Have you ever upgraded at check-in?

K

KS Sunflower

Guest
I was just wondering, if there are cabins available, does Princess let you upgrade at check-in? From an oceanview to a balcony or a balcony to a suite? If they do, how much extra would you have to pay? Is it based on what you paid originally or is it first come, first choice?

KS

Coral Princess - 01/02/04
 
L

Lady Jag

Guest
We have with RCI, not Princess. From what people are saying on this topic at Cruise Critic, Princess will not allow upgrades at the pier. We did try once with them, but they said they were completely full.

They have a convenient little pre-made plastic sign they put up that says, "Due to the ship being completely full, there will be no cabin changes." or something to that affect. RCI does that ocassionally too - even when I know there have been empty cabins. Stupid, but what can you do? Just upgrade ahead of time or go guarantee and hope for an upgrade.
 
E

Einstein

Guest
Nope NOT on Princess and as matter of fact almost EVERY crusie we have been on the sign (Fully Booked) is present at the pursers desk. That MOST likely is to discourage those that whine for upgardes NO matter what. Its certainly worth a shot if U are in the area of the pursers to see if there is anything available. Good Luck!!! :thumb

.
 
P

PeabodyNVL

Guest
Princess usually starts upgrading people into the empty suites about 2 wks before sailing. This usually empties up some lower level cabins that they can easier fill. There may be a few empty cabins, but Princess does do a lot of upgrading. Many people on this site have gotten upgraded into the suites, so I think Princess really is sailing with a full ship quite often. I know several people above us in the PH cabins on our last cruise were upgraded into them, they did not book them.

Pea
 
K

KS Sunflower

Guest
Thanks for your responses. We're presently in a balcony cabin on the Coral Princess, sailing Jan 2, 2004. We did book a guarantee and already have our cabin assignment. I think the ship must be getting pretty full, since I noticed there are no more balcony cabins available, but the last time I checked, there were a few suites available. Hope we get upgraded to one of those.

KS
 
P

PeabodyNVL

Guest
Sunflower -

I believe Princess usually upgrades by category...like going from an inside to an outside, an outside to a balcony, a balcony to a mini-suite, a mini-suite to a full-suite. So chances are, if you are upgraded, it will be into a mini-suite (if your ship has mini-suites, otherwise you might be upgraded into a suite). Other upgrading happens within the categories themselves, like being upgraded from a BD to a BA. Although it is not impossible or unheard of to be upgraded several categories, it is not common.

Pea
 
L

Lady Jag

Guest
KS Sunflower - Let us know how the cruise was when you return! Bon Voyage! :wave
 
B

BUDDY7

Guest
I've been on 30+ cruises and with Princess about 5 or 6 times; and out of all of our cruises, we've only been upgraded once; and it was with Princess and it was at check-in. We didn't even ask for it. I don't know how upgrading works exactly, but we've cruised with RCCL 15 or 16 times, and they've never upgraded us. It was nice but it only happened one time out of all of those cruises. It's still a mystery to me why and how it happens and why it happens to some people and not others??????
Happy Cruising.....Anita
 
P

Princess Pat

Guest
I asked for a no-cost change from Baja to Caribe, for the larger balcony area, last week and Princess came back asking for $129 more per person.

Pat
 
L

LVIGGIANI

Guest
The First time we went on Princess was 3 years ago, and our first cruise, so we booked an inside. Princess upgraded us to a nice Balcony cabin, and I never checked the docs for I was new to cruising, so it was a nice surprise, And I never would have survived the inside cabin for my niece had one. (Just me though.) And yes been on Princess 3 times, and everytime the little sign is up ship filled something like that.

Linda
 
B

belgique

Guest
At the pier once, boarding the old Sky Princess, the woman said, "Oh, Mrs. _____, we're sorry we weren't able to contact you before you left home". My heart sank, thinking there was something wrong with my documents or a bad message of some sort.

She then said, "Your luggage might be late as we've moved you to a Lido Suite and your tags are wrong". YIKES! I was traveling alone and had booked the cheapest inside cabin - what a thrill!

Of course, I had to meet new friends and pretend I ALWAYS booked suites and do the "you mean some people don't have balconies?" thing! It was fun being a fancy lady for 10 days!

Have since been upgraded by Princess about 4 times - mostly notified 2-3 weeks in advance.

Bon Voyage!
 
K

KS Sunflower

Guest
Just thought I'd let you know that I tried for an upgrade and didn't get it. When we checked in at the pier I asked about it and they told me to check at the Purser's desk after we got onboard the ship. After we got onboard I went to the desk and the little sign was out saying they were sailing full. I knew this wasn't true because I had checked Travelocity and there were several cabins available. They told me they would put in my request and if there was anything available they would notify me. On Jan 3rd, I received a note in my cabin saying they had no vacant accommodation to suit my request and they would notify me if anything suitable became available. I didnot hear anything else from them during the cruise.
We were in cabin D309. It was on Deck 9 and convenient to the Princess Theater on Deck 7 and the Horizon Court on Deck 14. We had a covered balcony so we did have some shade and privacy.

KS
 
S

star

Guest
I have taken 10 cruises, 6 with Princess and have never been upgraded. I always ask my TA but no luck. Would I do better contacting Princess myself?? I am always happy with the cabins I get, perfer mid ship so no complaint.

My last trip, on the Star, I went guarantee and got a nice cabin mid ship near the elevators. A handicap cabin no bacalony but very roomy, good view..perfect for Alaska.
 
P

Paulie

Guest
Went last Sept on the Grand on a special, got upgraded from an inside cabin to a non-obstructed ocean view.

My wife and I got married on the Grand early in 2003, and paid for a balcony and got upgraded to a mini-suite. The balcony is nice, but now we just go with whatever is on special and get what we get. If we want to see something, we go on deck. For the amount of time we are in the room, it really doesn't matter to us.
 
Top