Free Upgrade from Inside to Balcony

[Jeter02]

Just curious as I know the ships are still like at 60% capacity has anyone been given a complimentary upgrade from an inside to a balcony lately on their sailings.

 

I'm booked on a iceland/norway cruise in the next few weeks the only thing they had available were inside all the balconies were supposedly booked up. But as you and I both know the ship is not sailing at full capacity so I know they have rooms available.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Nope.  Have been offered upsell a couple times, but complimentary upgrades have never worked for me (Princess STILL doesn't understand my priorities.)  

That said, sailing Alaska next week and went from inside to obstructed balcony for $200pp less than original booking.  Upgrade with refund works!  

[Jeter02]

2 minutes ago, GottaLuvCruising said:

Nope.  Have been offered upsell a couple times, but complimentary upgrades have never worked for me (Princess STILL doesn't understand my priorities.)  

That said, sailing Alaska next week and went from inside to obstructed balcony for $200pp less than original booking.  Upgrade with refund works!  

Ugh! I miss the days of the upgrade fairing. I did pay a little bit more by a smidge to hand select my inside cabin but was curious about the complimentary upgrade to those balconies.

 

I loved my balcony and Alaska something about waking up every morning with that amazing view was kind of hoping the same for this last second trip

[dreaminofcruisin]

42 minutes ago, Jeter02 said:

Just curious as I know the ships are still like at 60% capacity has anyone been given a complimentary upgrade from an inside to a balcony lately on their sailings.

 

I'm booked on a iceland/norway cruise in the next few weeks the only thing they had available were inside all the balconies were supposedly booked up. But as you and I both know the ship is not sailing at full capacity so I know they have rooms available.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if iceland/norway balconies are booked up (other than those cabins reserved for quarantine cabins). That cruise has limited sailings and has been really popular pre-covid.

 

[Jeter02]

1 hour ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if iceland/norway balconies are booked up (other than those cabins reserved for quarantine cabins). That cruise has limited sailings and has been really popular pre-covid.

 

Yup. Definitely noticed the popularity. Grateful I was able to get a room on such short noticed 😊

[Steelers36]

@Jeter02, I noticed some days ago that Princess had a Special Mail offer associated with my Captain's Circle member account.  It was effective in North American markets and IDK how many voyages it applied to (ended on June 29), but you could book BF thru BB and pay the IF thru IB pricing.  Made for an inexpensive upgrade from Inside to Balcony, but there were almost no Balconies left when I caught onto it.

 

It was tricky to spot because another fare promotion had lower Inside pricing and Princess.com only shows you one possible fare code to book under.  I spotted the one above on my TA's booking website where they show you all possible eligible fares. 

[SiliconCruiser]

I've been offered that a few times, and then when I reminded them that we required an ADA cabin ... crickets.

[Daniel A]

I sailed on Regal last January when the ship was maybe 30 to 40 % full.  The cabin next to us was empty and had a larger balcony.  I went to PSD and asked if I could upgrade to that cabin.  No free upgrade, I would have needed to pay the rack rate for the upgrade.  I think Princess' attitude is that people will still pay for any upgrade and if they give them away for free, who will pay for a balcony if others are getting them at inside rates?

[Jeter02]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I sailed on Regal last January when the ship was maybe 30 to 40 % full.  The cabin next to us was empty and had a larger balcony.  I went to PSD and asked if I could upgrade to that cabin.  No free upgrade, I would have needed to pay the rack rate for the upgrade.  I think Princess' attitude is that people will still pay for any upgrade and if they give them away for free, who will pay for a balcony if others are getting them at inside rates?

Yup, I know that all too well. Actually on my most recent Majestic Cruise IR people asking for upgrades and about them charging some sort of rate for the change. 

[startedwithamouse]

19 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

Just curious as I know the ships are still like at 60% capacity has anyone been given a complimentary upgrade from an inside to a balcony lately on their sailings.

 

I'm booked on a iceland/norway cruise in the next few weeks the only thing they had available were inside all the balconies were supposedly booked up. But as you and I both know the ship is not sailing at full capacity so I know they have rooms available.

No because they make money by upsell on the ship. It is negotiable though. Go the day after embarkation and see what's left if you aren't willing to pay the going rate.

[Mom&MeCruiseAL]

We have 4 cabins booked as interior on the Majestic July 16th cruise to Alaska.  Three out of the 4 cabins were visited by the upgrade fairy which moved us to a Deluxe Obstructed view balcony on deck 8.  After a week the forth couple called to see if they could move since all of us were originally booked in cabins close together on deck 10.  He was told that their reservation had "no upgrades" checked.  They removed that and got upgraded with the rest of us.   Two more weeks - Wahooo!

[pppatpc2]

We were on the Caribbean Princess 6/18-6/25.  On the evening of the 16th we received a notification that we got an upgrade and it was just one cabin number different.  We thought they moved us from an IB to an IA since our inside cabin was one away from midship status, but it was across the hall to a BALCONY!!!  Couldn't believe it!  It was our first sailing back from quarantine and the balcony was a wonderful treat.  I wasn't even mad that I had to reprint my luggage tags. 😂

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, pppatpc2 said:

We were on the Caribbean Princess 6/18-6/25.  On the evening of the 16th we received a notification that we got an upgrade and it was just one cabin number different.  We thought they moved us from an IB to an IA since our inside cabin was one away from midship status, but it was across the hall to a BALCONY!!!  Couldn't believe it!  It was our first sailing back from quarantine and the balcony was a wonderful treat.  I wasn't even mad that I had to reprint my luggage tags. 😂

if you choose to answer ... how many cruises with Princess have you taken?

 

(sometimes, free upgrades go to new/newer cruisers to 'set the hook' for future cruises in an 'upgraded' category than they booked for their previous cruise(s)

[avonlady6390]

This past January and February I did a b2b on the regal I think Daniel may have been on that cruise as well after printing luggage tags a week before the cruise I was upgraded for free to a mini suite from a deluxe balcony obstructive I got it for both cruises but there was only 800 passengers on board for first cruise and 1000 for second.

[geoherb]

The upgrade fairy is alive and well. I took advantage of the January offer to book a balcony at the same price as an inside. I booked a Cat. BF guarantee and received a deluxe balcony cabin (Cat. DB).

[pppatpc2]

56 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if you choose to answer ... how many cruises with Princess have you taken?

 

(sometimes, free upgrades go to new/newer cruisers to 'set the hook' for future cruises in an 'upgraded' category than they booked for their previous cruise(s)

This was our 16th cruise, 185 days