If you already have a stateroom number assigned...any chance of an upgrade?

[WishingMom]

The title says it all. On our last cruise we had a GTY inside stateroom booked and received an upgrade to a deluxe oceanview, this time we've already been assigned a stateroom number for our February 2014 cruise. What are the chances of an upgrade with a stateroom already assigned?

 

[su_A_ve]

You 'could' but chances are lower... Now for a Feb 2014 cruise you can pick your own room... So if you are not too happy with it, go and change it.

 

[justmestace]

Actually, the chances are no greater nor are they any less.

We've always had a room assignment and have gotten upgraded by DCL three times.

It's been discussed on here for YEARS and years....the reasoning behind upgrades, and although there are a lot of theories, no one really understands how they choose who to upgrade and why.

 

[Evil Queen 2]

We have always had a room assigned and we have been offered upgrades (a couple free and a couple for lower upgrade fee). As everyone has said there is no real rhyme or reason to how they determine which folks to offer upgrades to.

And on one of the upgrade offers we were even "linked" with another cabin. We had to decline that upgrade since there was not a HA cabin available near the one they offered us for the in-laws that were traveling with us.

 

[NickAndAnt]

For those who have been upgraded, how did that work? When were you told of the upgrade and how?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

For those who have been upgraded, how did that work? When were you told of the upgrade and how?

You could be contacted for an upgrade (although that's more rightly an "upsell") where you can go up in category for a lower rate than what you would pay if you approached DCL for an upgrade.

An unpaid upgrade (surprise!) will just appear either on your online reservation, or when you checkin at the port.

 

[justmestace]

For those who have been upgraded, how did that work? When were you told of the upgrade and how?

It's been different almost each time.

A couple of times they called us at home, I would say a month before the cruise probably(?) and asked us if we would "like" to move....free....and another time it was maybe a couple of weeks out, and they called and asked if we wanted to pay to upgrade, but it was highly discounted, I think even more so than it would be to upgrade at the port.

One time, we were staying at the Polynesian before the cruise and they left a message in our room that they had moved us up, and asked us to change the room number on our luggage tags...so they didn't even ask, they just did it.

I've not booked GTY, but I know with those rooms, it will often just show up on your reservation on Disney's site online, or in your documents.

 

[tinkerone]

For those who have been upgraded, how did that work? When were you told of the upgrade and how?

we received an upgrade with one of our du booked cruisies. I saw it online at the dcl site, a few days later I received an email from the du ta.
always a nice surprise

 

[lbgraves]

Actually, the chances are no greater nor are they any less.

We've always had a room assignment and have gotten upgraded by DCL three times.

It's been discussed on here for YEARS and years....the reasoning behind upgrades, and although there are a lot of theories, no one really understands how they choose who to upgrade and why.

ITA with this! We have also always had a room number since we book early. We have been upgraded twice. Our first cruise I noticed a different room number on the receipt our TA gave me when I made the final payment. I knew that since it ended with an even number it was an outside room, not the inside room we had booked. I was excited and the TA obviously didn't know as much about DCL. She double checked her book and confirmed that we had a cat 8 instead of the 11 we booked. Our third cruise I found out that we had been upgraded from a cat 8 to a 4 two weeks before when I looked to see if we had been switched to early seating. Never heard from DCL about either.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The only time I've gotten one they called me a couple of days before the cruise to tell me. My TA also emailed me the info to, thankfully as I wasn't really paying attention to what the room number was.

 

[tvguy]

For those who have been upgraded, how did that work? When were you told of the upgrade and how?

We booked a specific stateroom 13 months in advance. Got our documents/luggage tags about 3 weeks before we sailed. Disney called our Travel Agent 10 days before departure to say our stateroom had been changed from Deck 2 Oceanview to Deck 7 Verandah and to change the stateroom number on our luggage tags and documents.

I've been on these boards 10 years, nobody has ever detected a pattern to free upgrades. They just truly appear to be random.

 

[Cats12]

We were upgraded on our first cruise from an inside to and OV. We had only 3 people, and our new room slept only 3, so I thought maybe they were trying to make room to book a family of 4 in the room we left. I have no idea whether that's true or not, though.

I received a call from Disney. I was worried they were moving me down to deck 5 and almost refused it, but we ended up loving deck 5 and have booked it ever since.

 

[littlbugmom]

We didn't know we had been upgraded until we arrived to board and they sent us to the concierge boarding area! Apparently, they did call the house 2 days before the cruise but we missed the message.

 

[woody73]

On three cruises, we had assigned cabins and were upgraded at no cost. One time DCL called our house and left a message (we were already at WDW). The other times our TA called us.

Woody

 

[Justacruiser]

On our very first cruise, all I could afford was a discounted room with a large window.

My DW had always wanted to go on a cruise and it was all we could afford to get an ocean view room. When we checked in at the reservation desk, I asked the person checking us in if my DW was going to be happy with her view. The cast member replied, she will be very happy with the view. Being on our first cruise and DCL first cruise we knew nothing till we opened the room door. There was a view alright, a verandah! Pixie Dust to the max. Never had anything but a Varandah since.

 

[bigvig1130]

From what I understand, Disney will provide free upgrades when better stateroom categories are not selling. Since inside staterooms are the most popular (and cheapest) stateroom category, they are more likely to be upgraded for free to make room for another inside stateroom sale instead of trying to sell the more expensive stateroom. This is usually done near the sail date in a last ditch attempt to sell out the cruise.

 

[becca1976]

I'm new to cruise terminology, what is the GTY you keep mentioning? I just booked a cat. 11 room for an Aug. 2014 Alaska cruise. We are way too poor to book anything with a porthole, let alone a verandah. I read a lot of stateroom reviews on this board, so did choose a specific room and the TA booked it for me. If I pray really hard, is there a chance to get an upgrade?? Or does that only happen for the GTY rooms that have been mentioned?

I'm not going to get my hopes up, but man that sure would be a nice surprise!

 

[FIREFIGHTERMICKEY]

We have been on 9 Disney cruises and we have never been upgraded!!

 

[rentayenta]

What if you don't want an upgrade? Obviously if take a suite upgrade but otherwise the Navigators Verandah is what we want.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm new to cruise terminology, what is the GTY you keep mentioning? I just booked a cat. 11 room for an Aug. 2014 Alaska cruise. We are way too poor to book anything with a porthole, let alone a verandah. I read a lot of stateroom reviews on this board, so did choose a specific room and the TA booked it for me. If I pray really hard, is there a chance to get an upgrade?? Or does that only happen for the GTY rooms that have been mentioned?

I'm not going to get my hopes up, but man that sure would be a nice surprise!

Once a certain percentage of room within a specific category are booked, the category goes guarantee (GTY). You can still select the category, but not a specific room. Your reservation would say something like 11C GTY, or 11A GTY. DCL will assign a specific room within the reserved categrory (or higher) at a later date. The upgrade comes in when (if) DCL assigns you to a, say, 9B room - you don't pay extra for it. Yes, upgrades can happen to those in specifically selected rooms also. There's no rhyme or reason to DCL's "pattern" of who gets an upgrade.

What if you don't want an upgrade? Obviously if take a suite upgrade but otherwise the Navigators Verandah is what we want.

If you don't want an upgrade, you call DCL (or your TA will) and have the request "DO NOT UPGRADE" placed on your reservation. You can only opt for "no upgrade" or leave it blank. You can't say, "I'll take a suite upgrade, but no others".