Has anyone received a FREE upgrade?

[mintsugarcube]

We are Plats and I got a call from the "Upsell Fairy" about 4 cruises ago. I said Yes and dutifully gave my credit card info. Since then they have called me on every single cruise, about 3 weeks beforehand and I have said yes each time, including today, and I have forked over the money.

 

I swear there is some "hot list" or something for Carnival to call for upsells, and we are clearly on it. I wonder if we are "dropped" if we say "no" one time?!!

 

When I received my very first upsell, I was elated and posted here that I had received an upgrade. Someone then posted that it was the "Upsell Fairy" that called me, not the "Upgrade Fairy."

 

So, here's my question. Is there REALLY a true upgrade where you pay NOTHING extra (other than maybe taxes)? And if so, any insider tips/thoughts on how it happened to you?

 

Thanks so much!!

[bunchesofun]

On a recent thread someone stated that they have gotten a free upgrade from Carnival.

[StaceySteveDMB]

Carnival did not call me, I called them, and got a free upgrade on one of our three rooms from an interior to a balcony. We had booked ES and the price for the balcony dropped to the same as the interior. I few days after that the price of the balcony room dropped another $60.00 and I am getting OBC for that now.

[GatorGirl57]

Once when I was booking over the phone I was given a free upgrade from inside to ocean view. No idea why.

[SKeighley]

Yes, I got an upgrade from an ov to a Spa suite in the Spendor in March. Got the call 2 days before we sailed. Yes I took it. We are Platium but so I don't know if that is why. Oh loved te suite

[bob7judy]

On our last cruise we received a free upgrade from interior to balcony. The call came the morning of the cruise. Maybe we got the call because we were still at home since we only live about 50 miles from Galveston. Also, we are platinum.

[seabrookcruiser]

We did a B2B2B2B for 28 days on the Carnival Sunshine during the month of January 2014. The day before we were scheduled to fly to New Orleans for the cruise, my DH got a call offering us a free upgrade from our Ocean View to a Balcony, but only for the first week. Of course we took it--free is good! Too bad they didn't offer to upgrade us for the last three weeks of the cruise (lol)! We have no idea why Carnival offered us the free upgrade. Of course, would love to get that call again!:)

 

One other time we were offered a free upgrade, but the circumstances were unusual. We were doing a B2B2B for 21 days on the Carnival Magic during January 2012. Again, on that cruise we were in an Ocean View and during the second week, they had double booked our cabin--wow we have roommates!!! Anyway, we were having some friends come on board during that week and didn't want to spend the time changing cabins that day or at the beginning of the next cruise. Guest Services was very nice and offered us a balcony. We told them to offer it to the other couple since in this case we preferred to keep our cabin for the entire 21 day cruise. Guest Services later told us that the other couple was very happy.

[winddawn]

We are Plats and I got a call from the "Upsell Fairy" about 4 cruises ago. I said Yes and dutifully gave my credit card info. Since then they have called me on every single cruise, about 3 weeks beforehand and I have said yes each time, including today, and I have forked over the money.

 

I swear there is some "hot list" or something for Carnival to call for upsells, and we are clearly on it. I wonder if we are "dropped" if we say "no" one time?!!

 

When I received my very first upsell, I was elated and posted here that I had received an upgrade. Someone then posted that it was the "Upsell Fairy" that called me, not the "Upgrade Fairy."

 

So, here's my question. Is there REALLY a true upgrade where you pay NOTHING extra (other than maybe taxes)? And if so, any insider tips/thoughts on how it happened to you?

 

Thanks so much!!

On my last cruise which was in late February/early March, I got a call the day before my Fascination cruise. The Carnival representative upgraded me from an inside to an oceanview for no apparent reason. That's not a big deal because an oceanview cabin on a Fantasy class ship is nothing special, but I appreciated it. That was the first time in 23 Carnival cruises that I had been upgraded without any involvement of a price drop or the upsell fairy.

 

My PVP had suggested that I might get upgraded, but didn't provide any specifics. I told her I doubted it seriously since it had never happened in over 20 Carnival cruises. She was right!

[krogers2063]

We are leaving Monday on Triumph and were booked in an inside cabin on Lido with my DH and our 2 DS and we got a call last week and we were offered a balcony on Spa deck for free. We gladly accepted. We are Gold. Not sure why they picked us but what ever the reason we are very excited and don't plan to tell our boys till we get there.

[Carnival_Brides]

Mom and I both got upgrades on leg #1 of our b2b last June. She went from a 1A on Riviera to a forward balcony on 7 and I went from a 4A on Riviera to an aft balcony on 8.

 

This was what I was able to glean:

1.) The lady who called us was in the Miami office

2.) She originally called for my Mom, but when she said it was for Mom's loyalty as a Platinum guest we inquired if she had anymore upgrades because I was also Platinum--she had one more and gave it to me.

3.) She said that she loves making these calls on embarkation day (we were on hour #8 of a 9 hour drive to Boston)--and made some remark about having a hard time getting ahold of people on embarkation day. We had noted we were driving in our check-in information.

4.) Our upgrades were due to last-minute cancellations and she sent the new cabin info to the embarkation staff at the port.

 

FWIW--we've been called for, but never taken an upsell. We were more than happy to take these upgrades.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[misterchatter]

Back in January we were on the Valor. We booked an aft wrap. We were called about a month before and were offered a COMPLIMENTARY upgrade to a OS, no charge. Since we have never had an OS we did change. It was a week later we had another call, the upgrade fairy and was offered a GS for $250 total, which we did take. These call were the first ones we have had after 17 Carnival cruises.

[beberenn]

Had 2 cabins booked on the pride, one inside, one balcony....2 days before the cruise carnival called and said they had two aft balconys side by side would we like them, free...YES!!!! We are platinum also....and that was the first call for an upgrade or an upsell, or whatever u wanna call it ;)

[fair-winds39]

We are Plats and I got a call from the "Upsell Fairy" about 4 cruises ago. I said Yes and dutifully gave my credit card info. Since then they have called me on every single cruise, about 3 weeks beforehand and I have said yes each time, including today, and I have forked over the money.

 

I swear there is some "hot list" or something for Carnival to call for upsells, and we are clearly on it. I wonder if we are "dropped" if we say "no" one time?!!

 

When I received my very first upsell, I was elated and posted here that I had received an upgrade. Someone then posted that it was the "Upsell Fairy" that called me, not the "Upgrade Fairy."

 

So, here's my question. Is there REALLY a true upgrade where you pay NOTHING extra (other than maybe taxes)? And if so, any insider tips/thoughts on how it happened to you?

 

Thanks so much!!

We were upgraded from verandas to suites on the legend in 2008. It was our first Carnival cruise. We were cruising with 3 other couples and we were all upgraded at no charge. The way it happened was that after we booked, my DH called Carnival to ask a question (we booked directly through Carnival) a few months before our cruise. During his conversation with the rep, he mentioned that he was almost "twisting our arms" in getting all of us to try Carnival. Our other cruises were with Celebrity and we were skeptical about trying Carnival. Anyway, the rep put DH on hold, and came back and asked DH if we would all like to be upgraded to suites. Of course he said yes. Long story short, two of the couples got the wraparound suites, and the other two got the suites next to the wraparounds. Fabulous!!!

 

Since that time, we have cruised on the Miracle, Pride and Victory. We sailed on the Pride for the second time this past February, and we'll definitely be sailing the Pride in 2015 when it returns to Baltimore after drydock.

[Prof Peg]

It is always so nice to read about cruisers free upgrades and also the upsale fairy. A lot of people mentioned being Platinum and since we just made Platinum on our last cruise, I'm hoping that is the magic keyword. Not sailing until September so it's going to be awhile before I can start holding my breathe. I wonder if having an adjoining cabin helps -- we don't need it, but someone else just might.

 

Happy sailing!

[LaurieHoffman]

I have never been upgraded for free by carnival and also never had the upsell fairy call me.. I have been on 11 Carnival cruises too.....

 

My 1st cruise on Disney however was a different story. We had an inside and were upgraded to a family balcony with the split bathroom which was perfect.

 

Hasn't happened since then on Disney or any other cruise line but that is ok

[Terre]

On our last Liberty cruise we got a call for a free upgrade from an inside to a balcony...that was the first one for us.

[Budget Queen]

I also got a free upgrade, cheap inside to balcony, last month on the Conquest.

[FloridaLaura]

My first 7 day cruise we booked two interior cabins and when we checked in we were upgraded to one balcony and the other stayed the same an interior. We loved it and have not booked a cruise without a balcony since....they got us good lol

[MexicanMama]

On our second cruise I booked online myself, printed out documents and luggage tags and showed up at the port. This was before the days I knew about cruisecritic or other forums. I didn't know anything about price reductions, OBC or upgrades.

 

We opened the door to the room we had been given keys for and it was Ocean View! We didn't pay for this, I booked interior?? Great, they must have upgraded us for some reason!

 

We went about our week and had a great time, at the end of the cruise when we received our bill we had an $86 credit on our bill. I called customer service and asked why and was told, "Your travel agent must have called and gotten a price match for you", they also explained the policy to me.

 

I never mentioned I didn't have a travel agent and I didn't call. We never figured out how that happened, but are thankful we learned about the program. It's saved us a lot of cash and gotten us some great OBC.

 

BTW, They also managed to get all our luggage to the correct room even thought they had the wrong luggage tags on them!

[BennBilly]

We were booked on the Sunshine's inaugural cruise back in Nov out of NOLA. Got upgrade from an interior to an ocean view, no charge to us.

[meatball_nyc]

Our first cruise in the Legend in 2006 we were given a free upgrade from an OV to a balcony.

Found out when we made final payment. I checked the deck plans because the cabin # was different and was like, wow!! We are now in a balcony cabin.

I never called Carnival (booked directly with them) and they never called me.

It's balconies forever for us now!

Happy Sailing!

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[joge107]

We are Plats and I got a call from the "Upsell Fairy" about 4 cruises ago. I said Yes and dutifully gave my credit card info. Since then they have called me on every single cruise, about 3 weeks beforehand and I have said yes each time, including today, and I have forked over the money.

 

I swear there is some "hot list" or something for Carnival to call for upsells, and we are clearly on it. I wonder if we are "dropped" if we say "no" one time?!!

 

When I received my very first upsell, I was elated and posted here that I had received an upgrade. Someone then posted that it was the "Upsell Fairy" that called me, not the "Upgrade Fairy."

 

So, here's my question. Is there REALLY a true upgrade where you pay NOTHING extra (other than maybe taxes)? And if so, any insider tips/thoughts on how it happened to you?

 

Thanks so much!!

On the Miracle, from an inside to the french door. Bigger cabin w/ a sofa. Nice to get fresh air.

[Dymediva]

On our last cruise we were upgraded from a interior cabin on Lido deck to a balcony on deck 8 for free. I couldn't believe it, but of course we happily accepted:D

[hoosier1971]

Just called Carnival because I noticed that the price for a balcony on our cruise is cheaper than what I paid. She offered me a free upgrade to a spa suite. Since I booked with a travel agent, he will have to make the changes. Hopefully, he will do this soon because we leave in 10 days

[ToesntheSand]

My husband called today and got us a free upgrade from a deluxe ocean view on the Breeze to a balcony. We also got $330 refunded to our account. No idea why since we didn't book early saver and leave in 23 days. Oh well I will take it!

Edited April 30, 2014 by ToesntheSand