If you were the upgrade fairy.....

[cruzincurt]

I've booked probably 5 guarantees over 18 cruises and was never lucky to be upgraded. My upcoming HAL cruise is my third on HAL. I will be happy with my Category quarantee choice, but one can wish can't they?

 

If you were the upgrade fairy what would you use as your guide?

 

1. Number of previous cruises on that cruise line...ie, loyality.

 

2. How early the cruise was booked. ...somewhat loyality to allow the cruise line to plan bookings and sales. They got to use my deposit for many months.

 

3. First time cruiser, no upgrade. They may be one and done. Whereas I have made cruising my twice a year vacation choice. They should try to make me happy.

 

4. Random draw.

 

5. Upgrade insides and windows to balconies to sell more cabins in the lower fare categories.

 

6. No upgrades for last minute bookings, take care of those who booked in advance.

[MercedMike]

Upgrades happen, of course, for the convenience of the cruise line, and not as any sort of reward to deserving pax. If the cruise line needs inside cabins to sell in a promotion, and has outsides available, then the Upgrade Fairy visits some lucky pax -- but not otherwise.

 

However, IF indeed the line is going to upgrade some, whom does it choose? This is a much debated topic. However, recently I have heard the same thing from several sources: NOT past pax, NOT early bookers -- the ones who get the upgrade are the ones who PAID THE MOST for that cabin. Now there is a certain inherent fairness in this ... if you paid $899 for an inside, and somebody else paid $699 for an inside, and they are now going to sell that inside for $599 on "special" and an outside is $949 on "special" -- then who is more deserving of an upgrade than the one who paid the most?

 

Of course, it raises the question of WHY you paid so much in the first place ... ???

 

>:-)

[sail7seas]

None of the above.

 

Sorry.....JMHO.

 

I think people should get precisely what they book and what they PAY for.

 

For people who book a 'guarantee', I think the somewhat lower price substantiates not selecting precisely what cabin you will occupy. But I think guarantee guests should be placed in the cabin category they paid for.

 

I know, I know.......there are all sorts of accounting; inventory; other reasons for the upgrades.

[lougee1043]

If you were the upgrade fairy what would you use as your guide?>>

 

whether or not i or any of my friends were on the cruise

 

i do believe that upgrades are based on the cruiseships needs -- do they need a few more inside cabins--move those pax in inside cabins to outside

 

do they need more outsides -- move those in the outsides up to verandah etc etc

 

use line loyalty and early bookings as the lines choice as to who gets the upgrade

 

i once went to an open house at a local ta and sat in on the hal reps presentation and spoke to her afterward- mentioned to her that i was booked on a cruise and she asked my name and sail date and made a note of it ---when i got to the pier i found i was upgraded from the old ss suite to a full suite----just a coincidence????

[hammybee]

If you were the upgrade fairy what would you use as your guide?/QUOTE]

 

I have taken 16 or 17 cruises and have never been visited by the fairy. Therefore I assumed she visits based upon the # of posts on the cc board:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

The upgrade fairy has never visited us and until I came on CC I never knew it existed.

 

To me it would be like going in and buying a Honda Accord and somehow receiving delivery of an Acura. Makes no sense to me.

 

So I tend to agree with Sail and you should get what you pay for. It's not fair to anyone otherwise because there's always someone who is offended for one reason or another.

 

Still, if I'm ever offered an upgrade? .... won't be turning it down:o .

[psantho]

We were just on the Zuiderdam for an Alaskan cruise and received a 7 category upgrade (VF to SY mini-suite!) We've only been on HAL once before, so that is not the reason for the great upgrade. However, we did book 3 rather expensive excursions, so maybe they took that into consideration. (we could have added another passenger for the price of the excursions!---but the were WELL worth the $$)

[GarySuzy]

We have been upgraded twice in the last 10 years - the first one was from one outside cabin to another outside cabin on a higher deck (instead of the sea we got to look at life boats). The second time was on X and we went from a Celebrity Suite to Royal Suite. In both cases we paid a premium for our cabin and I believe the price had something to do with the upgrade. JMHO

[donh1]

The upgrade fairy has never visited us and until I came on CC I never knew it existed.

 

To me it would be like going in and buying a Honda Accord and somehow receiving delivery of an Acura. Makes no sense to me.

 

So I tend to agree with Sail and you should get what you pay for. It's not fair to anyone otherwise because there's always someone who is offended for one reason or another.

 

Still, if I'm ever offered an upgrade? .... won't be turning it down:o .

 

I strongly believe that is is simply marketing, supply and demand. Auto sales is a classic display of what some might think is unfair marketing. A consumer makes a purchase only to find out days later they offer some factory rebate. Worse yet some people pay far more than others for the exact same car. On the surface it may seem unfair but whether it's cruise lines, airlines, auto companies, grocery stores, department stores or whatever they are simply marketing their product and trying to make as much profit as possible all the while trying to generate future business and continued profit. It is in everyone's best interest to be a smart consumer.

I disagee with comments regarding giving consideration to those who paid more for there cabins. Some travel agents seem to be able to get you better price than others. Why should those smart consumers be excluded from upgrades.

I am one of the lucky consumers who has had several upgrades. ( one from the lowest guarantee to a balcony) My theory is that the ship was not selling that well and the cruise line sold hundreds of cabins at the lowest category simply to fill the ship and I was one of the lucky ones. I believe each sailing this happens on a smaller scale. The higher the category paid for the less likely you are to be upgraded.

[RuthC]

If it were up to me, upgrades would be distributed in alphabetical order.

And I would be in Probate Court tomorrow changing my last name to "Aardvark". :D

[hammybee]

Have you ever wondered:

 

If HAL has an automated system that allocates upgrades based upon pre-determined criterea, or

 

If there is an employee at a corner desk, way in the back, doing the "eenie-meenie-miney-moe" routine, or

 

If the HAL office orders in Pizza on Allocaton Day and they pull names/cabins out of a hat?

[RuthC]

Funny that you mentioned that hammybee. A few years ago I was booked on a cruise that had been sold-out for about a year. HAL was contacting passengers looking for folks to give up their cabins.

My TA's HAL-rep happened through the office and he pointed out my history and asked if anything could be done for me. A couple of days later he called to tell me I'd been upgraded from a wonderful location inside to directly across the passageway!

Dumb luck and good timing seems to have been the cause that time.

[actdir]

It's been fun reading all of the theories.

I was on the Zuiderdam last year with a group of my residents (I'm an activity director for a retirement community). One couple who had reserved a suite had to cancel at the last minute. One morning at breakfast I ate with a nice couple who were glowing because they had been upgraded to a suite. They mentioned the cabin number and unbelievably it was the suite my residents had cancelled. They offered to give me their personalized stationary, which I brought home for them.

My curosity got the best of me so I asked the pursor how the couple was chosen for the upgrade. They couldn't tell me or chose not to. I mentioned to them that it might have been great PR to have offered the suite to a member of our group. With 20 on board it would have gone a long way in the brownie points category. Seemed like a good idea to me!

My group will be on the Westerdam in February and we are all looking forward to our next adventure!

Mil

[sail7seas]

I was thinking in terms of .........

 

perhaps a Dart Board. :D

 

 

[Navy_Chief]

Gee, I thought they used the same process as the navy did selecting who was promoted to Chief, put the records at the top of the stairs, kick em down, who ever made it to the bottom is the lucky winner. :D

 

I guess we were lucky enough on Rotterdam, we were in an HH GTY and wound up in an E on the Main Deck.

[RedmondCruiser]

Who knows what causes Ships Availability to choose between one passenger and another ? I've been told that the two prime factors are the amount you paid and your mariner status. Sadly those who have the fewest number of HAL cruises seem to be selected before ancient mariners are. Possibly they have the attitude that Mariners are hooked so who cares and they want to set the hook on newbes. Since Ships Availability has no phone number - fax only, they are totally imune.

 

I have only use the guarentee once prior, and was not happy with the results. Best to purchase a cabin, with a guarenteed cabin number than to keep false hopes alive with a guarentee. Best to pay for what you get and be happy with it.

 

Come to think about it --- at age 61 my heart may not be able to stand a complementary upgrade -- it would be too much of a shock.

[Hojo's redbeard]

The one time I booked a specific cabin, I got upgraded. Whenever I have had a guarantee, I wasn't. It did hook us though, first thing we look for is a Suite. On the Zuiderdam next month I booked a balcony (didn't want to pay more than double for SA, since we spend so much onboard).

 

Funny thing though, I went online today to fill out my immigration form, HAL website says that my booking was cancelled??? Of course my TA is off today.