Waiting for a cabin assignment on a guarantee

Upsell is a term used alot on this board - it is what is also know as a "paid upgrade" when you speak with HAL (Holland America). HAL contacts you (either directly or through your travel agent (TA)) to see if you are willing to upgrade your cabin to a higher level one for a set price. If you accept the offer, you pay them immediately and MOST times you can pick your cabin from what is left in inventory at that time. If you like the deal, you should move quickly on it as the best deals go fast (sometimes in a matter of minutes).

 

The way HAL contacts you varies. If you booked directly with them, you will get an email directly from them with the offer. If you booked through a TA, it will go to them and it is up to them to contact you (some TAs are better than others on this).

 

Usually these offers begin around 4-5 weeks prior to sailing, but this depends on how many cabins HAL want to sell upsells on. If the higher category is Sold Out, you likely will not get an upsell offer of course. If you get an offer 4-5 weeks out, it is very likely at a high price. HAL does this to "test the waters" so to speak. If not all of them are taken, about a week later you will get another offer, usually at a lower price. On it goes until HAL sells them out.

 

Hope this answers your questions.

Thanks Dave. Very helpful and clear (to an old guy like me.)

Bill

My cruise to Canada next month will be my second on HAL. Still not a lot of experience, but hoping to have a better than my less than overwhelming experience in January/February.

Some people have told me that Princess is the best cruise line and their favorite. My first cruise was with them. Any one want to comment on how it compares with HAL? It seems to me that it is more expensive generally. Anyone else?

Bill

Upsell is a term used alot on this board - it is what is also know as a "paid upgrade" when you speak with HAL (Holland America). HAL contacts you (either directly or through your travel agent (TA)) to see if you are willing to upgrade your cabin to a higher level one for a set price. If you accept the offer, you pay them immediately and MOST times you can pick your cabin from what is left in inventory at that time. If you like the deal, you should move quickly on it as the best deals go fast (sometimes in a matter of minutes).

 

The way HAL contacts you varies. If you booked directly with them, you will get an email directly from them with the offer. If you booked through a TA, it will go to them and it is up to them to contact you (some TAs are better than others on this).

 

Usually these offers begin around 4-5 weeks prior to sailing, but this depends on how many cabins HAL want to sell upsells on. If the higher category is Sold Out, you likely will not get an upsell offer of course. If you get an offer 4-5 weeks out, it is very likely at a high price. HAL does this to "test the waters" so to speak. If not all of them are taken, about a week later you will get another offer, usually at a lower price. On it goes until HAL sells them out.

 

Hope this answers your questions.

Something I forgot: When I booked the cruise, through AARP, they asked if I was open to an upgrade. I said yes, but now that you explained "upsell" I don't know if they meant a free upgrade or a paid upgrade. We'll see.

Bill

(Itching to travel. Wish I could get on board tomorrow.)

Something I forgot: When I booked the cruise, through AARP, they asked if I was open to an upgrade. I said yes, but now that you explained "upsell" I don't know if they meant a free upgrade or a paid upgrade. We'll see.

 

Bill

 

(Itching to travel. Wish I could get on board tomorrow.)

"Upsell" and "upgrade" are two different things.

The bad thing about "open to an automatic (free) upgrade" is that the cruise

line's opinion on what is a better cabin (usually within the same category) may

not be the same as yours.

Case in point: Our TA had ...inadvertently checked that box on a booking

several cruises ago, and we got moved from a nice, quiet, cabins-on-all-sides

stateroom to right next to an elevator shaft that went "wump!" every time

the car went past our deck.

I was concerned because I hadn't gotten assignment yet, but my TA said that often means a better cabin. We'll see.

 

 

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We can only hope for a better stateroom...but we will be very happy what we booked...10 days and no word yet.

We are 16 days out and still "to be assigned" a cabin. About 12 days out we shall ask our TA to check for upsell offers.

Question for DaveOKC about checking inventory. I booked a gty for the cabin grade for which I was comfortable when it looked as if the number of available cabins was decreasing in number. I continue to check to see which are still available. There appear to be about 6 but the cabin numbers change a little bit. Is this because the online travel agency is fudging the numbers or because HAL is taking them back and then making others available?

Question for DaveOKC about checking inventory. I booked a gty for the cabin grade for which I was comfortable when it looked as if the number of available cabins was decreasing in number. I continue to check to see which are still available. There appear to be about 6 but the cabin numbers change a little bit. Is this because the online travel agency is fudging the numbers or because HAL is taking them back and then making others available?

Hard to say for certain. It could be due to people changing their cabin assignment (I have done this when I see a better location open up).

Also, did you check all the decks with your category? There could be 6 on one deck and 4 on another (to get to HAL's max of 10). If so, then the cabin numbers could change if a block booker sends a number of cabins back to HAL. From my experience, HAL seems to show the worst (IMO) cabins in a category, so it pays to ask what is available before you book.

We are 16 days out and still "to be assigned" a cabin. About 12 days out we shall ask our TA to check for upsell offers.

DO NOT WAIT! Ask now. You have nothing to lose except a phone call and you might get an idea of if and when they will be offered. It does not hurt to alert your TA that you are interested in an upsell.

Keep in mind that HAL seldom will offer you a good deal on an upsell if you call them, unless of course you did not get the email for some strange reason or your TA "forgot" to call you about it (always possible).

Something I forgot: When I booked the cruise, through AARP, they asked if I was open to an upgrade. I said yes, but now that you explained "upsell" I don't know if they meant a free upgrade or a paid upgrade. We'll see.

What they meant was a free upgrade. Even if you say NO to this, you will still get paid upgrade (upsell) offers though.

If you booked a guarantee, it automatically assumes you will accept a higher level cabin. If you picked your cabin, then this issue of free upgrade comes into play. The majority of times a free upgrade is to a "higher level" cabin within your category (Inside, Oceanview, etc.). You could be moved up to a higher category, but this has become less frequent due to HAL aggressively using the paid upgrade approach. Remember, HAL will be offering you a paid upgrade before they just give you a free one.

While it would seem that a free upgrade is a good deal, on HAL it is not always so. The reason is that you could be placed in a "higher level" cabin that is in a location you do not like for some reason (like being too far forward, above the showroom or casino, etc.). Remember, HAL's idea of a better location is not necessarily the same as yours (this is more true than you would think).

So, if you really like your existing cabin location, mark your reservation "do not upgrade".

Hi there,

I have called twice now and both times been told no upsell offers. I have 16 days until we cruise, did I phone too early? Are some people not offered upsells? Any idea how HAL operates in this area?

DO NOT WAIT! Ask now. You have nothing to lose except a phone call and you might get an idea of if and when they will be offered. It does not hurt to alert your TA that you are interested in an upsell.

 

Keep in mind that HAL seldom will offer you a good deal on an upsell if you call them, unless of course you did not get the email for some strange reason or your TA "forgot" to call you about it (always possible).

Are some people not offered upsells? Any idea how HAL operates in this area?

I would say that most people are not offered upsells. In 20 HAL cruises we have only gotten one offer, and didn't take it. However, we have gotten free upgrades on all 9 of our guarantees.

Are you booking through HAL directly? I get upsell offers on virtually every one of my cruises. Of course, if you are sailing at times that are very popular with full ships, you will not get upsell offers normally. On my March cruise (which was during Spring break and was Sold Out in most categories) I still received an upsell offer 5 days prior to sailing (due to a last minute cancellation I suspect), so it can happen.

Are you booking through HAL directly?

I can't remember exactly how many, but about 1/2 the time we've used a local TA or a PCC. One with a TA was when we got our one upsell offer. If the cruise is more complex (i.e., entails flying and/or hotels) we will generally go with a TA, but for a lot of our cruises we just drove to FLL or Tampa, so we booked them on-line.

Upsell offers go only to the TA (for relay) if you have one. That's a HAL thing.

Upsell offers go only to the TA (for relay) if you have one. That's a HAL thing.

Actually it's a travel industry "thing".

Actually it's a travel industry "thing".

Could be.

I do know that an upgrade notice from Princess came directly to me as well as TA.

Upsell offers go only to the TA (for relay) if you have one. That's a HAL thing.

Yes, our one upsell offer went to our TA. What's your point?

::tip-toes gently::

And the times your TA did not relay an upsell, was it because there was none, or...

::tip-toes gently::

 

And the times your TA did not relay an upsell, was it because there was none, or...

FWIW my experience has been upgrade offers about 75% of the time when I’m booked on larger ships..NA, Eurodam, Koningsdam and 7-14 day cruises. On the longer cruises of 25 days and up aboard S & R class the upgrades are rare. We do book verandas or vista suites so the inventory for Neptunes is lower on these ships. We do use a PCC

FWIW my experience has been upgrade offers about 75% of the time when I’m booked on larger ships..NA, Eurodam, Koningsdam and 7-14 day cruises. On the longer cruises of 25 days and up aboard S & R class the upgrades are rare. We do book verandas or vista suites so the inventory for Neptunes is lower on these ships. We do use a PCC

Very true. It is much harder to get an upsell to a Neptune on the R and S class ships due to the far fewer (like half) number of Neptunes. I have been lucky on a couple of cruises, but I had to really stay on top of it and be very proactive to get one.

Thanks DaveOKC for the explanation.

Also, did you check all the decks with your category? There could be 6 on one deck and 4 on another (to get to HAL's max of 10)

Since I whined, I thought I would report we just got our room assignment for our May 1st cruise on the Koningsdam. We booked a VF and were assigned a VQ - 10027. Not sure what a spa verandah adds to the experience but the location looks pretty good for us.

Since I whined, I thought I would report we just got our room assignment for our May 1st cruise on the Koningsdam. We booked a VF and were assigned a VQ - 10027. Not sure what a spa verandah adds to the experience but the location looks pretty good for us.

Have a great cruise!