Do last minute upgrades happen anymore?

[crusinpsychRN]

How is this an upgrade? You are going from a room with a window / porthole to an inside cabin with no window? Thats like a downgrade if you ask me :p

 

King bed?

[Carnival_Brides]

Wow! Nice surprse. How much extra?

 

They were complimentary and given to us for our "loyalty" to the line. We've gone on seven cruises in the past 14 months and are Platinum. We got a phone call from a woman who works in the Miami office. She said her job is call Diamond and Platinum guests the day of to offer upgrades when cancellations occur. We got the call about an hour before we got to the ship (after being in the car for six hours).:)

[swimgirl1]

Really if the ship isn't full a month in advance no one will receive an auto upgrade? That seems odd, since this is how Princess upgrades their previous passengers? Allowing lower fares and possibly a fuller ship come time of sailing?

[kcwingwalker]

No calls, emails or visits from the fairy for me.

[crusinpsychRN]

Just sailed 10/26 on Legend. The lady who checked me in at VIP said the ship was not full. So I, kiddingly, said "are you going to offer me an upgrade now?" She said "No."

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Before there were "Upgrade Fairy Phone calls" from Carnival offering to sell you an upgrade at a cheap price, Carnival used to upgrade guests at the last minute.

 

Twice in the past, I was upgraded from a balcony cabin to a Junior Suite at the last minute. I found out about it the week before sailing.

 

I'm sailing on Glory in a few weeks and booked in a specific balcony cabin, and was wondering if there's any likelihood of a last minute upgrade to an unsold suite. I'm guessing they only upgrade passengers who aren't assigned specific cabins.

 

To me, an upgrade is moving from one category to another (inside to Oceanview; Oceanview to Balcony, etc) , and not moving from one floor to another higher floor within the same category. Even though Carnival charges more for higher floors, I don't think anyone really considers this an upgrade, per se.

 

Does anyone have any surprise upgrade stories?

 

I never got upgraded from one class of cabin to the next higher until just a couple of weeks ago. I did not even know until we got to the checkin desk even though they did email me notice tthat they were going to do t a day or so earlier. I had booked an interior on upper, aft, albeit at a highly discounted special interline rate. We got upgraded to an oceanview on the upper, midship. This was on the sensation October 27 from canaveral. Great surprise. Decent size cabin, smallish bathroom and shower but that is pretty much standard. I had been upgraded within my class before (oceanview to oceanview eg) but never a full class. My mom is a platinum and I have 1 more cruise to go to get there but I'm not sure that had anything to do with it or if it was just luck. I would assume they had a hard time filling cabins on this trip and they were able to move people around. Airlines do the dame thing with J class seats for frequent fliers. Costs them little and helps keep brand loyalty.

 

FlyingCruiserNJ

[CrzRani]

No calls, emails or visits from the fairy for me.

 

Not sure if the trend holds true, but the 2 times I got the offer of the upgrade, I was in an interior room booked then was changed to a balcony.

 

I suppose offers of balcony to suite is the other scenario. I hope I get something on my upcoming cruise....:p:D

[mkgcars]

I haven't cruised since '08, but the last two cruises my buddy and I went on we did get upgraded from a 8 (probably a D or higher) to a Grand Suite.

 

The first time it happened weeks before the cruise (on Victory). I don't recall if the docs had the old room or the old number. We'd been on 10 and 12 cruises each, so were both Platinum. The second time, knowing it was a possibility, I often checked the ships available suites to see if one was still open, and with 10-12 days before the cruise I called the agency I booked with to see if a free upgrade was possible. Through some research, talking to Carnival, I found that the agent had to request it from Carnival. The agent wasn't familiar and finally a three way phone call took place and we did end up in a Grand Suite again (on the Triumph).

 

The first time we were Platinum members we didn't even know what it was about, and I have to confess we waited in the long lines to check in. The second time we knew the deal and it was nice to be given VIP treatment at Miami.

 

I'm sure that with so many Platinum members these days that upgrades like that are hard to come by if they exist at all. I'd also think that if they do happen they probably go to the guest with the highest number of past cruises, which can be quite high these days.

 

Happy cruising,

Matt

[golfadj]

Really if the ship isn't full a month in advance no one will receive an auto upgrade? That seems odd, since this is how Princess upgrades their previous passengers? Allowing lower fares and possibly a fuller ship come time of sailing?

 

They upsell you to a better cabin, generally dont give it away.

[kcwingwalker]

They upsell you to a better cabin, generally dont give it away.

 

Agree. Sometimes it's a good deal and other times the increase in fare just isn't worth it. Do your homework ahead of time and have some knowledge about the fare increase for an upgrade. Example if the upgrade offer is $500.00 and if you upgrade on you own it would be $900.00 then it's a good deal if it's right for you.

[john91498]

The only upgrade that I've been involved with was when I was dating a girl who's parents were celebrating their 20 anniversary on the Celebrity Century. The parents had the owner's suite and the kids had 2 balconies. My girlfriend and her brother were upgraded to the grand suites for free. That was 12 years ago and I've been on over a dozen cruises and not once was offered an udgrade of any kind. :(

[preschool teacher]

I have been upgraded twice, once from interior to window....and once from window to balcony....no charge on them.....

[gusandgidgetsmom]

I have sailed Carnival for about 30 years. Years ago upgrading was pretty popular with Carnival--when sailing was not so popular. The more popular sailing became the less you saw upgrades. I believe now the better term would be upsell. I have have had the call several times in the past few years in fact as recently as last June. It was for an upsell tho.

The best upGRade I ever got was my first cruise. We were booked on a 3 or 4 day cruise (can't remember which) and we were called several weeks ahead and asked if we could get away fro 7 days instead and we would get the cruise and a much better room for no extra than the short cruise. Now that's an upgrade!!!

[cj_one2000]

Just upgraded my hubby's cabin from an OceanView to Jr Suite for $350 for him and our two boys. That was 72 hrs prior to sail date. We couldn't have afforded a jr suite with regular booking prices at the time we originally booked it, as the military discount didn't apply for that category.

[iamsteph]

Our very first cruise, we booked an inside cabin for our Alaskan cruise. When we checked in with the buses in Anchorage, we had been upgraded to an oceanview. In the hour from Anchorage to checkin in Whittier, we had been upgraded to an extended balcony. All for the price of our inside cabin. That was 2007. :)

 

We've never even gotten a phone call from the upsell fairy, but I think that's because we used up all our upgrade good luck on that first cruise. :p

Edited November 23, 2013 by iamsteph

[reno3]

Since I booked with a TA can I call Carnival myself and look into a upgrade (not looking for free upgrade). We are 30 days out and there are still 6 or 7 ocean suites left. I have a balcony now. Thought I might make them a offer :rolleyes:

[saltybones]

We are about to set sail on our 11th cruise, on the Fascination, this Monday. I happened upon this thread about 30 minutes ago.

WOW is all I can say.

 

Yesterday, my DH and I were driving on our wooded property (he just happened to take his cell phone) . The Upgrade Fairy called us for the first time ever!

We had booked our second port hole because cash was a little tight.

Lo and behold Carnival upgraded us from the port hole on deck 2, to a Balcony on deck 7!

 

We are SO Happy! So, don't give up, it still does happen at no extra charge.

 

Can't wait to see our new home for five days!

 

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

[joydisney]

We had ocean view booked, and received email this week about upgrading. We paid 190 to go from deck 2 to deck 10 balcony. Sounded like a very good deal to me.!

 

Sent from my VS840 4G using Forums mobile app

[saltybones]

Good Deal!

 

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

[Aplmac]

I think it would be very, very rare to get a free upgrade these days.

Upsells are the way they go now.

 

And I agree with you that moving up a floor is not an upgrade.

Moving up a floor or three would be a downgrade for me.

 

I book Deck 2 amidships for a reason. The ride down low is very nice.

You don't feel a thing! :)

 

.

[golfadj]

Since I booked with a TA can I call Carnival myself and look into a upgrade (not looking for free upgrade). We are 30 days out and there are still 6 or 7 ocean suites left. I have a balcony now. Thought I might make them a offer :rolleyes:

 

Since your TA owns the booking they would have to contact Carnival in your behalf.

[reno3]

Since your TA owns the booking they would have to contact Carnival in your behalf.

 

Thanks, she did once and she told me Carnival was not budging on the price to upgarde. I thought having 6 suites still available 30 days out was a lot.

I will ask her again if still available closer to date. All they can say is no...again:(

I can't justify an additional $1400 :eek:

[MissyMac13]

We had our first call from the Upgrade Fairy last week, offering us the Owners Suite on the Sensation for $1400 more. We saw photos and the room is beautiful and really big, but we couldn't justify the cost, so we said no. We are in a suite this time and it's our first suite, so I think we will be okay with that. But $1400???? No.

[mudpievelour]

We had our first call from the Upgrade Fairy last week, offering us the Owners Suite on the Sensation for $1400 more. We saw photos and the room is beautiful and really big, but we couldn't justify the cost, so we said no. We are in a suite this time and it's our first suite, so I think we will be okay with that. But $1400???? No.

 

$1400 would nearly cover another cruise for us in a balcony. Let's see, the Owner's Suite or another cruise. I'll take another cruise, thank you.

[Donray]

OP is not talking about free- "offering to sell you an upgrade at a very cheap price."

 

All I can tall you is that he/she is called the Upsell Troll for a reason now. Know your prices and know them well. Ask to take 10 minutes to check. I stupidly upgraded from an aft facing on Miracle to an HC Grand Suite last year for way too much money. It was nice to have the extra room but the HC factor was a PITA and I missed the aft a LOT. The suite perks are almost nonexistent.

 

So: know your numbers in case the troll pays a visit :rolleyes:.

 

 

OP is talking about free upgrades.