Upgrade for a 25th anniversary?

[dclgirl]

My parents are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this year and the three of us are going on a Disney Cruise. I have made it known when I booked that they were celebrating the milestone with this cruise and made it know I would like it to be a special cruise experience for them (it is their first, btw). We are on a budget and booked the Cat. 12 (guaranteed status). We will be fine with that, but does the fact that their anniversary is in our "file" with Disney give us an advantage for a free upgrade? We would love a balcony (cat 6 would be awesome), but can't really afford it. Any chance of upgrading for free? I have heard if the ship is not full at boarding, we can upgrade for a discounted fee. Any idea what that would be? We are sailing on an Eastern Sept 29.

When would we find out if we got an upgrade? Does being put in the "garanteed" stateroom give us an edge?

 

[kcashner]

Being in a gty cabin gives you the best chance of an upgrade. However, celebrating an anniversary or birthday really doesn't change your chances. Many people celebrate their milestones with a cruise. We've sailed for many birthdays including a 16th and a 50th.....

Another hint is that if you arrive at the port early (like 10:30), you can check whether they have any upgrades available to purchase. Frequently the ship is full or nearly so, and there are none available. However, if they are available, they cost significantly less than it would have to upgrade in advance.

The bottom line is to book a cabin where you will be happy and you'll have a great cruise. If the pixie dust happens to land on you, enjoy it! We've been upgraded free on 2 of our 15 sailings on the Magic. There really is no rhyme or reason to when and why it happens. Neither time was one of our "special occasion" sailings.

You will find out your stateroom assignment about 30 days before sailing on the web site. You will also see it on your luggage tags when you get your documents (about 2 weeks before sailing). However, remember that with a gty, DCL can change your cabin at any time up to boarding.

 

[flowers]

We are sailing a few days after my birthday, if I thought telling Disney that it was my birthday would get me a free upgrade, then Id put it down on my reservation.

Sorry, but what the other poster said is true. I have also heard that the way upgrades are handed out are by 1. price, 2. how many times you cruised with the cruiseline 3. how far in advance you booked. i.e. it probably comes down to if you and I both booked a category 12, which one of us paid more for our booking. If you got a discount to book then my chances of an upgrade are better than yours or vise versa. Im also convinced a lot of the upgrades given out are random too.

Iv read many threads claiming that newbies got the most upgrades, but that could be that the newbies paid more because they didnt know better?

 

[Dizzyworld]

In 2004 we celebrated on board our 25th anniversary and my DH 50th B-day. It was noted on the reservation, but there wasn't even a card (which I think would be a nice touch). So just a heads up. He did get the generic cake at dinner though. Oh, we weren't expecting anything either. I agree that there is so many things celebrated onboard, that it is more than they can accommodate. I guess the best thing ever written here about this is not to expect anything, if you do get something -- enjoy. If you want a special cake, you should be able to order it for a fee. We went through the kitchen (galley) and they had a bunch of beautiful cakes for anniversaries and B-days that were different than the ones served at dinner for free.

 

[jrabbit]

We also celebrated our 25th anniversary on DCL. We didn't get upgraded. But at the CC Club reception an officer asked if we were celebrating a special occasion on the cruise and we told him. We received a nice note from him later on in the cruise - along with some yummy chocolate covered strawberries. Our room steward also got involved - he made two towel swans that formed a heart. it was way cool.

Just remember that this does NOT happen for everyone!!

 

[eva]

I sure wish it were true since we will be celebrating our 25th the cruise right before yours (September 22nd). But I know that isn't the case. As kcashner stated, they have plenty of celebrations on the ship each cruise. As a matter of fact, there are 3 couples celebrating their 25th and two celebrating their 35th on our cruise thread alone. But you never know, we can all wish for a little pixie

dust.

 

[ReggieB]

There are always an awful lot of people on board celebrating one thing or another. So upgrades for all would be a bit difficult. However with a gty, you might get some pixie dust anyway. The staff do make a fuss of you if they know. My son get some pins and lots of hugs from lots of CM's and characters when he had his Happy Birthday pin on.


Hope you all have a magical cruise, and Happy Anniversary to your parents.

 

[kcashner]

It will be noted on your ressie and you will get the standard cake, song (if desired) and "I'm Celebrating" button-type pin.

Upgrades have nothing to do with how many times you've sailed. On our last cruise, we were the most frequent flyers (or sailors) at the CC party and presumably on the ship. No upgrade for #15. I think we were upgraded on trip number 3 and somewhere around number 8 or 9.

Cruise director found out that it was my 50th birthday on one of our sailings as well as the number of times we'd been on the Magic, and she sent the concierge treat of the day to us along with a sweet note.

 

[Anal Annie]

We booked a GTY Cat. 8 last time & the woman on the phone said she would note that we were first time cruisers - she indicated that is helpful on deciding who to upgrade in this GTY instance - don't know if that was it or not, but we ended up in a Cat. 6! She said it's one way they hope to get you to come back again!
IMO tho, I think the fewer cabins in a given category the better your odds are for an upgrade - since there are very Cat. 12's it might help. Good luck!

 

[lkneller]

we got upgraded to cat 11.

I have claustrophobia and I chickened out at the last minute and bought a cat 9 at the pier. We only saved $30 from the original price of a 9.

We did go to see the cat 11 that we were assigned and I am very glad that we were able to change our room. I would have had a problem with the 11 with my claustrophobia.

The way I looked at it, I didn't really have the extra money to spend and I really struggled with that decision. But I finally figured that a few years from now I would forget about my bills, but I would always remember my 25th anniversary cruise. I wanted to have good memories.

Have a great trip.