How Many Move Up Cabins Does Celebrity Hold Back?

[Fla Mike]

We are sailing over Thanksgiving on the Nov 19 Infinity sailing. Booked well over a year ago in a C3 with a fantastic rate, and perks, and with the credit applied from my Celebrity Visa points, we are very, very happy.

 

I received the standard Move Up email a few weeks ago and as I mentioned, we are happy with our room.

Anyway, they wanted a minimum bid of $400.00 pp to move up to a SS. 

I had to look anyway, and at the time all cabin cats were still available except concierge.

 

Celebrity is sending me reminder emails every few days to place a bid.

As, of today the ship seems sold out.

 

So I wondering if they are holding back any cabins for the Move Up offers, and if so, what will they do with the lower priced cabins they get back?

Maybe they just want to see what other offers are still out there?

Edited November 9, 2018 by Fla Mike

[GUT2407]

I don’t believe they hold any back.

[jagoffee]

19 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I don’t believe they hold any back.

I believe the same.  Although they do accept bids for cabins that are not available, just in case they become available. 

[actuarian]

I am pretty sure that they do not hold any back.  My wife and I are on the same November 19 Infinity sailing that you are and we have bids that show as "pending" to upgrade our current category A2 room.  However, I think that the probability that any of those bids will still be successful has dropped at this point to about the same as the probability that we will win the lottery. 

 

The one time that we did have a successful move up bid, it was accepted 2 weeks before embarkation day.  By now (10 days before embarkation), they have probably already accepted all (or any) of the move-up bids that are successful.  Once they do that, the rooms that remain are in the lowest categories and they seem to have some kind of system for selling those at rock bottom prices or possibly even giving them away.  That would explain why our cruise shows as "sold out" today on the Celebrity web site.  Two days ago, it still showed a few available rooms but none of those were in veranda or higher categories.  

[cachouonacruise]

I am curious about this bidding process. 

 

Does Celebrity takes into account, the original price paid? the original category booked? The Captain Club status? when selecting who will get the upgrade? 

 

 

[actuarian]

2 hours ago, cachouonacruise said:

I am curious about this bidding process. 

 

Does Celebrity takes into account, the original price paid? the original category booked? The Captain Club status? when selecting who will get the upgrade? 

 

 

I think that Celebrity considers the actual process of selecting the winning bids to be a trade secret, so we can only guess.  However, my guess (based on the fact that I actually once won a move-up bid even though I had gotten a very low price when I purchased my original room) is that they accept the combination of bids that will allow them to collect the maximum additional revenue from the available rooms, without any consideration to the amounts that have already been collected. 

 

For example, imagine that two people are bidding for a single available Royal Suite and bidder A originally booked a Sky Suite for $5,000 and bids $1,500 to move up to the Royal Suite, while bidder B booked a Celebrity Suite for $7,000 and bids $1,200 to move up to the Royal Suite.  In that case, bidder A will get the Royal Suite simply because Celebrity already collected the $12,000 ($5,000 + $7,000) and it is better for Celebrity to collect an additional $1,500 than an additional $1,200.  Bidder A pays a total of $6,500 for the Royal Suite even though bidder B would have paid a total of $8,200 if bidder B had won.

 

However, in that instance, Celebrity would have also offered bidder A the opportunity to bid on a Celebrity Suite, even though all of the Celebrity Suites were already spoken for.  If bidder A puts in a bid of $500 for the Celebrity Suite, then bidder B will end up in the Royal Suite and bidder A will end up in the Celebrity Suite that bidder B originally booked.  That way, Celebrity will collect an additional total of $1,700 ($1,200 + 500), which is more than the $1,500 that Celebrity would have collected if bidder A had declined to bid on the Celebrity Suite and bid on the Royal Suite only.  When you bid on two different rooms, you can end up bidding against yourself. 

 

Of course, the actual process is much more complicated than this because there may be hundreds of bidders and thousands of different possible combinations.  Nevertheless, I developed financial software before I retired so I know that it would not be particularly difficult to program a computer to select the combination of winning bids that will maximize the revenue.  

[Fla Mike]

Thanks for the responses, and Actuarian , thank you for a well detailed explanation.

 

I still find it odd that they are soliciting for bids this late in the game when none maybe available.

 

Perhaps they are taking this bidding information and using it customize the "weak - strong" bid amounts for similar cruises?

[Oceangoer2]

Great explanation...tells me I can top waiting for a positive response to my move up bid.  6 days to cruise sail and still no 'you are not successful' response.  If they have no cabins, why do they solicit bids?  I can't see the advantage to X of cruisers becoming annoyed with this process.  Fools errand to bid again on future cruises;  program might just fail.

[Jim_Iain]

A number of guests I spoke with on Silhouette TA were offered a Move Up opportunity.   They called into the Shoreside Concierge to ask about how many cabins were available.    They were told that the ship was fully booked and the Move-Up was being used to create any upgrade list in case of a cancellation and/or no-show.   They explained that multiple categories are included as there would be a waterfall effect if say a Sky Suite moved up to a CS they then have  a Sky Suite available. 

 

While the chances of a no-show or cancelation are slim it does occur.   Last year there was a couple on our TA that had their passport stolen the day before the cruise and were unable to obtain a replacement fast enough.    This was before move up and they raffled it off for $10 a chance.   It was really sweet that a 70 year old couple sailing in an inside cabin for their 50th anniversary won.  Everyone was really happy for them.

[Covepointcruiser]

We were offered a bid up for the Penthouse Category three separate times for the Silhouette Transatlantic.    Because we were already in a RS, there was no incentive to move to the higher category.   You would get a larger room but no additional benefits other than the piano.   I still prefer Cunard’s “upgrade fairy”.   No extra payment is required and you receive a nice surprise.   I have heard that some passengers have a favorite cabin and are able to say “no upgrade” so they are not visited by the fairy.  We don’t mind and have always been pleased with the upgrade.

 

[jagoffee]

10 hours ago, actuarian said:

I think that Celebrity considers the actual process of selecting the winning bids to be a trade secret, so we can only guess.  However, my guess (based on the fact that I actually once won a move-up bid even though I had gotten a very low price when I purchased my original room) is that they accept the combination of bids that will allow them to collect the maximum additional revenue from the available rooms, without any consideration to the amounts that have already been collected. 

 

For example, imagine that two people are bidding for a single available Royal Suite and bidder A originally booked a Sky Suite for $5,000 and bids $1,500 to move up to the Royal Suite, while bidder B booked a Celebrity Suite for $7,000 and bids $1,200 to move up to the Royal Suite.  In that case, bidder A will get the Royal Suite simply because Celebrity already collected the $12,000 ($5,000 + $7,000) and it is better for Celebrity to collect an additional $1,500 than an additional $1,200.  Bidder A pays a total of $6,500 for the Royal Suite even though bidder B would have paid a total of $8,200 if bidder B had won.

 

However, in that instance, Celebrity would have also offered bidder A the opportunity to bid on a Celebrity Suite, even though all of the Celebrity Suites were already spoken for.  If bidder A puts in a bid of $500 for the Celebrity Suite, then bidder B will end up in the Royal Suite and bidder A will end up in the Celebrity Suite that bidder B originally booked.  That way, Celebrity will collect an additional total of $1,700 ($1,200 + 500), which is more than the $1,500 that Celebrity would have collected if bidder A had declined to bid on the Celebrity Suite and bid on the Royal Suite only.  When you bid on two different rooms, you can end up bidding against yourself. 

 

Of course, the actual process is much more complicated than this because there may be hundreds of bidders and thousands of different possible combinations.  Nevertheless, I developed financial software before I retired so I know that it would not be particularly difficult to program a computer to select the combination of winning bids that will maximize the revenue. 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, oceangoer2 said:

Great explanation...tells me I can top waiting for a positive response to my move up bid.  6 days to cruise sail and still no 'you are not successful' response.  If they have no cabins, why do they solicit bids?  I can't see the advantage to X of cruisers becoming annoyed with this process.  Fools errand to bid again on future cruises;  program might just fail.

Very nice explanation.  Your model details how I would do it if I was responsible for the selection of bids.

 

 

I received an email stating that my bid was not successful three days before our cruise.

 

IMO, it is a great program that gives many cruisers  an opportunity to be considered for a higher level cabin.  Sometimes it is a potential great deal and other times it is not worth a bid.  It is great to have a choice and an opportunity. 

 

For only selfish reasons,  the more people that chose not to participate the better.  It increases my odds if I submit a bid.

 

In my case, I will always be satisfied with my current category when I do not win a bid.  Win-Win

 

 

 

[actuarian]

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

   I still prefer Cunard’s “upgrade fairy”.   No extra payment is required and you receive a nice surprise. 

I think we all preferred the "upgrade fairy", or at least everyone who got an upgrade that way did.  However, cruise lines that still offer free upgrades are turning their backs on a source of revenue and that is a bad business practice.  Free upgrades were a marketing tool that made sense a few years years ago when computers were slower and more expensive.  Back then, the computer system that processed the move-up bids would have been a significant expense.  In 2018, such systems cost much less so I would be surprised if any cruise line is still giving free upgrades two years from now.

Edited November 10, 2018 by actuarian

[Baron Barracuda]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

A number of guests I spoke with on Silhouette TA were offered a Move Up opportunity.   They called into the Shoreside Concierge to ask about how many cabins were available.    They were told that the ship was fully booked and the Move-Up was being used to create any upgrade list in case of a cancellation and/or no-show.   They explained that multiple categories are included as there would be a waterfall effect if say a Sky Suite moved up to a CS they then have  a Sky Suite available. 

 

While the chances of a no-show or cancelation are slim it does occur.   Last year there was a couple on our TA that had their passport stolen the day before the cruise and were unable to obtain a replacement fast enough.    This was before move up and they raffled it off for $10 a chance.   It was really sweet that a 70 year old couple sailing in an inside cabin for their 50th anniversary won.  Everyone was really happy for them.

Agree with your logic on late cancellation, however a no-show cabin is fully paid for and don't know if X can legally sell it twice.  What happens if no-show is due to travel delay and guest attempts to join ship at later port?

[cachouonacruise]

Thank you very much Actuarian for the detailed explanation! It makes sense and helps me understand much better.

 

 

[actuarian]

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Agree with your logic on late cancellation, however a no-show cabin is fully paid for and don't know if X can legally sell it twice.  What happens if no-show is due to travel delay and guest attempts to join ship at later port?

I am pretty sure that it is legal to resell the cabin, as long as Celebrity has refunded the taxes and fees (which they do on request for no-shows).  If the no-show plans to join the ship at a later port, they must so inform the cruise line and they cannot request a refund of taxes and fees. 

 

The real problem is that 48 hours prior to embarkation, all remaining move-up bids receive a final acceptance or rejection.  A genuine no-show is likely to occur later than that so it will not trigger the acceptance of a move-up bid.  For example, if the couple that Jim_lain referred to had known their passports were stolen 48 hours before embarkation, they probably would have been able to obtain replacements, although it would have been expensive to get them that fast.

Edited November 10, 2018 by actuarian

[Swissmiss6253]

Is this only an American thing, I've not experienced this cruising from Australia or Asia?  Or is it only to certain categories of cruiser?

[actuarian]

You are only offered to bid on move-ups if you have previously agreed to allow Celebrity to send you marketing emails.  You can agree to that when you check in for a cruise on-line.  They also do not offer move-ups on all cruises but I do not know how they decide which cruises it applies to.  It does seem to apply to all Caribbean cruises.

[CEOofVacation]

4 hours ago, Swissmiss6253 said:

Is this only an American thing, I've not experienced this cruising from Australia or Asia?  Or is it only to certain categories of cruiser?

It is not an American thing.  On my next cruise in Dec, which is a Southeast Asia cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong, many people on the roll call including British and Australian passengers received the MoveUp email.

 

It is fairly new, and I sort of remember it being first reported in July of this year on this board.

Edited November 11, 2018 by CEOofVacation

[Swissmiss6253]

Thanks CEO, We last sailed with Celebrity October last year so that would explain it.  Sailing again in January, I'll be interested to see if we get one for that sailing.

[Jacleen8]

I just got an offer to upgrade to the Penthouse from our FV on Equinox. Wondering if it was a typo as it  was for $210 per person!!!  Does anyone know what the upgrade typically is for a 7 night Caribbean?

[korryp]

You don't need an email to participate in the Move Up bidding:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/bid-on-cruise-room-upgrade

 

Only open to certain countries. the UK is not one of them do to their rules on auctions.

 

 

[Alushar]

We probably came across the bottom end of this chain last year. We met a couple at dinner, actually twice, who were behaving strangley (and were in fact not very nice perhaps the worst people we have met cruising. They were particularly strange with their drinks orders and it became clear despite boasting about their Concierge cabin they didn't have a drink package. We found out their daughter worked for RCL and 2 days before the cruise was offered the cabin free, when it became available because of move ups, which she unfortunately passed onto her parents. It came without any perks. 

[mfs2k]

42 minutes ago, Alushar said:

We probably came across the bottom end of this chain last year. We met a couple at dinner, actually twice, who were behaving strangley (and were in fact not very nice perhaps the worst people we have met cruising. They were particularly strange with their drinks orders and it became clear despite boasting about their Concierge cabin they didn't have a drink package. We found out their daughter worked for RCL and 2 days before the cruise was offered the cabin free, when it became available because of move ups, which she unfortunately passed onto her parents. It came without any perks. 

 

Wait... if I bought a cabin and it included perks, then had my move-up bid accepted later, would I lose my perks???  That would suck.

[korryp]

You don’t lose your perks but you don’t get the extra captains club points either. 

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, Jacleen8 said:

I just got an offer to upgrade to the Penthouse from our FV on Equinox. Wondering if it was a typo as it  was for $210 per person!!!  Does anyone know what the upgrade typically is for a 7 night Caribbean?

We currently have an AQ cabin and the move up bit for a Penthouse was well over $1000 for a 10 night cruise.  If it is really showing $210 per person I would be bidding for sure!