upgrade 1 week before cruise

[beachfanatic]

Has anyone ever upgraded their cabin right before their cruise? Were there any issues with tickets, luggage, keycards this short notice?

[Lsimon]

We've had our TA switch us to a room we had asked about a week before a cruise and had no issues.

 

We've also booked a cruise 3 days before it sailed (Wednesday for a Saturday sailing) and had no issues.

 

There are no real tickets - just documents to get you into the cruise terminal. Key cards are generated when you check in and even if you change room at, or just after, check-in they can be re-printed in 3 minuites. If you have pre-printed luggage tags with the wrong room number you can throw them away and get blank tags at the pier. The only issue is the 3 minutes you'll spend filling them out and the time you'll spend searching for a pen or marker if the porter doesn't have one (they usually don't or at least won't lend it out).

[beachfanatic]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately it is the weekend and my TA doesn't work on weekends and I'm sure the rooms i want will be gone. I tried Captain's Club but they said no, I have to wait for my TA.

[ForeverAtSea]

Can you put the room you want on a courtesy hold?

[beachfanatic]

yes, but it would have been a new booking and didn't want a new booking. My TA said she would be in on saturday so i am hopeful

[margeg]

yes, but it would have been a new booking and didn't want a new booking. My TA said she would be in on saturday so i am hopeful

 

When I logged on to the Celebrity site and found another cruise, they asked "do you want to upgrade?". So I guess you have to log on first with your existing cruise. Then you can hold it for 24 hours.

[fleckle]

...... If you have pre-printed luggage tags with the wrong room number you can throw them away and get blank tags at the pier. The only issue is the 3 minutes you'll spend filling them out and the time you'll spend searching for a pen or marker if the porter doesn't have one (they usually don't or at least won't lend it out).

I just keep a Sharpie in the outside pocket of my carry-on bag so it is always handy if I need it. But usually the porters rush over and start unloading and tagging the bags as soon as our taxi or van pulls up and I step out. I think it must be my lost, befuddled, helplessly incompetent look that attracts their sympathy. ;)

 

You probably have that independent, self-assured look, conveying the impression that you don't require any assistance. :D

[royalcruz]

I had a problem with this on RCL but not X. We booked a guarantee and were assigned to a cabin all the way at the front of the ship. A week before sailing I hurt my ankle, and it wasn't healing so I was concerned about the long walk to the elevators. It cost a lot more to choose a cabin, so a few days before sailing I called and just asked to be placed back into the cabin lottery. I still ended up all the way at the front in a different cabin so it was pointless. Meanwhile, it seems that they gave us someone else's cabin, and had to move them to an upgraded cabin after boarding. Because of this double booking error, it took them 90 minutes to check us in, while I stood on my swollen ankle. The other person's name was still mixed up with mine the whole cruise. As long as the last minute changes don't result in an error like this it should be fine.

[sandancer]

We also requested to go back to the guarantee pool and ended back in the same cabin. They would not allow us to try again so we ended up paying the extra to choose one mid-ships.

[Lsimon]

I had a problem with this on RCL but not X. We booked a guarantee and were assigned to a cabin all the way at the front of the ship. A week before sailing I hurt my ankle, and it wasn't healing so I was concerned about the long walk to the elevators. It cost a lot more to choose a cabin, so a few days before sailing I called and just asked to be placed back into the cabin lottery. I still ended up all the way at the front in a different cabin so it was pointless....

 

We also requested to go back to the guarantee pool and ended back in the same cabin. They would not allow us to try again so we ended up paying the extra to choose one mid-ships.

 

I've read many posts here in Cruise Critic which indicate that, for USA passengers, after a guarantee assignment you can ask to be switched to a specific cabin in the same category as the assigned cabin. I have no idea if this works as I have not done it.

 

But the bottom line is that if you book a guarantee you can be hopeful of a great assignment but have to be ready to accept the least desirable cabin assignment in the class you've booked. If a specific location is preferred, or a specific location wouldn't be acceptable to you, then one is best to book a specific cabin.

[SusieV]

Of course you can courtesy hold a room without waiting. You just release the hold when your TA is ready to take it over and you cancel your "new" booking so that doesn't matter.