Who Wants An Upsell?

[Jeter02]

LOL! So I have been hit up for the famous upsell for my upcoming Alaskan cruise to upgrade from an ocean view to balcony. I still find them rather funny. Here's an upgrade, now which credit card would you like us to charge for you. Thank you, but not thank you. This is my first upsell email I have ever received. I have been given free upgrades before from balcony to a mini, which was lovely. I will more than likely be declining the upsell, as I have gotten to the point of, I like the deck I hand select, as well as my cabin now at most times. My problems with upgrades / upsells, what they considered an upgrade, based on cabin category and location, may not be your idea of an upgrade. That's why I have skipped over these. Just thought I would share, as these upsells are funny to me. Is it really thata hard to offer something to someone for free.

[Hlitner]

You should think of it from the cruise line's business perspective. Years ago, cruise lines routinely upgraded passengers...especially frequent customers. But then a few lines (we think that HAL probably led the pack) realized they were giving away something that is worth money.....upgrades. So the upsell was invented. In over 100 cruises we have had about a dozen upsell offers and accepted only one (which was on HAL from an outside cabin to a suite). Our funniest upsell was a HAL offer of an upsell for "only" $9,999." That was on a long cruise where our total cruise fare (with some amenities was about $20,000....so their offering was a 50% increase in our cost. Our cruise agent was in hysterics as she explained the offer. After we stopped laughing we countered with a much lower offer (which was rejected). The cabin that we have gotten with that upgrade was never booked (and it was a 62 day cruise) and HAL used it to house various entertainers. We mentioned this to the Hotel Manager on the cruise and all had a laugh about a stupid HAL business decision. They turned down several thousand dollars...which is what economists call "opportunity lost revenue." We figure they must have offered that penthouse cabin to many other cruisers...none of who would accept the upsell offer.

 

Hank

[Jeter02]

Thank you for this. I completely enjoyed reading your experiences. :)

 

You should think of it from the cruise line's business perspective. Years ago, cruise lines routinely upgraded passengers...especially frequent customers. But then a few lines (we think that HAL probably led the pack) realized they were giving away something that is worth money.....upgrades. So the upsell was invented. In over 100 cruises we have had about a dozen upsell offers and accepted only one (which was on HAL from an outside cabin to a suite). Our funniest upsell was a HAL offer of an upsell for "only" $9,999." That was on a long cruise where our total cruise fare (with some amenities was about $20,000....so their offering was a 50% increase in our cost. Our cruise agent was in hysterics as she explained the offer. After we stopped laughing we countered with a much lower offer (which was rejected). The cabin that we have gotten with that upgrade was never booked (and it was a 62 day cruise) and HAL used it to house various entertainers. We mentioned this to the Hotel Manager on the cruise and all had a laugh about a stupid HAL business decision. They turned down several thousand dollars...which is what economists call "opportunity lost revenue." We figure they must have offered that penthouse cabin to many other cruisers...none of who would accept the upsell offer.

 

Hank

[bakersdozen12]

If there's any cruise where an upsell to a balcony is worth it, it's an Alaska cruise!

 

 

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[Jeter02]

You know what I always fear, is being put on a deck or location I don;t really care for. I don;t know, its so hit and miss.

 

If there's any cruise where an upsell to a balcony is worth it, it's an Alaska cruise!

 

 

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[ar1950]

If there's any cruise where an upsell to a balcony is worth it, it's an Alaska cruise!

 

 

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Exactly right. In our opinion the only way to do Alaska is with a balcony cabin.

YMMV

[ar1950]

You know what I always fear, is being put on a deck or location I don;t really care for. I don;t know, its so hit and miss.

 

I believe you could have called and asked the location. That's what we did on our one and only up sell offer. We declined.

[Jeter02]

True, I may do that for fun, just for curiosity purposes. Thank You.

 

I believe you could have called and asked the location. That's what we did on our one and only up sell offer. We declined.

[trbarton]

Here's my experience with an upsell from & Inside to & obstructed Ocean View. Since I had to call back I did a mock booking & found a stateroom with very little obstruction so when the agent called me I was able to get the stateroom I wanted. Remember if you do your home work you can pick the stateroom that you want when talking to the agent. I was on 2 short B2B cruises & asked for the other cruise but her offer was only for one cruise.

I'm booked on the Majestic Princess, Trans-Pacific cruise, March 2018, 19 days, & upgraded from an Inside Stateroom to an Obstructed View Balcony, Lido deck to Emerald deck for $300 per person. I figured it was worth it for 19 days with a number of sea days. A balcony is perfect for a Balcony Breakfast & Dinner.

Here's a photo of the view & obstruction.

After I made my booking I looked at my options of an obstructed view balcony & found this. Very little obstruction & much cheaper than the regular price for a balcony.

Tom😀

Edited June 7, 2017 by trbarton

[Colo Cruiser]

You know what I always fear, is being put on a deck or location I don;t really care for. I don;t know, its so hit and miss.

 

Why??

You should know your cabin before accepting. :confused:

 

One suite upsell we had 9 suites to pick from.

[Jeter02]

Wasn't sure with an upsell if it was like a guaranteed cabin. Some of the free upgrades I have been given, some would tell me prior what I was a upgraded too with cabin, and I've had others which were complete surprises when getting to the port. I will call and ask. My other thing too I need to check as well is that is a B2B cruises. I like straying in the same cabin for multiple sailings. Its make life easier and less of a hassle of having to pack and unpack things.

[Thrak]

On a 17 day cruise we were booked into an inside cabin and were offered an upsell to an Ocean View. We took it in a heartbeat. We ended up with an aft-facing OV on Coral Princess on Baja Deck. The rear viewing deck was maybe 10 steps from our cabin door and very underutilized so it was almost like having a huge balcony with loungers. Yes, we had to share it but it was the entire width of the ship and often there was either nobody else there or maybe 2 - 4 other people. With a full complement of loungers across the width of the deck it wasn't ever crowded nor were the other passengers intrusive.

 

On a 7 day southbound (Alaska to Vancouver) we were again booked into an inside and took an upsell to a Window Mini Suite. It's a mini suite that has the balcony space enclosed as part of the cabin and has a window instead. It was on Island Princess on Caribe Deck and this time the forward viewing deck was just a few steps away from our cabin door. While there were no loungers on the forward viewing deck it was usually deserted and afforded great scenic viewing.

 

Sometimes upsells are welcome. (Of course the free upgrade from a forward inside to a mid ship HC balcony cabin on Caribe when sailing on Crown Princess was a better "deal". :))

[Jeter02]

I guess I shouldn't knock the whole upsell then. Thanks everyone for your comments, as it does may me rethink the situation / opportunity given. Will let you tomorrow how I make out, when I call to inquire.

 

On a 17 day cruise we were booked into an inside cabin and were offered an upsell to an Ocean View. We took it in a heartbeat. We ended up with an aft-facing OV on Coral Princess on Baja Deck. The rear viewing deck was maybe 10 steps from our cabin door and very underutilized so it was almost like having a huge balcony with loungers. Yes, we had to share it but it was the entire width of the ship and often there was either nobody else there or maybe 2 - 4 other people. With a full complement of loungers across the width of the deck it wasn't ever crowded nor were the other passengers intrusive.

 

On a 7 day southbound (Alaska to Vancouver) we were again booked into an inside and took an upsell to a Window Mini Suite. It's a mini suite that has the balcony space enclosed as part of the cabin and has a window instead. It was on Island Princess on Caribe Deck and this time the forward viewing deck was just a few steps away from our cabin door. While there were no loungers on the forward viewing deck it was usually deserted and afforded great scenic viewing.

 

Sometimes upsells are welcome. (Of course the free upgrade from a forward inside to a mid ship HC balcony cabin on Caribe when sailing on Crown Princess was a better "deal". :))

[bagney]

Prior to our recent California Coastal cruise in April 2017 we had booked an interior cabin and about a month before sailing received an upsell email from Princess for $179 pp to a balcony cabin plus prepaid gratuities. We felt it was a decent deal so I called back and left a message we were interested. We received a call back within an hour or so and accepted the upsell. I was asked where on the ship I like to have a cabin and I indicated we preferred the aft of the ship and the agent gave me a cabin on Caribe deck near the aft and I was happy. However, prior to calling I did a mock booking to see which aft balcony cabins were available and I saw several aft Deluxe Balcony cabins on Baja deck looking off the aft at the wake of the ship and I asked if I could perhaps have one of the Aft cabins on Baja deck and she gladly asked me which one I wanted and assigned it to me without question. So, you never know unless you ask!

[Working 2 Cruise]

As upsells are very popular, it's a first come, first serve. It may be too late for you to call.

 

I've also had an upsell from an OV to a balcony for my cruise to Alaska. I jumped on it! The balcony was used a lot!

[Jeter02]

Got the email today. Already called and left a a message. Just awaiting for them to call me back. If its meant to be, it will be. We shall see.

 

As upsells are very popular, it's a first come, first serve. It may be too late for you to call.

 

I've also had an upsell from an OV to a balcony for my cruise to Alaska. I jumped on it! The balcony was used a lot!

[caribill]

As upsells are very popular, it's a first come, first serve. It may be too late for you to call.

 

 

If they were less popular, there might be more free upgrades.

[Canberra forever !]

Wow ! Would love an upsell offer but we live in the UK and they don't seem to come as far as us :(

We are booked on an Alaska Southbound for Sept 2018 in an OV obstructed (carefully chosen cabin for minimum obstruction) but would love a balcony :) live in hope the upsell fairy will fly further :)

Happy sailing

[framer]

I got an upsell on my last cruise. Originally had the worst most forward OV cabin on Emerald deck. I'd gotten it because it was wrongly priced by $1000. It was the cheapest cabin on the ship and it also had two upper berths which I was not thrilled about. I got an upsell offer of $269 each for a premium balcony midship including prepaid tips or about $130 after tips were taken out. This was an 11 day cruise. Yes, I took it. Had a wonderful time.

 

framer

[Hlitner]

You know what I always fear, is being put on a deck or location I don;t really care for. I don;t know, its so hit and miss.

 

We used to have the same fear. But we got over it for a silly reason. We used to carefully choose our cabin locations. But over the years, the most problems we have had on lots of cruises has been with our carefully selected cabins. Perhaps the A/C is lousy (and never gets fixed), we have a very noisy neighbor, the folks in the cabin over us likes to tap dance at 3am, etc. Meanwhile, some of our best cabins have come with guarantees. Like many cruisers we used to avoid cabin near the bow. But after getting stuck "near the front of the ship" on a few cruises we discovered we really like that part of most ships. On one ship we carefully chose an aft balcony cabin...because so many here on CC love aft balconies. We hated it! The aft of the ship had a nasty vibration (likely from prop cavitation) and a weird shimmy (again caused by the props) that we found uncomfortable. And then we would sometimes get soot blowing from the stacks onto our balcony (and our clothes). Lesson learned.

 

Hank

[Colo Cruiser]

We used to have the same fear. But we got over it for a silly reason. We used to carefully choose our cabin locations. But over the years, the most problems we have had on lots of cruises has been with our carefully selected cabins. Perhaps the A/C is lousy (and never gets fixed), we have a very noisy neighbor, the folks in the cabin over us likes to tap dance at 3am, etc. Meanwhile, some of our best cabins have come with guarantees. Like many cruisers we used to avoid cabin near the bow. But after getting stuck "near the front of the ship" on a few cruises we discovered we really like that part of most ships. On one ship we carefully chose an aft balcony cabin...because so many here on CC love aft balconies. We hated it! The aft of the ship had a nasty vibration (likely from prop cavitation) and a weird shimmy (again caused by the props) that we found uncomfortable. And then we would sometimes get soot blowing from the stacks onto our balcony (and our clothes). Lesson learned.

 

Hank

 

 

You had a GTY on an upsell? :o

[Jeter02]

Ok. So I spoke to a rep on the upsell. This one in particular did not pay in my eyes. I originally thought it was $149 to upgrade from oceanview to a balcony, thinking $149 covering 200% meant double occupancy. I was ready to jump and take the opportunity thrown my way. Apparently not. She told me the upsell would be $300, with no additional things thrown in besides the cabin upgrade. Also this upsell ONLY applies to first week onboard, as I am there multiple weeks sailing B2B. The whole changing cabin thing, I became fine with, however, my mindset was, that $300 I could put towards one of my fabulous shore excursions that I am going on. Those Alaskan excursions don;t come cheap as you all know. Glacier National Park I will just watch on the open deck which is fine with me. I am just thrilled to fulfilling the Alaskan dream cruise. Still All Smiles By Me!

[junglejane]

I've gotten (and accepted) upsells twice. Once from a balcony to a suite, and most recently from an inside to a balcony. In both instances I was offered my choice of several locations before I agreed to the upsell. I was quite happy with my recent upsell from a midship Aloha inside to a midship Caribe balcony on our upcoming Alaska cruise.

[cactusrose]

I received and accepted an upsell on our recent World Cruise from the lowest priced mini to an Owners Suite. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for that long of a cruise.

[Jeter02]

Nice!!!!

i received and accepted an upsell on our recent world cruise from the lowest priced mini to an owners suite. I'd do it again in a heartbeat for that long of a cruise.