What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[debnjoe1438]

36 minutes ago, itf said:

We got our upgrade on the 22/1 Breakaway sailing - went from B2 Balcony to an M6 for £240 - as there's four of us I didn't think that was too bad. Looks like a large balcony so I'm happy enough with that.

Congratulations. I'm glad some are getting the upgrades. I'm still waiting and hoping. Was your price 240 each (for first 2) or total? If you don't mind me asking

Edited January 7, 2020 by debnjoe1438

[itf]

24 minutes ago, debnjoe1438 said:

Congratulations. I'm glad some are getting the upgrades. I'm still waiting and hoping. Was your price 240 each (for first 2) or total? If you don't mind me asking

£240 UK total, £120 each.

[CruisinNewbie11]

Just received my upgrade from inside to balcony B3.  Will be on Breakaway 1/22/20.  Paid $200 total which I thought was fantastic!

[debnjoe1438]

1 hour ago, CruisinNewbie11 said:

Just received my upgrade from inside to balcony B3.  Will be on Breakaway 1/22/20.  Paid $200 total which I thought was fantastic!

I'm happy for you and all the others, and sad my upgrade hasn't happened yet. (I still have faith)

[CruisinNewbie11]

Thank you.  I am sure it will happen for you as well.  Are you on the Breakaway?  Keep us posted!

 

[debnjoe1438]

35 minutes ago, CruisinNewbie11 said:

Thank you.  I am sure it will happen for you as well.  Are you on the Breakaway?  Keep us posted!

 

Oh yes, I'm on the Breakaway 1/22 - 2 weeks 🙂

 

[CruisinNewbie11]

Good for you!  1/22 is 10 cruise, are you staying on for another?  In any event, have fun!

 

[debnjoe1438]

4 hours ago, CruisinNewbie11 said:

Good for you!  1/22 is 10 cruise, are you staying on for another?  In any event, have fun!

 

Only the 10 day, got to get back to work. Crossing fingers for upgrade.

[CruisinNewbie11]

My fingers and toes are crossed for you as well!  

 

[Broopa]

Just bid 200$ for a spa mini-suite for encore feb 9 cruising. fingers crossed here. No big loss if I lose out on it since I like my current balcony room location but an upgrade never hurts.

[Lou33]

Jade, February 17, 2020, 10 day Hong Kong to Singapore.  Upgraded from Obstructed OV (OK), to Mini-Suite (MA), 38 days out, for $630 total, (very low good).  We also bid $410 total, (very low good) for a Balcony.  I thought that this was a very aggressive bid since there are still many unsold cabins because of the Hong Kong Situation.  And I though about lowering my bid, but I didn't  want to risk losing this one to save a few hundred dollars.  We didn't want to stay in the obstructed OV for this cruise.  

[debnjoe1438]

10 hours ago, Lou33 said:

Jade, February 17, 2020, 10 day Hong Kong to Singapore.  Upgraded from Obstructed OV (OK), to Mini-Suite (MA), 38 days out, for $630 total, (very low good).  We also bid $410 total, (very low good) for a Balcony.  I thought that this was a very aggressive bid since there are still many unsold cabins because of the Hong Kong Situation.  And I though about lowering my bid, but I didn't  want to risk losing this one to save a few hundred dollars.  We didn't want to stay in the obstructed OV for this cruise.  

congrats

[Daytonasailor]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:08 PM, CruisinNewbie11 said:

Just received my upgrade from inside to balcony B3.  Will be on Breakaway 1/22/20.  Paid $200 total which I thought was fantastic!

Probably shouldn't ask, but what did you pay total? I'm on that sailing too and booked a balcony 6 months ago for $2820 for two. Maybe I should try your way next time. Sounds like you made a deal!

[CruisinNewbie11]

I had booked an inside back in March (single person, no supplement).  That was around the time of the 20 percent off sale, plus OBC, plus double Latitude Points.  Got that for around $1800, with insurance and drink package.  I bid on the balcony last week.  Bid $100 which means I had to pay 200 for one person.  So, I got the balcony for 2000, which I was happy with.  Hope you understood that, lol!

[ollienbertsmum]

21 hours ago, Daytonasailor said:

Probably shouldn't ask, but what did you pay total? I'm on that sailing too and booked a balcony 6 months ago for $2820 for two. Maybe I should try your way next time. Sounds like you made a deal!

 

You could try making a bid.  I have done in the past - but you have got to be sure that you would be equally happy with the inside that you might have to stick with if you are unsuccessful with your bid.   Not everyone is successful.  

[forgotmyCCname]

On 7/4/2018 at 6:50 PM, BirdTravels said:

80 days prior to cruise, you are given the opportunity to request an upgrade for up to 2 cabin classes above your booked room (Inside to balcony, oceanview to mini-suite, balcony to suite, mini-suite to suite).

 

The system will tell you what the minimum and maximum bid is, and you pick a number between the two. These are the per-person bids (multiple by 2 for the amount you will pay if your bids are accepted). High end suite bids start at $2000 x 2 (you would have to bid a lot more to win). Low end ocean view bids (from inside) can be very affordable.

 

If there is a lot of inventory, low end bids are awarded soon after they are made. Bids for suites are usually award a few days before departure. Notifications that bids are not accepted are made around 48 hours before departure.

It is not always just 2 categories. My mom is in a balcony B3 and received offers for minisuite,  forward facing penthouse, aft facing penthouse and owner's suite (or suites SA thru SG. )

[All-ready2cruise]

2 minutes ago, forgotmyCCname said:

It is not always just 2 categories. My mom is in a balcony B3 and received offers for minisuite,  forward facing penthouse, aft facing penthouse and owner's suite (or suites SA thru SG. )

That is just 2 categories. Mini suite is a glorified balcony and all Suites are the same option. 

[heatherc73]

Hi all,

I've put in bids to upgrade from an inside to a balcony and/or mini suite (no OV on Epic)

I've been keeping track of sales over the last six weeks.  Just wondering if anyone can tell me what's considered a "fast selling" cruise or "slow selling"

I've only been tracking it on NCL website so I know my results aren't completely accurate as a category never shows more than 15 available cabins, but as of today (seven weeks out) there are 97 cabins available. There's 4 categories showing 15 cabins so it can't be too far off.  When I first started tracking six weeks ago there was more like 250 cabins (guessing since there was 9 categories showing 15).

Is this considered a large amount of cabins left to sell?  Or is it more considered "whoa, selling fast!"?

Thanks for any insight!

[billslowsky]

In general, if you book an inside, are you better off not bidding on BOTH and oceanview and a balcony if you really prefer the balcony?  Anyone have any insight?  I've been upgraded to oceanview a couple of times with low bids (I prefer it to inside) but am I making it more difficult to get balcony?

[Koali]

22 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

In general, if you book an inside, are you better off not bidding on BOTH and oceanview and a balcony if you really prefer the balcony?  Anyone have any insight?  I've been upgraded to oceanview a couple of times with low bids (I prefer it to inside) but am I making it more difficult to get balcony?

 First time doing the bidding process but we have an inside and did not bid on an ocean view because we didn’t think it was that much of an upgrade with the risk of a room location that we dislike. We would prefer the balcony over an ocean view and would stay in an inside if we got an ocean view 

[billslowsky]

1 hour ago, Koali said:

 First time doing the bidding process but we have an inside and did not bid on an ocean view because we didn’t think it was that much of an upgrade with the risk of a room location that we dislike. We would prefer the balcony over an ocean view and would stay in an inside if we got an ocean view 

You don't get to turn down the oceanview.  If NCL accepts the bid, you're done. 

 

That's my question, does bidding on the OV room ruin any chance of getting the balcony.  You can't prioritize it like "I'll only take the OV if there's no way I'm going to have my balcony bid accepted."  It doesn't work that way.

Edited January 13, 2020 by billslowsky

[Stlcardsfan79]

14 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

You don't get to turn down the oceanview.  If NCL accepts the bid, you're done. 

 

That's my question, does bidding on the OV room ruin any chance of getting the balcony.  You can't prioritize it like "I'll only take the OV if there's no way I'm going to have my balcony bid accepted."  It doesn't work that way.

Last January for our cruise I bid on both oceanview and balcony, but just the minimum on OV and more on the balcony since I really wanted the balcony. We ended up with an aft balcony. Good luck. 

[Nola26]

29 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

You don't get to turn down the oceanview.  If NCL accepts the bid, you're done. 

 

That's my question, does bidding on the OV room ruin any chance of getting the balcony.  You can't prioritize it like "I'll only take the OV if there's no way I'm going to have my balcony bid accepted."  It doesn't work that way.

You can play the timing game, but no guarantee you'll get either. Bid on just the balcony, as the cruise gets closer if your balcony bid isn't accepted bid on the the OV if you are willing to take it. You may miss out on both, but it is an option.

[mking8288]

On mega/+ ships, there are far more balconies available than oceanviews, and they are mostly on/near mid-ship, Deck 5 - good locations for anyone prone to motion, easy to access 6-7-8 with wide corridors for easy passage.

 

For mid-sized ships, OV are tricky and you have to be prepared to settle for a porthole in the Fwd section, Deck 5 or 4 ... those are considered negatives by many, for good/obvious reasons - for a nominal upcharge, not necessary a bad deal for natural lights vs. an inside with zero outside view, not even a submarine view with the waves splashing against the hull when seas are rough.  Or, you could end up with an obstructed view (usually, Deck 8 above the promenade with the lifeboats hanging outside the windows & a walkway for maintenance crew)   The "best" OV on ships like the Dawn, Gem or Star are those on Deck 8 Fwd & Aft.  If you don't bid for them, you won't ever find out.  

 

We seemed to have good success on scoring OV on mid-sized ships and better luck with balconies on newer, mega/+ ships ... twice, we selected and booked a sideway Inside and got bumped up with a winning bid.  

 

Lately - in following & reading these updates/reports on successful bids - something is happening, changes in the air ... and/or folks about keeping quiet & not sharing as much as before.  I dunno - Havens are filling up before sailing, sooner than in the past, not sure if they are going to high bidders much earlier than 6 months to a year ago.  

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

....The "best" OV on ships like the Dawn, Gem or Star are those on Deck 8 Fwd & Aft.  If you don't bid for them, you won't ever find out..... 

Alert.....there is no way you are gonna get the 'best' cabins in any category using the bidding process.....!