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Upgrade Fairy for Australians


reedy8
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I just saw another lucky cruiser getting a visit from the upgrade fairy on an Australian cruise (RCCL) then I discovered they were from the US. I realised I've never seen a post from an Australian cruiser cruising in Oz, the Pacific, or NZ getting a visit from the fairy on this site. Perhaps I've just missed it or do the US cruise companies favour there own citizens with upgrades?

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I was offered and accepted an upgrade on Celebrity Solstice next March, from a balcony room to Aqua Class for a total room cost of $200. I am an Aussie and my trip is to South Pacific for 9 days. This will be my 4th cruise on Solstice. I didn't loose any of my original perks either.

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I had many upgrades over the years. They are usually not done for any feel good wouldn't it be nice reason, but rather to benefit the distribution and placement of passengers and the allocation of cabin service staff .

They used to be done for free , but they seem to offer them now for a fee.

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It seems to me that you are either lucky or not lucky. We have done 6 Princess cruises (including 3 in non-Australian waters) and never got an upgrade but our next door neighbours got one on their very first cruise which just so happened to coincide with one of our cruises. These days it would seem that upsell offers are more frequent than upgrades although we have never been offered an upsell either.

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Our first cruise with RCI (Rhapsody) we were upgraded without charge from a balcony to junior suite, great cruise. Also with Oriana we were upgraded to a balcony and the best was an inside guarantee upgrade to a balcony on Queen Elizabeth, also a great cruise.

We have had an offer of an upgrade for a fee with RCI which we declined as we had the room of our choice.

There used to be an option on your paperwork with RCI where you automatically declined an upgrade from your chosen room.

Possibly choosing a guarantee option, you may have a better chance of an upgrade. We did this with QE having chosen a guarantee option at a room grading where there were the least rooms available, hoping for an upgrade.

Doesn't always work though, have had a few rooms as forward as you can get! But you know this is a possibility when you book.

All good and we enjoy just being on a ship.

Have cruised a few times, statistically upgraded one in ten.

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There used to be an option on your paperwork with RCI where you automatically declined an upgrade from your chosen room.

.

There still is. You log into your profile and put your options there.

 

No upgrade

Automatic

Near friends and family

Same floor etc.

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There still is. You log into your profile and put your options there.

 

No upgrade

Automatic

Near friends and family

Same floor etc.

 

 

Good to know it's still there. Have booked a family cruise in 2018 on Ovation with all rooms close by. Am now going to log into profile and check options as we have chosen a balcony room with a large balcony.

Although the children in insides might hope for an upgrade!

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I just saw another lucky cruiser getting a visit from the upgrade fairy on an Australian cruise (RCCL) then I discovered they were from the US. I realised I've never seen a post from an Australian cruiser cruising in Oz, the Pacific, or NZ getting a visit from the fairy on this site. Perhaps I've just missed it or do the US cruise companies favour there own citizens with upgrades?

 

Thank you all, I am glad to know that I was wrong (I don't mind being wrong) we get them too, and I hope you get many more!

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Some cruiselines seem to upgrade more than others.

 

Agree with this.

 

I have the impression Princess/P&O upgrade more (as that's been my experience) whereas nothing with Celebrity or RCCL. I'm aware Celebrity/RCCL are bigger on upselling, and issuing last minute guarantees instead of upgrading early bookers.

 

Though I appreciate you haven't had the same fortune with Princess... :o

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We did!

Booked an ocean view room on a transpacific last year to end 4 months of travelling. The day we got to LA (start of the trip), we received an email from out TA, $50 each (4 of us) to upgrade to a balcony. We emailed back yes of course! Had to wait a few days to hear back but we got it. Ended up being an extended balcony!

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Geez, hope someone is noticing Aussie cruisers getting less upgrades/up sells.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We also book a fraction of the rooms the rest of the world books. So pro-rata we probably get as many.

And the Royal ships usually sail full in Australia so very few rooms to upgrade people into.

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Good to know it's still there. Have booked a family cruise in 2018 on Ovation with all rooms close by. Am now going to log into profile and check options as we have chosen a balcony room with a large balcony.

Although the children in insides might hope for an upgrade!

We booked a deck 8 Promenade stateroom on Explorer and set our upgrade preference to: "will accept an upgrade but not to a deck lower than already booked".

12 hrs before we left Perth for Sydney we noticed we had been moved to an Oceanview on deck 2!!!. We had to wait until we boarded to sort it out. An email to RCI post cruise confirmed they concidered it an upgrade but admitted they didn't take notice of our preference. It is now set to NO upgrade.

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We booked a deck 8 Promenade stateroom on Explorer and set our upgrade preference to: "will accept an upgrade but not to a deck lower than already booked".

12 hrs before we left Perth for Sydney we noticed we had been moved to an Oceanview on deck 2!!!. We had to wait until we boarded to sort it out. An email to RCI post cruise confirmed they concidered it an upgrade but admitted they didn't take notice of our preference. It is now set to NO upgrade.

 

An excellent example of when an upgrade is not an upgrade. What were they thinking?

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Never ever in about 27 cruises, including 460 days with Princess.:evilsmile: No offers either.

 

I don't believe in fairies.:halo:

 

Some cruiselines seem to upgrade more than others.

 

They know when they have a cruise addict. No need for an upgrade. Now if you were a big gambler or big drinker, you might have a chance! Would be nice to have an offer to refuse though!

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I was offered and accepted an upgrade on Celebrity Solstice next March' date=' from a balcony room to Aqua Class for a total room cost of $200. I am an Aussie and my trip is to South Pacific for 9 days. This will be my 4th cruise on Solstice. I didn't loose any of my original perks either.[/quote']

 

Hi CCC. Can I ask: do you book through an agent or direct with the cruise line? I've also never come across any Australians who have been visited by that desirable upgrade fairy, so I wonder whether it comes down to how you book, or whether it is through an agent who has a good relationship with the cruise line. Actually, now I think of it, on our first HAL cruise we booked a guarantee balcony B and were upgraded to an A, which they now refer to as a Vista Suite, so I guess you could say we did receive an upgrade.

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Sailed 3 times with celebrity Solstice and upcoming cruise on Solstice in Match 2018. First 2 cruises booked via online cruise agencies and other 2 direct with Celebrity. Approx one cruise every year. All bookings were veranda cabins. I believe that upgrades are a bit like a bingo game. ...luck.

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Hi CCC. Can I ask: do you book through an agent or direct with the cruise line? I've also never come across any Australians who have been visited by that desirable upgrade fairy, so I wonder whether it comes down to how you book, or whether it is through an agent who has a good relationship with the cruise line. Actually, now I think of it, on our first HAL cruise we booked a guarantee balcony B and were upgraded to an A, which they now refer to as a Vista Suite, so I guess you could say we did receive an upgrade.

 

We booked an inside guarantee once and were given an outside cabin. I didn't count that as an upgrade fairy, at the time, just what they had available. It was a very noisy cabin, when they put the anchor down early in the morning, but I am an early riser and loved having a window. Late risers, who paid for a window cabin, might not agree!

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