Unwanted Upgrade

[SCX22]

Sometimes Princess shuffles passenger cabins to spread the load of the cabin stewards.  Sometimes on sailings that aren't full, there are banks of cabins that aren't booked and the cabin steward assigned to that area wouldn't have very much work to do.  Not sure if the crew appreciation earned would also take a hit.

 

 

[Stosh68]

1 hour ago, tserface said:

I'm not sure why they call them "upgrades".  It seems like so many of these stories are from people who were switched to a cabin they liked less than their original cabin.  Yeah, it might be a category upgrade, but people book rooms for a reason.  It seems kind of arrogant of the cruise line to move them without asking them first if they want this, so called, upgrade.

Do they just want to sell the original room to someone they like better?  It doesn't make sense why they'd move people with no notice.

 

Hard to quantify "so many people".   Happy people don't complain, there could be hundreds of people upgraded for every unhappy person.

 

As for the why, it's easier to sell the cheaper cabins.  If you have 100 empty cabins, and all of them are expensive, you have to find 100 people willing to pay expensive rates.  If you "upgrade" 100 existing people who have already paid, then you can sell 100 less expensive cabins far easier.

 

It comes down to being better for the lines to sell every cabin for less revenue, than to have empty cabins that generate no revenue.

[Abercrombie2019]

2 hours ago, tserface said:

I'm not sure why they call them "upgrades".  It seems like so many of these stories are from people who were switched to a cabin they liked less than their original cabin.  Yeah, it might be a category upgrade, but people book rooms for a reason.  It seems kind of arrogant of the cruise line to move them without asking them first if they want this, so called, upgrade.

Do they just want to sell the original room to someone they like better?  It doesn't make sense why they'd move people with no notice.

You are right - many upgrades aren't really upgrades, but sometimes they can be good.  Our first upgrade was from an Obstructed Oceanview (OW) to a Caribe Balcony (BE) on Ruby Princess. 

 

The only other time we were upgraded was to move us from the "Covid Isolation" area on Discovery Princess.  This one stung a bit because we had one of the large balconies on Dolphin deck (BD).  Fortunately we were moved to a deluxe balcony on Caribe (DB), and now we don't want to get a room without the loveseat.

 

On our last cruise, we managed to book one of the deluxe obstructed balconies with the large angled balcony on Regal and spent a year checking to make sure that we weren't moved to an unwanted "upgrade". 

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

True.  But, it may help.  

I agree, but I was just saying it still does not guarantee that they will not give you an unwanted "upgrade".

[tserface]

1 hour ago, Stosh68 said:

 

Hard to quantify "so many people".   Happy people don't complain, there could be hundreds of people upgraded for every unhappy person.

 

As for the why, it's easier to sell the cheaper cabins.  If you have 100 empty cabins, and all of them are expensive, you have to find 100 people willing to pay expensive rates.  If you "upgrade" 100 existing people who have already paid, then you can sell 100 less expensive cabins far easier.

 

It comes down to being better for the lines to sell every cabin for less revenue, than to have empty cabins that generate no revenue.

You are correct.  It's unlikely that a lot of people who are thrilled with the "upgrade" would come on to complain about it... or even mention it.  That makes sense.

 

It does seem like they do this more for the benefit of the cruise line than for the customer since it seems like they often put them in slightly higher category rooms that they can't sell... like I see people saying they got moved to somewhere else on the ship, or under the buffet, or into an balcony with the view slightly blocked, etc.

 

So, I guess technically it is a category upgrade, but it's not always a more beneficial room for the person who thought to buy ahead and get the room they want.

 

But, your point is valid. I wonder how many people get "upgraded" and are thrilled about it.  We used to have posts where people say they were visited by the "Upgrade Fairy", but I have seen any of those for some time.

[tserface]

4 minutes ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

You are right - many upgrades aren't really upgrades, but sometimes they can be good.  Our first upgrade was from an Obstructed Oceanview (OW) to a Caribe Balcony (BE) on Ruby Princess. 

 

The only other time we were upgraded was to move us from the "Covid Isolation" area on Discovery Princess.  This one stung a bit because we had one of the large balconies on Dolphin deck (BD).  Fortunately we were moved to a deluxe balcony on Caribe (DB), and now we don't want to get a room without the loveseat.

 

On our last cruise, we managed to book one of the deluxe obstructed balconies with the large angled balcony on Regal and spent a year checking to make sure that we weren't moved to an unwanted "upgrade". 

Yeah, it may be beneficial to a lot of people.  Sounds like it worked for you a couple of times.  Also, sounds like some upgrades are like the gateway drug to a wanting a better room next time.

[SargassoPirate]

18 hours ago, tserface said:

I'm not sure why they call them "upgrades".  It seems like so many of these stories are from people who were switched to a cabin they liked less than their original cabin.  Yeah, it might be a category upgrade, but people book rooms for a reason.  It seems kind of arrogant of the cruise line to move them without asking them first if they want this, so called, upgrade.

Do they just want to sell the original room to someone they like better?  It doesn't make sense why they'd move people with no notice.

They call it an upgrade when it's an upgrade in category, not location.

 

I figure there's a reason those particular locations are available, so they pull a sneaky and move unsuspecting passengers into those and then the better location is available for sale.

 

My warehouse TA always marks my bookings no upgrades and they have told me that the default settings for Princess bookings is "accept all upgrades".

 

Even so, I still check my bookings each morning.  

 

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

[brwombat]

The original post is exactly why I almost always call to request "no upgrade." Like the OP, I pick the stateroom I want for a variety of factors, and it's not worth the risk to me of being moved to a poorer location, even in a technically higher-category cabin. 

Now, if you aren't picky about your stateroom, leave the option open. You might really luck out -- when my sons were little, we took three cruises with my in-laws on Disney, and were bumped up from balcony staterooms to suites on two out of the three. In fact, they moved us into the huge Walter E. Disney Suite on the last one!

 

So... if you don't care, don't tell them "no upgrades." You might not be upgraded, and if you are, you might or might not like the new room assignment. If you think you might care about getting an unwanted upgrade, look on the deck plan for your ship and find the cabins one or two categories higher than yours, and see if there's any you really wouldn't want. If that's the case, call or chat and have them add the "no upgrade" flag to your booking. 

 

Oh, and it's technically a "no free upgrades" flag. You can still bid on an upgrade if you choose.

[cclvr]

To the OP...glad you were able to get your original cabin back.  We too are very particular about our cabin choice and always have it noted no upgrade by our CVP.  One year we did get notice of an upgrade but I was able to get it switched back...not sure what happened there.  So I thought now you had to bid for upgrades if you want them...or is Princess still giving free upgrades?