How have people recieved upgrades in the past. I would love to hear your stories! Also, is it possible to purchase an upgrade onboard for less than booking the higher category in advance?

Yes, you can buy an upgrade on board (if available, of course!)

It does not matter what you paid for your cabin. The upgrade fee is based upon the difference between the rack rates for the two levels in question with a discount. I think that it was 50%.

But the upgrade you want may not be available or someone else could beat you to the punch.

Good luck, Doug

When purchasing, the costs work like this.

You paid $2000 per person for an H. The retail price is $3000 per person for an H.

You want an aft cabin which retails for $5000 per person. The difference is $2000 per person times two and you pay 50% of this rate (or $2000 more instead of $4000). So, if you want to upgrade to a particular suite and don't want to pay retail, but take your chances, this is the way to go.

We have done this. Sometimes you get a great deal and sometimes nothing you want is available. IF the cruise is not full and a lot of higher priced cabins are available, some hotel managers will deal even lower.

Last autumn I received an upgrade to category B for completing an RSSC survey. It was used on a Rome to Nice cruise that was already heavily discounted. We ended up paying about 35% of the rack rate for a B cabin on Navigator. By using frequent flier miles the trip was cheaper than a week on the beach in my own community.

ua549,

Was that survey on their website or did they solicit you directly? I am curious as I have never heard of this. Sounds like a great deal.

It was a website survey.
It was the first and last survey I've seen.
The reward was not mentioned and was totally unexpected.

Last year I used to receive postal mail with special deals from RSSC every couple of weeks. Over the past 2 months I received just one offer for a Presidents cruise on the PG.

On our first Regent cruise (for our first anniversary) we were upgraded before sailing from an H category guarantee to a B penthouse with Butler.

I still have no idea why - we were just lucky I guess!