Booking confusion - Early Saver vs Past Guest 2-cat Upgrade

[The Mister]

I attempted two separate kinds of bookings on the Vista - same date, same room type, the first being Early Saver, the other being Past Guest. I chose a cove balcony, and here is a list of rooms offered for each booking:

 

Early Saver:

2281, 2286, 2289, 2322, 2374

 

Past Guest Offer With 2-Category Upgrade ($10pp more than ES with 4 passengers):

2278, 2281, 2286, 2289, 2322, 2374

 

Exactly the same rooms, plus one more. And the additional room (2278) is identical to the one across from it (2281), just port instead of starboard. I understand that a 2-Cat upgrade is supposed to allow one to move up a couple of categories, but it doesn't seem like this option actually works here. It's basically giving me exactly the kind of room I asked for but with the opportunity to pay another $40 ... just for the heck of it? That's no upgrade.

 

So what exactly is the 2-cat upgrade good for if the booking engine doesn't even show me the upgraded rooms? Is my issue that there are only a couple of categories of cove balconies? Would it work differently if I were to book another room type?

 

Thanks in advance. :-)

[bury me at sea]

I don't know about the Vista specifically.  On the Dream class (Magic, Dream and Breeze) there are no different categories of cove, they are all the same.

 

The pricing difference in this case is that Early Saver has more restrictions than Past Guest.

[NutsAboutGolf]

I had a similar experience; I know of one possibility.  You pick a cabin type, then a section of back/middle/front, then you pick your deck.  I'd imagine the upgrade is only available on certain sections and/or decks.

[Earthworm Jim]

Forget the upgrade part, even when you get one it just puts you in the same category room a deck or two higher. Big whoop.

 

The reason you might (I would opine do) want to pay $10 extra per person is that the past guest rate allows you to cancel and get a full refund until final payment date. That's worth $10 to me.

[ProgRockCruiser]

As @Earthworm Jim stated, the price difference covers the cancelling and getting full refund "insurance".

 

It is possible the one room appeared in one of your mock bookings and not the other because someone else had it "in their cart" then released it.

 

Or not - might just be the weird way the booking engine grabs "applicable" cabins.

[The Mister]

Thanks. That makes sense. A small premium for full refundability up to a certain point.

 

And what @Earthworm Jim said about upgrades for room types that actually *have* upgrades, that makes sense as well.

 

I'm not quite as worried about refundability, TBH.

Edited January 30, 2019 by The Mister

[The Mister]

38 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

As @Earthworm Jim stated, the price difference covers the cancelling and getting full refund "insurance".

 

It is possible the one room appeared in one of your mock bookings and not the other because someone else had it "in their cart" then released it.

 

Or not - might just be the weird way the booking engine grabs "applicable" cabins.

Hey, ProgRockCruiser. I'm a big prog-rock fan myself. I'm currently in my home office and can see a big CD shelf full of the stuff.

 

It's possible we interacted way back the last time the fam and I were planning a cruise. 🙂

[HappyValley3]

9 hours ago, The Mister said:

I attempted two separate kinds of bookings on the Vista - same date, same room type, the first being Early Saver, the other being Past Guest. I chose a cove balcony, and here is a list of rooms offered for each booking:

 

Early Saver:

2281, 2286, 2289, 2322, 2374

 

Past Guest Offer With 2-Category Upgrade ($10pp more than ES with 4 passengers):

2278, 2281, 2286, 2289, 2322, 2374

 

Exactly the same rooms, plus one more. And the additional room (2278) is identical to the one across from it (2281), just port instead of starboard. I understand that a 2-Cat upgrade is supposed to allow one to move up a couple of categories, but it doesn't seem like this option actually works here. It's basically giving me exactly the kind of room I asked for but with the opportunity to pay another $40 ... just for the heck of it? That's no upgrade.

 

So what exactly is the 2-cat upgrade good for if the booking engine doesn't even show me the upgraded rooms? Is my issue that there are only a couple of categories of cove balconies? Would it work differently if I were to book another room type?

 

Thanks in advance. :-)

All the Cove Balconies are on deck 2 so no upgrades would be available.   The past passenger rate is higher than the ES rate because it is refundable up until your payment in full date.   

 

[Markmom18]

Why is Earthworm Jim boxed and in blue?

Thanks,

🌸🌸 Bobbi

[ProgRockCruiser]

8 hours ago, Markmom18 said:

Why is Earthworm Jim boxed and in blue?

Thanks,

🌸🌸 Bobbi

 

EDIT: oh, now I see what you mean.

 

I typed an @ followed by his username, and that brings up a metatag that tags him, so he gets notified of being mentioned, and you can click on the tag and see his profile.

 

Standard way of tagging someone in most forum software.

Edited January 31, 2019 by ProgRockCruiser

[The Mister]

21 hours ago, The Mister said:

Thanks. That makes sense. A small premium for full refundability up to a certain point.

 

And what @Earthworm Jim said about upgrades for room types that actually *have* upgrades, that makes sense as well.

 

I'm not quite as worried about refundability, TBH.

You know what?

 

I've decided the extra $40 is worth avoiding the $200 penalty up to t-minus 75 days. And at the bargain available for this particular date, I think we can spare it. 🙂 

Edited January 31, 2019 by The Mister

[The Mister]

36 minutes ago, The Mister said:

You know what?

 

I've decided the extra $40 is worth avoiding the $200 penalty up to t-minus 75 days. And at the bargain available for this particular date, I think we can spare it. 🙂 

Booked. 🙂