Move over offer - Is this true?

[cs]

I just called Princess and asked if I could have the number for the Inventory Department (because I wanted to see if they were making move over offers yet). The girl transfered me without telling me the number or even that she was going to transfer me.

 

After letting it ring for quite some time with nobody answering, I called Princess back and asked for the number instead of being transfered. The guy on the phone said they wouldn't answer the phone if they didn't recognize the phone number.

 

I explained to him that I was interested in seeing if there were any move over offers yet. He said that they were only available if Princess called you - that you couldn't call and ask. I told him that I heard on Cruise Critic that you could call and tell them you're interested and he said that you can't believe anything you read on Cruise Critic and that it's all hearsay!

 

I thought he was pretty rude and I asked for his name.

 

Is it true that Princess doesn't accept calls if you are interested in a move over offer? And is it true that the inventory department screens their calls and only accepts familiar numbers?

 

I would think that it would be easier for them if people showed an interest in moving vs them having to make call after call to find someone to move.

 

Do you think this guy was just giving me a story?

[Colo Cruiser]

No story....

 

They have to call you. :)

 

 

Can you imagine if everyone and their brother started calling Princess telling them that they were interested in a moveover.

 

Not all the sailings are oversold.

[geejay]

You might let your T.A. know that you would be willing to change dates and she can notify you if they are looking for someone. My T.A. emailed me two different times asking if I would be interested in switching to another sailing.

[sun&sea]

It's no different than trying to call the airline a month before your flight and asking if they would like you to fly some other time and could they make you an offer!:eek: If they need to have people move to another date, they'll ask them.

 

Janet

[dforeigner]

Yep it is true. You probably hear (read) wrong.

[can786]

I also remember reading a post from someone who had called Princess and offered to be bumped from their sailing, but I think they were a TA themselves, so had access to departments at Princess that the travelling public does not.

[dforeigner]

Here is the link. That individual called Princess but Princess told him, if we need you we will call you back. They did call him back.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=776030&page=2

[Toto2Kansas]

From what I have seen, these move over offers are about as mysterious as upgrades.

Move over offers will be made by the cruise line IF they need your particular stateroom category on a sailing. Even if a sailing is totally booked or overbooked, there is no way to predict who might get the call to move over and get a good deal for doing it.

 

Just as upgrades, no way to request them, no way to predict them.

 

Although what the CSR said about CC is not always the truth, I have read some really far out things on CC in the past posted by passengers that had me dropping my mouth open as I knew for a fact they were not true. So, I do understand where he is coming from on this, but he could have put it in a much nicer way. Maybe saying "you can't believe everything you read on the internet" would have been a nicer way to put it.

 

If you watch posts where someone has gotten a great move over offer or a great upgrade, you will see dozens (sometimes more) posting to it wanting to know how they got that, where should they call, they want one too. All it does is honestly give false hope as most passengers do not get upgraded, and most passengers do not get move over offers. Yes, occasionally it does happen, but you can't count on either of them and you can't volunteer for them.

[SeattleCruiselover]

I just called Princess and asked if I could have the number for the Inventory Department (because I wanted to see if they were making move over offers yet). The girl transfered me without telling me the number or even that she was going to transfer me.

 

After letting it ring for quite some time with nobody answering, I called Princess back and asked for the number instead of being transfered. The guy on the phone said they wouldn't answer the phone if they didn't recognize the phone number.

 

I explained to him that I was interested in seeing if there were any move over offers yet. He said that they were only available if Princess called you - that you couldn't call and ask. I told him that I heard on Cruise Critic that you could call and tell them you're interested and he said that you can't believe anything you read on Cruise Critic and that it's all hearsay!

 

I thought he was pretty rude and I asked for his name.

 

Is it true that Princess doesn't accept calls if you are interested in a move over offer? And is it true that the inventory department screens their calls and only accepts familiar numbers?

 

I would think that it would be easier for them if people showed an interest in moving vs them having to make call after call to find someone to move.

 

Do you think this guy was just giving me a story?

 

It is absolutely 100% true. They do not accept outside phone calls (and they aren't in Inventory, anyway, they are in the Move-Over Department) and their phone number is NEVER given out by anyone in Res, Customer Assistance or Customer Service.

[penkitten86]

For all us novices, what is a move over?

 

penkitten86

[Toto2Kansas]

For all us novices, what is a move over?

 

penkitten86

 

A move over offer is when the ship you are booked for sailing on has been way overbooked by the cruise line. They contact those in staterooms they need, to see if them might possibly switch to another sailing, sometimes just a different date, sometimes on a different date and ship, sometimes for a different itineary. They provide many incentives for doing this, such as cabin upgrades, onboard credits, change fees for flights, even sometimes (for those that are very lucky) a full refund and free cruise at a later date.

It's kind of like an airline bump, only for cruises, it is strictly volunteer only and not mandatory to accept.

 

But, before you get your hopes up, most of the deals are good, but not as good as the last one mentioned. :)

[penkitten86]

toto2kansas

thanks for the answer. really do appreciate it. I never knew there was such a monster in cruising now I do.

[Pam in CA]

A move over offer is when the ship you are booked for sailing on has been way overbooked by the cruise line. They contact those in staterooms they need, to see if them might possibly switch to another sailing, sometimes just a different date, sometimes on a different date and ship, sometimes for a different itineary. They provide many incentives for doing this, such as cabin upgrades, onboard credits, change fees for flights, even sometimes (for those that are very lucky) a full refund and free cruise at a later date.

It's kind of like an airline bump, only for cruises, it is strictly volunteer only and not mandatory to accept.

 

But, before you get your hopes up, most of the deals are good, but not as good as the last one mentioned. :)

Toto is correct. Also, very few sailings require move over requests. The ship might be sold out but a lot depends on the number of GTY cabins and categories. The number of oversold cabins is statistically generated based on tons of data so they are generally pretty accurate in predicting how many people will cancel and how many GTY bookings to accept. As an example, my recent Sapphire cruise was sold out in September 2006 (yes, for an April 2008 sailing) but they had enough cancellations to accommodate the GTYs. The point is that just because a ship is sold out and waitlisted does not necessarily mean that Princess will make move over requests. They are actually few and far between.

[bdjam]

I explained to him that I was interested in seeing if there were any move over offers yet. He said that they were only available if Princess called you - that you couldn't call and ask. I told him that I heard on Cruise Critic that you could call and tell them you're interested and he said that you can't believe anything you read on Cruise Critic and that it's all hearsay!

 

I thought he was pretty rude and I asked for his name.

Have you read Cruise Critic lately?

[pungo3]

Darn, that does sound good. Alas, I probably only book cruises that aren't sold out. I'll just hope that one day I have a cabin that they need.;)

[Coral]

Sometimes I think the worse thing one can do is call Princess (or any other line) and say "I heard this on Cruise Critic"......

[olingirl]

Here is my experience as both a TA and a passenger who just took a move-over from Princess.

 

I told my Princess sales rep to "tag" my reservation, that I would be interested in giving up my cabin (we had 3 balcony cabins in a row--pretty desirable, I guess)

 

Princess inventory management called me about 3 weeks prior to sailing and said they noticed my reservation was "tagged" and was I still interested in a moveover. I said yes, what are you offering. They made and offer and I told them I would think about it and contact the other two cabins. Before I could call them back, they called and increased the offer. We took and moved to another sailing. Then, I read on CC, some other offers that were supposedly given, and when I mentioned them to the Princess inventory agent, she said "don't believe everything you read on CC". As far as them screening calls, who knows, it took me a week to get back in touch with her a one point, so they may.

 

If you are interested in accepting a move-over, you could let your TA know (see it does pay to use a TA!) and they could get your reservation "tagged". As far as contacting Princess yourself without being approached, I wouldn't know about that. I think it depends on your cabin category and what they need. Like I said, we had pretty desirable cabins.

 

Just my opinion....:rolleyes:

[Ela 2]

I don't think that you could expect to be given a 'move-over' offer just by contacting Princess (assuming that they need the cabin). If it was that easy, anyone who could be flexible with their dates would book a cruise and then ask for a 'move-offer' offer that can involve a refund plus a free cruise. Wow. What a way to get a free cruise. If only it was that easy.:):)

[AZAaronBoy]

Here is my experience as both a TA and a passenger who just took a move-over from Princess.

 

I told my Princess sales rep to "tag" my reservation, that I would be interested in giving up my cabin (we had 3 balcony cabins in a row--pretty desirable, I guess)

 

Princess inventory management called me about 3 weeks prior to sailing and said they noticed my reservation was "tagged" and was I still interested in a moveover. I said yes, what are you offering. They made and offer and I told them I would think about it and contact the other two cabins. Before I could call them back, they called and increased the offer. We took and moved to another sailing. Then, I read on CC, some other offers that were supposedly given, and when I mentioned them to the Princess inventory agent, she said "don't believe everything you read on CC". As far as them screening calls, who knows, it took me a week to get back in touch with her a one point, so they may.

 

If you are interested in accepting a move-over, you could let your TA know (see it does pay to use a TA!) and they could get your reservation "tagged". As far as contacting Princess yourself without being approached, I wouldn't know about that. I think it depends on your cabin category and what they need. Like I said, we had pretty desirable cabins.

 

Just my opinion....:rolleyes:

 

There is no such "Tag" available to a TA. I know there are others out there that can verify this. You happened to get lucky and be contacted for an offer.

 

It all depends on what they are looking for, just like the upgrade fairy.

[cruznliz]

We've been called 2 or 3 times for move-over's but have never been able to accept. The main reason is because they call 72 hours or LESS of the sailing. (Also, we are usually cruising with friends or relatives and don't want to move.) One time they called in the late afternoon the day before the cruise. We had already flown to the port of course. Our daughter found the message on our answering machine. :eek: Maybe someday they'll catch us at the right time! ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

There is no such "Tag" available to a TA. I know there are others out there that can verify this. You happened to get lucky and be contacted for an offer.

 

It all depends on what they are looking for, just like the upgrade fairy.

 

 

Maybe it was a toe tag??? :D

[olingirl]

Very funny!:D But it is true, I called my Princess sales rep and had her tag our reservation and when inventory management called, they said "we noticed on your reservation that you were interested in a move-over".

 

So it does exist, unlike the upgrade fairy, whom I have yet to see.:eek:

 

And who are you to question whether I am telling the truth?

[Coral]

Very funny!:D But it is true, I called my Princess sales rep and had her tag our reservation and when inventory management called, they said "we noticed on your reservation that you were interested in a move-over".

 

So it does exist, unlike the upgrade fairy, whom I have yet to see.:eek:

 

And who are you to question whether I am telling the truth?

 

My guess is that there isn't a checkbox but she added it to comments and someone noticed the comments.

[Toto2Kansas]

My guess is that there isn't a checkbox but she added it to comments and someone noticed the comments.

 

Is this kind of like those that say their TA placed an 'upgrade accepted ONLY to a full suite" on their booking? :);):)

[olingirl]

I don't think I'd be picky about an upgrade!:D