Upgrade Surprise

[saint_em]

We've also just had an upgrade for our Alaska cruise in September on Emerald. Obstructed ocean view to balcony. 

[Italy52]

On 3/22/2020 at 5:34 AM, Coral said:

Honestly - it was stressful having a cruise scheduled for April. I saw conditions get bad where I was ending my cruise and Princess hasn't made a decision. My stress level was a 10 on a scale of 1-10. It was a 26 night cruise and I could just see things get really bad after I had left and before I got to my destination where I had planned a land trip. Now the wait for reimbursement. It is stressful.

 

I have a friend whose elderly parents paid for 30 of them to go to Alaska in June with HAL. They know they are not going but the parent just wants a decision made and their money back.

Coral, so sorry to hear about your cruise and refund issue.  Are you rebooking?

[Italy52]

19 hours ago, dog said:

The upgrade is less exciting for me since they removed the 100 percent FCC they gave me. Not sure why that happened. An explanation would help us understand better what’s going on with Princess. I realize though that we cannot do anything but wait. Hoping it all works out for you. 

Did you ask Princess why did they remove the 100% FCC????? 

[jennybenny]

59 minutes ago, John99 said:

Never received an upgrade before after 20 cruises.  Just checked and we were upgraded from a balcony to a mini suite -- L716.  Is this a good location?  Near the Vista Lounge port side.  If I want to change to a different location – like – R525 will I have to pay the difference in price between the two?  Help!

You can move to any available cabin in the same new category you are in now. So if those two are the same category, you can request the move.  It does not have to be the same deck.

[jennybenny]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

At least you stand a chance of that cruise happening.  I have one in May and one in late August booked.  I am pretty sure the May one is going to be canceled.  I did get an upgrade from a balcony to a mini suite on that sailing.  But, they are not dropping the prices so, it appears they are not really trying to fill the ship.  I saw the same pattern for my April cruise that was ultimately canceled.  I'm holding out some hope for the August sailing on which I am booked.  None of us, including the cruiselines, have been through anything like this before so, there is really no predicting how anything will go at this point in time.  I will keep my fingers crossed that your cruise is still on.  Alaska is such a special place!!  

That's a bummer to hear that your cancelled April cruise experience is similar to what you are seeing with your May cruise. I am still holding out hope for June, but I feel like it's not likely to happen 😞

[Cruise Raider]

19 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

That's a bummer to hear that your cancelled April cruise experience is similar to what you are seeing with your May cruise. I am still holding out hope for June, but I feel like it's not likely to happen 😞

and just like my April cruise that was canceled, I’m not seeing pricing available on my May cruise now.  I’m pretty sure I can see the writing on the wall.  
I do love my home, though, too.  I sit out back, have a view of the water and I pull out my leftover pillow chocolates, play some music with steel drums and boom ... I’m right there!  Not today, though ... it’s pouring rain today ... but, that’s kind of the feel of Alaska!  I just need to spike my hot chocolate and then call my DH Stewart  ... hahaha!  

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Italy52 said:

Coral, so sorry to hear about your cruise and refund issue.  Are you rebooking?

It was a Transatlantic with a British Isles cruise over a major birthday ending in Paris and I was going to do 3 nights there. I haven't been to Paris before. It was hitting some ports I had never been to. Next year, it is not doing the same route. When I cancelled the Louvre had been closed and France was starting to get bad.

 

I have a South America trip booked in December with viewing of Antarctica. It is the last year big ships will be allowed to do this (or ships with this type of emissions - the Coral Princess is doing it).  Air is a killer there. I got upgraded from a low balcony to a fairly high mini suite (not club class).

 

I am hesitant to spend this much on this cruise if the economy is still having problems. It seems frivolous when people are losing jobs, etc... I just hope this goes away quickly and the economy returns to normal.

 

Not sure what my future cruising will be. I will go back, just not sure when or where.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Coral

[Italy52]

13 minutes ago, Coral said:

It was a Transatlantic with a British Isles cruise over a major birthday ending in Paris and I was going to do 3 nights there. I haven't been to Paris before. It was hitting some ports I had never been to. Next year, it is not doing the same route. When I cancelled the Louvre had been closed and France was starting to get bad.

 

I have a South America trip booked in December with viewing of Antarctica. It is the last year big ships will be allowed to do this (or ships with this type of emissions - the Coral Princess is doing it).  Air is a killer there. I got upgraded from a low balcony to a fairly high mini suite (not club class).

 

I am hesitant to spend this much on this cruise if the economy is still having problems. It seems frivolous when people are losing jobs, etc... I just hope this goes away quickly and the economy returns to normal.

 

Not sure what my future cruising will be. I will go back, just not sure when or where.

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip planned; I'm sorry that it won't happen for you. 

 

I have always loved reading about the Antarctica journeys as they sound so exciting.  I do hope that things turn around and you are able to go. 

[dog]

3 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Did you ask Princess why did they remove the 100% FCC????? 

Mentioned to travel agent. Waiting for answers

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, jennybenny said:

That's a bummer to hear that your cancelled April cruise experience is similar to what you are seeing with your May cruise. I am still holding out hope for June, but I feel like it's not likely to happen 😞

 So, my cousin was booked on a June sailing on another cruiseline up to Alaska and they just canceled her cruise as the suspended all sailings to Alaska until July 1st.  It’s not unexpected, though, because Canada was banning all cruiseships until that time ... Princess is sure to follow suit.  
oh well, the excitement was there for a while, anyway.  We aren’t too disappointed as we pretty much saw this coming ... at least they didn’t cancel the whole season, YET!  
My slight disappointment cannot even compare to what others that have lost their jobs are going through right now.  
Happy sailing everyone ... whenever that may be!  
 

[Italy52]

20 minutes ago, dog said:

Mentioned to travel agent. Waiting for answers

Glad to hear that someone is looking out for your interest.  When I was booking a cruise through my TA for next year my TA  interfaced with a Princess representative who pulled FOUR FC deposits instead of two.  When the TA went over the details of the reservation with me I told him "no, the Princess representative was only supposed to pull two FC deposits (one for DH and one for me) rather than four."  He got right back to the Princess representative and she apologized for pulling the two additional FC deposits in error.  With all the processing going on right now, things are bound to slip through the cracks once in a while --- we just need to catch them when they do.

[Coral]

24 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 So, my cousin was booked on a June sailing on another cruiseline up to Alaska and they just canceled her cruise as the suspended all sailings to Alaska until July 1st.  It’s not unexpected, though, because Canada was banning all cruiseships until that time ... Princess is sure to follow suit.  
oh well, the excitement was there for a while, anyway.  We aren’t too disappointed as we pretty much saw this coming ... at least they didn’t cancel the whole season, YET!  
My slight disappointment cannot even compare to what others that have lost their jobs are going through right now.  
Happy sailing everyone ... whenever that may be!  
 

Which line?

 

Found it - RCCL.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Coral

[Cruise Raider]

5 minutes ago, Coral said:

Which line?

 

Found it - RCCL.

 Yes, it was Celebrity, which is under the RCCL umbrella.  

[FireFighter115]

Also received a very generous upgrade for late November, after working very hard before covid-19 to get anything comped for a spring break cruise.  Two thoughts on this that probably have been shared on this thread already but here it goes...

 

1. My mom was my travel agent until recently.  I now book directly through Princess.  This seems to be a good choice for me as my PVP is receptive to my needs and what I would like as an upgrade.  I get good feedback as to what kind of upgrades she is seeing and what I should be asking for.  I might miss out on some OBC, but I definitely feel like I am at the front of the line for upgrades.  In the last three months I am two for two in upgrades booking through Princess, and a big 0 for six with mommy dearest over the last six years.

 

2. When Princess starts sailing again watch the prices drop dramatically.  They probably are already working on all of the adds on TV, millions of emails sent to everyone, mailers in the mail, etc.  They will be full speed ahead (pun intended) at getting people on their ships at almost any cost.  They are wizards at pricing with add-ons and incentives, to make comparative pricing difficult, but when we see what they are going to sell premium balconies and mini-suites for, if we had not gotten the upgrades they would have to be discounting and refunding already booked passengers.

 

Smart move on their part.  I hope it works.  It is very wise putting us in this position to keep our bookings as they are.

[jennybenny]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 So, my cousin was booked on a June sailing on another cruiseline up to Alaska and they just canceled her cruise as the suspended all sailings to Alaska until July 1st.  It’s not unexpected, though, because Canada was banning all cruiseships until that time ... Princess is sure to follow suit.  
oh well, the excitement was there for a while, anyway.  We aren’t too disappointed as we pretty much saw this coming ... at least they didn’t cancel the whole season, YET!  
My slight disappointment cannot even compare to what others that have lost their jobs are going through right now.  
Happy sailing everyone ... whenever that may be!  
 

Ah that bums me out! Maybe they are redeploying elsewhere? More upgrades? I don't know. I understand we can see it coming, but it still sucks. 😞

[dog]

I just checked my booking for Jan 2021 on Enchanted Princess. The Upgrade I received to mini suite is now selling  for less then I am paying for the balcony.

Calling today to sort things out. Still missing that FCC they gave me and took away.

[PrincessMaya]

On 3/14/2020 at 12:27 AM, Cruise Raider said:

 

We were upgraded to a different deck and from the starboard side to the port side.  It really doesn't matter to me what side of the ship we are on ... ever!!  We love the aft and midship sections and luckily, they didn't upgrade us to a forward balcony.  I did have my reservation marked as a meta only upgrade, btw!  

Apologies if I appear to be dense, but what is a meta upgrade please? I’ve never heard the term before. Is is a USA only thing?

 

Thanks

[Coral]

10 minutes ago, PrincessMaya said:

Apologies if I appear to be dense, but what is a meta upgrade please? I’ve never heard the term before. Is is a USA only thing?

 

Thanks

It is an option in the booking system. It basically means you only want an upgrade if it takes you to the next type of cabin such as an inside to an oceanview or a mini suite to a suite. You don't want to go from the lowest balcony to the highest balcony cabin.

[PrincessMaya]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

It is an option in the booking system. It basically means you only want an upgrade if it takes you to the next type of cabin such as an inside to an oceanview or a mini suite to a suite. You don't want to go from the lowest balcony to the highest balcony cabin.

Thanks for the explanation. It must be just for people booking from USA as the option doesn’t exist on booking forms in UK.

[Coral]

13 minutes ago, PrincessMaya said:

Thanks for the explanation. It must be just for people booking from USA as the option doesn’t exist on booking forms in UK.

Only Princess and travel agents see it I think. It has been discussed quite a bit previously. You can call who you book through and ask for it to be selected.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Coral

[Colo Cruiser]

36 minutes ago, PrincessMaya said:

Thanks for the explanation. It must be just for people booking from USA as the option doesn’t exist on booking forms in UK.

It does not exist on any forms you have to ask Princess/TA for it.

[voljeep]

what Princess sees on their system is different  that what you see on their website

 

you need to call your TA or Princess direct

50 minutes ago, Coral said:

1 hour ago, PrincessMaya said:

Thanks for the explanation. It must be just for people booking from USA as the option doesn’t exist on booking forms in UK.

 

[PrincessMaya]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

what Princess sees on their system is different  that what you see on their website

 

you need to call your TA or Princess direct

 

That explains it, I book online. 😁

[Cruise Raider]

12 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Ah that bums me out! Maybe they are redeploying elsewhere? More upgrades? I don't know. I understand we can see it coming, but it still sucks. 😞

 

I don't know what they are going to do at this point in time.  I think the ships may trickle back into business as I'm pretty sure they aren't going to fill them right away.  They probably have their break even point on how many passengers they would need to benefit even running them.  

 

[dog]

6 hours ago, dog said:

I just checked my booking for Jan 2021 on Enchanted Princess. The Upgrade I received to mini suite is now selling  for less then I am paying for the balcony.

Calling today to sort things out. Still missing that FCC they gave me and took away.

Jokes on me. Could not get back to balcony, although it is available for $1100 less then my price. Told to call back in 3 weeks if I still don’t want the mini suite upgrade that is now $660 less then my price. They would not change my price.