How is one selected for upgrade offers?

As my Mom approaches Titanium level, we have NEVER been offered any type of upgrade offer. Either from reading this board or meeting people on the ship, we constantly hear of people being offered amazing upgrade deals.

Does anyone have any idea how one is selected to receive an upgrade offer? We have a fantastic TA who is one of Regent's top sellers and is always looking out for us and more than once made inquiries on our behalf and had been told that no discounted upgrades were available and later on we learned otherwise.

Curious minds ............

gnomie :)

We are Gold level and have been cruising with Regent since 2001. Were just offered an upgrade last month for the first time and it wasn't worth taking it.

As my Mom approaches Titanium level, we have NEVER been offered any type of upgrade offer. Either from reading this board or meeting people on the ship, we constantly hear of people being offered amazing upgrade deals.

 

Does anyone have any idea how one is selected to receive an upgrade offer? We have a fantastic TA who is one of Regent's top sellers and is always looking out for us and more than once made inquiries on our behalf and had been told that no discounted upgrades were available and later on we learned otherwise.

 

Curious minds ............

 

gnomie :)

Hi gnomie, don't have any suggestions but lovely to see you on here.

We will be in your neck of the woods next year and looking forward to it.

Hope both you and your Mom are well.

Pam.

We were offered an upgrade on our first and only cruise with Regent so far and took it.

We'll be back. :)

Hi gnomie, don't have any suggestions but lovely to see you on here.

We will be in your neck of the woods next year and looking forward to it.

Hope both you and your Mom are well.

 

Pam.

Actually now i think about it...we were offered an upgrade to a ph suite on Navigator. We declined as we knew the suite sizes were the same and our TA agreed with us, however when we boarded the ship we were indeed given a lovely ph suite 1025 as i recall. There were no charges for this. Maybe because we were in a GTY level that's where it stemmed from. Hope you can find something that suits.

Pam.

We have been offered two 'upsells' (not 'upgrades') in our 8 or 9 cruises since '09. Both were early on in our cruising lives so we didn't really stop to think what may have been the trigger on them. Haven't been offered one since 2011 or so, I don't think.

Our in-laws did get an upgrade from an F Gty to a PC C or B on Navigator once, but since it was the same cabin size the only real benefit to them was a butler. Still nice, but not earth-shattering.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'd take an upsell these days, with how expensive the basic cabins have gotten. Especially on Explorer - we usually book F or above, and those cabins are more than adequate for us.

But to NOT answer your question, I have no idea how Regent chooses who to offer upgrades/upsells to, sorry.

We're taking our first Regent cruise in December. Yesterday we got a call from our travel agent. Regent offered to upsell us to a Mariner Suite. The price was reasonable, but we decided we preferred the huge aft deck (and the expansive view) that comes with the Seven Seas suite.

We have been offered upsells through our travel agent. However, on every cruise I hear of several people who have received complementary upgrades to concierge and above cabins. In fact, on our most recent cruise, a passenger told me about being upgraded to a seven seas aft cabin when he had paid for one of the lowest cabins.

I think Regent could do this as part of the SSS or at least make this process more transparent

We're taking our first Regent cruise in December. Yesterday we got a call from our travel agent. Regent offered to upsell us to a Mariner Suite. The price was reasonable, but we decided we preferred the huge aft deck (and the expansive view) that comes with the Seven Seas suite.

The aft Mariner suites are amazing. They may be the only suites that we would not take an upsell to a Mariner suite (and we love the Mariner suites).

Upsells are not only dependent upon your TA but also are dependent upon the suite category that you are booked in. Generally, the higher the suite you are in (PH or above), the more likely you are to have an offer to an even higher suite. If you are in the lower suites, the cost to obtain an upsell could be $5K per person or more.

In my opinion, if you want a great suite - book what you want and maybe you will get an offer. Just keep in mind that you pay for what you get. I am not familiar with "free" upgrades (other than "Guarantees").

Our current upsell was from a Mariner suite to a Grand suite. We would have been perfectly happy with the Mariner suite but for 25 nights - a Grand suite is even better.

In my opinion, if you typically book a lower suite, don't expect an offer to a PH or above suite for a reasonable price. However, if you are in a Concierge "D" or "E" suite, you could get an offer for a PH suite. It is all about supply and demand.

When someone is offered an upgrade, is a specific cabin/suite mentioned? Or simply a category and no details?

Peggy

We have taken 10 Regent cruises and have booked two more, but have never been offered an upgrade or an upsell. We have been on the waitlist for 11 months to upsell from Penthouse B on Explorer but no results. I cannot imagine what their system is.

When someone is offered an upgrade, is a specific cabin/suite mentioned? Or simply a category and no details?

Peggy

Hi Peggy. When our TA lets us know about an upsell, they do have information about specific suites available in each category (sometimes the offer has multiple suites/categories available).

In my opinion, the process is hit and miss. Regent needs to contact your TA and they need to contact you. If your TA is not there or does not contact you, obviously you will not receive the offer. This is one reason that I highly recommend using a TA that regularly books Regent cruises. They know to expect upsell offers and act on them immediately. Upsell offers are the kind of thing that, if you take time to think about it, someone else will have scooped up the offer.

Hi Jackie, I've always used a TA well known by Regent. I normally pick a specific cabin so not being offered an upgrade/iupsell really is not an issue for me - I asked the question more out of curiosity than anything else. And thank you for your answer - it gave me all the specifics!

Looking forward to your postings . . . .

I leave for Lisbon and the Explorer shortly . . .

Enjoy the Amazon . . . .

Peggy

It is the non-upsell upgrades that are disconcerting when they are often given to first-time Regent customers and not based on loyalty. Regent could learn from the airlines on this

I will be a first time Regent cruiser, I wonder if I got a Explorer Veranda Suite - H guarantee if I would be moved up on my first cruise to a Master Suite? A Seven Seas or Grand Suite would be acceptable also. Just kidding obviously!

I will be a first time Regent cruiser, I wonder if I got a Explorer Veranda Suite - H guarantee if I would be moved up on my first cruise to a Master Suite? A Seven Seas or Grand Suite would be acceptable also. Just kidding obviously!

I'm a first time Regent cruiser as well. Unfortunately every cabin category was wait listed a year out so my chances of a free upgrade are zero I would say :(

Whether you get an up sell or upgrade offer totally depends on the cruise. If the cruise is booked heavily in one category with a lot of people waitlisted, you are more likely to be offered an up sell. They want to fill the ship, so however they can do it at the last minute, they will do that.

I book the suite I want. If an upsell or upgrade comes along, I consider it, and act quickly as it won’t stay around long. I have only ever had one upgrade. Upsell has happened several times, and most of the time I don’t take it as it is not a location I prefer.

I'm a first time Regent cruiser as well. Unfortunately every cabin category was wait listed a year out so my chances of a free upgrade are zero I would say :(

The cruise that we are currently on was waitlisted for months (if not a year). Due to last minute cancellations (two on our Roll Call alone) a few suites opened up. We were fortunate enough to get an offer for the Grand Suite while someone in a PH suite took an offer to our Mariner Suite (guessing this because after we booked the Grand Suite, it showed waitlisted, the Mariner Suite showed waitlisted and a PH-A suite was available (only for a short time).

I will add another datapoint...

We are first time Regent cruisers, and are on the Mariner right now as well. Four days prior to embarkation, we were offered an upsell to a Mariner Suite (sounds like Travelcat2's previous suite ;)). However, we had originally booked a PH-B after reading lots of helpful suggestions here, so we decided to stay with the PH for our first Regent cruise. Will add that we are quite happy with our accommodations.

Also, about three weeks prior to sailing, we received an attractive offer to move our booking to the January 5, 2018 Mariner sailing from Miami to Lima. We also declined that offer, as we were very much looking forward to this amazing journey to the Amazon.

I love hearing about others cruises and am excited and appreciative when someone does a "live".

I think you will find that cruise lines will upgrade new customers to entice them to become regular customers in the higher category cabins. At least that is our experience. We were upgraded to a good balcony from an ocean view and never again booked an ocean view on any line. Then the same line upgraded us to a suite from a balcony. Uh, oh. Guess what happened. I really believe the chances for an upgrade decrease as a customer becomes loyal to the line. They've hooked him, no need to entice him any longer.

I think you will find that cruise lines will upgrade new customers to entice them to become regular customers in the higher category cabins. At least that is our experience. We were upgraded to a good balcony from an ocean view and never again booked an ocean view on any line. Then the same line upgraded us to a suite from a balcony. Uh, oh. Guess what happened. I really believe the chances for an upgrade decrease as a customer becomes loyal to the line. They've hooked him, no need to entice him any longer.

Don't disagree with your rationalization but we just received an up sell to our current suite and, as of the end of this cruise will have 400 nights on Regent. It is really depending upon what suite you are -- what suites Regent wants to have available -- how quickly your TA responds to the offer (and how quickly your TA contacts you). When all of the pieces come together you can end up with a lovely suite for less $$$.

Don't disagree with your rationalization but we just received an up sell to our current suite and, as of the end of this cruise will have 400 nights on Regent. It is really depending upon what suite you are -- what suites Regent wants to have available -- how quickly your TA responds to the offer (and how quickly your TA contacts you). When all of the pieces come together you can end up with a lovely suite for less $$$.

Lucky you, but I was referring to upgrades, not upsells. We paid not a penny more for any upgrade. Our most recent upsell to a larger suite was a good deal but cost us some

Based on our experience, Regent does not do upgrades to entice new customers. In my opinion, that is more of a mainstream cruise line thing where they have large ships and hundreds of cabins. Most Regent sailings are full and they only do upsells (there are obviously a few exceptions).

P.S. Regent doesn't even have "ocean view" cabins on three of their four ships. Their ships are all suite - all balcony (except for a few suites on the Navigator.)

We had the double upgrade on Mariner to a suite like Jackie and Dennis are in now, and didn't really want it; we were booked in our beloved Seven Seas Aft. But somebody else was paying for our cruise and we felt obligated to upgrade. One other time we got an upsell offer on Navigator to a Master Suite; I was out of town and Mark took the offer and I don't think he even told me what the price was. If he did, I have forgotten, but he wouldn't have taken it if the price was really considerable. Navigator's Master Suites aren't all that big, and they were having a/c and plumbing issues at the time.