Questions about upgrade offers

[Momto3girlsintheCarolinas]

Hello!

 

I know that Carnival does upgrades a bit differently.   I can "bid" for an upgrade on other lines, but my understanding is that Carnival will just offer SOME guests a better room for a set price and you can take it or leave it.

 

1. Has anyone had experience with this?
2. How do they decide who to offer the upgrade to?
3. Is it a good deal?
4. When are upgrade offers made? How far from the sail date?
5. Where to they appear on your account.  Screen shot, please?

 

Thank  you!!

[jsglow]

1) There is no bidding that I'm aware of.

2) Presumably if they want to free up your selected cabin, and as a means to squeeze more revenue out of the ship when possible.  Frankly, nobody knows.

3) A huge 'it depends'.

4) My experience on this is about a month or two out from sailing. YMMV.

5) You get an email. It also appears in bright text on your Carnival Home page. You get to accept/reject with one click.

Edited February 4, 2023 by jsglow

[mz-s]

They love to send upgrades about a month out, get people out of balconies into the slower-selling suites (or interiors to balconies, etc) at an upgrade, then they can sell those balconies to last minute cruisers at a premium.

You have two options when you get an upgrade: take it or leave it. You'll know if it's a good deal or not because by the time you decide it'll be gone.

 

These upgrades seem to only be offered to folks who book directly with Carnival or a PVP, not people who use TAs.

[jsglow]

3 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

These upgrades seem to only be offered to folks who book directly with Carnival or a PVP, not people who use TAs.

Nope.  I was surprised to just get one on a TA booked cruise. Carnival ALWAYS wants my Porthole back. But it's routinely another Interior (same classification) on a higher deck. NEVER.

Edited February 4, 2023 by jsglow

[mz-s]

9 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Nope.  I was surprised to just get one on a TA booked cruise. Carnival ALWAYS wants my Porthole back. But it's routinely another Interior (same classification) on a higher deck. NEVER.

 

Wow, I believe yours is the first I've heard of a TA booking receiving an upgrade offer from Carnival. Gives me hope! 🙂

[Essiesmom]

I booked a super cheap cruise on Ecstasy out of Jax, a 1A inside for a solo, knowing that the ship would be swapped for Spirit and that Spirit did not have 1A cabins, so whatever I was assigned would be an upgrade.  After the swap got into the system, I was assigned one of the 4K insides with a splendid view of a lifeboat, same square footage and layout as a balcony.  It was what I had hoped for.  I think the total I paid solo for four days was $218.  An upgrade offer appeared in my booking for a balcony for $100.  I declined because I hardly use a balcony.  EM

[mrpayroll]

We recvd a phone call and had to decide during the call. 

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Wow, I believe yours is the first I've heard of a TA booking receiving an upgrade offer from Carnival. Gives me hope! 🙂

My prized Porthole doncha know. REJECTED. 👍

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, mrpayroll said:

We recvd a phone call and had to decide during the call. 

I've had that happen too, usually very close to the cruise if I remember correctly.

[simplelife]

12 hours ago, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

 

 

1. Has anyone had experience with this? I usually receive an email offer.  It appears in my planner, also
2. How do they decide who to offer the upgrade to? I have no idea (I book my cruises directly through the website - I'm not sure if that is a factor)
3. Is it a good deal? Sometimes. 
4. When are upgrade offers made? How far from the sail date? usually a few weeks out
5. Where to they appear on your account.  Screen shot, please? I usually get an email

 

Thank  you!!

 

[KaiBlue]

Just got a call from their 'upgrade department' last week for our sailing at the end of next week (so about 9 days out).  $100 for an update from a deck 7 interior to a deck 8 balcony on a 3 day cruise.  Normally I might have taken it but we haven't cruised in an interior for almost 30 years and really wanted to try it out.  They did want me to decide on the spot.  This was only the 2nd upgrade offer I've ever received and the first one was for a ridiculous price so turned that one down as well.  We have always booked with a PVP.  

 

This cruise was sold out a few weeks ago so obviously rooms are opening up and they are trying to maximize revenue. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by KaiBlue
Next week not 'last':)

[jsglow]

3 minutes ago, KaiBlue said:

Just got a call from their 'upgrade department' last week for our sailing at the end of last week (so about 9 days out).  $100 for an update from a deck 7 interior to a deck 8 balcony on a 3 day cruise.  Normally I might have taken it but we haven't cruised in an interior for almost 30 years and really wanted to try it out.  They did want me to decide on the spot.  This was only the 2nd upgrade offer I've ever received and the first one was for a ridiculous price so turned that one down as well.  We have always booked with a PVP.  

 

This cruise was sold out a few weeks ago so obviously rooms are opening up and they are trying to maximize revenue. 

Yeah, those near term ones are typically phone calls.

[lostsoulcruiser]

23 hours ago, mz-s said:

They love to send upgrades about a month out, get people out of balconies into the slower-selling suites (or interiors to balconies, etc) at an upgrade, then they can sell those balconies to last minute cruisers at a premium.

You have two options when you get an upgrade: take it or leave it. You'll know if it's a good deal or not because by the time you decide it'll be gone.

 

These upgrades seem to only be offered to folks who book directly with Carnival or a PVP, not people who use TAs.

From personal experience, I can relate the last sentence in your comment is incorrect.  I received an upgrade on my next cruise which was booked through a TA.  It was $38 for both of us to get a balcony on a higher deck on the ship (in my case, the spa deck on the Glory).  Don't know why I took it, but I never was that high on the ship so I thought the price was cheap.  The upgrade request went through my TA rather than coming to me directly, not surprising.  

BTW, in my case the upgrade offer came in December with my cruise coming in April.  The ship appears pretty much sold out so I guess the offers went out early so regular balconies can be offered to either the public or those in lower cabin categories.  

Good deal or not good deal is a personnel choice, I have had balconies before but never that high on the ship, hoping for either a good view or the last place the Kraken will attack.

[mz-s]

32 minutes ago, lostsoulcruiser said:

From personal experience, I can relate the last sentence in your comment is incorrect.  I received an upgrade on my next cruise which was booked through a TA.  It was $38 for both of us to get a balcony on a higher deck on the ship (in my case, the spa deck on the Glory).  Don't know why I took it, but I never was that high on the ship so I thought the price was cheap.  The upgrade request went through my TA rather than coming to me directly, not surprising.  

BTW, in my case the upgrade offer came in December with my cruise coming in April.  The ship appears pretty much sold out so I guess the offers went out early so regular balconies can be offered to either the public or those in lower cabin categories.  

Good deal or not good deal is a personnel choice, I have had balconies before but never that high on the ship, hoping for either a good view or the last place the Kraken will attack.

yeah somebody else said they’ve received upgrades through their TA as well. That’s news to me, in the past I’ve only heard of upgrades being offered to people who booked directly with Carnival. It’s good to know they offer upgrades to TA bookings as well though!

[canes20]

On 2/4/2023 at 11:47 AM, mz-s said:

They love to send upgrades about a month out, get people out of balconies into the slower-selling suites (or interiors to balconies, etc) at an upgrade, then they can sell those balconies to last minute cruisers at a premium.

You have two options when you get an upgrade: take it or leave it. You'll know if it's a good deal or not because by the time you decide it'll be gone.

 

These upgrades seem to only be offered to folks who book directly with Carnival or a PVP, not people who use TAs.

 

Second paragraph not always true. We received offer, thought it was high, called the number, made an offer for what we thought we wanted to spend (nowhere near their offer) and they accepted the offer. 

It was from a balcony to a suite.

Edited February 5, 2023 by canes20

[Joebucks]

The past two Januarys, I had similar experiences. Both 7 day cruises. Both booked an interior. Both were offered a $2xx.00 charge to upgrade to a balcony. To my knowledge the upgrade was offered closer to the booking than it was to the sail date. 

[TPG40]

We just upgraded from a regular interior to a Havana interior on our May 14th Celebration cruise. The upgrade we were offered was from Interior to Interior(higher deck), Cloud 9 Spa interior, or Havana interior. We took the Havana interior because we liked the extra access to the bar and pool in the Havana area. It came to my email and was in the "Manage My Booking" section on Carnival's website.
After reading this thread I've got my fingers crossed for a last minute phone call in the spring offering a balcony upgrade, lol.

 

EDIT: We booked in November, got the upgrade offer a week or two ago, a little over 100 days from embarkation.

Edited February 5, 2023 by TPG40

[cruisinfamily7609]

We booked two cabins directly through Carnival, and the booking for the cabin my kids are staying in (they are 26, 23 and 15) received an offer for an upgrade. We’re cruising in June and got the offer probably a week ago or so. They wanted too much just to go from an inside to OV though ($550) and we said no. 

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by cruisinfamily7609
Hit enter too soon.

[john91498]

Was offered a suite for $450 and I said that was too much. Was put on hold and they came back with $350. Decided to go with the $350 even though I would of taken the $450...

[Indytraveler83]

We have gotten upgrade offers on probably 50% of our cruises.  It seems that happen to us more regularly than most (we use a pvp for bookings if that matters). Ours always seem to come shortly after we pay off the cruise (and we typically let Carnival do the automatic deduction at the final payment deadline.)

 

The offers seems to be nearly guaranteed to happen when we book an Oceanview.  Less likely when we book a balcony, especially if it's an "upgraded" balcony like an extended or spa balcony.

 

About half the time the upgrades are super cheap (less than $50 total) and we grab them.  The other half the time, it seems like the cost is exactly what paying for the upgraded room woulda been in the first place.  

 

Last year we got an epic upgrade offer of $300 to upgrade from a cove balcony to a suite on the Horizon for an 8 day cruise.  I wanted so badly to take it, but we were buying a house at the time and were essentially told not to spend anything more while the deal went through, so we had to turn it down.  

[wemjam]

On 2/4/2023 at 11:34 AM, Momto3girlsintheCarolinas said:

Hello!

 

I know that Carnival does upgrades a bit differently.   I can "bid" for an upgrade on other lines, but my understanding is that Carnival will just offer SOME guests a better room for a set price and you can take it or leave it.

 

1. Has anyone had experience with this?
2. How do they decide who to offer the upgrade to?
3. Is it a good deal?
4. When are upgrade offers made? How far from the sail date?
5. Where to they appear on your account.  Screen shot, please?

 

Thank  you!!

1.  Didn't receive any offers for years, then in the last 5 or so received a few.

2.  There is no secret recipe.  I will say I feel that the lower category room we have booked the more likely we were to receive offers.   

3.  A couple times for me it has been, and I have taken it. Other times not so much.  Might save a few bucks, but nothing spectacular, and often for a room I may not want.

4.  My offers have always come several months out from sailing.  Never a phone call, always via email, and I have "seen" an offer once when I logged into my account that I never received any notification on.

 

[1kaper]

14 hours ago, Indytraveler83 said:

The offers seems to be nearly guaranteed to happen when we book an Oceanview.  Less likely when we book a balcony, especially if it's an "upgraded" balcony like an extended or spa balcony.

 

 

This was our experience.  Except inside cabins.  Every time we've booked an inside we've gotten an upgrade offer.  Last time (November) was a call the week before the cruise.  I checked my cruise planner daily prior to that.  

When we've booked balconies we didn't get offers.  Our last balcony was a cove so I'm guessing it wasn't as valuable. 

[d-train]

We had a couple upgrade offers pre-covid. Got an email with the offer each time.

We took one - moved from a cove balcony to a spa balcony for like $112 for three of us.

The others, we already had the cabin of our choice and declined.

[K&RCurt]

This is pre-COVID but we had booked one of the very few balcony cabins on the Paradise and less than a week before sailing got a phone call offering an upgrade to a suite for $200 and we jumped on it.

 

I am sure there was demand for the very few balconies and we just happened to be lucky to get the call and answer it when we did,

[slavigne5577]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:05 AM, lostsoulcruiser said:

From personal experience, I can relate the last sentence in your comment is incorrect.  I received an upgrade on my next cruise which was booked through a TA.  It was $38 for both of us to get a balcony on a higher deck on the ship (in my case, the spa deck on the Glory).  Don't know why I took it, but I never was that high on the ship so I thought the price was cheap.  The upgrade request went through my TA rather than coming to me directly, not surprising.  

BTW, in my case the upgrade offer came in December with my cruise coming in April.  The ship appears pretty much sold out so I guess the offers went out early so regular balconies can be offered to either the public or those in lower cabin categories.  

Good deal or not good deal is a personnel choice, I have had balconies before but never that high on the ship, hoping for either a good view or the last place the Kraken will attack.

Those balconies are hot bring a fan if you like to sleep cool. I will never get a10th floor balcony on Glory again.