HAL's standard policy on upgrade/upsell offers

[DutchByAssociation]

If you pick a room that you like and you know you would never take a paid upgrade offer and you would be mad if you were moved from your, say aft corner suite... here's something to keep in mind:

 

At time of booking you (or the TA) is asked about "would you like to be considered for upgrades if any are available?" If you say yes, you'll be offered the upgrade offers or you may receive complimentary upgrades. If you say no you are left alone since we know your preference.

 

How does that affect you? Think about this:

 

For the person that knows their cruise will only be perfect in ____ room and a move anywhere else, even the penthouse for a killer price would be a downer, if you are saying yes you may be COMPLIMENTARY moved to a higher category. That would still take you out of your precious assignment. Plus, why would you even want to hear the offers if you aren't going to care about them? And on a "not that it affects you any" standpoint, it also wastes the time of thoese that assign the rooms and offer the paid upgrades prior to departure...

 

So if you know what you want to book, and NOTHING will move you from that spot... just answer the question "No" and no one will even bother disturbing you...

[long_shot45]

Well Said..............

[bobalink]

Brilliant!:D

[erewhon]

DBA,

 

Thank you for this interesting post.

 

When making our bookings with HAL, we have never been asked "would you like to be considered for an upgrade if available".

[DutchByAssociation]

DBA,

 

Thank you for this interesting post.

 

When making our bookings with HAL, we have never been asked "would you like to be considered for an upgrade if available".

 

If you book through a TA it is a question they would be asked. The system cannot continue with the booking until the question is answered on the screen

[erewhon]

Interesting.

 

The New Zealand HAL agent must answer it on our behalf.

[CruiseRev]

I remember that question some time in the booking process, booking directly with HAL.

 

Is there a list anywhere of people willing to accept incredible upgrades turned down by others?

[Bill S]

DBA-thanks for the insightful post. Good points made!

I know that if you book through the HAL website, there is a question asking if you want to be considered for a complimentary upgrade or not.

 

Because we book guarantees these days, our TA never asks the question. In my mind, and I assume in HAL's mind, a guarantee booking is like giving implied consent to an upgrade, if one becomes available. So, no need to ask.

[rochelle_s]

I have personally always been asked if I would be interested in an upgrade...and have always said yes. If possible, I book a guarantee cabin and I look forward to the possibility of movin' on up...kinda like a kid awaiting Christmas ;) What a treat it would be to recieve such a wonderful surprise/windfall. My turn will come one day...in the meantime I am happy anywhere they put me. For myself, there is so much more I look forward to in a cruise experience that where I sleep, bathe and change is way down there on my list of priorities.

 

I am surprised to read that others have not been asked the upgrade question by their travel agent. I would hate to think an agent |I was dealing with might presume to know the answer to any question meant for me.

 

I have been following the upgrade/upsell threads and have really only been thinking about it from the passenger perspective. Never thought about what that means in terms of time and workload for the upgrade fairy herself. After many years in the hospitality/service industry..shame

on me.

 

Rochelle

[Bill B]

DBA,

 

I currently have a booking that is tagged 'No Upgrade'. Does this mean I will not receive any 'upsell' offers?

 

While I don't want to take the chance of being upgraded (over which I have no control) to what I consider a less desirable room in a higher category; if I knew the specific room and the price was right, I might be tempted to accept an 'upsell' offer.

 

In other words, is it an 'all or nothing' situation - where 'No Upgrade' means no 'upsells' will be offered as well?

[cruisecrasy]

DBA,

 

I currently have a booking that is tagged 'No Upgrade'. Does this mean I will not receive any 'upsell' offers?

 

While I don't want to take the chance of being upgraded (over which I have no control) to what I consider a less desirable room in a higher category; if I knew the specific room and the price was right, I might be tempted to accept an 'upsell' offer.

 

In other words, is it an 'all or nothing' situation - where 'No Upgrade' means no 'upsells' will be offered as well?

 

a cruiseline has the right to move u even if u say No Upgrade - rarely happens but they reserve the right to do so!!

 

As far as 'free Upgrades' - 'paid Upsells' go I always tell the HAL rep or my TA I am ONLY interested in 'Upsells' 'cause they allow me the right of refusal so no nasty surprises..Costs me a bit but I can accept or refuse the offer and pick my cabin also. Always check back about a month or so before the cruise to refresh everyones mind... Works well for me!

Problem with' upgrades', for me anyway, even though 'free' u might not like what or where u get..and no right of refusual - u take what they give u! Of course, its gambling and maybe u feel lucky and many have been - very lucky but, many have been disappointed also..

 

Hope this helps u decide...happy cruisin'! :)

[Bill B]

a cruiseline has the right to move u even if u say No Upgrade - rarely happens but they reserve the right to do so!!

I know that - I've read the fine print on the Passage Contract - and the possibility has always scared me a little!

 

But, I still don't know if 'No Upgrade' also means one won't be offered an upsell.

 

I currently have a specific, cat. HH booked on the Volendam (tagged 'No Upgrade') and would be seriously POed to find myself 'upgraded' to a smaller, cat. H, with port holes, at the bow, next to the anchor chain lockers down on Dolphin with no easy access to an outside deck. However, I'd be more than happy to consider an 'upsell' to almost any verandah stateroom (if the price were right).

[Sailkeywest]

Insightful posting, DBA, thank you for sharing the information.

 

One question though, I'd love it if you (or anyone else) could answer this one for me. -- I have a specific room booked because I just fell in love with the photos of the views from this room. I also have it marked 'no upgrades. However, if HAL were to call me an offer me a free Penthouse, I would scream and cry and jump up and down for joy. Would they still call me at all if I have my reservation marked 'no upgrades?' Just wondering.

 

I have said many times that I'd never give up my precious aft view, especially that veranda, but I think an opportunity to live in the PH for a week might be too difficult to turn down. --Not that they would ever call me, but a girl can dream, can't she? :)

[hensghan]

I think I'm in the same boat as many others. There are times (i.e., booking a 'guaranteed') when I would be possibly receptive of any upgrade offering. On the other hand, there are times (i.e., having a great aft cabin picked out) when I'm not interested per se in an upgrade but still want to be informed of any particularly great upsell offers. I mean, as much as I love an aft cabin, if an upsell offer of $199 for a deck 7 near-the-Neptune SA suite became available, I just might jump on it. As a matter of fact, I did just that very recently. No, just because you might not want to be upgraded haphazardly doesn't mean you don't want to be at least tempted by an fantastic upsell!

 

DBA: Can you opt out of one but still be apprised of the other?

[AFuncruiser]

Looking forward to upsell offers of even God forbid an up grade on my March 18th Amazon cruise...

 

Dennis

Jacksonville, Fl

428 days at sea

36 cruises

[sevenseasnomad]

Thanks, DBA. As RuthC has so aptly put it time and again, we're cave dwellers (inside cabin). When we decide which cruise we want to go on, I study the deck plans---sometimes with a magnifying glass---hunting for the largest inside I can find. Our local TA and HAL have both been helpful in getting us the largest cabin for the bucks. Location (as close to midship as possible) is important to us too. Once we pick our cabin, we don't want to be bothered again.

 

Our TA has always been asked if we would accept an upgrade free-of-charge. Our answer never changes: no. Yesterday we booked Veendam for July 17, got the cabin we wanted, TA still asked the question, since HAL needed an answer. This time my answer did change to "If they want to give us a suite free-of-charge, sure. Otherwise, no." The chances of our getting a suite under those circumstances are zero, so we don't worry about it.

 

On our upcoming cruise, we were asked last spring if we wanted to change to an outside view. We would have traded a cabin that has 205 sq. ft. for a cabin that has less than 175 sq. ft. We turned the offer down.

 

We have always been happy with our pick, and once made, it's no longer a subject to worry about. As others have said, we're so happy to be aboard and enjoying the cruise, we don't continuously second-guess our choice.

[Mary Ellen]

Kudos. :D I've also wondered why the "boasters" didn't have their reservations noted as 'do not upgrade', as we always do, but it is their reservation/vacation.

[terigo]

Kudos. :D I've also wondered why the "boasters" didn't have their reservations noted as 'do not upgrade', as we always do, but it is their reservation/vacation.

 

Silly... if they did that, there would be nothing to boast about! ;)

[boards]

We always leave it open for an upgrade and have never received one until this last cruise on the Noordam. We book a specific cabin every time and do not expect an upgrade, so when it happened it was a complete surprise. When we spoke about it to anyone, we never intended it to be and I hope it wasn't taken in form that we were "bragging". It was suppose to be only telling someone of our good fortune not "bragging". Some you sure know how to spoil a good thing.

[momatibm]

We always leave it open for an upgrade and have never received one until this last cruise on the Noordam. We book a specific cabin every time and do not expect an upgrade, so when it happened it was a complete surprise. When we spoke about it to anyone, we never intended it to be and I hope it wasn't taken in form that we were "bragging". It was suppose to be only telling someone of our good fortune not "bragging". Some you sure know how to spoil a good thing.

 

 

We leave ours open to Upgrade 'for free' -- it's happened once -- we didn't receive an 'offer letter' it just changed in our boarding documents. When we got an Upsell offer -- we turned down the first one and jumped on the second one.

[NJpassenger]

DutchByAssociation:

Do you have any knowledge about upgrades for those who are booked under the "Friends and Family" booking? Since "friends and family" can only be booked on a guarantee category do they ever get an upgrade or do upgrades only go to full paying passengers?

[Mary Ellen]

We always leave it open for an upgrade and have never received one until this last cruise on the Noordam. We book a specific cabin every time and do not expect an upgrade, so when it happened it was a complete surprise. When we spoke about it to anyone, we never intended it to be and I hope it wasn't taken in form that we were "bragging". It was suppose to be only telling someone of our good fortune not "bragging". Some you sure know how to spoil a good thing.

The subject of this thread is: For those booking specific rooms and then boasting of turning down upgrade offers... You are talking about a different situation.

[Bill B]

One question though, I'd love it if you (or anyone else) could answer this one for me. -- I have a specific room booked because I just fell in love with the photos of the views from this room. I also have it marked 'no upgrades. However, if HAL were to call me an offer me a free Penthouse, I would scream and cry and jump up and down for joy. Would they still call me at all if I have my reservation marked 'no upgrades?' Just wondering.

No! Didn't you read the OP?

 

Our TA has always been asked if we would accept an upgrade free-of-charge. Our answer never changes: no. Yesterday we booked Veendam for July 17, got the cabin we wanted, TA still asked the question, since HAL needed an answer. This time my answer did change to "If they want to give us a suite free-of-charge, sure. Otherwise, no." The chances of our getting a suite under those circumstances are zero, so we don't worry about it.

You'd better hope your TA didn't misunderstand... LOL.

[jtl513]

If you say no you are left alone since we know your preference.

 

So if you know what you want to book, and NOTHING will move you from that spot... just answer the question "No" and no one will even bother disturbing you...

 

DBA,

I currently have a booking that is tagged 'No Upgrade'. Does this mean I will not receive any 'upsell' offers?

 

Would they still call me at all if I have my reservation marked 'no upgrades?' Just wondering.

On our Eurodam cruise we picked a specific cabin and had it marked "No Upgrade". Our TA called us a few days before sailing with an upsell offer from HAL ... which we declined.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

To answer a question that was asked... Could you be offered an upsell if you say No Upgrade? The answer is YES, there are numerous times I have still received the mass email offer that comes out. I have one client that likes a specific Balcony cabin that will still get the offer and I can tell you in the past for myself I also received the offer. But that is just it, it is an offer not a move on the part of HAL.

Now not to be too worried if you do not get asked, while yes you could get moved by HAL if you do not mark the "DO NOT UPGRADE" I will say it is very rare that HAL does this. Unlike Princess, Disney and a few others that do it frequently. (Princess being the worst and their upgrades are not always good upgrades :rolleyes:) Then there is Disney that loves to play musical cabins, no upgrade just move these people down 10 cabins, move another cabin over 5 cabins. It's crazy. This week alone we had 6 cabins get moved. I made the comment that they are really a Mickey Mouse Cruiseline :D