Bidding on upgrades is a SCAM!

[cathi007]

2 hours ago, DMH15 said:

I always book early the full suite I want.   I do not like that NCL has become the "Priceline of cruises"... I used to be loyal.  My next cruise is not on NCL.  I will continue to shop around.  

I agree, I always book the cabin I want. My last several cruises have been NCL, but I'm not loyal to any brand, I just liked the itinerary and the ease of sailing out of NY, as I live in CT

[misstamster]

3 hours ago, missysworld said:

I just received my upgrade an hour ago. I originally paid $999 for obstructed oceanview for 14 nights. It is not going for $1349 and I won the bid at $140 per person. So I paid $1139 for a family balcony that is now selling for $2349. So I saved $1210 per person. 

But I watched the prices every day to see if it was worth it to cancel my bid and do a direct upgrade. But the prices didn’t come down enough. 

I would believe if you did this you would have been able to save big time like I did. 

what sailing are you on??

 

[missysworld]

I am on Pearl Dec 9. 

[newmexicoNita]

17 hours ago, KaDarr said:

So here is my experience with NCL on bidding for an upgrade. We are already booked in a deck 11 aft facing mini suite. The email came inviting me to bid on an upgrade to a Haven suite or a penthouse suite. So stupid me, I bid on the penthouse suite at $800 per person for a total of $1600, which was on the high side of "poor". After thinking about this for a few days, I thought, well why don't I just book the room instead of waiting to see if I'll be changing rooms after I printed out our luggage tags. So I called NCL, and was told that there was one penthouse suite available and it would cost me another (I think it was $287, it was less than $300 anyway) extra. That's all!!!! However, when she came back on the phone after five minutes of "checking with her supervisor" she informed me the suite had been booked while I was on hold. What a scam. I was so stupid that I would have paid them $1,600 and they would have been pleased as punch to relieve me of my $1,600 for a room that would have only been another few hundred dollars. I immediately cancelled my bid and I have learned a valuable lesson. Never bid on an upgrade. Just call to see what it would cost to get it.

I just don't see this as a scam, but a gamble. We all need to pay attention to pricing when we decide to gamble and play the bidding game. 

[heelfan94]

8 hours ago, NurseJEB said:

 

 

The problem with that theory is that NCL does not process the upgrades at all.  It is handled by a 3rd party.

You are right.  They are processed by Plusgrade I believe.  A better way to phrase it would have been to say that NCL shares the original price paid with the third party.  I have no idea if anyone looks at the original price.

[JamieLogical]

8 minutes ago, heelfan94 said:

You are right.  They are processed by Plusgrade I believe.  A better way to phrase it would have been to say that NCL shares the original price paid with the third party.  I have no idea if anyone looks at the original price.

 

Exactly. The price you originally paid per person is sent over in the data that is transferred to PlusGrade when you place a bid. Whether or not that is actually USED in the algorithm that processes bids is anyone's guess.

[drew69]

You need to check the definition of a scam.  What you described is not a scam. 

 

[Notnewtoit]

Caveat emptor.

[pliskin]

My understanding is that more than just room revenue is taken into account.  Latitude status, money spent with Norwegian, etc.  There is much more to cruise revenue than the cost of a room.  Assuming that is true, someone who is platinum, cruises frequently, buys cruise next vouchers, shore excursions, photo packs, etc. is probably more likely to get an upgrade, possibly for less than a higher bid by a person who rarely cruises, goes on the cheap, etc.  Makes sense.

 

And OP, sorry to be blunt, but your math failure does not constitute a scam.  I read something awhile back that said cruise ships need to be at least 93% occupied just for the sailing to break even and that factors in all the revenue they make beyond just the stateroom.  So I have no issue with any company being profitable, especially when NCL keeps cranking out new ships all the time.  Although I kind of wish they would make some new Jewel class ships, the Jewel being my all time favorite cruise ship...won't happen but I can dream.

[Newleno]

On 10/29/2018 at 1:37 PM, KaDarr said:

So here is my experience with NCL on bidding for an upgrade. We are already booked in a deck 11 aft facing mini suite. The email came inviting me to bid on an upgrade to a Haven suite or a penthouse suite. So stupid me, I bid on the penthouse suite at $800 per person for a total of $1600, which was on the high side of "poor". After thinking about this for a few days, I thought, well why don't I just book the room instead of waiting to see if I'll be changing rooms after I printed out our luggage tags. So I called NCL, and was told that there was one penthouse suite available and it would cost me another (I think it was $287, it was less than $300 anyway) extra. That's all!!!! However, when she came back on the phone after five minutes of "checking with her supervisor" she informed me the suite had been booked while I was on hold. What a scam. I was so stupid that I would have paid them $1,600 and they would have been pleased as punch to relieve me of my $1,600 for a room that would have only been another few hundred dollars. I immediately cancelled my bid and I have learned a valuable lesson. Never bid on an upgrade. Just call to see what it would cost to get it.

yeah i got so upset with the process i just decided to  pull my bid,   we are frugal cruisers so in a different category than you

[Journeyandthedestination]

When asked to bid to get an upgrade I jumped at it. Then I did my research. If I want to upgrade to a balcony, it will essentially be a balcony sail-away room (since you have no choice of room). A balcony sail-away is currently selling for $200 LESS than my mid- ship inside. They then ask me to bid at least $100 to upgrade. I pulled my bid. If they wanted to make more money off of my room they could have offered a trade, and I would have considered. But instead they try to get me to spend as much money as they can get, so that they can get even more when they re-sell. I will enjoy this cruise, but will definitely think before sailing ncl again. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Journeyandthedestination

[JamieLogical]

10 minutes ago, Journeyandthedestination said:

When asked to bid to get an upgrade I jumped at it. Then I did my research. If I want to upgrade to a balcony, it will essentially be a balcony sail-away room (since you have no choice of room). A balcony sail-away is currently selling for $200 LESS than my mid- ship inside. They then ask me to bid at least $100 to upgrade. I pulled my bid. If they wanted to make more money off of my room they could have offered a trade, and I would have considered. But instead they try to get me to spend as much money as they can get, so that they can get even more when they re-sell. I will enjoy this cruise, but will definitely think before sailing ncl again. 

 

A SailAway does not include any Free At Sea perks, so the upgrade assignment is not the same value as a SailAway, it's the same value as a GTY.  If you can currently directly upgrade to a balcony for a price you are comfortable with, you should do that instead of bidding. You can call in and ask to just pay the difference...

[Love my butler]

NCL is more than happy to take every extra nickel and dime they can from you.  Be it upcharges, service charges, convenience fees or 'bidding' revenue.  You have to be very savvy and spend a lot of time to weed out the 'bad' deals and get into the best possible position to keep your nickels and dimes.  The vast majority of cruisers can't or won't spend the time 'educating' themselves on all these tricks.  In the meantime, NCL is smiling all the way to the bank.

 

For your convenience of course.

[Nola26]

On 10/29/2018 at 3:29 PM, pieshops said:

 

As in an auction you need to know the value and what an item is going for, I have seen many people pay triple what an item is worth in auctions as they get caught up in bidding and winning at all costs

This is different because the value is determined by me the bidder, what is it worth to me. I have bid 3 times always in the Poor range. I got my balcony the first time but didn't win on my other cruises as it either wasn't worth more for me to bid on those rooms or the inventory wasn't actually available.

 

I book a cabin that I'm content with and think about whether I want to splurge or invest in an upgrade. We booked a balcony on the Epic for our next cruise. While I think the spa access would be a nice treat I really like our location so I'm inclined not to bid if we are offered the opportunity. Not sure I want to buy spa passes as we won't really have a lot of time to use it on our Mediterranean itinerary, so we'll be fine with the Spice H2O options.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Nola26

[Birdie And Sue]

Another drama queen post.  Not getting your way does not equal a scam.  The cabin got booked.  If you wanted that cabin you should have booked it in the first place.  The correct title for your thread is "I did not book the cabin I really wanted and by the time I called in to change, the other cabins were all booked.  My bad!".

[Journeyandthedestination]

Sorry if you thought that was dramatic, my intent was to simply state the math of the situation,  and maybe let people know that they might want to check the numbers first. You are correct about the cabin selection, it was booked by family in a group and I originally went along because I did not want to complain. However I have now reached out to the original travel agent to simply purchase the room. I stand by my original post that the bidding may not a good idea. To other travelers: check the math of your situation, for the price of a bid (or less) on a upgrade where you don't get to choose your room,  you could just pay the fee for an upgrade, and choose the room. Make sure you check your numbers, just because NCL calls it a deal doesn't actually mean it is one. 

[AtlantaAlly]

Pretty soon they’ll be charging people for the opportunity to bid! 

 

All that said, From a business perspective, it makes sense that they would maximize the dollars gained from the bidding process pretty much ignoring what has already been paid, because those are sunk revenue. The only difference is that they may give priority to their loyalty program, but not much! If they did, wouldn’t it be listed all over their “list of benefits?” (Maybe it is, I didn’t spend the time to check)

[drvmywifecrzy]

Not a scam, without screenshots I don't believe this story

[debgreg]

On 10/29/2018 at 7:34 PM, JamieLogical said:

How does that make it a scam? You always had the option to call NCL and pay for a direct upgrade... If you weren't tracking prices and aware of the cost difference between the suite you bid on and your original room, how is that NCL's fault?

Unless you live in the UK 🤷‍♀️

[Journeyandthedestination]

3 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Not a scam, without screenshots I don't believe this story