Marking room no upgrade is no guarantee

[RDC1]

I just received an e-mail from Princess informing me that I have been upgraded. In this case from an inside to a obstructed ocean view located right above the casino. This is even though I had called Princess when I first made my reservation and had them mark it no upgrade.

 

I called Princess and they indicated that since I had called within 48 hours of the change I was guaranteed to get my original room upgrade. I hope that guarantee works better then marking the room no upgrade.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I just received an e-mail from Princess informing me that I have been upgraded. In this case from an inside to a obstructed ocean view located right above the casino. This is even though I had called Princess when I first made my reservation and had them mark it no upgrade.

 

I called Princess and they indicated that since I had called within 48 hours of the change I was guaranteed to get my original room upgrade. I hope that guarantee works better then marking the room no upgrade.

 

Wow. I hope you do get your original cabin back and after the cruise, please consider writing to Princess to express your dismay that your "no upgrade" request wasn't honored. That they should offer passengers (with the NU booking request) the opportunity to switch, not just switch them outright.

[Loonbeam]

As has been repeated many times, No Upgrade is just a request, NOT a guarantee. It means you will be moved to the bottom of your category if an upgrade is needed for yield management. If everyone in a cat marks no upgrade? No one is no upgrade...

 

You can always request your cabin back if it has not been assigned.

[vmom]

Marking no upgrade is also no guarantee that Princess won't move you to a different cabin.

 

As I wrote in another recent post, we had marked no upgrade and and chosen a particular cabin since we were traveling with family and wanted cabins close to each other.

 

We were okay until we checked in at the port and discovered that we were moved to the same category cabin (so not considered an upgrade) but on the other side of the ship and down the hall from our original cabin. The change was never made on the cruise personalizer and I believe it was made just shortly before we had checked in. Someone had already been given our cabin so we were not able to move back to the cabin I had selected.

[The Captain90]

Yes the whole upgrade thing has me laughing. If they are going to ignore the no upgrade request why allow it in the first place. Also if they want to change things around why give us the option of selecting our cabin when booking - why not just have us select type and we find out actual cabin at the wharf.

 

I spent some time in working out what cabin to select, have marked it no upgrade and expect this to be honoured. Just give the pax who they want to give my cabin too the cabin they want to upgrade me too. Pretty simple.

 

 

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[ontheweb]

I just received an e-mail from Princess informing me that I have been upgraded. In this case from an inside to a obstructed ocean view located right above the casino. This is even though I had called Princess when I first made my reservation and had them mark it no upgrade.

 

I called Princess and they indicated that since I had called within 48 hours of the change I was guaranteed to get my original room upgrade. I hope that guarantee works better then marking the room no upgrade.

 

You were lucky you got the e-mail. I only noticed we had a similar "upgrade" by noticing in my personalizer that the cabin had been switched. I called my TA, and he said he had never received that e-mail (though they claimed to have sent it.) They also claimed that our original cabin had been taken out of the inventory. But that was a lie; it had passengers in it.

 

We did get out of the OV below the casino bar, but did not get our original cabin back.

Edited October 10, 2014 by ontheweb

[Pam in CA]

As has been repeated many times, No Upgrade is just a request, NOT a guarantee. It means you will be moved to the bottom of your category if an upgrade is needed for yield management. If everyone in a cat marks no upgrade? No one is no upgrade...

 

You can always request your cabin back if it has not been assigned.

Exactly.

 

FYI, upgrades or changes are made electronically by Yield Management. There aren't elves deciding where to move passengers. It's based on supply and demand, category-by-category.

[shredie]

FYI, upgrades or changes are made electronically by Yield Management. There aren't elves deciding where to move passengers. It's based on supply and demand, category-by-category.

 

No elves? :D Yield Management is evil. ;)

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Also if they want to change things around why give us the option of selecting our cabin when booking - why not just have us select type and we find out actual cabin at the wharf...

 

I share your frustration. They do give this option--it is called a guarantee. I also put a great deal of time into choosing our cabins. I think that if a "no upgrade" request is not honored, then a refund or OBC should be issued to reduce the fare paid to the guarantee rate if it is less than we paid for choosing our cabins ahead of time.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[I object 2]

No elves? :D Yield Management is evil. ;)

 

Hahahaha.....love it!

[rkmw]

i agree with anyone that books their cabin no upgrade, dont give them an upgrade and then they cant complain if they cop a lousy location but give the good upgrades to the people that will accept an upgrade

[shredie]

i agree with anyone that books their cabin no upgrade, dont give them an upgrade and then they cant complain if they cop a lousy location but give the good upgrades to the people that will accept an upgrade

 

Of course, "good upgrade" is often a matter of personal opinion.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I know that when we booked our last cruise I was asked if we would like to be considered for an upgrade or a mega-upgrade and I asked to have our booking "no upgrade." I think that if "yield management" targets those in the last category, it should work like a move-over offer. You get offered the new cabin and they have to hear a yes from you in order to change you. If not, they go to the next cabin over and make them the same offer. If it's a true upgrade (say inside to balcony), they'll find someone willing to move.

[RDC1]

I know that when we booked our last cruise I was asked if we would like to be considered for an upgrade or a mega-upgrade and I asked to have our booking "no upgrade." I think that if "yield management" targets those in the last category' date=' it should work like a move-over offer. You get offered the new cabin and they have to hear a yes from you in order to change you. If not, they go to the next cabin over and make them the same offer. If it's a true upgrade (say inside to balcony), they'll find someone willing to move.[/quote']

 

In this case we chose the inside such that there is no public space above or below (not easy on the Pacific Princess) in a quite location. The "upgrade" that they wanted to give us was a fully obstructed ocean view, that is smaller is size than the inside and is located above the casino. The only benefit is getting some light through the window, unless of course you like looking at the side of a lifeboat. Not my idea of an upgrade.

[jammen]

I just received an e-mail from Princess informing me that I have been upgraded. In this case from an inside to a obstructed ocean view located right above the casino. This is even though I had called Princess when I first made my reservation and had them mark it no upgrade.

 

I called Princess and they indicated that since I had called within 48 hours of the change I was guaranteed to get my original room upgrade. I hope that guarantee works better then marking the room no upgrade.

 

I have received upgrades and like them, keep asking your TA for one, just work with them.

[Lerin]

I feel your pain.

We were once upgraded at the pier to what ended up being the worst cabin we'd ever had on a cruise. We will most likely never sail that line again mainly because of it.

Wish I'd been more vocal about my dissatisfaction.

[aquilegia]

I always get my cabin marked no upgrade but though I've never been moved, I still don't trust the system. My next cruise is over 6 months away, but I'm still checking the booking every day to make sure I don't get caught out!

[hawkeyetlse]

They also claimed that our original cabin had been taken out of the inventory. But that was a lie; it had passengers in it.

It wasn't a lie. "Out of inventory" only means "you can't have this cabin at this time". It doesn't mean "this cabin will be left empty on this cruise".

[satxdiver]

For many years I have not had a problem as I always mark my stateroom selection as "no upgrade". But this year they got me moving me to a room I did not like. I found it out by checking my reservation for the room assignment. By the time I found out and called Princess they had given my original room away. Luckily though they were able to give me a room near the old one. Lesson learned. Now I check my room assignment regularly for any changes.

[richstowe]

As has been repeated many times, No Upgrade is just a request, NOT a guarantee. It means you will be moved to the bottom of your category if an upgrade is needed for yield management. If everyone in a cat marks no upgrade? No one is no upgrade...

 

You can always request your cabin back if it has not been assigned.

 

Exactly.

 

FYI, upgrades or changes are made electronically by Yield Management. There aren't elves deciding where to move passengers. It's based on supply and demand, category-by-category.

Then why even have a "no upgrade" box ?

[caribill]

 

We were okay until we checked in at the port and discovered that we were moved to the same category cabin (so not considered an upgrade) but on the other side of the ship and down the hall from our original cabin. The change was never made on the cruise personalizer and I believe it was made just shortly before we had checked in. Someone had already been given our cabin so we were not able to move back to the cabin I had selected.

 

Chances are the your cabin was taken by someone who had it on the previous voyage and wanted to continue in the same cabin.

 

Rather than inconvenience them with a move, they chose to move you.

[azcruiser64]

Earlier this year I had a mini suite cabin marked no upgrade and was moved, but to cabin that was OK by me. Called my travel agent and asked that they check out why I was moved. Princess told them it was a mistake but my original cabin was now occupied. He tried to get me a full suite instead of the mini I was in but they wouldn't do it. Instead Princess gave me a $200 on board credit.

[SandyAtSea]

Mostly have sailed Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. Have NEVER even seen this issue discussed on those boards. Why is this such a common theme on Princess, that you may lose the cabin you specifically selected? Other cruise lines seem to do yield management via price drops as the cruise approaches. Or they sell a guarantee to a particular category of cabins for a slightly reduced price (still more than the next lower category) which gives them more flexibility. They don't just give away your cabin. The fact that you can select a specific cabin and lose it seems odd to me.

 

Yes, I have marked my upcoming Princess cruise "Do not upgrade" (thank you, CC!!) and have even called a couple of times to make sure it's still designated that way, but it sure makes one nervous!

[RDC1]

I have received upgrades and like them, keep asking your TA for one, just work with them.

 

 

The point is I do not want an upgrade. I like the room I selected and do not care to be moved. I have cruised in just about every category, including suites, and on multiple lines. I have found that I like the fact that insides tend to be quieter, and nicely dark when trying to sleep. As such I book them almost exclusively these days, as long as one is available that in not adjacent to any public or crew areas.

 

I want the room I selected and paid for.

[RDC1]

I feel your pain.

We were once upgraded at the pier to what ended up being the worst cabin we'd ever had on a cruise. We will most likely never sail that line again mainly because of it.

Wish I'd been more vocal about my dissatisfaction.

 

I sent a fairly lengthy letter to Princess this morning about the experience. I have 20 cruise days booked in January and had planned on booking another 43 days during the year. That may change depending upon the outcome of this, including their response to my e-mail.