Princess delusions regarding "Upgrades"!

[nini]

I just received notice that Princess changed our angled balcony cabin on the Enchanted Dolphin deck to a small balcony on the Caribe deck. They said it was an upgrade. LOL! This is for a cruise in June to the Baltic and chances are that we will not go due to St. Petersburg possibly not being an open port.

We are booked with friends and we chose these tow next door angled cabins.

[Sea Hag]

They "upgraded" us once from a completely non-problematic, unobstructed OV to an OV with the window washer parked outside the window all the time except when they were actually washing windows. An additional "benefit" of the "upgrade" was that the cabin was under the outside eating area of the buffet, treating us to sounds like a bowling alley in the wee hours every morning.

[rj59]

The upgrade notice I got said you can call to decline your upgrade. I had the same issue, with a convenient Lido inside being 'upgraded' to another inside cabin on a lower deck, but it was a lengthwise inside with a more open floor plan, so I decided to stay with it. A lot of posters here say they wait until boarding to ask for an upgraded class of cabin, either free or for an upcharge, so you might try that with friends also. I've done two Baltic cruises in June also, and usually the weather is too cool to enjoy a balcony, and the cruises are so port-intensive and rewarding that a balcony isn't that important. The exception would be if your cruise includes Stockholm, since sailing in and out of the Stockholm archipeligo is amazing, but then I prefer to watch it from open decks, so I can walk from side to side. With the endless nights that far north in June, particularly White Nights in St. Petersburg, I actually preferred an inside cabin, because it was easier to sleep. 

[hllwdcruiser]

1 minute ago, Sea Hag said:

They "upgraded" us once from a completely non-problematic, unobstructed OV to an OV with the window washer parked outside the window all the time except when they were actually washing windows. An additional "benefit" of the "upgrade" was that the cabin was under the outside eating area of the buffet, treating us to sounds like a bowling alley in the wee hours every morning.

This is exactly why I always place a "do not upgrade" on all my bookings. Although I did once receive a sweet upgrade from a guarantee balcony to a mid ship mini on a Grand class ship, one bad upgrade on a Royal class turned me off upgrades forever.

[Sea Hag]

Just now, hllwdcruiser said:

This is exactly why I always place a "do not upgrade" on all my bookings. Although I did once receive a sweet upgrade from a guarantee balcony to a mid ship mini on a Grand class ship, one bad upgrade on a Royal class turned me off upgrades forever.

So do we after that one marvelous experience! That happened way back when, before I knew to do the no upgrade thing.

[hllwdcruiser]

35 minutes ago, nini said:

I just received notice that Princess changed our angled balcony cabin on the Enchanted Dolphin deck to a small balcony on the Caribe deck. They said it was an upgrade. LOL! This is for a cruise in June to the Baltic and chances are that we will not go due to St. Petersburg possibly not being an open port.

We are booked with friends and we chose these tow next door angled cabins.

We also just got moved from a Dolphin cabin that we specifically chose on Enchanted to a less desirable one on Baja. I'm beginning to think that booking on Dolphin for all future cruises on this ship is a crap shoot. Although a recent "live from" is stating that cabins on Caribe are also being used for quarantine.

[nini]

NOTICES

This is a "Cabin Change Notification" Following operational guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control, we changed the location of your stateroom. While we do everything possible to to keep travel companions together, we cannot guarantee the outcome. Stateroom locations are based on availability. We apologize for any inconvenience and regret that we are unable to return you to your previous stateroom. You'll find your new stateroom information above.

To check availability of an alternate stateroom: If booked through a travel agency, contact your travel advisor who can change your stateroom via POLAR Online. If booked directly with Princess, please use the chat function on Princess.com to request a stateroom change.

We appreciate your understanding.

[nini]

4 minutes ago, hllwdcruiser said:

This is exactly why I always place a "do not upgrade" on all my bookings. Although I did once receive a sweet upgrade from a guarantee balcony to a mid ship mini on a Grand class ship, one bad upgrade on a Royal class turned me off upgrades forever.

We ALWAYS declare No Upgrade. This is a "Cabin Change" and is a joke.

[hllwdcruiser]

7 minutes ago, nini said:

NOTICES

This is a "Cabin Change Notification" Following operational guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control, we changed the location of your stateroom. While we do everything possible to to keep travel companions together, we cannot guarantee the outcome. Stateroom locations are based on availability. We apologize for any inconvenience and regret that we are unable to return you to your previous stateroom. You'll find your new stateroom information above.

To check availability of an alternate stateroom: If booked through a travel agency, contact your travel advisor who can change your stateroom via POLAR Online. If booked directly with Princess, please use the chat function on Princess.com to request a stateroom change.

We appreciate your understanding.

Yes - we got the same exact notice!

Edited January 22, 2022 by hllwdcruiser

[nini]

Of course, the phone of our TA is so busy today, that they are not even taking your number to return your call as in the order received. And Princess is the same. We at least want a decent sized balcony and there are open cabins for that.

[nini]

1 minute ago, hllwdcruiser said:

Yes - we got the dame exact notice!

Are you on our cruise? June 6 for the Baltic.

[hllwdcruiser]

7 minutes ago, nini said:

We ALWAYS declare No Upgrade. This is a "Cabin Change" and is a joke.

I was responding to Sea Hag - I totally understood your point and 100% empathize.

We weren't offered anything extra for this change. I think they could at least offer us a free specialty dinner or some OBC. We actually changed the baja cabin and chose a "downgraded" cabin on the sun deck in order to get a larger balcony.

Edited January 22, 2022 by hllwdcruiser

[nini]

I am going to change as soon as I can get through. But Princess will be closed tomorrow.

[hllwdcruiser]

1 minute ago, nini said:

Are you on our cruise? June 6 for the Baltic.

I wish! But no - we are on the February 28th sailing. 

[nini]

Just now, hllwdcruiser said:

I wish! But no - we are on the February 28th sailing. 

Good grief! Ours is pretty far out too. They must be messing around with the Enchanted right now.

[john watson]

The new cabin does not have to be better in cases where an upgrade has been allocated.  It should however be classified as a "higher grade".  A lot of people incorrectly infer that an upgrade is a better cabin and do not realise there is an option in the booking process to request not accepting upgrades.  Even this is not completely safe as they may move passengers due to a multitude of operational reasons.

 

Regards John

Edited January 22, 2022 by john watson

[Ombud]

57 minutes ago, nini said:

I just received notice that Princess changed our angled balcony cabin on the Enchanted Dolphin deck to a small balcony on the Caribe deck. They said it was an upgrade. LOL! This is for a cruise in June to the Baltic and chances are that we will not go due to St. Petersburg possibly not being an open port.

We are booked with friends and we chose these tow next door angled cabins.

 

10 minutes ago, nini said:

I am going to change as soon as I can get through. But Princess will be closed tomorrow.

 

Yes contact chat and get returned to your original room. They should be open

 

Added: just checked. Chats open until 6pm. If you cannot get through see if you can put your original room on hold until you can 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Ombud

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, john watson said:

The new cabin does not have to be better in cases where an upgrade has been allocated.  It should however be classified as a "higher grade".  A lot of people incorrectly infer that an upgrade is a better cabin and do not realise there is an option in the booking process to turn down upgrades.  Even this is not completely safe as they may move passengers due to a multitude of operational reasons.

 

Regards John

 

9 minutes ago, nini said:

Good grief! Ours is pretty far out too. They must be messing around with the Enchanted right now.

 

This says CDC operational…surely, their not using the Dolphin deck for quarantine?  Were you in an Aft cabin?

 

[nini]

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

 

 

This says CDC operational…surely, their not using the Dolphin deck for quarantine?  Were you in an Aft cabin?

 

We were in an angled cabin on the Dolphin deck (middle of the ship). What is so strange, is that all of the aft Dolphin cabins are available. It looks fishy!

[nini]

12 minutes ago, john watson said:

The new cabin does not have to be better in cases where an upgrade has been allocated.  It should however be classified as a "higher grade".  A lot of people incorrectly infer that an upgrade is a better cabin and do not realise there is an option in the booking process to request not accepting upgrades.  Even this is not completely safe as they may move passengers due to a multitude of operational reasons.

 

Regards John

I understand what Princess calls an "upgrade". In their opinion it is due to being higher, etc. But we went from a nice balcony to the tiny one. It is due to CDC orders. Right. So, quarantined people and crew will be in a highly regarded cabin.

[nini]

9 minutes ago, Ombud said:

 

 

Yes contact chat and get returned to your original room. They should be open

 

Added: just checked. Chats open until 6pm. If you cannot get through see if you can put your original room on hold until you can 

I do not think I can go through Princess as we have a TA.

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, nini said:

I do not think I can go through Princess as we have a TA.

If your original cabin is open when doing a mock booking, just go ahead and book it online with a courtesy hold until you can speak with someone.  But I suspect your original cabin is not going to show.

[nini]

Where on the site is the "Chat" option?

 

[voljeep]

Princess does NOT consider 'balcony size' as a factor in an upgrade  -  strictly location and cabin category

 

and be sure to 'link' cabins if more than one is involved

 

but also know Princess has final say - marked no upgrade or not

[nini]

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

Princess does NOT consider 'balcony size' as a factor in an upgrade  -  strictly location and cabin category

 

and be sure to 'link' cabins if more than one is involved

 

but also know Princess has final say - marked no upgrade or not

I realize those points.