Is it possible to lose your balcony if upgraded?

I've read that they can upgrade cabins. It looks like the minisuites are a higher category than balconies. It also looks like some minisuites don't have a balcony. I'm concerned that they could take away your balcony if they needed to and assign you a minisuite without a balcony if you don't mark it as a no upgrade. It this true?

Yes, they can (and do) upgrade people who have marked their booking 'No Upgrade'.

I like Princess, but this is one of their major flaws.

They can upgrade you to a minisuite, but if you have a balcony, your mini will also have a balcony. If you had an OV, they might do the upgrade to a mini w/o a balcony. They don't take balconies away.

They can upgrade you to a minisuite, but if you have a balcony, your mini will also have a balcony. If you had an OV, they might do the upgrade to a mini w/o a balcony. They don't take balconies away.

Why would they care about the balcony when they don't care about/disregard the 'No Upgrade' in the first place?

Princess can "upgrade" you to any cabin at any time, whether your booking is marked "No upgrade" or not as long as it's the same category or higher than the one you've booked. It doesn't happen often if you've marked your booking "No upgrade" and it doesn't happen often if you've booked a balcony cabin, but it does happen. Chances of being upgraded from a standard balcony cabin to a mini-suite without a balcony are miniscule as there are very, very few and most upgrades are from one category to another within the same type of cabin, i.e., balcony to balcony, mini-suite to another. It's almost always about location and based on supply and demand.

Theoretically I suppose, on ships that have them you could go from a balcony to mini-suite or even a window suite. It's not common, but it is at least possible.

That's one thing I'm a little worried about with regards to our upcoming Alaska cruise. We've got two balcony cabins right next to each other so that us and our family will be together. I'm hoping the the upgrade fairy doesn't visit this time because we really want to stay next door to each other...

Please don't be overly concerned about this. It's so unlikely to happen.

LuLu

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That's one thing I'm a little worried about with regards to our upcoming Alaska cruise. We've got two balcony cabins right next to each other so that us and our family will be together. I'm hoping the the upgrade fairy doesn't visit this time because we really want to stay next door to each other...

Please make sure your bookings for the two side by side balconies are linked, and are marked no upgrade. Having them linked lessens the chances significantly that Princess would do anything to move people around.

We have a group of family booked for the 2015 season in Alaska with bookings linked....much less likely.

Why would they care about the balcony when they don't care about/disregard the 'No Upgrade' in the first place?

Because they do not take balconies away - if you book a balcony, even in an upgrade you will have a balcony. The electrons of the upgrade fairy seem to always respect that.

There are mini-suites without balconies???

There are mini-suites without balconies???

Yes.

There are mini-suites without balconies???

Yes, on the Coral and Island there are a few minis without balconies.

Yes, on the Coral and Island there are a few minis without balconies.

And we were upgraded to one of them and loved it. 14 days Panama Canal cruise with our "own" private viewing area right outside our door.

There are mini-suites without balconies???

They are not on ever ship. They are called window suites.

A Princess rep told me that you have 48 hours to refuse the upgrade. If that's the case, I don't understand the concern. You don't like the upgrade, refuse it.

A window suite is NOT a mini suite. Window suites are on the Golden, Caribbean and Grand only. You get full suite comps with those. The mini's on Island and Coral without balconies are not full suites.

They are not on ever ship. They are called window suites.

They are not on ever ship. They are called window suites.

No. These are only on the Island/Coral they are Mini Suites not suites with no balcony, 8 in total.

The space that would have been the balcony is incorporated into the cabin, very spacious.

Nothing to do with window suites.

A Princess rep told me that you have 48 hours to refuse the upgrade. If that's the case, I don't understand the concern. You don't like the upgrade, refuse it.

If you booked with a TA, they don't notify you directly, they notify the TA. If they don't get in contact with you and ask if you want it, and Princess does not hear back from the TA, they assume you accept it. That's what happened to us as lot's of finger pointing between Princess and the TA and we could not get our room back.

Thank you for all the help. I had them mark both cabins as no upgrades because I was afraid to lose the balcony. We're on the same floor to make it easier for us so upgrading one of us would be inconvenient. We booked at the same time with the same agent so would hope she linked our bookings. I'm receiving all the e-mails for both rooms.

Part of me wants to open it up for upgrades because I've always wanted a suite but I'm really afraid to lose the balcony or worse that we'll be placed far away from the second room.

Thank you for all the help. I had them mark both cabins as no upgrades because I was afraid to lose the balcony. We're on the same floor to make it easier for us so upgrading one of us would be inconvenient. We booked at the same time with the same agent so would hope she linked our bookings. I'm receiving all the e-mails for both rooms.

 

Part of me wants to open it up for upgrades because I've always wanted a suite but I'm really afraid to lose the balcony or worse that we'll be placed far away from the second room.

Please don't just hope that she linked the bookings, ask her, and if she hasn't done so, have her do it.

The chances of being upgraded to a full suite are very, very slim. It happens but not very often.

The main purpose of linking cabins is so those in traditional dining can be assigned to the same table.

The upgrade fairy probably does not look to see if cabins are linked.

It also looks like some minisuites don't have a balcony

The only non-balcony (we call them Window-Mini-suites) I have seen are on Island & Coral. There are only a few of these.

We just got "upgraded" to a Mini-suite we did not want. We called Princess right away as soon as we got the e-mail and got changed back to our original choice.

As your cruise approaches do keep an eye out for cabin changes.

Steve

I'll keep a look out on our reservations so they don't change anything. Thanks for the input.