Best Upgrades you've gotten?

[tamu91]

I'm not sure how to pose this question but what is the best upgrade you've gotten, class wise I mean
We are a family of 4 so I'd like get into Class 4, 5 or 6 so would you buy Class 7 expecting an upgrade to maybe 4 or is that too big an upgrade to expect

 

[Lizardbeth61]

We're going on our 6th cruise in March and have never gotten an upgrade. I think we'd all love one and some have gotten them, but don't book counting on one like you might with some other lines. From what I gather, upgrades are extra pixie dust and you know you don't find that stuff everywhere. LOL.

Good luck, but wherever you stay, it will be pure Disney! The one thing I'd strongly recommend is that you book a cabin that will at least give you a split bath. That makes things so much nicer for a family getting ready for dinner.

 

[icartjetta]

Well I was upgraded for our upcoming cruise from a cat. 6 to a cat.5 but it has an enclosed verandah which I'm not thrilled about at all.

 

[WDWLVR]

First off if you are family of 4 you can't book a 7, they only sleep 3.

Second - book the category you'll be happy with. Upgrades really are few and far between and shouldn't be expected.

 

[tvguy]

We booked a 10, got upgraded the week before departure to a 6.
While there doesn't seem to be any pattern to upgrades, I suspect when you booked plays a role. We booked 11 months in advance.
That upgrade would have cost the 4 or us $1600 if we had paid for it.
We got the exact same size cabin, but with a Veranda, and on deck 7 instead of deck 2. The Veranda was nice, but I don't think I'd pay for it, never had one on my 6 previous cruises.....the location was more of a bonus, up a couple of decks to Topsiders, down for the restaurants, and just down the hall from the laundry room, so it was easier to snag an available machine.

 

[jrabbit]

suspect when you booked plays a role

Nope - there are people here that have booked less than a month in advance and gotten upgrades and we've had cruises booked 18 months in advance and never received an upgrade (even in the months after 9/11).

With DCL you CAN NOT count on an upgrade - they don't really happen that frequently. I want to say the cat 11 guarantee rooms get upgraded the most - but I can't (sometimes it sure seems like it here on the DIS though). I want to say that if you travel in jan, feb and oct, nov you have a better chance of upgrade - but no ones really kept any "stats." Does it matter when you pay in full - don't think so either. Doesn't really matter what category of room you booked either. I've heard here anything from a cat 4 down to a cat 12 have been upgraded. Does it matter how many times you've saild DCL - nope. Most of us have never been upgraded (I haven't) and others have reported that they are 3 for 3 or 4 for 4 on being upgraded (every single time - It must be who you know. No wait i Know THE Mouse )

Bottom line: book the category of room that you will be happy in otherwise you're setting youself up for a disapointment!

 

[DiMitch]

we booked a cat. 6 and got an upgrade to a 4. we travelled in Oct which I believe is one of the slower times and booked almost 2 years in advance. I've heard they only upgrade when the ship isn't full and they are trying to sell the cheaper staterooms. I wouldn't count on an upgrade, but to help I'd book early and in an off season.

 

[allears]

In 5 cruises we've been upgraded once. We usually book a cat 4 because we're a family of 5 and that's what we had on our first cruise and fell in love with the veranda. However, on our cruise in September, we were upgraded to a cat 3 after our docs came out but before we got to port. This was very exicting for us. On our recent cruise, with just my DW and I we booked a cat 11 and that's what we got. Couldn't even purchase an upgrade at port, the ship was full.

Having read many such posts, there really seems to be absolutely no sure fired way to get an upgrade or specific plan. They seem to come for varying reasons and situations known only to Disney. The very best advice, as has been stateted, is book what you can be happy with assuming that's what you'll end up with. And if you do get an upgrade, count it as pixie dust!