Upgrade that isn’t?

[john watson]

3 hours ago, seagunthera said:

I've sailed on dozens of cruises and this is a first. I guess I've been lucky (until now). 

 

Same here dozens of cruises, no upgrades except for an unexpected upgrade relating to the flight to the Caribbean on KLM to Premier Economy from Economy out of the blue.  To keep maximum flexibility and keep people happy cruise lines tend also to sell a lot of cabins on a minimum guarantee basis e.g. Guaranteed Balcony Cabin or Guaranteed Ocean View.  They know if they can get people to agree to a random cabin of a set type that they will easily be able to fit people in a better cabin and put them wjere it suits the line.  People booking on the cruise line website never get offered all cabins of the grade they request as they do not want to reveal total passenger fill, so a phone call is often a better choice however you select a cabin either direct or by TA.  The whole ship will be looked at not just a selection of cabins.

 

Regards John

[brisalta]

19 hours ago, Wavesprite said:

That is EXACTLY what happened to us!!!  We were moved from the last room on the floor with an angled balcony to the exact room you describe!  

 

Would that happen to be on the Ruby to Alaska last day of April?

[brisalta]

38 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

Same here dozens of cruises, no upgrades except for an unexpected upgrade relating to the flight to the Caribbean on KLM to Premier Economy from Economy out of the blue.  To keep maximum flexibility and keep people happy cruise lines tend also to sell a lot of cabins on a minimum guarantee basis e.g. Guaranteed Balcony Cabin or Guaranteed Ocean View.  They know if they can get people to agree to a random cabin of a set type that they will easily be able to fit people in a better cabin and put them wjere it suits the line.  People booking on the cruise line website never get offered all cabins of the grade they request as they do not want to reveal total passenger fill, so a phone call is often a better choice however you select a cabin either direct or by TA.  The whole ship will be looked at not just a selection of cabins.

 

Regards John

 

There is a big difference between booking a Guaranteed ... Stateroom and booking a specific Stateroom. Guaranteed basically means you will get any available room of that class or higher.

[geoherb]

I'm glad to book a guarantee. I don't care where I end up on the ship. I booked a guarantee BF for my cruise next week and got a great upgrade to a D4. Our best upgrade was from an obstructed view to a cabin with a balcony.

[Wavesprite]

3 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

Would that happen to be on the Ruby to Alaska last day of April?

Yes!!!!

[Wavesprite]

3 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

There is a big difference between booking a Guaranteed ... Stateroom and booking a specific Stateroom. Guaranteed basically means you will get any available room of that class or higher.

Exactly! I was shocked at this “upgrade” to a room that opens to the elevators/stairs!  If I wanted to be moved around I would choose a guarantee.  This is the first time it’s happened to me in about 18 cruises! 

[brisalta]

2 hours ago, Wavesprite said:

Yes!!!!

 

That is just too funny that they try and move people to that crummy location without notification and call it an upgrade!!!!

Edited February 3, 2022 by brisalta

[brisalta]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:29 PM, Wavesprite said:

That is EXACTLY what happened to us!!!  We were moved from the last room on the floor with an angled balcony to the exact room you describe!  

 

So they tried to move you there on Monday, me on Tuesday and I wonder who they tried to move there today and if that person has noticed the change?

[john watson]

7 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

There is a big difference between booking a Guaranteed ... Stateroom and booking a specific Stateroom. Guaranteed basically means you will get any available room of that class or higher.

 

That is correct there is no feeling of "loss" of their specially chosen cabin. People feel they have got what the originally asked for and however bad the cabin is they booked.

 

REgards John

[john watson]

7 hours ago, geoherb said:

I'm glad to book a guarantee. I don't care where I end up on the ship. I booked a guarantee BF for my cruise next week and got a great upgrade to a D4. Our best upgrade was from an obstructed view to a cabin with a balcony.

 

This is again where people misconstrue a situation, when you book a minimum grade or cabin type on a guarantee basis technically you do not get upgraded, you get exactly what you booked.  That is any grade or cabin type whatsoever which is of the type/grade mentioned or higher. You can only technically get upgraded when you book a specific cabin and then you do not get that. In the former case you have already contracted for the type/grade cabin you end up being allocated.

 

Regards John.

[john watson]

2 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

That is just too funny that they try and move people to that crummy location without notification and call it an upgrade!!!!

 

Any move from a cabin of a specific grade to a different cabin of a higher grade is an upgrade.  The clue is in the words up and grade.  It is a problem particularly with new cruisers as they tend to infer, better, improved, superior etc.  Most travel agents tend to recommend free upgrades as it seems such a good idea.  There are many travel agents that have minimal or no personal cruising experience.

 

Regards John

[geoherb]

5 hours ago, john watson said:

 

This is again where people misconstrue a situation, when you book a minimum grade or cabin type on a guarantee basis technically you do not get upgraded, you get exactly what you booked.  That is any grade or cabin type whatsoever which is of the type/grade mentioned or higher. You can only technically get upgraded when you book a specific cabin and then you do not get that. In the former case you have already contracted for the type/grade cabin you end up being allocated.

 

Regards John.

 

I have to disagree, and so does Princess. If it's a significant change, I consider it an upgrade. Going from a Cat. BF to a Cat. BD isn't in my mind. Going from an inside guarantee to an ocean view is. Here's the header from the email Princess sent me for the upgrade I got for next week's cruise.

 

[Wavesprite]

They definitely make you think that you hit the lottery!  

[brisalta]

12 hours ago, john watson said:

 

Any move from a cabin of a specific grade to a different cabin of a higher grade is an upgrade.  The clue is in the words up and grade.  It is a problem particularly with new cruisers as they tend to infer, better, improved, superior etc.  Most travel agents tend to recommend free upgrades as it seems such a good idea.  There are many travel agents that have minimal or no personal cruising experience.

 

Regards John

 

LOL. Your logic is impeccably bad. Sherlock would only hang with you for the pure amusement value.

I see that in your world the customer is always wrong.

Edited February 3, 2022 by brisalta

[john watson]

2 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

LOL. Your logic is impeccably bad. Sherlock would only hang with you for the pure amusement value.

I see that in your world the customer is always wrong.

 

Not at all, the customer is not always wrong.  The fact is that cruise lines have cleverly contrived a system whereby they can relocate passengers at their behest.  The contract terms allow them to do this and whilst they try to give the impression they are doing something beneficial for passengers who are upgraded they are actually freeing up cabins that are more popular and easier to sell later to others. They phrase it as an upgrade, in legal terms you would have had to pay more money for the cabin you end up being allocated as it is of a higher grade.  It is a very important thing for newcomers to understand as they are clearly being short changed. It is easy to be duped by the clever system most cruise lines employ.

 

Regards John

Edited February 4, 2022 by john watson

[brisalta]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

Not at all, the customer is not always wrong.  The fact is that cruise lines have cleverly contrived a system whereby they can relocate passengers at their behest.  The contract terms allow them to do this and whilst they try to give the impression they are doing something beneficial for passengers who are upgraded they are actually freeing up cabins that are more popular and easier to sell later to others. They phrase it as an upgrade, in legal terms you would have had to pay more money for the cabin you end up being allocated as it is of a higher grade.  It is a very important thing for newcomers to understand as they are clearly being short changed. It is easy to be duped by the clever system most cruise lines employ.

 

Regards John

 

Contract terms are not always legally enforceable. They are constrained by the law of the land. Interesting enough the passage contract refers to California law.  California is one of the US states that has consumer protection laws...

[brisalta]

12 hours ago, Wavesprite said:

They definitely make you think that you hit the lottery!  

 

I never even received a notification!!! I found out by accident.

[Wavesprite]

Just now, brisalta said:

 

I never even received a notification!!! I found out by accident.

I’m curious what room they moved you to!  They moved us to A435, which now that I’m looking at the notice, not only is it by the elevators/stairs, it is also a connector room!  What an “upgrade”! 

[brisalta]

19 minutes ago, Wavesprite said:

I’m curious what room they moved you to!  They moved us to A435, which now that I’m looking at the notice, not only is it by the elevators/stairs, it is also a connector room!  What an “upgrade”! 

 

They moved me to B426 which connects to B422 and is by the entrance to the Panoramic Lifts foyer. An area with a lot of traffic and noisy. Plus a connecting room door as an additional noise source.

To top matters off I received no notification about the move. I discovered the move by accident.  It took a while in chat and on the phone to get it corrected and moved back to the original location.

 

I like being near the stern as there is little foot traffic there and at night you get a nice gentle motion to aid with sleep.

 

IMHO connecting rooms should be saved for family groups or close friends, especially in these times.

Edited February 4, 2022 by brisalta

[caribill]

4 hours ago, brisalta said:

To top matters off I received no notification about the move. I discovered the move by accident.

 

Is your booking directly with Princess or is it with a TA?

 

If it is with Princess, you definitely should have been sent a notice from Princess.

 

If it is with a TA, the notice is usually sent to the TA and the TA has the responsibility to then notify you.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Is your booking directly with Princess or is it with a TA?

 

If it is with Princess, you definitely should have been sent a notice from Princess.

 

If it is with a TA, the notice is usually sent to the TA and the TA has the responsibility to then notify you.

When we were once moved and I discovered it accidentally, our TA said he never received the notification from Princess.

[brisalta]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Is your booking directly with Princess or is it with a TA?

 

If it is with Princess, you definitely should have been sent a notice from Princess.

 

If it is with a TA, the notice is usually sent to the TA and the TA has the responsibility to then notify you.

 

I booked directly with Princess. Princess did not send a notification about the move.

[jimbo1683]

19 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

They moved me to B426 which connects to B422 and is by the entrance to the Panoramic Lifts foyer. An area with a lot of traffic and noisy. Plus a connecting room door as an additional noise source.

To top matters off I received no notification about the move. I discovered the move by accident.  It took a while in chat and on the phone to get it corrected and moved back to the original location.

 

I like being near the stern as there is little foot traffic there and at night you get a nice gentle motion to aid with sleep.

 

IMHO connecting rooms should be saved for family groups or close friends, especially in these times.

Connecting rooms are the work of the devil. At hotels I always check with reception that the room does not have a connecting door. I would rather cancel the cruise than have to listen to every noise my next door neighbour makes through the connecting door. 

[montgomeryfamily]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:15 PM, Travelingfreckles said:

This happened to us too. 😔 On your upgrade notice does it reference anything about “due to cdc guidelines...”? If so, it’s due to that being a quarantine location and being moved back isn’t possible. In the end, it worked out for us after being moved to the stern in an uncovered balcony “their kind upgrade” to working with my PVP and ending up with a mini-suite upgrade with our beloved extended balcony midship. If it’s just a general upgrade, definitely decline the offer. Good luck!

So if your cabin is taken as an observation/quarantine cabin, does the "upgrade notice" state something about being due to cdc guidelines?  If it doesn't, is it just a regular upgrade?

[BridgeMates]

On 2/4/2022 at 5:17 PM, jimbo1683 said:

Connecting rooms are the work of the devil. At hotels I always check with reception that the room does not have a connecting door. I would rather cancel the cruise than have to listen to every noise my next door neighbour makes through the connecting door. 

 

How do I find the Princess deck plans that actually show which cabins are connecting?