Most people will jump at the chance for a cruise cabin upgrade right? I recently received an email offering me the opportunity to bid for a cabin upgrade, but I declined. Wondering why? Here’s why I turned down the chance for a cruise cabin upgrade.
Reasons to Say No to a Cruise Cabin Upgrade
1. I Need to Choose My Cabin
The main reason why I turned down a cruise cabin offer is that I wanted to choose my cabin. When you get an offer to bid on a cruise cabin upgrade, the cruise line assigns you a cabin—you can’t choose the location of the cabin!
Sure, you will get a category upgrade. For example, you might be in an inside cabin and be upgraded to a balcony cabin or balcony stateroom to a suite. That sounds great, right? But the problem is that the cruise line will assign you whatever leftover cabins they have in that category.
Most likely these cabins are the poorly located ones that were not chosen by other passengers in the first place. I’m particular about the location of my cabin and prefer to be in the middle of the ship. That’s why I turned down the opportunity for a cruise cabin upgrade – I want to have the freedom to choose my own cabin!
2. Prone to Seasickness
Another main reason I turned down my cruise cabin upgrade is that I’m prone to seasickness. Being in the front or back of the ship tends to make me feel queasy, so I always choose a mid-ship cabin.
If I had accepted the upgrade, the cruise line would have chosen a cabin for me, most likely not in the mid-ship area since those staterooms are usually already taken.
I would have ended up with an upgraded cabin, but it would have been located in a part of the ship that triggers my seasickness, which is not ideal for me.
3. Cruising with a Group
Another reason why I didn’t accept the cruise cabin upgrade offer is because I’m traveling with my family. We are a group of 8 people, and we’ve booked 3 cabins. I usually try to choose adjacent cabins, but if that’s not possible, I make sure our cabins are close to each other on the same deck and in the same area.
It just makes it easier for us to find each other, especially for the kids to be near their cousins’ rooms. If I had taken the upgrade offer, chances are we would have been separated.
It’s unlikely that all three of our cabins would have been upgraded. That means some of us would have been upgraded while others wouldn’t. This would have split us up into different decks and different parts of the ship, which wasn’t ideal for us since we wanted to be near each other. That’s why I declined the cruise cabin upgrade.
Reasons To Accept the Cruise Cabin Upgrade
If you are not picky about your cruise cabin location, are not prone to seasickness and are not traveling in a group, I suggest bidding for the upgrade. Check the price for the upgrade and see if you can get a better deal through bidding.
It’s especially worthwhile if the upgrade grants you access to amenities exclusive to the suite-only areas of the cruise ship. For example, bidding for an upgrade to the Haven and Yacht Club rooms on Norwegian Cruise and MSC Cruise is worthwhile because it will get you access to their exclusive restaurants, lounge, and pool area. Curious about how to bid for a cruise cabin upgrade? Take a look at my article on how cruise cabin upgrade bidding works.
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