Secret Port Hole Upgrade???

[staffieri]

Anyone ever been upgraded from a secret port hole cabin? I am booked with one of these cabins for Sept 2011 mexican cruise. Thinking maybe I should have just with with a GYT cabin. Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Melcatfish]

Thoughts are that only a very small number of people get upgraded. More often you get upgrades if you are booked cat 12 GTY as there are only thirteen of them and they over sell the category to get more bookings in.

From normal sales there are not that many free upgrades. What category GTY would you have booked? A Secret Porthole room is an Oceanview for the price of an inside so one of the best deals on the ship. I wouldn't trade a SPH where you know you will get a window for a Cat 11 or 10 GTY - there would be a good chance you would get what you paid for, an inside room.

If you are talking about booking a Cat 9 or above GTY then i still probably wouldn't trade as you are getting a good deal on price and know the location of your stateroom.

Just my opinion,
Mel
x

 

[kcashner]

I basically agree with the above. An SPH means that you are paying for a 10 and essentially getting an 8. That's a good value.

You could book a 12 gty...and get anything from an inside (12, 11, 10) or a 9. There's nothing wrong with a 9, but your location is better than many 9s already. Granted, you paid for a 10 rather than a 12.

SO...you must decide what matters to you. Booking a 12 gty will save you a little money, but you may not have a window then. On a short cruise, I spend little time in the cabin and really don't care. On a longer cruise you'll appreciate the natural light. Only you can decide if it's worth the price difference.

 

[staffieri]

Love the comments. Thanks so much. Think I will stay where I'm at and see what happens. I too do not like those cat 9 so low on the ship. I have to Secret port hole rooms books. Not sure I need the second one, but just did it incase someone closer decieds to go with our family.

 

[jilljill]

Just to clarify the above poster - starting in 2011 there are no more category 12 cabins, they are now cat. 11C.

 

[threebeesatdisney]

How did you book these? I was told by my travel agent that you could book the category of rooms but you couldn't actually choose the room number. So I opted out of the category because I wasn't guaranteed a secret porthole room. Maybe because it is our first cruise? Are you a repeat Disney cruiser with "perks"?

 

[kcashner]

How did you book these? I was told by my travel agent that you could book the category of rooms but you couldn't actually choose the room number. So I opted out of the category because I wasn't guaranteed a secret porthole room. Maybe because it is our first cruise? Are you a repeat Disney cruiser with "perks"?

Your TA is WRONG. Normally, you can choose your cabin number. THe only exception is the cat 12 (soon to be 11C), which is always a gty, and any time DCL has nearly sold out a category and has only gty rooms released.

GTY stands for "guarantee" and means that you will be assigned a room of at least that category or something nicer. It is a way that they manage inventory. DCL knows that a certain number of guests will cancel cruises, so it overbooks some categories by assigning gtys. However, they NEVER overbook the ship.

Anyone can choose a cabin number....it doesn't matter whether it's your first cruise or your ninety first.

 

[clten]

Your TA might not be wrong, they just may have not have explained it fully to you. You were probably looking at specific sailing date(s) with your TA. On those sailing dates, DCL may have moved certain categories into GTY status already. As kcashner explained, when the ship starts filling, they move categories to guarantee so they have flexibility to move people around to fill the whole ship.

Often it is difficult to get a SPH cabin. They have been around long enough that cruisers know they exist and are a good deal. And since there are so few, they book very early.

 

[jilljill]

How did you book these? I was told by my travel agent that you could book the category of rooms but you couldn't actually choose the room number. So I opted out of the category because I wasn't guaranteed a secret porthole room. Maybe because it is our first cruise? Are you a repeat Disney cruiser with "perks"?

You can check on DCL's website to see if the cabin you want is available and if it is you can call your TA and tell them what cabin you want.

Keep in mind the 6 secret porthole cabins are only available on the Wonder and the Magic.

 

[staffieri]

How did you book these? I was told by my travel agent that you could book the category of rooms but you couldn't actually choose the room number. So I opted out of the category because I wasn't guaranteed a secret porthole room. Maybe because it is our first cruise? Are you a repeat Disney cruiser with "perks"?

There are only 6 of these rooms and I knew to ask for them. I booked direct with Disney. I got 2 with connecting rooms. But when I went on line to look at the next week on on line reservation has 2 avaliable for the next week. When looking mark you want deck 5. Also, my cruise is not until 2011, so that is why some are still able to book them.