Upgrades?

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JohnTheDog
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Upgrades?

Unread post by JohnTheDog »

We have never been upgraded, we mainly book what we actually want though....what are your experiences with being upgraded?

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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

Great and have always got what I had hoped for.
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JohnTheDog
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by JohnTheDog »

Dancing Queen wrote:
Great and have always got what I had hoped for.
Can't imagine you booking something & hoping for an upgrade somehow.

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GillD46
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by GillD46 »

We have been upgraded a few times in the past, mainly, though not excusively, with Cunard.
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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

I don't but I will book a guarantee grade that I know I will be happy with ( I'm talking suites here so not that much of a gamble ) we have been very fortunate and have had very good upgrades but of course an upgrade is never guaranteed so as I say I book what I know I will be happy with and anything else is a bonus.

I can't think why you can't imagine me booking something and hoping for something else as you don't know me or would have any idea what my expectations would be :D
Last edited by Dancing Queen on 27 Jan 2013, 21:44, edited 1 time in total.
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oldbluefox
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by oldbluefox »

We have never had an upgrade no matter how nicely I smile at anybody in a P&O uniform. :cry: :cry: (Perhaps that's why!!)

And to make matters worse we always seem to sit with somebody who has. :cry: :cry:
I was taught to be cautious

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JohnTheDog
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by JohnTheDog »

Dancing Queen wrote:
I don't but I will book a guarantee grade that I know I will be happy with ( I'm talking suites here so not that much of a gamble ) we have been very fortunate and have had very good upgrades but of course an upgrade is never guaranteed so as I say I book what I know I will be happy with and anything else is a bonus. :D
Makes sense. I suppose I was thinking P&O but we have been upgraded on Cunard, usually from nothing special to next one up.

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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

Foxy, you either have to place yourself on the list for an upgrade or book on a guarantee basis, it's pot luck what you end up with, we have only ever done it booking suites so it's a pretty safe bet you will get something decent, I doubt I would do it with any other grade cabin.
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Dark Knight
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dark Knight »

DQ

what is the upgrade from a suite? do you get to do the driving :?
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oldbluefox
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by oldbluefox »

We have often booked on a guarantee basis but no upgrade - not that it matters cos we're getting what we paid for but an upgrade once in a while would be a nice surprise. Must be because my middle name is 'Lucky' eh? :)

Those penthouse suites are a bit swish aren't they? No chance.
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Dark Knight
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dark Knight »

we just book the cabin we want and leave it at that
I have heard that upgrades are not always a blessing and you soemtime get a cabin they are having problems selling ?
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Silver_Shiney
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Silver_Shiney »

We were offered an upgrade on the QM2 but, as we particularly wanted the cabin originally booked, we turned it down. Did they give us a discount instead? Did they heck....
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GillD46
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by GillD46 »

Dark Knight wrote:
we just book the cabin we want and leave it at that
I have heard that upgrades are not always a blessing and you soemtime get a cabin they are having problems selling ?
As Dancing Queen says, it really depends what you book in the first place.

Each upgrade we have received, has been excellent, especially the one we had earlier this month.
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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

Dark Knight wrote:
DQ

what is the upgrade from a suite? do you get to do the driving :?
They haven't let me yet but I'll ask next time :lol: :lol:

It's just position and size really, at Xmas we were upgraded and there were only two grades above what we got, the grand and the master suites ( now they really are something ... I live in hope :lol: )
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JohnTheDog
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by JohnTheDog »

Depends on the ship too..on Oceana for instance I find all the balcony's much the same so not bothered. On say Azura Ventura & Arcadia we only really want the aft ones.

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gravy1955
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by gravy1955 »

We've never had an upgrade but then we've only been on half a dozen cruises so perhaps not to be expected. Perhaps you have to be an experienced cruiser before you receive one and are they worth having anyway?

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JohnTheDog
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by JohnTheDog »

gravy1955 wrote:
We've never had an upgrade but then we've only been on half a dozen cruises so perhaps not to be expected. Perhaps you have to be an experienced cruiser before you receive one and are they worth having anyway?
Quite the reverse I think, I have found it's often new cruisers they try to cultivate. True that some upgrades may be a better grade but in a rotten position.

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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

gravy1955 wrote:
We've never had an upgrade but then we've only been on half a dozen cruises so perhaps not to be expected. Perhaps you have to be an experienced cruiser before you receive one and are they worth having anyway?
Gravy, we've done umpteen cruises with P&O and never had an upgrade so I don't think it is anything to do with that, it is only the last couple of years that we have booked a guarantee grade and 4 out of 5 cruises we have had very good upgrades ( this is with Cunard ) the fifth one we got exactly the grade we had booked.
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Ingram33
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Ingram33 »

We booked a balcony for us and inside room for kids (to save a bit on cost of having two rooms) - and as we had done an early booking it qualified for an upgrade from inside to outside room - kids were happy at inside but then even better to have a window!

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Kendhni
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Kendhni »

We have never been upgraded, but the in-laws got upgraded on their first P&O cruise ... it was basically an upgrade from a balcony to a bigger balcony.

The in-laws have also been upgraded on Celebrity and RCI a few times as well ... the best upgrade was from an outside cabin to a suite ... the down side was that they now feel they always need to have a balcony.

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Kendhni
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Kendhni »

On a slightly similar note friends of ours had booked their first P&O cruise (at our recommendation). They had booked an inside cabin but between booking and final payment date P&O changed the rules on smoking. My friend decided that he wasn't willing to do a cruise on those conditions and so he cancelled. A few weeks later a last minute deal came out so he rebooked except this time it was a balcony cabin at less than they had paid for the inside.

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david63
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by david63 »

I was reading an article recently about upgrades with hotels and was wondering if the same could apply to a ship.

The basis of the argument was that if you book through an agency you are unlikely to get an upgrade due to the fact that the agency has been paid commission which effectively is the difference in price between the two rooms. So in this case if the hotel was to give an upgrade then they would, effectively, be paying twice.

So the question is are you more likely to get an upgrade by booking direct with the cruise line or through a TA?

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Kendhni
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Kendhni »

That is an interesting hypothesis, David.
One possible corollary is that if you book through a TA then the TA is told that they can give out some upgrades and maybe they give them to their favoured customers?

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Pippa Kernow
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Pippa Kernow »

I'm a tad confused as to what is actually classed as an 'upgrade'. If you mean a change from one cabin type to a completely different one, then no that hasn't happened to us. (But we live in hope... lol ;) ) There have been times however, when we've moved up levels within a particular cabin type. And (*touch wood*), we've always been pleased with those and have never been placed in a bad cabin yet. :)

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Dancing Queen
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Re: Upgrades?

Unread post by Dancing Queen »

Our upgrades have been the same cabin type Pippa so I suppose in effect we were still getting the same cabin and the same benefits which came with it, the only thing that is really different is the higher the grade you are likely to get more sq footage and a better position, with Cunard in particular there are other little extra's for Q3 grade and above but nothing particularly significant.
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