If you have ever rec'd a complimentary upgrade

[FredS]

I have heard more than once of people being upgraded from 11 to 8 or 9. What would bother me as being somewhat unfair is that category 10 appears to be "skipped." It is probably easier for Disney to just move category 11 to 8 to free up (and sell) the 11, but would seem more fair to move the 11 to 10 (a not insignificant upgrade) then the 10 to the 8.

Granted, there are no guarantees of an upgrade and it would be a gamble to reservation an 11 when you wanted a higher category but couldn't later get it even with paying the additional cost. However, if it is that DCL is going with the one-step multiple category jump it just seems a bit unfair and not particularly contributing to goodwill. I mean, if I made a reservation for cat 12 at the same time as my friend who reserved and paid more for a cat 10, then I was upgraded to an 8 I don't think I would feel very comfortable. However, if she got the 8 and I was bumped up to the 10 I think that we would both be thrilled.

 

[AnnMorin]

It may just be that booking a non veranda room greatly increases your upgrade potential. That is the only pattern I have really noticed.

 

[AnnMorin]

Originally posted by FredS
I have heard more than once of people being upgraded from 11 to 8 or 9. What would bother me as being somewhat unfair is that category 10 appears to be "skipped." It is probably easier for Disney to just move category 11 to 8 to free up (and sell) the 11, but would seem more fair to move the 11 to 10 (a not insignificant upgrade) then the 10 to the 8.

Granted, there are no guarantees of an upgrade and it would be a gamble to reservation an 11 when you wanted a higher category but couldn't later get it even with paying the additional cost. However, if it is that DCL is going with the one-step multiple category jump it just seems a bit unfair and not particularly contributing to goodwill. I mean, if I made a reservation for cat 12 at the same time as my friend who reserved and paid more for a cat 10, then I was upgraded to an 8 I don't think I would feel very comfortable. However, if she got the 8 and I was bumped up to the 10 I think that we would both be thrilled.

Well Fred don't you think it is more unfair for the people that book and pay for a cat 6 and above . no one seems to ever get upgraded from there! I have paid for a cat. 6 three times and a five once. If I instead bought a cat. 11 each time and was upgraded even once I would be ahead about $5000.00!

 

[FredS]

Not sure about your point, Annmorin. I wasn't commenting one way or the other about other categories. I was addressing what appears to be the only pattern I have tended to see, which are upgrades from cat 11/12 to 8/9. Not getting into if is might be "more unfair" for someone else!

I just wondered out loud if Disney does indeed leap frog those individuals over category 10's. Seems it would double the good will factor for them to make two sets of people happy, for instance by upgrading the 11 to the 10, then the 10 to the 8 or 9.

Not that I am faulting anyone who has gotten such an upgrade! Just thinking if there is a rhyme or reason and how it might happen. I'm happy just to get to go, and obviously an upgrade is a bonus if it ever happened.

 

[Mjasp]

Originally posted by Wishing on a star
So, the mystery continues!!!!

And I must say i'm enjoying it. Barb and Tony usually book the SPH rooms, if DCL upgraded those rooms, there would be a porthole in a 10, on the other hand, if the people booking 10's saw daylight, it may work in DCL's favor when these guests book future cruises, and since there are only 6 of them and they are booked way in advance, they can get them to go to an 8 or 9 right off the bat.

 

[professorandmom]

OK, now to mess up some of the theories - I booked a catagory 6 (picked room 6118) 18 months before my July 4 day Wonder cruise. Paid 60 months on the day. Booked through AAA. About 8 weeks before the cruise (just a few days before the docs arrived) I got a call from my AAA agent that I was moved up to catagory 5 room 7020. Nice but very little difference.
I vote for the dart board theory - or that there are so many reasons for upgrades~and so few of them~ that it may be too hard to see a pattern.
Barbara

 

[martel-luv-wdw]

We have been before in a SPH, Loved it. Book again for Oct 25 2003. Would like an upgrade room with a verandah. Does upgrade cost extra? Do you have control if you do not want the upgrade? We like deck 5, good location for whole family.

 

[ruvidu]

On our Sept. Western last year we received an upgrade from Cat. 6 to Cat. 5. This was right after the 9/11 anniversary and I think things were a little slow.
We had booked directly through DCL as we had on the previous trip.
There were a good many Disboarders that received an upgrade at the same time we did.

By the way, We did not like the upgrade. We were directly below the pool and the noise was terrible.

Have a good time,
Russ

 

[poopie]

I booked the $99 cruise last Sept with the coupon I got in from the Jan cruise.

The Jan cruise was cat 6. so the $99 deal guaranteed the same.

We got bumped up from cat 6. to cat 4. not a bad deal for $99 each.

About a week before the cruise I got a message on my machine from DCL saying we had been upgraded.

I asked the lady at check-in why we got upgraded, she said they never know, maybe it was because I was a CC member or maybe because someone noticed it was my b-day.

I wonder how it works.

I booked Cat. 11 for my Dec 4-7 solo maybe I'll get lucky.....

 

[Bronco Joe]

Originally posted by poopie
I booked the $99 cruise last Sept with the coupon I got in from the Jan cruise.

The Jan cruise was cat 6. so the $99 deal guaranteed the same.

We got bumped up from cat 6. to cat 4. not a bad deal for $99 each.

$99 deal??? This I have to know about - PLEASE do elaborate...

 

[nicurnc]

Sorry Bronco joe-
The $99 deal happened last Jan ('02 I think), if you booked a cruise during that month, you got a voucher for taking a 3 dya in the fall at the cost of $99 p/p.

Unfortunately, they have not repeated this great deal!

Loretta

 

[Pickles61]

I booked a 7-day cruise for 8/23 - cat 9. I am going with a friend so we asked for connecting rooms, we were given rooms on Deck 1. We made reservations on Feb 03, paid 60 days in advanced and made the reservations with a local cruise travel agent. I have cruised once before with DCL. I picked up my docs yesterday, the doc’s had the rooms on Deck 1 on them but I was told we both got upgraded to Cat 6 – deck 6. Don’t know why but I’m very happy. So the mystery continues.

 

[Verandah Man]

This could turn into a long story, but. I'll try and make it short.

We first made our ressies in Nov. 2002 for our cruise Aug. 23, 2003. We had a cat. 5 cabin 7586 using DVC points. In April of 03, my niece decided we wanted to join us, we had to change our ressies from a cat. 5 to two cat. 9's. A few weeks later my sister decided to join us as well, we were given cabins 2554 and 2556. We had just closed on a 130 point DVC add on, so we used all points for the six of us.

We received our docs on July 30, and were "VERY SURPRISED" to find out, that both of our cabins were upgraded to cat.5 cabin #'s 7116 and 7118. There is another thread on the cruise forum about the upgrade story, that's why I'm trying to keep this short.

That's about it!!!

 

[dlelol]

We booked two cat 11 gty for the 8/30 Western cruise about 5 months in advance. Paid it in full at the 60 days mark. Just received our docs and found out we were upgraded to 2 cat 8 rooms next to each other.

 

[disney6]

All this talk of upgrades........ now I WANT ONE!!!! Booked cat. 11 but would LOVE a cat. 7 (or higher!). This is the first time (and most likely only time in near future) we will cruise without 4 kids plus kids friends! Maybe someone will need our cat. 11 on the Nov. 8th cruise and they'll move DH and me! I can dream.......

 

[BrinxFam]

We booked the 4 day land/3 day sea vacation in May of this year. We booked a cat.4 but when we returned from a hard day at the Magic Kingdom we had a message in our room that we had received a complimentary upgrade aboard the ship. We moved up to a cat. 3 and it was great. We had booked our vacation through DCL 11 months in advance.

 

[Bronco Joe]

Originally posted by nicurnc
Sorry Bronco joe-
The $99 deal happened last Jan ('02 I think)....

Unfortunately, they have not repeated this great deal!

Always the usher, never the groom, or something like that... Maybe I'll get lucky next cruise.

 

[nicurnc]

I fall into the day late and a dollar short myself lots of times!LOL!

Loretta

 

[AnnMorin]

Bronco Joe... we cruised in December and were two weeks off from the January 99.00 sale... I know how it feels to miss a deal