Upgrades, any rhyme or reason

[GrammyJill]

I would love to get a call, email, text anything asking to upgrade. I have noticed on our upcoming cruise there are a lot of suites available. Is there any rhyme or reason to how they decide to call or not to call? Or any guide to how much of a discount they may offer?

 

I have read all the threads of the folks getting the messages but can't figure out any specifics as to how Carnival sets price or the passengers to call.

 

 

[scchasgal]

What I have noticed is that folks who get the upsell call for a GS were already booked in a VS.

 

Now the call for a upsell to a VS have not clue. Just make sure you know the prices before the call as you have to make a decision pretty quick.

[bojangleshatdance]

Got a call today for an upsell, we did not get the email. Not a great deal, they wanted $750 more to upgrade from a balcony to a suite. The deal was $100.00 less than the price I could have bought it for both last night and this morning. We did not bite.

 

From what I could tell they only had one less suite tonight than this afteroon when the call came in. Don't think many people took them up on the offer.

 

She tried to make it sound like it was so much more of a deal. Price goes up in the morning and down at night, that is the trend I have been seeing over about a week.

 

Michele

[WCAB]

I have noticed on Carnival upgrades are generally done by an upsell. Another line will sometimes just surprise you with an upgrade, in fact if we want to keep the cabin we pick we tell our TA to mark our booking "no upgrades". Does Carnival ever just upgrade without the passenger having to pay more money?

[golfadj]

Generally they will offer upsell deals if they need to fill the ship.

 

On occasion they will be nice and do a complementary upgrade but that does not seem to happen very often.

[carnivaljunkie]

Several years ago there was an article in Cruise News magazine titled "How Carnival upgrades". Unfortunately, I cannot find my print of the article and I do not know if there policy has changed. It mainly applied to "Guarantee" bookings. They were using price paid as the main criteria. If you had booked a cabin for $899 each you would be upgraded before someone who had booked for $799 each. That way they maximize there total income for the cruise.

[JerseyshoreBruce]

I got the call last week. Basically they would rather upgrade a booked passenger if the ship still has lots of rooms left then give them away at the last minute for next to nothing. Makes sense to me. If i upgraded to the suite.....they could let my old room go for 1/2 the price rather then let a suite go empty!

[tracyanns]

We only got upgraded once without paying and that was when we booked a ocean view guarantee and they upgraded us to a balcony...very smart on their part as we haven't sailed without a balcony since so they have gotten their money back.

 

When I asked the agent why we were upgraded she said they oversold the ocean views...so I guess we got lucky.

[Kenito]

I'd like to track this down... rumor or fact?

 

I have been told by one Carnival agent and one supervisor that when your full deposit is paid, they assign the room. However, if you instructed them to leave you "unassigned" you were in the pool of pax to potentially receive an upgrade, usually about 60 days out or less.

 

But once you accepted the cabin assignment, you were in that room, unless they called you because they needed it for some reason.

 

This will not work on an Easy Saver fare. We are part of a group if that matters.

 

I see this as something as a crap shoot. On a full ship, you could end up getting a worse cabin than you might have 60 days out. But on a less full ship, you could reap a bonanza. I am sure you stay in the same category as originally booked.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

I want to advise my group. Thanks for any comments or ideas you may have.

 

~K

[firefly333]

I'd like to track this down... rumor or fact?

 

I have been told by one Carnival agent and one supervisor that when your full deposit is paid, they assign the room. However, if you instructed them to leave you "unassigned" you were in the pool of pax to potentially receive an upgrade, usually about 60 days out or less.

 

But once you accepted the cabin assignment, you were in that room, unless they called you because they needed it for some reason.

 

~K

 

I dont think it works exactly as your describe. They can assign the cabin from whenever you book, but usually after final payment. If you dont like it, its too bad, because unless your TA wants to go to bat for you, Carnival wouldnt change it.

 

The way you put it, I thought maybe you thought you could accept or reject the cabin choice. Iv gotten a few tiny upgrades so I love guarantees.

[Kenito]

Understood... No, not approve or reject the cabin assignment necessarily, but decide whether to accept the assignment they give you... or remain un-assigned until later on... on the chance they may upgrade late in the game.

 

We are a group. So we did not have to pay our full deposit up front. But now the full deposits are due (if not already paid... some did). Like individual bookings... they can give your room assignment when the full deposit is made.

 

I make my decision next week. They will tell me what cabin they assign. I can look at it and decide if I accept, or if I decide to remain unassigned.

 

If I remain unassigned, I won't get an assignment, and they will assign me later.

 

Like I say, I have been told this, (by Carnival) but don't know for sure whether to believe it or not. Right now, I am inclined to take a chance.

 

I know I will still be in the same category, but that is another ingredient. I am in a balcony room... so the only likely improvement I could get would be on a "better" deck. I don't think a suite is in the realm of possibilities.

 

However, since there are more OVs and balcony rooms on the Spirit than interior rooms, perhaps someone in an interior room would stand a chance.

 

I am determined not to pay for an upgrade this time, just to see how this plays out.

 

But if I am really happy with my room assignment, I could accept it next week. I am really curious....

 

It's a game I guess... Just wondering if anyone has played before? :confused:

[Chip1]

I have noticed on Carnival upgrades are generally done by an upsell. Another line will sometimes just surprise you with an upgrade, in fact if we want to keep the cabin we pick we tell our TA to mark our booking "no upgrades". Does Carnival ever just upgrade without the passenger having to pay more money?

 

On my past 2 cruises I have received free upgrades. On the March 13, 2009 sailing of the Carnival Miracle went from regular balcony on deck 5 (cabin 5205) to wrap around balcony on deck 8 (cabin 8273). On the March 22, 2010 sailing of the Carnival Destiny went from ocean view on deck 1 (cabin 1264) to regular balcony on deck 8 (cabin 8173).

[chasinraynbowz]

On our last cruise, I got the upsell call to move from an OV to a Verandah suite on the Fantasy. If I remember correctly, he wanted $300 pp to start and I told him I could only do $100 pp. He put me on hold and came back with an offer of $200 pp, but I still could not do that so we hung up.

 

I called back a week or so later and asked if they still had the cabins and he said yes, but the price was still $200 pp. I told him we would love to upgrade, but could only afford the additional $100 pp. I then told him when it got close to the cruise, if they still had a suite left, please remember me.... it was my 50th b'day cruise.

 

He called 2 weeks before the cruise (I think) and asked if I was still interested and I said yes! So I paid the additional money and we got the suite!

[Kenito]

On my past 2 cruises I have received free upgrades. On the March 13, 2009 sailing of the Carnival Miracle went from regular balcony on deck 5 (cabin 5205) to wrap around balcony on deck 8 (cabin 8273). On the March 22, 2010 sailing of the Carnival Destiny went from ocean view on deck 1 (cabin 1264) to regular balcony on deck 8 (cabin 8173).

 

Did you have an assigned room at the time they called with the upgrade? Had you ever heard anything of the "unassigned" situation/game?

 

How many days before the sail date did they call?

 

Did you glean any clues what criteria they used to hand out the upgrades?

 

Thanks for responding!

[winddawn]

I would love to get a call, email, text anything asking to upgrade. I have noticed on our upcoming cruise there are a lot of suites available. Is there any rhyme or reason to how they decide to call or not to call? Or any guide to how much of a discount they may offer?

 

I have read all the threads of the folks getting the messages but can't figure out any specifics as to how Carnival sets price or the passengers to call.

 

 

For our upcoming Freedom cruise, Carnival called about a month prior to sail date with an offer to upsell from a balcony guarantee to a OS suite. The price offered was only $60 less than the advertised rate, and was $435 per person more. I passed on the upsell, especially since we don't have a cabin assignment yet.

 

Good luck!

[firefly333]

Understood... No, not approve or reject the cabin assignment necessarily, but decide whether to accept the assignment they give you... or remain un-assigned until later on... on the chance they may upgrade late in the game. :confused:

 

You can choose a cabin in the category ... but once they assign the cabin, Carnival wouldnt let you go back in the available unassigned pool .. ask someone with a CC gty, like the Crazies. One guy got moved, but usually the TA cant get you moved. He has one far forward and his wife gets seasick, and she was able to move them down one deck, but it was because the TA is a large volumn TA, they dont let you move around as a rule....not once you are assigned.

 

I hope you post a update in a week, because what you say you are expecting is still not what I have seen. So maybe we are talking apples and oranges.

[MsTabbyKats]

I got an inside with the "Pack & Go" rate. I'm happy with the cabin, location and rate.

 

However, I'm noticing a lot of vacancies...this is for the 9/2 Glory.

 

About a week before sailing I'm going to see if they will upgrade me.....or upsell for a minor increase.

[firefly333]

I got an inside with the "Pack & Go" rate. I'm happy with the cabin, location and rate.

 

However, I'm noticing a lot of vacancies...this is for the 9/2 Glory.

 

About a week before sailing I'm going to see if they will upgrade me.....or upsell for a minor increase.

 

Upsell will contact you ... does not work to call them if they are not upselling. If you call and they arent offering deals, they wouldnt say so, they will quote you full price to upgrade (I know because I tried to call upsell, I had their phone number)

 

I would monitor my roll call to see if others are getting upsell calls if you have a active roll call. So far they never got down to me, on the few Iv had where upselling was done.

[PA Dutchman]

What I have noticed is that folks who get the upsell call for a GS were already booked in a VS.

 

Now the call for a upsell to a VS have not clue. Just make sure you know the prices before the call as you have to make a decision pretty quick.

 

We were in a 8A and went to a GS for $400ea. We had the 8A for $597ea. We won't do it again, it was nice but not worth the price. But now we did it. We are not in the cabin enough to make it worth it.

[MsTabbyKats]

Upsell will contact you ... does not work to call them if they are not upselling. If you call and they arent offering deals, they wouldnt say so, they will quote you full price to upgrade (I know because I tried to call upsell, I had their phone number)

 

I would monitor my roll call to see if others are getting upsell calls if you have a active roll call. So far they never got down to me, on the few Iv had where upselling was done.

 

Actually...yes....others got calls a few days ago

[GrammyJill]

I had emailed our PVP w/Carnival about my dd's special needs & added a PS about the upsell. He said he had my name on a list if anything went on sale so we will see & I will let y'all know if it happens to anyone in our group.

 

We sail SOON!

[Ken076]

Originally Posted by Kenito

I'd like to track this down... rumor or fact?

 

I have been told by one Carnival agent and one supervisor that when your full deposit is paid, they assign the room. However, if you instructed them to leave you "unassigned" you were in the pool of pax to potentially receive an upgrade, usually about 60 days out or less.

 

But once you accepted the cabin assignment, you were in that room, unless they called you because they needed it for some reason.

 

~K

 

If you're referring to a Guarantee Booking, your cabin can be assigned anytime from the time you book to the time you check-in -- this is the scheduling flexibility that Carnival gains from this type of booking. Carnival's booking instructions to Agents are that once you are assigned a Guarantee Cabin you cannot "reject it" and return to Unassigned status. there have been a FEW posts where high volume TA's reportedly got their client moved to a different Guarantee cabin. I don't believe that the process is going to work as you describe it!

 

If you're referring to bookings where you select your cabin at booking (FunSelect, Early Saver, Past guest, 55+, ?Resident....), the scenario you describe doesn't exist.

 

IMO there's some miscommunication/mis-understanding here.

 

ken

[Kenito]

Originally Posted by Kenito

I'd like to track this down... rumor or fact?

 

I have been told by one Carnival agent and one supervisor that when your full deposit is paid, they assign the room. However, if you instructed them to leave you "unassigned" you were in the pool of pax to potentially receive an upgrade, usually about 60 days out or less.

 

But once you accepted the cabin assignment, you were in that room, unless they called you because they needed it for some reason.

 

~K

 

If you're referring to a Guarantee Booking, your cabin can be assigned anytime from the time you book to the time you check-in -- this is the scheduling flexibility that Carnival gains from this type of booking. Carnival's booking instructions to Agents are that once you are assigned a Guarantee Cabin you cannot "reject it" and return to Unassigned status. there have been a FEW posts where high volume TA's reportedly got their client moved to a different Guarantee cabin. I don't believe that the process is going to work as you describe it!

 

If you're referring to bookings where you select your cabin at booking (FunSelect, Early Saver, Past guest, 55+, ?Resident....), the scenario you describe doesn't exist.

 

IMO there's some miscommunication/mis-understanding here.

 

ken

 

Hi Ken, this is Ken,

 

You are using the correct language. Basically, "guarantee" status is unassigned. On the guarantee status CCL will assign the room to you; you give them that flexibility; you may benefit, you may not, it is dependent on the circumstances/availability at the time.

 

So instead of saying we could remain "unassigned" I should have said we could go to a "guarantee" status.

 

We are not guarantee right now, and could choose our rooms. But anyone who wants to gamble on an upgrade could go "guarantee." As had been said, this term is confusing, but the mud is a little clearer. :rolleyes:

 

I think my recommendation to the group is that if they are reasonably happy with their room assignment... take it! Everything is based upon availability, so it really is a crap-shoot.

 

Thanks for using the correct language... you could almost see the light go on in my head when I read it! :)

[richstowe]

Wondering if being contacted for an upsale (or free upgrade) is at all based on whether or not you booked originally with Carnival ORwith an outside TA.

Does Carnival want to reward those that booked direct with them?

[GrammyJill]

Rich, I have read on here that they do contact customers that purchased through a PVP more often, because of the hassle of going through people's TA's.