How soon are you notified of upgrades?

[CruiseMark]

I booked a VF balcony directly with my HAL rep. At the time of booking he asked if I wanted to be considered for a free upgrade. Of course I said yes. 
 

For those who have been upgraded, how far in advance were you notified?

 

Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

Sometimes at the pier. Usually in the last 2 or 3 weeks prior to sailing. Sometimes sooner.

[Kay S]

In my experience, it's more likely you will get an email offering you an upsell.  Random upgrades don't show up so often as they did a few years ago.

[DaveOKC]

Upsells seem to be more common now due to low passenger loads.  Most times these are for the Mega categories above yours (like suites in your case).  Same logic applies to you gettting a free upgrade to a better Verandah cabin - I would say a good chance.

 

One bad thing about free upgrades - you never know where the cabin will be.  Some people (like me) are picky about the location, so this may not be the best for me.  Remember that HAL's idea of a better location/cabin may not be the same as yours.  If you get assigned a cabin where you do not like the location, call your TA/HAL and ask nicely if you can change it - they may or may not be able to, but at least give it a try.

[MAVIP]

On 3/24/2022 at 5:56 PM, CruiseMark said:

I booked a VF balcony directly with my HAL rep. At the time of booking he asked if I wanted to be considered for a free upgrade. Of course I said yes. 
 

For those who have been upgraded, how far in advance were you notified?

 

Thanks.

12 weeks. And we did not apply for a free or paid upgrade, as we had 3 adjoining balconies, but the result was a pleasant one.

[DaveOKC]

Paid upsells generally 2-4 weeks prior to sailing.  Free upgrades generally last two weeks and most often the final days prior.

 

[silversneakers]

Received paid upgrade offer a few days ago via emailing for sailing within 7 days.

[Unlvswezel]

In December I was just automatically upgraded, didn’t realize until I went to view my boarding pass. I received two emails offering paid upgrades, one about 10 days before sailing and another 4-5 days before departure. I’m sailing on Sunday and haven’t received any info on paid upgrades, which honestly surprised me. We are in an obstructed veranda on a low floor and there is lots of inventory still available but no offers(yet)

[victory2020]

Just got off Konigsdanm in an inside room. Most of the balconies in our area were empty so they're not generous with upgrades. Before pandemic I was upgraded twice to oceanview a couple of days before sailing

[ScoutDiver]

They may seem ungenerous in upgrades offers because they are trying to discourage people from booking an inside stateroom assuming that they will get an upgrade offer because of low occupancy on the ship.    Holland America does not want to give away those balcony cabins.   They may not have a lot of guarantee or overbooked inside cabins.  

 

The rule of advice before the pandemic was to book the cabin that you could afford. If you got an offer then great.  

 

HAL is trying to keep prices up for post pandemic.