Are Upgrades Common?

[sjaz22]

I see many people here saying their cabin was upgraded. Is that common? Do you have to request it? When can you find out? Right now, we are in Category 8B, Deck 9. Would love an upgrade to a verandah!

 

[scootch]

We were upgraded on a three night cruise. I think it had to do with the fact the cruise was not booked heavily and they offered incentives to those who had cruised before. They bumped us up to a verandah and gave our room to one of those who had the bounce back offer.

 

[sjaz22]

When were you notified that you were upgraded?

 

[richmo]

To answer the original question, I'd say that upgrades are more the exception than the rule. Definitely do not count on getting one.

 

[Gigi22]

We've never been upgraded on DCL, we have been upgraded a few times in the past on HAL. According to our TA, upgrades on cruise ships are now more scarce on an industry-wide basis than a few years ago. She says it is because cruise lines can market aggressively on the internet to make sure that virtually all cabins are sold, so there is less "play" to move people around and give upgrades in the process.

 

[mmouse37]

Cruised DCL 24 times....upgraded 1 time....so it is not the norm but the exception.

Here is my blurb about upgrades....

If you call DCL and "ask" for an upgrade DCL will 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, booked GTY status 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!!!

You would find out if you were upgraded by checking on your reservation at the DCL site and seeing a change in cabin number if you were assigned a cabin or if you were GTY status to see if a cabin number was assigned. You can check the deck plan to see if it was an upgrade or not. If you booked with a TA they may call you if they noticed you were upgraded. Note....the category you booked in will ALWAYS STILL SHOW on your reservation but the way to tell if you were upgrade will be by checking the cabin number on a deck plan.

I like this website...

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Main/CL-Disney.php

or you can find the deck plans on this Dis here....

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-deckplans.htm

Sometimes DCL will contact you and offer you a paid upgrade at a lower price than if you booked it yourself....and sometimes there is availability the day of sailing to upgrade at the port at a signficant discount. You would do this at the port after you check in. You would head to the supervisor's desk and inquire about a paid upgrade. They have a chart (no one here has it) and they price the upgrade based on their chart but it is cheaper than upgrading ahead of time.

On the flip side...if you picked a cabin in an area of the ship that you like and you don't want to be upgraded then call DCL or your TA and tell them to put a DO NOT MOVE notation on your resevation. Some people pick a specific cabin that they want and don't want to be moved.

Hope this helps!

MJ

 

[kcashner]

The frequency of upgrades depend a lot on the particular cruise. THey are more common on off season and other cruises that may not be full--but remember that DCL will offer specials to try to fill the ships all the time.

Most of the time, you find out in advance either on line or on your luggage tags--but remember that those can be taken away! It is not guaranteed till you check in. If DCL can sell that room, they will.

We typically cruise "less popular" times, and if my memory is correct, we have been upgraded on 18% of our cruises. We had many 11C GTY bookings; some of those resulted in a cat 10 or a 9.

There seems no rhyme or reason to upgrades--it doesn't matter whether you booked on line or thru a TA, whether you have cruised once or 20 times before, whether you booked early or late, etc. The pixie dust lands where it will. People on line don't post "I got the cabin/category that I paid for." They do post the "I got an upgrade" info--which makes it look like upgrades are common.