What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, Newleno said:

We all have our own opinions, I had my bid in for two weeks,(that is plenty of time to decide) I pulled it, not playing the NCL game, customers revolt, revolution to change their policies.  If I bid the maximum ($400) it would have been more than a balcony room outright, from the website, they gladly would take more through bidding than buying outright.  Outrageous, passengers revolt! Yes we can Yes We can, after all, these cruise companies in order to stay in business just have to break even.   It is really about the passengers.  We should have passengers on their board of directors, this is our cruiseline.

 

I genuinely can't figure out if you are being serious or pulling our legs. Bids are typically processed en mass for each sailing, because each bid acceptance has a trickle down effect. If someone bids from one Haven to another, that frees up the lower level Haven for someone to upgrade from a mini-suite, which frees up a mini-suite for someone to upgrade from a balcony and then on down the line. Now multiply it by hundreds of bids and it simply makes sense to use an algorithm to calculate which combinations of bids will net the most money for the cruise line. Shockingly, businesses are in business to make money, not to just break even, as you suggest. Bids aren't considered individually by humans. If someone stupidly bids more than it would cost for them to just call up NCL and pay for a direct upgrade, that's on them. NCL has zero incentive to protect passengers from giving them extra money....

[Some Schmoo]

Jamie Logical: Where oh where is that “like” button?

[ziggyuk]

26 minutes ago, Some Schmoo said:

Jamie Logical: Where oh where is that “like” button?

[TFCRUISER]

As stated many times on this thread, NCL does not have a stated procedure on how to select for an upgrade so it is very difficult to figure what to bid.    In my case, I put in a small (rated poor)  upgrade bid for my inside cabin to a balcony.   After final payment, the price on the NCL website for a balcony was lowered to virtually the same as what I paid for the inside.  My bid was not taken,  however when I called I was upgraded from inside to balcony aft for no charge. My booking was direct with NCL.   Sort of surprised (but very happy) that they did not run the upgrade bid program before advertising a lower price.

[GateGuardian]

14 Day Panama on the NCL Pearl. Had an Obstructed Oceanview and bid $230 pp for a Mini-Suite. Bid got approved, but now got a connecting room, which I hate 😞 Tried calling NCL, but they said they can't change rooms from a bid upgrade.

[heelfan94]

Our sailing is still showing so many empty cabins.  After I got my balcony upgrade yesterday I see today that the mid-ship Balcony category is now sold out.  It's the only one that is gone in that category.  My guess is that any reasonable bid was accepted and booked into a mid-ship balcony.  If you were on the fence about bidding (this is the Pearl 14 day Panama Canal out of Tampa on 11/25) your odds would be really, really good for anything up to a mini-suite.  This is just my uneducated opinion.  

[heelfan94]

1 hour ago, GateGuardian said:

14 Day Panama on the NCL Pearl. Had an Obstructed Oceanview and bid $230 pp for a Mini-Suite. Bid got approved, but now got a connecting room, which I hate 😞 Tried calling NCL, but they said they can't change rooms from a bid upgrade.

To me that is the only drawback to the bidding process.  I am okay with any cabin in any area but if it's an issue I think it has to be considered.  

[Nalagh]

I bid on all of the suites, even the ones I don’t really want because they don’t have a balcony. I don’t like the GTY mini-suite cabin that I was assigned (under the pool deck; lots of noise complaints on reviews). My offers fell between fair-strong. I wish I knew the true cost of a suite for an 11 day southern Caribbean sailing on the Star r/t from Miami. I may have to step up my game.  If anyone knows what the SF, SE or any suite under the OS really costs, please let me know. Thanks 

[Newleno]

1 hour ago, heelfan94 said:

Our sailing is still showing so many empty cabins.  After I got my balcony upgrade yesterday I see today that the mid-ship Balcony category is now sold out.  It's the only one that is gone in that category.  My guess is that any reasonable bid was accepted and booked into a mid-ship balcony.  If you were on the fence about bidding (this is the Pearl 14 day Panama Canal out of Tampa on 11/25) your odds would be really, really good for anything up to a mini-suite.  This is just my uneducated opinion.  

So your cruise is not for a month and your reasonable (not over the top) bid was accepted, ncl's logarithm is interesting.

[Wyatt ncl]

Did anyone receive bid upgrade notices from NCL Escape for the Jan. 6th sailing???

[jvsnana]

2 hours ago, Nalagh said:

I bid on all of the suites, even the ones I don’t really want because they don’t have a balcony. I don’t like the GTY mini-suite cabin that I was assigned (under the pool deck; lots of noise complaints on reviews). My offers fell between fair-strong. I wish I knew the true cost of a suite for an 11 day southern Caribbean sailing on the Star r/t from Miami. I may have to step up my game.  If anyone knows what the SF, SE or any suite under the OS really costs, please let me know. Thanks 

Hi Nalagh,

I am on the same cruise booked forever ago in a Family Suite   I put in bids also even though everything is sold out...you never know, right?

Here is an image of what I believe are the last selling prices of the cabins you are looking for...hope that helps!

 

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by jvsnana

[tbo]

Last night I convinced hubby that we should bid on an upgrade from our Aft facing Balcony to the Haven on our January 12th Epic cruise. Today is our 80 day mark and no email or banner invite . I booked directly with NCL, so no travel agent involved. Fingers crossed we get an invite.

[boopsahoy]

3 hours ago, tbo said:

Last night I convinced hubby that we should bid on an upgrade from our Aft facing Balcony to the Haven on our January 12th Epic cruise. Today is our 80 day mark and no email or banner invite . I booked directly with NCL, so no travel agent involved. Fingers crossed we get an invite.

Pretty sure I always get at 60 days...midday. Sometimes no email but it is always in my messages on NCL.com. Good luck!

 

 

 

l.com

[Nalagh]

5 hours ago, jvsnana said:

Hi Nalagh,

I am on the same cruise booked forever ago in a Family Suite   I put in bids also even though everything is sold out...you never know, right?

Here is an image of what I believe are the last selling prices of the cabins you are looking for...hope that helps!

 

 

Thank

 

5 hours ago, jvsnana said:

Hi Nalagh,

I am on the same cruise booked forever ago in a Family Suite   I put in bids also even though everything is sold out...you never know, right?

Here is an image of what I believe are the last selling prices of the cabins you are looking for...hope that helps!

 

 

T

 

Thank you very much! I look forward to meeting you on our sailing. 

[heelfan94]

15 hours ago, Newleno said:

So your cruise is not for a month and your reasonable (not over the top) bid was accepted, ncl's logarithm is interesting.

My bid was in the "fair" zone, just shy of the middle.  There are so many cabins available.  That must have more to do with it than anything. 

[Baitman19]

Hi,  Yesterday I received an email that my bid was accepted for an Owner's Suite on the Gem this Saturday..  I bid the exact difference in the cost to book the OS suite H3 and what I paid for my original H5.    I also bid on the GV.  Both bids were in the "Poor" range.   One GV 14000 and one OS 9504 were open.  I was given OS 10504.  I guess 10504 won the bid for the GV.  I would have called my PCC earlier and changed cabins but I would have lost my OBC of $400.00.  It all worked out in the long term.  I got a great cabin and still kept my OBC.  

 

Looks like nasty weather for our cruise on Saturday.

Monty

 

[funat55]

I'm still waiting to hear on my bid.  I'm on the Bliss sailing October 27th.  Thought I would have heard something by now.  Not expecting them to accept my bid.  Ship has been sold out for some time.  But it's interesting that they are still offering requests for bids.

[Newleno]

1 hour ago, heelfan94 said:

My bid was in the "fair" zone, just shy of the middle.  There are so many cabins available.  That must have more to do with it than anything. 

Interesting, I got so upset with the process I pulled my bid, we are two days out on a 15 reposition with a bad horrific weather forecast, the balcony room is selling for $1000, (many balconies left on a huge megaship) our room paid price of $529 plus our bid of $300 was not good enough for the algorithm to spit us out a balcony room .  In my opinion not the way for NCL to do business.  Not a big fan of ncl customer service with the bidding process so we have to make up for it in other ways.  

[heelfan94]

4 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Interesting, I got so upset with the process I pulled my bid, we are two days out on a 15 reposition with a bad horrific weather forecast, the balcony room is selling for $1000, (many balconies left on a huge megaship) our room paid price of $529 plus our bid of $300 was not good enough for the algorithm to spit us out a balcony room .  In my opinion not the way for NCL to do business.  Not a big fan of ncl customer service with the bidding process so we have to make up for it in other ways.  

I understand what you're saying but there doesn't seem to be an exact formula for bidding and who wins.  Just because it worked on mine doesn't seem to carry over to anyone else.  Someone suggested trying to think like NCL but so far I haven't been able to channel that.  Some of the stories don't make sense.  I do know that NCL outsources the bidding so maybe it doesn't help to think like them.  I do wish you had left your bid in place to see what happened.  It helps if we all pool our knowledge.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

20 hours ago, TFCRUISER said:

As stated many times on this thread, NCL does not have a stated procedure on how to select for an upgrade so it is very difficult to figure what to bid.    In my case, I put in a small (rated poor)  upgrade bid for my inside cabin to a balcony.   After final payment, the price on the NCL website for a balcony was lowered to virtually the same as what I paid for the inside.  My bid was not taken,  however when I called I was upgraded from inside to balcony aft for no charge. My booking was direct with NCL.   Sort of surprised (but very happy) that they did not run the upgrade bid program before advertising a lower price.

same here: a free upgrade from inside to OV because the price dropped significantly. And it was AFTER the final payment.

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

I'm now three days out to my Getaway sailing on the 28th. Anxiously awaiting till the end of tomorrow to find out if we got our upgrade. I'm totally ok if we don't, but a balcony would be nice for my hubby who has never experienced one.

[JennieCoconut]

Wow, we got our upgrade! Thought for sure we were getting the decline email today at 3pm for our Gem sailing on Saturday. We went from OG Porthole oceanview to BA Mid Ship Balcony. Bid $155 per person. Was in the fair range. Can't wait! 

[walke2jd]

23 hours ago, Newleno said:

Interesting, I got so upset with the process I pulled my bid, we are two days out on a 15 reposition with a bad horrific weather forecast, the balcony room is selling for $1000, (many balconies left on a huge megaship) our room paid price of $529 plus our bid of $300 was not good enough for the algorithm to spit us out a balcony room .  In my opinion not the way for NCL to do business.  Not a big fan of ncl customer service with the bidding process so we have to make up for it in other ways.  

 

In the large majority of cases, they process all bids 2 days before sailing, so you likely pulled your bid right before they would have sent you a decision. 

[JamieLogical]

21 hours ago, JennieCoconut said:

Wow, we got our upgrade! Thought for sure we were getting the decline email today at 3pm for our Gem sailing on Saturday. We went from OG Porthole oceanview to BA Mid Ship Balcony. Bid $155 per person. Was in the fair range. Can't wait! 

 

Congrats! We loved our mid-ship balcony on the Gem back in June.

[shelbyg19]

We just had our offer accepted the other day, about 25 days out from sailing!  We got the spa mini suite for $150 pp from a BD angled balcony.