When an upsell offer really isn't an upgrade.....

[pe4all]

Just went on to my Magic booking for January 2025 to check something, and saw a "special offer."  Wanted to upsell me to cabin 9456 for $88.  While the price was pretty good, the cabin is right under Lido - not so good in my opinion. I had a cabin under Lido once upon a time on another CCL ship, and the scrapping noise in early morning from them putting out the deck chairs, cleaning, etc. was not enjoyable. I am keeping my cabin which is literally exactly 2 decks below, which I hand-picked when I booked.  I like using the stairs anyway - 3 flights up to Lido instead of 1 is better for my health - lol.

Edited March 22 by pe4all

[AllgoodOnTheRoad]

Same here, I meticulously pick my cabins, so no upgrade they have ever offered has been enticing. 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Interesting topic.  Without a doubt, for some (and this includes us the vast majority of time) these upgrade offers are not particularly enticing.  That said, for the majority, they offer options on a potentially different type of a cabin, at a reasonable price.  I would estimate that half of our clients grab the offer (if still available) when we bring it to their attention.  As I have said many times, options are a good thing.

[pe4all]

 I would hope people reading this thread would check where the cabin being offered is located.  Just because it may be a higher deck balcony "closer to the fun" (as quoted from the offer) doesn't mean it is a good offer.  However, going from an inside to a balcony - that may be a good offer!

[ZoeyVictoria]

I think there were good offers years ago, when they had just started the program. Lately, it seems to be a tool for them to sell undesirable cabins and make a few dollars doing it. 

[jimbo5544]

22 minutes ago, pe4all said:

 I would hope people reading this thread would check where the cabin being offered is located.  Just because it may be a higher deck balcony "closer to the fun" (as quoted from the offer) doesn't mean it is a good offer.  However, going from an inside to a balcony - that may be a good offer!

Perception is in the eye of the beholder….  There is always a reason as to why that cabin is available to be offered.  While I do not disagree with you or your logic, for some, a higher floor is in fact desirable. 

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I think there were good offers years ago, when they had just started the program. Lately, it seems to be a tool for them to sell undesirable cabins and make a few dollars doing it. 

If undesirable (your and my view might be significantly different) means that at a fairly close in time a cabin that was booked is no longer booked and they re-offer it to people (there is no obligation AT ALL) then so be it.  Your thought that is was better before is hard for me to comprehend, how could that be?  If it means they do not have to significantly discount cabins to sell them, well…… I would agree, but we are better off for that being the case.  

[pe4all]

I think what I was trying to say in this thread is "be an educated consumer."  Do your research and make sure you like what is being offered, and the location. (and price, of course)

[jimbo5544]

31 minutes ago, pe4all said:

I think what I was trying to say in this thread is "be an educated consumer."  Do your research and make sure you like what is being offered, and the location. (and price, of course)

Get it, sounds like a win win. 

[DallasGuy75219]

37 minutes ago, pe4all said:

I think what I was trying to say in this thread is "be an educated consumer."  Do your research and make sure you like what is being offered, and the location. (and price, of course)

Right... less experienced cruisers will probably consider a midship cabin on a high deck an upgrade but not think about what's directly above or below that cabin.

[Jeafl]

1 hour ago, pe4all said:

 I would hope people reading this thread would check where the cabin being offered is located.  Just because it may be a higher deck balcony "closer to the fun" (as quoted from the offer) doesn't mean it is a good offer.  However, going from an inside to a balcony - that may be a good offer!

Not always,

 

I gave up a deluxe ocean view with 2 bathrooms because I was offered a balcony for only $142 more.  I looked on the deck plans and it seemed like it was under the MDR, but it turned out it was under the galley. We heard carts dragging above us starting at 3:00 am.  Lesson learned.

 

The ironic thing is that I got another upsell offer for a different cruise offering me an oceanview for $260 more when I already had a balcony.  That didn't even make sense.

Edited March 22 by Jeafl

[vswan]

I try to always book mid-ship due to motion. It's not always the lowest deck since I'm looking for a balcony, but I have learned to watch where I'm booking.  I wouldn't consider a higher deck cabin an upgrade, especially if it was forward. This is just me and I know what works and what doesn't. Someone new to cruising may not have a clue and be willing to part with their money.

[cruisemiluv28]

I was just offered an ocean suite on deck 9 mid ship on the Mardi Gras but it seems like it's under a public area. I turned it down because 1. the location and 2. the offer was $864. I'm currently in a balcony on deck 15 with cabins above and below.

[sid_9169]

Only offers I ever get are to "upgrade" to an ocean view from an inside for around $450 - $500... No thanks...

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Only offers I ever get are to "upgrade" to an ocean view from an inside for around $450 - $500... No thanks...

 

Those are the offers I usually get. And I normally have a great location on my interior. Lido deck or something... and they want me to go down to deck 1 or 2.

 

The only upsell I ever took was on the Venezia Transatlantic. I think it was $300 to go to a balcony. And that was 15-day cruise.

 

Edited March 22 by Saint Greg

[Knights on the Beach]

Last week I got an upsell offer to upgrade to a suite on Vista for $3200. They must not really want my Lido inside for that price. A few days prior to that, I got an offer for an ocean view for $26 - on deck 1. No thanks, I'm happy with our Lido inside. 

 

For our next Mardi Gras cruise we upgraded on our own from Lido inside to Lido balcony for about $500. We decided we should have booked the balcony to start with and went ahead and made the switch before prices go up. On Vista, the difference between inside & balcony were much greater than that.

 

 

[jimbo5544]

18 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Those are the offers I usually get. And I normally have a great location on my interior. Lido deck or something... and they want me to go down to deck 1 or 2.

 

The only upsell I ever took was on the Venezia Transatlantic. I think it was $300 to go to a balcony. And that was 15-day cruise.

 

while I do not know the logic for the offers, my guess is there is some algorithm knowing your booking history, or just a blind outreach based in type of cabin booked.  We are very selective and mostly take specialty cabins, so rarely get an offer.  

[pe4all]

9 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

while I do not know the logic for the offers, my guess is there is some algorithm knowing your booking history, or just a blind outreach based in type of cabin booked.  We are very selective and mostly take specialty cabins, so rarely get an offer.  

I was surprised to see the offer - especially as the cruise is almost 10 months away.  I would think an upsell would come a few weeks before the cruise - not so far in advance.

[jimbo5544]

21 minutes ago, pe4all said:

I was surprised to see the offer - especially as the cruise is almost 10 months away.  I would think an upsell would come a few weeks before the cruise - not so far in advance.

I am sure it is a computer program that does analysis of specific cruise ship sailings and booking trends.  A certain category shows up as light (really does not matter how far it is out) and sends out the data in an email.  We get them all the time for our clients (but to be truthful, not that far out).  Did you compare the price offered to online what was currently being offered?

[pe4all]

24 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I am sure it is a computer program that does analysis of specific cruise ship sailings and booking trends.  A certain category shows up as light (really does not matter how far it is out) and sends out the data in an email.  We get them all the time for our clients (but to be truthful, not that far out).  Did you compare the price offered to online what was currently being offered?

I had booked as a Premier casino offer.  I had a $100 offer for a balcony (plus tax and port charges) and the price is now showing as $549 for a different casino offer.   I am happy with my cost- especially with Aruba, Curacao and Amber Cove as ports for an 8 day cruise.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, pe4all said:

I had booked as a Premier casino offer.  I had a $100 offer for a balcony (plus tax and port charges) and the price is now showing as $549 for a different casino offer.   I am happy with my cost- especially with Aruba, Curacao and Amber Cove as ports for an 8 day cruise.

good for you.

[phoneman69]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:05 PM, sid_9169 said:

Only offers I ever get are to "upgrade" to an ocean view from an inside for around $450 - $500... No thanks...

These seem to be the Upgrade types i am receiving as well. Have a great interior mid ship location and they offered deck 1 obstructed view back of ship for 380.00. No Thanks

[Haljo1935]

On 3/22/2024 at 9:30 AM, vswan said:

I try to always book mid-ship due to motion. It's not always the lowest deck since I'm looking for a balcony, but I have learned to watch where I'm booking.  I wouldn't consider a higher deck cabin an upgrade, especially if it was forward. This is just me and I know what works and what doesn't. Someone new to cruising may not have a clue and be willing to part with their money.

Not an upgrade when it's under a noisy public deck. Nothing worse than hearing scraping, banging chairs early AM and late PM.

[dolphinsfan246]

I had an “upsell” offer to go from my Porthole cabin to a regular interior for $44. I thought now wait a minute, when I booked the cruise I paid extra to go from interior to porthole and now you are asking for more money to go backwards? The upgraded room was not even on a higher deck! Sometimes their upgrade algorithm is wild. 

[skywalkr2]

Also they have a bug in their system. On my cruise in April, we had already upgraded from interior to cove balcony.  Now when I log in they are still trying to "upgrade" me to an interior on a higher deck.