Guarantee Upgrade Based on Number of Cruises

[changingcruiser]

Does anyone know who gets upgraded when you book with a guarantee? Do they upgrade based on the amounts paid for the particular cruise or by the number of cruises taken with the particular cruise line? I tried to ask the booking agent but nobody seems to know.

[Carol P.]

I just received a letter from Princess cruises and it stated that they employ an automated reservations system which scans specific cruises and assigns staterooms as booking and space availability dictate. This system also has the ability to automatically upgrade. Criteria for automatic upgrading includes past passenger history, category and promotion a passsenger has booked, as well as the date the reservation was made. (This is what the letter stated) I wrote to Princess wondering why we were upgraded one catagory (we're Platinum) and my inlaws were upgraded 3 catagories their second cruise. This is how they explained it. Still doesn't make sense to me. We both booked balcony guarantees!!

One cc person told me that Princess is known to give an upgrade to passengers who haven't cruised many times with them in order to get them back as returning passengers. I believe that person before I believe all that was written in my letter. Since it is automated I figure it should go by the information fed to it. We were deserving of the 3 catagory upgrade and my inlaws should have had the one. They also got their cabin # 2 months before us, we got ours 5 days before the cruise. So go figure:D I said I'd never do a guarantee again BUT if the price was right I probably would:)

[waiting2retire]

As far as HAL goes, the long-standing theory on the CC boards is that HAL employs an elderly, long-since-retired former employee who comes to work when she is able, with her knitting, and sits in her rocking chair waiting to sprinkle "fairy-dust" when the mood strikes her. She is referred to as "the upgrade fairy". :D :D

In reality, nobody seems to know how and why upgrades are assigned since they truly appear to be random and not based on how much you paid, how many cruises you have been on, or when you booked.

Good luck!!

[Cruising-along]

We book guarantee every time, and have been upgraded every time -- including an excellent upgrade on our very first cruise.

We thought then that it was because they wanted us back :D

Another reason could be that we book at least a year in advance. Or most likely, as others have stated, it just depends on how the upgrade fairy is feeling that day!

[Carol P.]

As you can see from my first post it didn't work for us. Both parties booked exactly the same day and in front of a TA. I'm sure the automatic system that the person wrote me about got us confused (same last name). We did like our cabin location and in the future would probably request that deck again.

[changingcruiser]

Since my 10/18 cruise had been chartered, I was told that if I wanted an SC cabin like I had before, I had to go guarantee. I was actually given the same price for the guarantee as I had when I had been assigned an SC cabin. Are guarantees supposed to be cheaper because my price was not at all different.

[gotsand]

We booked a VE guar on Oosterdam, filled out our online info. and it states VC guar. Could it be the price we paid for VE guar is now the price of the VC guar.? That is what it looks like to me.
We booked in Jan. and the price for a vc is what we paid for ve guar.

[dakrewser]

There's only one major criterium for an upgrade - HAL needs the cabin you're in to sell to someone else. Usually it's because there are unsold cabins on the ship, and it's easier to sell the cheapest ones rather than the penthouse. So they'll advertise the cheap ones and, if they sell, already booked pax will be upgraded. What's even better, though, is if someone wants the specific cabin you're in ("It's the one we had on our honeymoon!") - they'll pay a premium, and you get upgraded to the next higher vacancy - which could be 4, 5 or 6 categories higher.

Yes, length of reservation, number of days on HAL, price paid all may figure into the equation. But if they don't need your cabin to sell to someone else then you aren't getting an upgrade.

[jtl513]

We book guarantee every time, and have been upgraded every time -- including an excellent upgrade on our very first cruise.

Another reason could be that we book at least a year in advance. Or most likely, as others have stated, it just depends on how the upgrade fairy is feeling that day!Our experience is similar. Counting one guarantee reservation we did for our DD and DSiL, we're 6-for-6 on upgrades of a least a few steps ... including our first HAL cruise. (We chose a specific cabin on the Statendam.) We have booked anywhere from 11 months to 3 months before sailing.

Are guarantees supposed to be cheaper because my price was not at all different.There's no price difference on guarantees. The only reason for doing a guarantee is the hope of sailing in something better than what you paid for.

[hammybee]

There's only one major criterium for an upgrade - HAL needs the cabin you're in to sell to someone else. Usually it's because there are unsold cabins on the ship, and it's easier to sell the cheapest ones rather than the penthouse. So they'll advertise the cheap ones and, if they sell, already booked pax will be upgraded.

Let me add, that upgrades work from the bottom up and are based only upon what the cruise line needs versus supply and demand.

If, for example, you booked a VA guarantee and suites are available, the only way you are going to be upgraded is if HAL can sell the VA to someone else. Without a business need, there is no upgrade. In this example, it is likely HAL would likely try to upsell you on a suite at a reduced price.

Always book a guarantee understanding that you may very well get the cabin no one else wanted, in the cabin grade you booked. All is is a blessing.

[RlrCstr]

I am a Copper Medalion level cruiser well on my way to the Silver Medalion
level. I own CCL stock. I book usually 9 months in advance of the cruise
date, sometimes as much as a year 15 months out. Those are all things that theoretically might be factored into an upgrade decision. All I can say is that it must be the caprecious nature of the upgrade fairy, because I have Never been upgraded on HAL.

As for Princess, they do actively go after my business with mailings and emailings, but I actually got a Downgrade from them on a cruise last year.
All of my paperwork said a specific cabin number for a mini-suite. I had all that proof with me. I get to the ship to check in, and they tell me I am in a different cabin. It was presented to me as an upgrade for my loyalty to
their line. But when I saw that instead of being on the deck I had booked,
in the area of the ship I had wanted, that I was on a different deck, in a cabin that needed a tour guide to locate. I did some checking and found that this cabin was 2 catagories Lower than the one I had booked and paid for. The ship was completely full, so when I brought it to their attention at the hotel manager's office, what I got was a "shipload":rolleyes: of OBC, but they couldn't move me since the ship was full, and I was stuck in a cabin that could not have been less convenient to everything onboard the ship.

Book the cabin you will be happy with, keep all paperwork with you just in case. But the important thing is that you will be on a cruise, so how could it be anything but wonderful? :)

[jtl513]

I am a Copper Medalion level cruiser well on my way to the Silver Medalion
level. I own CCL stock. I book usually 9 months in advance of the cruise
date, sometimes as much as a year 15 months out. Those are all things that theoretically might be factored into an upgrade decision. All I can say is that it must be the caprecious nature of the upgrade fairy, because I have Never been upgraded on HAL.But do you ever book guarantees?

[Nancyquilts]

But do you ever book guarantees?
Someetimes you have to - we had to when only taking a portion of the South America cruise. With 7 cruises with HAL, and booking over a year ahead, we got a worse cabin than someone who had never sailed HAL, booked in April, and paid a lot less. Go figure.:mad: Nancy

[garydm]

I think Dave has it. The ONLY time we have been upgraded (from a B to an S) was when the couple absolutely had to have our B cabin for some reason. Only reason I know is my brother was in the cabin next door and he asked them how they ended up in "our" cabin. We did a guarantee one time and got exactly that level cabin.

Gary

[mybagsarepacked]

But do you ever book guarantees?

I think you hit the nail on the head. I was told, off the record from a HAL personal consultant, that the magic to getting an upgrade was a couple of things:

Book a guarantee. Each time we have done that, we've been upgraded. However, if we hadn't it would not have bothered us as we still book a guarantee in a category we like.

Book a handicapped room or an inside.
We've always booked an inside cabin because I like sensory depravation when I sleep. That being said, in the times we have been upgraded to an outside cabin it was okay with me. It didn't ruin the cruise as I also travel with a sleep mask for airplanes and other areas which would keep me awake with light.

The handicapped rooms are rare, and booking one months and months out tends to increase the chance of an upgrade, according to the HAL guy. However, we've never booked a handicapped room, as we don't need one and it seems kind of less than nice to try and reserve a room when we don't need it over someone who might need it.

On one cruise, we actually got upgraded, and into a handicapped room. That was odd, but it wasn't horrible. Just more space and a bigger bathroom, though clearly we aren't handicapped and didn't need it, that is where we were put.

We are pretty agreeable so we for the most part roll with the punches.

I am just repeating what I was told by the HAL guy, so it is one man's opinion as it were. I am by no way saying these are fast and hard rules.

Before I knew about the guarantee, I also picked out a specific cabin, and was never upgraded when I did that. When I started booking guarantees, that all changed.

[TigerLady]

Does anyone know who gets upgraded when you book with a guarantee? Do they upgrade based on the amounts paid for the particular cruise or by the number of cruises taken with the particular cruise line? I tried to ask the booking agent but nobody seems to know.

I'd hav to agree with most of the posters. They do it to get your return business. Our first cruise was booked guarantee. We were upgraded nicely. Of course, we return. Maybe it's the luck of the draw. I just wish they would draw us again..

[betonic]

I used to always book a specific cabin because I'm very particular about where I want to be on the ship and a lot of the balconies are in locations that I wouldn't be happy with.

Last year I was sailing alone on the Noordam and there were no balconies left so I booked at SZ Gaurentee. I looked at the deck plans and decided that I could live with the location of the SZ and everything above it. I was eventually assigned an SS for the cruise. On my next Westerdam I also booked the SZ Gaur and ended up with a SY.

I'm going on the Westerdam Sunday as a solo and on a budget so I booked a fully obstructed gaurentee on recomendation of my travel agent. Three weeks before the sailing I was assigned a partially obstructed mid-ship. I wasn't thrilled but for what I paid I was satisfied. Ten days ago we got an up-sell for $199 to an AFT VA and jumped on it.
So in the end I paid $1000 dollars less than I would have had I booked the VA to start with.

I think there is no way of knowing what will happen with upgrades or upsells but good things do happen sometimes.

[caribbean girl]

So...based on this information, someone must have REALLY wanted our guarantee, HH partially obstructed, oceanview cabin. Which is the reason we just got upgraded to a Deluxe Veranda for only $129 pp...:p Whatever the reason, it works for us!:D Incidentally, we only booked this trip about two months in advance.

[iceman93]

Put me in the "never been upgraded" category.

Of course, except for our first cruise on the Statendam, the fact that we booked the best category on each ship may have played a role! :D

I like the philosophy others have stated here: book only the category of cabin you'd be happy staying in, nothing less.

[lorekauf]

I like the philosophy others have stated here: book only the category of cabin you'd be happy staying in, nothing less.

I'd be happy only in the Penthouse suite:D but I have a beer budget.:D :D

[hammybee]

So...based on this information, someone must have REALLY wanted our guarantee, HH partially obstructed, oceanview cabin. Which is the reason we just got upgraded to a Deluxe Veranda for only $129 pp...:p Whatever the reason, it works for us!:D Incidentally, we only booked this trip about two months in advance.

More than likely someone booked a dirt cheap, low grade inside ( nothing wrong with that) and so someone else with a high grade inside got your outside and you made the quantum leap when they made you an offer you could not refuse.

Guarantees have nothing to do with being nice. It's all about selling out the ship anyway they can.

[RuthC]

However, we've never booked a handicapped room, as we don't need one and it seems kind of less than nice to try and reserve a room when we don't need it over someone who might need it.
Bless you for that. Many people wouldn't care about the others who do need that kind of room.

[mybagsarepacked]

Bless you for that. Many people wouldn't care about the others who do need that kind of room.

My momma brought me up right. But thank you kindly for your sweet words.