HAL UK customer service does not know what an upsale is????

[Cashew14]

We booked our cruise through HAL directly. I phoned the other day to ask if she could make a note that we would like to be considered if an upsale would come up.

 

She said "you mean an upgrade?", I said "no, an upsale".

 

She said "I don't know what you are talking about, you mean an upgrade?"

 

So I informed here an upgrade was free and an upsale would be if a cabin has not been sold in the higher category, cruise lines would sometimes offer these passengers an upsale which is usually below the regular selling price closer to the cruise.

 

She then put me on hold as she spoke to her supervisor. Well, she came back and said: "Yes, we can tell you the upsale would be £££".

 

The upsale "offer" was exactly what was advertised on the website!! I left it as that as I had the feeling I am not getting through to her and to make her understand the difference between upsale and upgrade.

 

Are upsale offers for UK customers not happening? Or why was she totally (and the supervisor) unaware of this term?

 

I have sent an email out again today and will see what the response is this time.

[PASSENGERES]

We booked our cruise through HAL directly. I phoned the other day to ask if she could make a note that we would like to be considered if an upsale would come up.

 

She said "you mean an upgrade?", I said "no, an upsale".

 

She said "I don't know what you are talking about, you mean an upgrade?"

 

So I informed here an upgrade was free and an upsale would be if a cabin has not been sold in the higher category, cruise lines would sometimes offer these passengers an upsale which is usually below the regular selling price closer to the cruise.

 

She then put me on hold as she spoke to her supervisor. Well, she came back and said: "Yes, we can tell you the upsale would be £££".

 

The upsale "offer" was exactly what was advertised on the website!! I left it as that as I had the feeling I am not getting through to her and to make her understand the difference between upsale and upgrade.

 

Are upsale offers for UK customers not happening? Or why was she totally (and the supervisor) unaware of this term?

 

I have sent an email out again today and will see what the response is this time.

 

You are referring to an upsell offer (not upsale). I am amazed that your question was not easily understood by the HAL staff, particularly after explaining what it was you were interested in. Hope you manage to get what you are looking for.:o

[Cashew14]

You are referring to an upsell offer (not upsale). I am amazed that your question was not easily understood by the HAL staff, particularly after explaining what it was you were interested in. Hope you manage to get what you are looking for.:o

 

Upsale, upsale offer. Yes, people would not understand that. :rolleyes:

 

I explained in depth to her what it is which probably did not come across in my message on here but I can assure you I got my message across alright. :rolleyes:

[serendipity1499]

We booked our cruise through HAL directly. I phoned the other day to ask if she could make a note that we would like to be considered if an upsale would come up.

 

She said "you mean an upgrade?", I said "no, an upsale".

 

She said "I don't know what you are talking about, you mean an upgrade?"

 

So I informed here an upgrade was free and an upsale would be if a cabin has not been sold in the higher category, cruise lines would sometimes offer these passengers an upsale which is usually below the regular selling price closer to the cruise.

 

She then put me on hold as she spoke to her supervisor. Well, she came back and said: "Yes, we can tell you the upsale would be £££".

 

The upsale "offer" was exactly what was advertised on the website!! I left it as that as I had the feeling I am not getting through to her and to make her understand the difference between upsale and upgrade.

 

Are upsale offers for UK customers not happening? Or why was she totally (and the supervisor) unaware of this term?

 

I have sent an email out again today and will see what the response is this time.

 

Good question but believe only posters living in the UK & Europe would be able to answer you..

We've only once been offered an upsell & that was when DH & I were not cruising with Friends...But I do have a theory which may not be correct..;)

I'm not sure what ship, itinerary or No. of days, you've booked, but wonder if HAL only offers "upsells" to US & Canadian Posters on some cruises..

They may believe that those who don't fly long distances to the port, might travel more often than those who have to fly long distances..

However, if your cruise originates in Europe, then my theory flies right out the window..LOL

Does this make sense?

 

Cheers..Betty

[Cashew14]

Good question but believe only posters living in the UK & Europe would be able to answer you..

We've only once been offered an upsell & that was when DH & I were not cruising with Friends...But I do have a theory which may not be correct..;)

I'm not sure what ship, itinerary or No. of days, you've booked, but wonder if HAL only offers "upsells" to US & Canadian Posters on some cruises..

They may believe that those who don't fly long distances to the port, might travel more often than those who have to fly long distances..

However, if your cruise originates in Europe, then my theory flies right out the window..LOL

Does this make sense?

 

Cheers..Betty

 

Thanks Betty. Makes perfect sense as it would encourage cruisers from the US to book again with the cruise line as travel time is not so extensive.

 

On this particular cruise we are indeed flying from London to FLL and we also flew into FLL on our other cruises.

 

There is still a need for customer service understanding the difference between upsale and upgrade.

 

And maybe HAL is actually neglecting to attract more cruisers from Europe as they don't really give a lot of incentives to cruise with them in comparison to US customers where OBC, special cruise offers (and I mean "special" cruise offers which we can't book from here on a US site) seems the norm.

[Alberta Quilter]

I don't doubt that you got your message across. What my first thought was, is that you might be a little too early for upsells for your cruise. I noticed that it is about 21 days out. From what I've read here, and experienced on the one upsell I received, it can happen in the last week or even last few days.

 

I have heard that some upsells are similar to the offer you have received (same as website pricing). You just have to wait them out. Our first offer was too high but my TA kept trying and they came back with a price that was more than half of the first price.

 

So, I would keep trying to contact HAL to see if there are upsells available.

[Cashew14]

I don't doubt that you got your message across. What my first thought was, is that you might be a little too early for upsells for your cruise. I noticed that it is about 21 days out. From what I've read here, and experienced on the one upsell I received, it can happen in the last week or even last few days.

 

I have heard that some upsells are similar to the offer you have received (same as website pricing). You just have to wait them out. Our first offer was too high but my TA kept trying and they came back with a price that was more than half of the first price.

 

So, I would keep trying to contact HAL to see if there are upsells available.

 

Thank you very much, very helpful reply. :)

[CruiserBruce]

It has been frequently reported here that if you call HAL, the price quoted will be full rack rate or very close. If HAL calls you, then a lower price offer, or cheap upsell price is far more likely.

[Cashew14]

It has been frequently reported here that if you call HAL, the price quoted will be full rack rate or very close. If HAL calls you, then a lower price offer, or cheap upsell price is far more likely.

 

Oh okay, was not aware of this. Thanks Bruce. :)

[cruz chic]

Upsell are not offered to everyone. On my last cruise folks were offered upsells to Neptune suites for the same price I was quoted for a signature suite. We were all at the same level cabins and likely paid the same price. Hal values some folks more than others.

[Cashew14]

Upsell are not offered to everyone. On my last cruise folks were offered upsells to Neptune suites for the same price I was quoted for a signature suite. We were all at the same level cabins and likely paid the same price. Hal values some folks more than others.

 

Hmmm, this is probably the mysterious cruise secret who is in the "folks club" :cool:

[chrispb]

Wouldn't a free upgrade be dependent on whether you booked a guarantee stateroom or wanted a particular room?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Up sell Offers come from the Revenue Department not Sales. In Europe and Australia they only have Sales departments but the Seattle Revenue Department does have extended hours during the Winter to offer Up Sell offers for the Oosterdam and they were offering a few Up Sell offers this summer for Europe but mostly to North America passengers. The Up Sells that many in the US and Canada receive are in a way trying to make more money for the company which is why the Revenue Department handles this. They know that sailings are not selling some of the higher categories so the Revenue Department jumps in to dangle a carrot so to speak to move passengers up to higher categories so that the lower priced categories can be offered as a last minute sale and or often times the Inside, Balcony and Signature Suite Guarantees have been over sold and this is HAL's way to produce more revenue from that passengers to move them up. Clients in Europe as it has been discussed previously often pay a totally different rate so unless HAL really needs to move cabins the offers do not trickle down to them. Last year was the first time that HAL Revenue Department had to jump in for Australia sailings because the Oosterdam has far more Suites so the Up Sell offers were going out to those in Australia but they were coming from Seattle not from the Sydney office. The same thing will happen again this year.

[Shmoo here]

Wouldn't a free upgrade be dependent on whether you booked a guarantee stateroom or wanted a particular room?

 

No, upgrades can happen whether you've selected a specific room or are on GTY status.

 

We were upgraded on our first cruise and we had already selected a specific room for the cruise.

[RuthC]

Wouldn't a free upgrade be dependent on whether you booked a guarantee stateroom or wanted a particular room?

Only to a point. It appears that those who book a guarantee are more likely to get a free upgrade than those who book a specific cabin, but those who book a specific cabin, and mark their booking that they are willing to accept an upgrade, can get upgraded, too.

Heck, it has been known to happen that someone (me, for instance) has marked their booking "do not upgrade" and gotten one! :eek:

[startwin]

We booked our cruise through HAL directly. I phoned the other day to ask if she could make a note that we would like to be considered if an upsale would come up.

 

She said "you mean an upgrade?", I said "no, an upsale".

 

She said "I don't know what you are talking about, you mean an upgrade?"

 

So I informed here an upgrade was free and an upsale would be if a cabin has not been sold in the higher category, cruise lines would sometimes offer these passengers an upsale which is usually below the regular selling price closer to the cruise.

 

She then put me on hold as she spoke to her supervisor. Well, she came back and said: "Yes, we can tell you the upsale would be £££".

 

The upsale "offer" was exactly what was advertised on the website!! I left it as that as I had the feeling I am not getting through to her and to make her understand the difference between upsale and upgrade.

 

Are upsale offers for UK customers not happening? Or why was she totally (and the supervisor) unaware of this term?

 

I have sent an email out again today and will see what the response is this time.

 

 

Communication has never been HAL's strong point.:rolleyes: