Amazing. Second visit by the upgrade fairy

[mancunian]

We are due to sail on Rotterdam from Rotterdam for 24 days on Sunday. Last week 11 days before sailing we were upgraded from an FF to a D main deck. Very pleased with this upgrade as we prefer Main to Promenade. Then tonight do not know what made me look on online booking we have been upgraded again to a B balcony cabin. You can imagine the excitement here. Just hope the weather is good enough to make full use. I am dreaming of breakfast on the balcony. It will be hard to return to oceanviews in future though won't it. Perhaps this is what HAL is hoping for. . . .

This is our third time lucky cruise as we had two cruises to South America cancelled and rescheduled. As we could not manage the third date we moved to this. Perhaps it is third time lucky.

[Nutbunch]

Congratulations and Bon Voyage!

Have a wonderful trip! :)

[timothy998]

Congratulations!!! We were in two connecting VEs in March on ms Westerdam and loved them.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Congratulations!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Congratulations!!!:) That is fantastic, you will so enjoy this cruise :cool:

[Loreto]

Congratulations! We loved our cruise on the Rotterdam. :)Have a great time!
Karen

[solocanadian]

We are due to sail on Rotterdam from Rotterdam for 24 days on Sunday. Last week 11 days before sailing we were upgraded from an FF to a D main deck. Very pleased with this upgrade as we prefer Main to Promenade. Then tonight do not know what made me look on online booking we have been upgraded again to a B balcony cabin. You can imagine the excitement here. Just hope the weather is good enough to make full use. I am dreaming of breakfast on the balcony. It will be hard to return to oceanviews in future though won't it. Perhaps this is what HAL is hoping for. . . .

This is our third time lucky cruise as we had two cruises to South America cancelled and rescheduled. As we could not manage the third date we moved to this. Perhaps it is third time lucky.
Congratulations - enjoy your balcony! :D

[MightyQuinn]

This is our third time lucky cruise as we had two cruises to South America cancelled and rescheduled. As we could not manage the third date we moved to this. Perhaps it is third time lucky.
I'm so happy for you! I remember reading your earlier posts expressing frustration with your SA cruises being cancelled, rescheduled & changed yet again. It's wonderful to read of this happy ending. Best wishes for a fabulous cruise. :):)

[liv2cruise4ever]

Congratulations on the upgrade! Enjoy!

Now for the bad news....sorry about what happened to our United yesterday! Love em still! I go back to the days of Best, Charlton, Kidd, Stepney! Ahhhhhh those were the days.

Sail on!

[earl_m]

Congrats!!! have a great cruise!!

[mancunian]

Thanks everyone. I was just so excited yesterday I just had to tell someone.

To Liv2cruiseforever. Sad about Manchester United but our family are actually Manchester City fans - always have been since great grandfather downwards.

[eh2zed]

Two upgrades on one cruise. Who said lightning never strikes the same place twice. Congrats and enjoy your cruise. Rotterdam VI, the flagship, is our favourite.

[Shippy]

Although I have to admit we do pay rock bottom prices, I thought I would inquire about an upgrade for our June 6th cruise.
We booked a veranda suite guarantee and have not yet been assigned.
I called the internet TA to have them check what it would cost us to upgrade to a deluxe veranda suite. Since we are less than 2 weeks away & did several cruises with Holland before, I thought it would be worth the try.
They came back & said $800. per person ! That would almost double the price we paid originally. I am convinced that a lot of the times, they factor in how much you paid for your cruise originally. The more you paid.....the better the chances for an upgrade.
We don't pay much so the odds for us are nil......

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Although I have to admit we do pay rock bottom prices, I thought I would inquire about an upgrade for our June 6th cruise.
We booked a veranda suite guarantee and have not yet been assigned.
I called the internet TA to have them check what it would cost us to upgrade to a deluxe veranda suite. Since we are less than 2 weeks away & did several cruises with Holland before, I thought it would be worth the try.
They came back & said $800. per person ! That would almost double the price we paid originally. I am convinced that a lot of the times, they factor in how much you paid for your cruise originally. The more you paid.....the better the chances for an upgrade.
We don't pay much so the odds for us are nil......

Actually your TA would call into HAL it would be the Sales dept that has absolutely nothing to do with the department that does the upgrades and offers to upgrade. When an offer comes thru it is a totally different department that handles that. The sales division is paid on commission so of course the prices per person is much higher. A couple of years ago I had gone into my TA's office and inquired about going to an SA we were in a SY guarantee and had no cabin assignment yet and when she called they wanted $1000 PP then she checked her fax and and earlier that day she was sent a fax offering us $199 PP.

What I am saying is your TA cannot just call in they have to be notified that in your sailing they are offering upgrades. There is a special phone number they must call into to the Inventory Department. Unfortunately I think it is rare for an Internet TA to either get these emails or faxes. I could be wrong. But it does seem that those who book directly with HAL and or a Local TA tend more often to get these offers. But I will say that if you purchase during one of those Flash Promotions those too are not offered. I booked our upcoming Alaska cruise on a very good prices but it was not a Flash promotion.

[mancunian]

I think you probably have a good point Shippy. We in fact booked early - even though it was our third attempt to book a cruise that HAL did not then change it was still early. In fact the prices have gone down about £300 pp since we booked, but we had to shrug our shoulders on this one because it is not quite so easy to change things if you cruise from England. Our first upgrade to a D was in fact the amount we actually paid for an FF. May be a coincidence, but they had changed us to a D guarantee on our tickets with cabin not assigned - the cabin number not appearing until 11 days out. We were pleased because we thought it good we had made up the difference in cost. This latest upgrade was the icing on the cake. It will never happen to us again I am sure.

We will never know the magic that the upgrade fairy creates or why. I guess it is not ours to know but perhaps:
1, We were in some sort of raffle we did not know about and got first prize!!!!!
2. They looked for people with birthdays - we have just received HAL birthday card for my husband's birthday next week.
3. Maybe it was the early booking and/or the higher amount we paid
4. Perhaps it was because by the time we got to cruise number three there had been a fair amount of difficulty in getting it sorted out - again I think because we are in England.

I feel slightly guilty now putting this news on the boards but really wanted to share my news. I hoped it would also let people know this does happen, but on the other hand perhaps it was tactless and if I had been less excited I would have thought about it.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I think you probably have a good point Shippy. We in fact booked early - even though it was our third attempt to book a cruise that HAL did not then change it was still early. In fact the prices have gone down about £300 pp since we booked, but we had to shrug our shoulders on this one because it is not quite so easy to change things if you cruise from England. Our first upgrade to a D was in fact the amount we actually paid for an FF. May be a coincidence, but they had changed us to a D guarantee on our tickets with cabin not assigned - the cabin number not appearing until 11 days out. We were pleased because we thought it good we had made up the difference in cost. This latest upgrade was the icing on the cake. It will never happen to us again I am sure.

We will never know the magic that the upgrade fairy creates or why. I guess it is not ours to know but perhaps:
1, We were in some sort of raffle we did not know about and got first prize!!!!!
2. They looked for people with birthdays - we have just received HAL birthday card for my husband's birthday next week.
3. Maybe it was the early booking and/or the higher amount we paid
4. Perhaps it was because by the time we got to cruise number three there had been a fair amount of difficulty in getting it sorted out - again I think because we are in England.

I feel slightly guilty now putting this news on the boards but really wanted to share my news. I hoped it would also let people know this does happen, but on the other hand perhaps it was tactless and if I had been less excited I would have thought about it.
You have no reason to feel quility. I know the feeling you want to tell everyone about this excitement but none of your friends understand. The only people who do understand is your friends here on the HAL Board :) Many people never get the offers and some start to get them frequently. My post above was just saying that a TA cannot just call in they must be contacted first.

So jump up and down for JOY!!! This is great news and we are excited for you.

I have learned a few things after 21 cruises with HAL in just a few years. One is that the upgrade come more often to those that have sailed HAL a lot because they do infact look at Mariner Status (this I have been told by several inside sources) and that these economic times are effecting the cruise industry and those that can take the time and spend some money can get some amazing deals ;)

[herbshopgirl]

Shippy - did you get a good deal on this cruise via internet TA or are you an interline employee? Maybe I am misreading your post but I got the impression you might be an interline employee? I ask because we are interline and are hoping for an upgrade but not sure we will get it.:o

[debshomespun]

Congrats! and Enjoy! Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those that wait! :D :D

[Shippy]

Shippy - did you get a good deal on this cruise via internet TA or are you an interline employee? Maybe I am misreading your post but I got the impression you might be an interline employee? I ask because we are interline and are hoping for an upgrade but not sure we will get it.:o

Although on some cruises we could get an interline rate through our daughter...we haven't in years.
That is another way to check availability & the interline sites are FULL of available cabins.
We have found that for the higher end rooms we can actually do better on regular discount internet sites.

Interline still has unbelieveable inside,outside rates but for balcony's & mini suites they usually can't beat the others(usually) EXCEPT for the really high end lines (crystal,silversea,etc)that refuse to advertise big discounts.

[herbshopgirl]

Thanks for the reply. Hope you get a visit from the upgrade fairy!!!

[LVSue]

Mancunian, for gosh sakes, don't feel guilty! Congratulations and enjoy your cruise! I should think after 3 tries, you deserve an upgrade!