Upgrade when room is already assigned?

[Carole_T]

We booked a cruise for December of 2015 and was given a room assignment during the booking. Didn't ask for it, they just gave me a room number. Did ask if I would accept an "upgrade" I believe she said, an I if course said yes. So did anyone else ever get a room assignment when cruising so far out? And, what are our real chances of an upgrade when it's not a "guaranteed" booking? Thanks for any input/insight!

[geoherb]

I've never just been assigned a cabin when booking. My travel agent usually gives me a list of choices--or else I've seen the ones available on the Princess website and tell him to check on whether a specific cabin is available. It's normal to be able to get a cabin assignment this early.

 

People with assigned cabins do get upgrades occasionally.

[RickEk]

We booked a cruise for December of 2015 and was given a room assignment during the booking. Didn't ask for it, they just gave me a room number. Did ask if I would accept an "upgrade" I believe she said, an I if course said yes. So did anyone else ever get a room assignment when cruising so far out? And, what are our real chances of an upgrade when it's not a "guaranteed" booking? Thanks for any input/insight!

 

I booked a cruise on Crown Princess for December 2014 and got one of the nice sideways inside cabins. I was recently "upgraded" to a better category inside cabin and declined it. And I just got notified that I was upgraded to an obstructed oceanview... I'll probably decline that one too... :p

[Carole_T]

Thanks geoherb. We've only cruised 3 times and always had guaranteed booking. I was very surprised when I was given a # on a cruise a year and a half out!

[Times Prince]

Our experience is that most of the time the cabin first assigned is the one we will have for the sailing.

 

What I don't understand is your saying that it is not a Guarantee, but a room was assigned for you. Unless you have a TA who is organizing a group that you are part of, that would mean YOU selected the cabin. If you didn't then your TA should be able to move you to an open cabin of your choice in the same cost category (sideways move)

 

In our experience it is more likely to have an "upgrade", but just a different cabin in the same category (e.g. balcony) if one has a Guarantee booking.

 

While an "upgrade" is possible, it is unlikely. The only cruises I've heard of upgrades were repositioning cruises where the ship did not sail full.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Times Prince

[jfgdbg]

We had booked a cruise almost as soon as it came out and selected a cabin we wanted. Over a year later, 4 days before we were to sail, we were upgraded. This was from a mini suite to a full suit on a 32 day cruise. We were very happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Carole_T]

Our experience is that most of the time the cabin first assigned is the one we will have for the sailing.

 

What I don't understand is your saying that it is not a Guarantee, but a room was assigned for you. Unless you have a TA who is organizing a group that you are part of, that would mean YOU selected the cabin. If you didn't then your TA should be able to move you to an open cabin of your choice in the same cost category (sideways move)

 

In our experience it is more likely to have an "upgrade", but just a different cabin in the same category (e.g. balcony) if one has a Guarantee booking.

 

While an "upgrade" is possible, it is unlikely. The only cruises I've heard of upgrades were repositioning cruises where the ship did not sail full.

 

I booked directly with Princess and the rep gave me a cabin number without me saying a word! Surprised me since our 3 other sailings we guaranteed, without me saying a word!! I don't mind the cabin, inside, forward, Aloha deck. Also wouldn't mind an upgrade to a window seat:D

[Carole_T]

I booked a cruise on Crown Princess for December 2014 and got one of the nice sideways inside cabins. I was recently "upgraded" to a better category inside cabin and declined it. And I just got notified that I was upgraded to an obstructed oceanview... I'll probably decline that one too... :p

 

I see your sailing today on the Star:D that is what we have booked 12/15. Have a great trip!

[Coral]

You can always call back and ask if you can switch from an assigned room to a guaranteed room in the same category. Different reps do different things.

[peety3]

We booked our first Alaska cruise about 5 months out, and had relatively few cabin choices for a mini-suite on a Saturday departure in the ~3 weeks we were willing/able to choose. I think we had at most 6 cabins to pick from across four different cruises. We let our TA supply us with a list of what was open.

 

We booked our second Alaska cruise six months out with one particular sailing in mind, and had our choice of about 14 mini-suites on that particular cruise. I'd researched online what was open, and confirmed via our TA.

 

We booked our upcoming/third Alaska cruise almost a year out, and had our choice of almost every mini-suite on the ship. Three weeks later, when a promotion came along and our TA encouraged us to snag it, we were able to pick from perhaps 70% of the highest-category mini-suites on the ship. I'd researched online ahead of time for the original booking, but our TA came to us prepared with a list of open/taken cabins in ME when the promo became available.

[likeadisguise]

It's an urban myth that you're more likely to get an upgrade if you pick a guarantee rather than an assigned cabin. Upgrades are based on categories, and are done automatically by the computer based on... well, no one really knows, but some yield management algorithms are used to fill the most cabins at the highest price. Loonbeam has some good posts on this topic.

 

If you booked directly with Princess and there were cabin assignments available in the category you selected, the computer will pick one, and the rep will usually say, "I'm showing the best available cabin is XXXX" or something like that. They should also ask you if you would like a complimentary automatic upgrade should one become available.

 

The only time you'll default to a guarantee when booking over the phone is if there aren't any assignable cabins in your preferred category. If you insist on a guarantee when there are assignable cabins the rep can override the assignment, but you're likely to receive your cabin assignment very quickly anyway.

[Sandpiper13]

I don't know how the upgrade fairy works but we booked an Oceanview (specific cabine / not a guarantee) on the Pacific Princess for an Alaskan Cruise for mid May 2013 and a week before sailing had a call from our TA that we'd been upgraded to a Balcony! It was wonderful . . . . This is the first 'true' upgrade we've had in the 20+ cruises we've taken with Princess so who knows how they are assigned. I just know when it happens it's a joyous occasion!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It has happened before ..

[caribill]

I booked directly with Princess and the rep gave me a cabin number without me saying a word! Surprised me since our 3 other sailings we guaranteed, without me saying a word!! I don't mind the cabin, inside, forward, Aloha deck. Also wouldn't mind an upgrade to a window seat:D

 

Did you specifically ask for a GTY booking?

[oskidunker]

They will offer to upgrade you from an outside to a balcony for $99.00 or maybe $199.00. If all the insides and outsides are sold out and no one accepts the upgrade for cash offers, they will upgrade people for free, assuming they feel they can resell the lower priced cabins.

 

example: on my Aug 3 British Isles crusie outsides are sold out and very few insides are left. About 80 Balconies not booked. The ship will likley not sale with 80 unbooked Balcony cabins. I would expect that if this remains constant, people will start seeing upgrades for cash offers about 3-4 weeks before the cruise.Problem is that with the air fares so high to Europe, they may find those willing to buy up non existant.

[shepp]

It's an urban myth that you're more likely to get an upgrade if you pick a guarantee rather than an assigned cabin. Upgrades are based on categories, and are done automatically by the computer based on... well, no one really knows.

 

Truer words were never spoken. When we sailed the Royal's very sold-out inaugural trans-Atlantic, we booked the cheapest inside (not a guarantee) and didn't find out until we had boarded that we'd been upgraded to a balcony.

 

Was it because it was our honeymoon, and I'd told Princess?

 

Who knows?

[Carole_T]

Did you specifically ask for a GTY booking?

 

No, didn't really have a chance as she gave me a cabin number as soon as I told her I wanted to book the cruise! When she asked if I would accept or be willing to take an upgrade I told her "yes". Figured I was covered. Just now wondering if I pretty much took myself out of the upgrade game! We'll be happy either way, booked the cruisetour, so seeing Machu Picchu after the cruise!

[Carole_T]

Truer words were never spoken. When we sailed the Royal's very sold-out inaugural trans-Atlantic, we booked the cheapest inside (not a guarantee) and didn't find out until we had boarded that we'd been upgraded to a balcony.

 

Was it because it was our honeymoon, and I'd told Princess?

 

Who knows?

 

We will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary 7 months before the cruise! Does that count!! lol

[shepp]

No, didn't really have a chance as she gave me a cabin number as soon as I told her I wanted to book the cruise! When she asked if I would accept or be willing to take an upgrade I told her "yes". Figured I was covered. Just now wondering if I pretty much took myself out of the upgrade game! We'll be happy either way, booked the cruisetour, so seeing Machu Picchu after the cruise!

 

Once again: your chance of getting an, eg., inside-to-outside upgrade is statistically pretty slim, and there's not much evidence that guarantee bookings get appreciably more upgrades. If you book an inside guarantee, you might end up with an inside originally assigned to someone who gets bumped up to a balcony. I don't think anyone but the Upgrade Fairy knows the facts.

 

But you might have a look at the deck plans and see if the cabin you've been assigned suits you. You can always get transferred to another vacant cabin within the same category you booked. I have favorite locations on the ship, and you might too.

 

Honestly, I'd as soon have the perfectly located inside I just booked than an inconveniently located outside that looks directly at the side of a lifeboat. I'd take a nice balcony, though. ;)

[Carole_T]

Thanks shepp for your honest observation! I booked an inside cabin and if we don't move at all I will be happy with it. Seriously, we spend the majority of our waking hours out of our room anyway! Will definitely post if something does change, otherwise, no news is still good news. :-)