Upgrades/Upsells

[texanaust]

How does Cunard sell its unbooked staterooms/suites?  Do they send out upsell emails prior to the cruise directly to passengers or via TA's?  How far in advance could one expect to receive an offer?  What is the best upgrade/upsell that you have received?  Thanks:)

[PORT ROYAL]

3 hours ago, texanaust said:

How does Cunard sell its unbooked staterooms/suites?  Do they send out upsell emails prior to the cruise directly to passengers or via TA's?  How far in advance could one expect to receive an offer?  What is the best upgrade/upsell that you have received?  Thanks:)

Never heard of upsell  offers by email on Cunard.  
Think if one wishes to upgrade, and the stateroom is available, then one pays the price of the upgrade as it was on the day of one’s original booking.  
A gift of an upgrade is a rare occurrence.  Usually just one level above one’s booked stateroom.

Edited January 25, 2023 by PORT ROYAL
Typo

[texanaust]

16 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Never heard of upsell  offers by email on Cunard.  
Think if one wishes to upgrade, and the stateroom is available, then one pays the price of the upgrade as it was on the day of one’s original booking.  
A gift of an upgrade is a rare occurrence.  Usually just one level above one’s booked stateroom.

Okay, that is unusual given all of Carnival's other brands do this.  Even Seabourn has sent out multiple upgrade emails on each and every cruise I have been on.  

[Chart Room Princess]

I received an upsell offer from Cunard in November 2022 about a week before our Caribbean cruise. The offer was an upsell to Princess Grill from a Britannia balcony. I don’t recall the exact price but it was extremely reasonable. We didn’t take the offer as we were traveling with our elderly parents and needed 2 cabins near one another.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Chart Room Princess

[Victoria2]

We were upgraded [free] from a Q5 to a 4 on one QV cruise many years ago which led us to booking mid ships from then on.

 

From a Q3, we were offered a Q2 on QE, at a reduced additional amount which did make it quite a reduction on the published price. Unfortunately 😕,  we took it.

 

Beware taking upgrades!  🙂

 

All this was done through our agent and not direct. If you book through Cunard then the communication will be through Cunard.

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, texanaust said:

Okay, that is unusual given all of Carnival's other brands do this.  Even Seabourn has sent out multiple upgrade emails on each and every cruise I have been on.  

I think if the passenger asks to upgrade/change to a higher grade cabin, then brochure difference between the two cabins applies. If the passenger is offered the upgrade without strings, that's a ''freebie''. If the offer isn't ''free'', then the extra amount will be less than the difference between the  published rates and in our case, a reasonable additional amount was paid over to secure the 2.

[LittleFish1976]

I have had both. An upsell offer from P2 to Q3/4 in February, 2020 for a very modest amount per day and also a gratis upgrade from Q6 to Q3, pre-pandemic.

 

As Victoria2 says, the upgrades are deadly for future bookings.

[exlondoner]

Long long ago on QE2, we were upgraded from a Q3 to a Q2. This doesn’t sound a big detail, but meant we got one of very few balcony cabins on that ship. Now we mark our booking no upgrades, for fear of a Q3 on QM2 or being moved to the back on a Vista, neither of which would be an improvement.

[Victoria2]

16 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Long long ago on QE2, we were upgraded from a Q3 to a Q2. This doesn’t sound a big detail, but meant we got one of very few balcony cabins on that ship. Now we mark our booking no upgrades, for fear of a Q3 on QM2 or being moved to the back on a Vista, neither of which would be an improvement.

I agree,

Be open to a [free] upgrade only if you are prepared to take any cabin offered as the upgrade is automatic and in our experience, the original cabin is cancelled. If not, tick the do not upgrade box.

If the upgrade comes with a small premium to pay, then that can be turned down with no loss of originally booked cabin.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Victoria2

[Sue-B]

We’ve had both too.  

 

We book directly with Cunard and got our first free upgrade on QM2 a long time ago from what was (I think!) a P3 in those days to a P1 - which given we were transatlantic in November meant we moved to midships - and it was a very rough crossing so that was a great free upgrade.   Pre 2015 or so we were really lucky and often got free upgrades sometimes just a few days before travelling, and once at the port.  These were all free one move up Q6 to Q5 and P2 to P1 mostly from memory, and we used to get an email to say our booking had been amended and a new booking confirmation would come through.  
 

We’ve been offered via a phone call direct from Cunard the paid for upgrades which if the price is right we’ve taken.  Two of the best ones we’ve had was Britannia Club to Princess Grill on the first leg of the world cruise Southampton to Fort Lauderdale on QV for £250 each, and the unbelievable upgrade to a Q1 on QV from a Q6 on a 2 week med cruise for an additional £500 each!  When we’ve had the phone calls from Cunard these typically happen about 6-8 weeks prior to our cruise.  We’re next sailing in April and I’m willing the phone to ring 😀

[Solent Richard]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Long long ago on QE2, we were upgraded from a Q3 to a Q2. This doesn’t sound a big detail, but meant we got one of very few balcony cabins on that ship. Now we mark our booking no upgrades, for fear of a Q3 on QM2 or being moved to the back on a Vista, neither of which would be an improvement.

 

👍

[ExArkie]

8 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

A gift of an upgrade is a rare occurrence.  Usually just one level above one’s booked stateroom.

We have had nine Cunard trips, all transatlantic with one each on QV and QE, the rest on QM2. We have received free upgrades on seven of them. Four were P2 (or as noted upthread, a P3) to P1 on QM2, one was Q7 to Q4 on QV, one was given in response to a significant price drop (P1 to Q5 on QM2), but the big one was last December, when we booked a Q5 as a celebration of being back on QM2 and we’re upgraded to Q1, the Balmoral Suite duplex. I found out about the upgrade when I went online to verify we had all the documentation in place a month or so before sailing. 

 

[PORT ROYAL]

4 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

We have had nine Cunard trips, all transatlantic with one each on QV and QE, the rest on QM2. We have received free upgrades on seven of them. Four were P2 (or as noted upthread, a P3) to P1 on QM2, one was Q7 to Q4 on QV, one was given in response to a significant price drop (P1 to Q5 on QM2), but the big one was last December, when we booked a Q5 as a celebration of being back on QM2 and we’re upgraded to Q1, the Balmoral Suite duplex. I found out about the upgrade when I went online to verify we had all the documentation in place a month or so before sailing. 

 

Congratulations!   But don’t tell majortom…..

Two countries separated by a difference in Cunard benefits 😉

[Dranuc2016]

I have an upcoming trip on the QM2 this summer.

Is there a place that I can verify "Do not upgrade" has been checked/ticked?

This is a US booking.  I made it directly with Cunard, and it has been changed multiple times, directly through Cunard.

I can't find this mentioned on the my.cunard.com US site.  Is it in a place that I am missing?

I guess the other option is to call Cunard again, and talk to a person.

Thanks

[JRoyston]

In 2019 we were emailed a month before sailing (10 day Alaskan trip) and offered to upgrade from Britannia Club to:

“A Princess Grill for £300 per person only.

A Q4 Queens Grill for £450 per person only.”

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, Dranuc2016 said:

I have an upcoming trip on the QM2 this summer.

Is there a place that I can verify "Do not upgrade" has been checked/ticked?

This is a US booking.  I made it directly with Cunard, and it has been changed multiple times, directly through Cunard.

I can't find this mentioned on the my.cunard.com US site.  Is it in a place that I am missing?

I guess the other option is to call Cunard again, and talk to a person.

Thanks

 

Yes, I'm afraid you will have to call Cunard to verify the upgrade option that has been selected for your booking. There is nowhere to see that setting for yourself online via My Cunard.

[LittleFish1976]

13 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Long long ago on QE2, we were upgraded from a Q3 to a Q2. This doesn’t sound a big detail, but meant we got one of very few balcony cabins on that ship. Now we mark our booking no upgrades, for fear of a Q3 on QM2 or being moved to the back on a Vista, neither of which would be an improvement.

 

Is there something wrong with being at the back on a Vista? I've booked a Q5 on QE for next year and had thought the views would be lovely. Is vibration the issue?

 

I could be in for a very long 10 days if there's something awful about that location. Do tell.

[Sue-B]

9 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Is there something wrong with being at the back on a Vista? I've booked a Q5 on QE for next year and had thought the views would be lovely. Is vibration the issue?

 

I could be in for a very long 10 days if there's something awful about that location. Do tell.

Personally I love the aft suites on QE and QV but appreciate that some others don’t.  I’ve heard people say they don’t like the longer walk (I don’t think it’s that long!) to the B lifts that take you up to the Grills Lounge and restaurants, and others that have reported vibration issues mainly on decks 4 and 5 (we’ve never had these issues even when the stabilisers have been in overdrive in rough seas), and some that don’t like the extra movement that you can sometimes feel at the back vs a midships position.

 

However, we love the fact that they have a great balcony with beautiful views especially on sail away (the old QV ones were particular lovely before they squared her back off to put in extra cabins), there is hardly any noise from corridors given nobody is going past your room unless they are lost(!) and the ‘extra’ walk helps the waistline from the fabulous food in QG!  I also like the room layout more than the midship Q4 (with the curtain partition) and the double sink in the bathroom.  We’ve been in those aft suites in bad weather through the bay of biscay on more than one occasion and had no issues at all.

 

Depending on what deck you have booked the layout differs slightly, and the middle suite is the one we usually avoid as we don’t find the space works quite as well, and the corner Q5 (which I think is what you have booked) has the wrap around balcony (again we like this) so the room is slightly smaller because of this.  We were in one of the corner ones on deck 5 on QE last year and we loved the extra outside space at the side and dragged our chairs around when the sun hit that side.
 

It really is all about personal choice, we always book the aft suites if we can on the vistas and I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time onboard the beautiful QE in whatever room you have 😀

 

[LadyL1]

Agree with Sue-B about aft suites. We ask for no upgrade because prefer the layout compared with Q4. Our next cruise on QV later this year is in a Q4, as even 18months out when we booked, all Q5/6’s were sold out, so a lot of people must like them!

[Victoria2]

6 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Is there something wrong with being at the back on a Vista? I've booked a Q5 on QE for next year and had thought the views would be lovely. Is vibration the issue?

 

I could be in for a very long 10 days if there's something awful about that location. Do tell.

 

Our favourite cabin, QE and QV, for a couple of cruises was corner Q5 on deck 5 and we enjoyed every minute there, and I don't recall QE vibrations were intrusive.

I have my fingers crossed the Cadiz side trip sorted out any QV  major vibration problems, because by choice, we booked an aft cabin for our next trip.

 

Enjoy. 🙂

[exlondoner]

I agree about the layout. But, when I visited one, I found the noise from the propulsion and the wake extremely distracting. I asked the inmates about this. He said he never noticed it, she said she was constantly aware of it and it kept her awake. And I’ve spoken to others who have complained about vibration and rattling. But it obviously doesn’t worry everybody.

[BigMac1953]

We've had Deck 8 on the stern on both QE and QV umpteen times and only once was there severe vibrations but that was because we were reversing into La Palma and it only lasted 5 minutes.

 

We've even booked Deck 7 stern for next year on QA.

[LittleFish1976]

23 hours ago, Sue-B said:

Personally I love the aft suites on QE and QV but appreciate that some others don’t.  I’ve heard people say they don’t like the longer walk (I don’t think it’s that long!) to the B lifts that take you up to the Grills Lounge and restaurants, and others that have reported vibration issues mainly on decks 4 and 5 (we’ve never had these issues even when the stabilisers have been in overdrive in rough seas), and some that don’t like the extra movement that you can sometimes feel at the back vs a midships position.

 

However, we love the fact that they have a great balcony with beautiful views especially on sail away (the old QV ones were particular lovely before they squared her back off to put in extra cabins), there is hardly any noise from corridors given nobody is going past your room unless they are lost(!) and the ‘extra’ walk helps the waistline from the fabulous food in QG!  I also like the room layout more than the midship Q4 (with the curtain partition) and the double sink in the bathroom.  We’ve been in those aft suites in bad weather through the bay of biscay on more than one occasion and had no issues at all.

 

Depending on what deck you have booked the layout differs slightly, and the middle suite is the one we usually avoid as we don’t find the space works quite as well, and the corner Q5 (which I think is what you have booked) has the wrap around balcony (again we like this) so the room is slightly smaller because of this.  We were in one of the corner ones on deck 5 on QE last year and we loved the extra outside space at the side and dragged our chairs around when the sun hit that side.
 

It really is all about personal choice, we always book the aft suites if we can on the vistas and I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time onboard the beautiful QE in whatever room you have 😀

 

 

Thanks so much for your answer Sue-B. I feel reassured, along with the other positive comments. It seems that I have indeed booked the one in the middle - 5198 - so it's a Q6 in fact. I found a rather good youtube video of it and I think the space looks fine for me. I really like being at the other end of the ship from the dining room and Grills lounge. I need some stretching of the legs and movement after dinner, and the walk to the cabin is useful incidental exercise.

 

And yes, I intend to have a lovely time! Thank you.

 

[LadyL1]

21 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

It seems that I have indeed booked the one in the middle - 5198 - so it's a Q6 in fact. ……….

 

We have had 5198 on QE; the space is wonderful and would have no hesitation booking again. Enjoy your cruise.

[Sue-B]

47 minutes ago, LadyL1 said:

We have had 5198 on QE; the space is wonderful and would have no hesitation booking again. Enjoy your cruise.

We’ve been there too @LadyL1 - well almost - equivalent one on QV about a decade ago!
 

@LittleFish1976 I’m sure you’ll love it - not my best cabin shots - was too excited at the time so was just ‘iPhone click happy’ - but a little taster for you 😀 The sofa area is the opposite side but haven’t got a photo of that to share for the aft middle staterooms 😀

 

Have an amazing holiday 😀