Upgrade? No thanks!

We all enjoy something for free and a cabin upgrade can be a nice prospect!

If you are a member of a cruise line loyalty programme and have gained many membership points over the years it would be nice to be considered for a free upgrade to reward your loyalty

Why do some people get upgraded?

If you have booked a lower grade cabin and the higher grades have not sold often cruise lines upgrade passengers to free up the lower priced cabins. Sometimes cruise lines upgrade passengers for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries or honeymoons, sometimes you can just be lucky – it is not unheard of for people to be upgraded from the cheapest inside cabin to a balcony -it does happen!

Cruise lines always ask the question at the time of booking – ‘would you accept a complimentary cabin upgrade’ – you can answer – Yes / No / Yes but only to the next type of cabin – ie Balcony to Mini Suite – BUT if you are upgraded and don’t like your new cabin unfortunately there is no going back as someone else is likely to have been given your original cabin

You might think this is fine but there are occasions when you might want to say no to the upgrade and you should bear this in mind when asked the question – more often than not upgrades are for operational reasons and the outcome of an upgrade is not always in you best interests

Always check the itinerary – there may be a land side or a sunny side depending on which direction you are cruising – if you are cruising north the land may be on the port side and the sun on the starboard side – if you have chosen your cabin for the view of the coast you may be moved to the opposite side of the ship

If you have chosen your cabin for a specific deck or like to be midships just bear in mind that you could be moved to any deck and any position – top, middle or bottom, forward, midships or aft

Also take into account areas that you would want to avoid –  under the pool area or close to the launderette, you could be close to the lifts, night club and bars, you might want to avoid the smoking side of the ship if you have a balcony cabin

Some ships have a promenade – including IONA – a definite NO if don’t like the prospect of people walking and talking outside your cabin

If you have a balcony and say yes to be upgraded to the next type of cabin beware that not all suites have a balcony – some only have panoramic windows and some have steel rails which could be a shock when you get to your cabin if you had expected a full glass fronted balcony

Also bear in mind you could be moved from an inside to an outside cabin but not necessarily with a clear view – this is the same for balcony cabins as you may have a restricted view

Some older ships have cabins that suffer from noise or vibration, some have fixed twin beds that do not convert to a double or you may have additional beds in the cabin which can make it feel cramped

If you have booked a cabin close to your friends even if your cabins are linked you may be split up, this is especially important if the ship has separate restaurants – such as Cunard Grill cabins and Celebrity Aqua cabins- if you are upgraded you may not be able to dine together

Having said this most people that I speak to do have had a positive experience from accepting the upgrade offer so if you are up for a gamble it is often worth the risk

Upgrades can also have an ulterior motive – if you are for example upgraded to a Suite the problem is next time you book a cruise you will want the same level of comfort and will never go back to a lower grade cabin so that FREE upgrade could end up costing you a lot more in the future!!!!