Can Princess "force" an upgrade?

[jlp20]

The question was "Upgrade"and yes, unless booking is marked no upgrade they can move you. Vast majority of "upgrades" is simply location. Of the thousands of cabins each week, very few are upgrades to the next SIZE cabin. Interior to balcony and such are referred to as the "upgrade fairy". If important, check your booking every so often or just change that answer to that question via Princess.

Edited March 31, 2019 by jlp20
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[Brisbane41]

10 hours ago, BoopTennis said:

hi, if I don't have DO NOT UPGRADE marked on my booking (I have a specific cabin booked), can/will Princess ever upgrade/change my cabin without asking first? I am not against an upgrade if right location but would want to be able to choose whether to accept it or not.  (not that I am expecting an upgrade, but I just don't want any surprises).  Do they always ASK you first?

It is always a touchy subject because an upgrade is not always an upgrade. Sometimes cruise lines have a habit of moving people from lower grade good cabins to higher grade cabins that are so undesirable to passengers that people refuse to purchase them. That is not considered an upgrade and usually upsets the call centre people when you ring up to decline and automatic upgrade.

 

I have had an experience where they tried to force an upgrade upon me, I did ring up and made sure that I got my original cabin back. In the short time I had the upgrade they did resell the cabin I was originally in to another couple but that did not make any difference to me. I stood firm and demanded my original cabin back and got it back.

[jagsfan]

10 hours ago, BoopTennis said:

one more question - I booked thru Princess directly not through a TA -- is there a way to mark it DO NOT UPGRADE online or do I need to call Princess to get it done?

They’ve been known to move people that had their res marked No Upgrade. 

Check your personalizer daily. 

[Thrak]

Princess has been known to "upgrade" people from their forward or aft Caribe deck balcony cabins - with the extra large balconies - to a "better" balcony cabin that is midship. They consider anything midship to be an upgrade compared to forward or aft. I would hate to lose a Caribe deck balcony for a "better" location. I don't have an issue with forward or aft cabins. (I have horrible sensitivity to motion sickness but use the Transderm Scop patch and never get seasick.)

[Bruin Steve]

40 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Princess has been known to "upgrade" people from their forward or aft Caribe deck balcony cabins - with the extra large balconies - to a "better" balcony cabin that is midship. They consider anything midship to be an upgrade compared to forward or aft. I would hate to lose a Caribe deck balcony for a "better" location.

 

Yes, I know...

But my Emerald Princess Caribe deck balcony is #422--a "B1" --pretty much dead center midship...I don't think there is a possible "upgrade" to anything other than a mini-suite or suite...

[Elequieu]

On our Panama Canal cruise we were "upgraded" to  Plaza deck next to the crew door to their quarters.  If I remember correctly we were supposed to be on 8.  We found out on checking in and they said our cabin was already given to someone else.  Arguing was futile.  But it had a porthole! compared to interior.  I have to admit it was fun looking out that porthole and waving to the "mule" escorting the ship through the locks.

[caribill]

17 hours ago, Coral said:

Princess (in their fine print) can put you anywhere on the ship in at least the category you paid for. Even if you say "no upgrade". Same as they don't have to guarantee the ports  you are going to.

 

Good point.

 

You could have it marked "do not upgrade" and still get moved to another cabin in the same category and Princess will have followed your wishes to not be upgraded.

[SmilesYourWay]

On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 1:35 PM, Bruin Steve said:

was thinking about that issue regarding our upcoming April 15 cruise on Emerald Princess.  The ship is only about 72% sold...

How can you tell how much has been sold?

[Bruin Steve]

7 minutes ago, SmilesYourWay said:

How can you tell how much has been sold?

 

Go to the website and go through the steps like you are booking the cruise...Go from category to category, part of the ship to part of the ship, clicking "I'll pick my own cabin" all the way...and just count up the number of total cabins that are showing as available...

[SmilesYourWay]

11 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

 

Go to the website and go through the steps like you are booking the cruise...Go from category to category, part of the ship to part of the ship, clicking "I'll pick my own cabin" all the way...and just count up the number of total cabins that are showing as available...

I'm going to Alaska on the Grand August 24, 2019. But the website won't bring up August 24th. Does that mean it is sold out?

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

 

Go to the website and go through the steps like you are booking the cruise...Go from category to category, part of the ship to part of the ship, clicking "I'll pick my own cabin" all the way...and just count up the number of total cabins that are showing as available...

Does that really show how many cabins are available as there may be guarantees sold that will take some of those cabins?

[Expat Cruise]

The short answer is no if they have given you a cabin number that is a contract. But the people answering the phones cannot change the cabin back for you, they do not have the knowledge or power. It also depends upon how far you want to push this, if for some reason the cabin is not available to anyone; emergency work, etc. then you could get a refund of the cruise and cancel if you did not agree to another cabin.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Does that really show how many cabins are available as there may be guarantees sold that will take some of those cabins?

No it does not. Princess can and does hold cabins behind the scenes.  

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, SmilesYourWay said:

How can you tell how much has been sold?

The passenger cannot. As I stated in the prior response above Princess can hold cabins behind the scenes so there is no accurate way to tell on their website.

[skynight]

Cabins are also blocked for certain T.A.'s for group sales. Unsold ones are then released after final payment. Princess also blocks cabins for their b2b cruises again releasing unsold ones after final payment. While you can get an idea of how many cabins are available you can not get an accurate count. 

[Bruin Steve]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Does that really show how many cabins are available as there may be guarantees sold that will take some of those cabins?

 

No, it's never going to be a precise accounting...it's really just a way of getting an approximation of how the cruise is selling and what categories have the most availability.

--Princess may have "guarantee" bookings that have not yet been assigned at the time of your count.

--They may have cabins that have been held back for a travel agent or group sale.

--They may have cabins that are in the process of being booked that will not show as available--but the booking eventually does not happen.

--They will have bookings which fall out prior to final payment or prior to the cruise itself.

 

So, yes, the accurate number may be either up or down from what is showing as available...however, as an approximation of a "snapshot" at the moment of your count, it still tells a lot...On my cruise, with embarkation just a week from now, they still show 307 cabins as "available"...39 insides, 15 OVs (almost all obstructed views), 195 balconies, 56 mini-suites and 2 suites.  I doubt they are holding any guarantees in the Suite category--so a pretty good shot those two suites are still fully available...By the sail date, of course, they may upsell or upgrade someone.  Since they have plenty of available balconies and mini-suites--as well as available insides and OVs, they can likely assign any still unassigned bookings into the proper category.  And, I am certain they will find people to give away some of those cabins to on very short notice--Princess employees on standby, high roller casino guests, etc.--so, there won't be 307 empty cabins by next Monday...OTOH, they will have some last minute dropouts--always happens when you have over 3,000 guests--laws of probability.

 

So, exact count--no...Good idea as to how well this cruise sold?  very.  Note that, OTOH, I have been on a good many cruises where, even two months out, the cruise line has already stopped marketing most categories--or even taken the cruise off their website altogether...

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

No it does not. Princess can and does hold cabins behind the scenes.  

Yes, that's what I thought when I posted that question.

[john watson]

On 3/31/2019 at 2:11 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

 

Sometimes your original cabin is gone and you cannot get it back.

 

If newcomers are allocated the cabin "which has gone", the next step for you is to contact Princess and request it back and suggest the "newcomers" get a second upgrade, thus vacating it allowing your reinstatement.  There are occasions where this is not possible for technical reasons.

 

Regards John

[Colo Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

If newcomers are allocated the cabin "which has gone", the next step for you is to contact Princess and request it back and suggest the "newcomers" get a second upgrade, thus vacating it allowing your reinstatement.  There are occasions where this is not possible for technical reasons.

 

Regards John

IMO....I believe the majority of the time the cabin cannot be retrieved.

[Bruin Steve]

Assuming your previous cabin was that good that you wanted to keep it, it would likely disappear really fast after they move you out of it...

 

BTW, where I'm having fun checking that cabin availability is right now.  My cruise is only 3 nights...and, for various reasons, it didn't sell well (mostly a schedule adjustment where they extended dry dock and changed it late in the game from a 7 night cruise to 3 nights).  Anyway, what I chuckle at is the pricing.  It's done by computer, I believe, so each category is priced independently of the others based on availability in just that category...So, with lots of Balconies and mini-suites available right now, the "as low as " pricing says:

Inside:  Starting at $98 pp

OV: $309 pp

Balcony: $198 pp

Mini-suite:  $298 pp

Suite: $1,073 pp

 

Think they get ANYONE calling right now asking to book an OV?

[voljeep]

37 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

various reasons, it didn't sell well (mostly a schedule adjustment where they extended dry dock and changed it late in the game from a 7 night cruise to 3 nights). 

did you have it booked as the 7 - or after it became a 3

[Bruin Steve]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

did you have it booked as the 7 - or after it became a 3

I booked when it became a 3.  I would rather have done it as a 7 but my wife’s school district calendar wouldn’t have allowed for it.  She would have had to take 

2 or 3 days off...and she wouldn’t do that...

[XBGuy]

 

7 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

The short answer is no if they have given you a cabin number that is a contract. But the people answering the phones cannot change the cabin back for you, they do not have the knowledge or power. It also depends upon how far you want to push this, if for some reason the cabin is not available to anyone; emergency work, etc. then you could get a refund of the cruise and cancel if you did not agree to another cabin.

 

5 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

IMO....I believe the majority of the time the cabin cannot be retrieved.

 

4 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Assuming your previous cabin was that good that you wanted to keep it, it would likely disappear really fast after they move you out of it...

 

 

???

 

There have been numerous posts in this very thread that people have received unwanted "upgrade" notices from Princess had have been able to call Princess and get reinstated into their original cabin.

 

You do have to act fairly quickly--I think "quickly" means within 24 hours of that notice.

 

My experience is, yes, the telephone agent cannot restore you to your previous cabin assignment.  However, he/she completes a form that is routed to another department, and, typically, the original cabin assignment is restored within 48 hours.

 

It's happened to me three times.  Three times I've been able to get reinstated to our original cabin.

 

Regarding the question of what happens if the original cabin has already been reassigned to a second passenger, the easy answer to that is that another "upgrade" notice is sent to that second passenger.

[Colo Cruiser]

38 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

 

 

???

 

There have been numerous posts in this very thread that people have received unwanted "upgrade" notices from Princess had have been able to call Princess and get reinstated into their original cabin.

 

You do have to act fairly quickly--I think "quickly" means within 24 hours of that notice.

 

My experience is, yes, the telephone agent cannot restore you to your previous cabin assignment.  However, he/she completes a form that is routed to another department, and, typically, the original cabin assignment is restored within 48 hours.

 

It's happened to me three times.  Three times I've been able to get reinstated to our original cabin.

 

Regarding the question of what happens if the original cabin has already been reassigned to a second passenger, the easy answer to that is that another "upgrade" notice is sent to that second passenger.

There have also been numerous posts on CC over the last few years where Princess passengers were not able to recover their original cabin.

 

Hence the disclaimer in the 3 little letters IMO........😉

[john watson]

On 4/8/2019 at 3:15 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

IMO....I believe the majority of the time the cabin cannot be retrieved.

 

I think you are correct.  A lot depends on the passenger knowing what to say and how to negotiate on the phone.  It is probably easier in the UK.

 

Regards John