The Cunard Upgrade - How does it work

[ighten]

If I select the (as the terms and conditions) the highest price club balcony (which should upgrade to grill)   or the highest price balcony (which should upgrade to club) at no point in the on line booking does it show an upgrade has been applied.. So Im confused...

Edited February 6, 2021 by ighten

[Pear Carr]

Are you looking at the upgrade promotion at the time of booking rather than a possible upgrade at the time of sailing? If so you need to choose the P2 category, for example, which should show the same price as a top grade club balcony and similarly the top grade balcony should be the same price as the lowest grade club balcony.

[BigMac1953]

It's buy 2 for the price of three and get one free.

 

So, you pay for the grade above the one you are booking, then when you book the lower grade, lo and behold, you get the higher grade.

 

I've yet to see a saving.

[ighten]

Yes - I was looking at the QE promotions - clear as mud or my brains in meltdown

[North West Newbie]

9 minutes ago, ighten said:

Yes - I was looking at the QE promotions - clear as mud or my brains in meltdown

 

It’s classic marketing I’m afraid. You choose the stateroom or suite that you wish to sail in and the price you see (and pay) is what the immediately lower grade would have supposedly cost. So in Cunard’s eyes you are getting an upgrade.

[bluemarble]

Just to add some additional detail to the previous discussions, here are Cunard fares I'm seeing for one of the QE voyages that qualifies for the current "The Cunard Upgrade" promotion going on in the UK. These Cunard fares happen to be for QE's 7 night Western Mediterranean voyage departing 6 September 2011.

 

A1 Club Balcony = £1,899

P2 Princess Grill Suite= £1,899

 

P1 Princess Grill Suite = £2,599

Q6 Queens Grill Suite = £2,599

 

This does not mean if you book an A1 Club Balcony for £1,899 that you will be assigned a P2 Princess Grill Suite or if you book a P1 Princess Grill Suite for £2,599 that you will be assigned a Q6 Queens Grill Suite. It simply means the fare for the higher of those two categories is the same as the fare for the lower of the two categories. In order to receive the higher category cabin, you must book that higher category cabin (and receive the same fare as if you had booked a cabin in the lower category instead).

 

Note that both categories may not be available on each of the voyages under this promotion in order to receive the same fare for the higher category as for the lower category. For example, there may be P1 Princess Grill Suites available but no Q6 Queens Grill Suites. In that case, the promotion is not available to get the upgrade between those two grades since you can't book a Q6 Queens Grill Suite to get the same fare as a P1 Princess Grill Suite. All that may be available are higher category Queens Grill Suites for a higher fare than a P1 Princess Grill Suite.

Edited February 6, 2021 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

26 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

These Cunard fares happen to be for QE's 7 night Western Mediterranean voyage departing 6 September 2011.

 

Sorry for the typo. Of course I meant the  voyage departing 6 September 2021.

[bluemarble]

To add to the confusion, there appears to be an issue with the booking process for QE voyages on the Cunard website. The feature to select "Ship section" does not appear to be working at the moment for QE voyages. Here is what I'm seeing when I try choose the "Ship section" for my cabin on any of numerous QE voyages I've tried, in both 2021 and 2022.

 

 

This makes it hard to get the fares for (or book) a BA Balcony for example, since those cabins are midships. In its current state, the booking process is only showing me BF-BE cabins in the forward section of decks 4-8 on QE when I request a Balcony cabin on QE.

 

I'm not seeing this issue on several QM2 and QV voyages I tried.

 

Of course from past experience, nothing the Cunard website does should surprise us I suppose.

[bluemarble]

On 2/6/2021 at 10:46 AM, bluemarble said:

To add to the confusion, there appears to be an issue with the booking process for QE voyages on the Cunard website. The feature to select "Ship section" does not appear to be working at the moment for QE voyages. Here is what I'm seeing when I try choose the "Ship section" for my cabin on any of numerous QE voyages I've tried, in both 2021 and 2022.

 

 

This makes it hard to get the fares for (or book) a BA Balcony for example, since those cabins are midships. In its current state, the booking process is only showing me BF-BE cabins in the forward section of decks 4-8 on QE when I request a Balcony cabin on QE.

 

I'm not seeing this issue on several QM2 and QV voyages I tried.

 

Of course from past experience, nothing the Cunard website does should surprise us I suppose.

 

I'm happy to report this bug on the Cunard website where it was not possible to select the ship section on QE during the booking process has been fixed.

 

Now I can report a more complete rundown of the fares for all the cabin categories involved in "The Cunard Upgrade" promotion going on in the UK for select 2021 QE voyages. Once again I've chosen voyage Q130J, Western Mediterranean, 6-13 Sep 2021 to illustrate what's going on.

 

IF Inside = £1,099
BF Balcony = £1,099

 

BA Balcony = £1,399
A2 Club Balcony = £1,399

 

A1 Club Balcony = £1,899
P2 Princess Grill Suite= £1,899

 

P1 Princess Grill Suite = £2,599
Q6 Queens Grill Suite = £2,599

 

As expected the "Cunard Fare" (per person, double occupancy) is the same for each of these category pairs. This illustrates the terms and conditions for this promotion where you can indeed book the higher category cabin for the same fare as the lower category cabin for each of these specific category pairs.

[Windsurfboy]

You book the higher category.