsdam that was booked rather last minute. No way to get Club Orange. I had booked VH guarantee but really wanted the VB deck 4 with the extended balconies. There are way too many VB staterooms that do not have a good location, so when I got the offer for $99 pp I jumped. HAL wanted about $500 more pp to book the VB. To be it was worth doing and not waiting for the Upsell Fairy who may end of having a bad night of drinking and just through out all kinds of bad cabins 😂

[sambamama]

I am on the Westerdam 14 night Singapore to Hong Kong January sailing. I am booked in a C outside and got offers to up sell to a Signature Suite at $999 pp or a Neptune at $1999 pp. First time I've gotten offers that jump one category. I might have been tempted, but I am sailing solo, my cruise is part of a 5 week trip, and there are still lots of balconies left. 

[shadow 123]

5 hours ago, sambamama said:

I am on the Westerdam 14 night Singapore to Hong Kong January sailing. I am booked in a C outside and got offers to up sell to a Signature Suite at $999 pp or a Neptune at $1999 pp. First time I've gotten offers that jump one category. I might have been tempted, but I am sailing solo, my cruise is part of a 5 week trip, and there are still lots of balconies left. 

I also also travel solo. Currently I am a 3 star mariner working very hard to be a four star mariner. Would love to have free laundry ! However, I have never been offered any upgrades ever. Am I doing something wrong here? Are the offers  based on mariner status?

I have never checked off anything that said I don't want an upgrade.

[Vict0riann]

2 hours ago, shadow 123 said:

I also also travel solo. Currently I am a 3 star mariner working very hard to be a four star mariner. Would love to have free laundry ! However, I have never been offered any upgrades ever. Am I doing something wrong here? Are the offers  based on mariner status?

I have never checked off anything that said I don't want an upgrade.

 

 

Just discussed this with our PCC a couple of days ago.  She said you can note on your account that you are interested in upgrades.  She said there are specifics to note, you can say you are interested in "free" upgrades, which mean you may not know you have one until you board (this happened to us once, when we had only sailedd HAL twice, a really nice surprise from a verandah to a Signature Suite).  

 

Or you can say you are interested in "paid" upgrades - if space is available you may get emails offering alternatives, as the OP said.

 

Or you can say you are interested in both.   

Edited December 9, 2023 by Vict0riann

[crystalspin]

4 hours ago, shadow 123 said:

I also also travel solo. Currently I am a 3 star mariner working very hard to be a four star mariner. Would love to have free laundry ! However, I have never been offered any upgrades ever. Am I doing something wrong here? Are the offers  based on mariner status?

I have never checked off anything that said I don't want an upgrade.

I am quoting @0106:

"You can wait for an email offer to upgrade or call on your own.  There is no bidding.   You are not assigned a room; you pick from the available rooms.  Here’s the number:

888.628.8107 

1.  Have booking number

2.  Have credit card

3.  Have deck plan

4.  Be ready to make a decision "

 

This is from a thread where calling for upgrade was recommended starting at 4 weeks pre-sailaway (at repeating until you were happy). And could be done by the passenger no matter how they booked. This is in addition to @Vict0riann's suggestions.

 

Note, you will not get the suite Mariner points if you upgrade from a non-suite to a suite, but they won't be taken from you if you upgrade from a Vista to a larger suite.

[Real NHDOC]

If you booked your cruise with a travel agent then you won’t receive the upgrade offers because HAL sends the emails to the TA and most of them don’t forward those offers to their clients. That’s why you have to be proactive and call yourself. Start calling about 30 days before the cruise and ask what, if any upgrades are being offered. Even if you ask your TA to watch for the offers you can’t count on them to do it. It’s my understanding that they don’t make any additional commission on those upgrades which probably explains their lack of interest in them. 

[sambamama]

I always have booked with a TA. Yes, free laundry is absolutely the best thing about being 4 star! I get up sells just about every cruise. To make sure I don't miss out, about 2 months out, I email my TA  and tell her an amount not to exceed and what I want. I usually have an outside guarantee and am trying for a balcony. I am a lawyer, and I am not always available by phone or even text. This way she can grab something right away. 

[sambamama]

Its my understanding you can't change your booking,  that only the TA  can. HAL on their own upgraded my inside guarantee to a C outside due to some issues from the cruise being cancelled three times and its being paid in full since December 2019, and  I had to agree to let them do it without my TA. 

[Real NHDOC]

2 hours ago, sambamama said:

Its my understanding you can't change your booking,  that only the TA  can. HAL on their own upgraded my inside guarantee to a C outside due to some issues from the cruise being cancelled three times and its being paid in full since December 2019, and  I had to agree to let them do it without my TA. 

You can upgrade directly with HAL if they have a paid upgrade offer even if you have booked it with a TA. I have done it many times, as recently as last week. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[sunviking90]

3 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

You can upgrade directly with HAL if they have a paid upgrade offer even if you have booked it with a TA. I have done it many times, as recently as last week. 

This is right. I booked our recent cruise with a TA, but called myself 2 days before sailing for upsells and took one. I also want to clarify that TA’s DO make additional commission on upsells. My TA previously forwarded me an email from HAL with upsell offers that I thought were too high so I waited. This is a quote from the email: 

“Enhance your clients' cruise and increase your commission by taking advantage of a reduced rate to upgrade their accommodations. Here is your offer:…….”