Princess Can’t Figure out Upgrade from Plus to Premium

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

OP - since you are sailing before the upgraded packages kick in, this "might" be the issue. I would suggest calling again and asking them specifically to upgrade your package and NOT to refare you! I just went back in to Polar and it seems that there is an area in the booking (it's changed from a code as far as I can see) under "Special Requests and Gifts" where the Plus package can be removed and the premiere package added. Doing it this way is no longer an "upgrade" but it works out the same way (it used to be that a code was added to charge the $25 per day but now it seems it takes off the costs of Plus and then you re-add the cost of Premiere and it all comes out correct). I just did a trial with one of my bookings (though it is after the new packages kick in) and it worked, so maybe you can talk the agent through it. You may well get an agent that actually knows how to do their job on the next call!

 

The other option is to stick with Plus and just pay the difference in the cost of the wine you drink...

Since the OP’s cruise is prior to the start of the new benefits that is a good recommendation IMO unless Princess allows you to upgrade a a lower difference.  

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

OP - since you are sailing before the upgraded packages kick in, this "might" be the issue. I would suggest calling again and asking them specifically to upgrade your package and NOT to refare you! I just went back in to Polar and it seems that there is an area in the booking (it's changed from a code as far as I can see) under "Special Requests and Gifts" where the Plus package can be removed and the premiere package added. Doing it this way is no longer an "upgrade" but it works out the same way (it used to be that a code was added to charge the $25 per day but now it seems it takes off the costs of Plus and then you re-add the cost of Premiere and it all comes out correct). I just did a trial with one of my bookings (though it is after the new packages kick in) and it worked, so maybe you can talk the agent through it. You may well get an agent that actually knows how to do their job on the next call!

 

The other option is to stick with Plus and just pay the difference in the cost of the wine you drink...

I will give this a try, thank you very much!

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

4 hours ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

I will give this a try, thank you very much!

I called the vacation planner number instead of the general 800 number. My assigned planner is out…a bounceback on emails ststing this or an updated phone message would have been nice. 
 

So a nice lady was able to upgrade us from Plus to Premium. I told her about your suggestion. She said that was correct…but…a supervisor was able to give her a special code to use that automatically did the upgrade. So now we have access to copious amounts of alcohol for the duration of our cruise. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

 

Thanks for the help!

[ceilidh1]

29 minutes ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

I called the vacation planner number instead of the general 800 number. My assigned planner is out…a bounceback on emails ststing this or an updated phone message would have been nice. 
 

So a nice lady was able to upgrade us from Plus to Premium. I told her about your suggestion. She said that was correct…but…a supervisor was able to give her a special code to use that automatically did the upgrade. So now we have access to copious amounts of alcohol for the duration of our cruise. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

 

Thanks for the help!

Great - I hope they let us TAs know the code sooner rather than later! Lol

[nbsjcruiser]

I really wonder just what is going on there. Every once in a blue moon you get someone who actually know what they're doing and its like a breath of fresh air. Most times, sadly, you wait on line for 40-60 minutes and the person who answers hasn't got a clue. Case in point: we are booked on the Sky on Feb 18th. We have the Princess plus and we got a note that said we qualify for the upgraded deserts and juice drinks. All we had to do was call in and ask for it to be added. An hour later and 2 people later, we gave up. Wasn't worth the hassle. First person had no idea what we were talking about and the second person put us on hold until we gave up.  Another example. We're booked on the Caribbean Princess next fall and initially we chose not to put the drink package on. Last week while browsing the site we saw the note to add Princess Plus or Premier. After clicking the link to see how much it would be we were informed to call in. After at least an hour on the phone and being transferred to someone who told us she had no idea why we were transferred to her, we were told nope, sorry. Can't do that unless you cancel and rebook at the new rate. What in God's name is going on with Princess? My money is not good enough to purchase an add-on that YOU advertised??? Its a nightmare just to get through (unless you're booking a cruise of course) and then nobody seems to know what they're talking about.

 

From now on when we book, that's going to be it. Not purchasing anything else. Just gimmie my cruise and I'll go on about my business.

Edited January 12, 2023 by nbsjcruiser

[PacnGoNow]

22 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

I really wonder just what is going on there. Every once in a blue moon you get someone who actually know what they're doing and its like a breath of fresh air. Most times, sadly, you wait on line for 40-60 minutes and the person who answers hasn't got a clue. Case in point: we are booked on the Sky on Feb 18th. We have the Princess plus and we got a note that said we qualify for the upgraded deserts and juice drinks. All we had to do was call in and ask for it to be added. An hour later and 2 people later, we gave up. Wasn't worth the hassle. First person had no idea what we were talking about and the second person put us on hold until we gave up.  Another example. We're booked on the Caribbean Princess next fall and initially we chose not to put the drink package on. Last week while browsing the site we saw the note to add Princess Plus or Premier. After clicking the link to see how much it would be we were informed to call in. After at least an hour on the phone and being transferred to someone who told us she had no idea why we were transferred to her, we were told nope, sorry. Can't do that unless you cancel and rebook at the new rate. What in God's name is going on with Princess? My money is not good enough to purchase an add-on that YOU advertised??? Its a nightmare just to get through (unless you're booking a cruise of course) and then nobody seems to know what they're talking about.

 

From now on when we book, that's going to be it. Not purchasing anything else. Just gimmie my cruise and I'll go on about my business.

Or get a TA or CVP who can take care of these things for you.  
 

[coops]

1 hour ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

I called the vacation planner number instead of the general 800 number. My assigned planner is out…a bounceback on emails ststing this or an updated phone message would have been nice. 
 

So a nice lady was able to upgrade us from Plus to Premium. I told her about your suggestion. She said that was correct…but…a supervisor was able to give her a special code to use that automatically did the upgrade. So now we have access to copious amounts of alcohol for the duration of our cruise. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

 

Thanks for the help!

Its limited to 15 alcohol drinks per day. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by coops

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Great - I hope they let us TAs know the code sooner rather than later! Lol

She said it was a special code for cruises that are paid in full. I can’t believe I am the only person with a paid in full cruise who wants to upgrade from Plus to Premium. 😵‍💫

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

17 minutes ago, coops said:

Its limited to 15 alcohol drinks per day. 

That is definitely a copious amount in my book. 😬

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, nbsjcruiser said:

I really wonder just what is going on there. Every once in a blue moon you get someone who actually know what they're doing and its like a breath of fresh air. Most times, sadly, you wait on line for 40-60 minutes and the person who answers hasn't got a clue. Case in point: we are booked on the Sky on Feb 18th. We have the Princess plus and we got a note that said we qualify for the upgraded deserts and juice drinks. All we had to do was call in and ask for it to be added. An hour later and 2 people later, we gave up. Wasn't worth the hassle. First person had no idea what we were talking about and the second person put us on hold until we gave up.  Another example. We're booked on the Caribbean Princess next fall and initially we chose not to put the drink package on. Last week while browsing the site we saw the note to add Princess Plus or Premier. After clicking the link to see how much it would be we were informed to call in. After at least an hour on the phone and being transferred to someone who told us she had no idea why we were transferred to her, we were told nope, sorry. Can't do that unless you cancel and rebook at the new rate. What in God's name is going on with Princess? My money is not good enough to purchase an add-on that YOU advertised??? Its a nightmare just to get through (unless you're booking a cruise of course) and then nobody seems to know what they're talking about.

 

From now on when we book, that's going to be it. Not purchasing anything else. Just gimmie my cruise and I'll go on about my business.

 

40 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Or get a TA or CVP who can take care of these things for you.  
 

Unfortunately, Princess is not doing well by either their TAs or CVPs right now. I am a TA and book more Princess than anything else. I consider myself VERY savvy when it comes to their booking system and navigating it. Over the past year they have made it far more difficult to do even the simplest of tasks - such as upgrading from Plus to Premiere, for instance - mainly because they are rolling new things out before communicating such things to their TAs and CVPs. Why would I, as a TA, need to call in to get this "special code" applied - equip me to do it myself by telling me what the code its! They used to be amazing at doing this - not so much now.

[PacnGoNow]

15 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

 

Unfortunately, Princess is not doing well by either their TAs or CVPs right now. I am a TA and book more Princess than anything else. I consider myself VERY savvy when it comes to their booking system and navigating it. Over the past year they have made it far more difficult to do even the simplest of tasks - such as upgrading from Plus to Premiere, for instance - mainly because they are rolling new things out before communicating such things to their TAs and CVPs. Why would I, as a TA, need to call in to get this "special code" applied - equip me to do it myself by telling me what the code its! They used to be amazing at doing this - not so much now.

That’s too bad.  It is to their advantage to keep TA’s up to date.  Also, their sales reps.  Training needs an overhaul.

😳