Cat 12 - Upgrades for Party of 4

[CaliforniaCastaway]

For those of you who have booked a Cat 12 for a party of 4 -

1) What Category upgrade did you get?
2) When did DCL inform you of the upgrade?
3) What is the basis that DCL uses to determine the upgrade? Do you get a better upgrade the earlier you booked? Better upgrade if you are a Gold or Platinum Castaway Club Member? Or is it totally random?
4) Can you put in any requests for location?

Thanks!

 

[kcashner]

When you book a cat 12 for 4, you know you will get at least an 11 because no cat 12 sleeps 4 people. DCL also knows this when they allow families of 4 to book a 12.

We got a cat 10.

You typically find out on line at 30-45 days before your sailing date. The on line booking will always show a cat 12, but the cabin number will be a different category (you can look it up on the deck plans). It used to be strictly at 30 days, but in 2009 we were finding out a bit earlier. Your room can be changed after it shows up on the computer--all the way till you check in.

DCL determines upgrades on the basis of their needs. Sometimes they allocate upgrades to certain groups of people--like TAs or active duty military. This is not a judgment on my part; it is just a statement of what I've seen. It has nothing to do with when you booked, Castaway Club level, or anything else. It is purely how they choose to drop the pixie dust. The only thing I've seen is that people on their 2nd or 3rd cruise tend to get upgraded more than people with more cruises. We're platinum, and haven't seen a "real" upgrade in many years (I don't count a 12 to an 11 as a real upgrade.) We have been able to buy upgrades at port.

By booking a gty, you are not allowed to put in any requests. DCL will place you anywhere they choose to meet their requirements.

 

[brennanavery]

This is has been my recent experience for my two cents worth. We booked Dec 11th for the Jan. 16th Magic 7 day Eastern. We booked a cat 12 GTY. We are a family of 4 and still have not received our room number. Guess we will be surprised at the port. Just happy to be on the boat though! So my point is that you don't always find out at around the 30 day mark. Some do. Maybe it's the fact that we booked so late in the game? I would never take a cat. 12 GTY with the expectation of being upgraded ( I know we will be at least 11 since we are a familly of 4). Assume you are getting a cat 12 and be surprised if you get anything above that.

 

[ayumac]

We, family of 4, had originally booked Cat 9 for the EBTA cruise for April.

On 12/7/2009, it was the deadline for paying off the trip. We decided not to go, instead on the same day, we booked 2/14/2010 trip to Eastern Caribbean in cat 12GTY which was actually more expensive than previously booked 13 day cruise in Cat 9.

I was following this thread very closely:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2279636

On 12/29/2009, a person who is traveling on 2/4 posted that he got room assignment. Thereon, I was checking my reservation on DCL web page like crazy.

On 12/30/2009, I saw a room assignment under my reservation. It was Cat 9 and not only that, it was a perfect location for us and the rating on the room is great as well.

We have traveled with DCL in 2008. We paid for Cat. 9 and we loved it. For that trip I used a TA who specializes in Disney travels for Japanese people. The room assignment was TA's choice which turned out be one of the best Cat 9 room locations. We always get good rooms (sometime upgrade) when we book Disneyland resorts through them also.

For this trip, I directly made reservation on DCL site without a TA by accident.

 

[inkkognito]

We're waiting with bated breath for a room assignment on the 3/6 Magic cruise...as a party of 2 with cat. 12 guarantee it's conceivable we could actually end up in one! DH talked me into switching because we could do 7 days for just a bit more than the Wonder cruise we were booked on that left the next day.

 

[Goofy Mum]

We're booked on a cat 12 GTY and there are four of us going. I'm not expecting anything better than a cat 11 but was told yesterday by a DCL agent not to expect a cabin assignment much before two weeks before departure.
For me, as long as we have a place to crash I don't care. But anything extra would be a huge bonus!

 

[tdmathews]

Hi, we booked two Cat 12 with 4 people for the 01/24/10 and 01/28/10. We got a Cat 11 for the 24th cruise and a Cat 10 for the 28th. We got kids sail free so we are happy! We may try to upgrade at the port but there are only balcony rooms available and I don't the how much it would cost. We are 17 days to go

 

[sing4joy]

Hi, hoping somone can clarify for me.. if you submit an inquiry for available cabins for a fam of 4 during agiven month, does the DCL site typically include cat 12's if available for the itinerary? Or do you have to reserve for 3 then add on the 4rth? I submitted an inquiry for 4 passengers, no cat 12's, then resubmitted with 2 and 12's showed up...TIA

 

[tdmathews]

I think they only have them available for 4 at certain times. I don't know if you can book 3 then add 4 unless they have a Cat 12 for 4 available. Does that make sense? When I booked they had a Cat 12 available. A few weeks earlier they did not so it seems Disney adds Cat 12 for 4 when they want to fill-up the ship. Hope that helps!

 

[sing4joy]

Okay thanks.. just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing a booking trick Sounds like it's hit or miss - thanks for the info.

 

[kcashner]

Hi, hoping somone can clarify for me.. if you submit an inquiry for available cabins for a fam of 4 during agiven month, does the DCL site typically include cat 12's if available for the itinerary? Or do you have to reserve for 3 then add on the 4rth? I submitted an inquiry for 4 passengers, no cat 12's, then resubmitted with 2 and 12's showed up...TIA

If they are not showing a cat 12 for 4, it means they are not selling them at that time. Cat 12s come and go depending on how full the ship is. If they're not selling other cabins, they'll offer cat 12s for 4 (even though there is no such thing physically!) If they are selling out of cabins for 4 but have 3 person cabins available they will only offer cat 12s for 3. If the ship is filling, they won't offer cat 12s at all!

Technically there are only 13 cat 12 cabins on the ships, and some of those are used by Disney personnel at least on some cruises. We've seen cruises where DCL has sold at least 75 cabins at cat 12 prices!

 

[sing4joy]

Interesting.. that makes sense. Given the discount, sounds like a great deal if you can grab one for 4, or 3 for that matter - with or w/o an upgrade. Thanks for the info.

 

[elkesails]

I had been looking at a cruise and when I went to book at the Disney website the Cat 12 was not available for any guest number. I immediately went to Expedia and booked the Cat 12 GTY for 4 people. You might try that for your dates and see what pops up.

 

[kcashner]

The Disney website has been really strange the last couple days...I ended up calling them this morning!

 

[stingmom]

our fam of 4 booked a cat 12 GTY for 1/14 and we got our room assignment about a month ago. upgraded to a cat 9! our 1st upgrade from DCL. It will be our 7th cruise with them (have 5 more booked already! Our 12th will be on the maiden voyage of the Dream!)

 

[hollypoast]

We got a cat 10. I was thrilled. At the time I didn't know I could check online to find out before we sailed so I didn't find out until at the port. Good luck.