Got a Complementary room upgrade for our DCL Cruise!

[plutos1fan]

My family just got word today that we got a complementary room upgrade for our Panama Canal cruise in November. We were shocked and amazed that we are getting a complementary room upgrade. We are getting upgraded from a deluxe inside stateroom to an Oceanview stateroom. The state room is going to be the same size as our inside state room but we will have a porthole!

When we got the phone call this morning that we are receiving the room upgrade, we are not sure why we are receiving the free upgrade but it is so exciting!

Has anyone received a free stateroom upgrade on DCL? Did you ever find out the reason behind the upgrade?

 

[Van Houten]

It happens, although quite infrequently now, as DCL is getting very good at managing inventory and pricing. In this situation, it could mean one of two things.
One possibility is that there is an issue with the room you are currently in, and they don't expect to be able to fix it prior to sailing. Such situations are very infrequent.
A more likely scenario is that DCL is unable to sell all available oceanview rooms at the current rate, so rather than offering a discounted rate (which they may not be able to do anyhow), they are moving some folks to free up inside rooms, and offer those for sale.
On our most recent cruise, concierge categories were grossly overpriced and did not sell, several families who booked 4A received calls and were offered free upgrades to concierge (Cat. V).

In any case, getting an oceanview instead of inside is an awesome pixie dust, enjoy!

 

[KayKayJS]

It happens, although quite infrequently now, as DCL is getting very good at managing inventory and pricing. In this situation, it could mean one of two things.
One possibility is that there is an issue with the room you are currently in, and they don't expect to be able to fix it prior to sailing. Such situations are very infrequent.
A more likely scenario is that DCL is unable to sell all available oceanview rooms at the current rate, so rather than offering a discounted rate (which they may not be able to do anyhow), they are moving some folks to free up inside rooms, and offer those for sale.
On our most recent cruise, concierge categories were grossly overpriced and did not sell, several families who booked 4A received calls and were offered free upgrades to concierge (Cat. V).

In any case, getting an oceanview instead of inside is an awesome pixie dust, enjoy!

That is very interesting. You would think they would try and sell those at the upgrade desk at embarkation, even at a reduced rate.

 

[plutos1fan]

It happens, although quite infrequently now, as DCL is getting very good at managing inventory and pricing. In this situation, it could mean one of two things.
One possibility is that there is an issue with the room you are currently in, and they don't expect to be able to fix it prior to sailing. Such situations are very infrequent.
A more likely scenario is that DCL is unable to sell all available oceanview rooms at the current rate, so rather than offering a discounted rate (which they may not be able to do anyhow), they are moving some folks to free up inside rooms, and offer those for sale.
On our most recent cruise, concierge categories were grossly overpriced and did not sell, several families who booked 4A received calls and were offered free upgrades to concierge (Cat. V).

In any case, getting an oceanview instead of inside is an awesome pixie dust, enjoy!

Thank you for your insights. I thought that the reason we might be getting the upgrade is because of the guaranteed inside stateroom that someone else booked. What makes The situation interesting is my family needs a wheelchair accessible room. It is very surprising to me that they are offering a free upgrade for a wheelchair accessible room. Again we were shocked because typically on the Panama Canal cruises, all the wheelchair accessible rooms are all spoken for well before the cruise starts. There are usually a lot of walkers and wheelchairs on the Panama Canal cruises.

 

[KashasMom]

Nice! Congrats and Enjoy!

 

[plutos1fan]

Nice! Congrats and Enjoy!

Thanks!

 

[tankin]

@plutos1fan I think you just gave us the answer.... If I read correctly, you booked a GTY Inside stateroom but it also has to be accessible? If so, I'll bet the answer is that they've sold out of accessible inside staterooms.

Enjoy the Pixiedust!

 

[lorimay]

Good for you!!!

Only time we received an upgrade was on our 2nd cruise in 2003. They moved us from a room that slept 4 to one that slept 5. My daughter was happy, as we were then able to bring her BF(now husband) with us.

 

[Van Houten]

That is very interesting. You would think they would try and sell those at the upgrade desk at embarkation, even at a reduced rate.

They can only sell an upgrade in port to those who booked something on the ship. If the entry level price is too high, they would rather fill the cabins at inside rate than rely on potential port upgrades.

 

[bobbiwoz]

That is great!

We are on a three night RCCL Cruise next week. Today DH got an email asking if we would pay for an upgrade to a balcony or a suite. We booked an ocean view room ( guaranteed) because that’s what was available. Now apparently there are balconies, and there’s like an auction, starting at $50 per person, if you want a suite the minimum bit is $100 per person. Some will do it I am sure, I am happy with the ocean view room we have.

 

[DCLDVC1]

On our most recent cruise, concierge categories were grossly overpriced and did not sell, several families who booked 4A received calls and were offered free upgrades to concierge (Cat. V).

Wow! How many days before your cruise did they call?

 

[Van Houten]

Wow! How many days before your cruise did they call?

It was about a couple of weeks prior to sail date, right around the time they were distributing restricted guarantee assignments (IGT/OGT/VGT).

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I am so happy for you!!! That is wonderful news. I hope you love your cruise!!!

 

[ivanp91]

I'm on the same cruise, so I'm curious to know what your original Category was?

 

[kiford]

We were upgraded from a cat 5A to 4A on our first Med cruise. We had booked and selected our cat 5A so I can only assume the reason we were upgraded had to do with either consolidation of blocks of rooms for convenience of servicing, or the original room wasn't available due to maintenance, or they were able to sell that category more easily than a 4A or some such reason. The ship wasn't very full. Our TA was very excited for us and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I really didn't care. As it turns out, we would probably have preferred our original selection; there's only two of us and we don't need that much space and it's much farther to walk up the stairs when reboarding than on a lower deck. It was nice to give it a try though.

 

[Luv2Diz]

We also got a free upgrade from Inside to Ocean View with the large deck 2 window on our first DCL cruise. This was to Alaska, so it was fantastic to have a view. We loved it. Got us hooked on Disney cruises!

 

[bbn1122]

Congrats!

I don’t know the category numbers but we were upgraded on our 4 night Canadian cruise from an Oceanview on Deck 6 to a Family Verrandah on Deck 8 back in 2017. It was just DH and me.

When I saw DCL on my cell phone I got so excited, I couldn’t believe we got an upgrade!

Have a great cruise.

 

[BigRob66]

I got a free upgrade on my first Disney Cruise Dec 2016. Oceanview to Family Verrandah. Had been a welcome surprise, since I was wavering between the two.

 

[MouseOfCards]

My family just got word today that we got a complementary room upgrade for our Panama Canal cruise in November. We were shocked and amazed that we are getting a complementary room upgrade. We are getting upgraded from a deluxe inside stateroom to an Oceanview stateroom. The state room is going to be the same size as our inside state room but we will have a porthole!

When we got the phone call this morning that we are receiving the room upgrade, we are not sure why we are receiving the free upgrade but it is so exciting!

Has anyone received a free stateroom upgrade on DCL? Did you ever find out the reason behind the upgrade?

Congratulations on the great news! A number of years ago, we were upgraded to concierge for our 4 staterooms on our Alaska cruise with Celebrity - what a great trip! We've had no such luck with any of our DCL cruises since.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[plutos1fan]

I'm on the same cruise, so I'm curious to know what your original Category was?

Hi,

Originally we were booked in a deluxe inside stateroom. Now with the upgraded cabin we are in category 9A. We are going to have a wonderful cruise. Is this your first Disney Panama Canal Cruise?