What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[cheeseclan]

On 6/11/2019 at 2:03 PM, scubareview said:

I'm booked on the June 23rd Escape to Bermuda and I just looked at my bids, the site is showing my H5 bid as processing, and my other haven bid is showing expired. So I'm crossing my fingers that I got into the Haven, I have not been notified, and my credit card has not been charged yet. But I like that my other bid expired. Once I'm confirmed I will reveal my bids. 

To look at your bids do you just click on the modify/cancel link in the email they sent you?

 

will they stay in place if you click on that link?

[debgreg]

12 hours ago, LouTheGlue said:

My upgrade offer was approved today for Sunday June 16th, 2019 Epic Cruise from Barcelona. We originally booked Inside Cabin FWD 9030 and got an AFT Balcony 13289. Below is a chart of what was offered, my bids and the winning bid highlighted in Red ($265.00 CAD pp).

Where cabins on deck 13 showing as available, on mine only deck 8 is showing as available and suddenly a Haven 2 bedroom has come up when it was previously showing as sold out, long past final payment too

[AJRfamily]

On 6/13/2019 at 11:57 PM, AK Dreaming said:

I'm on a June 30th cruise and have been monitoring one of the sites that gives available cabins.  I currently have a GTY OV, but it says all OV are booked.  I still have no room assignment.  I am unsure how to bid?  If all OV have been assigned will I already be in a balcony?  Should I still bid on one?

its a facinating process with so many variables , we booked 8 months prior, IX and got allocated IE almost immediately and way before final payment - there seems to be no logic in how they allocate its very interesting

[FaithPlus1]

Do you still get bid offers if you paid for an interior cabin that's a sailaway rate?

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

20 minutes ago, FaithPlus1 said:

Do you still get bid offers if you paid for an interior cabin that's a sailaway rate?

Yes unless you booked from a ta that does not participate in the program 

[FaithPlus1]

On 6/8/2019 at 12:50 PM, cksv said:

 

Yeah really! I wish Cruise Critic had a "Wiki" function where anyone could edit information in a post on the first page. I've seen this on some other forums and it's super useful when you have a bunch of people contributing different data points.

I think what happens is most of the posts on here are just comments instead of actually responding to the original post. I'm not going to read 138 pages of comments where most of it doesn't address what was specifically said by the OP. I have this issue with Tripadvisor. I could say "What's a great place for pizza?" and the responses will be "For hamburgers eat at XXXXXX" or "You shouldn't eat pizza" etc. 

[AK Dreaming]

On 6/16/2019 at 12:33 AM, FaithPlus1 said:

I think what happens is most of the posts on here are just comments instead of actually responding to the original post. I'm not going to read 138 pages of comments where most of it doesn't address what was specifically said by the OP. I have this issue with Tripadvisor. I could say "What's a great place for pizza?" and the responses will be "For hamburgers eat at XXXXXX" or "You shouldn't eat pizza" etc. 

Most of it does deal with the upgrade process.  We are all just trying to figure it out and the more data the better.

[gmbhardy]

53 minutes ago, AK Dreaming said:

Most of it does deal with the upgrade process.  We are all just trying to figure it out and the more data the better.

 

That’s the point. No amount of data will help you “figure it out”  because there’s no magic formula. Thinking otherwise is pretty naive 

[Skipper305]

48 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

 

That’s the point. No amount of data will help you “figure it out”  because there’s no magic formula. Thinking otherwise is pretty naive 

I’ve never played blackjack. By your logic I should just go to a blackjack table pluck down a $5 chip and see what happens.

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, gmbhardy said:

 

That’s the point. No amount of data will help you “figure it out”  because there’s no magic formula. Thinking otherwise is pretty naive 

 

There's certainly no magic formula, but understanding how the process works, what factors go into a winning bid, and getting a picture of what bids have won under which circumstances in the past can definitely help you make an educated decision when placing bids. On every one of my sailings, I think I have had a very good sense of what kind of bid (if any) could win my desired upgrade thanks to all of the data and history in this thread and its predecessor, along with tracking pricing and inventory on my specific sailings. Unfortunately, for most of my sailings, the total needed for a successful bid has been too rich for my blood. But I think in every single case, I could have won a bid had I been willing to bid what I strongly suspected would win.

 

The main down side of this thread is that it clearly illustrates that winning bid amounts are very specific to ships and sailings. Unless the person is willing to put in the leg work of tracking inventory and pricing on THEIR sailing, it's highly unlikely they are going to just be able to pop in here and ask "what do I need to bid to win this room?" and get a very accurate answer. There is definitely no EASY magic formula. And, as much as I don't mind answering general questions about the upgrade process, I simply do not have the time to do all the research needed on every individual sailing to be able to help people out when they ask what a winning bid should/would be for THEIR sailing in their specific situation.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Jamie well said, the key is educated guess and do your homework, including reading this thread and tracking your individual cruise.  There is no magic answer but the reason I believe I have been successful on each of my four upgrades is the research and tracking I have done.  I do wish though that people would not over bid though, it’s also in this thread I’ve seen people “win” on what the thought was a great bid, and ive went to double check since my instinct is their bid is to high, and it almost always is, they could have just upgraded outright.  This over bidding has a trickledown effect for data mining for future cruises not just the cure overbid amount 

 

[Wedgie23]

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

[Greenpea2]

1 minute ago, Wedgie23 said:

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

Booking directly with NCL, you are included in bidding process. I can't answer the other Qs, though.

 

[nhquilter1]

8 minutes ago, Wedgie23 said:

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

 

I booked through a TA and got the upgrade email. 

[JamieLogical]

33 minutes ago, Wedgie23 said:

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

 

Bookings through CAS are eligible for the upgrade advantage program as well as those booking directly through NCL. Many TAs also participate, but the big box store you are referring to is a notable exception.

[Son of a son of a ...]

32 minutes ago, Wedgie23 said:

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

 

You can mention TAs, but you cannot recommend them.

 

Priceline and Expedia both participate in the bidding program.  That statement is a fact and not a recommendation.

 

I would estimate that for half our cruises we do not bid because we like our initial cabin selection and location.  

[Laszlo]

51 minutes ago, Wedgie23 said:

I know I'm not allowed to mention specific TAs per the rules. For my two cruises I used a large brick and mortar TA and was never invited to participate in upgrades. This time I booked through Casinos at sea as I got a discount, does the discount/CaS booking bar me from participating as well? 

 

For future cruises, are people booking ordinarily through ncl.com eligible for the bidding or must you work with only specific (I know you can't tell me which) TAs?

 

Thank you if anyone knows. 

Their is not a list of TA's. If you want to use a TA when booking the easiest thing to do BEFORE booking with them is just asked if they participate

[Wedgie23]

10 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Bookings through CAS are eligible for the upgrade advantage program as well as those booking directly through NCL. Many TAs also participate, but the big box store you are referring to is a notable exception

Thank you! I'm honored to get a reply from JamieLogical. I've been reading these forums for awhile now and you are hands down my favorite poster! I think I'll be basing whether or not I give Encore a try next summer on what you have to say about it.. No pressure 😃 

 

I may have unintentionally mislead, I *think* I know which one you're speaking about but by brick and mortar I just meant one that still had physical locations. 

[Wedgie23]

20 minutes ago, Son of a son of a ... said:

You can mention TAs, but you cannot recommend them.

Ah thank you for the clarification. Then I can say I previously booked through Liberty Travel and per my experiences they do not participate in the upgrade program for anyone reading. 

[Jenjohncourt]

On 6/11/2019 at 10:34 AM, Say811 said:

Anyone receive an upgrade on the Star yet for Greek isles cruise?  I don’t sail for 12 days so still have a wait but just wondering if anyone got upgraded on any previous sailings this month so far.

Did you get upgraded ? I'm going in August & no upgrade yet. 

[Say811]

Just now, Jenjohncourt said:

Did you get upgraded ? I'm going in August & no upgrade yet. 

Still waiting...bids show as pending.  A woman on the 6/16 sailing didn’t get her successful upgrade notice until Friday...so much closer to 48 hour mark....I have been checking obsessively though this week....worst case scenario is 3 more days of agony!!!!

[Jenjohncourt]

34 minutes ago, Say811 said:

Still waiting...bids show as pending.  A woman on the 6/16 sailing didn’t get her successful upgrade notice until Friday...so much closer to 48 hour mark....I have been checking obsessively though this week....worst case scenario is 3 more days of agony!!!!

I really hope you get the upgrade. I'm sure you're anxiously waiting to hear. Have a fantastic time & keep us updated. Fingers crossed for you. 

[nhquilter1]

If your bid is declined, do you get an opportunity to bid again or are you done?

TIA

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

46 minutes ago, nhquilter1 said:

If your bid is declined, do you get an opportunity to bid again or are you done?

TIA

Bids are not declined until approximately 48 hours before cruise so the answer is no you are done bidding when we get the declined notice 

[Tinyturtle22]

17 minutes ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

Bids are not declined until approximately 48 hours before cruise so the answer is no you are done bidding when we get the declined notice 

There is no longer a 48 hour window. If you read the newest terms and conditions in your upgrade email you will see it says

 

“Important Information
NCL reserves the right to not accept any offer regardless of offer amount or stateroom availability. Availability of upgrades is limited and is made at the sole discretion of NCL. NCL reserves the right to accept any offer from the time it is submitted to the departure date and time.”

 

As well as on the website.https://www.ncl.com/content/upgrade-advantage-terms

 

#5 “ANY TIME before the sail date.”

 

I have been upgraded as late as the evening before departure and know others who have been as well.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Tinyturtle22