Upgrade/Reduction-How do you get them?

[Travelover]

How do you get an upgrade and/or reduction once you have booked?

 

We are going on our cruise in November and booked in February. What circumstances warrant an upgrade/reduction?

[lindasuej]

I called my travel agent when I noticed the price had dropped on the Princess website. She called Princess and I had my price reduction. Saved 150 pp. Good luck

Linda & Tom

[Ethel5]

How do you get an upgrade and/or reduction once you have booked?

 

We are going on our cruise in November and booked in February. What circumstances warrant an upgrade/reduction?

 

You have to pray to the "Upgrade Fairy" and she is very cranky at times.

 

Seriously, there really isn't a rhyme or reason for upgrades/reductions. If the ship is full there won't be any. If the ship has open berths near final payment time, they might do some upgrades or reduce prices to fill the ship.

 

The best advice is to book the cabin you want right from the outset and then you won't be disappointed.

[spongerob]

Price reductions - just keep an eye on pricing, and if you see a decrease prior to final payment, let your TA know. Some TA's do this as a matter of course. Pay no attention to pricing AFTER final payment. You won't get the reduction, at least not with Princess.

 

As for upgrades, no rhyme or reason to those, but they seem to be less common these days.

[Stevesan]

To quote Spongerob, there's no rhyme or reason to upgrades. At check in we were upgraded from a mid level oceanview to a Sky Suite on our first Celebrity cruise. Go figure!:confused:

 

Only the upgrade fairy knows the selection criteria, but, on average, it does seem that first timers have more luck with upgrades than veterans.

[naragonl]

Just made final payment on our upcoming cruise Crown Princess 7-11.

 

Too my surprise, when the authorization for final payment was e-mailed, the TA also had a little note saying that we were getting another $400 reduction in price. Why I said another is that I have been following pricing at several online TAs since booking cruise almost a year ago. Each time I'd see a rate decrease I'd e-mail her and request a match. Each time they'd match the price (2-3 times). I'm not sure why the final drop. I thought it was first that I paid too much, but I've been checking several of the low ball cruise TAs and I've always been very near the lowest end for the category we are in.

 

So to answer your question, How do you get price reductions, (in my opinion) you need to stay on top of the prices and request reductions (of course before final payment, once you make the final payment I think you are done). AS far as this last bump, I have no idea (especially when the cruise is fully booked). I can't answer the upgrades question because I haven't done that.

 

I'm sure the money they've saved me will be spent on the cruise though.

[Travelover]

Thank you one and all for your replies to my inquiry. Actually, this is our 7th cruise and the TA did call us once or twice for a reduction...but never an upgrade. We went through Internet this time with visit to actual agency. I'll have to keep on top of it.

 

We are going on Crown Princess November 11. Anyone else joining us? We are a group of friends that travel together. By the way, Linda Sue, Linda Sue is my name and my hubby's name is Tom-coincidence...are we going on same cruise perchance?

[lindasuej]

wow 2 linda sue and 2 toms' . We are going on the Caribbean Princess Sept 2. It will be our first Princess cruise. We have sailed Celebrity numerous times. They dont' have a ship in the Caribbean in Sept. Hope Princess is just as good.

Linda

[Travelover]

we cruised on the Grand Princess in 1991. It was a beautiful ship. One thing I like about Princess is the use of the self-service laundry. Nice to be able to do it yourself and not have that extra cost of having them do it. I think the passengers on the Princess dressed more elegantly Captain's Nights than on any other line we have taken. We too have done Celebrity several times and must admit that my favorite all-time cruise and ship was the Galaxy.

[Iamthesea]

We went through Internet this time with visit to actual agency. I'll have to keep on top of it.

Price reductions from internet based TA's are more difficult to get. :(

 

naragonl - You said you made final payment for your 7/11 cruise. Wasn't that early for final payment to be due?