You choose your cabin- get unwanted upgrade

[PurpleTraveller]

I received an unwanted upgrade on my Royal cruise in December despite having my booking marked "No Upgrade". I received the email after the close of business on a Friday night and by the time I could speak to someone (my PVP does not work on the weekend) at Princess on Saturday morning, I was told that my booked cabin had been allocated to someone else and I couldn't have it back. On the email I was not given a time frame or option to reject the upgrade. I went with the flow but some would be very upset. I don't understand why Princess thinks this is a good business practice. Are we supposed to be delighted with a free unwanted upgrade? 

 

Edited February 28 by PurpleTraveller

[tulok]

My TA got a call from Princess that they will upgrade me for a small amount from balcony to a guaranteed mini suite. We turned it down as we chose deck 10, near aft and I don’t care to take the chance on a location I don’t like. It is marked no upgrade as we are sailing with others. I hope they don’t decide to upgrade us anyway. Hopefully someone else with take the upgrade.

[Teechur]

1 hour ago, Crystabel said:

Ugg! Always in small print! 

LOL, instead of being pistol-whipped, you are pencil-whipped. 🤣

[MsSoCalCruiser]

6 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Who is Gerrilyn?

 

If she's a YouTuber or Blogger, they create their own drama for views.

Gerrilyn is very good. She always gives her honest opinion. Gerrilyn does not create drama for likes or views. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

9 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

 Sometimes an upgrade is really not an upgrade.  At this point I guess you just make lemonade.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I live in fear with every cruise I book in the hope I don't get the unwanted upgrade. I always mark my bookings as "no upgrade" but know it happens and just hope it doesn't happen to me. So far it hasn't. I choose my cabin and if I can't get an acceptable one then I book another cruise... perhaps another sailing of the same itinerary or a completely different cruise if that is not possible. The cabin position is important to us and if we got an unrequested upgrade it could spoil the whole cruise for us.

 

It is in the conditions that they can do it so we have no cause to complain to Princess but I wouldn't be a happy bunny.

[dog]

4 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I live in fear with every cruise I book in the hope I don't get the unwanted upgrade. I always mark my bookings as "no upgrade" but know it happens and just hope it doesn't happen to me. So far it hasn't. I choose my cabin and if I can't get an acceptable one then I book another cruise... perhaps another sailing of the same itinerary or a completely different cruise if that is not possible. The cabin position is important to us and if we got an unrequested upgrade it could spoil the whole cruise for us.

 

It is in the conditions that they can do it so we have no cause to complain to Princess but I wouldn't be a happy bunny.

When the 2 options are given: you choose or Princess chooses, wouldn’t you think they would stop giving upgrades without our approval?  Sometimes the you choose costs more!

[that]

Gerrilyn is TA?

[kabmab]

We were marked by our TA no upgrade but received an upgrade with no notification.  I happened to notice our cabin had changed.  TA tried to get it back but they said it would take three days.  Of course in that time our original cabin was sold and they would not move those customers.  Once onboard we found our cabin was across the hall from crew utility room AND a passenger stairwell.  When we talked to the Captain's Club person she said obviously our box wasn't checked no upgrade.  Princess will do as they wish.

[mittenscat23]

14 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Agree with @Lady Arwen.  It seems we need to be vigilant as to cabin assignment and if the unexpected happens be able to contact PCL ASAP to get the original cabin assignment restored.  If time has passed, it will be too late.

Are you not given the chance to decline the upgrade?  The cruise line just changes your cabin?

[dog]

5 minutes ago, mittenscat23 said:

Are you not given the chance to decline the upgrade?  The cruise line just changes your cabin?

Usually you have 24-48 hours to decline upgrade IF you receive notification.

But my post stated my fb friend did not get notified and found out upon embarkation today.

[Teechur]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

This could give someone a pithy attitude.😉

[mittenscat23]

9 hours ago, dog said:

Usually you have 24-48 hours to decline upgrade IF you receive notification.

But my post stated my fb friend did not get notified and found out upon embarkation today.

That's horrible.   I am going on a Princess cruise in January. I said sure to accepting upgrades.  I assumed that I could refuse if I didn't like upgrade.  I would be very unhappy if I got upgraded to a cabin I did not want. I will watch my reservation carefully.

Thanks

[20165]

Is this really that common?  In our 30+ cruises, we have never been upgraded other than one where we put in bids for upgrades.  We have been traveling with 2 cabins, on for us one for our kids for the last 15+ years, so maybe that lowered our chances of being upgraded?

[Cruise Raider]

39 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Is this really that common?  In our 30+ cruises, we have never been upgraded other than one where we put in bids for upgrades.  We have been traveling with 2 cabins, on for us one for our kids for the last 15+ years, so maybe that lowered our chances of being upgraded?

We choose our cabin very carefully and twice, we’ve received an unexpected upgrade, one we loved (inside to a balcony) and one, we got back in time to get our desired cabin back.  But, I always have my CVP mark my cabin as ‘no upgrade’ as usually the rooms leftover are not the most desirable ones and are in noisy or bad locations.  

[ontheweb]

23 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

If you booked it online with Princess, you would call in and tell them to mark it No upgrade.

 

If you booked with a TA or CVP call them to mark it.

 

But, recheck it periodically, as mentioned, they sometimes UG it anyway.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I remember reading these kinds of threads and asking our TA who assured me that they would not upgrade us. And sure enough, Princess did an unwanted upgrade to a cabin below a bar. Our TA was not able to get our original cabin back as I found out too late, but at least got us close to where we were with cabins above and below us.

 

 

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, dog said:

Usually you have 24-48 hours to decline upgrade IF you receive notification.

But my post stated my fb friend did not get notified and found out upon embarkation today.

We used a TA, so the notification would go to him. He claimed he never got it, and I believe him. Princess told him that it was sent. So, either it got lost in cyberspace or Princess was not telling the truth.

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We used a TA, so the notification would go to him. He claimed he never got it, and I believe him. Princess told him that it was sent. So, either it got lost in cyberspace or Princess was not telling the truth.

Same happened to us, no email was sent.  

[Muffinz]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:57 AM, PacnGoNow said:

If you booked it online with Princess, you would call in and tell them to mark it No upgrade.

 

If you booked with a TA or CVP call them to mark it.

 

But, recheck it periodically, as mentioned, they sometimes UG it anyway.

 

 

 

 

We did this when we booked our cruise for Dec 2024 - just incase they give us a stateroom in a noisy location or something

[cr8tiv1]

I have been fortunate not to be given an unwanted upgrade.  ONLY once I dd I receive an upsell  to a suite (this in itself was the start of other issues/lol).  

 

I could never understand....If Princess gives you and unwanted upgrade AND you couldn't get your original cabin back...why....

 

Princess couldn't give the returned upgrade to the person who stole your cabin.  Wouldn't they be just as thrilled to be upgraded for free?  That would make too much sense.  

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

11 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I have been fortunate not to be given an unwanted upgrade.  ONLY once I dd I receive an upsell  to a suite (this in itself was the start of other issues/lol).  

 

I could never understand....If Princess gives you and unwanted upgrade AND you couldn't get your original cabin back...why....

 

Princess couldn't give the returned upgrade to the person who stole your cabin.  Wouldn't they be just as thrilled to be upgraded for free?  That would make too much sense.  

It might be that the person that took your old cabin wasn't an upgrade themselves. It might have been chosen by them once your old cabin was released back to inventory. I think it could get quite messy to have to start backing out cabin upgrades or assignments. To me it makes perfect sense for the free upgrade to be a one-way event... even if it is really annoying and even upsetting if you can't get your old cabin back. I get that 😞 

[trbarton]

On 2/28/2024 at 12:58 PM, tulok said:

My TA got a call from Princess that they will upgrade me for a small amount from balcony to a guaranteed mini suite. We turned it down as we chose deck 10, near aft and I don’t care to take the chance on a location I don’t like. It is marked no upgrade as we are sailing with others. I hope they don’t decide to upgrade us anyway. Hopefully someone else with take the upgrade.

Was you TA able to find the location of the stateroom they were offering?  Would having that information made a difference?

 

Tom🤔

[tulok]

No it was only a guarantee. Maybe knowing which cabin would have made a difference. When we booked there were plenty of cabins and we could have picked a mini on deck 9, but I really liked Carib deck 10 and we like the end of mid aft. 1/2 covered deck on a large balcony is better than a sofa to us. The cabin is a perfect choice for us.  

The offer was only 200. more but regret is worth a lot more. This is our first Princess, and on Emerald. From looking on the website there are a lot of minis and only a couple of balconies left. I guess that was why our TA got the offer. And it was an email not a call. I got that incorrect. Maybe they are emailing now before moving. 

Edited March 1 by tulok

[dog]

On 2/28/2024 at 4:41 PM, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Gerrilyn is very good. She always gives her honest opinion. Gerrilyn does not create drama for likes or views. 

She just met John P at the International Cafe this morning. He reads her posts on fb too!

[katmigordon]

If we do get upgraded it would just be to another handicap room right?  They wouldn't just take that away from a passenger with needs right?