Call and Switch?

[Lady_Xero]

I booked and paid for an interior room back in March. We leave on Monday (Mariner) and I see there's some balconies and suites left for sale.

 

I'm wondering if we can call and ask for an upgrade? Would we have to pay the difference?

 

I'm perfectly content with my interior room but if I can get a free upgrade, I would love to take advantage!

 

Advice or tips?

[Clarea]

I booked and paid for an interior room back in March. We leave on Monday (Mariner) and I see there's some balconies and suites left for sale.

 

I'm wondering if we can call and ask for an upgrade? Would we have to pay the difference?

 

I'm perfectly content with my interior room but if I can get a free upgrade, I would love to take advantage!

 

Advice or tips?

Won't hurt to call, but I would expect to be paying the difference between what you paid and the current price of whatever category to which you would like to move.

[FLACRUISER99]

I booked and paid for an interior room back in March. We leave on Monday (Mariner) and I see there's some balconies and suites left for sale.

 

I'm wondering if we can call and ask for an upgrade? Would we have to pay the difference?

 

I'm perfectly content with my interior room but if I can get a free upgrade, I would love to take advantage!

 

Advice or tips?

You have nothing to loose by asking. Maybe they will offer you an up-sell for a small amount.:rolleyes:

[cb at sea]

They will not "upgrade" you for free. They may be able to give you some sort of discount, but don't count on that!

[emeraldcity]

I got a free upgrade once by asking, but the situation was unusual. I was on a back-to-back and the second cruise was sailing at 35% occupancy. Additionally, I was making diamond on the first sailing and I was in a grand suite. I was to be in a balcony on the second sailing so I asked for an upgrade to a JS.

 

These days, upgrades can be had, but they generally involve an upcharge and you may have to go through several layers of people to get them. It took a great deal of persistence to get a paid upgrade on the transpacific last April. We were booked on an inside and I wanted to pay the difference between what we paid for the inside and the going rate for one of the last few balconies in the final weeks before sailing. It was an hour of phone time and a number of repeated calm statements that "I don't understand why I can't have the price that is currently on your website. That is the going price for the cabin in question and I am willing to pay that price." She had to keep putting me on hold while she conferred with someone else, but I was finally able to get the cabin.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Lady_Xero]

I called and asked for a balcony. She had to put me on hold for a while (15 mins) since I had booked with a certificate from Hilton Timeshare. Got the upgrade for $300. When I first booked, it would've been an additional $500 so great deal IMHO.

[George C]

pays to call most likely upgrade will not be free , we upgraded to grand suite once paid the difference

[cruisinfanatic]

I booked and paid for an interior room back in March. We leave on Monday (Mariner) and I see there's some balconies and suites left for sale.

 

I'm wondering if we can call and ask for an upgrade? Would we have to pay the difference?

 

I'm perfectly content with my interior room but if I can get a free upgrade, I would love to take advantage!

 

Advice or tips?

you'll pay what the website says it costs

[Tee & Chilli]

I called and asked for a balcony. She had to put me on hold for a while (15 mins) since I had booked with a certificate from Hilton Timeshare. Got the upgrade for $300. When I first booked, it would've been an additional $500 so great deal IMHO.

That’s a good paid upgrade of $300 total to go from an interior to a balcony.

[John&LaLa]

you'll pay what the website says it costs

Apparently not

 

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[Merion_Mom]

That’s a good paid upgrade of $300 total to go from an interior to a balcony.

Everyone has an idea what something is worth or what a good price is. Keep in mind that this is a 4 night cruise, not a 7 night cruise.

 

:)

[cruisinfanatic]

Apparently not

 

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Why not? Balconies are on sale for $300 more than they pd for insides. We don't know any different

[island lady]

Long gone are the days when you could call and receive a free upgrade when there were left over cabins. Almost all of the ships now sail totally booked. Cabins may show up as still available, but it could be before the GTY cabins are assigned, or paid upgrades happen.

 

RCI prefers to make money on those cabin upgrades, so you will obviously be able to pay the price difference listed to do so. Prices indeed will go down if they are having problems filling the ship in the end. I have upgraded for little or no cost many times by checking on the price drops if a higher cat cabin drops near or below what I paid for my current cabin. Some get calls to upgrade for extra money, (called the upsell fairy). The true "upgrade fairy" is a rare and beautiful creature that does not make an appearance very often. ;)

[actuarian]

Long gone are the days when you could call and receive a free upgrade when there were left over cabins. Almost all of the ships now sail totally booked. Cabins may show up as still available, but it could be before the GTY cabins are assigned, or paid upgrades happen.

 

RCI prefers to make money on those cabin upgrades, so you will obviously be able to pay the price difference listed to do so. Prices indeed will go down if they are having problems filling the ship in the end. I have upgraded for little or no cost many times by checking on the price drops if a higher cat cabin drops near or below what I paid for my current cabin. Some get calls to upgrade for extra money, (called the upsell fairy). The true "upgrade fairy" is a rare and beautiful creature that does not make an appearance very often. ;)

 

Once in a while, you can still call and get a "free" upgrade but there may also be a catch to it. Royal Caribbean often lowers prices on its short (3-4 night) cruises at the last minute in order to fill unsold cabins. A few months ago my wife and I booked a balcony cabin on a 4-night cruise and about 3 weeks before the embarkation date we realized that the cost of Junior Suites had come down to only around $40 per person more than we had already paid for the balcony cabin. Therefore, I called Royal and asked to upgrade, expecting to be charged the $80 price difference for the upgrade. However, the agent instead offered the upgrade for free and of course we accepted it. After the cruise was over, we realized that the $80 savings came with a cost since we were each credited with only 4 C&A points for the cruise; you do not get the extra point per night for being in a JS when the upgrade is free. We would have preferred to pay the small extra charge and get 8 C&A points each.

[island lady]

Once in a while, you can still call and get a "free" upgrade but there may also be a catch to it. Royal Caribbean often lowers prices on its short (3-4 night) cruises at the last minute in order to fill unsold cabins. A few months ago my wife and I booked a balcony cabin on a 4-night cruise and about 3 weeks before the embarkation date we realized that the cost of Junior Suites had come down to only around $40 per person more than we had already paid for the balcony cabin. Therefore, I called Royal and asked to upgrade, expecting to be charged the $80 price difference for the upgrade. However, the agent instead offered the upgrade for free and of course we accepted it. After the cruise was over, we realized that the $80 savings came with a cost since we were each credited with only 4 C&A points for the cruise; you do not get the extra point per night for being in a JS when the upgrade is free. We would have preferred to pay the small extra charge and get 8 C&A points each.

 

Agreed....we once went from balcony, to JS, to GS over the span of about 5 days, and only a week before sailing on EN. Called in those two times upgrading myself and paid just a total of 40 bucks over the price I paid originally for the balcony...and did get the double points.