It can be a pleasant surprise for cruise travelers if their stateroom is better than expected, perhaps more spacious, with a larger balcony, or having exceptional storage. Sometimes, on rare occasions, the “upgrade fairy” might even visit, spontaneously moving travelers from an interior or oceanview stateroom to a balcony.

But do such upgrades really happen? How often? Is there a way to perhaps encourage a visit from the upgrade fairy?

One Carnival cruise guest is lamenting the lack of such fairy dust on their sailings and reached out to John Heald for clarification.

Heald is Carnival Cruise Line’s official brand ambassador, offering tips and assistance to hundreds of guests every week through his popular Facebook page.

“I keep hearing about the upgrade fairy. In exactly 15 Carnival cruises, we’ve never received an upgrade for free offer,” the guest explained. “I got an upsell offer a few weeks ago for our Alaska cruise on Luminosa in June, from an interior main deck midship to a balcony deck 6.”

To be clear, this writer has been on “exactly” 26 Carnival cruises with #27 booked and has never received (nor expected) a free upgrade.

Other commenters note they’ve been on 47, 49, and even more Carnival cruises and never gotten free upgrades. So this one guest’s lack of upgrade fairy experience isn’t unusual.

“How do I get a free upgrade? Does the upgrade fairy really exist or how are people chosen?” the guest asked.

While Heald makes light of the guest’s inquiry with imagery of Mother Ship employees dancing around with a wand to confer upgrades on a few lucky guests, he does explain that such upgrades aren’t always possible.

The key reason isn’t that Carnival Cruise Line doesn’t value guests or won’t offer freebies, but simply that there are none to offer.

Read Also: Carnival Cruise Line Cabins and Suites – What Are the Options?

“Our bookings are the strongest in the industry,” Heald noted. “Many of the cruises are already sold out, so please don’t hold out on getting a free upgrade.”

He does acknowledge that upsells are available, but free upgrades are very, very rare and most often don’t happen at all. Even if they are available, Heald himself has no control over that process and no influence on how, when, or why an upgrade might be offered.

Upgrade Tactics That Don’t Work

Heald goes on to note that Carnival Cruise Line is very aware of different tricks and hacks often used in desperate attempts to secure free upgrades.

For example, booking an interior stateroom but claiming to suffer from claustrophobia and asking for an upgrade is neither unique nor successful.

Similarly, claiming to know Micky Arison (son of Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison and current chairman of Carnival Corporation & plc) as a personal friend is another silly and ridiculous approach.

Many different “cruise influencers” and bloggers claim to have tactics that are nearly guaranteed to secure free upgrades, but in reality, those tips are not true and will not be successful at anything except exposing a guest as an entitled hopeful.

The Best Way to Get an Upgrade

There is one trick that is sure to get cruise guests the cabin of their dreams every single time – book the stateroom you want.

“Why can’t people be happy with the cabin that they have chosen?” Heald asked. “You’re going to have a wonderful time, whether you’re staying in an inside cabin, a balcony, a suite, or all the other different cabin categories that we have.”

Many guests do exactly that, book the stateroom they want, whether it is a specific category, in a certain location, or on a particular deck.

If an upsell upgrade is offered, it is usually a deep discount from listed prices and can be a great bargain. On the other hand, guests who book the stateroom they want don’t have to worry about whether or not an upgrade may be offered, free or otherwise.

Carnival Finally Sets the Record Straight on the Mythical Upgrade Fairy