Question For HAL Veterans

[hensghan]

As a relatively new HAL customer (3 past HAL cruises; 2 pending HAL cruises) I must admit I have been the beneficiary of both the upgrade and upsell fairies and have been pleasantly surprised by both, and my question is primarily directed to those of you who have sailed myriad times with HAL. Do these fairies seem to visit upon you less and less as you sail more and more with HAL? Are upgrading and upselling marketing tools used primarily to lock in newcomers to the fold or do these guys continue to randomly disburse their generosities even to veteran cruisers? I ask this because, as I read these boards, it often seems that it is the newcomers (like me) who report great upgrades or very reasonable upsells, not the folks with 20 or 30 cruises listed beneath their names. I'm curious as to what the future may hold!

[kazu]

It's hard to say. Upsells are offered when they are available to try to get people to go to higher classes of course. The hope is that you will then book that class in the future.

I have heard some people say they rarely get one and yet I have also seen posts of upgrades on a guarantee 7 out of 8 times (and he definitely is a veteran cruiser).

I have done a number of cruises and have been offered upsells on several occasions and took them (we don't book guarantees).

Certain cruises, certain ships, certain itineraries may have certain categories sold out early, so there may be nothing to be upgraded to or upsold to depending on what category your guarantee is in.

So, it really depends upon what's available & if the upgrade fairy's dust lands on you. Also, if you get an offer for an upsell, and want it, don't wait to think about it, take it. You are not the only one getting the offer. First come, first served. enjoy your cruises :)

[Cinder Again]

Personally, I think it's the type of cruise you choose. I have a tendency now that I am retired to pick more exotic cruises, the ones they only do a time or two a season. Rarely are there empty cabins on these cruises, so it's rare to have anyone say they were "upgraded".
If you cruise Alaska or the Caribbean, where there are tons of choices, and some of the bigger ships, I think the odds go up.
That said, that's why it's a fairy...you never know where the dust will be sprinkled. It's like Dining room seating. I am sure there is a formula, I just can't figure it out...

[world~citizen]

...I'm curious as to what the future may hold!

Aren't we all. :D

Smooth sailing...

[kakalina]

We take plenty of long exotic cruises. Out of 22 cruises we have been upgraded 17 times, upsold once, the twice we picked a particular cabin and requested it not be changed the other two times we got what we paid for, the lowest guarantee in that category.. So, to answer your question long time cruisers still get plenty of upgrade/upsell offers. At least for us it has worked out that way.

[lorekauf]

There seems to be no pattern on upgrades. On my last cruise I got nothing. My next cruise I got upgraded from an F cabin to a C. It's been hit or miss with me. Sometimes I do very well....sometimes not so much. I've got close to 200 days with HAL.

[sail7seas]

:) There are even some that are very appreciative for the offer but have been known decline. ;)
Not too many, I suppose.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It does seem to be hit or miss. I know of one person who has around 400 days on HAL -- a couple of times they have gotten upgrades -- most time -- nothing.

[kalliekae]

We were upgraded from an ocean view to an SA on our second HAL cruise. Since then, we prefer to choose our cabin number and don't want an upgrade. Our friends are sailing with us in November and have never cruised before. They just received an upgrade from an SS to an SC aft and are thrilled. We have always wondered if HAL looks for new customers and upgrades them first.

[Randyk47]

We've never been upgraded. I figure that's because we've never booked a guarantee and have booked only B category or above on R and S class ships and SS or above on Vista class. Doesn't leave much room, in terms of cabins or categories, to be upgraded to.

[happyglobetrotter]

We have a lot of cruises on HAL (45). We always book MM guarantee and we are always upgraded at least one or 2 categories when the ship is full.

When the ship is not full, it is easier to get an upgrade. We were upgraded once from MM to category D (ant it was the World Cruise):D. On a not full ship, we usually get upgraded 3 or 4 categories and sometimes from interior to outside.

We found out that it is harder to get a good upgrade when we are doing a B2B, the cabin coordination does not seem to work out on these. The fairy has to find a cabin that is both free and available for both segments.

Anyway, we are always happy to be on a HAL ship regardeless of the cabin. For me, a lower deck is mandatory (I get sea sick...still when it is bad) so lower promenade is my favorite deck.

Louise