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How the Heck Do You Get Upgrades???


tweeteybird88
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How the Heck Do You Get Upgrades??  

213 members have voted

  1. 1. How the Heck Do You Get Upgrades??

    • Book a Guarantee Cabin -- in the hopes of an automatic upgrade
      62
    • Just Ask!
      20
    • Cruise the Same Line Often -- loyalty perks
      26
    • Cruise Different Lines Often -- lines will court new passengers and offer upgrades
      5
    • I'm Feeling Lucky -- no rhyme or reason to it
      55
    • Get Cruise Line Branded Credit Cards -- offer perks like upgrades and onboard credit
      5
    • Book During Off Peak Times -- more likely to get an upgrade when ships are not full
      26
    • Take a Luxury Cruise -- all of those cabins are "upgrades" anyway
      14


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I'm looking for the best way to get upgrades on cruises. This question is not cruise line specific, just speaking in general. Check all that apply, and comment on your experiences -- what's worked, what hasn't. What's the big mystery behind it all. Is there a tried and true way to guarantee you'll get an upgrade?

Edited by tweeteybird88
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The system of upgrades is a closely guarded secret. No one has ever mentioned really knowing how it is done. Rumors have it related to demand for cabins- low demand in a higher level cabin will generate upgrades. But how they decide you get it, and I don't is closely held.

 

15 cruises, never a hint of an upgrade.

Edited by CruiserBruce
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The times I've been upgraded were when I booked a guarantee. The cruise line upgraded me for free. Sometimes you get an upgrade, sometimes you don't. There are a lot of factors that go into their decision to upgrade.

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Not had an 'upgrade' as such, but did book a guarantee veranda suite, which could have been anything from V1-V6, and we got V5, which would have cost us more if we'd chosen this.

 

I really don't think there is any way to signficantly increase your chances of a substantial upgrade (sea view to balcony, or balcony to suite, for example), as it's governed by the economics of filling the ship - if there are more passengers trying to book lower grades with spare capacity in upper grades then some of those will be upgraded. However, if there is a chance of filling the upper grades with folks paying the full cost then the line will obviously take that option and turn down those wanting cheaper suites if the ship is near full.

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A couple of times we were upgraded. On my first cruise, we ended up with an upgrade that should have been considered a downgrade -- under a dining room and we heard vacuuming every night around midnight.

 

The last few cruises we have booked a specific cabin and marked it "no upgrade."

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To expect to get something for nothing sets you up for disappointment.

It's good to keep in mind some people are paying the full price for those cabins someone wants a free upgrade to. :eek:

It's a great idea to book the cabin you know you will be happy in and if you are given something worth more, good going!!! :)

 

IMO ....

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Remember that if you are upgraded you will be getting a cabin that no one else wanted.

 

Thus, probably an inferior location.

 

 

Not always. :)

 

Sometimes they upgrade or upsell, to free up less costly cabins that are easier to sell than the higher priced ones. There are cases where people get a great 'freebie' but, of course, that is not the rule nor should anyone come to expect it.

 

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Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

There is no way to predict who will get a free upgrade. Some people are offered upsells.

 

Some people have gotten wonderful upgrades -- others ended up in locations that they were not happy with.

 

Still waiting for an upgrade -- have been offered upsells only twice.

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Why would any of us pay the price for suites if we knew how to get them as free upgrades? :rolleyes: :)

 

And if we did know some magic method (which doesn't exist), "do 'ya really think we'd post it on a public forum?" :D

 

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A couple of times we were upgraded. On my first cruise' date=' we ended up with an upgrade that should have been considered a downgrade -- under a dining room and we heard vacuuming every night around midnight.

 

The last few cruises we have booked a specific cabin and marked it "no upgrade."[/quote']

 

Exactly the point I was making in my previous post.

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Not always. :)

 

Sometimes they upgrade or upsell, to free up less costly cabins that are easier to sell than the higher priced ones. There are cases where people get a great 'freebie' but, of course, that is not the rule nor should anyone come to expect it.

 

 

Once on HAL we received the ultimate upgrade.

 

HAL sold our cabin twice.

 

After wife did some fine negotiating HAL gave us a FREE 10 day cruise in place of a 7 day cruise. HAL refunded us in full, rebooked our air and gave us OBC too boot. The other individual(s) HAL sold our room to had to cruise on that specific date and the wife knowing HAL was in a bind called HAL's bluff and won.

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We have received one upgrade in over thirty cruises. We were given a surprise upgrade from a balcony to a junior suite and, wow, I really loved that junior suite! It was a smart move on Royal's part to do that for us because we have tried to book junior suites ever since when the price is not prohibitive.

 

I don't know what guidelines Royal follows for their upgrades, but I do know that they claim their highest levels of Crown and Anchor passengers--Pinnacle and Diamond Plus-- get top priority. Because there are generally lots of Diamond Plus on board, perhaps the total number of cruises is taken into account. A D+ with 600 cruise points would take priority over one with say 300 cruise points. A Pinnacle guest would trump either of those.

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Once on HAL we received the ultimate upgrade.

 

HAL sold our cabin twice.

 

After wife did some fine negotiating HAL gave us a FREE 10 day cruise in place of a 7 day cruise. HAL refunded us in full, rebooked our air and gave us OBC too boot. The other individual(s) HAL sold our room to had to cruise on that specific date and the wife knowing HAL was in a bind called HAL's bluff and won.

 

 

Now that's what I call an upgrade...unfortunately, I think this is rare occurrence. But wow, what a deal!

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Once on HAL we received the ultimate upgrade.

 

HAL sold our cabin twice.

 

After wife did some fine negotiating HAL gave us a FREE 10 day cruise in place of a 7 day cruise. HAL refunded us in full, rebooked our air and gave us OBC too boot. The other individual(s) HAL sold our room to had to cruise on that specific date and the wife knowing HAL was in a bind called HAL's bluff and won.

 

This does not answer the OP's question. It is an extremely rare occurance that has nothing to do with a guarantee cabin. It just increases people's expectations that they will get something for nothing.

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