Upgrades

[Latkebabka]

Does HAL ever upgrade passenger cabins gratis before or at embarkation?

[oakridger]

7 hours ago, Latkebabka said:

Does HAL ever upgrade passenger cabins gratis before or at embarkation?

 

Short answer is No.  Has it ever happened in the history of Holland America Line?  Maybe

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

~Nancy

[kazu]

they can.  They are not as frequent as they were years ago.

 

HAL will try to sell the upgrade first (upsell) which many people may be willing to pay for.

 

A lot of sailings seem to be sold out as well which minimizes any opportunity for an upgrade unless one category is over sold and another not.  (Pretty rare with upsells offered first).

[CruiserBruce]

There are free upgrades. How many is hard to know, because Cruise Critic is a small sampler of the cruising population, so we can't know that XX number were upgraded on this cruise, or YY number on that cruise. Guarantee bookings are upgraded frequently.

[Mtn2Sea]

In the last two years, I was upgraded from an OV to a veranda on two cruises, so it does happen. On my cruise last month, no bump at all.

[Nickelpenny]

I was upgraded once from an inside to an OV. I didn't know until embarkation and noticed the cabin number was different when checking in with the facial recognition thingy!  Pleasantly surprised!  (this was last October).

[DaveOKC]

Answer - it depends!  The fuller the ship is booked, the less likely for free upgrades (IMO).  Also, you are more likely to get an upgrade if you book a lower level cabin than if you booked a higher level one (such as a suite).  HAL tries to "upsell" people to the higher level cabins first, before giving them away.  Of course, this can result in lower level cabins not being full, so it helps free upgrades in those.

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It happens sometimes.

[Latkebabka]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

 Guarantee bookings are upgraded frequently.

What is a "guarantee booking"?  I have booked and chosen my cabin.

[CruiserBruce]

4 minutes ago, Latkebabka said:

What is a "guarantee booking"?  I have booked and chosen my cabin.

Then you don't have a guarantee booking (commonly shortened to "GTY".

 

A GTY booking is a marketing tool where you book a minimum level cabin (say VH), and the cruise line gets to pick your cabin, which can be any cabin at that level (VH) or above. Usually these bookings are at a cabin level where there is very few of those cabins, and an upgrade very commonly ensues.

[Haljo1935]

8 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Then you don't have a guarantee booking (commonly shortened to "GTY".

 

A GTY booking is a marketing tool where you book a minimum level cabin (say VH), and the cruise line gets to pick your cabin, which can be any cabin at that level (VH) or above. Usually these bookings are at a cabin level where there is very few of those cabins, and an upgrade very commonly ensues.

We did a GTY (something we NEVER do) and night before departure noticed cabin # had changed. We were upgraded from obstructed balcony to a Signature Suite at no charge. It was a lovely surprise. 

[Vict0riann]

Our new PCC mentioned on one phone call that she had noticed that our account was marked "Do not Upgrade" - I guess done by our previous PCC.  We had her remove that!

[Haljo1935]

12 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Our new PCC mentioned on one phone call that she had noticed that our account was marked "Do not Upgrade" - I guess done by our previous PCC.  We had her remove that!

I have my cruises marked per booking - the GTY was noted as "upgrade," true aft cabins that I select I have marked as "do not upgrade" to protect the wake view.

I learned my lesson the hard way: thought "upgrade" meant better so sure, I wanted better at no extra cost. We were moved from a deck 4 aft w/extra deep balcony to starboard mid on deck 8 under Lido because it was considered a more desirable location thus an upgrade. We were not able to get our original cabin back. The agent told us the way to prevent that in the future was to nite the booking as "do not upgrade" then call in to inquire about upgrading if we wanted to. So, that's how we do it now. I review the upgrade notation on each booking.

Edited January 10 by Haljo1935
Typo

[DaveOKC]

1 minute ago, Haljo1935 said:

I have my cruises marked per booking - the GTY was noted as "upgrade," true aft cabins that I select I have marked as "do not upgrade" to protect the wake view.

I learned my lesson the hard way: thought "upgrade" meant better so sure, I wanted better at no extra cost. We were moved from a deck 4 aft w/extra deep balcony to starboard mid on deck 8 under Lido because it was considered a more desirable location thus an upgrade. We were not able to get our original cabin back. The agent told us the way to prevent that in the future was to nite the booking as "do not upgrade" then call in to inquire about upgrading if we wanted to. So, that's how we do it now.

Whenever I select my cabin, I mark the reservation DO NOT UPGRADE.  I still get upsell offers (last cruise had two, one the night prior to sailing and took both).

 

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Whenever I select my cabin, I mark the reservation DO NOT UPGRADE.  I still get upsell offers (last cruise had two, one the night prior to sailing and took both).

 

Correct - you will still get upgrade and upsell offers, which you can take or decline, but you will not automatically be upgraded to a different cabin. Huge difference. 

Edited January 11 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Iamthesea]

Could you please tell me where to find that notation?  We book with a TA.

[Haljo1935]

49 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Could you please tell me where to find that notation?  We book with a TA.

It will be visible to HAL Reservations, so any agent (including TA & PCC) will be able to see it. I don't have one available to show you, but you can see it in the details near the end of your booking confirmation. Ask your TA to send you a current one.

Edited January 11 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Shmoo here]

16 hours ago, oakridger said:

Has it ever happened in the history of Holland America Line?  Maybe

Happened to us.  We were upgraded from an oceanview to an verandah about a month before our cruise once.

[Latkebabka]

8 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Then you don't have a guarantee booking (commonly shortened to "GTY".

 

A GTY booking is a marketing tool where you book a minimum level cabin (say VH), and the cruise line gets to pick your cabin, which can be any cabin at that level (VH) or above. Usually these bookings are at a cabin level where there is very few of those cabins, and an upgrade very commonly ensues.

Seems counterintuitive that someone who booked the same class of cabin would be upgraded before someone who selected a specific cabin, presumably paying more than the GTY.  

[CruiserBruce]

9 hours ago, Latkebabka said:

Seems counterintuitive that someone who booked the same class of cabin would be upgraded before someone who selected a specific cabin, presumably paying more than the GTY.  

You are paying less for the GTY booking, but giving the cruise line flexibility to assign as best suits the cruise line.

[Ilovesailaway]

I cruise more often than my DW. When she isn't with me I could care less about the cabin. I book inside GTY to go as cheap as possible. I have done this with other lines and always had an upsell offer. Sometimes the offer is very good and I take it. I have never been upgraded for free.

I have my 3rd booking coming up on HAL. No DW on this cruise so I booked an inside GTY on a Black Friday promo. No cabin yet but I know it could be a last minute thing. I am courious to see how the process works with HAL.

[Latkebabka]

9 hours ago, Ilovesailaway said:

I cruise more often than my DW. When she isn't with me I could care less about the cabin. I book inside GTY to go as cheap as possible. I have done this with other lines and always had an upsell offer. Sometimes the offer is very good and I take it. I have never been upgraded for free.

I have my 3rd booking coming up on HAL. No DW on this cruise so I booked an inside GTY on a Black Friday promo. No cabin yet but I know it could be a last minute thing. I am courious to see how the process works with HAL.

I don’t know, but I think an inside anywhere is better than an outside that might look out at lifeboats.  At least you know what your “view” will be, so unless position on the ship matters, inside GTY sounds good.  I booked a specific suite and so you might be lucky and even with an upsell, you might get an even better suite than I paid $$$$ for. 

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, Latkebabka said:

I don’t know, but I think an inside anywhere is better than an outside that might look out at lifeboats.  At least you know what your “view” will be, so unless position on the ship matters, inside GTY sounds good.  I booked a specific suite and so you might be lucky and even with an upsell, you might get an even better suite than I paid $$$$ for. 

Here's an obstructed balcony that looks at life boats - it was actually pretty nice compared to windowless walls.

 

[Latkebabka]

On 1/11/2024 at 8:50 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Here's an obstructed balcony that looks at life boats - it was actually pretty nice compared to windowless walls.

Thanks. I’ve never been in an inside cabin or had an obstructed view, so I will admit to having made assumptions.  I thought some cabins are fully obstructed and that’s what I was thinking about. 

[erdufylla]

On 1/11/2024 at 7:36 PM, Latkebabka said:

I don’t know, but I think an inside anywhere is better than an outside that might look out at lifeboats.  At least you know what your “view” will be, so unless position on the ship matters, inside GTY sounds good. 

I think it all just depends on personal preferences and conditions. People who suffer from claustrophobia, or people who have difficulties with sleep/wake cycles might find an inside room difficult to be in, especially over time. I’ve got an inside GTY for my upcoming transatlantic, because I wasn’t majorly concerned about being able to wake up early most days, but if I’m offered an upgrade to a room with a window, even an obstructed view, I’ll probably take it, just so the natural light of the morning will help me wake up.