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How do you get an upgrade?

sandradeen

By sandradeen,
in Princess Cruises

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LARGIN

LARGIN

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They do complimentary at the whim of the Upgrade Fairy.. Some people say that if you throw Pixie Dust into the air at the stroke of midnight in the light of the full moon, she will grant your upgrade wish... I heard you can buy Pixie Dust on EBay if you cannot find any locally.

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Times Prince

Times Prince

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They do complimentary at the whim of the Upgrade Fairy.. Some people say that if you throw Pixie Dust into the air at the stroke of midnight in the light of the full moon, she will grant your upgrade wish... I heard you can buy Pixie Dust on EBay if you cannot find any locally.
I used to live in San Francisco through the 60's and there seemed to be plenty of pixie dust then - maybe they used it up. :rolleyes: It's hard to find a hippie nowadays with pixie dust...

 

Seriously, some upgrades are available through Princess as part of incentive offers for specific cruises (e.g. Outside cabin for the price of an inside cabin...). But complimentary upgrades are at the whim of the Upgrade Fairy. We've seen a few over the years, but not recently :confused: .

 

I was thinking of turning around and clicking my heels three times and saying "there's no place like Aloha deck" - that could work.

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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We were offered an upgrade from the lowest category inside to a balcony for our first cruise plus a full refund...if we postponed our cruise for a few weeks. For a number of reasons, we didn't take them up on the offer. Since then, we have selected the cabin we wanted and marked the booking "no upgrade."

 

On my very first cruise (on Carnival), we were upgraded up a deck, to right under a dining room. Heard vacuuming late at night.

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jamu

jamu

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On Princess? Do they do any complimentary or reduced fee upgrades?

 

It's a lottery for an upgrade, but out of the 5 cruises I've taken, I've been upgraded twice. Make sure you tell your booking agent you would like an upgrade.

The first was on the Star Princess in 2003. We booked well ahead and got the upgrade well ahead of time (we had the same room type, but were moved to a better location, which was a higher category).

Our last cruise in March 2007 we got an upgrade from mini-suite to full suite - it was awesome. We were notified 2 days before we left for the cruise. (I think the people on either side of us were upgraded as well. All of us had multiple people in the cabins.) We were upgraded from the highest level mini-suite. I thought maybe they picked us because we had more people in the cabin. I do know they usually upgrade you to the next level, or a smaller increment. When I was upgraded to the suite, they probably upgraded someone from a less desirable mini suite location or a balcony room (or they might have filled waitlisted people into the minisuite)

As far as buying an upgrade - you just need to pay for the next level up, if available. I've never heard of an upgrade available for a reduced fee. I asked one time and they told me they didn't do that.

Good Luck!

 

JAMU :)

 

Going on the Golden Princess, Mexican Riveria, Dec 1st 2007

Star Princess, Western Caribbean, March 2007

Coral Princess, Coastal, Sept 2006

Star Princess, Baltic Cruise, July 2006

Sapphire Princess, Alaska Inside Passage, June 2005

Star Princess, Mexican Riveria, March 2003

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50cruiser

50cruiser

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Ive been on 15 cruises . I only got upgraded once . An outside obstructed view to an open view. . But almost all ships ive been on were sold out so there were no un used rooms avaible for up grades. I think today most ships are sold out before sailing as they want ship full. Your best chance is to be in the highest catagory avaiable in that catagory or a catagory with the least rooms in it. The best is to get the room where you want it. CARL

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Pam in CA

Pam in CA

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On Princess? Do they do any complimentary or reduced fee upgrades?
Best way to get an "upgrade" is to book the cabin category that you really want and pay for it.

 

There are exceptions but most Princess cruises are sold out well in advance (our Sapphire cruise next April has been sold out for over a year now) so that upgrades don't happen that often. If people are given a "free" upgrade, it's usually the same type of cabin in a different location, not an inside to an outside, outside to a balcony, etc. IMHO, that's not really an upgrade and often, that different location is not where you want to be even if it's considered a better category. For instance, you could have an outside cabin midship and be "upgraded" to an outside cabin on a higher deck but far forward.

 

Unless you really don't care where you are on the ship, i.e., far forward, far aft, higher deck or lower deck, don't book hoping for an upgrade. It may happen but you may not be happy with the upgrade.

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bohunk72

bohunk72

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Be careful what u wish for. We booked the lowest grade bal guarentee last year on the Crown and were upgraded to BA on caribe deck (half covered bal). Now I have to spend more money to be satisfied in the future, and book at least this grade. We loved the extra large bal, and not sure if I can settle for less. I would hate to get upgraded to a suite and then have to always get a suite in the future.LOL

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Evelyn143

Evelyn143

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On Princess? Do they do any complimentary or reduced fee upgrades?

 

We have been very fortunate over the years in getting upgrades. We believe it is just a matter of luck. We have booked our cruises with TAs, discount internet cruise sites and directly with the cruiselines. We have booked assigned cabins and have taken guarantees. We usually book balconies. On our next cruise on the Coral Princess we booked an assigned minisuite and were upgraded to a Penthouse suite. Many of our friends are frequent cruisers like us and have never been upgraded. We cruise with 6 cruiselines. Have been on Princess 28 times so most of our upgrades have been with them.

 

Evelyn & Bob

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jamu

jamu

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Be careful what u wish for. We booked the lowest grade bal guarentee last year on the Crown and were upgraded to BA on caribe deck (half covered bal). Now I have to spend more money to be satisfied in the future, and book at least this grade. We loved the extra large bal, and not sure if I can settle for less. I would hate to get upgraded to a suite and then have to always get a suite in the future.LOL

 

I know what you mean. We were upgraded to a penthouse suite last cruise and now we booked a suite for this cruise - we are spoiled now!

(Although if it was just my husband and I, we'd get a mini suite - but we have our teenage son with us).

 

The key to upgrades is to pick an "off" time of year when there are some open cabins. Also, to get a different room type be in the top category of the type of room you are in. Otherwise - pay for the room you want.

 

Jamu

 

Going on the Golden Princess Dec 1st (Mexican Riviera)

Star Princess, Western Caribbean, March 2007

Coral Princess, Coastal, Sept. 2006

Star Princess, Baltic Cruise, July 2006

Sapphire Princess, Alaska Inside Passage, June 2005

Star Princess, Mexican Riviera, March 2003

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sandradeen

sandradeen

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We have been very fortunate over the years in getting upgrades. We believe it is just a matter of luck. We have booked our cruises with TAs, discount internet cruise sites and directly with the cruiselines. We have booked assigned cabins and have taken guarantees. We usually book balconies. On our next cruise on the Coral Princess we booked an assigned minisuite and were upgraded to a Penthouse suite. Many of our friends are frequent cruisers like us and have never been upgraded. We cruise with 6 cruiselines. Have been on Princess 28 times so most of our upgrades have been with them.

 

Evelyn & Bob

Yes, this is what we're hoping for so I'm glad to hear it has happened!

Did the cruiseline call you to offer the upgrade?

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Dee

Dee

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Don't hold your breath and be prepared to remain in the cabin that you booked. We have cruised with Princess 23 times, some as a Guaratee, and only been upgraded once and that was to a cabin in a less convenient spot on the ship. So, we leared that all upgrades are not good. That time they didn't ask they just did it.

Dee

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Evelyn143

Evelyn143

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Yes, this is what we're hoping for so I'm glad to hear it has happened!

Did the cruiseline call you to offer the upgrade?

 

This time we got a telephone call telling us about the upgrade (they didn't ask). We usually find out about the upgrades by checking the personalizer. One time we found out about the upgrade when we were checking in. When we book we tell them we are available for an upgrade. We always choose a cabin or category that we will be happy with if we are not upgraded.

 

Evelyn & Bob

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BurBunny

BurBunny

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Hi, if you notice on the personalizer that you have been upgraded to a location that you would not like (ie too far forward) can you stop the upgrade, or are you stuck with it?

Thanks, Laurie

 

If you booked a Guarantee, likely you're stuck with it, though occasionally you can get moved to another available cabin in the same category. If you had booked a specific cabin assignment, you have the option, within 48 hours of when you or your agent was notified of the change, to decline the upgrade.

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sandradeen

sandradeen

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I guess we will consider ourselves lucky that we booked a mini-suite guarantee and got the top category (AA), mid-ship.

Not sure why it's the top category; there doesn't seem to be a difference in size. Is it the location?

I am still hoping we get a suite upgrade, though. :)

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Pam in CA

Pam in CA

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I guess we will consider ourselves lucky that we booked a mini-suite guarantee and got the top category (AA), mid-ship.

Not sure why it's the top category; there doesn't seem to be a difference in size. Is it the location?

I am still hoping we get a suite upgrade, though. :)

The difference is location, location, location. The closer to mid-ship, the higher the category. You can hope for an upgrade but the chances of that are about as good as Santa actually coming down your chimney.
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