Just wanted to share my excitement will all the cruise chatters!!! We have been upgraded!
I had posted previously about getting a Category AD on the Star Princess. The second to the last Category of Mini Suite. I went TBA. Well, today, I receive an email that says we were upgraded to an AA Mini Suite on the Dolphin Deck - Right in the middle - D405!!!!! That is so great!!!!!
I just don't really get the gist of the whole upgrade thing cause we are still 6 months from sailing, but then again, I have only traveled on Carnival. I have received past guest upgrades...but NEVER this good!
A+++++++ for Princess!!!

Way to go Chris! We were upgraded on Princess from a not so good to a balcony on the Aloha, don't remember the catagories, but it was a huge upgrade. They knew what they were doing. I love my balcony, and that's what I book now, only. I really hope you enjoy Princess as much as we do. Sounds like they've already done you right!

Congrats on the upgrade!

Cheers, Neil

Not really. You judge a cruise line simply by an upgrade? What if they offered you $400 onboard credit only to say they never offered it? Their customer service sucks!

I'd very much like to hear some more of the details.

I'm a little curious on how the whole upgrading system works if anyone knows exactly. Have only taken 2 cruises with Princess (the best), a few on others, and have never been upgraded. What's the criteria? And I'd also like to hear some details on that post by veteran, f-mattox.

To which post would you be referring?

the one by veterancruiser39. I was just echoing what u had stated about wanting more details. BUT...I still AM curious on the upgrading "system".

kkontny, when we received our upgrade, we had booked with a travel agent that did a lot of bookings with Princess. I believe that's how we received ours. I had booked our cruise almost a year in advance. Evidently, the catagory I had booked was popular and that had over-sold that cruise. So I am assuming they started with the oldest bookings and bumped them up to a catagory that wasn't full to fill the ship. I don't think there's a "system", I think it just happens to be the luck of the draw and the cruise you've booked. Filling the ships is much more cost effective than leaving cabins empty. If they don't have enough people to fill the more expensive catagories and the cruise is still in demand, then they start adjusting people. Veterancruiser39, I too would like more details, we've always received whatever on board credit they've given us.

That makes sense. Thanks Penny. Yeah...we don't usually book til pretty close to sailing (def not a yr in advance!!!!) and I always do the booking myself. Maybe I should start going thru a travel agent. Thanks for some clarification.

I am not really sure how we got upgraded. We did book a bit in advance. I have gone on Carnival 5 times and have never received this type of upgrade this quick - you know, without them running a past guest special. You don't hear me complaining.
Sorry veterancruiser39 - Didn't mean to spike some ill feelings you might have for Princess. I definitely would be angry if I was offered an onboard credit and they have them take it away.

Some lines have a system for how they distribute upgrades, most based on past passenger status. Princess' system is a random assignment system. They don't favor past passengers over first time cruisers with the upgrade process. It really doesn't matter when you book either. You can always increase your odds (with all cruiselines) by booking a guarantee assignment rather than an assigned cabin.

Cheers, Neil

kkontny, I can't tell you much about the upgrade system; I've benn cruising with Princess for 30+ years and never had one. But then I always book very early (usually a year or more) and deposit a specific cabin. I have certain cabins and areas I like on the different ships. I don't like to leave it up to chance.

I find it interesting to hear Neil say the "system" is random. I would think they would want to favor their more loyal passengers; but then, maybe the more loyal passengers, like me, prefer to select their own cabins.

When we received the paperwork on our last cruise from the travel centre we booked through, there was an advisory saying that Princess is known for upgrading and if you choose a specific cabin you had to specifically ask not to be upgraded.
That travel centre, which we found through cruisecompete.com, also offered shipboard credits (which is why we took their offer) and we never got them. That was not a Princess error, but a broken promise by the travel centre. There was also other incentives offered to book through them which were ignored later, so we will never use them again.

Jill, did you contact them about your missing OBC and other items when you got back? I work for an agency that also frequently offers such promotions. Being human, I have made errors in the past and missed clicking the tab on the booking process we use to get such items purchased by our Accounting Dept. When such an error is made the company, when notified of the mistake sends a check to clients in the amount of such errors.

There have also been times when a promo was not combinable with certain perks. Such a situation should have been disclosed up front before the booking was complete though. If this was recent, call the agency and let them know an error was made. One way to always be sure you'll get anything offered is to be sure such things show on your confirmation when you recieve it. I don't know anything about the agency you used but it may have been an innocent mistake.

Cheers, Neil

You can call a cruise line after you've made your final payment to check what (if any) perks you have. If you have an on board credit you'll be able to find out what the amount is. I always check prior to the cruise to make sure I get my stockholder credit. I also recommend finding a travel agent you feel comfortable with; one that specializes in cruises would be best.

Sonny

Sonny, that works with credits that are offered through the cruiseline for C&A and other purposes. OBC's that are from an agency may or may not show at the cruiseline until very close to sailing time. Often when we buy blocks of cabins there are perks that are given to the agency in the form of points. Sell the first 50 cabins get 21 points per booking. The next 25 booking into the block may get an add'l 6 or 8 points and so on. Then when the block is closed out the points are devided up evenly by the agency among the booking and the agency buys onboard credit and with any add'l points there may be bonus gifts like an 8x10 photo or a dinner at a specialty restaraunt or bottle of champaigne. Different cruiselines have different systems but the type of credit I think Jill is referring to is an agency credit. It may never show up on the cruiselines books until you arrive onboard but when the agency sends their form of a confirmation there is a spot on the conf for onboard credits and other amenities if any apply.

If you're entitled to them based on the advertising (usually a website blurb in red letters) it should be provided in writing when you recieve your confirmation. If there are cruiseline amenities they'll also show on the conf. The only point to all this is, if you don't get it in writing, it's time for a call to the agent. If you don't get it onboard once you have written verification you're entitled to it, it's an easy fix for the agency to get you compensation. I've had errors on my end, I've had cruiseline errors. Once you have it in writing you're going to get it no matter what happened. I've called the ship before and had it added during a clients cruise to fix such issues. When that's not possible a check to the client is the ultimate fix.

Cheers, Neil

the OBC and other incentives were not included when we got our paperwork and we asked about it then. First they denied offering it, but we had a copy of the cruise compete offer with it. Then they were going to check into it, but never got back to us before the cruise. Since then, we have been ignored. The cruise price was good and comparable to the other offers and the OBC wasn't that big, so it wasn't a huge deal that we didn't get it. It just means we won't deal with that agency again. We usually prefer another on-line agency, but they didn't have a good offer for this particular cruise.

Hi again Jill, I'm familliar with the other agency you're referring to from your previous posts. Just as an FYI, they have a lowest price guarantee. If you see a similar situation in the future call your agent there and have him/her match the deal for you.

Cheers, Neil