You're about to discover how taking an upgrade could completely ruin your
cruise vacation. When and when you should go for an upgrade? I'm Gary
Bembridge and this is another of my Tips For Travellers. People seek out upgrades, I
know that based on just how many people have watched my video of tips on how to
get an upgrade. I want to take a look at the things to avoid, and the things to
bear in mind, before you go for, chase or accept an upgrade. The four most
common ways to get an upgrade are: first of all they're complimentary and
sort of a surprise and these are largely driven by also what you do when
you're booked. In your booking you can choose to either accept or reject an
upgrade. Depending on the cruise line, sometimes you can choose to accept
upgrades within the same category. For example, from one balcony cabin to a
better balcony cabin, or to another level. For example, a balcony to a
suite or from an inside to an ocean view. The cruise line decides if
they're going to give that to you. Secondly, on some cruise lines you can
bid for a better room. It's very limited and there's few cruise
lines doing this. For example, at the time of recording, Norwegian Cruise Line allowed
do this. There's not many that do. The third one is when you are given the
chance to upsell, when checking in you're given an opportunity
to pay to upgrade and sometimes before you go the cruise you are contacted and
given the chance to pay an amount to upgrade. The last one is
where you or your travel agent has
noticed that the line is discounting better cabins and they're
cheaper than what you paid for your original cabin. So, you change your
booking to a higher grade of cabin or level. However, there's a big
watch out with all of these because normally if you accept an
upgrade, or you've ticked to accept an upgrade, and the cruise line gives you the
upgrade, you usually have no say whatsoever in the cabin they've given
you. You don't have a chance to go back to your original cabin. So it is very
important if you going to tick the box and you're going for an upgrade, bear in mind
that you will have no say and that's going to be a key factor as I talk
about how you could ruin your cruise. Let's take a look at when taking upgrade
how you could ruin your cruise. The first of these is to bear in mind that your
idea of a great cabin and the line's idea of a great cabin can be
totally different things. You may end up getting the cabins that nobody else
wants. You might get the strange shape or the one that's in a slightly odd
location. Bear in mind that if you have a very set idea about what a
great cabin is, the cruise line doesn't necessarily have that same
checklist. You might find they move you to a cabin which in their view is a
better cabin, however, that may not be your idea and you go to a
cabin that you're not comfortable with. The second way it can really ruin your
cruise vacation is if you're very specific and very picky about the
location you want. For example, you're worried about noise so you don't
want to be under the disco, restaurants or the theatre, or perhaps
you want to be central so it's easy and you're close to all of the
facilities around the ship. Perhaps you want to be in a certain
location because you're travelling with friends or family and you want to be in
the same area of the ship. If you have a very specific need about the location
like in the front of the ship or the back of the ship or importantly if you
are worried about being seasick, and you like to be lowdown and midships. If you're
very picky about where your cabin is on the ship, I would strongly recommend
don't look at upgrades because you could be moved from a great location
that you love to an area that is actually everything that you dislike. The
third reason is if you're very specific and picky about your cabin itself. For
example, you want a cabin that has no inter-connecting door with the cabin
next door, or you want one that does have an inter-connecting door or you want a
cabin that has a bath, or you want one that's only got a shower, you want one
with two basins ,you want one that doesn't have an obstructed view or
you want a cabin that can be easily divided by a curtain because you
know that you get up before your partner or traveling companion. If you're very
picky and specific about what your cabin has in the layout and the features, I'd
recommend do not take an upgrade because you could get moved to a cabin that
doesn't have them. I'm very fussy about certain things in the cabin like ones with no
interconnecting doors, I like having a bath so I tend not to go for upgrades
because I would be very unhappy if I lost some of the things that I spent a
lot of time choosing to have very specifically in my cabin. If you have a
need for an accessible cabin I would also recommend not taking upgrades.
If you need wheelchair access or you need other accessible features within
your cabin, don't go for an upgrade as there are a very limited amount of accessible
cabins on cruise ships. If you've got one because you need one, don't go for an
upgrade as it's very possible that you'll be upgraded to cabin that doesn't
have the space or the facilities that you need for accessibility. Another good
reason for not taking upgrade is the chance that you'll lose your perks with
your booking. This tends to apply more if you've taken a deal and
you're paying to upgrade. You might have got a deal, for example, which has
included some Wi-Fi, drinks package or some onboard credit. Often cruise lines
will let you pay to upgrade to a better cabin, or a better grade, however they
might then only give you the perks associated with that new deal. For
example, you've booked a cruise with a great package with drinks package,
speciality dining, onboard credits in a balcony cabin,
and you see a great deal come along where you can get a suite for the
same price. However, that might only have a small amount of onboard credit and if
you change your booking to upgrade you lose all of
those benefits and so the upgrade could not be at all appealing
because you've lost a lot of great perks and benefits. If
you're paying to upgrade, check if the original perks associated with that
booking are going to stay and move with you or if you're going to lose them. For
example, I booked a cruise recently where I had some speciality dining,
drinks package, some free Wi-Fi and gratuities were paid but if I chose
an upgrade, where I could pay an upgrade, I was going to lose all of those and
just get a small amount of onboard credit. It really wasn't worth it.
Linked to that, and very important, is if you want to upgrade because you want
to get extra perks, check that with the upgrade all the perks of going to
high-grade comes with it. You might find with some grades, for example, you
get things like priority boarding and disembarkation, priority tendering,
canapes in the evening, complimentary minibar, some free dining in the
speciality restaurants. However, people who get free upgrades might not get
those perks
associated with that. So, very importantly if you're upgrading and chasing perks,
rather than just a space and the bigger cabin, check that you're going to get those
perks or it could really put a dampener on your
cruise, because you're not going to get what you expected. This next one is
probably a little bit frivolous, but if you're actually concerned by moving from
an inside to a balcony, or from balcony to a suite, you're going to find it very
difficult to go back, you might want to hold back on taking that upgrade.
You might find that your whole future cruising cost and experience is slightly
ruined because now you've experienced the balcony and you don't want to go back to
an ocean view or inside. So, bear in mind that upgrades could slightly spoil
you and I've seen on many forums people have said the problem with going with a suite
is they find it very difficult to go back as it's very
hard to convince their partner to go back to an inside or an ocean view.
All upgrades aren't necessarily great value and this particularly applies if
you're paying for an upgrade. So, perhaps when you're checking in or just before
the cruise, you're offered a chance to pay a little bit to upgrade do the math
and check that it really is worth it. Don't assume because you're being
offered an upgrade, that it's great value. Do the math and check that actually
first of all that's not what you would have paid anyway, and you're not
really getting any saving because you could have booked that higher grade anyway.
If you're offered an upgrade and you're paying, do the maths to make sure that
you suddenly don't find yourself in a situation realizing actually it's not
a real upgrade and I'm just paying what you would have paid anyway for the cabin.
Another really important aspect, which some cruise lines do, is they have different
grades within a category and you might be in a balcony and they
offer you and give you an upgrade from what they consider a less good
balcony to a higher grade one. But may find yourself at the front of the ship
or the back of the ship and they've moved you from mid ships. Very
importantly, that may not be a big enough upgrade. Ask yourself if you get moved to
to a different balcony or ocean view that you are already paying for,
is it really worth the hassle.
Particularly if you've chosen a cabin that you like. An upgrade is only an
upgrade if it's much better, so one of the things to really think about is are
upgrades within a specific category really a big enough upgrade that's
going to make your cruise much better. There are times when taking an upgrade I
think could really dampen and ruin your cruise. There are of course times where
upgrades are fantastic. For example, you're moving to a bigger cabin and up a
category and it's not costing you anything, and you're going to get to
experience something much bigger and much better because you are always on a
cruise going to use extra space, and it gives you chance to entertain or
have people over or just spill out and enjoy yourself. But do bear in mind that
if you are going the upgrade route, there are ways that it could really dampen your cruise.
If you are really fussy about where your cabin is located, because you're
worried about noise or access to facilities or there's things in your
cabin that you really really like that are very specific, an upgrade could wipe
those out, Generally when I cruise, I don't go for the upgrade option because
I like to spend a lot of time thinking about where I like my cabin to be and
things that I like in my cabin, and I'm much happier knowing that I've
got a cabin that I really like and I am prepared to forgo the upgrade option. Of
course there are times when I have gone for upgrades and had an amazing time .so
I've been upgraded for example into the magnificent penthouse suite with a
dining room and all sorts, and that was just absolutely magical and fantastic.
There are times when it works, however, generally speaking think about
what's really important to you on a cruise and if they got wiped
out and you get a cabin that doesn't have all those, how are you
going to feel about it? Make sure it doesn't dampen or get in the way of having a
great cruise. I hope you found that helpful and interesting and it's given you
something to think about. if you liked this video, I'd love it if you watch many
more of my Tips For Travellers videos. They're designed to help you make the
most of your very precious travel time and money on land, on sea and on rivers