Upgrades are doubtful?

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suncat

Guest
After reading several upgrade threads, I am starting to doubt whether I will get an upgrade, even though my TA says we have an 80% chance and she's been on 34 cruises and knows an upgrade is very likely, I don't know who to trust. She says they are one of the #1 booking agnets with Princess. (I am wondering how many #1 booking agents Princess has)

Also - she says she will adjust the price of our cruise if it goes down before we make our final payment on May 1st. Who has experience of there price going down? Does it? I'm thinking it probably won't.

FYI - we booked a BF with hopes of an upgrade to a better balcony. We could have taken a BB for $350 more, and still can if we call and make the change.

Suncat
 
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PEB

Guest
The price going down will depend completely on how full the ship is. If it is close to full the price will not drop if it is fairly empty it will drop. The same goes for upgrades if the ship is full an upgrade is not as likely as if the ship has a lot of rooms available.

You should NEVER book a category room that you would not be happy with. If you book a guarantee you may or may not get an upgrade. If you do get an upgrade you may not find out until you get to the ship.

Your TA may produce a lot of sales for Princess but if the sailing is filling up fast that will not help in an upgrade if the cabins in higher categories are already booked up.
 
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Lady Jag

Guest
Monitor the prices on a lot of websites. We found one online agency that offered our cruise for $1500 less than our discount online TA. The best thing to do is be proactive! Check these sites on a regular basis and call your TA as soon as you see a change:

<http://www.bestpricecruises.com>
<http://www.travelocity.com> (their prices are terrible, but they're good about showing price changes)
<http://www.icruise.com>
<http://www.mycruisevalue.com>

BTW - Almost every agent will say they are "one of Princess' number 1 customers"!! :lol
 
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gaa

Guest
Once we used a travel agent who failed to tell us about a regional promotion that would have reduced our cruise---we found it on our own and called her and she said "good catch!" Needless to say, we never used her again.
 
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lizardstew

Guest
If you will be unhappy with the BF if you don't get upgraded, you should probably change to the BB and pay the higher fare while you still can. You don't want to be stuck in a room you're not happy with.
 
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snippitts

Guest
First of all , all these graphics on the posts are very distracting when you are trying to read!!!!!!! My TA got us a discount of 412.00 per cabin the day before final payment! That was pretty good, I wasn't expecting it. So this can happen.
 
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p.g.

Guest
I say relax, we booked a cat BF and got upgraded twice once to cat. bc, then we noticed a price drop, notified our ta, and got a refund of 250$ and another upgrade to a ba. Still thirty days to our cruise so another upgrade is always a possibilities.
We love booking guarantees , we book the cat we want( ie balcony or outside) and we are not picky about what deck we are on , or if it is mid ship or not. I know that matters to some , but not to us. We've been lucky before too, on the Grand we got upgraded to a balcony form and inside!! We know that was incredible luck!
 
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asctony

Guest
'After reading several upgrade threads, I am starting to doubt whether I will get an upgrade, even though my TA says we have an 80% chance and she's been on 34 cruises and knows an upgrade is very likely, I don't know who to trust. She says they are one of the #1 booking agents with Princess. (I am wondering how many #1 booking agents Princess has'

I only wish your TA was correct in stating that you or anyone has an 80% chance of being upgraded. That is not something I have seen over the years. If that were true, that would mean only 20% or 400 passengers would not get upgraded.

I have 31 cruises on Princess and have not been upgraded more than 3 times on Princess. An upgrade to another category is very misleading. I consider an upgrade from an inside to an outside. Not, from 1 deck to another. I also have been on HAL 21 times, Celebrity 6, RCI 20, and other cruise lines, too.

As for your TA being #1 with Princess. I have heard that too many times by TAs. Then when you asked for their lowest price which will beat every other TA, I have not found that to be true either.

As for giving you the lowest price before the final payment. That is true normally with any TA. However, after final payment, that is another story.

I am not saying your TA is not telling the truth. I am just giving you my opinion and what I have heard, seen, and experienced with TAs. Just like car salespeople. Some tell the true story, others make up their story. They are in business to SELL!!!

Do your own checking of prices to ensure that you do get the best deal. Here is another site: http://www.mycruisevalue.com/v2/index2.htm

Happy Cruising!!
 
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coiran

Guest
Upgrades are the luck of the draw - there is no formula for it - We have 13 Princess cruises to date and only one offered upgrade - we had an instance on our recent Baltic cruise where we booked way ahead for an inside and two days after our final payment they were offering balconies at the same price as we paid for our inside - it took several calls to Princess and our TA for us to get upgraded to a balcony at no additional cost.
 
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seagarsmoker

Guest
We've been on five Princess cruises and only one offered category upgrade, which took my TA three days to get back our original room (it was an upgrade within a category which put us in the same category, but to midship instead of the back where we like it). As noted above, you have 5 categories (inside, outside, outside with balcony, mini-suite, suite) and in my book, the only real upgrade is outside of the category you booked, not from within. If they had offered us a full category upgrade (say mini-suite to suite), we would have taken it. Actually, in nine cruises, we've only had one 'real upgrade' and that was on our first RCI cruise ten years.
 
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Al

Guest
Your TA is full of ... herself! If there's an 80% chance of an upgrade, most of us fall within the remaining 20%. I've cruised 20 times, and have been "upgraded" exactly twice - both to the same type of stateroom, but one deck higher. Getting off the elevator at a different stop hardly qualifies as better accommodations, although the cruise lines believe so. Simply put, never book any cabin (or category guarantee) with the hope that you'll wind up with a superior stateroom at no charge. As with price, it's supply and demand at its most elementary level.

Speaking of which, some TA's monitor changes, others don't. Given the lines your agent has fed you, I'd bet the ranch on the latter. As was noted above in other posts, go to the various sites and check your category regularly (the closer the final payment date, the more frequently you should monitor them). It's a good idea to print the pages, for if there's a significant downward adjustment, you can show your TA the changes in black and white. Your fare should then be adjusted accordingly.

Understand, though, that once final payment is made, you're pretty much locked in, as the reduced fares are published with the idea of filling the ship, and you've already committed. Most post-payment reductions come with the disclaimer, "New Bookings Only," and the lines are pretty adamant about it. Of course, there's no harm in giving it a shot, and there have been rare instances of success; but don't count on it - pretty much like your TA's claims. Enjoy your cruise!!



Post Edited (03-16-04 09:32)
 
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PeabodyNVL

Guest
Yes, your chances of being upgraded because you booked guarantee are greater than just regular booking. Especially if you booked a category with a limited number of cabins...and I believe BF is such a category. If there are only four of those cabins and each gets a true booking, then you might be upgraded at least into a BD (since BE also only has a few cabins). However, if the people who actual booked the BF cabins paid more than you did, it's quite possible that they will be the ones to get the upgrade and you will get the BF cabin. There are a lot of variables that go on, price paid for the cabin being one of them.
 
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McCall

Guest
You don't say that you booked a guarantee at BF rate. If you booked an actual cabin in that rate your chance of upgrade is much less.
 
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suncat

Guest
Thanks for all the feedback - I spoke with my TA again and advised about the same as what you have all said. She advises this:

copy of my e-mail to my TA about this subject and her response...

My email:

Hi:

Did you say that Princess would assign an initial cabin within a few days of
booking? I've been checking the "Personalizer" on the Princess website and
it still says BF.

Also, I'm a little nervous about not getting an upgrade. Most people I've
talked to, including several members of Cruise Critic and Cruise Addicts say
they have gone on several cruises and have never been upgraded. Hmmh?

Since this is our first Cruise, I can't help but be a little skeptical.

What is the upgrade Price for BB, maybe on Caribe? I've heard the decks on
Caribe are larger and part covered and part sun, true?, or since this ship
is new (Caribbean Princess), do we know? Can you find out?

Oh - one more question, if this cruise is not full by a certain date, does
the price fall? I think you said it would and that our price would be
adjusted if that happens, right?

Thanks for your help!

--------------------------------
TA response email:

Hi:

Princess has not given you a cabin assignment yet, because their systems
have been down. I am sure you should have an assignment shortly.

Cruise Critic is a very reputable site, however; not all of the information
is correct. We normally get upgrades on most Princess sailings because of
our volume. It truly comes down to the agency you book with & shear luck.
So you are in good hands.

If you want to pay the difference to move up to a category BB you can, but I
would recommend that you wait. There is no sense in paying for something
that you might get for free. If you do not have a cabin assignment by
Friday, then let's look at you paying more to be in the larger balconies on
the Caribe deck.

Finally, if the price drops before final payment we can adjust your price
downwards, however; after final Princess does not allowed this change.

-------
My final comments

This is just an FYI. Feel free to comment. My TA is in the top 1% of TA's that book with Princess, so she says they get upgrades offered to them more frequently than some. I guess I will wait and see, then upgrade closer if needed closer to my final payment day. My TA is pretty honest and not commission based. This agency deals on volume mostly and has some TA's that work on commision. Everything she has told me seems to be ringing true to what has been said on these Boards.

I feel I am in good hands.

Suncat
 
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asctony

Guest
I cannot believe that your TA wold not work on commision. If you have booked a GTY BF you will not normally get an assigned cabin until weeks before the cruise. Yes, Princess' site has been down. However, that has nothing to do with you getting a cabin assignment. Your TA could call and find out if you are assigned a cabin at anytime.
I would love to know who or what agency this TA works for. Like I said before, there are many TAs that say they are the #1 Princess agency. Your TA maybe. However, I still believe that there is no TA that gets upgrades for their clients 80% of the time. I find that very hard to believe!
At least you found out that after final payment it is hard to get the price reduction, but it can happen. I have done it before, recently.
Again, would like to know the agency, not the specific TA.
Happy Cruising!!
 
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lana.delight

Guest
talking about up grades we booked a gauranteed then i looked on the personalizer it said we had a cabin on the rivera deck the next day i looked it was gone i called princess they said the people in that cabin first were upgraded then called and said no thanks so they gave the cabin back to the first people so now we are not in a cabin and waiting did anyone else hear of this before
 
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Lisa

Guest
If you book a guarantee you are NOT guaranteed a cabin until just before sailing. You can be upgraded and then downgraded to the category you originally booked your guarantee in. The people who originally booked that cabin as an assigned cabin have the right to request it back if it is given away and they are not satisfied with what they get in it's place. You are the one who booked the "guarantee" you get what is left over. This is not always bad.......I have booked category guarantees before and have been upgraded and upgraded well, but I always book the minimum category I would be happy with.....no matter where that cabin ends up being located.
 
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lisalovlee33

Guest
Hi gang,
So, when one gets an upgrade, we'll have to go through our TA for it to happen? It doesnt just change my cabin # in my princess.com profile? I was going into my profile everynight to check!!! :(
Thanks
 
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