DOWNGRADING TO A LOWER CATEGORY?

[suzyed]

I tried to "downgrade" from a BB category  to an available BE cabin for several reasons and Princess will not let me do it.  Has anyone ever heard of that? 
Yes, it's after final payment but I'm not interested nor asking for anything but a change/switch.

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by suzyed

[polmcs]

I was able to downgrade from an S6 suite to a BE balcony and get a refare, without losing my EZ Air reservation. Mind you, this was before final payment. As it happens, the price of the suites came down a lot a few months later and I refared back into the S6 suite again without losing my EZ Air reservation. The only downside, that the new fare required a non refundable deposit, so as I was saving a bunch of money over what I had originally booked and I only had an FCD at risk and it was only a few weeks before final payment was due, I agreed to switch to the non refundable deposit. 

[suzyed]

4 minutes ago, polmcs said:

I was able to downgrade from an S6 suite to a BE balcony and get a refare, without losing my EZ Air reservation. Mind you, this was before final payment. As it happens, the price of the suites came down a lot a few months later and I refared back into the S6 suite again without losing my EZ Air reservation. The only downside, that the new fare required a non refundable deposit, so as I was saving a bunch of money over what I had originally booked and I only had an FCD at risk and it was only a few weeks before final payment was due, I agreed to switch to the non refundable deposit. 

Not looking to refare, not looking for a refund, just looking for a change to a different cabin in a lower category.  

[voljeep]

how did Princess respond to the "several reasons" when you escalated it to a supervisor ?

[suzyed]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

how did Princess respond to the "several reasons" when you escalated it to a supervisor ?

They said no and as a matter of fact told me to talk to my TA.  I told her that I had talked to my TA and that my TA had already made the request to change to the lower category and she was told "no". 

Edited October 5, 2019 by suzyed

[Thrak]

Sounds weird to me unless they feel more confident they can sell the lower category. I would try again.

[Sea Hag]

As Thrak says, I would try again. If you talk to somebody else, you may get some action.

[voljeep]

20 questions ???

[cruzsnooze]

Once you have a TA they won't talk to you........period.  Are you sure your TA called and tried to get your cabin switched? After final payment you really are locked in unless for some reason they need or want your cabin.

[Colo Cruiser]

Why is your TA not attempting to do this for you?

[cherylandtk]

Not knowing how your TA phrased the question, perhaps the rep thought you were looking for some sort of refund? Or maybe it is a room capacity issue? But in either of those cases the rep should have told your TA why.  Only other times I know of are when the inventory is all blocked off for up sells, move-overs, etc.  But in that case it would not show available online.  

[Coral]

Honestly, I don't think it would be easy to do unless Princess really wanted your cabin. Then they would quickly agree to do so. I can see them making an exception if you suddenly needed a handicapped cabin due to an injury but otherwise, I doubt they would do this.

 

 

[suzyed]

56 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Sounds weird to me unless they feel more confident they can sell the lower category. I would try again.

Sounds VERY weird to me too! 
My TA and her agency both talked to them.  I personally talked to a rep and then a supervisor.  Finally my TA called again and talked to "Ruth" (customer care) who stated she would not move us to anything other than a BB category stateroom (none are currently available) if one opened up and I have to take whatever they give me.   
So much for my first Elite cruise experience!  LOL!
 

[suzyed]

38 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Why is your TA not attempting to do this for you?

She has attempted several times and so has her agency.

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

She has attempted several times and so has her agency.

wonder what the 'exact' reasons were for wanting to change and also wondering what the reasons were that Princess didn't want to grant the "downgrade" ???

[Doug R.]

I am just curious as to why you didn't book the category and cabin you wanted in the first place?

[suzyed]

9 minutes ago, voljeep said:

wonder what the 'exact' reasons were for wanting to change and also wondering what the reasons were that Princess didn't want to grant the "downgrade" ???

One of the exact reason is that it is an adjoining cabin, but what difference does it make why I don't like it?  No idea why they won't downgrade, but I was told their "system" doesn't work that way.

[suzyed]

6 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

I am just curious as to why you didn't book the category and cabin you wanted in the first place?

Because when I booked, only guarantee balconies were available, so I had no choice but to book one.  I actually first booked a BC gty and they decided to make it a BB gty.   
Yes, I know that is the chance you take when you make a gty booking, even if you didn't have any other option but who would imagine they wouldn't want to give you a lesser category and resell the higher one?

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by suzyed

[suzyed]

At this point, it is what it is...but it seems silly to me.

[Coral]

18 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Because when I booked, only guarantee balconies were available, so I had no choice but to book one.  I actually first booked a BC gty and they decided to make it a BB gty.   
Yes, I know that is the chance you take when you make a gty booking, even if you didn't have any other option but who would imagine they wouldn't want to give you a lesser category and resell the higher one?

 

I know when I have booked a guarantee, I have not been able to downgrade after being upgraded. I have been able to move amongst the category assigned but have been unsuccessful in downgrading.

 

Thanks for explaining. I have often booked AD guarantees on Grand class ships. I really wanted an AD but there was none. I was always upgraded to AA or AB but when an AD became available, I could not get it. So I am not surprised.

[Thrak]

A couple of years ago we moved from a Baja Balcony to a Caribe Balcony after final payment. I called and said that the Caribe balcony was now less than we had paid for the Baja balcony and asked to move. I didn't ask for a price adjustment or OBC or anything other than the cabin change. Not a problem and we retained the beverage package. 28 days in the Caribe balcony C705. Loved it. Yes, this was actually (at least in my opinion) an upgrade but it's a similar situation.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Thrak

[jennybenny]

Your TA needs to try again.

if they don’t get the response you want, try again...

We have tried to downgrade as well, it’s not allowed. We were not successful in getting a change. However we were able to find a different cabin in our category that we preferred. 
good luck 

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

I know when I have booked a guarantee, I have not been able to downgrade after being upgraded. I have been able to move amongst the category assigned but have been unsuccessful in downgrading.

 

Thanks for explaining. I have often booked AD guarantees on Grand class ships. I really wanted an AD but there was none. I was always upgraded to AA or AB but when an AD became available, I could not get it. So I am not surprised.

Thanks for that info.  I guess what we think makes sense doesn't to others.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Your TA needs to try again.

if they don’t get the response you want, try again...

We have tried to downgrade as well, it’s not allowed. We were not successful in getting a change. However we were able to find a different cabin in our category that we preferred. 
good luck 

My TA has tried through 3 phone calls and I spoke with 2 different people....at this point I'm sure that is not going to happen.  If a BB comes along they may give me that, but as you stated we don't seem to be able to get a downgrade, as silly as that seems.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

A couple of years ago we moved from a Baja Balcony to a Caribe Balcony after final payment. I called and said that the Caribe balcony was now less than we had paid for the Baja balcony and asked to move. I didn't ask for a price adjustment or OBC or anything other than the cabin change. Not a problem and we retained the beverage package. 28 days in the Caribe balcony C705. Loved it. Yes, this was actually (at least in my opinion) an upgrade but it's a similar situation.

Right! You were lucky!  That was all I was asking for, was just a cabin switch.