Upgrades, up sells???

[tigger54]

Does princess ever offer upgrades or upsells ( for a price of course) or do they bid empty cabins?

[JF - retired RRT]

They try to do upsells primarily. Upgrades still exist, but are rare.

No bidding wars on Princess...thank goodness.

[karatemom2]

Yes they do. We have been lucky enough to get the opportunity a few times and have been successful in getting a suite on one occasion and a mini suite in another for a moderate price increase.  Usually you (or your TA) will get an email to let you know an upgrade/upsell is available. There is a phone number included for you to call if you are interested. In our experience it goes directly to a voice mail asking for your sail date and booking number and letting you know you will get a call back in the order your call came in letting you know what is available and what the additional cost will be if it is an upsell.  Because the supply is usually very limited the faster you are able to respond the better your chance of getting the upgrade. A few times we have received the email offer but have been too late and by the time we call the inventory is gone. So if you get an offer be sure to call right away or let your TA know in advance that you are interested if an offer comes to them and ask them to respond immediately. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by karatemom2

[DrivesLikeMario]

Just make sure you compare prices when/if you receive an upsell.  They are sometimes ridiculously priced - in a bad way.  The last one I got was $249pp from outside to a balcony - way too high.  Another one I got was also not worth it.  If I had booked the cabin they wanted to upsell me to on my own, it would've cost $2 more per person than their "very special low, low price".   Some are good but make sure you know what your current pricing is before accepting upsells.

[tigger54]

Thanks. I will keep my eyes open for the emails

[voljeep]

in our recent upsell offer, the price of the upsell was included in the email - I called immediately, then went online to see what cabins may be included ...

[oskidunker]

Some come right after the final payment. Others come closer to the sailing as people cancel. Can happen at any time. Just because cruise May show sold out in a category you would like, does not mean an upsell can’t happen. Last one Ingot was three days before sailing . When we got to our room, the room steward though we were someone else. Can also happen when you check in but rarer.  

[paul929207]

Upsells are always to a higher type cabin category. Ie. from a ocean view to a balcony

 

Upgrades are usually to a higher cabin of the same category. Ie from a low category balcony to a higher category balcony. 

[JoRoy218]

I would also recommend familiarizing yourself with cabin locations in general (e.g. forward, aft, deck, etc) before speaking to Princess re: an upsell. Sometimes the cabins left are not the most desirable location, such as on Aloha deck, where you can be awakened daily at 0500 by the sound of carts, chairs being dragged around. If you are early to bed, you can also hear any music or the Muts late evening. I would say avoid Aloha deck unless it’s a cabin you really want.  

[tigger54]

Thanks for all of the advise.

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, JoRoy218 said:

I would also recommend familiarizing yourself with cabin locations in general (e.g. forward, aft, deck, etc) before speaking to Princess re: an upsell. Sometimes the cabins left are not the most desirable location, such as on Aloha deck, where you can be awakened daily at 0500 by the sound of carts, chairs being dragged around. If you are early to bed, you can also hear any music or the Muts late evening. I would say avoid Aloha deck unless it’s a cabin you really want.  

don't wait to call ! - you will get a recording and then a call back ... you can take that time to see what cabins might be available in the upselll

[Alaska05]

I got an upswell last week for our June 1 Alaska cruise.  $79 per person to upgrade from an inside to balcony (category ID to BB). I took it.  I initially booked the inside at a fantastic rate.  This was the icing on the cake.

[Micahs Grandad]

They will offer it when they need to move cabins close to sail date. Can be great deal to nothing good at all.

[nukesubsailor]

A friend of ours got an upsell at a good price that moved them from a Lido deck inside cabin to a Lido deck balcony cabin on the Sky Princess for the December 21st Caribbean cruise.

[Italy52]

5 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

Just make sure you compare prices when/if you receive an upsell.  They are sometimes ridiculously priced - in a bad way.  The last one I got was $249pp from outside to a balcony - way too high.  Another one I got was also not worth it.  If I had booked the cabin they wanted to upsell me to on my own, it would've cost $2 more per person than their "very special low, low price".   Some are good but make sure you know what your current pricing is before accepting upsells.

That is better than I got.  I had my TA inquire about an upsell and was told it would be over a $1,000 to go from an inside to a balcony (mind you I paid full price for my inside and booked it when sailings became available so the delta between the two cabin categories was actually only a few dollars.)  However, because I had a few perks (grats and $300 obc) I would have to pay the high price if I wanted to keep them and move up to the balcony.  No thanks.

[Italy52]

For those that have received an upsell, do you take the "do not upgrade" off your cabin reservation?

[Jennwick]

If you book through a TA, will the upsell come through them? For the first time I decided to book through my airline’s cruise agency for the miles.  I’ve always booked direct before and gotten the offer via email.

 

I’m on a guarantee obstructed ocean view next month and hoping for either a good upsell offer or an upgrade (Last I checked, lots of available balconies for my June 29 Med sailing). 

[rdsqrl]

31 minutes ago, Jennwick said:

If you book through a TA, will the upsell come through them? For the first time I decided to book through my airline’s cruise agency for the miles.  I’ve always booked direct before and gotten the offer via email.

 

I’m on a guarantee obstructed ocean view next month and hoping for either a good upsell offer or an upgrade (Last I checked, lots of available balconies for my June 29 Med sailing). 

Yes, the upsell/upgrades go to your TA.  Hopefully, your agent will be responsive in passing them on you (sometimes, the larger agencies are not so great at this type of customer service).  I like the idea another poster mentioned of telling the agent preemptively to call back on your behalf the minute an upsell offer comes in.  Since you have to leave a message and wait for Princess to then call you back, that at least puts you on the list and gives your agent time to reach you and let you know.  You can always say no once Princess calls you with the upsell details. 

[DrivesLikeMario]

55 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

That is better than I got.  I had my TA inquire about an upsell and was told it would be over a $1,000 to go from an inside to a balcony (mind you I paid full price for my inside and booked it when sailings became available so the delta between the two cabin categories was actually only a few dollars.)  However, because I had a few perks (grats and $300 obc) I would have to pay the high price if I wanted to keep them and move up to the balcony.  No thanks.

 

Wow.  I totally understand why you wouldn't.  With upsells, you usually keep all of your perks so I'm thinking that doesn't sound like an upsell if your TA was calling out of the blue.  Upsells come to the TA in an email and have a specific price for a certain class of cabin and you usually keep any OBC or freebies. 

[Italy52]

56 minutes ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

 

Wow.  I totally understand why you wouldn't.  With upsells, you usually keep all of your perks so I'm thinking that doesn't sound like an upsell if your TA was calling out of the blue.  Upsells come to the TA in an email and have a specific price for a certain class of cabin and you usually keep any OBC or freebies. 

My TA specifically asked if there were going to be any upsells and then the Princess agent came back with the figures.  All the agent had to do is say that no upsells are available at this time.  I think the Princess agent just didn't understand.

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

My TA specifically asked if there were going to be any upsells and then the Princess agent came back with the figures.  All the agent had to do is say that no upsells are available at this time.  I think the Princess agent just didn't understand.

Yea - I think the Princess person quoted a standard upgrade.

 

Upsells are a separate phone number, you have to leave a message and then they call you back.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Coral

[Italy52]

12 hours ago, Coral said:

Yea - I think the Princess person quoted a standard upgrade.

 

Upsells are a separate phone number, you have to leave a message and then they call you back.

 

I think you are right about the upgrade.  Thanks for the information about the separate phone number.  We leave in a couple of weeks for our B2B on the Royal; always look forward to our Alaska trips.  Just booked the 14-day Coral for next May.  Have never been on the Coral so looking forward to that cruise.

[tigger54]

Thanks for all of the advise. I will remind my TA to watch out for the email.

[Coral]

8 hours ago, Italy52 said:

 

I think you are right about the upgrade.  Thanks for the information about the separate phone number.  We leave in a couple of weeks for our B2B on the Royal; always look forward to our Alaska trips.  Just booked the 14-day Coral for next May.  Have never been on the Coral so looking forward to that cruise.

I like the ship. Oddly I have only been on her for (1) 7 night cruise that left from Seward, AK a long time ago. So you decided against the Pacific Princess? She would probably be my choice for next year if she wasn't too $$$. I haven't looked at pricing. I will be curious to read your Royal Princess comments! Have a great trip.

[Italy52]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

I like the ship. Oddly I have only been on her for (1) 7 night cruise that left from Seward, AK a long time ago. So you decided against the Pacific Princess? She would probably be my choice for next year if she wasn't too $$$. I haven't looked at pricing. I will be curious to read your Royal Princess comments! Have a great trip.

Dropped our 14 day HAL sailing on the Maasdam in exchange for the Coral as it had better port times; also got a better price and perks on the Coral than Maasdam.  Yes, the Pacific Princess is $$$.  We liked the PP itinerary but with it being only 12 (not 14 days), the higher cost, and lower perks, we decided to drop it for 2020.  Perhaps we will revisit the PP in the future.

 

Will post my Royal report on the Alaska board when we return.  Thanks for the well wishes.