Upgraded from Cat 6 to Cat 3 @ port - 10/31 Western

[ktjl92]

On our 7-night Western last week (Oct 31-Nov 7) we got to the terminal at 10 am and I had our pick of 1-BR suites - and even the Walt Disney Suite was available.

Had booked Cat 6 - 6566. Was offered choice of 6 different 1 BR, including the HA rooms at the back with the larger verandahs. Not crazy about the lack of privacy back there (overlook from Topsiders). Went with 8534 and LOVED it - 3 adults - me, dh, dsis.

Had called a few days before sailing and was quoted $10K as full price for the Cat 3. At the port, was offered upgrade to the Walt suite for $2900 - tempting but didn't go for it. Instead we took the Cat 3 for $1550 - just treated it as an extra bday present for hubby.

We would have been perfectly happy with the Cat 6 - but the suite was pretty great. Concierge hosts were Jonathan (never saw him except for reception 1st day) and Lynda. We're not concierge type folks so we didn't use it to full advantage but the extra space in the room was fabulous.

[kcashner]

Good for you!!!! And your pricing was right on too...a bit over $200 per day. Very consistent with other reports.

Glad you enjoyed your bargain.

[alexandmaddie]

Hey, we were on the same cruise and did the exact same thing. We also upgraded from a Cat 6 to a Cat 3 for $1550. We were in 8032. We loved the Cat 3. We saw Johnathan quite a bit. Lynda was the one we never saw again after the reception.

Krista

[love2driveinct]

Is there a list somewhere of what people have typically paid for port upgrades? Is anyone keeping track?

I am not getting my hopes up or anything, but if offered an upgrade to Cat 3 I would be very tempted... we are cat 4 now, so would it be a smaller amount than the OP had to pay to go from cat 6 or would it be about the same?

[kcashner]

I've been tracking this as best I can for a couple years. Because of the various lengths of cruises, I felt the best way to simplify things was to look at it on a "per day" basis. There is NO absolute on what things cost (at least that I've been able to determine), and much of the time the prices are not in "round numbers" I've seen prices like $411 and $288.

However...my best assessment is:
Inside cabin to window--approximately $50 X number of days in the cruise
Window to balcony--approximately $50 X number of days in the cruise
Balcony to cat 4--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise
Cat 4 to cat 3--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise.
Cat 3 to cat 2--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise
Cat 2 to cat 1--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise

You can add the numbers together to figure out going more than one tier. For instance, if you want to go from a window to a cat 4 on a 7 day, figure window to balcony = $50 X 7 + balcony to cat 4 = $100 X 7, and expect to pay ABOUT $1050.

The above quotes are again relatively consistent with the price of $2900 for a cat 1 (approx $400 per day X 7 days) and the cat 3 (approximately $200 per day X 7 days). By my calculations I would have expected the cat 6 to cat 3 to be about $1400 (it was $1550) and the cat 6 to cat 1 to be about $2800 (it was $2900).

This is NOT an exact science, and then numbers of reported cat 1 and 2 upgrades are very small. It's just the best estimation I can come up with using the numbers I have.

[love2driveinct]

Thanks! That's great info, I really appreciate it...

So they don't take into account whatever discounts, rates, etc that you may used to book your original cabin? It's just a pure "upgrade" price that would be the same for everyone?

I am only asking because we used the Kids Sale Free PIN for our cat 4... I'd hate to get there and find out that a jump to cat 3 was much bigger for us because we'd be penalized for having to pay for the kids all of a sudden.

[kcashner]

As far are I can tell (and this is nothing official), it makes no difference how you booked. You must check in before you can try to upgrade. At that point, everyone is equal as near as I can tell--whether you used points, FL res discount, booking onboard discount, or whatever. The only time I saw a difference in this was the May 30 sailing when people who booked a cat 12 were upgraded from a cat 12 regardless of where they were later assigned. This was one of those cruises where they sold somewhere between 50 and 100 cat 12s, and many people got pixie dusted.

[Mickey4me!]

So, am I right in assuming that it doesn't matter how many people you have booked in a room? The upgrade price it the same regardless?

[kcashner]

Upgrades are per reservation, not per person. The only time the number of people matters is if only 3 person rooms are available for upgrades--you can't upgrade 4 people to a 3 person room.

Also, if you have 2 cabins but are upgrading to a suite...all of your people will get the suite perks and all can sleep in the suite if there is space, but you are technically only upgrading one cabin. You can keep the other cabin and use it for whatever...a luggage room, etc. but if you choose to "turn it back" to DCL, you will get no credit for it. The price will be the same.

For instance, say you have a cat 6 with a cat 11 across the hall. You choose to upgrade the 6 to a 3. DCL will issue gold KTTW to everyone, and you can sleep 5 people in the suite. But you may as well keep the cat 11 as the price will be the same whether you use it or not.

[Mickey4me!]

Originally Posted by kcashner

Upgrades are per reservation, not per person. The only time the number of people matters is if only 3 person rooms are available for upgrades--you can't upgrade 4 people to a 3 person room.

Thanks! That's what I thought.

[alexandmaddie]

Originally Posted by kcashner

Upgrades are per reservation, not per person. The only time the number of people matters is if only 3 person rooms are available for upgrades--you can't upgrade 4 people to a 3 person room.

Also, if you have 2 cabins but are upgrading to a suite...all of your people will get the suite perks and all can sleep in the suite if there is space, but you are technically only upgrading one cabin. You can keep the other cabin and use it for whatever...a luggage room, etc. but if you choose to "turn it back" to DCL, you will get no credit for it. The price will be the same.

For instance, say you have a cat 6 with a cat 11 across the hall. You choose to upgrade the 6 to a 3. DCL will issue gold KTTW to everyone, and you can sleep 5 people in the suite. But you may as well keep the cat 11 as the price will be the same whether you use it or not.

It might have changed, but last week we had to give up the cat 11 in order for my DH to get a gold KTTW card. If we hadn't he would not have had a key for our suite.

[HallsofVA]

Originally Posted by kcashner

I've been tracking this as best I can for a couple years. Because of the various lengths of cruises, I felt the best way to simplify things was to look at it on a "per day" basis. There is NO absolute on what things cost (at least that I've been able to determine), and much of the time the prices are not in "round numbers" I've seen prices like $411 and $288.

However...my best assessment is:
Inside cabin to window--approximately $50 X number of days in the cruise
Window to balcony--approximately $50 X number of days in the cruise
Balcony to cat 4--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise
Cat 4 to cat 3--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise.
Cat 3 to cat 2--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise
Cat 2 to cat 1--approximately $100 X number of days in the cruise

You can add the numbers together to figure out going more than one tier. For instance, if you want to go from a window to a cat 4 on a 7 day, figure window to balcony = $50 X 7 + balcony to cat 4 = $100 X 7, and expect to pay ABOUT $1050.

The above quotes are again relatively consistent with the price of $2900 for a cat 1 (approx $400 per day X 7 days) and the cat 3 (approximately $200 per day X 7 days). By my calculations I would have expected the cat 6 to cat 3 to be about $1400 (it was $1550) and the cat 6 to cat 1 to be about $2800 (it was $2900).

This is NOT an exact science, and then numbers of reported cat 1 and 2 upgrades are very small. It's just the best estimation I can come up with using the numbers I have.

The one difference I've seen in the above, is that the cost to upgrade from a 2 to a 1 on a 7 day Eastern last Dec was $300, so more in the $50/day range than the $100/day range.

[Galactus]

Hi!

How do you get your luggage redirected to your new room if you have to give your 'checked bags' to the porters before you register/upgrade inside?

Thanks, Charles

[HallsofVA]

Originally Posted by Galactus

Hi!

How do you get your luggage redirected to your new room if you have to give your 'checked bags' to the porters before you register/upgrade inside?

Thanks, Charles

When you upgrade, the supervisor notes all the changes on a log, and then the porters and hosts use the log to reroute luggage, stateroom gifts, OBC and other documents to your new room.

In two upgrades, we've only had 1 piece of luggage end up at the old room (a car seat) which of course the folks then had it sent to the right room.

[kcashner]

Originally Posted by HallsofVA

The one difference I've seen in the above, is that the cost to upgrade from a 2 to a 1 on a 7 day Eastern last Dec was $300, so more in the $50/day range than the $100/day range.

Thanks for the info...as I said, I have very few cases involving cats 1 and 2.

To the person who said they had to give up the cat 11--would they not issue DH a "blank" key to the suite? Not as pretty as the gold one, but I've seen that done in the past. And I've had a "blank" key when we've had more than one rooms cuz I'm the mom and I have to have access to all the rooms that I'm responsible for!