Random Elite Upgrade?

[Beave8920]

My sister and her DH just returned from a 7 day Mexican cruise.  They both are "Gold Status" - 4 cruises each.

 

On the second day of the cruise, there was a knock on the door and when they answered it, the room steward had a mini bar set up.  My sister questioned him and he said it was for her "Elite" status.  She tried to tell him that they weren't, and that they wouldn't except the set up.  A few minutes later she got a phone call from the Pursers desk explaining the mini bar set up, but again, she said they weren't Elite.  Again she refused the offer figuring they would somehow be charged for it.

 

Later that day, she went down to the gift shop and purchased some perfume.  When she gave the cashier her gold mediallion, the clerk said she would get a 10% discount for being "Elite".  Again she told her that she wasn't  "Elite", but the cashier said the discount was automatically applied.

 

So my sister went directly to the Pursers Desk and spoke with one of the asst pursers, who told her that at the beginning of the cruise she and her husband had been upgraded to "Elite", but that she didn't know why.  The purser suggested that occasionally people get randomly upgraded???????  But the purser gave them both upgraded black medallions.

 

Totally baffled, but she enjoyed the remainder of the cruise as an "Elite" passenger.  When she got home, she checked her Captain's Circle page, and it reflected 49 days sailed with Elite Status!  Furthermore, she received no notification of any kind whatsoever - email/text etc.

 

Just curious - Anyone ever experience anything like this??????? 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Beave8920

[neverbeenhere]

The wife and other beautiful  people get this type of treatment, me, I get nothing. 

[Kenswing]

Do they spend a lot of time in the casino?

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes this does happen.

No rhyme or reason.

Just enjoy it.

[Beave8920]

42 minutes ago, Kenswing said:

Do they spend a lot of time in the casino?

 

I asked her that same question and she said on this trip they may have spent $100 total in the casino.....

[KevintheIrishDJ]

One of our table mates won an upgrade, I think at bingo.

[voljeep]

permanent, or just the remainder of the cruise ?

[CruiseVA]

I got upgraded to Elite about 4 cruises before I actually had enuf sail's.  My Captain's Circle Page showed cruises that I had booked, but, eventually cancelled.  If Princess dig's in deep they can verify that you are not Elite.

[dog]

A glitch?  I earned elite, but had to contact Captain’s Circle to get my status corrected. 

[Beave8920]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

permanent, or just the remainder of the cruise ?

She doesn't know......cause she's never been notified of why she was upgraded.  She assumes it's a glitch, but like I said, her Captain's Circle Page reflects "Elite".....with only 49 days sailed.

 

My lil sis is one of those extremely honest human beings and it really bothers her that she may be cheating the system!!!!!........and is going to call Princess to see if she can straighten out the issue.  

 

Me, I'd enjoy another glass of wine! 

[ian441672]

This happened to us. We had just turned Platinum at the start of an Asia cruise, and upon check in we got handed an envelope and our boarding card. I didn't really notice it was black rather than grey/platinum, and boarded to our room.

 

I opened the envelope and read that 'Congratulations, you have been upgraded to Elite' and then I realised the colour of our boarding cards! We were very excited and spent the next hour reading what the additional perks would be, including the 4 mini bars (we were in a suite on a b2b cruise - we couldn't drink it all!).

 

I am guessing this is the reason we were upgraded early on our 5th cruise, as apart from the first cruise in a junior suite, the subsequent 4 were in a full suite, and by making us loyal to them early (as they did) was a great long term revenue earner for them. To give us Elite early cost them minimally, but potential future cruise revenue from us would be huge - they're certainly not stupid, but we had a great time being Elite that bit early!

 

On our Captains Circle statement, they added another 105 days to ensure the status showed on our account.

Edited February 23, 2020 by ian441672
Additional information to add

[palolake]

8 minutes ago, ian441672 said:

 

 

I am guessing this is the reason we were upgraded early on our 5th cruise, as apart from the first cruise in a junior suite, the subsequent 4 were in a full suite, and by making us loyal to them early (as they did) was a great long term revenue earner for them. To give us Elite early cost them minimally, but potential future cruise revenue from us would be huge - they're certainly not stupid, but we had a great time being Elite that bit early!

 

It may not cost Princess much but it totally pisses me off every time I read that this has happened.  I think it does cost Princess in customer relations for the people who have cruised enough to earn the status.  Good for you but I think it's a stupid move on the part of Princess.

And actually, being in suites counted as 10 cruises.

Edited February 23, 2020 by palolake

[Beave8920]

3 minutes ago, ian441672 said:

This happened to us. We had just turned Platinum at the start of an Asia cruise, and upon check in we got handed an envelope and our boarding card. I didn't really notice it was black rather than grey/platinum, and boarded to our room.

 

 

 

Humm....thanks Ian for sharing your experience - I'll pass it along to my sister.  

 

She received no info about the upgrade, thus her confusion.  They always purchase a balcony cabin - no suites.  But interesting enough,  they will be Platinum on their next cruise and have an Asia cruise booked for next year (still deciding if they will go).

 

Who knows.....I guess some people are just lucky!

[KevintheIrishDJ]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

permanent, or just the remainder of the cruise ?

Just for the cruise.

[Beave8920]

2 minutes ago, palolake said:

 

It may not cost Princess much but it totally pisses me off every time I read that this has happened.  I think it does cost Princess in customer relations for the people who have cruised enough to earn the status.  Good for you but I think it's a stupid move on the part of Princess.

Yep!  I gotta be happy for my sister (I guess)......but really not fair to those who play by the rules.  I could see it if it were a contest or something, but just Random????? 

[MCC retired]

I have read about these Elite Upgrades before .

Why and how they choose you for it is a mystery but it is only for the current cruise.

We received a Club Class Upgrade out of nowhere during our most recent cruise .

 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by MCC retired

[azbirdmom]

There have been several cases of people being upgraded to a higher level permanently.  Usually these are people who Princess believes will be likely to spend more than average on future cruises, sometimes in the casino or elsewhere on the ship.  I "accidentally" saw a list of people that included the amount spent, current CC level, and "promoted to" level.  I've always been good at reading upside down and I had a good opportunity to look at it as the person I was speaking to had to take a phone call.  It was a few pages, but the page that I saw ran the gamut of from and to levels.  It seemed the higher the $$ spent, the greater the promotion.  It happens, and it's actually a very smart move for Princess to incent people to cruise more when they spend more on the ship.

[ian441672]

7 minutes ago, Beave8920 said:

Yep!  I gotta be happy for my sister (I guess)......but really not fair to those who play by the rules.  I could see it if it were a contest or something, but just Random????? 

Sorry guys, I didnt mean to upset anyone or boast. I was just sharing my experience following on from this post and I only mentioned it because of the thread and to potentially answer the question of the OP. Yes, I was lucky, and I totally get the upset for those who do it the 'right way'. We never win much or have much luck, but for once I guess, we were lucky.

[ian441672]

5 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

There have been several cases of people being upgraded to a higher level permanently.  Usually these are people who Princess believes will be likely to spend more than average on future cruises, sometimes in the casino or elsewhere on the ship.  I "accidentally" saw a list of people that included the amount spent, current CC level, and "promoted to" level.  I've always been good at reading upside down and I had a good opportunity to look at it as the person I was speaking to had to take a phone call.  It was a few pages, but the page that I saw ran the gamut of from and to levels.  It seemed the higher the $$ spent, the greater the promotion.  It happens, and it's actually a very smart move for Princess to incent people to cruise more when they spend more on the ship.

Yes, this was us, a permanent upgrade based on our expenditure - and to keep it!

[Beave8920]

9 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

There have been several cases of people being upgraded to a higher level permanently.  Usually these are people who Princess believes will be likely to spend more than average on future cruises, sometimes in the casino or elsewhere on the ship.  I "accidentally" saw a list of people that included the amount spent, current CC level, and "promoted to" level.  I've always been good at reading upside down and I had a good opportunity to look at it as the person I was speaking to had to take a phone call.  It was a few pages, but the page that I saw ran the gamut of from and to levels.  It seemed the higher the $$ spent, the greater the promotion.  It happens, and it's actually a very smart move for Princess to incent people to cruise more when they spend more on the ship.

AZbirdmom......thanks for the feedback.

 

I know they spend a few bucks in the casino, but not the kind of money I'm assuming you're talking about.  They are business owners, but nothing out of the ordinary.  And she is a "two for one" T shirt shopper.  So not sure she would qualify under the guidelines you mentioned.......but hey, something obviously triggered an upgrade!

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

I think since it looks like Princess already upgrades people to elite status randomly, what if they were to upgrade every one of those passengers that were quarantined on the Diamond Princess to Elite status permanently?  It really wouldn't cost them that much more and even though I think they treated them fairly through the whole ordeal, this would be a nice gesture.  If anyone has earned it, they certainly have done so!!  

[suekel]

4 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

One of our table mates won an upgrade, I think at bingo.

Those are just for that cruise.  

[rkacruiser]

A very interesting post and I am glad that the OP did so and reading the responses.  Thank you.

[Beave8920]

39 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

A very interesting post and I am glad that the OP did so and reading the responses.  Thank you.

Thanks for the nice comment.  I've just never heard of such an upgrade and wondered if anyone else got one.  When and if she finds out the reason I'll post it.

[geoherb]

I've heard of the upgrade being given to a lucky passenger at the blue card gathering. They get Elite for the cruise but not for future cruises. We met the couple who won on one of our cruises.