Looking for a more luxurious cruise experience? Follow these tips for a cruise cabin upgrade and you may get lucky…
What could be better than ocean breeze hitting your face as your gaze out of your balcony, watching the waves crawling gently to shore as you enjoy a glass of champagne with your partner and your own privacy? It sounds perfect doesn’t it? That said, it can come at a cost that is just too much to justify if you are cruising on budget. Because of this it’s always worth trying your hand at getting an cabin cruise upgrade by trying one of our tips for a cruise cabin upgrade below.
Please be warned, getting an upgrade is not easy or guaranteed, but these tips for a cruise cabin upgrade can help to increase your chances….
Frequently cruise with the same cruise line
The same as hotels and airlines, cruise liners like to reward their regular customers with loyalty reward schemes, like P&O’s peninsular club. By regularly cruising with the same cruise line, your points will build up which can gradually lead to free room upgrades, along with other benefits such as internet access, discount on board and much more. Signing up alone to a loyalty program won’t get you an upgrade but it will certainly help the cause.
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The emptier the ship, the more like you are to get an upgrade. By planning your cruise holiday during the off-peak season, not only will you get a great price but you will also be in with the chance of the ship bumping you up a grade or two. If you find your cruise liner reducing their prices to get more people on board, that’s a great time to ask your travel agent/cruise line for an upgrade.
Check the prices after you book
After booking your room, regularly check online and confirm the price is the same or more expensive. If you get lucky, sometimes your cruise line may drop the prices to entice more people to book onto their ship. On this occasion you may be able to make changes to your booking and find the price difference allows for a free upgrade.
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Allow the cruise line to select your cabin
If you want to improve your chance of an upgrade, a guaranteed cabin is the place to look. The first benefit is that guaranteed cabins tend to be cheaper as you are booking onto a certain grade of the ship and then allowing the cruise line to select your cabin. The second benefit is that if the cruise line is struggling to sell out, they may bump you up in order to continue selling the cheaper grade of cabins to entice people in.
The earlier you book the better your chances
Another on our list of tips for a cruise cabin upgrade is when you book. If you book onto a cruise line early, not only are you potentially going to benefit from a cheaper price but you are also giving the cruise line even more opportunities to upgrade you. When (or if) the time comes that the cruise line needs to upgrade people from inside in order to re-sell inside cabins, the longer you have been on the list the more chance of this happening to you.
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It’s our “Honeymoon”, it’s a “Birthday Treat”
This one has probably been used countless amounts of times! In fact, it’s probably the oldest trick in the book but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying every now and then. While it’s not guaranteed to give you an upgrade, it certainly gives them merit to do so if they are looking to upgrade someone. Plus, if they don’t give you the upgrade they may leave you something else as a birthday treat like a bottle of bubbly or a cake in the room.
Have you managed to get a cruise cabin upgrade? Have you got any of your own tips for a cruise cabin upgrade? Let us know in the comment box below…
