How does Carnival handle upsells?

[FlaMariner]

It's 64 days until we cruise......

 

We are booked in a balcony and I think that many suites are still available.

 

How does Carnival handle upsells to fill those up?

 

What's a good strategy to snag one at a low price?

[lazydayz]

Carnival handles upsells differently than Royal.  There is no bidding process.  Either you get a call, an e-mail, or a notice upon login to that cruise on the Carnival website with an upsell offer, or more likely, you get nothing.  

 

Keep looking at the price on the website and when you are happy with it, call Carnival or your travel agent and upgrade yourself.  

 

 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

It's 64 days until we cruise......

 

We are booked in a balcony and I think that many suites are still available.

 

How does Carnival handle upsells to fill those up?

 

What's a good strategy to snag one at a low price?

You call them and ask to pay for a balcony.  

[Rollin Tide]

Also, not sure if you used a Travel Agent, but if so you can check with them.

 

Very often when I log into the booking portal to whichever line as a TA, I'll have a notification that I can offer whatever upgrade to whichever cruisers.  So I've called multiple people to offer the upgrade, and not once so far has the person said the cruise line reached out.  

[Elaine5715]

36 minutes ago, Rollin Tide said:

Also, not sure if you used a Travel Agent, but if so you can check with them.

 

Very often when I log into the booking portal to whichever line as a TA, I'll have a notification that I can offer whatever upgrade to whichever cruisers.  So I've called multiple people to offer the upgrade, and not once so far has the person said the cruise line reached out.  

The cruise lines can't "reach out" to TA clients.  

[Rollin Tide]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

The cruise lines can't "reach out" to TA clients.  

Good point.  

[pe4all]

We have never had an upsell offer from balcony to suite in over 30 CCL cruises.  We have had offers to move to a different balcony location - however, the moves were not great. (going from deck we chose to higher deck, but under a public noisy location, etc.)  If we called our pvp I am sure she could offer to upsell us to a suite - but may not be a "sweet" deal.

[jimbo5544]

17 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

The cruise lines can't "reach out" to TA clients.  

Carnival has a program where they pass along "opportunities" for upgrade to TA's for specific bookings.  Works well but they go fast.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, pe4all said:

We have never had an upsell offer from balcony to suite in over 30 CCL cruises.  We have had offers to move to a different balcony location - however, the moves were not great. (going from deck we chose to higher deck, but under a public noisy location, etc.)  If we called our pvp I am sure she could offer to upsell us to a suite - but may not be a "sweet" deal.

We have seen it, but it is rare, probably has to do with availability (supply).

[lazydayz]

We had one from balcony to suite, but it was due to a last minute cancellation, with the call from Carnival coming just two or three days before the departure date. The purchase confirmations for the cancelled guests were delivered to our suite.

[jimbo5544]

Just now, lazydayz said:

We had one from balcony to suite, but it was due to a last minute cancellation, with the call from Carnival coming just two or three days before the departure date. The purchase confirmations for the cancelled guests were delivered to our suite.

Ha.  Now that is interesting.  

[john91498]

5 hours ago, pe4all said:

We have never had an upsell offer from balcony to suite in over 30 CCL cruises.  We have had offers to move to a different balcony location - however, the moves were not great. (going from deck we chose to higher deck, but under a public noisy location, etc.)  If we called our pvp I am sure she could offer to upsell us to a suite - but may not be a "sweet" deal.

 

That's unfortunate. Back in 2018 we got a call, not e-mail, to see if we wanted to go from 8d balcony to an ocean suite. The upgrade was $350 and we took it. 

The room changed my perceptions of a suite. Considerable more room and the balcony was huge compared to what we were used to. Although, I thought the changing area was a wasted space.

Ever since then, I've been a convert to suites.

[DanJ]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Carnival has a program where they pass along "opportunities" for upgrade to TA's for specific bookings.  Works well but they go fast.

Yes, but Elaine's point is that Carnival passes that offer to the TA, not directly to the passenger. I would suspect Carnival just finds it easier to deal via Carnival-booked guests, then they cast the net out to the travel agents to try to sell them to their clients. 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, DanJ said:

Yes, but Elaine's point is that Carnival passes that offer to the TA, not directly to the passenger. I would suspect Carnival just finds it easier to deal via Carnival-booked guests, then they cast the net out to the travel agents to try to sell them to their clients. 

I get it.  They have a different approach.  Their view is that they are letting the TA work their business.  It is called "be the hero".

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

I get it.  They have a different approach.  Their view is that they are letting the TA work their business.  It is called "be the hero".

Works when you have a great TA but when you don't or if your "TA" is a family member who is bad at their job, not so much.  

[staceyglow]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Works when you have a great TA but when you don't or if your "TA" is a family member who is bad at their job, not so much.  

Yep. I am thinking that some TAs may not bother to pass along cheap upsell because all the extra work they do may not be worth the extra $10 or $20 in commission they would earn. 

[FlaMariner]

For those that get the upgrade offers from their TA.....when do they usual arrive?

 

I'm at 58 days until embarkation.

[laurierocs]

I received a call 2 weeks before the cruise. We had booked interior on the ABC 8 day cruise. We were offered a balcony first for $300 p/p. When I inquired about a suite upgrade(noticed there were still several open) We were offered this fabulous, oversized suite for $600 each. I wouldn't have taken it but... this HUGE suite was worth it! I might note that was my 27th carnival cruise. Hopefully the pic come through...

[figdu]

On 8/9/2024 at 5:39 AM, pe4all said:

We have never had an upsell offer from balcony to suite in over 30 CCL cruises.  We have had offers to move to a different balcony location - however, the moves were not great. (going from deck we chose to higher deck, but under a public noisy location, etc.)  If we called our pvp I am sure she could offer to upsell us to a suite - but may not be a "sweet" deal.

We have had upsells to a Grand Suite from both Balcony and Oceanview rooms.

[sternfanla]

I received a phone call from a very upbeat buy 2 days ago. We are sailing on Firenze on 09-21-2024 7 day cruise in an inside cabin on Panorama deck.

He upsold us to a balcony on Panorama deck for $252 total, not per person. I thought it was a good deal and took it.

I wish I would have thought about asking him what room locations he had available or even if he had any suites. The new cabin is in the front and we like to stay in the center. But at least we have cabins above and below us.

[jimbo5544]

On 8/14/2024 at 6:54 PM, FlaMariner said:

For those that get the upgrade offers from their TA.....when do they usual arrive?

 

I'm at 58 days until embarkation.

They come from Carnival. Usually after final pay and often close to sailing date.  Their is little effort or time on the TA part, simply  passing it along.  Pretty nice plan. 

[simplelife]

Was hoping for an upsell from our obstructed OV, but our next cruise has been sold out for some time. I called a couple of times to check availability, but only thing available was one balcony cabin for over $1000.  Too pricey,

Edited August 17 by simplelife