Upgrading to a room w/balcony

[walter]

Has anyone upgraded from a Cat 9 to a Cat w/ balcony when checking in? Approx. how much could you expect to pay (if available) - thanks.

 

[CarolAnnC]

They do not offer "discounts" to upgrade at the Port on day of departure. You will pay whatever the price difference would have been had you booked earlier. In fact, booking earlier may have been even lesser priced due to Early Booking Savings!

 

[cruisnfamily]

CarolannK-I assume you know your stuff but postings on this board say different. Many, many have said that they paid for an upgrade at the port and got it for substantially less than it would have been had they done it before arriving.

I have no first hand experience but was planning to check into it when we cruise in Sept. If I could get a veranda for only a few hundred dollars over my cat 10 I would do it. To do it now will cost about $700

Can someone who has done the upgrade at the port thing give us some info?

 

[albiats]

Here's a link to a thread on this board from March 9th where the subject of upgrades at the port was discussed:
Link to Upgrade at Port Thread

From a post in that thread, someone reported upgrading from a category 9 to a category 6 for $358.

hope that helps

 

[CarolAnnC]

Sonya Francisco, you will always find exceptions to every rule. However, the norm is that you will pay the same difference as you may have had you done this earlier. Keep in mind, with Disney Cruise Line, very often the ships are completely full with no chance at all of changing your rooms for a price or not.

As with "complimentary" upgrades, you will always hear of the few who are successful, but keep in mind many thousands sail every week with ever being offered one.

There are some cruise lines out there that deeply discount rooms that are left on board their ships just prior to sailing. Disney Cruise LIne does not adopt this practice. Some of the people who report upgrading their rooms shortly before departure for a lesser price are doing so because often there have been discounts on the cruise dates such as Springtime Magic or Fall Fantasy that may or may not have been reflected or available at the time of booking. I have seen Fall Fantasy rates that offer the same prices for categories 5, 6 and 7, whereas normally they are tirered in price.

Dreams Unlimited offers peace of mind to people who book with them because they continually check for discounts and lowers your cruise price when and if it happens. I can assure you that DCL does NOT do that and most travel agents do not, either. My advice is to book the room you will be most happy with. There would be nothing worse than counting on upgrading at the Port only to find out all verandah rooms are sold out.

Hope this clears up the topic for you!

 

[cruisnfamily]

I understand, you are saying that there had been discounts that they were not aware of and this is why they thought it was cheaper. I

know that I intend to ask anyway and give it a shot. I was not counting on a complimentary upgrade but thought it would be cool to go from a 10 to a 7 or higher for less than the $700ish that it would cost to do it now.

How would you know if discounts took place since you booked? I checked the DCL website the other day and it is about $70 more now for my exact cruise than when I booked it. It seems prices are going up not down.

Thanks for the info

 

[CarolAnnC]

Checking the website works only if you know the promotional codes to enter that would be used to calculate a current discount. It is a good idea to keep an eye on these boards and to keep in touch with your travel agent. As I said before, Dreams does it automatically for their clients, but that is unusual in the industry. The savvy consumer is the one who succeeds and the DIS is a great way to keep informed!!

 

[Dustin & Shelby's Mom]

We upgraded at the Port on our 3 night Wonder cruise. We went from a cat. 9 to I think a cat. 5. Our room was 7120. The cost was $298.

 

[EllenJ]

Could I pay cash for an upgrade at the port if I used points to pay for my cabin. I am currently booked in a cat 7 cabin. We were 3 points shy for a cat 6. I just found out from a friend that they would let me borrow the missing points but now I will have to pay the $75 change fee to DVC.
I am happy with the cat 7 but I would rather the cat 6. Do you think that I would (assuming availablity) be able to do this?

 

[EllenJ]

or should I ask this on the DVC board???

 

[CarolAnnC]

If you desire to do this, doing it in advance will give you the option of finding out if there are any category 6 rooms left. It may not be a possibility once you get to the port, if the staterooms are full.

Borrowing the 3 points and paying the $75 fee to DVC will be cheaper than upgrading at the Port for cash. I believe they have allowed DVC members to upgrade for a cash price at the Port, but again it is subject to availability and the price they designate.