Cabin Upgrades

[jenny25]

Does anyone have any good advice as to possibly getting a cabin upgrade once you are on the ship without having to pay a fortune? I have heard from people that say some cruiselines will give complimentarty upgrades is this true?

[SignalK]

Hi,
I have been on eight RCI cruises and I do not believe they give upgrades the way some other cruiselines do. At least, we have never received one. Once you are on the ship, if the ship is booked they will tell you no upgrades are available; if there is one available, they will want to charge you the difference. At least that's been my experience but I'd love to hear if anyone else has had any luck with this.
SignalK

[Lightsluvr]

If the ship is booked, there can be no upgrades...and most ships sail near maximum capacity these days...

It is best to book the cabin that will make you happy, and don't expect any "freebies".

LL

[shanghai 100]

few suggestions:
1. bring any ID with you ( Travel agent/ government/ airlines / name cards ) if you have.
2. bring cruiseline membership card with you.
3. talk to hotel manager or chief purser on embarkation day.
4. tipping the purser's desk staff
5. show your smile at all times

[ChucksOK]

The question of upgrades was discussed previously:

Originally posted by Raoul Fiebig:
I recommend reading this excellent article on the subject.

[LiftinCruiser]

Well, it's been 19 yrs and 9 yrs ago that my wife and I enjoyed our previous cruises, both with Carnival, and both booked 12+ months in advance. On each of those cruises, we were given an upgrade that we were advised about by our travel agent about a week prior to selling. In each case, I had booked the lowest deck with an outside (window) cabin, trying to save money while still being able to see daylight. There weren't many options back then to have balcony rooms unless you were booking Royal Suites, but we WERE upgraded to a slightly larger stateroom a few decks higher. It was explained to me that since we booked so early, and there was a higher demand for the "more affordable" staterooms, the cruiseline would rather give me the free upgrade and be more likely to re-sell my stateroom reservation to someone that would opt NOT to cruise at all if they couldn't get the more affordable one.

We set sail on Aug 12 with RCI Navigator of the Seas, two adjoining staterooms, so I don't expect any upgrade at this point... plus, the only upgrade available now would be one of the suites, and I prefer to have two adjoining rooms so we have two bathrooms!

Enjoy!