Beware the Upgrade Fairy..you may get what you wish for.

[10XCRUISE]

Sailed on the Golden on 9/10 and we had booked a BC balcony 5 months ago.

Surprise!!! At the dock we were upgraded to a BA ( 3rd cabin from the bow on the 14th deck..Lido)

Yippee..

 

Well at first we thought the cabin guests above us were VERY amorous, but much to our chagrin this upgrade placed us directly under the spa treadmills. thump, thump, thump, thump,12 hours a day.

 

The cabin we had originally booked (B643) was near the laundromat so we intentionally packed fewer clothes. Now with the upgrade we had to go down 4 decks and half way back the ship to wash our clothes. A bit of a walk to the elevators & stairs.

 

So after we thanked the pursers desk for the 'up-grade' they told us to avoid an upgrade in the future you must stipulate when you book the cabin " do not upgrade ".

 

We had a wonderful week and we hope eveyone else enjous their cruising as much as we did. Our 14th cruise and we learn something new each time.

[sun&sea]

Good advice! Sounds like you made the best of it though. I have repeated this phrase frequently..."Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it!"

Live and learn, right?

 

Janet

[Steven_&_Daniel]

...we had to go down 4 decks and half way back the ship to wash our clothes.

 

The Golden has a self-serve laundromat on every passenger deck. Why were you going down 4 decks to get to one?

 

 

...the pursers desk for the 'up-grade' they told us to avoid an upgrade in the future you must stipulate when you book the cabin "do not upgrade"

 

Our TA told us that upgrades are optional not mandatory. You can refuse the upgrade when offered.

 

 

 

 

 

___________________

[Toto2Kansas]

"Our TA told us that upgrades are optional not mandatory. You can refuse the upgrade when offered."

 

 

Sometimes when you book a guarantee, but the time they assign your upgrade, there just isn't much left to change to, even if given the option. It is always the chance you take and you really need to stay on top of it, as if the cabin they assign is not to your liking, there must be another available to swtich to, which sometimes just isn't there.

[sueandkent]

We too got bit by the "upgrade" fairy on our first cruise. We were encouraged to book a guarantee so we could likely get upgraded. We were thrilled when our outside obstructed became just outside. We were not so thrilled when outside our outside was the promanade deck and at night you could see into our room through the one way glass and, we had to look through others on the deck outside our room to have a view. The capper, 2nd room from the bow. We rocked and rolled on the Mexican Riv all week long.

Lesson learned, we now book a specific cabin and note on our file no upgrades.

[ricj8100]

Sailed on the Golden on 9/10 and we had booked a BC balcony 5 months ago.

Surprise!!! At the dock we were upgraded to a BA ( 3rd cabin from the bow on the 14th deck..Lido)

Yippee..

 

Well at first we thought the cabin guests above us were VERY amorous, but much to our chagrin this upgrade placed us directly under the spa treadmills. thump, thump, thump, thump,12 hours a day.

 

The cabin we had originally booked (B643) was near the laundromat so we intentionally packed fewer clothes. Now with the upgrade we had to go down 4 decks and half way back the ship to wash our clothes. A bit of a walk to the elevators & stairs.

 

So after we thanked the pursers desk for the 'up-grade' they told us to avoid an upgrade in the future you must stipulate when you book the cabin " do not upgrade ".

 

We had a wonderful week and we hope eveyone else enjous their cruising as much as we did. Our 14th cruise and we learn something new each time.

 

 

I had a very similar experience. I just returned from the Caribbean Princess (09/03/05 sailing).

 

I originally booked a mini-suite category AA on Dolphin Deck. I was upgraded to a full suite category PH on Riviera Deck (406).

 

This put my cabin directly below the Lido Deck in a major walkway.

 

At least at night it wasn't bad, but starting around 6AM every morning all I heard was the sound of pounding feet - I mean pounding feet when these people walked. Seriously, it sounded like they were coming through the ceiling of my cabin.

 

I never complained as this was, according to my TA, an exceptional upgrade. However, had I paid the full fare for this cabin, I would have certainly said something.

[woodofpine]

Keep an eye on what cabin your reservation is for, versus what cabin the final tickets (or later) assign you. I didn't even think to look and a few days before a med trip on Golden noticed that we were moved to a mini-suite from a veranda (nice); unfortunately our kids in the inside across the passageway didn't move along with us (too bad). Princess straightened it out and got us back into the original booking. The couple upgraded to our original varanda probably got a nice additional treat! :)

[cruzinchris]

Here's a recent thread that dealt with the Lido staterooms beneath the fitness center: http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=4714819#post4714819 .

 

My response on that thread deals with staterooms that are along the corridor leading to public areas on Lido deck. We declined a visit from the upgrade fairy for our 1/28/06 CB cruise. We'll be happy campers in a quiet location on Baja.

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[Blackrobe]

Okay, here is the skinny on crappy cabins on the Sea, Sun, Dawn and the Coral and Island. This is how you can get screwed on an upgrade.

 

Hopefully, everyone is familiar with obstructed view cabins. The cruise line is pretty upfront about these. What I am writing about is something different and Princess does not give you much warning about it.

 

On the Sea, Sun and Dawn Princess there is a symbol description on the Aloha, Baja and Dolphin decks which reads "*Lower beds not convertible to queen; shower only". Trying to find the asterisk on the rooms is virtually impossible. What you find is what appears to be a gray circle. There is no legend for the gray circle. The gray circle is the asterisk.

 

On the Coral the symbol is only found on the Baja and Plaza decks. The Island only has the symbol on the Plaza deck.

 

On the Sea, Dawn and Sun, the cabins this symbol refers to are: A640, A641, A730, A732, A735, A737, B730, B732, B735, B737, D324, D326, D327 & D329. On the Coral, they are: B421, B433, P506, P512, P516 & P535. On the Island, they are: P506, P512, P516, P535.

 

When you get your tickets for one of these cabins they will state in the comments section, "Recessing lower bed" "Twin beds only". Of course, by the time you get your tickets the deadline has passed for cancelling the cruise or for making changes to your cabin.

 

Reading what Cruise Critics posters have said about these rooms is enlightening. They state that there is no room to store your luggage. At least one, if not both, the twins beds are anchored to the wall and actually fold down from the wall. The shower is open to accommodate handicapped passengers which can cause water to go everywhere in the bathroom.

 

You will note that many of these cabins have verandahs. These are not the accommodations you expect when you think of a balcony cabin. These shortcomings can easily be overlooked when looking at cabins in the various categories. Certainly, when moving to a balcony from a non-balcony the excitement would be about being upgraded to a balcony without realizing the drawbacks until the tickets arrive!

[Steven_&_Daniel]

Sometimes when you book a guarantee, but the time they assign your upgrade, there just isn't much left to change to, even if given the option. It is always the chance you take and you really need to stay on top of it, as if the cabin they assign is not to your liking, there must be another available to swtich to, which sometimes just isn't there.

 

 

Toto,

 

Thanks. I never understood why people were so worried about upgrades if they could decline them. I never even thought about someone being booked with a guarantee. While I'm sure there may be some who find a benefit to booking a guarantee, I would never even think of booking a cruise without selecting the exact cabin in which we would stay. To me, a guarantee is like playing roulette with your vacation.

 

 

 

 

__________________

[alolewis]

Many reasons to select a guarantee instead of selecting a spefic cabin:

 

* price - often guarantees are cheaper

 

* availability - in my case we had to cancel a cruise and reschedule and when we rebooked the other cruise, guarantee was all that was left (which makes me wonder how they can offer a guarantee when no cabins are available)

 

* I am told better chances of an upgrade

 

I would prefer selecting my cabin, or have my TA request the cabin, but when we booked it was not available. I am sure I will have a good time anyway, no phones, no cell phones, no e-mail, someone else does the cooking and cleaning...

[donna5]

The Golden has a self-serve laundromat on every passenger deck. Why were you going down 4 decks to get to one?

 

 

___________________

 

 

Go to Princess.com and look at the deck the Lido doesn't have laundry. Unless you wash your clothes in the pool or whirlpools. :D

[woodofpine]

Thank you, Judg-ey! {Curly style} ARH - ARH -ARH! That's, in fact, a well studied opinion!

[Blackrobe]

You're welcome Woody.

[woodofpine]

Natch' u Lee

[chefajax]

Hi to All....

Though we like to pick out our cabin, we don't mind the upgrade,but we will not move unless it is to a full suite ;). We have our T/A write that in there and have been waiting for that upgrade everytime we book.....Dennis

[madelinerose]

Amen to that! :eek:

 

I would never even think of booking a cruise without selecting the exact cabin in which we would stay. To me, a guarantee is like playing roulette with your vacation.__________________

[Toto2Kansas]

Hi to All....

Though we like to pick out our cabin, we don't mind the upgrade,but we will not move unless it is to a full suite ;). We have our T/A write that in there and have been waiting for that upgrade everytime we book.....Dennis

No matter what your TA tells you, she can not note that you will only except an upgrade to a full suite. This is a myth that someone started a long time ago. You either WILL accept an upgrade OR you won't, but you or your TA can not specify what you will except. Seems you might be waiting even longer than you realized for an upgrade to a full suite. :(

[BelleStarr]

I did not realize that a request to NOT upgrade had to be put in to the TA. I'm glad to know this as we would be very unhappy to find ourselves upgraded if it meant losing our starboard side cabin. Thank you for sharing.

[Handsome1975]

I am going on my second cruise (first with princess) and booked a guarantee mini suite. We got our cabin the other day on the dolphin deck right in the middle of the ship (cat AA) ... so I guess we got lucky from what I read here. Most of the posts are saying that it's a gamble to book a cruise with a guarantee.

[Dani24]

We booked a GTY for our cruise, too. We still got an obstructed view, but it's in the middle of the ship (instead of the very back), behind the smaller life boats (as opposed to the bigger ones for the CAT we booked), and in a non-noisy area (whereas the CAT we booked was above a lounge/bar, I think). So far, we've ended up with something much better than we would have had if we picked a room.

[calikak]

* availability - in my case we had to cancel a cruise and reschedule and when we rebooked the other cruise, guarantee was all that was left (which makes me wonder how they can offer a guarantee when no cabins are available)

 

Like the airlines, cruise lines sometimes oversell ships, knowing that some people will cancel. If you get bumped from your sailing, you generally get a lot of very lucrative benefits. I had a friend bumped from a cruise who got rescheduled on a different sailing on the same itinerary, and as compensation for her inconvenience, she received over $1500 in onboard credit and an upgrade to a full suite. They also paid the change fee for her flights to the cruise (not Princess-booked flights). That kind of takes the edge off of being bumped! Usually they call your TA to make an offer if your ship is oversold and they want to give your cabin to someone else. They can generally find plenty of people who are willing to change their plans in exchange for whatever compensation they're offering.

[Steven_&_Daniel]

Calikak is right. Overbooking can be a benefit to those who book extremely early. We were booked in a mini-suite (similar to a full suite on Grand class ships) on the Dawn a few years ago. We booked almost 2 years before sailing and ten days before departure, Princess called to say they had overbooked our cabin. Since we booked first, we were given the choice of keeping the cabin or down-grading to an outside with balcony and receiving a full refund! :D Gee, that was a tough decision.

 

It was like getting a free vacation and a bonus. Since the cruise was paid off monthly over the previous 2 years, the money seemed a distant memory. After returning home, we received a large check in the mail (since it was a somewhat pricey cabin). Sure makes for a nice vacation.

 

I have to add that it did take Princess over two months to send the refund check, but it was definitely a nice compensation.

[chefajax]

Hi to All...

Toto, we did this for our first cruise and were upgraded from a AB to PH,but I discounted this due to Princess's upgrade tendencies towards first timers,which I've read that others have recieved and it happened just that once,but I will keep that hope alive. Perhaps, you are right,but at least,my T/A knows how I feel..........Dennis

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

2 years ago we had to cancel our cruise on the Coral only 24 hours prior to sailing. We had booked a mini and our travel companions were in an inside. I called Princess (not booked through Princess) and asked if our friends could be surprised and upgraded to our already paid for mini. The response was no it can't be done. About an hour later my freinds received a phone call from Princess offering to upgrade them to an outside. It seemed last minute and we never found out if it had anything to do with our request...