Claim current special on early booking?

[ExPhotog]

Partner and I are former crew, we met working on board a ship nearly 10years ago and fearing our ‘love boat’ ship would leave the fleet soon, we finally booked a cruise as passengers!

 

Our cruise is still over a year away, and I've just seen specials for cabin class upgrade. What's the best way to get this special? I'm happy with the interior stateroom we booked (big upgrade from a crew cabin), but knowing that an ocean view can be had for the same price stings a bit.

 

Curious on what others would do in this situation. Is the call center worth the trouble? Or is it best to cancel and rebook (perhaps with a cruise travel agent?)

 

Thanks.

[wallyj]

Your ID leads me to believe you are Aussie and probably booked with your booking tied to Terms and Conditions that are unique to your region? 
 

US bookings can allow for refaring, cancel, and rebook with refundable deposits, so essentially no loss of $ to change to a better promo before final payment. 
 

I suggest you call Princess down under and they would be able to share what options you may have. With the cruise being over a year away, hopefully that helps, but I believe down under, final payment is a lot sooner than US bookings, meaning you are required to pay final many more days in advance of sailing.

 

I believe UK bookings can only be modified once and come with a ‘processing’ fee of a hundred pounds? This illustrates terms vary based on your region.
 

Maybe an Aussie TA will chime in, but it seems like your best bet would be to call Princess or your Aussie TA if you used one.

[ExPhotog]

Update:

Called the support line, there seemed to be some trouble understanding what I was asking. I ended the call a bit defeated, but later tried again with the live chat function. The live chat said they couldn’t help me on chat and would need to call me (?!), a few hours later I got a callback from a different person who was incredibly helpful and made it all work. They even took the time to add our special occasions to the cruise notes.

 

Very happy with the outcome. Chose one of the deck 14 aft porthole cabins, which I could not justify for normal fare, but feels a good deal at interior price. 🙂