Do cruise lines sailing to Alaska ever give free upgrades?
This is a very difficult question to answer. It does happen sometimes but not as often as people think. The assigning of upgrades is done by the cruise line and it is not always clear how they decide who will receive this benefit. Most upgrades go the passengers who have booked early or are past passengers of that cruise line. When you book a guarantee cabin instead of taking a cabin assignment at the time of booking you have a better chance of obtaining a higher category cabin than what you had booked. The downside to this is that the cabins that are booked on a guarantee basis are generally assigned the week of sailing. If the cabin is not in the location that you had hoped it is generally not possible to move to another cabin. The bottom line is that if you are concerned about being on a particular deck or close to an elevator then it is wise to secure the cabin placement at the time of booking your Alaska cruise. On the other hand if you want to take a chance of a possible upgrade
