What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[Budget Queen]

On 10/24/2019 at 5:07 PM, coastcat said:

Just got my upgrade offers for the January 12 Joy sailing (5-day Mexican Riviera). I'm currently booked in a BD balcony as a solo traveler, with the full array of Free At Sea plus a $50/port extra shore excursion credit. I'm actually quite content with my current deck 13 forward balcony but it might be nice to move...

 

This is what they're offering (prices per person):

• Haven Deluxe Owner's Suite (H2): $1500-$2985
• Haven 2-Bedroom Family Villa (H4): $1250-$2750
• Haven Courtyard Penthouse (H5) or Aft Penhouse (H6): $600-$2000
• Haven Aft Penthouse (H6): $600-$2000
• Haven Forward-facing Penthouse (H7), connecting stateroom (H8), or Penthouse Suite (HA, HS): $400-$1500
• Concierge Family Suite (CA): $350-$1000
• Concierge Penthouse (CB, CC): $300-$1000
• Concierge Family Inside (CF): $200-$750
• Mini-Suite: $25-$400

Okay, I have some questions here. Is Joy concierge really worth the upgrade? If I were going to put in a concierge bid, I might as well go up another $100 for the Haven, right?

 

On the other hand, mini suites (MA, not Sail Away) are currently priced a little below what I paid for the BD cabin. Should I just call NCL, ask nicely for a free upgrade to MA or at least to a mid-ship BA, and leave it at that?

As a solo traveler all your bids are double since they are always based on double occupancy.     

[xcell]

8 hours ago, dolfan1980 said:

Trying to decide if I should up my bid or not.  Does anyone know if they accept all bids if space permits or is the formula based on some revenue management approach like airlines (eg they’d rather have business class go empty than to have it be too cheapened and prevent losing future sales)? 
 

The reason I ask is we are on the 12/16 sailing of Sky and it seems this isn’t likely to be sold out, so the chances of being successful with a half decent bid I suspect are good.  Unfortunately I don’t really understand their system and wondering the real chances.  I’d call and pay the difference if a really poor chance, but willing to take the risk if I have a half decent chance.

 

Booked an ultra cheap inside, looking to upgrade to balcony.  

 

I think they accept all the "best" bids.

 

I am still certain that cabins of 2 will more likely be upgrade before cabins of 4...so I feel my chances will always be slim.

 

 

[brilyga]

I got my offers for the January 18th sailing of the Escape from Miami. We are currently in a mid-ship interior room (and we are happy with that).

 

I bid $25/ person for an OV
$100/person for a balcony

$125/person for a spa balcony

 

I know I probably won't get accepted for any of them, they were all in the "poor" meter, but what have I got to lose? 

[petestrash]

Does the minimum bid offered change at all closer to the cruise date, or are the minimums fixed?

 

Pete.

[dolfan1980]

As an update, I upped our balcony bid from very cheap inside for the Nov 16th Sky sailing to $135 (Canadian) yesterday and it was accepted this morning 17 days till sailing.  Before taxes and fees we ended up paying $268/person grand total for a balcony, very pleased with this.  The cruise itinerary also changed significantly and have different port days every day with no sea day compared to twice at the private island and a sea day previously.  Quite happy.

Edited October 31, 2019 by dolfan1980

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

1 hour ago, petestrash said:

Does the minimum bid offered change at all closer to the cruise date, or are the minimums fixed?

 

Pete.

Not normally, but we have seen it happen, it's all about supply and demand if the ship becomes close to capacity then yes the minimum bids could go up, if they ship is not near enough to capacity it could create minimums to go down, but it's not the norm

[coastcat]

5 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

As a solo traveler all your bids are double since they are always based on double occupancy.     

And when I re-read the fine print and realized that, I decided that the mini suite was perfectly lovely and no upgrade was needed! 

 

I’ve booked an IB cabin for an Alaska cruise next June; might be worth the price to bid on a balcony for that one since it’s not likely to have the same price plummets as the Baja Beach Break has experienced. 

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, brilyga said:

I got my offers for the January AA sailing of the BBBBB from CCCCC. We are currently in a mid-ship interior room (and we are happy with that).

I bid $XX/ person for an OV
$1XX/person for a balcony

$1YY/person for a spa balcony

I know I probably won't get accepted for any of them, they were all in the "poor" meter, but what have I got to lose? 

 

Well, you might've won one of these bids at some point, maybe just 3 or even 2 days prior to your AA date above.  However, by publicly POSTING & sharing your precise amount here, someone else lurking here - watching & sailing on the same BBBBB from CCCCC would bid $5 above your $XX bid, $5 higher than your $1XX bid or $10 higher than $1YY bid for a spa balcony (all GTY's) and get accepted over yours - s/he won and you lose out.

 

Here's a word from the sometimes wise here - it's great to share and post info, AFTERWARD - upon winning your bid and you got upgraded - not always (sometimes, maybe) good idea to post your specific bids before.  If you really like to be generous, post your appropriate meter ranges - just my 2 cents.  As is, you are helping NCL to bump the bids higher than it might otherwise be ... they "win" - you lost - and third person outbid yours & score the upgrade.  Does it make sense ? 

 

BTW, welcome to CC. 

[brilyga]

10 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

Well, you might've won one of these bids at some point, maybe just 3 or even 2 days prior to your AA date above.  However, by publicly POSTING & sharing your precise amount here, someone else lurking here - watching & sailing on the same BBBBB from CCCCC would bid $5 above your $XX bid, $5 higher than your $1XX bid or $10 higher than $1YY bid for a spa balcony (all GTY's) and get accepted over yours - s/he won and you lose out.

 

Here's a word from the sometimes wise here - it's great to share and post info, AFTERWARD - upon winning your bid and you got upgraded - not always (sometimes, maybe) good idea to post your specific bids before.  If you really like to be generous, post your appropriate meter ranges - just my 2 cents.  As is, you are helping NCL to bump the bids higher than it might otherwise be ... they "win" - you lost - and third person outbid yours & score the upgrade.  Does it make sense ? 

 

BTW, welcome to CC. 

 

Well, in hindsight, you make complete sense. Wish I would've thought of that before it was too late to edit... Oh well. 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

12 hours ago, dolfan1980 said:

Trying to decide if I should up my bid or not.  Does anyone know if they accept all bids if space permits or is the formula based on some revenue management approach like airlines (eg they’d rather have business class go empty than to have it be too cheapened and prevent losing future sales)? 
 

The reason I ask is we are on the 12/16 sailing of Sky and it seems this isn’t likely to be sold out, so the chances of being successful with a half decent bid I suspect are good.  Unfortunately I don’t really understand their system and wondering the real chances.  I’d call and pay the difference if a really poor chance, but willing to take the risk if I have a half decent chance.

 

Booked an ultra cheap inside, looking to upgrade to balcony.  

Suggest doing some research, first traditional 3 and 4 day cruises do sail at capacity, but often they are booked closer to sailing, second not sure what you were looking at as far as availablity but I did a quick mock bookings and balconies look tight on your sailing already most sold out, category ba, bb sold out, afts sold out, bc's are gty only the only thing available with cabin assignment is family b3 right now.  Based on just that 5 minutes of research I did the likelihood of a minimum or even good bid winning is very low.  Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[Budget Queen]

45 minutes ago, coastcat said:

And when I re-read the fine print and realized that, I decided that the mini suite was perfectly lovely and no upgrade was needed! 

 

I’ve booked an IB cabin for an Alaska cruise next June; might be worth the price to bid on a balcony for that one since it’s not likely to have the same price plummets as the Baja Beach Break has experienced. 

Alaska was given away early season though June this past season.   It is my most cruises itinerary- I go every year.   I spent 6 weeks on board-  solo.  1- $449 for the Bliss.  and 5- $ 249 and $299 sailings on the Jewel.   😀

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

Alaska was given away early season though June this past season.   It is my most cruises itinerary- I go every year.   I spent 6 weeks on board-  solo.  1- $449 for the Bliss.  and 5- $ 249 and $299 sailings on the Jewel.   😀

Wow! You truly live up to your user name! If I learn to find bargains like that, eventually I could afford the Haven without the upgrade bid process...

Edited October 31, 2019 by coastcat

[alchemist4]

Did anyone get upgraded on the Bliss 11/24? There was a bunch of Spa, Balcony, and Oceanview rooms yesterday, and now everything is sold out except for Inside.

[Starry Eyes]

59 minutes ago, alchemist4 said:

Did anyone get upgraded on the Bliss 11/24? There was a bunch of Spa, Balcony, and Oceanview rooms yesterday, and now everything is sold out except for Inside.

You might want to ask on that roll call.  You are more likely to find specific cruisemates there than on this long thread.

[alchemist4]

Seems like they did anyway.

 

My friend got upgraded at the same rate as me, but I got an "Unable to Upgrade". Not sure what that status means since other ones are still listed as pending even though it is still sold out.

[Newleno]

On 10/31/2019 at 9:46 AM, dolfan1980 said:

As an update, I upped our balcony bid from very cheap inside for the Nov 16th Sky sailing to $135 (Canadian) yesterday and it was accepted this morning 17 days till sailing.  Before taxes and fees we ended up paying $268/person grand total for a balcony, very pleased with this.  The cruise itinerary also changed significantly and have different port days every day with no sea day compared to twice at the private island and a sea day previously.  Quite happy.

Private islands are the best, free food/drink and safe clean beaches

[Newleno]

Tried the auction for nov 1 hnl-ppt, 13 nights,  Jewel, have a window OA room, bid $305 for balcony, the bid was not accepted, oh the horror of it all experiencing Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora without a balcony 

[gmbhardy]

47 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Private islands are the best, free food/drink and safe clean beaches

 

Food and drink are not free on Harvest Caye.

[Momma Rene]

48 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Private islands are the best, free food/drink and safe clean beaches

I thought you pay for the food/drink?  

[Newleno]

21 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

I thought you pay for the food/drink?  

I have never paid at labadee, half moon caye, stirrup caye, dont know about the others, now im not talking about the alcohol 

[Donquiote60]

Any luck with upgrade bids on the Bliss Dec 1st???

[travelgals]

I booked a February 2020 sailing last month and was not assigned a cabin until a week or so later. It is is a disabled cabin which I definitely did I not request and don't need. 

I called to try and upgrade (and offered to pay more) and was told that there are no upgrades after the 120 day mark. 

I have not gotten the offer to bid for an upgrade but wonder if I do receive that option, do I have a better chance, given the cabin I am giving up is in short supply?

For the last 3 cruises I booked, (all booked last minute-within 1-4 weeks of sailing) I was offered the opportunity to bid, but never was successful- I think because the ship was completely sold out a few days before the cruise.

This is the first time I have booked so far out. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

1 hour ago, travelgals said:

I booked a February 2020 sailing last month and was not assigned a cabin until a week or so later. It is is a disabled cabin which I definitely did I not request and don't need. 

I called to try and upgrade (and offered to pay more) and was told that there are no upgrades after the 120 day mark. 

I have not gotten the offer to bid for an upgrade but wonder if I do receive that option, do I have a better chance, given the cabin I am giving up is in short supply?

For the last 3 cruises I booked, (all booked last minute-within 1-4 weeks of sailing) I was offered the opportunity to bid, but never was successful- I think because the ship was completely sold out a few days before the cruise.

This is the first time I have booked so far out. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

First I would call again if you are willing to pay to upgrade, you probably just had a inexperienced agent, although if you pay to upgrade you will lose your old perks and get whatever the new perks are, so if you had free air, then no you wouldn’t want to pay to upgrade.  As far as upgrade advantage program those emails are not sent ou until on/around the 80 day mark so it’s too soon.  As far as your luck with bidding it’s all about supply and demand it’s certainly worth a shot though 

[KKB]

On 11/1/2019 at 10:39 AM, Newleno said:

I have never paid at labadee, half moon caye, stirrup caye, dont know about the others, now im not talking about the alcohol 

Harvest Caye Belize is called a private island as NCL did all the work. But it is manned by locals--food & drinks cost.

[jancl57]

We booked directly with NCL.   We are a group of 13 with 6 cabins total.  We booked through NCL's group sales department.    Will we still receive the offer to upgrade?  If yes, will we keep the perks we received as a group?

 

Thanks,