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There are 9 ways to get upgraded on a cruise. I talk about how I don’t use the ways most cruise passengers try to get upgraded on a cruise, and the techniques I have found are more successful at being upgraded on a cruise as fewer are trying them
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0:00
I get upgraded more than most Cruise
0:02
passengers because I don't use the most
0:05
common ways other Cruisers use to chased
0:08
upgrades I do something different
0:11
welcome aboard I'm Gary benridge and
0:13
here's what I found Works to get
0:15
upgraded to a better cabin than I've
0:17
paid for the first thing most do and the
0:19
one I hear more horror stories about
0:22
than any other is by accepting an auto
0:26
upgrade including my own in early
0:29
cruising days I had huge excitement of
0:31
being upgraded From A Balcony cabin that
0:33
we' carefully chosen on Pio Aurora into
0:36
a higher grade cabin and it put a
0:38
dampener on our cruise as I'll explain
0:41
now when booking a cruise we all have
0:43
the option of accepting an auto upgrade
0:46
if the line has empty cabins they often
0:49
move People Like Us who've said that
0:51
they will accept Auto upgrades up one or
0:54
two cabin grades for example as we were
0:57
now this freeze up for the cruise line
0:59
lower grade cabins which are actually
1:01
easier to sell and fill than higher
1:04
grade cabins there are three really big
1:07
watch outs with auto upgrades as I
1:09
discovered first of all the default
1:12
setting when booking a cruise is usually
1:15
accepting an auto upgrade you must opt
1:18
out if you don't want one we didn't
1:20
second we found you have no say in the
1:23
cabin the cruise line moves you to in
1:25
our case it was above a noisy late night
1:28
club but it could have been below a pool
1:30
deck with scraping chairs have a strange
1:32
layout or an interconnecting door to the
1:34
next cabin where we could hear our
1:36
neighbors and so on thirdly even though
1:39
we didn't like the new cabin we couldn't
1:42
have the original one back because it
1:43
had been resold or perhaps someone had
1:45
been upgraded into it since then I have
1:48
always opted out of Auto upgrades the
1:52
next usual way passengers get upgrades
1:54
is simply by paying I watch people go to
1:58
Guest Services as soon as they board to
2:00
see if the ship has any empty cabins and
2:03
are offering passengers upgrades on at
2:06
least four of my last five Cruisers I've
2:09
seen numerous passengers upgrade this
2:11
way often for what sounds like pretty
2:13
small amounts per day now at Advantage
2:16
with this approach over the previous one
2:18
is you usually get to view and choose
2:21
your cabin before accepting the upgrade
2:23
now my tip is actually to go on the
2:25
second day because by then the ship
2:27
knows the numbers of no shows and cabins
2:30
that are vacated by those who've
2:31
upgraded they're now free and upgrades
2:34
tend to be cheaper the third popular
2:37
approach is bidding several Cruise Lines
2:40
give the option to bid for an upgrade
2:42
usually between 60 and 90 days before
2:45
departure they send out emails asking
2:47
for submissions I've had them from
2:49
Norwegian Cruise Line Azamara Royal
2:52
Caribbean and celebrity I have never
2:55
done any of these bids because first of
2:57
all I could not choose a specific cabin
3:00
I get so again it may not be in a great
3:02
location and second I could not accept
3:06
or reject any cabin and they would
3:08
charge my credit card as soon as they
3:10
accept my bid now I've heard people
3:13
getting carried away as well and bidding
3:15
more than if they'd simply gone and
3:17
changed their booking to a better cabin
3:19
directly so check the current price for
3:22
that higher cabin before bidding and
3:24
actually I recommend bid low because
3:26
there may actually just be very few bids
3:28
the other really common way passengers
3:30
use to get upgrades is by booking a
3:32
guaranteed Fair a guaranteed fair means
3:35
booking a cabin grade inside Ocean View
3:38
balcony or suite and not a specific
3:41
cabin the cruise line allocates you a
3:43
cabin close to sailing now on most lines
3:46
it is a cheaper option than choosing
3:48
your own cabin you could find you get a
3:50
better grade cabin this way for example
3:53
on Holland America new Staten Dam I've
3:55
been on recently there are five grades
3:58
of balcony cabins and you might be
3:59
allocated the very best grade of all if
4:02
many on your sailing book a very
4:04
specific cabin and they've opt out of
4:05
Auto upgrades the best grades may be the
4:08
only ones that the line can actually put
4:10
you in now I've seen passengers
4:11
allocated cabins way above the
4:14
guaranteed grade that they've booked so
4:16
a balcony instead of an ocean view or a
4:18
suite instead of a balcony many of the
4:20
downsides though of the other approaches
4:23
apply to this way of getting upgrades
4:26
now if you book a guaranteed inside or
4:28
Ocean View this actually though could
4:30
work to your advantage because these
4:32
again are the easiest cabins for Lions
4:34
to sell as their least expensive if a
4:36
cruise is not full they may upgrade you
4:38
to a balcony cabin as they know they can
4:41
much more easily resell inside an Ocean
4:43
View Cabins so those are the ways most
4:46
passengers use to get an upgrade I don't
4:48
use them what exactly do I do the first
4:51
one is simple but takes planning I
4:54
simply book when there are upgrade
4:56
promotions this is when the line is
4:57
offering you pay for a lower grade and
5:00
get a better cabin so for example I
5:02
recently booked a regent 7c Caribbean
5:05
cruise where I got a cabin two grades up
5:08
from what I paid for based on the usual
5:10
price a good time to find these
5:11
promotions are when itineries are
5:13
launched so if there's a cruise you
5:14
really want to do and it's maybe 1880
5:16
months 2 years plus as soon as those
5:18
itri come on sale look for these kinds
5:21
of promotions secondly I found about 90
5:23
to 60 days before a cruise this is when
5:25
final payment is due for most Cruisers
5:28
and if the ship is not full
5:30
promotions like this one is a tool that
5:32
they like to use to encourage bookings
5:34
thirdly a really good time is during
5:36
wave season usually at the start of the
5:38
year or Black Friday towards the end
5:40
these are big sale periods with lots of
5:43
competition by all the lines for our
5:45
bookings and this is one of the really
5:47
popular promotions I found at these
5:49
times the way I found out by the way
5:51
about these promotions is usually
5:53
through the cruise line email
5:54
newsletters so sign up for those now
5:56
while this technique has been very
5:58
successful at snagging me upgrades the
6:01
next one is the one that has got me more
6:03
upgrades than any other technique this
6:06
is fair tracking when I book a cruise I
6:09
set up a price tracker which I've spoken
6:11
of before on a site called cruw
6:13
watch.com or cruisecritic.com I have a
6:16
blog post by the way where I explain how
6:18
to do that which is linked in the notes
6:20
of this video those trackers alert me if
6:23
fairs on the cruise have fallen and if
6:26
they have I either asked the line for
6:28
the lower fair or or for an upgrade I've
6:30
had huge success with this especially in
6:33
getting upgrades through this I've
6:36
recently been upgraded on kod Queen's
6:38
Grill from an entry Suite to a penthouse
6:40
and on Viking From A Balcony into a
6:43
suite and there's many other examples
6:45
the watch out though is it does take
6:47
some work and negotiation too because
6:50
some lines are more willing than others
6:52
the next one has also led to upgrades
6:54
but it's not necessarily a good thing
6:58
this is through
7:00
complaining not from being difficult and
7:02
chancing my arm but when I have an issue
7:05
with the cabin that I feel is affecting
7:07
my cruise and needs to be addressed this
7:09
works I believe this works especially
7:11
because I believe there are cabins the
7:13
line seems quick to move passengers from
7:16
when you raise an issue I've had a
7:18
series of better cabins and upgrades
7:20
through complaints for example I was on
7:22
a silver SE Expedition Cruise in
7:24
Antarctica where I had some problems
7:26
with a noise from some Machinery
7:27
underneath me I was moved after
7:30
discussing it from an Ocean View cabin
7:32
into a balcony cabin I had an issue on
7:35
my pant Lael Cruise there was rattling
7:38
air conditioning it Disturbed me
7:39
constantly during the night they
7:41
couldn't fix it and again I was moved to
7:43
a better grade of cabin on a recent
7:46
Azamara cruise I had dragging and
7:48
scraping above me in the early hours now
7:50
when I went to Guest Services the
7:52
manager knew of the top of his head that
7:54
my cabin was below a work area when he
7:57
made a note it was onto a page listing
8:01
of other cabins where people had already
8:03
also come to complain they moved me to a
8:06
better cabin without noise within the
8:09
hour I genuinely believe that the line
8:11
knows which cabins have issues and if
8:14
you're in one of those and raise the
8:16
issue they know it's genuine and they
8:18
move you to a better cabin if the ship
8:21
is not full another technique which has
8:23
worked for me is special events when I
8:27
got married we booked a Queen Mary to
8:29
transatlantic Crossing for our honeymoon
8:32
our travel agent let the line know that
8:34
we were going on our honeymoon and we
8:37
were upgraded to a fabulous penthouse
8:40
suite the agent has good relationships
8:42
with the cruise line makes many bookings
8:44
for them and so was able to get us on an
8:47
upgrade list because she has influence
8:50
so if you have a big event coming up
8:52
especially a wedding let the line know
8:55
it's not going to work for birthdays and
8:57
I've not heard it working for
8:58
anniversary much but give it a go as
9:01
worst case they will upgrade the
9:03
experience on board perhaps with
9:04
champagne cakes decorations and maybe
9:07
some other added perks like especially
9:09
dining remember that as with Airlines
9:12
the lines will tend to give upgrade
9:14
priority to frequent Travelers if you
9:17
really like a line and plan to sell with
9:19
them often and do sell with them more
9:21
often you're going to have leverage
9:23
check if the law to program for that
9:25
line offers Fair discounts as you
9:27
progress up the tiers now many of them
9:29
tend to offer booking discounts or even
9:31
free nights as you move up tiers which
9:34
you can then use to effectively upgrade
9:36
by paying the same Fair as you would
9:37
have but actually you're going to get a
9:39
better cabin so for example we are
9:41
diamond on kod and we get discounts now
9:44
when booking which helps us nudge up
9:46
grades every single time if you found
9:49
this interesting why not watch this
9:51
video about how to get the best and
9:53
avoid the worst cabins on a ship
9:55
starting with the one simple thing I do
9:58
that pretty much guarantees the best
10:00
cabins without paying anything more see
10:03
you over there
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