gty's

[becky23]

I understand that when you book a gty that you are guaranteed to get at least that cat, but I was wondering how often do you get a upgrade?

 

[mmouse37]

I understand that when you book a gty that you are guaranteed to get at least that cat, but I was wondering how often do you get a upgrade?

More info than you were asking for but ........

Here is a blurb I post when trying to explain upgrades.....

If you called DCL and "ask" for an upgrade DCL would assume you are willing to pay for that upgrade....but when DCL upgrades you on their own there is no cost to you.

DCL really does not upgrade out of the kindness in their hearts well, maybe sometimes they do!!!....But, in reality, they upgrade based on their inventory requirements at any given time. There is really no rhyme or reason or set pattern....it does not matter if you booked your cruise early or last minute, as a GTY or got an assigned cabin, are a return cruiser or first timer, had a TA book it or booked on your own, paid off cruise early or at the due date, had 1 stateroom booked or many, had adjoining cabins or connecting cabins, booked onboard or from home, booked via phone or on the web, booked directly at the DCL site or with DCL on the phone, used DVC points or cash or reward dollars, yadda, yadda, yadda, etc.....none of these things matter in regards to DCL upgrading a cabin. Believe me, if there was a secret formula, the people on this board would have figured it out already!!! LOL!!!

The only "sure" upgrade right now is if you book 4 people in a Cat 12 then you will at least be upgraded to a Cat 11 since the Cat 12's only hold 3 people. This is the only category that DCL sometimes will allow booking more people than a cabin can accommodate. Again, this may change with the new ships. There is rumor that DCL is outfitting the Cat 12's to now hold 4 people....that would eliminate any "automatic" upgrade from that category. We will have to wait and see what happens!!

DCL does this with the Cat 12's to drive business. This way they can continually offer the lowest price point to entice people to book. Once they are satisfied with amount of bookings they usually pull the Cat 12 specials.

 

[becky23]

mmouse37 thanks for answering. Wow I can't believe how many cruises you have been on. That's great.

 

[Anal Annie]

I don't know what the "odds" are on it happening but it happened to us. I think the chances are higher when you take this Gty risk than if you book an assigned cabin. I also think that you have more of a chance for an upgrade if you book a Gty in a category that has fewer rooms (like the 7's & 8's). There are tons of Cat 9's...easier for them to KEEP you in a Cat 9. This was on our first DCL which I booked over the phone, directly with a CM. She also put a note on our ressie at the time that I booked that we were first time cruisers. She clearly said that a free upgrade for first timers IS one of their tricks to try to get you to re-book and to re-book a higher category. So she said she would make that note on our ressie as it might come in handy when they started assigning rooms. I figured that was a valid point to consider. Perhaps no truth to it, but couldn't hurt to get that noted on our ressie, right?

We orig. booked a Cat 8 Gty (which only has like 48 cabins) and that was the category we were first given a number in. I figured by booking the highest category w/o a balcony that IF we DID get an upgrade we'd get a balcony. Ok, we are a family of 3 and the Cat 8's sleep 4. Two weeks before we sailed we got upgraded to a Cat 6 Aft which only slept 3. My THEORY on it is that they needed a spot somewhere for a family of 4 (perhaps also receiving an upgrade) so they picked us to upgrade from the Cat 8 because #1 we were a Gty booking and being a smaller family we were easier to move. Supply and demand - they needed the room for a foursome. The cruise was sold out and someone has to work this giant jigsaw puzzle to get everyone on board. This is also one reason why we would never book a Cat 12. Being a family of 3 we'd likely end up STAYING in a Cat 12 and I at least need a porthole!

OK, so all just theories...but stuff to think about.