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When Should You Take Or Refuse A Cruise Upgrade? 8 Ways They Could Ruin Your Cruising Vacation
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Jan 28, 2025
Cruise upgrades to a better cabin is something that most cruisers hope they will get. However, have you ever considered that an upgrade could ruin your cruise. All upgrades are not going to make your vacation better. I explore the 8 reasons and times that an upgrade could be wrong and where and why you need to think carefully before you look for or accept one. I also look at some pitfalls and watch outs off you are looking to get an upgrade. I talk about why I usually say "no thanks: to upgrades....! If you do want to find out the best ways of getting an upgrade still then watch my video of the ways that have been proven to work: https://youtu.be/Dpowj3CMfWc Check out cruising merchandise like T-shirts at my store at https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/store Support the channel by booking your next cruise and for the best deals on CRUISEDIRECT.COM: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/CruiseDirectYT Consider becoming a Tips For Travellers Patron. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Follow Tips For Travellers on: - Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge - Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers - Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge #CruiseUpgrade #CruiseUpgrades #CabinUpgrade
View Video Transcript
0:00
you're about to discover when taking an
0:02
upgrade could completely ruin your
0:04
cruise vacation so when and when you
0:07
shouldn't go for an upgrade hi I'm Gary
0:09
beverage and this is another of my tips
0:11
for travelers people seek out upgrades I
0:14
know that based on just how many people
0:17
have watched my video of tips on how to
0:18
get an upgrade I wanna take a look at
0:20
the things to avoid and the things to
0:22
bear in mind before you go for or chase
0:25
or accept an upgrade the four most
0:28
common ways to get an upgrade are either
0:30
first of all they're complimentary
0:31
they're sort of a surprise and these are
0:34
largely driven by also what you do when
0:35
you're booked so in your book you can
0:36
choose to either accept or reject an
0:38
upgrade and depending on the cruise line
0:40
sometimes you can choose to accept
0:42
upgrades within the same category so for
0:44
example from one balcony cabin to a
0:46
better balcony cabin or just to another
0:49
level so for example a balcony to a
0:51
suite or an insight to an ocean view and
0:53
this wraps the cruise line to decide if
0:55
they're going to give that to you
0:56
secondly in some cruise lines you can
0:58
actually bid for a better room that's
1:00
very limited and there's very few cruise
1:01
lines so for example at the time of
1:03
recording Norwegian Cruise Line allowed
1:05
you to do this there's not many that do
1:06
that the third one is you've given the
1:08
chance to upsell so either when you're
1:10
checking in you're given the opportunity
1:12
to pay to upgrade or sometimes before
1:14
you go the cruise you're contacted and
1:16
given the chance to pay an amounts of
1:18
money to upgrade and the last one is
1:20
really where you've done it yourself or
1:21
your travel agents done it where you've
1:23
noticed that they're actually
1:24
discounting better cabins and they're
1:26
now cheaper than what you paid for your
1:28
original cabin and you then change your
1:31
booking to a higher grade of cabin or
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level however there's a massive big
1:37
watch out with all of these things
1:39
because normally if you accept an
1:41
upgrade or you've ticked to accept an
1:43
upgrade if the cruise line gives you the
1:45
upgrade you usually have no say
1:47
whatsoever in the cabin they've given
1:49
you and you don't have a chance to go
1:52
back to your original cabin so very
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important if you gonna tick the box and
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you're going for an upgrade bear in mind
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that you will have no say and that's
1:58
going to be a key factor as we talked
2:00
about how you could ruin your cruise
2:03
let's take a look at when taking upgrade
2:06
could actually ruin your cruise the
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first of these is bear in mind that your
2:10
idea of a great cabin and the
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Sian's idea of a great cabin can be
2:14
totally different things so you may end
2:16
up getting the cabins that nobody else
2:19
wants you might get the strange shape or
2:21
the one that's in a slightly odd
2:22
location so bear in mind that if you
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have a very set idea about what a cabin
2:27
is and a great cabin is the cruise line
2:29
doesn't necessarily have that same
2:30
checklist so you might find there move
2:32
you to a cabin which in their view is a
2:34
better cabin however that may not be
2:36
your idea and therefore you go to a
2:38
cabin that you're not comfortable with
2:40
the second way it can really ruin your
2:42
cruise vacation is if you're very
2:44
specific and very picky about the
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location you want so for example you're
2:48
very worried about noise so you don't
2:50
want to be under the disco or the
2:52
restaurants or or the theater or perhaps
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you want to be really central so it's
2:57
very easy and you're close to all of the
2:59
different facilities around the ship or
3:01
perhaps you want to be in a certain
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location because you're turning with
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friends or family so you want to be in
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the same area of the ship so if you have
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a very specific thing about the location
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you're in the front of the ship the back
3:11
of the ship or very importantly if you
3:13
are it about being seasick you like to
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be lowdown and midships so if you're
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very picky about where your cabin is on
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the ship I would strongly recommend
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don't take a look at upgrades because
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you could be moved from a great location
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that you love to an area that is
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actually everything that you dislike the
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third reason is if you're very specific
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and picky about your cabin itself so for
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example you want a cabin that has no
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inter connecting door with the cabin
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next door or you want one that does have
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an inter connecting door or you want a
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cabin that has a bath or you want one
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that's only got a shower you want one
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with two basins you want one that
3:45
doesn't have an obstructed view or for
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example you want a cabin that can be
3:49
easily divided by a curtain because you
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know that you get up before your partner
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or traveling companion if you're very
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picky and specific about what your cabin
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has in the layout and the features I'd
3:59
recommend do not take an upgrade because
4:01
you could get moved to a cabin that
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doesn't have it so I'm very fussy about
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certain things in the cabinet and I get
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two connecting doors I like having a
4:09
bath so I tend not to go for upgrades
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because I would be very unhappy if I
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lost some of the things that I spent a
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lot of time choosing to have very
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specifically in my cabin if you have a
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need for an accessible cabin I would
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also recommend not taking up
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so if you need wheelchair access or you
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need other accessible features within
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your cabin don't go for an upgrade there
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are a very limited amount of accessible
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cabins on cruise ships so if you've got
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one because you need one don't go for an
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upgrade because it's very possible that
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you'll be upgraded to cabin that doesn't
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have the space or the facilities that
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you need for accessibility another good
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reason for not taking upgrade is the
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chance that you'll lose your perks with
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your booking now this tends to apply
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much more if you've taken a deal and
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you're paying to upgrade so you might
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have got a deal for example which is
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included some Wi-Fi or drinks package or
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some onboard credit often cruise lines
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will let you pay to upgrade to a better
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cabin or a better grade however they
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might then only give you the perks
5:09
associated with that new deal so for
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example you've booked a while ago you've
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got a great package with drinks package
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so especially dining onboard credits and
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you've bought a balcony cabin for
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example and you see a great deal come
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along where you can get a suite for the
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same price however that might only have
5:25
a small amount of onboard credit and if
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you change your booking which is
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possible to upgrade you lose all of
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those benefits and actually the upgrade
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then could not be at all appealing
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because you've lost a lot of great perks
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and benefits so very importantly if
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you're paying to upgrade check if the
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original perks associated with that
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booking are going to stay and move with
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you or you're going to lose them so for
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example I booked a cruise recently where
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I had some especially dining and a
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drinks package as some free Wi-Fi all
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the gratuities were paid but if I chose
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an upgrade where I could pay an upgrade
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I was going to lose all of those and
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just get a small amount of onboard
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credit it really wasn't worth it
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linked to that and very important is if
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you'll get to upgrade because you want
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to get extra perks check that with the
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upgrade all the perks of going to
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high-grade come with it so you might
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find with some grades for example you
6:13
get things like priority and bar cash
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and disembarkation priority tendering
6:16
canapes in the evening complimentary
6:19
minibar some free dining in the
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speciality restaurants however people
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who get free upgrades might not get
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those perks so Yuri minibar or the
6:27
canapes or whatever other perks are
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associated with that so very importantly
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if you're upgrading and chasing perks
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rather than just a space and the bigger
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cabin check that you're gonna get those
6:37
perks or again
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it could really put a dampener on your
6:40
cruise because you're not going to get
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what you expected this next one is
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probably a little bit frivolous but if
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you're actually concerned by moving from
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an inside to a balcony or from balcony
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to a suite you're going to find it very
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difficult to go back you might want to
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hold back on taking that upgrade because
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you might find that your whole future
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cruising cost and experience is slightly
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ruined because now you've experienced
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the balcony and you don't to go back to
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an ocean view or inside it so bear in
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mind that upgrades could slightly spoil
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you and I've seen on many forums have
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said the problem with going with a suite
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is they find it very difficult to go
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back or once it had a balcony it's very
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hard to convince their partner to go
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back to an inside or an ocean view now
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all upgrades aren't necessarily great
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value and this particularly applies if
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you're paying for an upgrade so perhaps
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when you're checking in or just before
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the cruise you're offered a chance to
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pay a little bit to upgrade do the math
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and check that it really is worth it
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don't assume because you're being
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offered an upgrade that it's great value
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do the math and check that actually
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first of all that's not what you would
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have paid anyway so actually you're not
7:43
really getting any saving because you
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could just book that higher grade anyway
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if you're often upgrade and you're
7:48
paying do the maths to make sure that
7:50
you suddenly don't find yourself in a
7:51
pedicab and realizing actually it's not
7:53
a real upgrade I'm just paying what I
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would have paid anyway for this cabin
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another really important aspect some
8:00
cruise lines do this is they are found
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grades but within a category so you
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might be in a balcony and they will
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offer you or give you an upgrade from
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perhaps a what they consider a less good
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balcony to a bigger bow anymore a better
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valcon you're from the front of the ship
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or the back of the ship and they've
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moved you to mid ships but very
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importantly that may not be a big enough
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upgrades ask yourself if I get moved to
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a better balcony if I get moved to a bed
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of ocean view and I'm already paying
8:26
that
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is it really worth the hassle
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particularly if you've chosen a cabin
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that you like that grade is only an
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upgrade if it's much better so one of
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the things to really think about is
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upgrades within a specific category is
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it really a big enough upgrade that's
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gonna make your cruise so much better so
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there are times when taking an upgrade I
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think could really dampen and ruin your
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cruise there are of course times where
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rates are fantastic so for example
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you're moving to a bigger cabin a bit of
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category and it's not costing you
8:58
anything and you're going to get to
9:00
experience something much bigger much
9:01
better because you are always on a
9:03
cruise ship gonna use that extra space
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and it gives you chance to entertain or
9:07
have people over or just spit out and
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enjoy yourself but do bear in mind that
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if you are going the upgrade route there
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are ways that it could really dampen it
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so if you are really fussy about where
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your cabin is located because you're
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worried about noise or access to
9:23
facilities or there's things in your
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cabin that you really really like that
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are very specific an upgrade could wipe
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those out so generally when I cruise I
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don't go for the upgrade option because
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I like to spend a lot of time thinking
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about where I like my cabin to be and
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there's things that I like in my cabin
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and I'm much happier to know that I've
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got a cabin that I really like and I
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prepared to forgo the upgrade option of
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course there are times when I have gone
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for upgrades and had an amazing time so
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I've been upgraded for example into the
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Magnificent penthouse suite with a
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dining room and all sorts and that was
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just absolutely magical and fantastic
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there are times when it works however
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generally speaking think about those
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things and what's really important to
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you on a cruise and if they get wiped
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out and you get something in a cabin
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that doesn't have all those how are you
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gonna feel about it make sure it doesn't
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dampen or get in the way of having a
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great cruise I hope you find that
10:13
helpful and interesting it's given you
10:15
something to think about if you like
10:17
this video I'd love it if you watch many
10:18
more of my tips of travelers videos
10:20
they're designed to help you make the
10:21
most of your very precious travel time
10:24
and money on land on sea and on rivers
10:28
[Music]
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[Applause]
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