Cabin Upgrades

[Swabia]

Did plain old no cost cabin upgrades die with the start of the "move up" bidding program, or do they still happen sometimes? 

[canderson]

Your Captain's Club status can still get you a one category (within category) upgrade, for example, C2 to C1, but with MoveUp, you don't see the Upgrade Fairy appearing like she used to.  Occasionally it has been happening when people are moved from cabins in a designated 'quarantine area' (typically an OV) to a veranda to make space.

[RickT]

I never saw the mythical “upgrade fairy” so can’t say if she’s retired or not.  Suspect the Move Up bids forced her into an early retirement. 

[Jim_Iain]

I've had one visit from they Upgrade Fairy.    We were in a CS suite and a guest in the RS tested positive the night before the cruise.   Since they cruise was closed they called and gave it to us gratis.

 

I've also heard of some recent upgrade fairy stories from inside to Veranda awarded at the pier... gratis. 

[hrhdhd]

I got a quarantine zone upgrade from an OV to an IV on the Apex last March.

[SusieV]

We were given an upgrade during the ship switch from Millennium to Solstice, free of charge. Although with price drops I guess we would have been able to refare it anyway now, but I'll still be grateful for the excitement lol. We were moved from an oceanview to an unobstructed balcony.

[lola2013]

We got a gratis upgrade from regular verandahs to SVs a few months back on Reflection.  I was told the move up didn't apply to SVs because there are so few of them.  I asked once on board and Guest Services made it happen.  I believe it had a lot to do with the fact that the ship was sailing at about 1/3 capacity.

 

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I said a giant "thank you" and relocated immediately!

[NantahalaCruiser]

7 hours ago, canderson said:

Your Captain's Club status can still get you a one category (within category) upgrade, for example, C2 to C1, but with MoveUp, you don't see the Upgrade Fairy appearing like she used to.  Occasionally it has been happening when people are moved from cabins in a designated 'quarantine area' (typically an OV) to a veranda to make space.

However, there are some restrictions - see the following from their website:

 

One-Category Upgrade

One-category upgrade requests must be made at the time of booking and apply only for upgrades within the supercategory, depending on availability. Example of a super category upgrade in AquaClass: A2 to A1. Upgrades available from categories 11- A1 on all Celebrity ships except Galapagos voyages.

For sailings departing prior to April 12, 2023: Captain's Club one-category upgrade excludes categories: 12, FV, SV, C1 and Z, Y, X, XC, XA, W. On Celebrity Edge categories 12, 9, 7, 6, IO, 1B, 1A, SV, ES, E1, C2, C1, A1 are also excluded.

For sailings departing on or after April 12, 2023: Captain's Club one-category upgrade excludes categories: IS, ES, SV, SC, PO, DO, DI, DV and Z, Y, X, XC, XA, W.

This offer cannot be used with certain restricted fares including but not limited to Simply Sail, Exciting Deals, Interline, travel agent or employee rates. Upgrades apply for one stateroom per cruise. Stateroom assignments only. Not valid on holiday sailings.

The Captain's Club program terms are subject to change at any time without prior notice. Offers vary by tier, see benefit grid for full details. Captain Club benefits may not be available with other sales and promotions.

[canderson]

That's why I was careful to add "within category".  If already at the top of the category, there's nowhere to go.

They won't give you an S3 if you're in a C1, so you book a C2 and ask for the upgrade to C1, and pay the C2 price.

What I didn't realize was that booking a Simply Sail fare excludes the possibility of the one category upgrade.  That's something to watch out for.

 

[Lastdance]

MoveUp is the main way to get an upgrade, but yes, there are a very few lucky cruisers who also get upgraded.  I had one many years ago, so do not expect anything else to come my way!