Free upgrade

[Moon Orchid]

We booked an inside GTY room on Odyssey for a 9 night Greek Isles cruise because we knew we wouldn't have as much time to enjoy the cabin since there are seven ports and only two sea days. I was wondering if people still get free upgrades anymore with Royal? My husband and I have been Diamond members for a while and have never gotten a free upgrade after the pandemic. Our daughter is Platinum and she also booked GTY interior this cruise and  to our pleasant surprise, she got assigned a portside ocean view room with a big balcony at the hump.
So I was wondering, does Royal just randomly assign upgrades or do they actively decide who gets free upgrade and who doesn't?

[bajathree]

The days of free upgrades are gone since the Royal Up program. However if you book a GTY you still have the slim possibility of getting a higher category than you booked....but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Biker19]

24 minutes ago, Moon Orchid said:

So I was wondering, does Royal just randomly assign upgrades or do they actively decide who gets free upgrade and who doesn't?

The former and if you get one, buy a lottery ticket. 

[leaveitallbehind]

As mentioned, the days of complimentary upgrades are likely long past.  We have received one in 32 years and 50+ cruises and that was in 2014 with an upgrade from a JS to a GS on Freedom.  Found out when we checked in for boarding.  I can't recall if C&A level had anything to do with it, but we had recently reached D+ for that cruise.

 

GTY assignment "upgrades" typically would be within higher subcategories of the chosen general category. Your daughter's experience is not typical but a nice outcome!  

Edited September 5 by leaveitallbehind

[lovelife]

Never an upgrade in 160 cruises! 😭

[twangster]

Quantum class is often a good class to go with a GTY as long as you won't be disappointed if you get exactly the cabin type you booked.

 

This class is mostly balcony cabins.  There aren't very many interior or oceanview compared to the number of balcony cabins.  Consequently ending up with a balcony can occur from an interior or oceanview GTY booking. 

 

That isn't guaranteed to occur, but compared to other classes of ships it does occur from time to time.  

 

CAS status has no bearing on GTY assignments.  Each GTY booking is assigned without any consideration to anything other than satisfying the cabin type booked at a minimum.  Each assignment is done independently.  

[leaveitallbehind]

52 minutes ago, twangster said:

CAS status has no bearing on GTY assignments.  Each GTY booking is assigned without any consideration to anything other than satisfying the cabin type booked at a minimum.  Each assignment is done independently.  

Just to clarify and to avoid any potential confusion, in my response when I indicated that we received an upgrade from a JS to a GS and commented on not knowing if, at the time, our C&A status was involved, this was a boarding day complimentary upgrade from a standard booking of the JS.  It was not a GTY booking.  I agree that C&A status has nothing to do with GTY assignments.

Edited September 5 by leaveitallbehind

[Mum2Mercury]

We've had two free upgrades -- one was only a year ago: 

- Paid for Inside Guarantee /upgraded to Obstructed Ocean View 

- Paid for Inside Guarantee /upgraded to Promenade Cabin

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We've had two free upgrades -- one was only a year ago: 

- Paid for Inside Guarantee /upgraded to Obstructed Ocean View 

- Paid for Inside Guarantee /upgraded to Promenade Cabin

....and those were both GTY bookings with the resulting upgrades.  There don't seem to be any complimentary regular booking upgrades as there occasionally were many years ago.