Chances of an upgrade?

[LastCallForCoffee]

We booked a cruise to Alaska on the Koningsdam a few days ago for May 25. Rolled the dice for a guaranteed NS. On our confirmation, it shows Category SC. There’s only 2 of those on the boat (I think) and it was the exact 2 we wouldn’t particularly want. (Extreme forward, Deck 11). The SA category rooms are not sold out and have availability as of now. Should I hold out hope that my cabin will be changed to a better one or sit here, freak out in silence and accept my weird room with a tiny balcony? This will be our 3rd cruise on HAL so we do have Mariner numbers, just not as many trips as most of you. 

[CruiserBruce]

OK, a few points here. Yes, the chances of being in a better cabin is good, for the reasons you mentioned. You definitely don't want to be in an SC, they have been discussed here frequently. I don't know if your late booking hinders or helps. In any case, you will definitely enjoy your cruise.

 

Second,  due to all the guarantee bookings,  (commonly shorten to GTY), you can't really tell anything anything about what what's available,  just what has been assigned or not. So literally, one additional booking could cause all of the NS to show as full, as all those other cabis mihht be GTY, but not assigned. 

 

You just have to wait and see what you get. But, again,  it's about enjoying your cruise.

[Haljo1935]

35 minutes ago, LastCallForCoffee said:

We booked a cruise to Alaska on the Koningsdam a few days ago for May 25. Rolled the dice for a guaranteed NS. On our confirmation, it shows Category SC. There’s only 2 of those on the boat (I think) and it was the exact 2 we wouldn’t particularly want. (Extreme forward, Deck 11). The SA category rooms are not sold out and have availability as of now...

My concern is that your confirmation shows category SC. As you mentioned, nobody wants to pay for those cabins, so tbe likelihood they are available is high. That means your GTY could well land you in one.

If that was my booking, I would call and ask what they show on their side. If they have you as a NS GTY w/o the SC, I would feel comfortable and no longer freak out in silence. If they have you as SC...

[LastCallForCoffee]

Thanks fellow travelers for the replies. The email we got does show SC as of now.  So, I’m going to go curl up in the corner in fetal position. Maybe they will call us and try to upsell a better room. 

[yerdua]

If the possibility of being assigned a cabin that would negatively impact your cruise to the point that you've described, why dont you just bite the bullet, call HAL and upsell yourself to a cabin you would be happy with? 

[CruiserBruce]

29 minutes ago, yerdua said:

If the possibility of being assigned a cabin that would negatively impact your cruise to the point that you've described, why dont you just bite the bullet, call HAL and upsell yourself to a cabin you would be happy with? 

Because one could save a couple hundred dollars per person. You can guess what wins every time.

[LastCallForCoffee]

24 minutes ago, yerdua said:

If the possibility of being assigned a cabin that would negatively impact your cruise to the point that you've described, why dont you just bite the bullet, call HAL and upsell yourself to a cabin you would be happy with? 

I did a chat with the cruise line and their site was less than stellar. Long delays in answering my questions and then my replies to their questions delayed to the point that they assumed I was done and ended the chat. So I called. One person had a baby screaming in the background and lots of people talking loudly and they kept putting me on hold. She couldn’t understand me nor could I understand her. Called another guy and he said we didn’t even have a Neptune Suite GTY in the system. So I was a little frustrated after all that.
 

I will make the most of whatever I get, I’m just being dramatic. I will still have all the perks that come with Neptune even if my room is not my preferred choice. I’m still going to hold out hope though.  

[Haljo1935]

12 minutes ago, LastCallForCoffee said:

I will make the most of whatever I get, I’m just being dramatic. I will still have all the perks that come with Neptune even if my room is not my preferred choice. I’m still going to hold out hope though.  

Yes their support is less than stellar but does not represent the ship board experience, thank goodness. Of course, it would be better if those 2 aligned🤷‍♀️

I hope you get a cabin assignment that makes you happy - you deserve it! You'll have an awesome cruise and I hope you'll update us once you get your assignment. 

Safe travels- enjoy your cruise!

[LastCallForCoffee]

22 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Because one could save a couple hundred dollars per person. You can guess what wins every time.

It’s $1000 pp difference from what I paid to what they want right now to choose my own room. If it were only a couple hundred pp I would have jumped on that for sure. 

[CruiserBruce]

13 minutes ago, LastCallForCoffee said:

It’s $1000 pp difference from what I paid to what they want right now to choose my own room. If it were only a couple hundred pp I would have jumped on that for sure. 

For a 7 day cruise? I would say that cruise is selling well. We have booked a 21 day cruise where the difference was $800pp to select your cabin versus a GTY.

[oaktreerb]

 @LastCallForCoffee I think HAL shows the category SC because it is the lowest NS category.  Another issue is that people who take a paid upsell to a NS can choose their stateroom.  You have saved $2000 which you can spend on experiences in Alaska.  We once had a stateroom in Alaska with a forward facing window.  The forward views out that window were amazing.  Alaska may be cold and rainy.  You may not spend much time on that balcony, anyway!  Enjoy the adventure!

[WriterOnDeck]

This is why I always book with a TA. The price is the same or lower, and my TA goes to bat for me when I want an upsell or other support in getting a better cabin. (For example, for my holiday cruise I had booked an inside and saw a couple of months out that the cruise wasn't selling out, so my TA got HAL to upgrade me to an obstructed ocean view cabin -- the same one I had booked for the following cruise -- at no additional charge.)

 

Regardless of how you book, it's always a risk to book a guarantee where you wouldn't be satisfied with any cabin in that category. If its a big price savings, then just know that you may not love the location but you love having the extra money in your pocket. It's all in the attitude imho. I'm sure you will love Alaska!

[rj59]

Once they assign a room they usually send you upgrade offers. If you don't like your cabin, you can also call them and see what they can offer, or try it when you board. The problem is that most lines have paid upgrade or bid to upgrade programs now, so they don't have an incentive to upgrade you right away, if they can make money out of it. That's especially true with full ships now--I was on Koningsdam in January and they had a sign at the front desk saying 'we're full, no upgrades'. 

[Toofarfromthesea]

9 hours ago, LastCallForCoffee said:

We booked a cruise to Alaska on the Koningsdam a few days ago for May 25. Rolled the dice for a guaranteed NS. On our confirmation, it shows Category SC. There’s only 2 of those on the boat (I think) and it was the exact 2 we wouldn’t particularly want. (Extreme forward, Deck 11). The SA category rooms are not sold out and have availability as of now. Should I hold out hope that my cabin will be changed to a better one or sit here, freak out in silence and accept my weird room with a tiny balcony? This will be our 3rd cruise on HAL so we do have Mariner numbers, just not as many trips as most of you. 

 

If they still have availability, one option would be to get Orange Club and use the free upgrade to get the cabin you want.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It might happen.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

If they still have availability, one option would be to get Orange Club and use the free upgrade to get the cabin you want.

 

You can’t buy CO is you are in a Neptune Suite.  NS are entitled to Club Orange benefits on board.

[Iamthesea]

I am confused?  What does SC stand for?  I thought it was a Signature Suite category. 🤔

[CruiserBruce]

39 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I am confused?  What does SC stand for?  I thought it was a Signature Suite category. 🤔

No. It is the lowest Neptune Suite category. All but Zaandam and Volendam have them.

[Haljo1935]

41 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I am confused?  What does SC stand for?  I thought it was a Signature Suite category. 🤔

Signature suites are SS.

[Toad]

2 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Signature suites are SS.

On some ships signature suites are Ss,SY, and SZ. Neptune suites can be SA, SB, and SC.  I understood that OP was talking about SC.  

[Toofarfromthesea]

7 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You can’t buy CO is you are in a Neptune Suite.  NS are entitled to Club Orange benefits on board.

 

Ah, my mistake.  I don't travel in the rarified air of Nepturne suites.  Now I understand the laughing emoji to my post.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you.  Seems odd that a Neptune Suite category is labeled that way and does not start with an "N". 

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Thank you.  Seems odd that a Neptune Suite category is labeled that way and does not start with an "N". 

Has been an "S" going back decades...the SA, SB, etc, became a marketing tool with the Vista class ships.

[RRFan]

On 4/6/2024 at 6:03 PM, LastCallForCoffee said:

Thanks fellow travelers for the replies. The email we got does show SC as of now.  So, I’m going to go curl up in the corner in fetal position. Maybe they will call us and try to upsell a better room. 

For your future reference, at the time you book your guaranteed cabin, you can specify what category you want to be in.  Of course, the price differs with the category.  We always book the lowest category we could be happy with, assuming we might end up in that category.  Any placement above that makes us feel like we get a good deal on the price we paid.  The downside is that we are 10 days out from a cruise and still no cabin assignment.  We have only one time regretted accepting an upgrade and it was on Princess not HAL.  They upgraded us to a large aft cabin but it was right next to a door that led up stairs to the outside area and the big metal door banged open and closed constantly.  We could go secure it, but any time someone went out or in the door, it didn't fasten back and started banging with the wind.  We complained a bunch to customer svc and they sent people to work on it but it never resolved itself.  You can also specify NO UPGRADE accepted if you want to be in the category you book.

Edited April 10 by RRFan

[LastCallForCoffee]

UPDATE!!!!!!  Got the email today with assigned cabin. SA, Deck 7, and almost across from the Neptune Lounge.  Crisis averted.