Complimentary Upgrade

[2prettygirls]

How often does Carnival actually offer complimentary upgrades? Is this something you can call and ask for a few times or do they call you?

[SadieN]

About as often as a large meteor hitting earth. The do offer upsells, occasionally.

 

 

Princess does do complimentary upgrades. But what they consider upgrades, many do not.

[Elaine5715]

How often does Carnival actually offer complimentary upgrades? Is this something you can call and ask for a few times or do they call you?

 

No, they do not. You can call and ask to pay for an upgrade. When you see "free upgrades" in sale advertising, they do not mean pay for an interior and get upgraded to a balcony or suite. They mean the price you see is for the less desirable cabin in that category so a upgrade may mean one deck higher or to the middle of the ship.

[sandij]

We're doing our 16th cruise on Carnival in March and only once, about 6 years ago were we offered a free upgrade. It was nice but only that one time.

[klfrodo]

This isn't a Vegas hotel where they may be a 50% occupancy and may have rooms available.

This is a cruise ship with 99.8% occupancy

[zqvol]

How often does Carnival actually offer complimentary upgrades? Is this something you can call and ask for a few times or do they call you?

 

 

The only time they do free upgrades is when you book a guarantee,, and you end upp assigned to a higher category cabin.

[fair-winds39]

How often does Carnival actually offer complimentary upgrades? Is this something you can call and ask for a few times or do they call you?

We received a complimentary upgrade from balconies to suites about 8-9 yrs. ago on the Legend. My DH and I, his sister and BIL received the 2 large wraparound suites on the back of the ship, and the other two couples received the suites on either side of the wraparound suites. We sailed in the month of September, and it was our first cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines.

 

My DH called Carnival with a question about something, and in the course of conversation he mentioned to the Carnival rep that he was just about twisting our arms to take the cruise. The rep asked him to hold on for a moment, came back to the call, and asked DH if all of us would be interested in an upgrade. Wanting to be sure we were interested, DH asked if he could check with all of us, the rep said DH could check, but he would need an answer ASAP. DH wanted to make sure with the other travelers, because it was AFT, and two of our relatives always chose mid-ship.

 

Bottom line, we upgraded to the suites, we had a great time, and in 50+ days, we're headed to the Bahamas on our 7th Carnival cruise. We were offered other upgrades over the years, but they were not complimentary.

[jimbo5544]

Actually they do, we got a free upgrade to the Owners suite aboard the Ecstasy in 2006.

[misterchatter]

In January 2014 sailing on the Valor out of Sn Juan we received a complimentary up grade and an upsell after that all within a week. We originally had an aft wrap, the only reason for a complimentary upgrade to an ocean suite. Never having this category, we accepted. Three days later we received an upsell to a Grand Suite for a total 0f $250, which we accepted. So they do happen......but rarely.

[runner15km]

October 2014 I booked a IS GTY and received a Balcony. One other time I also booked a IS GTY and received a OB OV. :)

[ready2cruzagain]

18 cruises and lets see....hmmm....NEVER!

[2prettygirls]

Apparently they do happen, my sister in law and some of her friends got a call that upgraded them from interior to balcony but I just wasn't sure how often Carnival will do this for people. My sister in law was on her 3rd cruise and her friends their 1st so they weren't avid cruisers by any means.

[firemanbobswife]

My mom and MIL got a free upgrade from an OV to balcony on our 2005 Valor cruise. They accepted.

 

I was offered a free upgrade from OV to balcony on my first Glory cruise in May of 2013. I declined.

Edited January 7, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[Taters]

I received one in 1998. Oceanview to Grand Suite on the Imagination.

[junglecat]

They do happen but not often. We were booked in a room that is categorized as interior. I forget the name but its the 6th floor and you look straight out the front of the ship. There are only 5 or 6 of these types of rooms. Anyway, we received a call and we're offered a balcony AND $100 refund! We took it of course.

[Elaine5715]

If folks would go look up their original stateroom, they would likely found it was taken out of service or it was a connecting and needed for another passenger.

[RHilla619]

They rarely happen, as another poster mentioned its not like checking into a casino when the place is half full they might give you a free upgrade in hopes of putting you in a good mood to gamble more. Most cruise ships sail near full capacity so there's not a lot of moving/upgrading going on. What Carnival does do, selectively, is up-sells. On most sailings the interior and ocean view cabins sell out first due to their low cost, if as a result Carnival is having trouble selling the Balcony/Suites they will randomly call people who already have a Int/OV booked and ask them if the would like to upgrade to one of those Balcony rooms for a varying cost. Usually it's a win-win for both parties, if your chosen you get a better room for less than what it should've costed you and Carnival gets to fill up the ship.

[firemanbobswife]

If folks would go look up their original stateroom, they would likely found it was taken out of service or it was a connecting and needed for another passenger.

 

 

I believe that to be true in my mom/MILs case as their room was connecting. So I figured from the beginning that they probably needed it for a family.

 

Mine, however, was neither of those scenarios.

Edited January 8, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[planb]

We were like #7 just after 9/11 canceled a trip and decided to try a cruise for the 1st time. We were very surprised to be given an owner suite when we booked a balcony our Ta had told them we were not too excited to try sailing BUT they hooked us with that suite. Cruise 1-2 times a year always a balcony or up, they have a reason to their madness and have a lot of our funds. And worth it all the time.

[hermitstyle]

I received a complimentary upgrade last year. I was booked into an IS, and was assigned a PT cabin. About 4 hours before I boarded, I got a call at work (I live only 2 hours from PC) offering me a complimentary upgrade to an aft extended view balcony. I didn't have a connecting cabin and it wasn't taken out of service, the ship just wasn't at capacity.

[pcvtmom]

Once, in 23 Carnival cruises, we got upgraded from an interior to an ocean view stateroom. It was a free upgrade...and they called ME, about 3 days before the cruise, to ask if I was interested. I'd say it happens RARELY.

[Elaine5715]

Just like resorts, ships move people around because it meets their needs. Nothing more. Whether another person needed or bought your first cabin or maintenance issues like taking the opportunity to work on several vacant cabins together or whatever, just enjoy the upgrade but like a good oversold resort, they can make you feel like you are the lucky winner. But no, they don't just move folks out of the yucky cabins into the premium ones because they are nice.

[firemanbobswife]

Just remember to always find out the room number they want to move you to and look it up on the deck map because their definition of an "upgrade" could be a whole lot different than what your definition is. And if it's not satisfactory, then just say no.

 

That was the case with me. I politely declined the offer to move from my OV to a balcony. I still wouldn't trade even a 1A for any standard balcony on any Carnival ship. I love my insides and OVs :).