Can someone explain this whole "Bidding" thing to me?

[patrice1]

Thanks. New to NCL, kind of, (Cruised them in 2003 and loved Freestyle) but not to cruising and have never experienced this. Have a guarenteed oceanview on the Star in November.

[spanishguy1970]

I am currently in a Balcony Guarantee, i am currently participating in the bidding system to upgrade to either the Haven Spa suite, or Spa mini suite...you make an offer, and if you are approved you get the upgrade, is as simple as that.

[redhatters]

nickle and dimed to death!

[RedRover96]

https://www.ncl.com/es/en/content/upgrade-advantage-faq

[PTC DAWG]

Not much to it, IF you get an invite, bid IF you want to, or not. 

[rabidstoat]

See, in the old days, when people didn't book all the balconies, say, they would upgrade some of their loyal cruisers for free, moving them from their booked inside cabin into a balcony as a happy little bonus for them cruising with NCL.

 

Then someone realized hey, we can get people to give us more money to upgrade to those rooms! If it's going to go empty, the cost of servicing a balcony versus an inside is negligible. So they see if they can suck a couple hundred bucks out of someone to upgrade now, typically waiting until a week or less before the cruise to announce upgrade winners to give maximum time for some new customer to book the room.

[ColeThornton]

2 minutes ago, rabidstoat said:

See, in the old days, when people didn't book all the balconies, say, they would upgrade some of their loyal cruisers for free, moving them from their booked inside cabin into a balcony as a happy little bonus for them cruising with NCL.

 

Then someone realized hey, we can get people to give us more money to upgrade to those rooms! If it's going to go empty, the cost of servicing a balcony versus an inside is negligible. So they see if they can suck a couple hundred bucks out of someone to upgrade now, typically waiting until a week or less before the cruise to announce upgrade winners to give maximum time for some new customer to book the room.

 

Seems like a smart business strategy.

[Seawoff]

it is an interesting process.

 

we booked a BB balcony on the star for two week cruise,  at exactly 80 days  we were invited to bid for upgrade.

I submitted a bid of $750 each.  We were notified within two days that we were moved up to two bedroom suite  SC.

 

Best money I ever spent.  Have fun bidding if you want to move up.   all they can do is say yes or no.

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Seawoff
misspelled

[bonvoyagie]

The only bad thing about the bidding for a full suite (not mini) is that you do not get all of the booking perks of the suite and you loose the extra Latitude point, I am not sure if it has raised the prices for those of us who start in a suite or not.

 

Been cruising since 02 and there was once an "upgrade fairy" who would contact you (or your TA) for the chance to move up a cabin level or two. I got one of those on my first cruise - it was not free but at a reduced price from the normal fare. They usually moved you up one category (maybe two) which in the end would leave some insides that they could dump at greatly reduced rates. If I remember right the upgrade came just before final payment.

 

It is possibly better for NCL to do the bidding thing over the upgrade fairy thing.

[davy jones]

It allows almost everyone to voluntarily participate in the upgrade process, instead of hoping for a call from the upgrade fairy.  It makes sense to NCL because agents are not making cold calls offering upgrades to those who are not interested.  People interested in upgrades bid what they are willing to pay.  I imagine it brings more revenue and less cost to NCL than the upgrade calls.

[patrice1]

Thanks, all.

[Loreni]

What if you booked through a travel agent?  Does NCL contact you directly to invite you to bid?

[Laszlo]

27 minutes ago, Loreni said:

What if you booked through a travel agent?  Does NCL contact you directly to invite you to bid?

Some participate, some don't, you will need to check with your TA. From past experiences your TA will be notified when you are

[Katie H]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Some participate, some don't, you will need to check with your TA. From past experiences your TA will be notified when you are

I book through a TA and I am always notified directly by NCL with the offer to bid - I'm not sure my TA is even aware of it.  Also, when you log into your account, there is the "Let's Get You Upgraded" banner.