In this video you're going to learn how to get an a cabin upgrade on your next
cruise. I'm Gary Bembridge of Tips For Travellers.
I'm going to share with you 10 tips and 10 ways that you can get a cabin upgrade on
your next cruise. The first thing is you need to choose a slow time of the
year. If you are on a cruise that's completely full, you're never going to
get an upgrade. So what you need to do is to choose times of the
year where there is the greatest chance that the ship will not be full, so things
like repositioning cruises, at the beginning and the end of the Caribbean
season, beginning and the end of the Mediterranean season. And you should also
therefore focus on ports that are very busy so for example Miami and Fort
Lauderdale where there's lots of ships sailing all the time off to the
Caribbean where there's lots of capacity. If the ship is 100 percent full
there's going to be no chance of an upgrade, so you need to focus on ships
that are not likely to be full because that's going to increase your chance of
getting an upgrade. The second thing to do is to look out for upgrade promotions.
Many cruise lines will offer different promotions, particularly again
on those slower cruises and slower times of the year, where you pay for a
certain cabin and you'll get the next cabin above. So you might buy an
ocean view cabin and you'll get a balcony cabin. You might buy a balcony cabin and
get a suite. The way to really know what's happening with those is either
talk to your cruise agent or travel agent and find out when those promotions are.
Or look on the internet to know when they are and sign up for the different
cruise lines email newsletters, because you'll find they will push out those
various promotions there as well. That is going to maximize and guarantee
your chance of getting an upgrade while still playing a lower price for a lower
grade of cabin. The third thing to do, and this is the one that works the best
for me, is once you've booked your cruise track the price. Keep checking and
watching for the particular type of cabin you've booked what the current pricing
is. If the prices go down, the cruise line is unlikely to tell you so all you do
is get hold of the cruise line, or if you book through a travel agent, get hold
of your travel agent and point out that you notice that a higher-grade is now
selling at the same price you paid for the lower grade - and ask to be upgraded
to that new cabin. I've had some great upgrades
because I like to generally book early and choose my
cabin, and I then monitor the price and
if the prices go down I've got hold of the
cruise line and I have been upgraded to a better cabin. Keep watching the price
that you paid, particularly if you are one of those people that booked early ( if you
booked late you're less likely to find that happen). The fourth thing, which is
very similar to that, is most cruise lines will give you an opportunity of
accepting an auto upgrade. So if you've ticked that box when you've booked or
you've told your travel agent then the cruise line knows if space has become
available, there is a chance that you'll be upgraded. These particularly
happen if you're in a grade that is very popular and at the lower end, so for example
you've got an inside cabin or you've got an ocean view cabin or sometimes even
you've got a balcony cabin, those are the ones that tend to sell fast and so if the
cruise line is finding that they can manage to sell those easily but
they have some suites or balconies or the category above
you is free, there is a chance that if you accept an auto upgrade that you'll
be one of the people they move to the higher level because they can then sell
your cabin again to somebody else. The next thing to do is to consider booking
a guaranteed cabin. Basically what a guaranteed cabin, sometimes called a To
Be Assigned cabin, if you choose a particular grade like an
inside, ocean view or balcony suite but you don't choose a particular cabin.
The great thing is if they start to sell a lot of cabins at your particular
grade, like people want to book a balcony cabin and want
a very specific cabin, the great thing about accepting a guaranteed cabin is if
they sell out all of the cabins to people who want to nominate a specific
cabin then there is a chance that the guaranteed cabin people will be moved up
a level. It is very important therefore that if you do that, you
book early because they're also likely to look at who booked those guaranteed
cabins early on and move those up first. So if it is a guaranteed cabin, particularly
if it's a popular price level, y you have a
chance of being upgraded. Of course another way of getting an upgrade is to
pay for an upgrade. You sometimes find very close to the cruise if you
talk to your travel agent and ask if there any offers going for a relatively
low price to upgrade especially if you're going to a higher grade cabin,
they can often sell the cheaper cabins much easier than they can sell suites or
balcony cabins and bigger cabins. Also when you check in
for your cruise, ask them is there are any upgrade offers available because
there is a chance that you will be able to pay a small amount (much less than you
would normally pay) and get an upgrade. The next thing to do is book through a
travel agent. Let the travel agent know that you're interested in upgrades,
whether it's free upgrades or even if there are offers going that you'll
consider looking at the price. Many agents that have strong relationships
with Cruise Lines and might hear about deals and offers or they're looking
to upgrade people because they want to sell cheaper cabins. Also it's important
as some travel agents actually guarantee to sell a certain amount of Suites,
balconies, ocean view and inside cabins so they may also within the inventory that
they've got have the ability to move people up a grade because they know they
can sell some of the cheaper cabins rather than the more expensive
cabins. Work with your travel agent and let them know you're open to upgrades
and they may be able to do something for you.
My eighth tip is if you have a special event like a 50th wedding anniversary,
you're on your honeymoon or even a significant birthday then let it be known
either through your travel agent, when you're checking in or even on board then let
them know that you're going for a very specific event, because there is a chance
that if the Cruise Line knows that they will upgrade you. When I was on
my honeymoon, we had booked the cruise as part of our
honeymoon and our travel agent knew it and we got a fantastic upgrade. My ninth tip
is once you're on board wait to
the second day of the cruise early on the morning on the second day go and ask
about upgrades, because at that point even if the ship was supposed to be full, there is
a chance that some people didn't board the ship for whatever reason (
no-shows) and there may be a couple of cabins in a higher grade going.
You may have to pay to upgrade but at that point of time they may be more
than willing to accept a relatively small amount to upgrade people to the
next level. Try to speak to someone senior behind the desk or even to the
hotel manager. Of course if there's a sign on the desk saying that the ship is
100 percent full then there's probably no point even trying. My 10th tips is to
be loyal. If you sail on the same cruise line regularly and build up
loyalty status, you have a greater chance of being upgraded. It is the same as on
Airlines, so if you are a gold card or platinum card holder you're more like to
be upgraded if upgrades are available. So if they're looking, for example, because
the cabins at a certain grade have been sold out and they're looking to then
upgrade people who've taken a guaranteed level, they might look at
people who booked early but they're also likely to look at loyal cruisers. So there you are,
that's 10 tips on how you can get an upgrade. If you have any other tips I'd
love to hear them. I hope you found that helpful and if you did I'd love it if you
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