How soon can one hope for an upgrade?

[NJ2FL]

Traveling to Alaska this summer and have an EE oceanview stateroom booked (preceded by a cruisetour). We booked through a TA who says the upgrades start once the money is in from the passengers so they can tell who is going and who is not. He did request an upgrade (don't they all?!):rolleyes: We didn't go for the balcony to begin with because of the price of the cruisetour.

 

 

 

So, I paid the balance on the cruise last week. I read that (I think) 78% of the ship's cabins have balconies - what do you think our chances are for an upgrade to a balcony??? Does the cruisetour give us the edge?

 

 

I know sometimes upgrades happen when you get to the ship - but what has been everyone's experience?

 

thanks.

[dforeigner]

Is it possible that you will get an upgrade? Yes, but not likely. Most of the ships cruising Alaska are sailing full. There is no specific formula for the cruise lines to decide who gets upgraded and who does not. My suggestion: While it is OK to wish for an upgrade, do not be disappointed if you do not get one. In other words, do not get your hopes too high.

[firefly333]

Did you get a guarantee? If you started with a specific cabin, your chances I would not think are good for an upgrade. Sounds like if you already know you have a EE cabin you got a specific cabin.

[seagarsmoker]

I've cruised Princess 8 times and had only 1 upgrade and that offer was in the same category, not outside to balcony. I also think quite a few people, including myself now book a certain room well in advance and do not want an upgrade. I think for the most part, upgrades are just 'luck of the draw' .

[AdmiralJohnson]

If you already have a cabin, it is extremely unlikely that Princess will do anything with your upgrade, in spite of your request for one...

 

Always book the minimum room you will be happy with. You should have NO expectation for an upgrade.

[BJS]

We are leaving next week for our 20th cruise with Princess and the only "upgrade" we've ever had was booking a guarantee and those have only been 3 or 4 steps up in the same category. All of these came when we received out room number which was always several months or longer before the cruise.

 

Several people I know have been upgraded a catagory or two, after final payments were made, and they all had booked the cruise over a year in advance.

 

Even with our May Alaskan cruise, that seemed to be poorly booked 2 months ago, the ship was wait listed 1 month ago. Many people wait until after final payments are made to book hoping that the cruise line will "dump" prices and they will pick up a great bargain.

[cherylandtk]

Bear in mind that this is an Alaskan cruise, where balconies command a premium price just because so many folks want to enjoy the views available nearly 20 hours per day..so it would be less likely to receive an out of category upgrade than 'normal' chances (which are low to begin with).

 

On Princess, booking GTY vs a specific room has little bearing on whether or not you will be upgraded; but if you are, it will most likely be within category.

[Pam in CA]

You can always hope but chances are extremely slim. If you are "upgraded," it'll be the same category, different location. Your TA shouldn't have gotten your hopes up because if you are hoping, you're most likely to be disappointed. :(

[Floppy McTurnriver]

I just posted a similar (detailed) reply on my upgrade experience yesterday on this thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=544545&page=2

 

We were on a sold out ship and bumped "beyond" our category on only our 2nd princess cruise.

 

I'd like to know Princess's formula myself. I've read many varied experiences from fellow cruisers. No consistency on an upgrade formula - except our experience jibed with our TA's advice: book on the absolute lowest Cat. on a guarantee cabin and you will likely get bumped up in some way.

 

Of course, from what I gather from these boards, few people are willing to start from the very bottom (ie. bottom deck, front of ship, inside cabin).

 

So just hope, but don't expect. Enjoy your cruise.

[CrusinAgain]

Not even special occasions has given us an upgrade. I really thought this last one that we might get one since the ship was not full and we were celebrating daughters 21st birthday but it didn't happen nor did the cake we were suppose to get.

[chasetf]

.................I'd like to know Princess's formula myself. I've read many varied experiences from fellow cruisers. No consistency on an upgrade formula - except our experience jibed with our TA's advice: book on the absolute lowest Cat. on a guarantee cabin and you will likely get bumped up in some way.

The "formula" is probably a well guarded secret because if it was let out then many people would be trying to fit their "situation" to the "formula".

 

The other fact is the formula may not fit all situations for the cruise line. Some cruises the balconies may be overbooked and on another they may have lots of openings to move OVs up to.

[FLACRUISER99]

I know the secret formula for upgrades. Someone else always gets them.:eek:

[Nancyquilts]

Since the only time we got an upgrade was on another cruise line on our second voyage, I would bet that most upgrades go to new(er) cruisers hoping to get them hooked. We've been on Princess lots of times and it's never happened. Nancy

[judynorth]

On our first Princess cruise we booked a guarantee BD and were upgraded to a BA when our cabin was assigned. That was about 6-8 weeks before the cruise. On our last cruise we were booked in an oceanview and the Friday before the Monday cruise we were upgraded to a balcony. :D Boy, were we surprised.:eek: We leave on our next cruise this Saturday and I hold no hopes of an upgrade. The ship is pretty well booked.

[dogdoc2002]

My partner and I are booked in June on the Diamond Princess. We booked a BD guarentee, and when I looked on-line today, we're in a BC. I was hoping for a higher upgrade, but an upgrade is an upgrade, right?

 

Side note- does anyone know the website where you can look up specific cabin info?

 

Thanks!

dogdoc2002

[Lynda90]

I think the upgrade formula is to put all the names in a hat and it's the luck of the draw. I don't think it matters whether you book a "gty" or a specific cabin. Unless you have specifically asked for no upgrades, your chances are the same.

[nreeder]

I have two upgrade experiences to share. We did get upgraded to an owner's suite on Tahitian Princess a few years ago (from a mini-suite). At the time it was reported that how far in advance you booked, and past passenger status were factors (I have no inside info). Those "factors" were true in our case.

 

We just returned from a cruise on the Grand last week. Both couples at our table were upgraded. The first, the "most cruised" passenger couple--95 cruises were upgraded to a full suite. The other couple were "Elite"--meaning more than 16 cruises and they received a mini-suite. I had looked at Grand cabin status around 3 weeks before the cruise, and only 8 full suites and some inside cabins were left.

 

Obviously, you can't be upgraded if all of the upper level cabins sell out which seems to be the norm now. We were sailing after Spring/Easter break and before summer vacation so there were a few chances then. Alaska usually sells out with wait lists even, so time and itinerary do have a lot to do with it too.

 

Thanks

Norm

[Samcorl]

I believe one should book the category one wants, and the cabin one wants, just in case that phantom upgrade doesn't materialize.

 

Sam

[chasetf]

Since the only time we got an upgrade was on another cruise line on our second voyage, I would bet that most upgrades go to new(er) cruisers hoping to get them hooked. We've been on Princess lots of times and it's never happened. Nancy

We have sailed Princess a lot and gotten about a half dozen free upgrades. Guess it depends on what cabin catagory you are in and what is available above you.

 

If someone is in a mini looking for an upgrade to a suite, then that probably is a stretch. Going from an inside to an obstructed happens all the time.

[klady1]

We booked our first cruise for end of June to Alaska on the Island Princess. We booked w/ a guarantee for BF (Emerald deck)...then got the call from our TA about 2 months later (still prior to making our final payment) that we'd been upgraded to Aloha deck. It's still the same class, just higher and in the center...I'm hoping it was a good upgrade! The TA did mention, although I think it was just her talking and probably didn't mean anything, that maybe we got it because he is military. She only knew this because of conversations we had...There's no place when making reservations that requests this info so again, I'm doubting it had any bearing on the upgrade.