frugalsc

19 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

I have used several credit cards to pay off my ship bill when cruising - simply by going to the front desk and pay off the current "owed amount" (or any other amount if needed) with whatever credit card I want to use as often as I prefer during the cruise - this can be with other credit cards than the one you gave when checking in for the cruise. Then the originally registered credit card will only be used to pay the remaining balance if needed.

Thank you for this information!  This is the exact data point I was looking for!  The only nuance is that I want to use visa/mc giftcards as opposed to regular credit cards.  I don't think it'll be a problem as long as I'm not using one of those card as my card on record.

20 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

yes, that's what I meant.  OBC is onboard credit.  Basically you buy money to have on your account.  You can do this before the cruise, like right before if you'd like.  So let's say you buy $500 in credits, it will be on your account when you board.  Charges would go against this balance.  Only if you use up all this credit would you have to go to GS and put a card on file.  If you don't use it all, you go to GS before departing and get the net amount in cash.  You run the risk of your charging abilities being cut off if the amount of charges becomes more than what they are able to pre-authorize on the one card.  that is why I was thinking that you'd have to keep going back to GS to pay down the account with a different card.  Of course, you can pre-pay as much as possible before the cruise so that you won't have much, if any, charges to your onboard account.

Thanks for the clarification.  I'm good with this approach just as long as I can the cash back if I don't use up all my OBC, which sounds like I can. Now that I know what OBCs are, how do I purchase them?

On 2/4/2024 at 12:35 PM, dbrown84 said:

to the OP, if you want to avoid going to GS and swapping cards each day, you can buy OBC before the cruise from each credit card.  You can actually not put any CC on the account and just go with the OBC if you know that you put enough to cover your spending habits.

I wasn't thinking about swapping out cards each day, I was thinking about leaving 1 card on record and then just settle any outstanding balances with different cards when I go to GS.  Sorry what are OBCs?  

Follow up question around the timing of the bid, will my chance increase if I bid earlier?  Or their process is that they collect all the bid thru a certain date and then just rank and assign the winning bids from highest to lowest until all rooms are "sold".  One comment mentioned s/he won the bid 6 weeks out, so perhaps an earlier bid does increase my chance? @bkrickles1

12 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

Everyone has different experiences and I'll tell you mine.

We sailed Joy just this past July and originally booked an inside cabin.

After receiving an upgrade email, I bid on a balcony and a club balcony.

The minimum bid for a club balcony on my sailing was $125pp.

We were ok with an inside cabin as this was going to be our 3rd vacation of the year and we've done inside cabins in the past and survived quite well.

We sailed Joy the previous summer too and had a club balcony suite and really enjoyed the bathroom, so we weren't adverse to a potential move but it had to be inexpensive!

Because of this, I bid $5 over the minimum and actually was awarded the club balcony cabin.

I paid $130pp for my wife and I. $260 total and received notification 6 weeks before my sailing, which seemed early, but made us quite happy.

Anyway, I'm sailing Getaway in April and once again we booked an inside cabin.

I didn't receive the email, but went in and inputted my info and was able to bid for a balcony and club balcony. This time the minimum bids are $100pp for a balcony and $250pp for a club balcony.

I bid $140pp for the balcony and the minimum for the club balcony. Again, we're ok with an inside cabin and the prices have actually gone up quite a lot since we booked.

A balcony now would cost us approx. $2000 more than we paid originally, which seems like a lot, and a club balcony is even more.

What's a little interesting is that if I go in for a mock booking now, as opposed to just a couple of days ago, there is only inside guarantee and club balcony guarantee available, but you can still pick a balcony and there's at least 150 of those still available. There was, at least, 60 club balconies available 2 days ago too.

With over 200 cabins available that are possibilities for an upgrade, maybe I'll get lucky again!

WOW just WOW and thanks for sharing your experience.  As I previously posted, I was going to max it out at $500, I still see club rooms still available for booking but can't quantify it like you did.  Maybe I don't need to bid $500 and good luck with your bid!

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The OP asked me how much I bid. I answered. Sorry if my response did not meet your expectations. 

No need for apologies here, it was fun reading your post and thanks for sharing your experiences.  There wasn't even an offer for me to bid for a Haven room.  I'm swinging for the club room fences...wish me luck!

22 hours ago, zqvol said:

Even if you bid the max, there is only a very small chance that you will be successful 

My cruise is about 2 months out and still see both the club and regular balcony rooms for sale on their site.  I have to think my chances are pretty good if I put in a max bid?  Since both room's max bid is $500, will only bid for the club room.  I think it's worth it compare to what I would have paid during the initial reservation.

21 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The Balcony and Club Balcony Are the same size room. The difference is the size of the bathroom and a few perks. 
 

We bid on every cruise (mostly to suites). Never win anything, but it is fun. 
 

You picked an inside room, stay with it. 

May I ask how much your bid was?

Currently booked on an interior room on the Getaway.  Got an email to bid for an upgrade to the Club Balcony Suite starting at $250 and maxing out at $500 per room per person for up to 2 people for the whole trip.  If I bid $500 and accepted, I will pay $1000 extra for the room with 3 people for 7 nights. Same offer for the Balcony Stateroom except that it starts at $100.

Is it worth to bid the $500 to get the Club Balcony Suite, it does look like a nicer/bigger cabin with a balcony and other perks but not sure if it's worth the $1K.

If I compare the prices for a new booking on the same date and boat, the price difference between an interior room and the club room is more than $2K.  From that perspective, it's seems like a good deal.  Leaning toward biding $500 for the club room...

Should I do it?  Would you do it?  Have you done it?

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

You can prepay those charges. 

What happens when I don't use up all my prepaids?  Do I get cash back if I charged it to a credit card or a debit card?

Thanks for all the responses, but just want to make sure I got it right.  It sounds like I can attach Card #1 to my room when I set up my account when I check in.  Any pre-authorization will go against this card.  Then visit guest services to settle any outstanding balances with card # 2 after day 1, then use card # 3 after day 2 to pay for any outstanding balances at guest services, basically rise and repeat until the last day of my trip. (or perhaps the 2nd to the last day of my trip to beat the rush!)

If my interpretation is correct, then I can use multiple cards to settle the bill.  I don't mind paying visiting guest services to pay down the bill each day.

Thanks!

Hi,.  I

Going on the Getaway in a couple of months.  Trying to figure out if I can use multiple credits cards to settle the final bill. If so, what is the max?

I used roughly 20 or so visa credit/debit giftcards to make the initial reservation thru an agent.  According to the agent he said I should be able to do the same when I settle the final bill after the cruise.

Thanks!