A Visit from the Upgrade Fairy

If you are not too familiar with cruising you may not have heard of the Upgrade Fairy.  For a variety of reasons (some of which we, the cruising public, are not sure of), cruise ships will put  passengers in a higher grade cabin than that for which they paid.  This is called a visit from the Upgrade Fairy.  (Sometimes her less benevolent sister, the Upsell Fairy comes calling.  This is when the ship is offering a better cabin but with an additional cost [usually less than you would have paid for the higher grade cabin to start with]).  Why one passenger is offered an upgrade and another one, in a cabin just like it, is not, is one of the reasons why the Upgrade Fairy is so mysterious.

Last Saturday morning I received a phone call from my travel agent.  I was rather surprised to see her number on caller ID so I answered the phone with a bit of trepidation.  The news, however, was good - Cunard had upgraded me from a regular Britannia balcony to Britannia Club.  The major difference between the two has little to do with the actual stateroom (other than all Britannia Club staterooms are on deck 8) but with where and when you eat.  Britannia Club has its own, small restaurant rather than the large Britannia main dining room.  In Britannia Club you may choose your own dining time between 6:30 and 9:00 instead of eary sitting (6:00) or late (8:30).  You still sit at the same table each night but the people may come and go from that table at different times.

I'm not sure how I am going to like people starting at different times (may end up I am eating alone sometimes) but it is only for ten nights (I was given one dinner in the Veranda, the fancy - extra cost - restaurant.  It will be interesting and a new experience and I will let you know how I feel about it.  It will likely be my only time in Britannia Club (unless the Upgrade Fairy comes calling again) because it normally runs 10-30% more than a regular balcony.  Stay tuned for my observations on life in Britannia Club.

Season's Greetings to all!

Smooth sailing until next time.

A Last Minute Cruise

If you read my previous blog you know I enjoy learning and sharing cruise ideas on Cruise Critic.  After being on a very active roll call for the 2014 World Voyage on Queen Elizabeth, I have been reading the 2015 roll call.  Maggie (who was on the WV) posted recently that she and her husband had found a good deal for the crossing between Southampton and New York.

After reading that, the cruise wheels in my head started spinning and I decided to check out how good the deal was.  When I first looked I searched "Transatlantic" on the Cunard website and did not find anything so I decided they must have sold out and gave up on the idea.

A couple of days ago, killing time waiting for a TV show to come on, I went back to the Cunard site.  This time I searched by date and up came the crossing.  An inside stateroom, an oceanview and a balcony were all the same price.  The price was good (even with the single supplement) so then I started looking for airfares.  The cost of a one way ticket to the UK was about double what I paid for a roundtrip this year.  It was more than the cost of the cruise! Back to giving up on the idea.

Unfortunately, I could not get the idea out of my head so the next day I decided to call Cunard and see what their airfare would be.  Turns out it was about 1/4 the cost of booking it myself.  Kathleen, the very nice Cunard rep I spoke with, also said they were running a promo with paid gratuities, a meal in the Verandah restaurant (the really nice French restaurant on the QE), and $150 onboard credit.

We made a tentative booking (she could hold the stateroom for me until 6 pm Pacific time the next day).  I then spent about two hours trying to decide if I was going to be wild and crazy and actually go on a last minute cruise.

There were a number of positives and only one negative (spending the money) so the decision was made - I was going.  Called my wonderful travel agent Patty at AAA but she was out of the office until this morning.  I left her a message and sent her a copy of my tentative booking.

Bright and early (at least for me) this morning she called me and we had a conference call with Cunard.  Turned out Cunard and AAA were having a promo and I received an extra $200 onboard credit!  I also had Patty book my flight through Cunard.  I will fly from Richmond to Atlanta (I think on Delta) and then Atlanta to London on Virgin Atlantic.

Some of the people I have told probably think I am nuts to do this.  I am a firm believer in doing things when you can.  Don't put things off, you never know what is going to happen in the future.  There were a number of things I did when I was younger that I could not physically do today.  I am very glad I did them when I did.  I like to tell people that as long as I can walk, talk, and remember who I am, I want to do as much cruising as I can.

As usual, smooth sailing until next time!