How Do People Get Upgrades

[TEMAY]

I have been viewing some posts and I came across a post that said they were offered an upgrade or money ????? Dont really understand why or how Carnival would offer someone money . Do many people get offered an upgrade or is it only for a select few?? Do you have a chance to be offered one if you have booked with a travel agency ?? How does it work , does someone actually call you from Carnival or do you see it on your Carnival .com site ?? Thanks for any answers :) :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

Edited July 12, 2014 by TEMAY

[TracieABD]

This, my friend, is one of life's greatest mysteries. If we knew, we would all be able to upgrade.

 

Most lines are moving away from upgrades and are now offering upsells. If the price is right, we jump all over those upsells!

[Marie51]

Very few people get free upgrades. The ones who do seem to be long time cruisers. If you want a better cabin just pay for it upfront.

I have taken 36 cruises and have only been upgraded once.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Marie51

[TEMAY]

Interesting, I am very happy with the area and the cabin I picked but if someone were to offer me something I would for sure want to inquire about it as I wouldnt pay the price of a spa cabin but if it was offered well... Just curious I guess how some end up being offered money too. I just couldnt believe it when I read it. It took me a bit to understand what OBC meant lol!! I thought is was some sort of OCEAN ____ CABIN. as they were offered a spa cabin and it said OBC , until they said money I thought it was an upgrade of two different choice of cabins lol!!! Just trying to learn the ins and outs and tips for all this stuff :) :) :)

[TEMAY]

This, my friend, is one of life's greatest mysteries. If we knew, we would all be able to upgrade.

 

Most lines are moving away from upgrades and are now offering upsells. If the price is right, we jump all over those upsells!

TRACIEABD , do you mean an upsell at the time you are booking?? For instance you decide on lets say a balcony, and then they will ask you," well for this much extra today we will give you a LARGER balcony"??Or do you mean when you get on the ship they will ask you if you want to pay extra for a cabin that is not being used ??? But how would that happen , did you go to the Guest Services and ask them yourself ??

Edited July 12, 2014 by TEMAY

[Keith1010]

Sometimes people book a guarantee category which could lead to an upgrade and other times it just happens.

 

Keith

[Mary Ellen]

Upsells usually come about after final payment is due. Some will cancel their cruise at that point and cruise lines have a better idea then as to which cabin categories have excess inventory. Those cabins are usually made available to passengers who are willing to pay more than what they originally paid - for a 'better' cabin. Now what I consider 'better' and what the cruise line considers 'better' can widely differ. If I agree what they offer me is 'better', and worth what they are asking for that cabin, I'll take the upsell. If I don't, they keep asking other passengers. If they aren't finding enough takers, the price can drop for the upsell.

 

If you've booked through the cruise line, you'll get an email from them with the upsell offer. If you've gone with a TA, they will get the offer from the cruise line and pass it on to you. I've also let my TA know when I've been interested in an upsell and he has called the cruise line to see what is available.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Mary Ellen

[Marie51]

TRACIEABD , do you mean an upsell at the time you are booking?? For instance you decide on lets say a balcony, and then they will ask you," well for this much extra today we will give you a LARGER balcony"??Or do you mean when you get on the ship they will ask you if you want to pay extra for a cabin that is not being used ??? But how would that happen , did you go to the Guest Services and ask them yourself ??

 

Many ships sail full and there are few cabins left.

I recently returned from a cruise with a friend who booked herself an inside cabin. When we boarded the ship she went to guest services and asked if there were any balcony cabins she could move to and there were none....all full. If any had been avaliable you have to pay the going rate.

[JackAZ]

We have been upgraded twice,once on RCCL and once on Celebrity.curiously,the Celebrity(triple upgrade)ended up with a lower price than our original booking,so we got OBC also.First time was on our 25th anniversary,thats the only reason I can think of.

[NMLady]

TRACIEABD , do you mean an upsell at the time you are booking?? For instance you decide on lets say a balcony, and then they will ask you," well for this much extra today we will give you a LARGER balcony"??Or do you mean when you get on the ship they will ask you if you want to pay extra for a cabin that is not being used ??? But how would that happen , did you go to the Guest Services and ask them yourself ??

 

The up sell offer is before the cruise. If you booked with a travel agent the cruise line calls them to offer it to you. If you booked with the cruise line they contact you directly.

For our HAL Alaska cruise we'd booked an ocean view cabin for a 14 day AK cruise. Then, about a week before the cruise our TA phoned us with an up sell offer from HAL for a balcony. The offer made the total significantly cheaper than a balcony had originally sold for so we accepted the up sell price.

Edited July 12, 2014 by NMLady

[cb at sea]

An "upsell" isn't really an upgrade....you're simply paying for a better cabin, sometimes at a lesser price, which is nice!

 

A free upgrade is rare. However, they do happen...sometimes, to 1st timers, sometimes to long-time customers.,....there's really no rhyme or reason to it.

 

Just cross your fingers, but don't hold your breath!

[denmarks]

I believe that I have always received an upgrade. I usually book at least 9 months out and receive a location upgrade within a week. I book the lowest cost inside cabin and usually end up with a 2 step upgrade.

 

My cruise for this October is an exception. I again booked the lowest cost inside cabin. In about a week I was moved closer to the center of the ship. A few weeks later I was moved to an outside cabin and within 2 days a balcony. That is 3 upgrades. The value was about $1000. This is my last cruise as a Platinum member at Princess and I will become Elite. I do not know if that had anything to do with it.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were "upgraded" a category or two (inside to inside) on my first cruise. But it wasn't a better location. We ended up under one of the dining rooms and would heard vacuuming late at night. On another cruise, we were moved far forward from an inside to an oceanview. Both were on Carnival.

 

Our last few cruises, we've actually didn't want to be moved from the location we've selected so we insisted that our booking be marked "no upgrade."

 

It really depends on the person. Some people want a specific location and others want a higher category.

 

But there isn't a rhythm or reason -- it doesn't matter how many cruises you've had on that line. Some people get upgrades a lot and others might go on several cruises and not.

 

It's more if they want your category cabin.

[Steviewonder1]

I just book Penthouse Suites and don't worry about upgrades. Saves worrying about the whole issue..... Spoiled Rotten and not worried about it...

[4Tacos]

I just book Penthouse Suites and don't worry about upgrades. Saves worrying about the whole issue..... Spoiled Rotten and not worried about it...

 

LIKE!!!!!

 

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[beachbum53]

I have been viewing some posts and I came across a post that said they were offered an upgrade or money ????? Dont really understand why or how Carnival would offer someone money . Do many people get offered an upgrade or is it only for a select few?? Do you have a chance to be offered one if you have booked with a travel agency ?? How does it work , does someone actually call you from Carnival or do you see it on your Carnival .com site ?? Thanks for any answers :) :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

This, my friend, is one of life's greatest mysteries. If we knew, we would all be able to upgrade.

 

Most lines are moving away from upgrades and are now offering upsells. If the price is right, we jump all over those upsells!

 

No great mystery. Some sailing dates and itineraries are more popular than others, so there is a greater demand for bookings on those particular cruises. If there happens to be a greater demand for cabins in a certain category than there are cabins available, then the cruise line will contact those that already have a cabin booked in that category and offer an upgrade. That means you would be offered the opportunity to move from whatever category you're currently booked in to the next highest category (which would be the next highest price) at no additional cost to you, most likely because that category isn't selling as quickly. On board credit (OBC) is a little different, and something you need to check for frequently. If, for whatever reason, a particular cruise isn't selling well, the cruise line may lower prices to entice more bookings. When that happens, if you've already booked a cabin at what was originally a higher price, then you would have the opportunity to apply for a "credit" (sort of like a rebate), that would show up as an on board credit on your ship board account. However, the cruise lines, and some TA's, don't contact their customers to let them know about price drops. Not every sailing has price drops, but it's still a good idea to check periodically.

[rbuenger]

The Upgrade Fairy is a fickle beast!

 

DW and I were upgraded from a Celebrity Suite to a Royal Suite on Celebrity Solstice about 60 days before the cruise a few years ago, but that is the only "Free" Upgrade" I have received. Since it was our 1st cruise on Celebrity (all previous had been on Royal Caribbean) I can only attribute it to the fact it was our Honeymoon and it was noted on our reservation. There were also several others on the same cruise, on their honeymoons, and we seemed to be the only ones that got any sort of Upgrade, so I have no idea why us over them!

 

There was also a HUGE price drop ($12,000+) for our original Celebrity Suite after the Costa Concordia accident in January 2012, which we were able to take advantage of before we were upgraded, so we got an amazing deal for a 2 week cruise in a Royal Suite.

[Elaine5715]

Sometimes depending on the cruise booked, you become eligible for price drops if they occur which can be onboard credit, refund or cabin upgrade.

In some cases, the cabin you selected or was assigned, is needed to accommodate another guest or is placed out of service for your cruise thus you are reassigned to another, sometimes upgraded cabin but most frequently, people just lie..

[alexspepa]

sometimes they ask you to move to a different sailing...sometimes this is where the money comes into play. they are overbooked on your sailing and need the cabin - eventually they will offer enough that someone will "move over".

[qqwer123]

What I do is watch my cruise after In book it. First cruise we booked a balcony. The mini-suites went on sale a few months after so I called and upgraded to a MS and also got about 300.00 refunded to my account. The next cruise also went on sale so I called in and got a refund of about 200.00. We were already booked into a MS so we stayed where we were. The cruise we are on, coming up in March we booked into a MS and we booked it a year in advance since it was almost sold out. I noticed last week that the cabins were on sale and got a refund of over 600 and an extra 150 on our room account. Shortly after I had booked I also got a smaller refund but I cant remember how that came to be. All in all we got 375 room credit and almost 1000 in savings. All I did was log on to the cruise website every few days and keep my eyes on our trip. We also only put 50 percent down until the rest is due just in case this happens.

[dancinman66]

Just keep very close eyes on your booking

The ta generally won't do this for you but will adjust the booking when you request it

 

 

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[dancinman66]

If you want it free. Then hope for upgrade fairy

 

 

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[dancinman66]

If you want it free. Then hope for upgrade fairy

 

 

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[seaserious]

We were "upgraded" a category or two (inside to inside) on my first cruise. But it wasn't a better location. We ended up under one of the dining rooms and would heard vacuuming late at night. On another cruise' date=' we were moved far forward from an inside to an oceanview. Both were on Carnival.

 

Our last few cruises, we've actually didn't want to be moved from the location we've selected so we insisted that our booking be marked "no upgrade."

 

It really depends on the person. Some people want a specific location and others want a higher category.

 

But there isn't a rhythm or reason -- it doesn't matter how many cruises you've had on that line. Some people get upgrades a lot and others might go on several cruises and not.

 

It's more if they want your category cabin.[/quote']

 

i've been reading a lot lately about the casino people that get comp cabins?? they must spend a lot on gambling on ships (i guess something like a whale in las vegas). so it may be comp, but it really isn't!!!

[serene56]

i've been reading a lot lately about the casino people that get comp cabins?? they must spend a lot on gambling on ships (i guess something like a whale in las vegas). so it may be comp, but it really isn't!!!

 

my dad never got upgraded and between him and my mom they spent thousands each week.