I was on Majestic Princess last month. I booked a balcony cabin, thinking it would be similar in size as a HAL balcony. I was wrong. It was smaller, especially the bathroom. So morning of second day, I went to the front desk and asked about upgrading as it was smaller than I had pictured. They upgraded us to a mini-suite and didn't charge us for it. I was amazed and pleased!

Years ago I booked a cruise with Carnival and booked a cheap small interior room. My birthday fell on the 3rd day out. So, not realizing this is a big deal we arrived at Port And boarded. The number on my check in info was strange and bam! They’d upgraded us to a large balcony room. What a great surprise. No extra money but I did get embarrassed in the main dining hall when they sang happy birthday 🎉

Last November I booked a guaranteed inside cabin for a cruise in January with MSC Fantasia and I got an allocated inside cabin on the fifth floor of the ship. Then I started sending emails to customer service of the company asking them if I could get an inside cabin on a higher floor. One month prior my cruise I got an upgrade for a balcony cabin totally for free. I was so happy and the cruise was fantastic!

I don’t know if you read these comments so long after you’ve posted the video, but I wanted to tell you that I got off an Alaskan cruise a little over a week ago, and followed your tips. I booked four rooms that were ocean view. With these wonderful tips, and because the ship was not at full capacity, I was upgraded to four balcony rooms. The balcony rooms were not obstructed view, had cabins above and below them, and were just spectacular! Before watching your videos, I would have never known to try these tips! Thank you so much!

I just enjoy listening to Gary, no matter what he's talking about!

I have done 8 Royal Caribbean sailings.. I was called by Royal Caribbean a few years ago and offered an upgrade from an ocean view to a balcony, on Allure of the Seas for just 50 $ p.p. It was my 5th sailing with them, and a good move by Royal, because since that - we realised how much more nicer a balcony is . So they won us over for future reservations of a Balcony ! Clever Marketing move by RCI !..

Please do not ask your agent to keep checking for a reduced price. If they have a hundred clients, and they checked at least once a week for all clients, they would be getting nothing else done. I was an agent for 30 years, and had to explain this to clients, it is far too much work for one person to check for all their clients. I used to tell them to watch their own price and let me know, then I can get to work and get the better price. That in itself is hard for agents, as with a lower price, an agent has a lot of work to do, by imputting new info, re-issuing a new invoice and all this for less commission on the lower price. The one time I did used to check for them was just before they paid final. I also did check if i was not too busy.Thx Gary, great stuff.

I was upgraded from a balcony to an AFT Junior Suite on RCI. I told them I needed a bathtub due to my medical condition at the time, and it worked. They wanted to speak to my doctor on the day at the last minute over the phone, and it paid off. I also asked nicely to go to the bridge for a private visit with the Captain and sat in his chair and it was fun. I pulled the cancer card. I am grateful to have survived and to RCI Australia for being so empathetic and accommodating.

We had a cruise with P&O last year, we ticked to auto-upgrade option. Five days before we sailed we received an email from them saying we had been upgraded from a standard balcony cabin. When we received the cabin number we found we had given one of the two top suites on the ship including our own butler.

We got a handicap cabin once by mistake… amazing! They told us we might be asked to leave if they needed it … if so they would upgrade what I thought was already an upgrade. Huge room.

My mom got an upgrade on Norwegian bliss from mini suite with large balcony to the haven forward facing penthouse suite

Hi Gary. Our cruise in 2021 out of Port Everglades the first week of April was upgraded from a standard balcony to a mini suite, no additional cost to us. We checked out the location and it's excellent. Not sure how it happened, but we do have a very great TA who has done well for us in the past, but this time was amazing. Now we just have to hope things get straightened out with our world by that time! All the best, be safe, be well! 👍👍👍

For cruisers needing accessible cabins, I've learned that when cruise lines offer "free upgrades" as part of the package, you often can't get it. For example, when Princess offers an "upgrade," it is usually the same level cabin, but in what they consider a better location. There are no "better" locations for the HA cabins, so you won't get this perk. That said, we have been upgraded several times prior to needing the HA cabin, both free and for a small fee. And, on one cruise, we got a full refund by accepting a downgrade of our cabin. No, we weren't thrilled with the downgrade, but they'd had a corporate booking of many cabins and needs the balcony accessible that we had....and I couldn't argue with cruising free!

Thanks for the tips, Gary. I have an upcoming cruise (hopefully) and will definitely utilize your recommendations. Also, phenomenal job on your videos, I love your production style as you keep going from stock footage of ships and cabins in between your direct camera shots, it's a very nice touch indeed. Keep up the great work and I'll definitely keep watching.

We have a 16 day to Norway and Longyearbyen in June 2022. I had booked early and with a watchful Travel Agent I've had a couple price reductions. To date, we have had a total discount of over $2,300. And an upgrade from standard balcony to a deluxe balcony. It pays to ask.

Another helpful element in snatching an upgrade is to be a loyal, frequent cruiser with a specific Line. I’ve been upgraded at least five times on HAL from inside cabins to balconies or suites precisely because I’m a 5-Star Mariner and the availability happened just before check-in. At least ... that’s what I was told. For example: on my last cruise, January of 2020, when I checked in to board the Koningsdam I discovered that I had been upgraded from an inside cabin all the way up to a Vista Suite. When I asked what happened I was told that they had several last-minute cancellations and I was selected due to my status with the Line. I had that reason independently confirmed by both the Check-in staff at the pier and my Personal Cruise Consultant at HAL, so while I used to doubt that loyalty had much of a role (if any) to play in upgrade decisions, I now have begun to think that such isn’t always the case.

I bid the lowest with Royal Caribbean and they gave us a HUGE upgrade

Thank you Gary for this great information. Since joining your channel I have been going through all your videos. We had a guaranteed stateroom for our cruise next month on HAL "Zaandam". I found out the rate went up a bit for our cruise so I did what you suggested. Called HAL and asked for an upgrade. They moved us from BC class to A class and gave us a preassigned stateroom midship on the Verandah deck. I learned to make sure it does not have an adjoining door and not above or underneath a noisy area of the ship (also away from elevators). I would have never known to do this unless I watched your videos. We not only landed a better location on the ship, but they assigned us our stateroom (which was not going to happen until just prior to embarkation). Thanks again.🚢

As soon as i watch your video, i immediately checked my email from NCL about a cabin upgrade..i just bid on the lowest price and hope for the best we will be upgraded to a Haven suite room..fingers crossed🙏🙏🙏

I got a cheap upgrade to a suite one time on Holland America. I was in a balcony and the ship still had cabins to fill, so they made me an offer to upgrade for a small amount and I took it. I think it was only $100 or thereabouts. It worked out well, because it was one of the few times I was travelling with someone and the extra space was nice.

You have the best cruise channel 😀 you provide so much useful information without all the fluff. Thanks so much!

We booked a cruise a week before departure! Oh my! What a deal!!!! its nice to be retired! 🥰

The guaranteed upgrade option is a win win for both the company and customer. Now I understand the reason behind it. Thanks for explaining it!

I have never been asked what I thought of my cabin while still aboard. I guess it helps to be a celebrity.

I just want to clarify. DO NOT ask at check in if you can upgrade wait until you get ON the ship to ask. As the check-in system at least in Australia can let you check-in and that is it. It is a basic system (pre-pandemic anyway). Once you get on the ship they have more functions you can do. This could be because it is such a short and new destination. But be awear if they say they can only check you in it is because that is all they can do.

Hello Gary, I am booked on the Carnival Horizon for a April 29 2023 sailing, I am a solo traveler and paid in full already the price for 2 on my inside cabin ,no discount, after seeing a few youtube videos on Cove Balconies I thought I would upgrade, the youtube videos say the cove balcony is less money then all the other balconies, my travel agent tells me Carnival has 3 left and they want $1250.00 more on top of what I have already paid, talk about a rip off.

We LOVE the balcony cabins! 🛳 Carnival! Love the vids! 👍🏾

I love the Canadian Pacific poster...awesome

Thanks for the tips Gary and keep up the good work.

I called carnival after finding out they reduced rates and saw a deluxe ocean view was going for $50 (total) more than the interior cabin I booked. They upgraded me to it for free!

I really appreciate the guidance on a cruise ship by getting upgrades in various ways. You were very informative. It's helpful!

I booked a family cruise this year with Royal Caribbean for $192/pp. when i checked a month later for the same cruise, same date, same ports, the priced dropped to $181. When I called the cruise line for a reprice, the representative kept telling me I already have the best price. I asked to speak to the supervisor and he said i didn't qualify because of the category I was in . Basically I didn't qualify for the repricing because I booked early and got my room assigned early. Smh. I think Royal Caribbean shouldn't offer the Best Price Guarantee Program if they are not going to keep their word. This is the first and last time i'll cruise with Royal Caribbean.

Go on the smaller cruise ship, you'll have good size cabin, we went on Holland American cruise, there ship is pretty small but all the rooms has port holes and big rooms for the base price it felt like 1st class cabin.

We get upgraded so often! When I was younger, I thought maybe it was just plain luck, but after dozens of cruises and listening to tips like yours I now know why it happens to us and doesn't happen to some others that we have cruised with (we almost always do a guarantee, when we were younger we always did an inside, even when we said six star lines we go for the lowest category generally, etc). Like you said though, sometimes a guarantee with a seemingly huge upgrade isn't always for the best. We tried Regent a couple of years ago and went from the lowest category to the highest concierge! On paper the cabin looked great, but in reality it was hot and never really got cool enough for us. On Crystal last year we went from the lowest guarantee to the second highest balcony--but were only four cabins from the aft where a passenger door can slam very hard in the wind and shake the walls. So it's a mixed bag--with mostly awesome results. Thanks, Gary!

Booked a cruise for march 2023. I’ve had all room types. Unfortunately to save money we have to book inside room this time. Definitely going to use some of your suggestions. 🤞actually just downloaded cruise watch

Great info about the upgrades. I complained about the disgusting balcony cabin I had on the Carnival Mardi Gras. The worn and stained couch, which I didn't sit on during my entire cruise. The light not working above the bed. Supposedly repaired and still didn't work. Horrible worn sinks in the bathroom. I could go on and on. I even sent a letter about how depressing the cabin was. Worse than a 2 star motel room. The cabin stewart could only say to me he was sorry and there was nothing he could do about it. No one ever responded to me I was so upset because I was traveling solo and had to pay double for the balcony cabin and it wasn't cheap. As always you give great advice. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for your video about NCL. We are going in two months so looking for info on the Bliss. Your info will definitely help!

Great tips Gary! I did in fact just get a huge upgrade on MSC to the Yacht Club because my original cabin was not what I thought at all…no closet, only a pull out sofa and I could barely even believe how tiny it was…so my complaint worked beautifully!

Thank you very much for all tips! Since we r doing Alaska cruise planning

I'm definitely going to keep this video in mind on my next cruise.

It would be amazing to get an upgrate!! We are going on our first cruise ever (for both of us) and it will be our honeymoon!

Definitely seconding the price tracking. I saw that my upcoming cruise was a good chunk cheaper than what I paid and called the cruise to re-price it. They gave me 2 options: Guaranteed Ocean View or Guaranteed Interior Balcony. Both were cheaper than my existing rate and so now I have a (small in a sense) upgrade to Guaranteed Ocean View. Now to see if I get an upgrade from that to a suite either via luck, bids, or something with the fact it's my birthday on day 2 of the cruise :D

I did that with P&O Australia recently when they had a upgrade promotion from a Oceanview to a Balcony Cabin with no extra charge so I went for it. It is a Australia Day Cruise for 2022 and I am very sure cruises will be up and going before then

How would you deal with getting upgrades if you also need an accessible cabin?

Very good information. Thank you. I think it really depends on the cruise line that you are on and learning which ones are good with customer service and ones that are not. I appreciate your video more than I can tell you. Thank you again.

I LOVE your vintage cruise poster background!!!

Asking for an upgrade after seeing a price drop compared to when I paid for it did not work on TUI Cruises. They advised to send a email to their complaints departments. Have you (Gary) or anyone else in this community had experiences with TUI Cruises?

I'm a recent subscribed and love every video I've seen so far! Great content each and every time!

Thank you for the tips, very informative, we have a family cruise in May and this will serve us as a guide, not only in a cruise but in other places as well.

I got an upgrade once. 😂 It was an ocean view room. We went into the room and pulled the curtain. There was no window. Rip off. 🤣

One other way to get an update is if you are a loyalty cruiser like RCC has a Crown & Anchor society and you are eligible to have upgrade when available.

I told Royal Caribbean how it was mine and my wife’s first anniversary and it was our honeymoon as COVID prevented us from taking a one earlier. They said, “Awh that’s nice.” Then tried to sell me a 100 dollar bottle of wine lol. No upgrade haha.

Does not work with Princess cruise. We had a pipe burst and flood our cabin. We got moved (because we had to) but not to a better cabin. We had paid for a Mini Suite, spent the second half in a balcony.

Old saying Gary squeaky wheel gets the grease!

I think this was your best content to date. Excellent!! 🚢🚢🚢

What are you a question of the morning yet like a property

We complained of a noise, very loud machinery noise that started at 12 pm and stopped at 5 am. They sent someone to have a listen at 10 am, we explained again when the noise started. He came back the following day with a kind of trumpet like object and stuck it against the window frame ( we had a huge porthole type window, once again we stated the time was all wrong, he said he couldn’t test it during the night as he didn’t work those hours. We kept complaining because we simply got no sleep. They moves us up a deck five days later with just two days left of the cruise. They told us the noise was the loose surrounds around the window but we had already found out that it was the machine that mulches up all leftover food, ads water to it then releases it. A big thanks to RCC Explorer OTS, never again.

Just set up a price watch, thank you so much for the tip. My first time cruise is royal Caribbean, 5 night Caribbean march 19

You know what happened to us only a month ago? Well we end up paying almost $600 to be alowed an upgrade from inside cabin in the Pacific Explorer (Australia), to a window (ocean view). I was sure that the P&O travel agent said that the 10 days cruise will be in a balcony well we had a massive shock when we opened the door and the cabin was the smallest cabin we had ever seen... Once the luggage was inside we could not walk inside de cabin. after a few visits to the service and they kept telling us that they could do NOTHING about it... And that we have to talk to the travel agent.... And after 5 hours of unnecessary extreme extress we were told by out P&O travel agent that the only way of updating our cabin to one were we could at least walk from the bed to the toilet was by paying almost $600.... Do we did and they put us in an ocean view (on of those with the window --- no balcony just window)

When you ask about upgrades on day two, were they free or did they charge you? If charged was it at a discounted rate?

Great tips will try this on my upcoming cruise thank you 🎉

Great information! Thank You 🙏🏾.

Surely Gary in your case you just tell 'em you have 230k followers on youtube and if you dont upgrade me you are going to get a lousy appraisal!

Well I’ve tried this today with a Fred Olsen cruise going to Norway which has come down in price on another site and Fred Olsen will not budge so it didn’t work for us.

Do you feel good about yourself, complaining all the time? And telling others to complain? I bet the staff LOVE people like you...

Hello from Sydney again, how are you? What you saying in this video its very interesting as usaly is... but it is obvious that you are a very lucky man or your are a travel agent so the cruise liners want to make you happy so you get them more costumers.... And we said that because about the noice and really bad noice we had two bad experience with it... ones it was that the laundry troylets that where moving all night long...and when we let them know they just said oh! that is the noice from the pool we cannot do anything about it.... that was in the Ovation and then in the Radience we had a door between our cabin and next door one and that door had rathel every single night... we where so tire when we come back home... could not sleep propally all 16nights... so please tell us how on Earth do we complain and get some results?

Princess upgraded my inside Lido deck to a mid ship inside lowest level. If they upgrade me again I will be below the water line.

Did the guaranteed cabin thing twice and twice got screwed.

Can I just ask for an upgrade? Does that ever work?

Helpful videos, just one tip: your shirt font is hard to read, looks more like cruising “Hoats” my boat rather than “floats” just sayin

Do you use the same strategy for room placement on the boat with the upgrades?

Sounds like a real blast. I mean PITA.

Never got one and I’ve been on 20 cruises

I got an upgrade, but it turned out to be directly above the theatre. What a noisy pain.

I’ve been trying to get in touch with our agent for over a month to ask about upgrading from an Oceanview to a balcony & she’s never called me back . Now we leave in 1 week & I doubt seriously that their are any balconies left

Thanks for those great tips.

Just got email from NCL about bidding on an upgrade. We have never done this before. I’d like the spa balcony upgrade the asking 130€ what do you think is a good bid it’s only for 7 days. Thanks in advance

I subscribed. Going on a chartered cruise on the Regal Princess (Rome to Athens) next week! Thank you for the tips. I like the 2nd day upgrade tip!

Having a “plan to complain” seems a little “sketchy “ for me. I’m there to smile and enjoy not “work the system”.

how likely are you to get selected for the auto upgrade?

Thank you for the advice.

From what ship are the cabins you're showing in this video? They're simply wonderful.

Thank you for your really good tips!!!

First A $100 bribe at the front desk works.

Love all your videos Gary! You have really helped us in all our cruises

....and after reading the comments on this vid, clearly these people are not educated in what they are actually purchasing and the Ts and Cs

0:16 I watched this video several times before my current New Years cruise to Mexico but they claimed it wa completely sold out and there were no other cabins available.

I prefer inside cabins so an upgrade doesn't really float my boat. I once had a really nice midship inside cabin. I was offered an upgrade to an outside cabin and refused it.

Boy, you no all the tricks, very helpful

Thanks for the great tips.

Hello. I have one question regarding your tip about approaching the service desk on the second day / first morning of the cruise. When asking if there are any upgrades available, and if there is, does it incur additional cost? Thank you.

I am going to try asking on the second day as you recommend.

I have wanted to have a balcony, but then I really don’t want to pay the price difference. We always take the inside cabin with no window. It’s fine, but that balcony…sigh. 😌 I had no idea these tips were available! Awesome to know for next time!

Video looks like it was removed. Would you mind posting the tips in the comments

Planning on doing an Hawaii cruise next year.bhave you done an Hawaii cruise video?

How can I get a better price on NCL Hawaii cruise. Their advertised prices are around $200 a day

What happens if a hurricane or major storm is starting prior to your leaving port on day 1.?

Gary, I think your tips and tricks videos are terrific. I’m wondering how you think the COVID-response provisions the cruise lines will be forced to deal with, especially sailing with reduced capacities, e.g., 50-60%, will affect the upgrade options you describe? Assuming the cruise can sell the maximum allowed, say 60%, are they likely to want to sell only the higher grade cabins and leave all the cheaper inside cabins empty?

Is the deal better for upgrade at the ship day OF than bidding? Im wondering if we can chose our upgrade day of at the ship. I dont want to end up under a night club or gym lol

Didn’t work for me. Prices dropped on a Royal Caribbean cruise after I booked. They wouldn’t do anything for me.