Disney Cabin Upgrades

[ryan759]

Has anyone ever gotten an upgrade on a Disney cruise? If so, is it free (we’ve heard it’s not) and if not, how much? We have a Cat 11 inside. If we get to the boat and there are Outside cabins available how much would it cost to move to one of them? We leave on August 26th and, so far, the boat looks a little under sold (but we know that will probably change :( ).

 

Thanks in advance!

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Howdy,

one time we got an upgrade and it was for free. But we had a guaranteed room instead of a specific room. That means when we booked they guaranteed we would get at least the category we were booking, but they didnt give us an assigned room until just before we cruised. By that time our category was all booked up, so they gave us an upgrade for our room. Dont kno wwhy they booked us that way, DH did all the booking. I didnt like not knowing where we were going to be until we got here, but guess it wa sworth it,because we did get an upgrade at no charge.

Normally if there are rooms left you do have to pay the difference in the rooms to get an upgrade. I dont know how much, that would depend on the room.

mom x4,grandma x4

[Gingras31]

we had booked an assigned cabin on the wonder ( inside on deck 1 ) was checking our reservation one day and noticed we were upgraded to an ocean view on deck 5. Didn't pay for it, they just moved us.

[ryan759]

we had booked an assigned cabin on the wonder ( inside on deck 1 ) was checking our reservation one day and noticed we were upgraded to an ocean view on deck 5. Didn't pay for it, they just moved us.

 

Now that's a great treat!!! My wife is checking our booking as I type!!!

[duphusdog]

Glad to see another cruiser for the 26 August 2006 cruise. Have not seen any others before you.

 

Amy

[ryan759]

Does that mean we'll have the boat all to our selves?!?:D I know better than that but the boat DOES look empty if you check the booked cabins right now. And I'm thinking that because we're so close to sailing and booking now means that you'd need to come up with all the money at once. I know none of this is true but I'm just having wishful thinking I guess.

[dahuffy]

When we went for our 25th Anniversary in '04, I booked a Cat. 11 and was very surprised when we got our papers stating that we'd been upgraded to a Cat.7 with Navigators Verandah,with no extra cost to us! Of course I did make sure that I mentioned our anniversary every time I talked to someone at Disney....never hurts.:)

[OceanLiner]

Okay here is how to do it. Write down your exact price for your current state room, then use the Disney site to figure out the extra cost for each level up that you wish to upgrade, and write down the difference in cost for each level. Then determine to what level you wish to aspire and what is is worth TO YOU. Hold on to the list and make sure that it is with you on the day of departure.

 

When you get to the embarkation desk, say "I would like to inquire about purchasing on upgrade", and here is what will happen.

 

Because you asked about purchasing an upgrade you will immediatly put yourself ahead of anyone else looking for a free upgrade, these agents get hammered for freebies all day long. If a free upgrade is available it will be yours. But for a nominal fee you might get much further than you would think. The agent will then see what categories above yours might be available and at what cost. This is where your list of costs will come in handy, you will know if you are getting a good deal, and you will know what you want to spend. If you like it, buy it, and have fun.

 

We use this method and have been very pleased. Our last DCL 7 night cruise was booked at a CAT4. The booking price difference between CAT4 and CAT was $5000.00. On the day of departure they offered us CAT3 at $650.00.....SOLD!!!!

 

Good Luck

[ryan759]

Thanks! We'll give it a try and let everyone know the outcome!

ONLY 9 MORE DAYS!

[ricka47]

We are on the 9/7 10-night Wonder sailing and just got a two-category upgrade from a Category 6 to Cqtegory 4!

[Kitster]

We just got an upgrade from Cat 5 to Cat 4 on the 11 day caribbean cruise.

[Interlaw]

We had booked as a Category 12 for our 7/22/06 cruise, and were upgraded to a Category 9. No charge. Pretty nice!:)

 

Brett

[Cruisin'Crafter]

How did you get upgraded. We have been having terrible customer service. :(

[crsndsny]

I upgrade at port from an 11 to an 8 for less than $300 (4-nighter).

[2shells]

We are getting ready to cruise in October. Tell me how do you get in line for the free upgrade? Is there something you should say to them? Thanks, Michelle

[pioneer girl]

We cruised on the Wonder during the last week of September 2005. Booked CAT 12 GTY. When we received our documents, we were upgraded (free) to Ocean View (I believe a CAT 9).

 

There were signs at the port check-in area stating that the cruise was sold out and no upgrades were available.

 

We were very satisfied with the upgrade from an Inside cabin to an Ocean view.

[momofmeg]

Has anyone ever gotten an upgrade on a Disney cruise? If so, is it free (we’ve heard it’s not) and if not, how much? We have a Cat 11 inside. If we get to the boat and there are Outside cabins available how much would it cost to move to one of them? We leave on August 26th and, so far, the boat looks a little under sold (but we know that will probably change :( ).

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

On our Disney cruise was a couple who had booked the lowest catagory veranda not realizing it had more of the "feel" of a window with that port hole cutout thingie. They were allowed to upgrade to the regular veranda for $90 per person extra. This was a 4 day cruise and they spent the first night in veranda with that window cut out thingie-and after that they were upgraded just one catagory also. So it was $90 a person for 3 nights-one catagory upgrade.

 

Ofcourse, also, the ship can't be sold out as others have pointed out.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We are getting ready to cruise in October. Tell me how do you get in line for the free upgrade? Is there something you should say to them? Thanks, Michelle

 

There is no line for a free upgrade. If you book a guarantee room you have a chance at a free upgrade. If you pick your cabin 99% of the time that's what you get.

You can get in line for an upgrade at the pier. We booked a category 12 guarantee on our recent Disney cruise. They upgraded us to a category 11 cabin. At the pier we asked about an upgrade. They had category 5 cabins for $636. We passed and stayed in the category 11 cabin.

 

Bill

[2shells]

Thanks for your reply Bill. We booked a room, so I guess we will stay put. I was just thinking we would enjoy a veranda more. Thanks again.

[drrick66]

We found out this week that we've been upgraded from Category 8 (oceanview) to a category 5 (verandah) for our late October sailing; other friends were upgraded from a 5 to a 4.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We found out this week that we've been upgraded from Category 8 (oceanview) to a category 5 (verandah) for our late October sailing; other friends were upgraded from a 5 to a 4.

 

congrats on the upgrade. It's an awesome cabin. I had one for about 24 hours on our last cruise. Loved it, but wish I had it the whole cruise.

 

Bill

[SoCA6ft5]

Although I don't have specific upgrade experience with DCL's upgrade policy, I can share what I have learned. We were fortunate to receive upgrades on a CCL Alaskan cruise (from interior GTY to balcony). Here's how GTY upgrades work (generally).

There are two ways to book cabins on a cruise line, either "Assigned" (you usually pick from available cabins) and "Guaranty" (GTY) (you pick a catagory but the cruiseline assigns you a room sometime before boarding). GTY cabins benefit the Cruise Line in a couple of ways:

First: GTY cabins allow the the cruiselines to fill a cabin in your booked category if someone cancels their reservation.

Second: (and this is the tricky part) it helps them fill the ship. Cruiselines don't hold traditional "Clearance Sales". Cruiselines recognize that lower priced catagories sell faster to last minute cruise shoppers. The cruiseline may have unsold veranda cabins and no inside cabins left. They can't substantually lower the price of the veranda cabin (some cruiseline pledge to refund the difference to early bookers if they do...or at the very least they don't want to discourage early booking). Instead, as cruisetime approaches, they may sell more lower priced "Inside" GTY cabins. Then a "bumping" heirarcy kicks in. The new GTY sales may bump up those who booked GTY cabins prior to them, an "Inside" GTY may bump an "Outside" cabin GTY, etc. As I was booking my December 21 Wonder cruise I noticed that every few days or so DCL would release CAT 12 GTY cabins for sale as they tried to balance filling the ship with getting the maximum price per cabin.

Booking a GTY cabin is usually the only way (other than BINGO prizes <g>) to get a "free" upgrade. However a GTY is not a guaranty that you will get upgraded. You should never book a GTY in a category that you wouldn't be happy with if the upgrade doesn't come through.

[tina4_98]

Hello,

I just got my confirmation number for my cruise on Jan 20/07 to eastern caribbean...

i am category 12 garantee... so i know i have the chance of maybe getting an upgrade.. but the rooms look pretty small....

does anyone know if i can ask for an upgrade as early as now?? or should i just wait and see what happens closer to cruise time and see if they assign me something better..

cause i'd like ot be category 8 or 9 cause those look a bit bigger. im taking a 23 month old plus 3 adults into one room that's why...

thanks!!!:confused:

[Jeanne B]

Hello,

 

I just got my confirmation number for my cruise on Jan 20/07 to eastern caribbean...

i am category 12 garantee... so i know i have the chance of maybe getting an upgrade.. but the rooms look pretty small....

 

does anyone know if i can ask for an upgrade as early as now?? or should i just wait and see what happens closer to cruise time and see if they assign me something better..

 

cause i'd like ot be category 8 or 9 cause those look a bit bigger. im taking a 23 month old plus 3 adults into one room that's why...

 

thanks!!!:confused:

 

If you booked a Cat 12 Gty you'll be upgraded to at least a Cat 11 because the Cat 12 cabins only sleep 3 (I don't think it matters that the 4th person is a child). You can't ask for an upgrade in advance unless you pay the difference to upgrade. Normally they don't assign the Cat 12 Gty cabins until closer to the sailing date. If you don't think you'll be happy with a Cat 11 you should seriously consider paying the price to upgrade because there's no guarantee you're going to be assigned to anything above a Cat 11, although it does happen.

 

For 3 adults and a child I would choose one of the larger cabins, especially for the 7-day. The split baths in the deluxe cabins are a VERY nice feature, especially with 3 adults. Even if you go with a Cat 10 you have the larger cabin so you don't necessarily need to go with a Cat 8 or 9 unless you want the oceanview. And there is a *chance* if you booked a Cat 10 that you would be upgraded, it doesn't happen often but on our first Wonder cruise last year we booked a 10 or 11 and got upgraded to an 8, a very unexpected surprise.

 

I just booked a Cat 12 Gty for the 11/30 Wonder sailing and I got assigned a Cat 12 cabin (only 2 people) so this is one example of booking a Cat 12 GTY and getting a Cat 12, no upgrade.

[tina4_98]

Thank you so much! im going to look into a cat 10 now!!