Upgrades at the port

[Andreac63]

Sailing next week and looking to upgrade at the port. Rooms look to be available and we have a decent port arrival time. Anyone have any experience with how much of a discount they offer?

 

[Joel0917]

Basically 1/3 of the current cost to upgrade is what I saw the last two times. We upgraded from 7a to 4b for $520 on 7 day. Up to concierge woulda bees $3300z. But it was $10000 the week before

 

[mmackeymouse]

I hope this makes sense, not sure if I am wording it right.

Is it 1/3 (ish) the difference between the current rate of the room you are in and the new room? Or between the price you paid and the new room?

 

[Marc D]

Your question cannot be answered as asked, since both upgrade routes - online and at port - do not follow the same rules. The port upgrade is not based at all on what you paid for the first stateroom, so it cannot be summarized as a discount of your ‘real’ upgrade cost.

If you change your room on your own before the cruise, you’ll pay the difference between what you already paid and the current cost for the new room, based on the individual fare of each guest booked. The cost will be greater if there are more guests in your party, if you booked the first room a long time ago - since fares go up as rooms are booked - and it will be relative to the type of upgrade you are looking at.

At port, they only consider your starting stateroom and your target stateroom, regardless of how many guests are in your party and how much you paid for your room. They have a matrix with all room categories and simply charge the price mentioned at the intersection of both.

Therefore, a group of five guests that booked as soon as the cruise was put on sale will get a much greater ’discount’ at port, relative to what would have been asked to upgrade online in the previous days, than a couple who booked last-minute, for the same exact upgrade. For the second situation, there will probably be little to no discount.

 

[babyruth]

when trying to upgrade at the port do you typically try to figure out what is available and ask for something specific day of? or just go ask what is available and pick from what they offer?

 

[Marc D]

when trying to upgrade at the port do you typically try to figure out what is available and ask for something specific day of? or just go ask what is available and pick from what they offer?

There is no point in figuring out in advance what is still available. What counts is what is available when you show up at the supervisor desk. For example, they might be aware that a stateroom opened up because a family missed a flight, or got upgraded before you showed up. In both instances, you would not be able to know that when looking up your cruise online.

 

[insureman]

The upgrade prices are not what they used to be in the past. We sailed the Fantasy this February and the upgrades from a Veranda to 1 Bedroom concierge were still ridiculously high.

 

[Kwami]

The upgrade prices are not what they used to be in the past. We sailed the Fantasy this February and the upgrades from a Veranda to 1 Bedroom concierge were still ridiculously high.

From a concierge verandah or from a regular verandah?

 

[dreamer17555]

Can you upgrade from a VGT to say a 4A at port? My DS has made it known that he is not a fan of the bunk and if I could get a room with a murphy at decent rate at port I would for him.

 

[insureman]

From a concierge verandah or from a regular verandah?

regular

 

[dreamer17555]

There is no point in figuring out in advance what is still available. What counts is what is available when you show up at the supervisor desk. For example, they might be aware that a stateroom opened up because a family missed a flight, or got upgraded before you showed up. In both instances, you would not be able to know that when looking up your cruise online.

I totally understand about them having more info than I as a guest would have... If I am interested in an upgrade to a 4A or 4B but only a room with a murphy, would they know which staterooms have murphy beds or should I have information handy to check against?

 

[Kwami]

regular

Well, sure. Just going from a non-concierge family verandah to a concierge family verandah usually almost doubles the price. Going even higher to a 1-bedroom is obviously going to be a large cost increase. I gathered some numbers of a 4-night cruise in May. These are current costs, not port upgrade costs.

5A: $2797 (Verandah)
4A: $3221 (Family Verandah)
3A: $5765 (Concierge Family Verandah)
2B: $7724 (Concierge 1-Bedroom)

Even if they gave you a 50% discount for upgrading at the port, you're still looking at almost doubling the cost from a 5A to a 2B!

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

I totally understand about them having more info than I as a guest would have... If I am interested in an upgrade to a 4A or 4B but only a room with a murphy, would they know which staterooms have murphy beds or should I have information handy to check against?

So... if you are referring to the Murphy bed as the Couch that converts into a twin sleeper as opposed to the twin sleeper that comes out of the ceiling, most of the rooms if not all of the regular rooms have that couch/bed.

 

[dreamer17555]

@DCLCruiseFan09

I’m referring to the family deluxe rooms that sleep five and have the Murphy bed that come out of the wall. I’m traveling with other family as well as my son. Just having the Murphy that comes out of the wall as well as the sofa that folds down to a twin would make it so he does not have to be in the upper bunk.

I know not every family deluxe Veranda room has it.. I have a running list right now of the ones that are still available on our cruise that have one… I was just wondering if the people at Port would have that knowledge or if I would need to provide them with staterooms numbers that I know have the configuration I’m looking for.

 

[Joel0917]

my past cruise a month ago on fantasy, they told me all the rooms they had available and showed maps. they knew which ones had the extra bed. At our time, there were none with the extra bed. only the extra space. which we loved and was well worth the $500 for the 7 days. it was a bit noiser in the hall from our 8520 front of ship room. but we enjoyed the extra square footage with two much older teen agers.

 

[dreamer17555]

my past cruise a month ago on fantasy, they told me all the rooms they had available and showed maps. they knew which ones had the extra bed. At our time, there were none with the extra bed. only the extra space. which we loved and was well worth the $500 for the 7 days. it was a bit noiser in the hall from our 8520 front of ship room. but we enjoyed the extra square footage with two much older teen agers.

Thank you so much I really appreciate it!

 

[cruizincathi]

I upgraded onboard in March. They were not doing the upgrades at the port so you had to request all upgrades at guest services once on board. I was boarding group 8. Once at guest services, they filled out a form with my current room, my upgrade requests(concierge, different room, etc), and the time. Once all boarding groups were called, they started looking at the paper requests( they have to wait to see if anyone boards with special needs). Within an hour of boarding, we were contacted by GS, via the app, and were told to return to GS. We were offered a family concierge room(not a suite) for $3500. We had been 4a, so one of the higher priced rooms to start. Had we been a lower category level room to start, the upgrade price would have been more than the $3500.

 

[insureman]

Well, sure. Just going from a non-concierge family verandah to a concierge family verandah usually almost doubles the price. Going even higher to a 1-bedroom is obviously going to be a large cost increase. I gathered some numbers of a 4-night cruise in May. These are current costs, not port upgrade costs.

5A: $2797 (Verandah)
4A: $3221 (Family Verandah)
3A: $5765 (Concierge Family Verandah)
2B: $7724 (Concierge 1-Bedroom)

Even if they gave you a 50% discount for upgrading at the port, you're still looking at almost doubling the cost from a 5A to a 2B!

I know this. We have been on 25 DCL cruises since 2004 and we have upgraded to concierge at the port 7 times but not recently because the cost spread to upgrade has increased significantly because the concierge base cost has dramatically increased.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I booked an 11A because it was a good price but I'm having second thoughts about being in an inside room. My go-to rooms #2 thru #6 on the Magic (the list I give my TA to book) are open and I'd like to upgrade at port. It would be to a 10A. I'm hoping it isn't too much. I went from a 10A to 8A on the Fantasy on a 6 night for $55 two weeks prior to sailing. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I booked an 11A because it was a good price but I'm having second thoughts about being in an inside room. My go-to rooms #2 thru #6 on the Magic (the list I give my TA to book) are open and I'd like to upgrade at port. It would be to a 10A. I'm hoping it isn't too much. I went from a 10A to 8A on the Fantasy on a 6 night for $55 two weeks prior to sailing. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I felt the same when I booked an inside room and I gotta say for how little we are in the room anyways it was just fine. Plus I sleep best when it's dark so it was actually some of the best sleep I've ever had on a cruise!