The internet has no shortage of hacks and tips to save money, get free cruises, and score other benefits on your cruise.
The problem is that while there are many ways to get better pricing, or even score a freebie, there are also a lot of scams.
A good travel agent, for example, might be able to get you on-board credit or even an upgrade from an interior room to a balcony. It's not unheard of for gamblers to be able to get a free room using a service like URComped or by sharing their land-based free-room offers with the cruise line you hope to sail on.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line faces alcoholic beverage package 'threat'
Cruise prices are not easy to track. Royal Caribbean, Carnival and other cruise lines use demand-based pricing. That means that today's price could go up or down based on how many people are booking any particular cruise.
There are all sorts of strategies to get the best price on your cruise. Some can help, but in many cases the advice you find on the internet can be dangerous.
Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) Brand Ambassador John Heald used his popular Facebook page to debunk one room-upgrade strategy that he says will not work.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line.
Carnival makes clear this upgrade move won't work
Heald often spends his entire day answering questions on his Facebook page. Sometimes that means pushing back on posts he sees elsewhere on the internet.
Heald quoted someone who posted the following:
"John check this out. Posted on the Carnival **** Facebook Group page. Cruise hack. When you get on the ship go straight to the front desk. Say to them that you are scared because you get claustrophobic and sick in an inside room [and] you have to get upgraded. I have been on 4 cruises and only once was told no and on TWO occasions we were given a free upgrade to a balcony."
That won't work, according to Heald.
"Well, this comes from a Facebook page where this past week we had false and fabricated comments," the Carnival executive wrote. "They were investigated. Both were total bollocks. And now we have the hat trick. This 'hack' is only true in the same sense it’s true that I am on the front cover of 'Cruise Industry News' under the banner 'Cruising’s Hottest and Most Influential Man, 2024.'”
Heald explained why an onboard upgrade is very unlikely.
"Our ships are mostly always sold out this year and many are in 2025 too. We simply cannot do upgrades so standing in line at Guest Services on their busiest day to ask for an upgrade is a waste of your time and quite frankly, a waste of the guest services team as well who could be helping other guests on what is their busiest day," he added.
Carnival's bookings are very strong
Upgrades are nearly impossible to come by because Carnival's bookings are very strong. Chief Executive Josh Weinstein talked about the situation during the cruise line's first-quarter-earnings call.
"Customer deposits beat last year's record by another $1.3 billion, contributing to our strong cash flow and enabling us to prepay another $1.8 billion of debt already this year, which is on top of the $4 billion we prepaid last year," he said.
"This is meaningful progress on our return to investment-grade credit. Most important, we achieved all-time high booking volumes at considerably higher prices."
The cruise line actually set booking records in both North America and Europe.
"Prices ran up double digits on limited inventory left for Q2," he added. "They ran considerably higher for our peak summer period in Q3, and they were also considerably higher for Q4, while still building on our occupancy advantage."
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Weinstein said the company has been strong with both new and returning customers.
"We are capturing more new guests than ever before, which coupled with our growing base of repeat guests delivers greater overall demand. Our brands are delivering sustainable revenue growth that hits the bottom line," he said.
