Free upgrades….are they all they’re cracked up to be?

One of the questions we get asked many many times from clients booking their cruises is can I have a free upgrade. Free upgrades aren’t something we can usually give and it is usually down to the cruise lines to randomly select passengers to be upgraded and often you will find that high tier loyalty members or those who booked well in advance or on the guarantee cabins are the clients who get the better upgrades. Quite often the upgrade is a small one, from a lower priced balcony to a higher priced balcony for example. Same cabin size and type, just a better location which is why its classed as an upgrade. Some lucky clients have been upgraded from insides to balconies, balconies to suites but it doesn’t happen all that often as the better cabins are usually booked up well in advance.

So can you opt in and out of upgrades? With most cruise lines yes you can. If you have spent the time painstakingly sifting through the pros and cons of cabin locations to choose the perfect stateroom to spend your cruise and it is important to you to not be near the lifts, loos or nightclub for example then I would advise you opt out of the upgrade selections. If however you are like me and aren’t too bothered about location but want a substantial upgrade if offered one you can select ‘Upgrade to the next stateroom type’ which means if you are lucky enough to be offered an upgrade you could go from an inside to an outside, outside to a balcony or balcony to a suite. Nice huh? You do however need to be less picky about location as once an upgrade has been given you cant decline it regardless of the cabin position.

Many clients have fallen in to the trap of opting for ‘any upgrade’ which has meant they have exactly the same cabin as they booked and paid for, but the location was somewhat undesirable for them. Ie at the front, rear, too higher deck or too lower deck or near the laundry for example so to them it wasn’t really an upgrade.

Make sure you fully understand the implications of upgrades before signing yourself up to the lottery of receiving one as you don’t want your cruise experience to be dampened by noisy services.