Have you ever been upgraded?

[Mjasp]

DIS4me has made a great point that most people do NOT get upgraded and to book what you will be happy with as that is most likely what you will get.

I would like to do a poll and ask have you ever been upgraded without paying for it. Whether you cruised once or many times, have you ever gotten a "free" pixie dust upgrade?

Joanna

 

[mdvasquez]

We have cruised with Disney 5 times and have been upgraded twice. Once was in Jan and once at the beginning of Nov. both of which are slow times. They were upgrades from a cat 11 to a cat 8.
Dena

 

[Favorite Auntie]

We are sailing 11/29/03 and we got upgraded from a cat 11 to a cat 8 also!

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

9 cruises, 0 upgrades. We usually book category 7 on deck 7, sometimes cat. 5, almost always in the fall or winter. I don't know that we'd need to have a category 4 with just two adults, or that I'd consider a cat. 6 on deck 5 an upgrade. We like the deck 7 aft location. Still waiting for that upgrade to a suite.

The original poster had the best advice, book what you'll be happy with, if an upgrade happens, get a lottery ticket and hope your luck holds....

It seems that most of the upgrades are from category 11. I think that they sell this category most aggressively, as it's often cheaper than a category 12. I imagine that the cat. 11 rooms are often over-booked to ensure a full ship, and the upgrades happen to find everyone a room.

 

[eek40]

Thanks for starting this poll! Great idea!
Aimee

 

[Padre Disney]

3 day 2 cat 5 no upgrade 1999 mid December
7 day 3 cat 10 no upgrade 2001 mid March
3 day upcoming 10/2 2 gty cat 11 upgraded to 2 cat 9's
I gotta get my lotto ticket for that week.

 

[xABearx]

We've been on 5 cruises with 0 upgrades....on all of our trips, we have always booked and had a cabin reserved at the time of booking, so I don't know if this is why we've never gotten an upgrade.....it seems like the majority of those who booked did a category gty and then sometime before their docs go out they get the upgrade....I don't know if this is how it works or not, but I think we'll try a category gty and see what happens......

 

[AnnMorin]

Then people will understand when I say over and over book the cabin you will be happy with upgrades REALLY are rare!
Wonder land/sea Easter week 2001 cat 6 no upgrade
Eastern-December 2001 cat 5 no upgrade
Western-December 2002 cat 6 no upgrade
Eastern-December 2003 no upgrade

 

[DVCLady]

Delete

 

["Ginger"]

I don't know if this counts. We've been on 5 DC's. Out of the 5 we've been upgraded twice but only because of plumbing problems with the rooms.

Going on our 6th thought we would try to get an upgrade at the port. We will be paying for it though.

 

[alexandrew]

we just got upgraded for our upcoming 10/5 4-day...it will be the first time in 5 cruises...

we are thrilled (and grateful)....

 

[AnnMorin]

Originally posted by alexandrew
we just got upgraded for our upcoming 10/5 4-day...it will be the first time in 5 cruises...

we are thrilled (and grateful)....

and thus deserving

 

[alexandrew]

Thanks Ann (and welcome back)

 

[strasfamily]

This will be our first cruise, and we were upgraded from an 11 to a 9. I think it was more our TAs doing then DCL since they screwed up our reservation from the get go, but then made everything right, with the upgrade to boot!

 

[MarkRG]

We have cruised 4 times and have not been upgraded.

 

[SeaSpray]

Great poll, Joanna!!

This will be our first Disney cruise and we were just upgraded.... BUT....it's because I called our TA and paid for us to upgrade

AnnMorin: I agree... I think people should book what they'll be happy with, whether its a cat 12 or higher! I know that if all we could afford was a cat 12, we'd be in it AND have a great trip!

 

[erikthewise]

Keep in mind that

-- nearly half the cabins are in categories 9-12, so most people who buy there are going to stay there.
-- like all polls on these boards, the results are highly unscientific due to "participation bias". In this case, people who have had upgrades are far more likely to participate than those who haven't.
-- in addition, if the average respondent has sailed on 4 cruises, you need to divide the upgrade percentage by 4 to get an estimate of the odds of receiving an upgrade on a particular cruise.
-- the reason category 11 is heavily promoted and sometimes cheaper than 12 is that there are 147 category 11 cabins but only 13 category 12 cabins. (You probably couldn't get a category 12 cabin if you tried!)

 

[MrsPete]

The computer says that I do not have permission to vote in this poll! Why not?

If I could vote, I'd be tickled pink to say YES! We have been upgraded for our upcoming cruise!

It'd be really interesting if we could see who was upgraded in what month/season and what category they'd booked originally. I bet some patterns would emerge!

 

[eek40]

Keep in mind that

-- nearly half the cabins are in categories 9-12, so most people who buy there are going to stay there.
-- like all polls on these boards, the results are highly unscientific due to "participation bias". In this case, people who have had upgrades are far more likely to participate than those who haven't.
-- in addition, if the average respondent has sailed on 4 cruises, you need to divide the upgrade percentage by 4 to get an estimate of the odds of receiving an upgrade on a particular cruise.
-- the reason category 11 is heavily promoted and sometimes cheaper than 12 is that there are 147 category 11 cabins but only 13 category 12 cabins. (You probably couldn't get a category 12 cabin if you tried!)

Woah...Erikthe wise, this was way to much information for my brain to handle I think that we all know its no scientific, but it is a good way to see, that still a wide percentage of people do not get upgraded, without paying.
Aimee

 

[Mjasp]

Originally posted by erikthewise
Keep in mind that

-- nearly half the cabins are in categories 9-12, so most people who buy there are going to stay there.
-- like all polls on these boards, the results are highly unscientific due to "participation bias". In this case, people who have had upgrades are far more likely to participate than those who haven't.
-- in addition, if the average respondent has sailed on 4 cruises, you need to divide the upgrade percentage by 4 to get an estimate of the odds of receiving an upgrade on a particular cruise.
-- the reason category 11 is heavily promoted and sometimes cheaper than 12 is that there are 147 category 11 cabins but only 13 category 12 cabins. (You probably couldn't get a category 12 cabin if you tried!)

I do agree with alot you have said, except the bias poll. If they open the thread why wouldn't they just click "no"?