Unwanted upgrade and cancelation of preferred cabin

[blistered]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research. By chance, learned that an upgrade was given, Suite @ front of ship, and original cabins were given away because "someone else wanted them." I"m not new to cruising,but is this common? I was infuriorated, and cancelled the booking. Booked HAL instead.:confused:

[loveJake]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research. By chance, learned that an upgrade was given, Suite @ front of ship, and original cabins were given away because "someone else wanted them." I"m not new to cruising,but is this common? I was infuriorated, and cancelled the booking. Booked HAL instead.:confused:

 

When I booked I was asked if I would accept an up grade, if you answer yes then it can happen. If you were not asked or said no then I would complain.

[FawnRiver]

You have to indicate "no upgrades" to protect a chosen stateroom. Mind you, there is always room for someone to screw up.

 

I called in to get a fare reduction on our upcoming Caribbean cruise and as I was checking everything, the Princess rep told me we were being upgraded. I told him that we had our reservation flagged as "no upgrades" when we booked it, so unless we were being bumped all the way up to an aft Suite, we weren't interested and they better give me back the aft balcony room I booked or they'd be sailing without us. :mad: Suffice it to say, we got the room back.

 

Our first cruise, we were upgraded from a Mini Suite to a full Suite, they seem to like to do that to new cruisers, hoping to get you hooked. In our case, it worked. ;)

[e2011]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research. By chance, learned that an upgrade was given, Suite @ front of ship, and original cabins were given away because "someone else wanted them." I"m not new to cruising,but is this common? I was infuriorated, and cancelled the booking. Booked HAL instead.:confused:

 

I don't know if you are aware but HAL is owned by the same company as Princess which is Carnival Corporation and PLC. If your intent was to take your business elsewhere, you did not. They are still getting you money.

Edited November 7, 2013 by e2011

[GweninTX]

We had the same thing happen and had marked our cabin " NO upgrade" and our cabin was given away! I escalated several layers and finally got a comparable cabin on the same deck, but it took a lot of phone calls and my TA spending a lot of time on the phone. I do not trust the words "no upgrade" any longer!

[roomba920]

In light of all the complaints of soot on the balconies of aft cabins, your upgrade may very well have been better.

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We went through the exact same thing and there was never an explanation given as to why they did it. The reservation was marked as "do not upgrade", yet they moved us to a what they considered a better category MS. We considered it a major downgrade from what we picked out. We finally got the room next to the original after about a week. None of it made any sense though as there was something like 10 rooms in the same area, all same category, that were still available. Only 6-8 rooms were booked when I looked at it, and of course our original room was booked. The rooms on both sides were not booked either, so not as if it was a family, trying to get rooms together.

 

When we are on ship, and I see the people who are in our original room next door, I am going to ask them how they got that room. I don't know if they were somehow able to get Princess to move us out of it or if they moved us, and it just happened to be the room they picked when they booked the cruise.

 

Now I check my reservation every day or two, to be sure it's not been changed again.

 

David & Ellen

[ss75511]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research. By chance, learned that an upgrade was given, Suite @ front of ship, and original cabins were given away because "someone else wanted them." I"m not new to cruising,but is this common? I was infuriorated, and cancelled the booking. Booked HAL instead.:confused:

 

I hate to burst your bubble but HAL and PCL are owned by the same company---and you ended up on a not-as-good line :( I definitely like princess WAY better than HAL. Only cruised Holland once and will never return. Boring passengers, the ship shuts down at 10pm, service is lacking, drink prices are asinine compared to other lines, 80% of the ship is over the age of 65....the list goes on and on. The only upside to HAL is the beauty of the actual ship. It is so nautical and well-maintained. And honestly how much does the beauty of the ship matter? I think you made a pretty large mistake and then still managed to support the same company.

[Potstech]

When I make a reservation for a cruise and a certain cabin and Princess says OK and takes my deposit I consider it a contract between the two of us. If I mark it no upgrade and they say OK at the time then I take it that that is also part of the contract. IF by some chance they decided to change the contract without my approval I can assure people that Princess would not like their conversation with me. It would get real nasty real quick with them. It cost too much money to cruise and I select my cabin for my comfort not theirs.

[MustangGT]

We went through the exact same thing and there was never an explanation given as to why they did it. The reservation was marked as "do not upgrade", yet they moved us to a what they considered a better category MS. We considered it a major downgrade from what we picked out. We finally got the room next to the original after about a week. None of it made any sense though as there was something like 10 rooms in the same area, all same category, that were still available. Only 6-8 rooms were booked when I looked at it, and of course our original room was booked. The rooms on both sides were not booked either, so not as if it was a family, trying to get rooms together.

 

When we are on ship, and I see the people who are in our original room next door, I am going to ask them how they got that room. I don't know if they were somehow able to get Princess to move us out of it or if they moved us, and it just happened to be the room they picked when they booked the cruise.

 

Now I check my reservation every day or two, to be sure it's not been changed again.

 

David & Ellen

 

I have to wonder if the passengers in your original cabin are doing a B2B and didn't want to have to change cabins? Not that it makes it right, but I have heard of people losing their cabin for this reason.

We always indicate "no upgrade" and have, so far, been fortunate enough to keep our cabin. However, with only 7 cruises, we are newbies :-) We'll keep our fingers crossed that we continue to keep what we book!

Glad you got a cabin near your original and can still enjoy your cruise!

[geoherb]

If your reservation was marked "no upgrade," instead of cancelling the cruise you originally wanted, you should have held out for your original cabin or an acceptable upgraded one.

 

The way it is supposed to work is that even cabins marked "no upgrade" are eligible for upgrades if for some reason Princess wants to assign that cabin to someone else. Princess is supposed to contact you (if you booked directly with them) or your travel agent (if booked through one) and you have a certain period of time to decline the upgrade. If you miss the deadline, they take it as a yes.

[CI66774]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research. By chance, learned that an upgrade was given, Suite @ front of ship, and original cabins were given away because "someone else wanted them." I"m not new to cruising,but is this common? I was infuriorated, and cancelled the booking. Booked HAL instead.:confused:

 

Which cabins did they move you to? If Princess moved you to M107/08 or L107/08, you definitely got a wonderful upgrade. Those are coveted. If they moved you to a full suite at the bow - those are really, really sweet! However, if you marked "no upgrade," they should have contacted you first to determine if you wanted to be moved.

[JJPacer]

We have sailed on several cruise lines. Princess is the only line we've had this issue. They told us we were upgraded to a cabin which just so happened to be under the theater! I called immediately, and advised them we would only accept our originally booked cabin. They changed us back. You have to keep an eye on Princess.

[COMBOY]

Well, when you book a cruise you are paying for a cabin "grade;" not a specific cabin although the cruise line will allow you to "request" a cabin assignment. The cruise line can and does sometime move your cabin choice within the grade or will upgrades you complimentary to a higher grade. This is typical procedure with most lines including HAL. You can mark you reservation "do no upgrade," but they can if deemed necessary move you for operational reasons. If you are not happy with your move then Princess will try to "accommodate" you, but not necessary back to the same cabin. They can move you for a variety of reason like to accommodate a large family, B2B passengers, maintenance issues, etc. They don't have to give you a reason. It's the same as the airlines and seat assignment. It gives them flexibility for operational purposes. Clearly they don't do this unless deemed absolutely necessary. Yes, some folk will be thrilled with an upgrade and of course some will be furious, but in the end Princess is a business; they answer to their stockholders and if moving cabins maximizes profits even if they might mean losing a passenger then so be it. They can't please everyone. If you are still not happy then keep pushing it up the food chain at Princess. Maybe you might get on OBC or suite, etc. depending upon the business you've done with them. However, in this case Princess gets the last laugh since both HAL and Princess are owned by the Carnival Group.

[CI66774]

Well, when you book a cruise you are paying for a cabin "grade;" not a specific cabin although the cruise line will allow you to "request" a cabin assignment. The cruise line can and does sometime move your cabin choice within the grade or will upgrades you complimentary to a higher grade. This is typical procedure with most lines including HAL. You can mark you reservation "do no upgrade," but they can if deemed necessary move you for operational reasons. If you are not happy with your move then Princess will try to "accommodate" you, but not necessary back to the same cabin. They can move you for a variety of reason like to accommodate a large family, B2B passengers, maintenance issues, etc. They don't have to give you a reason. It's the same as the airlines and seat assignment. It gives them flexibility for operational purposes. Clearly they don't do this unless deemed absolutely necessary. Yes, some folk will be thrilled with an upgrade and of course some will be furious, but in the end Princess is a business; they answer to their stockholders and if moving cabins maximizes profits even if they might mean losing a passenger then so be it. They can't please everyone. If you are still not happy then keep pushing it up the food chain at Princess. Maybe you might get on OBC or suite, etc. depending upon the business you've done with them. However, in this case Princess gets the last laugh since both HAL and Princess are owned by the Carnival Group.

 

It was my impression that Princess can move you if, in fact, it's an "upgrade," not a cabin within the same category you booked (i.e. MA to another MA). Here would be my beef. Let's say my MA mini-suite went down in price after final payment ($500 pp). I can't take advantage of that. But, if, in fact, they're treating my cabin assignment like a guarantee then if they move me I should reap that benefit. The reason I book early (and sometimes pay more) is I want a specific cabin. If that's out the window then I will demand the last selling price plus some OBC for my inconvenience. That's if I approve of the move. If I don't, all h$ll will break loose and Princess (or whatever line) will regret attempting to move me.

[Ellipooh]

How do i mark my reservation as "no upgrade"?

I dont recall seeing that option when i booked.

:confused:

[Homosassa]

We booked our preferred cabin on the Coral Princess, an interior low down and in the middle of the ship. Reservation was marked no upgrade. When we checked in for the cruise we found out that we were "upgraded" to a large balcony cabin on a high deck aft on the ship.

 

We couldn't get our old cabin back as it had been assigned to someone else.

 

We bit the bullet and tried a balcony cabin. Our reaction: nothing we would booked again. The balcony was hot, always sunny (we prefer the shade), was claustrophobic (a tiny hemmed in cube with limited sight range ), and was totally useless for us. I would have preferred the space inside the cabin instead of being wasted on a balcony.

[MCC retired]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research.

 

Extensive Research missed the soot problems of aft balconies as well as the "do not upgrade" request that is available .

I would have jumped for joy with the upgrade given :D

[CI66774]

We booked our preferred cabin on the Coral Princess, an interior low down and in the middle of the ship. Reservation was marked no upgrade. When we checked in for the cruise we found out that we were "upgraded" to a large balcony cabin on a high deck aft on the ship.

 

We couldn't get our old cabin back as it had been assigned to someone else.

 

We bit the bullet and tried a balcony cabin. Our reaction: nothing we would booked again. The balcony was hot, always sunny (we prefer the shade), was claustrophobic (a tiny hemmed in cube with limited sight range ), and was totally useless for us. I would have preferred the space inside the cabin instead of being wasted on a balcony.

 

Question - was it an inside that could house 3 or 4 and you had 2 booked? Just a thought.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Recently booked two stern cabins on the new Royal Princess after extensive research.

 

Extensive Research missed the soot problems of aft balconies as well as the "do not upgrade" request that is available .

I would have jumped for joy with the upgrade given :D

 

That's what I was thinking! If the OP really did his/her research, he/she would've seen that the soot is a major problem on the aft balcony cabins and would've been thrilled to be moved elsewhere.

 

We haven't heard back from the OP. I wonder if he/she had a TA? If so, that TA would've dealt with Princess and there would've been no need to cancel.

[DrivesLikeMario]

How do i mark my reservation as "no upgrade"?

I dont recall seeing that option when i booked.

:confused:

 

Did you book on your own instead of using a TA? You'll probably have to call Princess then and get them to mark your booking as you want (no upgrade, any upgrade, upgrade to next category type aka "Meta").

[caribill]

How do i mark my reservation as "no upgrade"?

I dont recall seeing that option when i booked.

:confused:

 

If you booked by phone with Princess or with a travel agent, that is a question the rep should have asked you.

 

It usually is in the form of "would you accept an upgrade?"

Edited November 8, 2013 by caribill

[mathan416]

If you booked by phone with Princess or with a travel agent, that is a question the rep should have asked you.

 

It usually is in the form of "would you accept an upgrade?"

 

When I booked with Princess, I don't recall being asked that question, but I will certainly keep it in mind. I have no issue being offered an upgrade, as long as it's not in a noisy area of the ship. :)

[Ellipooh]

I booked online direct with Princess, and I don't remember being asked. I wonder if there's a way to deselect the upgrade option now?

[rkmw]

When I booked with Princess, I don't recall being asked that question, but I will certainly keep it in mind. I have no issue being offered an upgrade, as long as it's not in a noisy area of the ship. :)

 

if you opt for an upgrade they can put you anywhere on the ship