Can I upgrade my Carnival cruise room online?

26.10.2024 - 13:31 / thepointsguy.com / Can I (I)

You booked your Carnival cruise vacation, and now you're rethinking the cabin category you've chosen. Perhaps, you've changed your mind and are willing to pay more for a room with a window or a balcony — or maybe you're curious if you can get a nicer room without paying full price. Can you upgrade your Carnival cruise room online or with a phone rep?

The most obvious method of upgrading your cabin is to call the cruise line or your travel agent and ask to change your reservation to a more expensive room. Prior to final payment, you can even do it yourself online by canceling the old room and rebooking a new one. You will pay the going rate for the new cabin and possibly a change fee, depending on the restrictions of the promotion you booked.

After final payment, it gets far more complicated (and expensive) because the cruise line's tiered cancellation fees apply. In that case, you'd stand a better chance of having those fees waived by dealing with a travel agent or a phone representative.

But what if you want a nicer cabin for less than full price? Let's look at how you can upgrade your Carnival cruise line online and over the phone.

Today's competitive cruise market means cruise ships are sailing at or near capacity. Consequently, cruise lines are leaning toward strategically managing upgrades using computer algorithms to fill the last remaining cabins in the most profitable manner.

The key to scoring an upgrade offer through these complicated systems is not who you are or who you know but which room you are giving up by upgrading. The computers are looking for rooms that sell more easily than the ones that remain empty.

Here's an example to help you see how the cruise lines juggle rooms for higher profit. Let's say you booked a well-positioned inside cabin a year ago at a bargain Black Friday price. Two months before your cruise departs, windowless rooms like yours are selling for double what you paid.

If the cruise line can get you out of the room you booked, they stand to make more money on it. They get what they want by offering you a paid upgrade to a slow seller — maybe something like an obstructed view balcony room. As long as you're happy paying for an upgrade from no view to partial view, it's a win for both you and the cruise line.

Related: Why it pays to upgrade your cruise ship cabin

So how do you find those offers to upgrade your cabin before sailing? Carnival hints at potential upgrade offers with this statement on its FAQ page: "Opportunities to purchase an upgrade are available prior to your cruise, subject to availability." Unfortunately, there is no further explanation of how to access those opportunities.

With a little digging, I discovered a few methods Carnival uses to offer