Change from balcony to suite- lose promotion?

[bemis12]

We are booked on the Coral to Alaska on June 5, and have the Sip 'N Sail promotion.  We've currently got an aft balcony, but decided to move to a Vista Suite.

 

When I called in to Princess, I wasn't certain the person knew what she was doing.  At first she told me there were no Vista Suites available.  I ended up having to tell her which ones actually were available.

 

Then she informed me that I could not change room classes without losing my Sip 'N Sail promo.  Rather than accepting this on it's face, I figured I would inquire here.  Is that accurate?  I'm not particularly interested in giving up my promo, and will likely stay where I am if that is the case.

 

 

 

[Magellan321]

You will loose the promo on the balcony moving now to Vista.

[AF-1]

Looks like Princess has a new promotion.  Specialty dining and obc.  So you may be able to cancel the balcony room and book vista suite and snag the new promotion

Edited January 22, 2019 by AF-1
changed response

[Cindy]

Yes, you get whatever the current promo is if you change categories. You can only change cabins within your booked category and keep your existing perks/pricing.

[bemis12]

 That’s disappointing. I had almost talked myself into the suite.

 

 Thank you all very much for the responses! 

[rcp6146]

We had that exact situation happen to us.  We were on board the Coral going through the Panama Canal.  We were in a Vista suite.  We were already booked for the following year on the Crown in an aft balcony under sip-n-sail.  We were so in love with our current suite that we wanted to upgrade for next year from the aft balcony to an aft Vista suite without losing our sip-n-sail promotion.  We went to the future cruise person and gave them our request.  She said we would lose our promotion but would give it a try.  She made a call and they said the same thing . . . She still didn't give up and she made another call to customer service AND they made it happen.  We just got off the Crown Princess C751 in Dec after 20 days of Sip-n-Sail.  So, It Can Happen.

[riffatsea]

We switched from a Mini suite to a full suite and kept our 3 for Free promotion.

Call again! I wouldn't let the person on the phone switch until she guaranteed we could keep the 3 for Free.

[SpareBrew]

It can happen!  We went from a mini-suite to a Window Suite and got to keep our sip-n-sail promotion although that promotion was no longer available.  It took two different phone calls from our TA to make it happen.

[satxdiver]

Interesting that some were able to switch cabins and retain their sale benefit.  Whenever I have called my Princess planner, I have always been warned that a change will cause me to lose the perk attached to the cabin from the previous sale.  I would not switch however unless I had it in writing as sometimes they develop a severe case of amnesia.  Anything not in writing is not true.  

[voljeep]

Princess Planner ?, really ? - the one 'assigned' to us has been, well ...

[satxdiver]

 

Princess Planner ?, really ? - the one 'assigned' to us has been, well ...

 

Yes we were assigned a cruise planner and I have had really good luck with her.  I somewhat frequently call her to book a new cruise or re-fare an existing one as I check at least weekly the prices and perks being offered.  Since I book our cruises as soon as they are announced, re-fare activity happens somewhat often.  Of course depending on the person assigned, YMMV. 

[Ep010835]

I’m guessing no TA involved?

[Papa Yoda]

 

It can be done - be persistent.

[GottaLuvCruising]

6 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

It can be done - be persistent.

 

How?  We booked inside staterooms Grand Hawaii April 6th for $1598pp including gratuities and $150pp OBC under 3-for-free.  Hate like the dickens to lose those benefits.  

 

BUT a balcony is now $1698.  We'd jump at the opportunity to sail in balcony for $100pp more, but based on policy it's actually closer to $500pp.

 

If there's a way to upgrade, but keep our amenities, we sure would like to do it.   

[cheeseclan]

10 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

It can be done - be persistent.

  

I am sure they do it every once in awhile but that is not the policy.  Otherwise what is the purpose of having the sale!!

[bemis12]

On 1/22/2019 at 11:36 PM, Ferd Berfle said:

 

It can be done - be persistent.

 

I guess it can.  I just called again  and got what I asked for.  AND for $190 less PP than the person on Tuesday quoted me (while giving up my Beverage Package).

 

Thanks all for the advice!  I'm gonna be a hero when I tell her.

[Colo Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, bemis12 said:

 

I guess it can.  I just called again  and got what I asked for.  AND for $190 less PP than the person on Tuesday quoted me (while giving up my Beverage Package).

 

Thanks all for the advice!  I'm gonna be a hero when I tell her.

So you did lose the S&S?

[bemis12]

Just now, Colo Cruiser said:

So you did lose the S&S?

 

No, I told her that under no circumstances would I give up the S&S.  She had to put me on hold to get permission, but no problem. 

 

It still shows in my booking. 

[Colo Cruiser]

Just now, bemis12 said:

 

No, I told her that under no circumstances would I give up the S&S.  She had to put me on hold to get permission, but no problem. 

 

It still shows in my booking. 

Cool beans.  

[capriccio]

10 minutes ago, OR_Cowboy_1952 said:

S&S is only worth it if you drink at least 6 hard liquor drinks per day including port days.

 

That is just one way to make Sip N' Sail promo or the Premium Beverage Package 'worth it.'  Since the promo/package includes all drinks on board (specialty coffees, cocktails, glasses of wine, soda, mocktails, and bottled waters in addition to hard liquor), there are lots of ways to get to the daily price. 

 

If anyone is interested in the promo/package, they should do the math to determine if it is advantageous or not.  There was a thread in December that discussed the package and, a surprise to no one , there were some who find it worth it and others who do not: 

 

OR_Cowboy - just an FYI.  You aren't allowed to name travel agents/companies on cruise critic so if your post disappears that is probably why.

[Papa Yoda]

5 hours ago, bemis12 said:

 

I guess it can.  I just called again  and got what I asked for.  AND for $190 less PP than the person on Tuesday quoted me (while giving up my Beverage Package).

 

Thanks all for the advice!  I'm gonna be a hero when I tell her.

 

We expect full credit.

 

We enjoy the S&S promotion because it removes a fret point.  We're on holiday and while we don't drink a lot and have bought it (the PBP) a few times to see, and wouldn't necessarily buy it now, we do enjoy wine with dinner, Espressos, Cappuccinos, Mochas, Ports after dinner, beers with lunch on the pool deck all without a care.  

 

And we've never found the cruise fare to be more with it included as a promotion.  In fact our 28 day last March with S&S was less than the prior one in October without the S&S promotion

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Ferd Berfle

[bemis12]

4 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

We expect full credit.

 

We enjoy the S&S promotion because it removes a fret point.  We're on holiday and while we don't drink a lot and have bought it (the PBP) a few times to see, and wouldn't necessarily buy it now, we do enjoy wine with dinner, Espressos, Cappuccinos, Mochas, Ports after dinner, beers with lunch on the pool deck all without a care.  

 

And we've never found the cruise fare to be more with it included as a promotion.  In fact our 28 day last March with S&S was less than the prior one in October without the S&S promotion

 

 

That's us to a T.  Don't think I'd ever purchase S&S outright, but we love the comfort of just not thinking about it.

 

The price I got for the room yesterday WITH the S&S was $190 less PP than if I had booked it on their website under the current All Aboard promo.

[GottaLuvCruising]

11 hours ago, bemis12 said:

 

No, I told her that under no circumstances would I give up the S&S.  She had to put me on hold to get permission, but no problem. 

 

It still shows in my booking. 

Maybe I should try again today.  Yesterday I was told I'd lose my amenities (OBC and free gratuities.)  

[Dawniepoo]

This is what really irks me, when we find a lower fare and want to upgrade, but never have any luck retaining the original perks in the booking. My husband has called 3 times in the last 2 weeks to upgrade because the fares have lowered, and he gets the same answer: you will give up your original promo. He is quite persistent, but it never happens for us. 

[GottaLuvCruising]

13 minutes ago, Dawniepoo said:

This is what really irks me, when we find a lower fare and want to upgrade, but never have any luck retaining the original perks in the booking. My husband has called 3 times in the last 2 weeks to upgrade because the fares have lowered, and he gets the same answer: you will give up your original promo. He is quite persistent, but it never happens for us. 

I called yesterday and got the same answer.  But I'm just going to try again today anyway.  How is it that some people are successful?  They can put me on hold, too, and get permission.