Uniworld complimentary cabin upgrades

[Babcia7]

We are booked on Uniworld's Tulip and Windmills cruise next week (April 1).  I just checked their website and right now there are 28 cabins available.  Any chance of a complimentary upgrade?  This will be our 8th river cruise with Uniworld.  Our travel advisor suggested that we ask for an upgrade once we're on the ship. Has anyone had any luck with that? In years past, Uniworld would upgrade to the next category if you were a repeat customer and a cabin was available for upgrade.

 

[rove312]

We're preparing for our second Uniworld cruise, and we've followed the invitation to bid for an upgrade; we're waiting for a reply on this cruise.  On our last cruise, we were with an in-law with more Uniworld experience, and she regularly bid for an upgrade.  So I don't know about complimentary upgrades; presumably they would come after all bid upgrades are accommodated.

[beesKate]

When we went on Uniworld in fall, we were told they did not do complimentary upgrades (we had booked aquarium level).  We went back and checked documents, and they no longer mention a complimentary upgrade for repeat cruisers.  We were given an option to bid on an upgrade, which we did not do (I guess they no longer want to give them away).  However, we were given a complimentary upgrade to the next level up... along with others on our itinerary who also booked the least expensive cabins.  Our cruise was maybe 70% full.    

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, beesKate said:

When we went on Uniworld in fall, we were told they did not do complimentary upgrades (we had booked aquarium level).  We went back and checked documents, and they no longer mention a complimentary upgrade for repeat cruisers.  We were given an option to bid on an upgrade, which we did not do (I guess they no longer want to give them away).  However, we were given a complimentary upgrade to the next level up... along with others on our itinerary who also booked the least expensive cabins.  Our cruise was maybe 70% full.    

In the immediate post-Covid period many cruise lines were moving passengers to consolidate the areas they needed to service.  Was this what happened to you–did they move all the passengers from the lowest deck up to the middle one?  That would be a win-win on a half-full cruise but isn't likely to keep happening.

[CastleCritic]

I found this was uneven,  I did a cruise on amawaterways in November 2021 and was moved from "oars in your stateroom" category E level up to 3rd deck with a base balcony, a 2 category upgrade on checkin, didnt even ask for it.  Cruise was 25% full (this was also a cruise with a slight schedule change, bus to the ship in Strasbourg rather than boarding the ship in Basel and then cruising there the same night).

 

Went back with them last April in France on about the same passenger load (about 40 passengers though on a slightly smaller ship) and was still down at the waterline.

 

I also find AMA's loyalty upgrade to basically be useless, basically you get a better located version of the same cabin and not a change in actual room type (so E to D on the lower deck for example)

Edited March 30, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Babcia7]

Thanks for all the replies.  When I last checked our cruise there were 28 cabins available for the April 1 sailing, so the ship is definitely not at full capacity.  I was advised by my trip advisor, and again by a rep at Uniworld to ask for a complimentary upgrade once we are on the ship.  I do think it would make sense logistically for the ship to have passengers grouped on the same levels.  We have sailed with Uniworld 8 times in different categories other than a suite, and other than the size of the window and place of the cabin on various decks, the dimensions of the cabin and the amenities are the same.  Although I would like to be upgraded, from experience we spend little time in the cabin so it isn't a deal breaker for us if we are upgraded or not.  Just wish Uniworld would acknowledge the fact that we are loyal customers, this being our 8th trip with them!

 

[Canal archive]

Hmmmmm If wishes were horses …………………….

[PNFL]

So why did Uniworld send emails asking if you wanted to bid on an upgrade if they give complimentary upgrades?  I would not be happy to find out someone got a complimentary upgrade and I had to pay for an upgrade.