Upgrade

[KANSAS]

I have never been on a Disney cruise. I often read about people disccusing a DCL upgrade. What is this? How do you qualify?

which cruise? Which Category? Which Season? would give you best chance of DCL Upgrade??

 

[Michelemouse]

There is really no rhyme or reason to DCL upgrades. Some people get them if they book as far in advance as possible...others don't. Some get them if they pay their fare in full early...others don't. Others get upgraded if they are repeat cruisers while many don't. Another factor that some say works is to book a GTY (guaranty) cabin...sometimes offered when a particular category is sold out...but many who have booked GTY cabins have not received upgrades.

We've been on 3 DCL cruises and have not been upgraded. We've booked a Cat. 11 GTY and received a Cat. 11. On another sailing we paid in full at the time of booking and did not get an upgrade. We were perfectly happy with the cabins we got but we never expected anything more.

The best thing to do is to book the lowest category cabin you'd be happy with and then hope. Don't book a cabin that you would not enjoy staying in as those upgrades really are a rare occurence.

 

[AnnMorin]

Well said Michelemouse!! It does appear that the lower catagories do get upgrades more often but MANY or rather MOST people don't get an upgrade. I don't think loyalty has much to do with it as we have been our four cruises with number five coming up and have never gotten an upgrade. If I were a gambling person and would not mind it if I did not get my veranda I would book a cat.11 gty as I think they have the best chance of getting upgraded. BUT since I really love my veranda I always book and pay for one, that way I won't be dissapointed.

 

[kcashner]

We've been on 9 cruises, and have been upgraded twice. There seems to be no logic to who gets upgraded. The best rule is to book a cabin that you will be happy staying in. If you then get an upgrade, you consider it a bonus.

Sometimes, if the ship is close to full, you can purchase an upgrade at the port for less than it would have cost to book the higher category originally. Again, you cannot count on this as they frequently are full enough that they choose not to offer this option.

The only logic I've seen is that lower categories tend to be upgraded more often than higher...that enables Disney to continue to sell lower level cabins in an attempt to fill the ship as the sailing date approaches. Bottom line, there's no way you can count on an upgrade. Also, it can come at any time....ours was after documents came, and they just had us write in the new cabin number.