What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[dexddd]

7 hours ago, jimd909 said:

I'm curious.  Currently, two of us are sailing in an SB (Owner's Suite with 2 balconies) on the Star 12/21/18. I'm able to put in a bid for the Garden Villa.  My question is if I get it can I add more people to the reservation before sailing? I can't see only two of us sailing in a 3-bedroom Garden Villa.

 

Thanks.

All suites on that sailing are shown as sold out and I truly believe they are since it is a xmas sailing so I'd say zero (o.k. .0001) chance of it happening.  They are only data mining at this point.

 

The SB is a great suite and depending on who you might take (kids vs. adults), the living room couch is between a double and queen so ok for two kids.  You also have the half bath off entrance door, two balconies, free water and soda in room, the 3 bottles of booze.  Have a great time in a great room.

[Lookn4Sun]

I decided at one point when the fares went down to go ahead and pay to upgrade from an inside to a balcony as it was $220 more total. The minimum bid was $50, and I had put in a bid of $90. The ability to just pay and upgrade and know I had a balcony was too alluring.

While I still have the opportunity to bid for an upgrade, it's only showing penthouses and the owners suite .  I'd be willing to bid to go from a BB to a B1, but it isn't an option.

Is that because it's the same "class", e.g., from Bx to Bx?

[xcell]

For those sailing on the Escape Dec 21 -- there's over 17 haven suites up for grabs....start your bidding!

 

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by xcell

[travelgals]

Sailing on 11/24. Booked haven courtyard penthouse in September. Ship wide open except for haven which is completely sold out, except for the courtyard PH. I immediately  got an email to bid to upgrade (to sold out cabins!). Tried to upgrade to the 2BR by offering full price by phone, and bidding maximum. Told none available. Pulled the bid after a few weeks since it clearly wasn’t going to happen and didn’t want to contribute to bid mining, given my maximum bid. I have checked the Ncl site almost daily to see if a 2BR opens. The only change has been that the price for the courtyard penthouse keeps going up-( $100 every few weeks) yet that is the only  haven cabin category available and there are many available cabins at that level. What am I missing here?

[dpnyc]

On 10/4/2018 at 11:49 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

If you filed or saved your email upgraded request you can check back and see if the bids have been processed.

Find that email open it and click on the highlighted (blue) modify/cancel a new window will open and it may

show EXPIRED meaning that your bid was not successful and that bids for that cabin class have been filled.

 

If you don't see something on that order and are still 2 days away from sailing you may still be in the running.

 

If you win your bid - you almost immediately will see an email draining your credit card account the amount

of your winning bid. That email will direct you to check your Edocs for the upgraded cabin number.

If you took out insurance for your cruise and the upgrade moved you into a more expensive class/category

you may be owing a token increase of the insurance premium.

 

If your bid wins remember when checking your new Edocs over to print the NEW LUGGAGE TAGS with

the new cabin number and discard the old cabin luggage tags.

THANK YOU for that little tutorial, d-u-r-n! i'm traveling solo on the ESCAPE 12-day southern caribbean (NY-NY). since i'm on a budget, i booked the inside like i've done for all my 7-day cruises. then i realized, DUH bigger ship + more days = you need to splurge on a balcony! so i bid low on the upgrade, still waiting, and if it's not accepted i'll have to be ready to somehow pay for the balcony, at least $500 extra since the prices are going up. So your information means that I can at least monitor it. Thanks again!!!

[dpnyc]

On 10/3/2018 at 10:16 AM, JamieLogical said:

...However, in June I sailed on the Gem and we were originally booked in an inside room. For us, the risk of getting a poor room location was worth it to get a balcony. We figured any balcony room would be better than our inside room. We ended up in a great location and didn't regret our choice at all!

 

thanks JamieLogical... you've just helped me cross one thing off my "overthinking" list about bidding on a balcony from an inside, on the ESCAPE. (the GEM is my second home by the way--tho always an inside cabin--so i know how right you are about "any balcony"!)

[dpnyc]

On 10/3/2018 at 10:16 AM, JamieLogical said:

...However, in June I sailed on the Gem and we were originally booked in an inside room. For us, the risk of getting a poor room location was worth it to get a balcony. We figured any balcony room would be better than our inside room. We ended up in a great location and didn't regret our choice at all!

 

thanks JamieLogical... you've just helped me cross one thing off my "overthinking" list about bidding on a balcony from an inside, on the ESCAPE. (the GEM is my second home by the way--tho always an inside cabin--so i know how right you are about "any balcony"!)

[Cruisennerable]

Just doing research to book a last minute cruise Dec 1

If I book this late is there a chance for me to still be offered a BID

[snorklinbarb]

28 minutes ago, Cruisennerable said:

Just doing research to book a last minute cruise Dec 1

If I book this late is there a chance for me to still be offered a BID

I've got offers in on B2B cruises starting end of this month.  The first was made end of Sept. and the second leg I just offered about 10 days ago.  "Let's Get You Upgraded" came up on "my ncl" within a couple of days of booking.  So yes, you may very well get an opportunity but all depends on your sailing.

 

Good luck!  I only have a matter of days left so expectations are very low at this point.  But with over 3 weeks on the ship, I'll be fine no matter where I am!! 

[PRgymnast]

1 hour ago, Cruisennerable said:

Just doing research to book a last minute cruise Dec 1

If I book this late is there a chance for me to still be offered a BID

Yes, provided the ship is not already sold out. I booked 5 weeks out and received the bid email 2 days after. Good luck! 

[Gracelyn]

2 hours ago, Cruisennerable said:

Just doing research to book a last minute cruise Dec 1

If I book this late is there a chance for me to still be offered a BID

Hi, we booked 10 days before our Escape to Bermuda and was offered the bid upgrade 4 days before we were to sail. Inside to balcony. We bid 105$ pp. declined. Should have bid on large window room as well but didn’t. Inside rooms are very cramped with no cupboard space except for a few shelf’s that are narrow on inside closet. If you can get it, we felt anything was better then inside. 

[JamieLogical]

So, Cruise Critic was down all week before my 10/14 sailing on the Escape and I was unable to update all of you on my bidding.

 

We were in a BF and bid up to an H9 for $550, and H5 and H7 for $430. All bids declined. As far as I could tell, the ship sailed full and none of those rooms were booked up by the last week anyway. We received an individual email for each bid that was declined (three total) at about 2:00 in the afternoon the Friday before our Sunday sailing. So right at the 48 hour mark.

[tgloersen]

On 10/21/2018 at 2:15 PM, travelgals said:

Sailing on 11/24. Booked haven courtyard penthouse in September. Ship wide open except for haven which is completely sold out, except for the courtyard PH. I immediately  got an email to bid to upgrade (to sold out cabins!). Tried to upgrade to the 2BR by offering full price by phone, and bidding maximum. Told none available. Pulled the bid after a few weeks since it clearly wasn’t going to happen and didn’t want to contribute to bid mining, given my maximum bid. I have checked the Ncl site almost daily to see if a 2BR opens. The only change has been that the price for the courtyard penthouse keeps going up-( $100 every few weeks) yet that is the only  haven cabin category available and there are many available cabins at that level. What am I missing here?

R u on Bliss for that sailing?  If so so am i and i received offers to bid on 4 different Haven rooms, all being shown as sold out except for PH.

[travelgals]

tgloersen, Yes I am- in the PH (which is the only haven no sold out) and I bid max for 2BR and owners unit and no response. I also called multiple times (daily for a few weeks) to try and just pay for it, no luck- they repeat "sold out". I withdrew the bids about a week or so ago. Was hoping to bring my mom, and needed the space, but too late now to coordinate everything, flights etc. 

[erdoran]

I was on Bliss for Sept Alaska sailing in PH.  At 80 days got bid offer for DOS (sold out) and 2 BR PH (several left).  Bid on both, got neither.  At 60 days they seemed to process all the 2 BR PH bids because someone on these boards got that upgrade, they had bid about $60 more than I had.  At that point everything was sold out.  My bids seemed still active and I hung in there but in the end no upgrade.  What I saved on upgrades paid for all my excursions but I would have loved on anyway....

 

(in answer to "why being invited to bid on sold out category"?)

[DiverJohn]

On pearl Dec. 9 sailing,14 day Panama Canal partial transit, just got upgraded from mini suite (mb)to forward facing suite with large balcony (sf) bid was 1360.00 a person. Should be great going through the locks.

[jimd909]

On 10/21/2018 at 4:47 AM, dexddd said:

All suites on that sailing are shown as sold out and I truly believe they are since it is a xmas sailing so I'd say zero (o.k. .0001) chance of it happening.  They are only data mining at this point.

 

The SB is a great suite and depending on who you might take (kids vs. adults), the living room couch is between a double and queen so ok for two kids.  You also have the half bath off entrance door, two balconies, free water and soda in room, the 3 bottles of booze.  Have a great time in a great room.

Thanks for the info.  I actually sailed in an Owner's Suite several times.  

 

My question was IF I were to get the upgrade to the Garden Villa would I be able to add more people to the booking.

[erdoran]

13 minutes ago, jimd909 said:

Thanks for the info.  I actually sailed in an Owner's Suite several times.  

 

My question was IF I were to get the upgrade to the Garden Villa would I be able to add more people to the booking.

yeah I'm dreaming of that dilemna....the stuff I've read on these boards says no, but let's see if someone disagrees....

[boopsahoy]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

yeah I'm dreaming of that dilemna....the stuff I've read on these boards says no, but let's see if someone disagrees....

I agree with the no. That's what I've heard and really, it makes sense. Otherwise everyone would add free people at every upgrade -doesn't help NCL bottom line-also by the time we are told of the upgrade the ship will be at capacity-at that point they are just moving people around.

[jimd909]

13 minutes ago, boopsahoy said:

I agree with the no. That's what I've heard and really, it makes sense. Otherwise everyone would add free people at every upgrade -doesn't help NCL bottom line-also by the time we are told of the upgrade the ship will be at capacity-at that point they are just moving people around.

I'm not looking to add them as FREE.  I'm looking to add them as 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. passenger to the booking and pay whatever the rate is at the time.

[HBCcruiser]

48 minutes ago, jimd909 said:

I'm not looking to add them as FREE.  I'm looking to add them as 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. passenger to the booking and pay whatever the rate is at the time.

Usually NO if a sold out sailing. From what I have read on CC, it is a lifeboat issue. People can’t add others to their cabin, thereby causing the ship to go over the lifeboat limits. Makes sense to me.

[heelfan94]

My Balcony bid now shows "Processing".  I think that's good news.

[JamieLogical]

6 minutes ago, heelfan94 said:

My Balcony bid now shows "Processing".  I think that's good news.

 

Congrats!

[Wizpharm2]

21 minutes ago, heelfan94 said:

My Balcony bid now shows "Processing".  I think that's good news.

What cruise are you on?

[heelfan94]

2 minutes ago, Wizpharm2 said:

What cruise are you on?

I'm on the 14 day Panama Canal on the Pearl out of Tampa on November 25.  For some reason none of the balconies are selling on this one.  It must be an off travel time.  I paid for a GTY inside and actually got a decent assigned cabin in a few days.  I bid on Oceanview and Balcony.  I really wanted the balcony since it's a longer trip.