Upgraded but without advice from HAL

[ozcruizer]

We have only ever had (on the few cruises we've taken, compared to many people) an Oceanview and this morning on logging into HAL to check on ports of call on our Norwegian Fjords cruise on the Eurodam next week, find that apparently we've been upgraded to a Veranda cabin - not complaining, mind you :D but is this usual? To be upgraded without any notice? I'm hoping there's no mistake as to have a Veranda would be lovely.

Ozcruizer

Leaving Sydney in 2 days' time

[RuthC]

If your booking is marked that you will accept an upgrade, then HAL does not have to ask/notify you of one. They just do it.

If your booking is marked "do not upgrade" HAL still has the right to upgrade you without your consent, but is less likely to do that.

[sail7seas]

If you booked a guarantee, you agreed to take any cabin that is at least the category level you purchased under guarantee.

 

Congratulations..... sounds like you got a great upgrade. Enjoy!

[kazu]

a verandah upgrade is really great:):):) enjoy:)

 

yes, that's the way it happens - upgrades are a surprise - in your case - a very pleasant one:D have a great cruise:D

[Aussie Gal]

Ozcruiser,

 

That is wonderful news. It is nice to know that someone from down here has had a windfall. We have done many cruises and we have never had an upgrade, though I think most of the time our booking is marked "do not upgrade". The one time we took a guarantee, we ended up with a cabin that wasn't the best so we have never gone down that path again.

 

From another Aussie.

 

Jennie

[Shmoo here]

Happened to us on our first cruise. We got upgraded from an partially obstructed oceanview to a verandah. Congrats!

[Sunshine91]

The husband & I always select our cabin location very carefully. And on the Noordam (our only Vista ship) we've always been fortunate enough to have a balcony. We normally ask our TA mark our reso "No upgrades."

 

A few years ago on Eurodam's inaugural voyage, we were simply priced out of the balcony cabins, & booked an obstructed view. We asked our TA to mark the booking as "OK to upgrade with prior consent."

 

A couple of weeks prior to sailing, instead of a free upgrade, we were offered an upsell to a VA cabin for about $1,000/pp extra. Ha! We negotiated with HAL & eventually settled on about $150/pp extra - plus we got to pick which of the available VAs we wanted. That VA up on Deck 8 was fantastic! :)

[PathfinderEss]

Congratulations and hope you have a wonderful cruise in your new cabin with a balcony.:D

[Kenito]

I'd say today is a good day to buy that Lotto ticket! Congrats!

[ozcruizer]

Thanks everyone for your responses - we didn't have a guarantee and not even sure the TA put accept upgrade but will find that out tomorrow. However, I have printed off my luggage tags but when I went to bring up DH's, there was a problem and I have not been able to proceed to Check-in :confused:. It says to try again later but so far, nothing is happening. Now wondering whether the upgrade was just a glitch in the system! Very weird.....

Ozcruizer

[erewhon]

Great upgrade, enjoy the balcony.

 

Wishing you safe travelling, no delays with your long flights and a fabulous cruise.

[Aussie Gal]

If you booked through an Aussie Travel Agent, you may not be able to do automatic check in as they do it for you. I have booked our trip down here and for the first time in many years, I don't think that I will be able to do our automatic check in as she told me she will be sending all the documents to me about a month before the cruise commences.

 

Jennie

[ozcruizer]

Hi Aussie Gal Jennie,

Our TA sent us our documents some time ago, including the luggage tags, in black/white, but I decided to reprint them in colour which I was able to do without any problems. I also reprinted the travel documents (just being me :)) - again no problems. However, since finding out we're supposed to have been upgraded, I thought I'd better reprint the tags and I think the first page of the docs, but I got only as far as my tags.

I will keep trying the site but if I have no luck, I'll have to get back to the TA tomorrow first thing. We leave on Tuesday!

Ozcruizer

[Aussie Gal]

Ozcruiser,

 

Have a wonderful trip and cruise. We only returned just over 3 weeks ago after spending 6 weeks in Europe and the best part was our trip to Norway where we did the 16 day cruise of "The Land of the Midnight Sun" on the Ocean Princess which took us to the beautiful fjords and the northern part of Norway way up into the Arctic Circle. The scenery and weather were superb. Sunny but cold which we expected.

 

Jennie

[ozcruizer]

Hi Jennie and others,

Finally got through to Check-In, all seems to be in order and I've printed off the relevant bits - tags and express documents, so it looks like it's all good. Wondering a bit about the location of the cabin though - it's right at the back of the ship. We'll probably have to be well-dosed up with motion sickness tablets for the North Sea part of the voyage but the rest should be fine. Does HAL still supply those wonderful tablets? They just about saved my life :) when crossing the Tasman to New Zealand three years ago.

Very excited about the cruise but still wondering what mix of clothes to pack at the 11th hour!

Ozcruizer

 

Ozcruiser,

 

Have a wonderful trip and cruise. We only returned just over 3 weeks ago after spending 6 weeks in Europe and the best part was our trip to Norway where we did the 16 day cruise of "The Land of the Midnight Sun" on the Ocean Princess which took us to the beautiful fjords and the northern part of Norway way up into the Arctic Circle. The scenery and weather were superb. Sunny but cold which we expected.

 

Jennie

[richarduk]

FYI, the HAL website has been undergoing scheduled maintenance until midnight Saturday. I was trying to print luggage tags and found this out.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Congratulations on your wonderful upgrade.

Seasickness pills are available at the infirmary and the front desk.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi Jennie and others,

 

Finally got through to Check-In, all seems to be in order and I've printed off the relevant bits - tags and express documents, so it looks like it's all good. Wondering a bit about the location of the cabin though - it's right at the back of the ship. We'll probably have to be well-dosed up with motion sickness tablets for the North Sea part of the voyage but the rest should be fine. Does HAL still supply those wonderful tablets? They just about saved my life :) when crossing the Tasman to New Zealand three years ago.

 

Very excited about the cruise but still wondering what mix of clothes to pack at the 11th hour!

 

Ozcruizer

 

FYI, the HAL website has been undergoing scheduled maintenance until midnight Saturday. I was trying to print luggage tags and found this out.

 

As mentioned by richarduk -- there was a RED message on HAL's site all day Friday and Saturday indicating that their system would be down for maintenance late Saturday evening.

Glad you were finally able to get everything reprinted.

Have a great cruise.

[shrimp56]

Congrats and see you on board:)

[BumperII]

Hi Jennie and others,

Wondering a bit about the location of the cabin though - it's right at the back of the ship.

Very excited about the cruise but still wondering what mix of clothes to pack at the 11th hour!

Ozcruizer

 

As far as I can tell, there are no bad Veranda cabins. Anyone who experiences seasickness on either end of the ship will most likely experience the same thing in the middle. There is something about stepping out on your private front porch that will make those concerns dissapear as if by magic. Enjoy your upgrade.

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Jennie and others,

 

Finally got through to Check-In, all seems to be in order and I've printed off the relevant bits - tags and express documents, so it looks like it's all good. Wondering a bit about the location of the cabin though - it's right at the back of the ship. We'll probably have to be well-dosed up with motion sickness tablets for the North Sea part of the voyage but the rest should be fine. Does HAL still supply those wonderful tablets? They just about saved my life :) when crossing the Tasman to New Zealand three years ago.

 

Very excited about the cruise but still wondering what mix of clothes to pack at the 11th hour!

 

Ozcruizer

 

I am not sure about the sea sickness tablets as it is awhile since we were last on HAL but we did have two very calm days when crossing the North Sea from Dover and returning to Dover. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day so hopefully you will have the same and not worry about needing tablets.

 

Also, if you are prone to sea sickness, it is better to be at the aft of the ship than forward. Of course, the middle and down low is the best but verandah cabins are never down really low so as Bumper 11 mentioned, if you are prone to sea sickness you will be sick wherever your cabin is situated.

 

Have a safe flight over to London and enjoy every minute of your time away.:)

 

Jennie

[Typhoon1]

Nothing to complain about. Take the verandah, and enjoy it.