Thread: upgrades

Is it OK to ask to see if upgrades are available the day you board or is that too late ?

What are the guidelines the lines use ?

It is our first time on Princess , any advice ?

If the ship is full, there won't be any upgrades. So you may see a sign indicating so when you first board and go to the Passenger Services Desk.

You can tell your TA to pass along any requests to you if Princess calls them. But just be aware that not every upgrade is a good one. You may not want to get a cabin under the disco, for example.

The last two cruises we marked our booking "no upgrade," but the time before that, we got a message from Princess that our cruise was overbooked and we were offered a full refund and an upgrade from our inside to a balcony cabin if we were willing to "move over" to a different sailing. (didn't take them up on it for many reasons)

Often, upgrades on Princess is simply from one inside category to another inside category, or an oceanview category to another, etc. Usually, you will not go from an inside to an oceanview or an oceanview to a balcony. It sometimes happens, but very rarely and usually only to past guests who have sailed with Princess before.

If you ask for an upgrade, it'll come at a price - not free. Sometimes, you can purchase an upgrade at the pier for less than it would cost to purchase it ahead of time, but only if there are alot of cabins available.

And, as was previously mentioned, sometimes getting an upgrade is not a good thing. You can go from a good location to a bad location within the same type of cabin (inside to inside, oceanview to oceanview, etc.). Saying that you'll take an upgrade is sometimes not the right move. So, if you have a good cabin, it's often best not to put in there that you'll accept an upgrade. If you're a first-time cruise, don't expect to get a complimentary upgrade from an inside cabin to a suite or even a balcony cabin - it doesn't happen.

Pete

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

Often, upgrades on Princess is simply from one inside category to another inside category, or an oceanview category to another, etc. Usually, you will not go from an inside to an oceanview or an oceanview to a balcony. It sometimes happens, but very rarely and usually only to past guests who have sailed with Princess before.

If you ask for an upgrade, it'll come at a price - not free. Sometimes, you can purchase an upgrade at the pier for less than it would cost to purchase it ahead of time, but only if there are alot of cabins available.

And, as was previously mentioned, sometimes getting an upgrade is not a good thing. You can go from a good location to a bad location within the same type of cabin (inside to inside, oceanview to oceanview, etc.). Saying that you'll take an upgrade is sometimes not the right move. So, if you have a good cabin, it's often best not to put in there that you'll accept an upgrade. If you're a first-time cruise, don't expect to get a complimentary upgrade from an inside cabin to a suite or even a balcony cabin - it doesn't happen.

Pete

I hate to disagree with you but my first and only cruise I was upgraded from an OV to the Penthouse, made my SIL mad as she had sailed on with this line over 20 times.

Pat

WOW That is fantastic Pat But that was exceptuional and very rare.

I know, the room was great except for the sewer smell coming from the bathroom. I had to shut the door every night and have my DH open it first thing in the morning, will I was on the balcony.

We once got bumped from a balcony to a grand suite, but as Sue stated, these are VERY rare. I actually got one of my clients bumped up from an inside to a balcony. If it happens, it's wonderful, but don't count on it as most of the time it's not going to be a big deal.

To get bumped from an oceanview to a Penthouse is something that almost never happens - in fact, this is the first time I've ever heard of it for someone who is not very high up on their past guest list. I mean think about it - why would they bump someone who's in an oceanview cabin to a Penthouse when they could bump a frequent cruiser of theirs who's in a balcony cabin up to a suite - it's not something anyone would do if they looked at the details. So, I can only assume someone made a mistake somewhere and you were the recipient of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Pete

We got our "move over" offer for our first Princess cruise, but we think we were called because 1) from our zip code, Princess can tell we weren't going to be flying in to San Pedro, or 2) we bought our fare for a total of $800 (not including the taxes) for the three of us through a Princess employee friends and family fare. Princess wouldn't have to offer to pay for any flight changes, and it wouldn't cost much to reimburse us.

On last year's med cruise we got bumped from OV for 4 on Plaza deck to balcony for 3 on Baja. We got the notice a lettle over a week before we left and we were elated! I had wanted a balcony all along but the other 2 gals didn't want to pay for it. I'm thinking maybe we got bumped cause they had someone who wanted that room for 4 and we were only 3 in it. Jan and I are both Platinum, she with close to 15 and me with 9. I don't care how it happened just very happy it did. The other 2 liked the balcony so much that there was no hessitation to book a blacony for our booked British Isles cruise.

I was offered an updage on my QM2 voyage in July, but for a price. I have gone from a D7 inside to a B2 balcony cabin. The good thing is I got to choose my cabin so I picked one on 5 deck, which means there are cabins above and below. Although I had to pay extra, it cost me a lot less than than the brochure price for a B2.