Princess upgrades question

[HMSDingy]

I know this question has been asked man times before but please bear with me. How close to sailing time is an upgrade possible? I've just received my pre-cruise package and NOT my cruise docs.:confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

Upgrades are POSSIBLE right up until you board the ship. But they don't happen as often as you would think anymore, most ships sail full.

If you are interested in upgrading your cabin, definitely check to see if it is possible to pay for an upgrade. Never, never, count on one or even look forward to one anymore. If it happens, it is a gift. But those gifts are very rare in these times.

[HMSDingy]

Upgrades are POSSIBLE right up until you board the ship. But they don't happen as often as you would think anymore, most ships sail full.

If you are interested in upgrading your cabin, definitely check to see if it is possible to pay for an upgrade. Never, never, count on one or even look forward to one anymore. If it happens, it is a gift. But those gifts are very rare in these times.

 

I already paid for an upgrade; from an inside to an obstructed oceanview. I was just wondering if Princess would give me a un-obstructed oceanview. Is it possible that they would even go so far as giving us a balcony!

[spongerob]

Anything is possible, but should not necessarily be expected. We were called about an upgrade within a few days of sailing. Princess' usual routine is to bump people up from lower categories and put remaining inventory on sale in the weeks before a cruise is scheduled to depart. If there are cabins available, you might be the lucky one.

 

What Princess does NOT do (to my knowledge) is allow you to upgrade at the pier at a discount.

[EmieT]

We are sailing 9/9/06 on Princess Dawn to Alaska, first cruise. We have a guaranteed cabin in Category E. I have checked the website daily to see if they have added a stateroom. Will it just appear or will they contact my TA? Is E a good category? If I don't hear by 9/9 will they assign when we board? If I check Princess website, it shows all categories are Waitlisted. This is kind of scary. Hope we didn't make a mistake by not getting an assigned room.

[TCF]

Our TA told us, and I have seen it said by experienced crusiers here and elsewhere, that if ytou are going to book a "guarantee" then make sure that you will be happy with ANY cabin in that Category! That way you won't be disappointed if there is no upgrade.;)

I have to reiterate what was said earlier. These ships, whether it is Princess, Carnival, or whatever, very rarely sail with an empty cabin. If they do it is because someone just didn't show up before the ship sailed. But the cabin has already been paid for so they don't care!:rolleyes:

These companies have got marketing these cruises down to a science and upgrades are a part of that science! They know that there is a whole market group out there that just sits and waits for the cheapest fare to hit the market. They don't care which ship it is or where it is going and they don't care where on the ship they are as long as it is a cabin that they can sleep and shower in because that is all they will use it for. So, if it looks to the sales department like not all the cabins on a given ship will be sold prior to sailing the company will upgrade the lowest paying customers to a better cabin and sell the same lower priced cabin twice...the second time for a little less to be sure...but every cabin will be full. And that is the name of the game!:)

[rjg41]

These ships, whether it is Princess, Carnival, or whatever, very rarely sail with an empty cabin. If they do it is because someone just didn't show up before the ship sailed.

 

This is true during the busy times of the year but certainly not all the time. The cruise lines do have their capacity management systems and do try to fill ships. Howerver, this time of the year, now that school is starting up, until mid-November, many ships, especially certain itineraries, are not full.