Does Viking ever upgrade?

[Let Me Travel!]

Ok ya’ll …I am 8 days out…yes…I’m packing…cubes…they are working the best…I’m still a G T Y for the ocean portion of our trip…I haven’t been offered a “purchased” upgrade…nor have I been offered any stateroom number…I have been sent GTY luggage tags…I don’t THINK I should worry…but….please advise!!!!

[Frenchberet]

47 minutes ago, Let Me Travel! said:

Ok ya’ll …I am 8 days out…yes…I’m packing…cubes…they are working the best…I’m still a G T Y for the ocean portion of our trip…I haven’t been offered a “purchased” upgrade…nor have I been offered any stateroom number…I have been sent GTY luggage tags…I don’t THINK I should worry…but….please advise!!!!

What’s the benefit to booking a GTY cabin?  Is there a discount?  Is it like flying stand-by?

[FetaCheese]

Don't worry, you'll most likely receive a cabin assignment in same or higher cat.  Our last cruise (1st VO), booked a V2 GTY, didn't get cabin until about a week prior.  Received a DV4.  

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Let Me Travel! said:

Ok ya’ll …I am 8 days out…yes…I’m packing…cubes…they are working the best…I’m still a G T Y for the ocean portion of our trip…I haven’t been offered a “purchased” upgrade…nor have I been offered any stateroom number…I have been sent GTY luggage tags…I don’t THINK I should worry…but….please advise!!!!

 

GTY - We have experienced GTY cabins not being assigned until check-in, so no worries.

[formernuke]

3 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

What’s the benefit to booking a GTY cabin?  Is there a discount?  Is it like flying stand-by?

For me, when I re-scheduled my cruise for the 4th time (COVID), my desired category showed as 'sold out'. The agent said I could book for GTY and would be assured to get that category or better. We ended up getting the desired category, with a room assigned about a week before the cruise. Worked out great for us. We would have been happy to get whatever came our way. If you have very specific requirements, or are unwilling to stomach the lack of definition until the last minute, it may not be for you.

[Frenchberet]

1 hour ago, formernuke said:

For me, when I re-scheduled my cruise for the 4th time (COVID), my desired category showed as 'sold out'. The agent said I could book for GTY and would be assured to get that category or better. We ended up getting the desired category, with a room assigned about a week before the cruise. Worked out great for us. We would have been happy to get whatever came our way. If you have very specific requirements, or are unwilling to stomach the lack of definition until the last minute, it may not be for you.

Thank you for responding.  I’m a ‘planner’ so the uncertainty would probably bother me!

[Clay Clayton]

9 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

Thank you for responding.  I’m a ‘planner’ so the uncertainty would probably bother me!

I’m a planner also (seriously that was my profession!) but since IMHO there isn’t a bad Viking stateroom aboard and neither of us have motion issues, I don’t have an issue with accepting a guarantee if needed. We had one once, got the exact category we paid for. 

[deec]

there are a couple of bad cabins over Torshaven...speaking from experience...if you want to go to bed before midnight, want to sleep in, or take a nap during the day.  It was assigned as a GTY cabin  the other two couples assigned cabins were fine.

Edited July 27, 2022 by deec

[EchoIsland]

Let Me Travel! please let us know how your cabin works out for you.  We have a GTY on a V2 in January on the West Indies Explorer Cruise.  This is our 4th Viking Cruise, but first GTY cabin.  This Cruise is currently sold out.  Thx!

 

[Let Me Travel!]

Will do!  We are 7 days from the River -option…we have #305 for that one…we are still GTY for the ocean…we hav a DV….let’s just see… you know… I really do have a great deal of confidence in Viking…they have never done me wrong yet…(3 cruises)…our friends have a DV… I’m really hoping for a PV…storage …that’s the big thing for me…

[mhb1757]

We have had a GTY twice on VO.  DV6 both times. Once they had assigned a cabin 2 or 3 days after we booked and the other time room was assigned at check in. Both times they were DV4’s mid ship. Both were totally fine. I would do a GTY anytime if needed. 

[The Other Tom]

13 hours ago, mhb1757 said:

We have had a GTY twice on VO.  DV6 both times. Once they had assigned a cabin 2 or 3 days after we booked and the other time room was assigned at check in. Both times they were DV4’s mid ship. Both were totally fine. I would do a GTY anytime if needed. 

I thought if you booked a GTY then you were guaranteed the level of cabin that you booked, in your case a DV6.  But you were given a DV4? 

[burnabyjean]

1 hour ago, The Other Tom said:

I thought if you booked a GTY then you were guaranteed the level of cabin that you booked, in your case a DV6.  But you were given a DV4? 

You're guaranteed the category you booked "or better". I've always got a better cabin with a guaranteed booking (other cruise line).

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, The Other Tom said:

I thought if you booked a GTY then you were guaranteed the level of cabin that you booked, in your case a DV6.  But you were given a DV4? 

You are guaranteed at least the category you booked. A DV4 is a higher category cabin than a DV6. So they got an “upgrade”. 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Clay Clayton

[The Other Tom]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

You are guaranteed at least the category you booked. A DV4 is a higher category cabin than a DV6. So they got an “upgrade”. 

Yep, I forgot that a lower number is better.  Thanks for reminding me.

[CDNPolar]

We have learned that mid-ship and lower deck is best for us because of motion.  We have also learned that we spend so little time in our stateroom, other than to shower, change, and sleep, that we are good booking the lowest category of stateroom.  We don't need the extra square feet that is really only walking space.

 

On a recent cruise, we were quite forward - perhaps 6 cabins from the front of the ship - and we were hit some high seas.   Not only were we bounced around, but the WHAM/SLAM of the bow when it hit was too much for us to consider sleeping.  This wham/slam was being heard in the Star Theatre too.

 

The ship was not full, and so we asked to be moved and thankfully they had a mid-ship stateroom.

 

We heard from the people in the suite on our floor and they were in misery with the motion and noise, but there were no other suites available, AND they tend to be bow or aft anyway.

 

We have learned that motion is amplified with the higher you go in decks, and front or aft as well.

 

We choose a mid-ship and although I would be thrilled with an upgrade, we would only accept it if mid-ship which in a lot of cases knocks out what we might be upgraded to.

[Mich3554]

On 7/27/2022 at 2:44 PM, Let Me Travel! said:

Will do!  We are 7 days from the River -option…we have #305 for that one…we are still GTY for the ocean…we hav a DV….let’s just see… you know… I really do have a great deal of confidence in Viking…they have never done me wrong yet…(3 cruises)…our friends have a DV… I’m really hoping for a PV…storage …that’s the big thing for me…

Just be aware that upgrades are a double edged sword.  We were quire happy in our DV until we received a very lucrative offer for an upgrade to a PV.  Now we book PVs.  Viking wins, we win, our bank account, not so much!

 

I was telling DH that we are really going to be in trouble if we ever get an offer on an Explorer’s Suite.  It’s like flying business class….you can never go back to coach!

[Clay Clayton]

36 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

.  It’s like flying business class….you can never go back to coach!

Except when Viking gives you “free” air….then we have trouble saying no….thankfully we have been able to figure out how to fly comfortably in coach when we “have” to. 😂

[LindaS272]

6 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

we are good booking the lowest category of stateroom.  We don't need the extra square feet that is really only walking space.

To each his own. We had a DV on our first VO and then received an upgrade to a PV on our second and have never looked back. Our first DV was on Deck 5 so didn’t experience the difference in rough seas on lower decks. We like PVs for the extra storage and the comfy couch vs. chairs only—not just xtra walking space for us. And we spend quite a bit of down time enjoying the room and the balcony.

[Clay Clayton]

We enjoyed our one PV ($199 pp upgrade on a 12 night cruise) but the sofa, storage space, and pressing aren’t worth the approximately $125 per person per day cost to us. But that’s why they have different categories! 😊

[FetaCheese]

Clay, do you know when paid upgrade offers are usually sent?  

Edited July 31, 2022 by FetaCheese
Edit

[Mich3554]

2 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Clay, do you know when paid upgrade offers are usually sent?  

It was after we received our luggage tags, so within a month of the trip.  The only reason why I remember this was I scratched off the old cabin number and hand wrote the new, upgraded one on it while at home.
 

If you do get an offer, make sure you check to see it really is a good offer.  First time we got offered an upgrade, the additional cost was equivalent to what it would have cost for that cabin when I booked it.  The second time, it was $200 pp.  

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Clay, do you know when paid upgrade offers are usually sent?  

We got ours about 4-6 weeks before our cruise via an email. 

[bassethounddog]

We booked our first Viking Ocean cruise about 90 days out with a great offer. Only guarantees were available, so we did a V2 (don’t really care about dining reservations). To our wonderful surprise 1 week prior to sailing,  , a DV2 was assigned . It was a great location.