Offered Upgrade Inside to Verandah for $500?

[cruz-in]

Hi Team, 

 

On our upcoming HAL sailing, we have been offered to upgrade from an interior (Guarantee) to a Verandah for $500. 

 

Thoughts on whether this is a good deal? 

 

Thanks

Dan

[Skipper's Mom]

It would be worth it to me!  What ship and how long?

[cruz-in]

7 days on the NS

[Riversedge]

That’s a no brainer.  Go for it. (Unless it’s already gone)

[Vict0riann]

We were offered an upsell from Inside to verandah for $2500 (35 days), we didn't take it - this cruise is expensive enough, - but we were assigned an ocean view yesterday.  I don't think the ship is full!

[BEAV]

13 minutes ago, cruz-in said:

Hi Team, 

 

On our upcoming HAL sailing, we have been offered to upgrade from an interior (Guarantee) to a Verandah for $500. 

 

Thoughts on whether this is a good deal? 

 

Thanks

Dan

 

I assume that’s $500 for two?

 

if your sailing is still being sold, what’s the current fare difference between inside and verandah?

[BEAV]

5 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

We were offered an upsell from Inside to verandah for $2500 (35 days), we didn't take it - this cruise is expensive enough, - but we were assigned an ocean view yesterday.  I don't think the ship is full!

 

$2500 per person or total for two?

[BEAV]

17 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by BEAV
Dup post

[cruz-in]

The wording from the TA indicated it was for both. However, I need to specifically ask. 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2019 by cruz-in

[Vict0riann]

4 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

$2500 per person or total for two?

Per person.

[bennybear]

Eek,  Victoriann That seems really high!

Edited February 8, 2019 by bennybear

[rucrazy]

2 hours ago, cruz-in said:

On our upcoming HAL sailing, we have been offered to upgrade from an interior (Guarantee) to a Verandah for $500. 

 

Thoughts on whether this is a good deal? 

 

Dan If the $500 is per person as I suspect then you are looking at $71.00 per day increase per pax.. depending on the price point of your cruise fare when you booked it could be a great deal!

Good Luck

[ger_77]

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

We were offered an upsell from Inside to verandah for $2500 (35 days), we didn't take it - this cruise is expensive enough, - but we were assigned an ocean view yesterday.  I don't think the ship is full!

What ship will you be on?

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

What ship will you be on?

 

Prinsendam - remaining segments of the Grand Voyage.

 

(One of the few benefits of doing the Future Cruise Listing 😉 )

[boulders]

$500/week  total to upgrade to a balcony is a good price. $500x2/week is not, imo. $500/week total is the cost I paid to upgrade to a balcony on our upcoming cruise. $1000/week is almost another cruise!  I've cruise in suites and insides. It's nice to have a balcony, but it's a really small part of the cruise experience. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by boulders

[Vict0riann]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

Prinsendam - remaining segments of the Grand Voyage.

 

Yes, that's what it is, thank you, Jacqui.  Please join us!

 

The pricing for this cruise seems to me to be all over the place - C$2599 for inside, C$6,499 for OV, C$15,599 for vista suite and over C$20,000 for signature suite.  Plus the port fees are over C$1700pp!  And it will be over US$1000 for our HSC....  It all adds up - much as I would love a verandah.

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Yes, that's what it is, thank you, Jacqui.  Please join us!

 

I wish we could.  I doubt we could get out of this ice bound H*LL we are living in 😞 

Too soon to leave the puppy.  Training and all that jazz.  I’ll have to be content with my swan song on her in April. 😉 

[Vict0riann]

7 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I wish we could.  I doubt we could get out of this ice bound H*LL we are living in 😞 

Too soon to leave the puppy.  Training and all that jazz.  I’ll have to be content with my swan song on her in April. 😉 

We understand.  It's snowing here today and very slushy!

[kazu]

1 minute ago, Vict0riann said:

We understand.  It's snowing here today and very slushy!

 

I would happily take snow & slush.  We’re used to that.  The ice over and over again is starting to get demoralizing.

By the way, from the pricing you posted you got a sweet deal with the upgrade to the OV and even the upsell offer to a Verandah was a good deal compared to the original price.

Who knows?  Maybe there will be another offer or the upgrade fairy may visit you again?  I hope so.  In any case, you don’t have long to go.  Have a wonderful time 😄 

[nutensteve]

We have a 17 day Panama cruise in March. We were just offered a $799 PP upsell from a Signature to a Neptune. We decided to wait and see if a better offer comes in. 

[Boterletter]

I am new to cruising, I wonder who is offering the upgrade ( HAL or the broker). We booked directly at HAL a Carribean cruise at the end of february 2020.

 

If they offer upgrades, when can I expect such an offer?

 

Thanks!

 

John

[kazu]

13 hours ago, Boterletter said:

I am new to cruising, I wonder who is offering the upgrade ( HAL or the broker). We booked directly at HAL a Carribean cruise at the end of february 2020.

 

If they offer upgrades, when can I expect such an offer?

 

Thanks!

 

John

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

All upsell offers (upgrade with a cost) come from HAL.  If you are using a TA then they forward them on to you.  If you are dealing with HAL or a PCC then they come directly to you by email.

 

Offers normally start around 2 - 3 weeks out for higher cabins and then move down the chain.  Of course, it depends on how well the ship is selling and what cabins are available 😉 

[Boterletter]

Thank you!

 

John

[DaveOKC]

19 hours ago, Boterletter said:

I am new to cruising, I wonder who is offering the upgrade ( HAL or the broker). We booked directly at HAL a Carribean cruise at the end of february 2020.

 

If they offer upgrades, when can I expect such an offer?

 

Thanks!

 

John

We have done a number of upsells and this is our general findings:

1) Booking directly with HAL gives you an advantage, since that way the upsell email (usually a mass emailing) goes DIRECTLY to you (it is generated by HAL).  Otherwise it goes to your TA who has to email/call you and then they have to contact HAL for you.  Also makes it tougher to select your upsell cabin this way.  

 

2) Upsells can start as soon a 4 weeks prior to sailing, but we have seen them as close a 4 days out.  It obviously depends on how well the category involved is selling.  Normally the process starts with the Neptunes (some times even the Pinnacles) and works its way down the rankings (makes sense I guess).

 

3) Prices vary CONSIDERABLY.  We generally book a Signature or Vista cabin and have seen one week cruise upsell prices for as little as $99 and as much as $1000.  If you are on a smaller HAL ship, the pricing of upsells are generally higher, as there are fewer Neptunes for them to sell, plus the size/cost difference beetween a Vista and a Neptune is normally much greater that between a Signature and Neptune (on the larger HAL ships).

 

4) There may be more than one "round" of upsell offers.  Sometimes HAL will start the upsell process early (4 or more weeks out) asking for alot of money for an upsell and then a couple of weeks later send another upsell offer out with a much lower price.  Makes it a tough decision, as you never know if a second offer will come along.

 

5) If you are interested in upsells, you really need to do your homework.  Know what category(s) you want to upsell to AND what you are willing to pay.  It is difficult to know what HAL will offer, but you can get some idea by looking at HAL's posted prices for the categories involved ON YOUR CRUISE about 4-6 weeks out.  For example, if the Signatures are offered at $1000 and the Neptunes $1900, you can guess that the upsell should be less than $900.  Personally, I like to get an upsell for about 1/3rd of this difference or $300 in this example.  I move this number up or down depending on how bad I want the upsell (like if I already have a very good cabin location I night go lower, or if I only have a guarantee cabin I definately would go higher.

 

I probably provided more information than you wanted, but if you have additional questions on this, pleas post.