Ask and you shall receive? (or my sweet upgrade)

[sunviking90]

We just returned from the Amsterdam Jun 27th Alaska cruise and thanks to someone on this board suggesting "asking" for an upsell we got a nice upgrade.
We initially booked an inside (2703) for Me, my DH and DS. We had done a similar itinerary last year on the Westerdam and had a balcony, so when a really great deal came up we felt fine with the inside (not our only vacation this summer, so decided to go cheap). Now my understanding is that guarantees are not available for triples due to more difficulty in moving triples around when all cabins can't accomodate, so we chose what we felt was a nice inside.
A couple of months later my DH says he actually would prefer a balcony(!).
By this time there are very few available (Amsterdam doesn't have as many as a Vista) and at a cost premium for 3, so I sent an email HAL asking for an upsell opportunity. This is the response I got from HAL:

Dear Mrs. ...

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line regarding your sailing on board the ms Amsterdam on June 27, 2009. If you are interested in a paid upgrade please contact our Reservation Department toll free at 877-724-5425. Please have your reservation number handy when you call. Our Reservation Agent can provide you with rates and availability for higher categories. If higher categories are sold out at that time, we will mark your record for a waitlist. If a stateroom opens we will notify you and provide you with an option date where you will need to accept or decline the cleared waitlist stateroom.

Requests for complimentary stateroom upgrades must be sent to our Ship Inventory Department. Their fax number is 800-547-4720. On your request please include your booking number, ship name, sailing date and guest names on the booking. Requests for upgrades are reviewed once we are within 1-7 days prior to sailing.

Requesting a complimentary upgrade does not mean you will receive an upgrade. It is a request only. A complimentary upgrade is based on availability, Mariner status and rate paid. Once a complimentary upgrade is applied to a booking a fax or email invoice is sent. The new stateroom assignment cannot be changed and the original stateroom occupied is no longer available.

With a complimentary upgrade you could end up anywhere on the ship, forward or aft in any higher category than what you paid for. Please keep in mind a higher category does not always mean a higher deck level, or a more mid ship stateroom.

Requesting a complimentary upgrade can be a gamble unless you are flexible on location. We discourage guests who require specific stateroom locations from requesting a complimentary upgrade.

Holland America Line looks forward to welcoming you onboard in the near future. Please let us know if we can be of additional assistance.


Holland America Line

So...., I phoned and got put on a waitlist for a veranda. I also faxed a letter as he suggested requesting a complimentary upgrade (which I never would have the nerve to do if HAL hadn't told me to!)
I never got the veranda upsell, BUT, the day before sailing I got an email from HAL with a new reservation attachment and there it was! We had been moved to a Cat DA cabin 2573, outside, midship from a Cat L!
A nice gift from HAL. I imagine whoever had been booked in our new cabin also got upgraded too.

So, I was wrong when I said earlier to another poster that triples would not be upgraded;)

[surfgram]

Thanks for this great info and congratulations on your upgrade.

Did you book directly with HAL? would this still work if you booked through a TA? or would you have to have your TA fax the complimentary upgrade request?

[sunviking90]

Thanks for this great info and congratulations on your upgrade.

Did you book directly with HAL? would this still work if you booked through a TA? or would you have to have your TA fax the complimentary upgrade request?

We booked directly with HAL this time, so I contacted them. I'm sure your chances would be the same if you booked with a TA, but they would likely have to contact HAL for you.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Congratulations on your upgrade http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon14.gif

Yes it never eer hurts or cost to ask ;)

Although I have found it does not make any difference if you book directly with HAL or thru a TA I have had some of the same upgrade offers come from both sources. My last upgrade off came thru my TA and actually was one of the best we ever had. We went from an HH guarantee to a SA for a very small amount of money :D Because my TA kept asking HAL for the next category ;)

[fann1sh]

Thanks you so much for posting this. I've bookmarked this thread.

I've always speculated on the reasons for whims of the upgrade fairy. So, I was especially interested in the part of the response which stated "A complimentary upgrade is based on availability, Mariner status and rate paid."

[themerle]

Thanks you so much for posting this. I've bookmarked this thread.


How do you bookmark?

[themerle]

We just returned from the Amsterdam Jun 27th Alaska cruise and thanks to someone on this board suggesting "asking" for an upsell we got a nice upgrade.
We initially booked an inside (2703) for Me, my DH and DS. We had done a similar itinerary last year on the Westerdam and had a balcony, so when a really great deal came up we felt fine with the inside (not our only vacation this summer, so decided to go cheap). Now my understanding is that guarantees are not available for triples due to more difficulty in moving triples around when all cabins can't accomodate, so we chose what we felt was a nice inside.
A couple of months later my DH says he actually would prefer a balcony(!).
By this time there are very few available (Amsterdam doesn't have as many as a Vista) and at a cost premium for 3, so I sent an email HAL asking for an upsell opportunity. This is the response I got from HAL:

Dear Mrs. ...

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line regarding your sailing on board the ms Amsterdam on June 27, 2009. If you are interested in a paid upgrade please contact our Reservation Department toll free at 877-724-5425. Please have your reservation number handy when you call. Our Reservation Agent can provide you with rates and availability for higher categories. If higher categories are sold out at that time, we will mark your record for a waitlist. If a stateroom opens we will notify you and provide you with an option date where you will need to accept or decline the cleared waitlist stateroom.

Requests for complimentary stateroom upgrades must be sent to our Ship Inventory Department. Their fax number is 800-547-4720. On your request please include your booking number, ship name, sailing date and guest names on the booking. Requests for upgrades are reviewed once we are within 1-7 days prior to sailing.

Requesting a complimentary upgrade does not mean you will receive an upgrade. It is a request only. A complimentary upgrade is based on availability, Mariner status and rate paid. Once a complimentary upgrade is applied to a booking a fax or email invoice is sent. The new stateroom assignment cannot be changed and the original stateroom occupied is no longer available.

With a complimentary upgrade you could end up anywhere on the ship, forward or aft in any higher category than what you paid for. Please keep in mind a higher category does not always mean a higher deck level, or a more mid ship stateroom.

Requesting a complimentary upgrade can be a gamble unless you are flexible on location. We discourage guests who require specific stateroom locations from requesting a complimentary upgrade.

Holland America Line looks forward to welcoming you onboard in the near future. Please let us know if we can be of additional assistance.


Holland America Line

So...., I phoned and got put on a waitlist for a veranda. I also faxed a letter as he suggested requesting a complimentary upgrade (which I never would have the nerve to do if HAL hadn't told me to!)
I never got the veranda upsell, BUT, the day before sailing I got an email from HAL with a new reservation attachment and there it was! We had been moved to a Cat DA cabin 2573, outside, midship from a Cat L!
A nice gift from HAL. I imagine whoever had been booked in our new cabin also got upgraded too.

So, I was wrong when I said earlier to another poster that triples would not be upgraded;)

Thanks for this information!!!! I didn't really know the correct way to do this.

[sunviking90]

Thanks for this information!!!! I didn't really know the correct way to do this.

You're welcome! As to bookmarking, you can use your bookmark tab on your browser, the same bookmarking any page.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Congratulations on your upgrade!!

Glad you enjoyed it.

[fann1sh]

How do you bookmark?

If you use Internet Explorer, you click on "favorites" and "add to favorites". It's called "bookmarks" my browser, Mozilla Firefox.