Advice on possibility of upgrade for our first cruise?

Hello Everyone

We haven't been on a cruise before and this first one is to celebrate a very special wedding anniversary. We are hoping to see the Aurora Borealis in Iceland in 3 weeks time.

Because we have many other demands on our funds; the cabin we have booked is the most basic - so no spotting the Northern Lights out of our porthole window! Sad to say.

I have read what some folk have said about their experiences of getting an upgrade; can anyone advise me whether it would be best to ring up now and see if anything can be done or should we wait until the day of the cruise and ask whoever it is who deals with us?

We were hoping the company would do this out of the goodness of their hearts and for potential good publicity if we report this to others!

I'm reasoning if we ring up and ask now; the company will probably just want to sell us a better cabin but also if we wait until boarding day; they might have nothing left to play with....

I'd really appreciate any thoughts on this

We usually cruise and Princess and you cannot call and ask for a free upgrade.

There are 2 things that could happen:

1. They can give you a free upgrade whenever they do this. It depends on how the cruise is booking up.

2. They can email your TA or you or call you and see if you would like to pay for an upsell. That is usually a set amount for a better cabin. You can take it or reject it.

We have cruised over 35 times and only once have we gotten an upgrade and that was back in 1990. The other times we have been offered upsells and usually jump on it.

Like i said this is only for Princess not sure about other lines. Which line are you going on?

To answer your question. No, you can not call to request an up grade.

Up grades are offered on a very random bases. Here on CC members kid about the Upgrade Fairy visiting them.

All you can do is wait and hope.

Bob

You can always try and call I guess, but in reality none of us really knows how the upgrade business works, but here is what i have noticed:

• most upgrades are within the class of cabin, or at best to the next class,i.e. interior to exterior (rare). You won't be jumping from an interior to a balcony cabin.
  
• if you were hoping for an upgrade you should probably select a "guarantee" - we had a balcony cabin guarantee on a HAL transatlantic and did get upgraded to a small suite one time. Beware though that while they will not down-grade you, sometimes the cabin you end up with may not be in the best location.
  
• most ships sail full and you will most likely not be upgraded at the pier.
  
• upsells are more likely as you get closer to sailing time...but these do come with a cost.
  

I do hope you enjoy your first cruise - my first 10 or so were in interior cabins and we had a blast.

The other thing to be aware of is that what the cruiseline calls an 'upgrade' might not seem any better to the passenger. A move nearer to the middle of the ship or to a different deck can be classed as an upgrade cos the cabins in that location are sold for a little more money, but the passenger might not notice any improvement!

Cruise lines are getting better and better at maximizing revenue. One way to do this is to sell all the cabins. Most of the few upgrades they give are to a higher category of the same type of cabin. That is for instance, from a lower category ocean view to a higher category ocean view.

When they have a need to move someone to a higher type cabin, they offer upsells. With these, you would get a call offering to move you to this higher type cabin for a price. It might be something like $259 to move from and ocean view to a balcony for a week long cruise.

You and thousands, maybe millions are cruising for a special event.Very unlikely.Did you research many options to get best pricing?

30 cruises and 1 upgrade.

I would suggest you keep track of the cost of your cruise by checking the website concerned periodically and sometimes you may see a price drop. If so you might be able to swing a 'better' cabin with the newer pricing and keep your cost the same, or taking the price drop if you like.

Have heard of that.

Usually no price drop availability after final payment is made and it all depends on bookings and whatever else the cruise line uses for setting costs.

For instance my upcoming Eastern Med cruise has had two price drops in as many weeks totaling $700. Guess lot of folks worried about the political situation in some ports. One port has already been canceled by the cruise line and have heard of other lines doing the same.

The other thing to be aware of is that what the cruiseline calls an 'upgrade' might not seem any better to the passenger. A move nearer to the middle of the ship or to a different deck can be classed as an upgrade cos the cabins in that location are sold for a little more money, but the passenger might not notice any improvement!

That is a real issue to us, and why we now mark our booking "No Upgrades" location is important to us for some medical reasons and many upgrades, just aren't.

If we knew how to get an upgrade we would do it all the time!

Having said that we have been lucky twice. First time was on NCL: we had booked a 'guarantee' inside cabin and a couple of weeks before we sailed we were upgraded to an outside cabin. The second time, and the best, was on the Queen Mary 2. We had booked an inside cabin (our compromise to enable is to cruise more often) and it was only when we got to check in did we find out that we had been upgraded to a balcony!! Very nice, but why we were chosen is a mystery and will stay that way.

That is a real issue to us, and why we now mark our booking "No Upgrades" location is important to us for some medical reasons and many upgrades, just aren't.

Another thought. We seem to be booking a lot of B2B (Back to Back cruises) lately and desire to stay in the same cabin.

And another thought. Find the blog on your cruise and you can pick up a lot of info from fellow cruisers.

Do you really think that we who know how to get free upgrades are going to blab ... and ruin our chances?

Seriously, most ships now sail full - to save money (which seems to have been what was in OP's mind at time of booking) it is best to buy a guarantee -- the lowest class of cabin which will make you happy, and then be happy with what you get.

Hi Bowser Duff

Just my opinion but if you want to see the Northern Lights, I would think that you would have a more spectacular view from the upper decks. If you can find a remote dark area of the ship would be optimum. If you hoped to see this from your OV room or balcony and the ship wasn't going in the right direction, you might miss it completely.

We had a similar situation last year with the total lunar eclipse. From most OV cabins you wouldn't have seen anything. Walking those upper decks at different times of the day,you can see so many things that people would be amazed at. It's fascinating how many people who love cruising would never even think of staring out at the ocean.

Hello Everyone

 

We haven't been on a cruise before and this first one is to celebrate a very special wedding anniversary. We are hoping to see the Aurora Borealis in Iceland in 3 weeks time.

 

Because we have many other demands on our funds; the cabin we have booked is the most basic - so no spotting the Northern Lights out of our porthole window! Sad to say.

I have read what some folk have said about their experiences of getting an upgrade; can anyone advise me whether it would be best to ring up now and see if anything can be done or should we wait until the day of the cruise and ask whoever it is who deals with us?

 

We were hoping the company would do this out of the goodness of their hearts and for potential good publicity if we report this to others!

 

I'm reasoning if we ring up and ask now; the company will probably just want to sell us a better cabin but also if we wait until boarding day; they might have nothing left to play with....

 

I'd really appreciate any thoughts on this

Generally, an "upgrade" (moving you to a better room for no price increase) is fairly rare.

If the cruise line contacts you to offer you a better room, with a price that's less than the list price for that better room, that's an "upsell". Those can happen. Not often, but not rarely.

Or, you can call and change your room to a "better" room, but you'll pay the price increase to the current rate for that room.

We've been upgraded on a few of our cruises. We've had upsell offers on 2 cruises (took one of them). And we've never called to change our room on our own.

Some cruise lines have upgrade desks at the terminal check in. Usually for a lower cost than if you had "upgraded" the day prior, but many cruises sail full, so you can't count on them having anything.

Everyone would like an upgrade and a great many people are celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, successful recovery from serious illness, retirement, graduations........ you get the picture. :)

The best rule of thumb is to book and pay for a cabin you can be happy in and if you are offered an upgrade or upsell, you can consider if the price is good.

Don't ever count on free upgrades. Lots of folks want them. ;)

On my first cruise, we got an upgrade...but it really wasn't a great change for us. Got stuck under one of the dining rooms and would hear vacuuming late at night each night.

A couple of other times we got decent upgrades, but usually from inside (which we almost always book) to another inside or an ocean view. For our last three cruises, we've marked our booking "no upgrade" as we liked our location and didn't want to risk ending up in an area we wouldn't like (such as far forward on typically rough seas cruises).

As far as I know, you can't just call up and ask for an upgrade. If there's some reason the ship's management wants your cabin for some reason, they'll move you. But you won't be upgraded just because you have a special occasion like a honeymoon as they will be plenty of couples who just got married or celebrating a milestone anniversary or celebrating a birthday. Just listen for the waiters singing "Happy Anniversary" at dinner time and you'll see.

And the cruise lines won't be upgrading because of the potential of publicity. Again, wouldn't that be the case with many?

Upgrades are few and far between. UpSELLS are a bit more common, but do cost something (and sometimes the cost is worth it).

My advice, book the best cabin you can get for the price you are willing to pay. Never book a cabin you don't want, hoping they will upgrade you to something better. It's not that likely.

Maybe you will be the lucky person, but I am not willing to take the chance.

Hello Everyone

 

We haven't been on a cruise before and this first one is to celebrate a very special wedding anniversary. We are hoping to see the Aurora Borealis in Iceland in 3 weeks time.

 

Because we have many other demands on our funds; the cabin we have booked is the most basic - so no spotting the Northern Lights out of our porthole window! Sad to say.

I have read what some folk have said about their experiences of getting an upgrade; can anyone advise me whether it would be best to ring up now and see if anything can be done or should we wait until the day of the cruise and ask whoever it is who deals with us? there is no upgrading at the pier, period. you will be charged an upsell price if you call, UNLESS the price for the next category up is now lower than what you paid and you are before final payment. then you can REQUEST to be given a a cabin in the new category. after final payment date has passed, you are stuck with what you have

 

We were hoping the company would do this out of the goodness of their hearts and for potential good publicity if we report this to others! no offense, but so does EVERYONE onboard. EVERYONE wants an upgrade and VERY FEW ever get it. and no one has determined how that occurs.

 

I'm reasoning if we ring up and ask now; the company will probably just want to sell us a better cabin but also if we wait until boarding day; they might have nothing left to play with....

 

I'd really appreciate any thoughts on this

Bottom line : NEVER expect or wish for an upgrade. they are just too random and rare to have any realistic chance of occurring. 1st time cruisers are NO MORE likely to get an upgrade over the guy with 250 plus nights at sea with the company.

Hello and Thank You to the people who responded to my query.

It would seem from what a lot of you are saying that we are too late anyway to benefit from any kind of upgrade as we paid in full months ago now.

A better question from me, might have been: how frequently are upgrades allocated? Then I would have been made aware that they are quite rare occurrences but this is our first cruise, we know diddly squat about the machinations of cruising and imagined that they might be a lot more frequent than is the case.

We didn't however 'expect' anything at all; we simply hoped that we might get lucky if a better cabin was free on our week.

Thank you Nic6318 on your advice to get out on deck at all different times to see what's occurring (I don't know how to respond to your post specifically; it's taken me ages to work out how to respond to my own post! I'm hoping it goes in the right place).

Bowser

It is not too late as some upsells/upgrades happen in the week or two prior to sailing. There are times it could happen at check in but that is quite rare.

The fact you are paid in full is not a factor as everyone has to pay in full at a certain cut off date, usually in the range of 70 or so days prior to sailing.

You really should not count on getting an upgrade.

Hopefully you have chosen a cabin that you will be happy with.

Ships are sailing nearly full now, and when you arrive at the pier for embarkation, you'll usually see signs that say "cruise full, no upgrades". In all my 88 cruises, I've gotten one free upgrade.

Hello and Thank You to the people who responded to my query.

 

It would seem from what a lot of you are saying that we are too late anyway to benefit from any kind of upgrade as we paid in full months ago now.

 

A better question from me, might have been: how frequently are upgrades allocated? Then I would have been made aware that they are quite rare occurrences but this is our first cruise, we know diddly squat about the machinations of cruising and imagined that they might be a lot more frequent than is the case.

 

We didn't however 'expect' anything at all; we simply hoped that we might get lucky if a better cabin was free on our week.

 

Thank you Nic6318 on your advice to get out on deck at all different times to see what's occurring (I don't know how to respond to your post specifically; it's taken me ages to work out how to respond to my own post! I'm hoping it goes in the right place).

 

Bowser

Poorly researched travel articles frequently suggest that cruisers ask about free upgrades. People could moved from their assigned staterooms occasionally when their original is taken out of service on their cruise for maintenance. When it happens, it is ALWAYS for the benefit of the cruise line. How often? It happens about as frequently as someone gets moved from coach to first class on a flight, about as often as I get off the ship weighing the same as when I got on, about as often as someone hits the lotto...