Paid cabin upgrades

Has anyone had success with calling Cunard and requesting a paid cabin upgrade, ideally for less than the difference between what they paid at the time of booking and the current rate for the cabin they wanted to upgrade into? I saw this suggestion in an email I received about cruising (may have even been from Cruise Critic), but I'm not sure if this is something that only works on other cruise lines.

Thanks!

The standard Cunard response is that you can have a paid upgrade but at the price that the upgraded cabin was at the time of your initial booking.

Basically you are tied into the prices which existed when the booking was made.

We paid the price as listed at the time of our booking when we asked to upgrade from Britannia to Brittany Club. It took a couple of days fer the upgrade to become available. There were no Britannia Club rooms available when we booked but contacted Cunard a couple if weeks later.

A couple of years ago, I asked my travel agent about paying for an upgrade since I noticed that several cabins became available after final payment date. She reported back, saying that Cunard had told her that I would have to cancel my booking, loose my down payment and OBC, and then rebook the cabin I wanted which was more expensive than the cabin I had already booked.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't take the offer.

Cunard, and P&O as well apparently, are now offering upgrades at bargain prices, rather than upgrading for free. We were offered such an upgrade recently at a VERY attractive price, which we snapped up.

Thanks, all. Oh well, not quite what I had in mind.

Called Cunard, who said I'd have to call Costco, but that I could upgrade from an inside cabin to a balcony for "not much more than what I'd paid."

Called Costco, who said I could upgrade from an inside cabin to a sheltered balcony for $350 per person, but they weren't sure if I could still book at that rate.

Cunard and I have very different definitions of "not much more than."

Cunard, and P&O as well apparently, are now offering upgrades at bargain prices, rather than upgrading for free. We were offered such an upgrade recently at a VERY attractive price, which we snapped up.

Can I ask how far in advance of the cruise did you ask them?

Thanks

Just for reference, on Princess, we have upgraded from a balcony room to a mini suite for $149 and upgraded from a mini suite to a full suite for $149 pp

On the Azamara Journey we were offered an upgrade from a balcony from to a suite for $1000 pp, I turned that down, they then offered me the owners suite for $1500pp (10 day cruise) which I accepted in a heartbeat.....

Just for reference, on Princess, we have upgraded from a balcony room to a mini suite for $149 and upgraded from a mini suite to a full suite for $149 pp

$149 pp for an upgrade to, say, oceanview was more what I had in mind.

Can I ask how far in advance of the cruise did you ask them?

Thanks

I didn't. They contacted me and offered the upgrade at an extremely favourable, non-negotiable rate. I jumped at it!

I guess they feel some charge is better than nothing.

Just for reference, on Princess, we have upgraded from a balcony room to a mini suite for $149 and upgraded from a mini suite to a full suite for $149 pp

 

Can I ask if they contacted you regarding the upgrade, or did you contact Princess directly? I am going through a TA - does that affect my chances of being offered a paid upgrade? Currently in good interior cabin but yesterday all interior and ocean view cabins were sold out with only 93 balcony & suite cabins remaining. 6 weeks to go. Any recommendations welcome :)

I contacted cunard about an upgrade for our October round trip but they said I needed to contact the agent.

The agent came back with a price to upgrade from BV balcony to club A2 for £9598 pp!

Obviously I turned them down as the upgrade price was nearly 5 times the quoted price for new bookings.

I didn't. They contacted me and offered the upgrade at an extremely favourable, non-negotiable rate. I jumped at it!

 

I guess they feel some charge is better than nothing.

But how long before sailing did they offer you it

Thanks

I was offered an upgrade from inside to sheltered balcony on the QM2 12 day Christmas cruise for $290 (145 each) through the TA 2 months prior to the trip.

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Just for reference, on Princess, we have upgraded from a balcony room to a mini suite for $149 and upgraded from a mini suite to a full suite for $149 pp

 

Can I ask if they contacted you regarding the upgrade, or did you contact Princess directly? I am going through a TA - does that affect my chances of being offered a paid upgrade? Currently in good interior cabin but yesterday all interior and ocean view cabins were sold out with only 93 balcony & suite cabins remaining. 6 weeks to go. Any recommendations welcome :)

 

We were contacted through our TA, I was actually surprised by the Princess calls as the ship was pretty much sold out, I should also note that we are Platinum, almost Elite with Princess so that may have been a factor in us getting a call. With Azamara, it was our first cruise with them, no idea how we won that lottery.

Sweet - I'm only Ruby level with Princess until after this cruise. Hoping for a call from the upgrade fairy then :)

But how long before sailing did they offer you it

Thanks

About 8 weeks before departure. We regularly book a certain grade of cabin and this time had booked one grade down because we have some very expensive travels ahead for a special anniversay later this year, so whether this influenced the offer I have no idea.

In general we have been very lucky with upgrades from Cunard and had lots.

About 8 weeks before departure. We regularly book a certain grade of cabin and this time had booked one grade down because we have some very expensive travels ahead for a special anniversay later this year, so whether this influenced the offer I have no idea.

 

In general we have been very lucky with upgrades from Cunard and had lots.

Many Thanks