Does Radisson ever upgrade people from one category to another? I just returned from the Gauguin (wonderful cruise) and there were only 283 pax and I noticed some empty cabins in several categories. I know Crystal (several years ago) said they never upgrade.

No complimentary upgrades just because there is space. Sometimes people will get upgraded if for some reason RSSC needs your particular cabin or of course if there is a problem with your cabin. Guarantee cabins can also be upgraded of course but these days it appears they end up in the category they are guaranteed in intially.

Of course sometimes it happens and you never know why but that is a rare situation.

I guess I was lucky and very grateful to Rad for the gift as on my last Navigator cruise to Bermuda the upgrade fairy smiled upon us. We were booked in a Cat H guarantee and received a Cat A.

Lucky here too. On our Navigator cruise that we're on right now, F guarantee landed us a D cabin.

Masaki

Masaki, is that an upgrade?? Nothing is finer than to be in a Cat F near the atrium.

I am scared of unwanted upgrades, especially on ships where there are some bad cabins. We do have an H guarantee on Voyager ONLY because there were no more Cat H available for booking. We can live with any cabin on that ship (and use the $600 savings for cooking classes).

Marc - I suspect it depends on how you look at it. Since I could have received ANY leftover cat F that was available, my D cabin location (starboard and midway down the forward hall) is certainly not bad. Seas have been calm, haven't experienced any undue vibration/rolling/swaying. I would have been happy with any balcony given the savings that we had on the booking but very happy with our actual cabin. As to whether there truly is any advantage (or should that be DISadvantage?) to cat D versus cat F is left to the reader as an exercise. :D

Technically, yes it is an upgrade. But I also understand your point, Marc.

Masaki

The shift to assigning guarantees as soon as space opens up just started recently. Some of these guarantee upgrades we are discussing here like Maskai's were booked before the changes seemed to take place. It is guarantees booked "now" that are affected and seem to be more like a waitlist for the category you are guaranteed in.

Okay, I'm in an H for VOYTAN....if they sell enough H guarantees, am I more likely to be "bumped" up than the guarantees, or less likely, or is it the old "crap-shoot"?

If you are in an H cabin the odds are you will stay there. The guarantees are more likely to be bumped up because an H has to cancel in order for them to accommodated in an H cabin.

To all:

Here is an example of an upgrage you DON'T want! On the VTC on the Voyager, we had a lowest category balcony suite guarantee. We were upgraded to a category C suite on the very stern of the ship. This was a very nice suite with an oversized balcony. BUT the vibration and shaking back there was worse than the Navigator ever was, it made my wife very ill, and we are still waiting for the travel insurance to pay her medical bill. In this case, I truely wish that we had not received an upgrade, as those with our lowest guarantee had no problems.

Although Radisson remains my favorite line, it must be admitted that there are "problem suites" from ship to ship. So, unless you REALLY know your ships, an upgrade might not always be good.

Thanks,
Richard

Okay, all you experienced RSSC cruisers....how do these upgrades come about? We're booked on our first RSSC cruise in Cat H. Do we request an upgrade or does RSSC approach us? Though we are happy with our cabin choice, what would be the time frame for an upgraded change? Just curious because I'm new to this and trying to understand the lingo and manuvering. This board is great for answering questions and getting information!

To Canadagal: Wow, sounds like a lottery win! What a way to start a trip! They would have to call in NASA to bring me back down!

Deb

Ngaire would be the best person to answer this. I can tell you, however, the four ways we've gotten upgrades. One time, we paid for it on board. Another time a one category upgrade was part of a "special" for those who got canceled on Renaissance due to its bankruptcy. A third time, there had been some "blunders" on a previous Radisson cruise, and Radisson offered us a two category upgrade on our next cruise as a goodwill gesture. Finally, we booked a "category F guarantee" on the VTC (Voyager) and this was one of the rare times when the "guarantee" method of booking resulted in a massive upgrade to category C. This is the "upgrade I wish hadn't happened" I reported on above, and the unpopularity of this "shaking cabin" may have been part of the reason it was available as an upgrade to us.

Hope this helps,
Richard :) :) :)

If you are booked in a category H cabin with a cabin number there is no reason for you to expect an upgrade of any kind nor would I anticipate any would be forthcoming other than some highly unique circumstance. Approaching RSSC will result in "if you wish to upgrade we would be happy to accommodate and the extra charge is $XXx."

You get what you pay for and if you pay for a category H and get a cabin number then that is where you will be.

Complimentary upgrades happen for these reasons only:
1. RSSC need your particular cabin for some reason
2. RSSC offers a general upgrade offer to everyone
3. RSSC offers an upgrade to you because of a problem you have encountered as a goodwill gesture.
4. You are booked in a guarantee (like Richard above) and there are no cabins in the guarantee category you purchased. They have no choice but to upgrade you. However, most of the time the "upgrade" will be to a higher category in a less desirable location and that is why it is still available. That is the situation with all the upgrades mentioned on this thread. These used to be great but now they are being assigned differently and there will be fewer stories like you are reading on this thread.
5. You are a VIP and therefore get upgraded.
6. On rare occassions someone will be upgraded and you have no idea why. If you happen to be one of those people take it and rejoice. You were VERY lucky.

YOu pay for a cabin category, you get a number and then most of the time that is where you stay.

Ngaire,

If you book a specific category and receive a cabin # at time of booking, can it happen that Radisson changes my cabin assignment to an "upgrade"( which as described above might be beneficial or not) without notifying me and I find out when I show up for boarding? Or in your experience is the passenger asked if he wants the upgrade?

They would always contact your TA. That is a very rare occurrence but it can happen. Some people REALLY want their specific cabin have sailed in it before etc so they would never change you without asking. I have never known that to happen where a passenger was changed without knowledge.

Once I got a call and it was a good upgrade nice location. The client was "in the air" literally. I accepted on her behalf. When she got there she was NOT happy. She had an attachment to her particular cabin and it was a real mess on board but they got it back for her. I will never accept again without consulting the passenger I thought she would be pleased.

As an addendum to my "upgrade history" I mentioned above, the time when we purchased an upgrade when we first embarked was on the Navigator in Alaska. We knew we had made a mistake in not booking a balcony as soon as we got to the ship. In our case, we had to go up two categories to get a balcony. I checked after the cruise, and the price we were charged for the upgrade was LESS than if we had booked the balcony cabin in the first place. I don't know if such things are usual, unusual, or what. I just know it happened that one time in our case.

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

Thanks all for the info. As I said, we're happy with our cabin choice, and are not looking for an upgrade. However, I was curious as to how the upgrading works. As I understand it--when booking, I can book a guarantee Cat H (or whatever), pay for Cat H, but there's a possibility that I may be upgraded when checking in with no additional cost, right? If I book a particular cabin, then RSSC won't change it without contacting my TA or me. And I always have the option of paying for an upgrade, if one is available. Fair enough.

Thanks again,
Deb

ACtually the guarantees only become available in two instances.

As soon as the H cabins sell out they offer a number of guarantees. It may be only 2 or 3 cabins. These are then sold and are now almost considered a "waitlist" for H cabins. They know from experience a percentage will cancel. When someone cancels they move these guarantees into those cabins. If no one cancels then that person may get an upgrade. YOu cannot buy a guarantee if a cabin is available. So it is all a matter of timing. This is now happening in every category.

Sometimes they will offer a lot of guarantees if they want to sell a ship that is not full. It is a way to sell a lower end price. Happens on the less popular itineraries.

As to upgrading on board it all depends. Sometimes you do get a better rate depends on the ship, how full it is, how the Hotel Director handles the situation. Each ship can handle this their way.

These days I am more of a proponent of the cabin assignment. I used to really like the guarantees but now with them assigning the guarantees early on when lower level cabins open up I am not as fond of them. YOu still usually get what you pay for but with no choice. It is like rolling the dice in Vegas except now the odds are not as good as they used to be.

Richard - this whole thing has been very interesting, as being a travel agent, I often recommend guarantees to clients, as they basically have nothing to losse and of course it depends on the ship, cruiseline and the category they are booking the guarantee in, but then I've never done this on Radisson - and it sounds like this is a different story on RSSC. However, my question for you is, we are considering a 2005 Europe itineray on Voyager, and the C category cabins looked really good to us, so was wondering, which deck you were on, and did everyone in the C category complain of the same thing, as I also notice that there are seven sea aft cabins in the same location,did these people also have the same problem? Would the higher deck cabins, i.e. deck 8 or 9 or 10 have the same vibration and noise problem? Don't know if you know the answers and if not thats fine, but just wondered.
Thanks.
JoAnn :)

Actually I would not recommend the C cabins personally on any deck. There is a vibration at the back and the angle of the waves, speed of the ship can affect all those aft cabins.

That being said those SEven Seas Aft suites are fantastic so I would probably take one personally because the vibration would not concern me. I LOVE the layout of this cabin have not sailed in one yet but would like to do so. The plasma TV and the floor to ceiling window are really great.

However, with the C cabins since the cabin is the same and just a bigger balcony I would suggest a more forward cabin. I dont think the larger balcony is worth the risk of vibration.

Ngaire: Amen to your coment on avoidance of C category cabins at the stern ---- especially on th Voyager and probably on the Navigator as well. We are not "vibration sensitive" at all, but the cabins at the Voyager's stern didn't just vibrate --- they shook! Asked for a DOWNGRADE to a cat. F, but the ship was full.

Thanks,
Richard <img border="0" alt="[Drinking]" title="" src="graemlins/062802drink_prv.gif" />

Ngaire and Richard - thanks for your advice and input, we will definitely look into other cabins if we decide to go for this. We will be on Navigator in Sept and if we decide to do Radisson next year, will be booking onboard so as to get the additional onboard discount and possible incentives, but your information has helped a lot in what cabins we might look at. I've always thought that those aft cabins on any ship would be so nice because you have a panoramic view, and I've put clients in them, and I get mixed reactions about them, I think some ships just have more aft vibration, so I've gotten both positive and negative responses from my clients, again it seems to depend on the particular ship.
Thanks again - JoAnn :)

JoAnn:

I just realized I didn't answer all of your questions about cat. C (suites on the stern) on the Voyager. We were in suite 784. We knew people scattered out in various stern cabins on various decks, and all complained of the same thing. Of course, I couldn't talk to everyone on the stern, but could -- and did -- walk about on all decks and stand in front of all stern suites to see if the vibration just outside was like that with our suite. It was. In fact, the vibration in the general stern area gradually faded out until I reached the laundry room area on each deck (check deck plans). From there forward, it was gone.

My advice? Don't book aft of the laundry rooms on the Voyager.

There is a story about this vibration/shaking situation. Don't know if it is true or not. Seems that when the Voyager first sailed, she was vibration free. Then, early on, her stern collided with something, and she's vibrated toward the stern since then --- in spite of some repair efforts.

The Navigator is another Radisson ship with vibration problems where (IMO) stern suites should be especially avoided. On the Navigator, I recommend the odd-numbered balcony cabins on deck 6 for a smooth ride and a fairly reasonable cost.

Hope this helps,
Richard :) :) :)

Richard,

thanks for the additional information, it not only helps me personally when deciding on a cabin, but that is good information to know when booking clients - I've been in this business some 28 years, and have always specialized in cruises, and try very hard to familiarize myself with all the ships out there as much as one can, but every bit of information from passengers is just more knowledge. We are in suite 601 in Sept, and my other clients are in 627 and the couple that booked a Navigator suite are in 924 - so hopefully we won't have any of those problems - but again, thanks for the more detailed info - its really helpful. And I am looking at the deck plan, and see where the laundry is, and you answered a question for me without even realizing it, as we are looking at category F, I was wondering if those F's on deck eight would have the vibration problem and you've pretty much indicated that they would, so we will look forward or midship on deck 7 if we book an F. Thats too bad, because there are definitely some of the more expensive suites back in the general stern area, including Seven Seas aft and Penthouse suites, and lets face it the category C's are not inexpensive, -----sure hope they get the problem fixed one of these days.

Thanks again for all your info and help.
JoAnn

I must add my two cents worth. We also sailed on the Voyager VTC cruise and had suite 976 a C cabin in the exact center of the ship. We felt very little vibration and neither did our neighbors immediately to our left and right. Infact our neighbors on our right have rebooked their same cabin on a future cruise. We would not hesitate in rebooking 976 again on a future cruise, the added room on our bacony was well worth the upgrade to a C cabin.

Some people are just more prone to motion than others. We were not bothered and throughly enjoyed the cruise and the cabin. To each his/her own!

Steve

S and L thanks so much for your input as well, I agree some people are more motion sensitive than others, my husband wouldn't notice it, I might be more sensitive I don't know, and if we decided to try one of these, I think we'd try for as high of a deck as we could. Anyway appreciate your comments - I'll file that away in my head for future use.
JoAnn

JoAnn:

There is another factor at work here, in addition to peoples' tolerance for motion. The control of unwanted motion in any motive device is a very "dark" and difficult science. Anyone who has ever tried to diagnose and fix vibration in an automobile knows what I mean. With a ship, it can be "shaking away" at one point, and 20' away be just fine. All I know is SOME of the stern suites had unacceptable vibration and shaking. (We've cruised the Navigator twice, and cruised through Hurricane Floyd on another line. Enough said about our tolerance.)

And it is true that the majority of the complaints I know about came from guests with suites more toward the port side of the stern than center or starboard. All I personally know is I advise to avoid suite 784 and 970 (the two I was actually in). Given the way vibration spreads through an object such as a ship, it is totally expectable that NOT ALL stern suites would be affected in the same way, as S and L says. And I know Radisson is working on the problem. Problem is, modifications could cause S and L's suite to shake like crazy next time, while our suite 784 might be fine.

For us, until Radisson comes up with a total and verifiable "fix" to ALL of the Voyager vibration problems, we'll stay off the stern --- even though there is a chance the suite would be fine.

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

JoAnn,

Frank and I were in 724 last week on the Navigator. Great location mid ship, very quiet, no vibration. Would rebook that suite again in an instant.

ChatKat and Joann:

Again, I never found ANY vibration at all forward of the laundry rooms, which are in the stern part of the ship. In the area of ChatKat's cuite 724, there was 0 vibration on the VTC, and I certainly wish we had been booked to that suite, instead of 784!

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

I must appologize:

ChatKat were on the Navigator, not the Voyager. We have been on the Navigator twice, midships and toward the bow. We had no problems there, except for the show lounge where the screw noise/vibration made the lecture difficult to hear.

Because of this, we personally will book suites on the Navigator midship and forward --- unless and until a "fix" for the vibration problem near the stern of that ship is confirmed.

And the same goes for the Voyager.

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)