Have any of you more experienced cruisers than I taken advantage of an "instant upgrade?" My TA is advising against it, but I have to admit it sounds OK to me....

What are they offering?

Masaki

Well, that's just it. They don't say. You kind of take it on blind faith. It's a room that THEY deem an upgrade from what you have - and then you have to take it. However, some say that what they consider an upgrade may not be exactly what you want and then you're obliged to take it. It may be the same room, only in a better location, or a better room, but maybe not in a location you want. OR one of the best cabins on the ship!!! Anyway, it's a last minute thing from what I understand, if you want to gamble.
j.

Nana,

What you can do for an upgrade is to go to reception on boarding and pay 1/2 the price differential for an upgrade if available and you don't have to take it if you don't want to. I'd be wary for an upgrade where you have no choice based on the itinerary. Some cruises are more rocky and you may want to be lower and more mid ship. Or you could be on a ship where you a tendered and your new location is right near the tenders - you can hear and see them being lowered along with noise from the anchors dropping. Oh, and the infamous vibration! Beware.

Is this on Regent or Princess. If on Princess, I bet upgrade is to obstructed view cabin.

I would question an upgrade! We were upgraded to 1060 on the Mariner and it was bad. First the noise over our heads in the very early morning was severe. Also, when inexpert people tried to put in a wake up call for 6:00 a.m. they would frequently phone our suite as they forgot to put the asterisk first. BUT I must say that this is the only bad suite on the Mariner to my knowledge.

We were given an upgrade on the voyager last year. We were booked on a Med cruise and they were oversold for the suite we had and we were given a choice of suites. It was fantastic..... I don't think I would take a upgrade without knowing which suite was available. Your TA should be able to find out for you. Ours called us and told us what was available and we chose the one we wanted.

Thanks guys. Actually, I should have said that we finally, after much research and comparative shopping, booked HAL Statendam. We were about to do Princess, but HAL worked better and for some reason, Princess had a hold on cabins?? We didn't want to wait around and wind up settling for something we didn't want - or worse, not be able to book. Would obviously have preferred Mariner, but moneywise, pre-cruise wise, HAL fit. I'm told if we went for the upgrade, we wouldn't know what it was until the VERY last minute -also, this is for '07.
Marc - I didn't think of obstructed vision as being an "upgrade," but glad you brought it to my attention. I think I'll probably follow my TA's advice and stay put. Mid ship - deck 7 or 8 (Veranda deck), I can't remember but, it's a pretty good location. Thanks again!
j.

Nana, researching Statendam, I see that you didn't have a problem with obstructed view but rather location. If you were upgraded from a "B" to an "A", you would be on the Navigation Deck; right next to a swimming pool and right under the Lido restaurant. Good choice not to move.

Marc, I think you're right. I'm going to stay put!!
Thanks.
j.