Upgrade bid experiences

[Grandma Cruising]

7 hours ago, Doh15 said:

I just noticed in the fine print of my travel agent documents (from a large well-known US-based company) it says they do not “participate in cruise line bid-based stateroom upgrade programs.”  
 

I am wondering if that means we won’t be eligible, or if it means we might be eligible but we’ll need to log in and check if that’s something we are interested in. 
 

We picked a cabin we’d be happy with and I doubt we would successfully bid if we were eligible but I am a little curious if anyone knows the answer. 

Early on in the new system some people found they were ineligible and were told it was because their travel agent did not participate. It sounds like yours may be one of these.

[2ndsailing]

Bid Date:  January 6, 2020

Cruise Date:  February 20, 2020

length of cruise:  26 Nights South Africa to Dubai

Loyalty Level:  Discover Plus

minimum bid $400 US per person

amount bid:  $1,770 US per person (total $3,540 per cabin)

Upgrade cabin was a Club Continental Suite (6056)

Previous cabin was a V3 balcony

We also bid unsuccessfully on a Owner's Suite - our bid for that was $11,450 US for cabin

Received email 3 days before this cruise that our bid for the Club Continental Suite was successful

 

We were on a back to back (our second cruise was cancelled while we were on the first cruise but we had received a successful bid upgrade which I post here for reference purposes)

 

Bid Date:  January 2, 2020 (we received email to bid on the second cruise before we received the email for the 1st cruise)

Cruise Date:  March 17, 2020  (this cruise was cancelled due to Covid-19)

Length of Cruise: 11 Nights

Loyalty Level:  Discover Plus

Bid on Owner's Suite successfully

minimum bid:  $2800 US per person

Our bid:  $4110 US per person ($8220 for cabin)

This was considered a strong bid

Received successful bid email 17 days before the cruise

 

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, 2ndsailing said:

Bid Date:  January 6, 2020

Cruise Date:  February 20, 2020

length of cruise:  26 Nights South Africa to Dubai

Loyalty Level:  Discover Plus

minimum bid $400 US per person

amount bid:  $1,770 US per person (total $3,540 per cabin)

Upgrade cabin was a Club Continental Suite (6056)

Previous cabin was a V3 balcony

We also bid unsuccessfully on a Owner's Suite - our bid for that was $11,450 US for cabin

Received email 3 days before this cruise that our bid for the Club Continental Suite was successful

 

We were on a back to back (our second cruise was cancelled while we were on the first cruise but we had received a successful bid upgrade which I post here for reference purposes)

 

Bid Date:  January 2, 2020 (we received email to bid on the second cruise before we received the email for the 1st cruise)

Cruise Date:  March 17, 2020  (this cruise was cancelled due to Covid-19)

Length of Cruise: 11 Nights

Loyalty Level:  Discover Plus

Bid on Owner's Suite successfully

minimum bid:  $2800 US per person

Our bid:  $4110 US per person ($8220 for cabin)

This was considered a strong bid

Received successful bid email 17 days before the cruise

 

Thanks for the information 2ndsailing. I’ve added it to the spreadsheet, but just a couple of questions:- 

 - can you remember if your 2 bids for the February 20 cruise were weak, strong etc

- can you remember what the minimum bid was on the 20 February cruise for the     Owners Cabin bid
- what was the cabin grade that you had booked for the March 17th cruise

 

Don’t worry if you can’t remember, the information above is very helpful.

 

[2ndsailing]

4 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks for the information 2ndsailing. I’ve added it to the spreadsheet, but just a couple of questions:- 

 - can you remember if your 2 bids for the February 20 cruise were weak, strong etc

- can you remember what the minimum bid was on the 20 February cruise for the     Owners Cabin bid
- what was the cabin grade that you had booked for the March 17th cruise

 

Don’t worry if you can’t remember, the information above is very helpful.

 

I think the bids for Feb 20th were somewhere between weak and strong.  Unfortunately, forgot to record that before we left.

Min. bid for Owner's Suite for Febuary 20th was $4600 US per person

We had a V3 booked (same cabin for both cruises)

Interesting note on both bids.  They quote price in US dollars and we bid in US dollars, but we were charged in Canadian dollars (we are Canadian)

Don't know if you remember us from the Norway cruise last summer on the Journey.  We had an owner's suite on that cruise.

Heather

[Grandma Cruising]

1 minute ago, 2ndsailing said:

I think the bids for Feb 20th were somewhere between weak and strong.  Unfortunately, forgot to record that before we left.

Min. bid for Owner's Suite for Febuary 20th was $4600 US per person

We had a V3 booked (same cabin for both cruises)

Interesting note on both bids.  They quote price in US dollars and we bid in US dollars, but we were charged in Canadian dollars (we are Canadian)

Don't know if you remember us from the Norway cruise last summer on the Journey.  We had an owner's suite on that cruise.

Heather

Yes I do remember you Heather. You very kindly invited us to your suite which was lovely. That was a great cruise but seems a very long time ago now!

Thanks for the information, all added in to the spreadsheet.
 

 

[Lookyboy]

We didn't get the e-mail invitation to bid  for this same (Capetown cruise)(sorry old news) , so we bid ourselves via the web site. Received an acknowledgment for this bid.....even bid again, higher before we left home, as we hadn't heard anything. ...and received another e-mail thanking us.  Should say, we were discover plus in a balcony.

 

Did not hear back from Azamara at all, so we e-mailed them from Capetown when we arrived, the day before embarcation.   . To hear that we had been unsuccessful,  as these bids rely on availability only, and the cruise was fully booked. ....so no upgrades were available.

 

?????

 

But, it was still a fantastic cruise.

 

Thank you again Azamara..Captain, officers, staff and crew...you were Azamazing. 

[Mackdogmolly]

I wonder how upgrades will be handled with the new ownership?

[marinaro44]

20 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I wonder how upgrades will be handled with the new ownership?

Differently, I hope.

[malcliz]

Are the upgrades still working? I keep getting the message ‘sorry looks like you’re not eligible for an upgrade at this time’ but we seem to fit the conditions. 

[uktog]

I am not sure they are offering the scheme at present

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, malcliz said:

Are the upgrades still working? I keep getting the message ‘sorry looks like you’re not eligible for an upgrade at this time’ but we seem to fit the conditions. 

The upgrade bidding process that they last used seems to be intact. Have you made final payment?

[malcliz]

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

The upgrade bidding process that they last used seems to be intact. Have you made final payment?

Yes we have but we keep getting the message that we are not eligible. Will keep trying.  

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, malcliz said:

Yes we have but we keep getting the message that we are not eligible. Will keep trying.  

Hmm. Maybe try calling customer service to see what’s up?

[laurieb]

It is being offered; needs to be paid in full and within 90 days of sail date

[RW75]

During the past week i have received four emails inviting me to bid for upgrade on the the Quest 25th September departure.  Clearly low occupancy for this cruise  and very well priced in my opinion.  That said, don’t feel I will be bidding          Here are some upgrade options, priced per person for the entire duration of the cruise:

Club World Owner's Suite Our largest suites have been transformed to feature contemporary design elements that create an elegant and organic feel.   From $1,600 USD pp GET UPGRADED     Club Ocean Suite When you step inside your Club Ocean Suite, you step inside a large suite with elegant, contemporary décor.   From $1,300 USD pp GET UPGRADED     Club Spa Suite Love the feeling of being at the spa but never want to leave? With our Club Spa Suites, you won’t have to.   From $1,100 USD pp GET UPGRADED     Club Continent Suite The Club Continent suites are our smaller suites, yet spacious and comfortable. A wonderful and refined home away from home.   From $400 USD pp GET UPGRADED     Club Veranda Plus Stateroom Everything you love about our traditional Club Veranda Staterooms is included, plus extra perks and amenities to elevate your time on board. From $100 USD pp GET UPGRADED

[marinaro44]

Not sure if they're asking for bids or offering for a set price.

[Mackdogmolly]

Not clear to me either, but decent prices 

[laurieb]

I’ve been receiving offers to bid on the October 19 Quest sailing; CO bids starting at 4000.00 pp, from a Club Continent  😱

Edited September 4, 2021 by laurieb

[Fatfish]

WOW....Doesn't sound like a bargain for sure...... 4 available..

[malcliz]

We didn’t receive any of those upgrade offer emails but you can still bid for an upgrade  via the website in the same way we could before. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Don't forget that the top two suites comes with $300 OBC pp, so the upgrade prices are effectively even lower.  I would jump on that.

[RW75]

If I were not travelling alone, I would certainly be bidding for an upgrade, especially as there is clearly a huge amount of availability with the occupancy being cut. 

 

[floridafolks]

Have there been any reports of upgrade bids accepted since the restart?  I know there have been email offers to bid on upgrade, but I have not seen anyone who actually bid and had upgrade accepted. Am I missing something? 

[malcliz]

13 hours ago, floridafolks said:

Have there been any reports of upgrade bids accepted since the restart?  I know there have been email offers to bid on upgrade, but I have not seen anyone who actually bid and had upgrade accepted. Am I missing something? 

Yes we bid in August to upgrade for our September cruise and received notification a week before sailing that we had received the upgrade!  We didn’t receive any email offers but just bid via the website. It was great so definitely worth doing. 

[ChucktownSteve]

I booked the last P1 aft facing cabin on a December '21 cruise earlier this week as a solo after final payment.  There are no suites available to book on the AZ website either.  Shortly after booking I received an upgrade offer email.

 

All the upgrade prices are times TWO.  I've attached a screen shot of the minimum upgrade bids which are obviously the bottom of weak.

 

In case you can't read the jpg, here's the upgrade bottom line:

Club Continent Suite  $ 310 USD per guest (x 2)

Club Spa Suite  $ 2,000 USD per guest (x 2)

Club Ocean Suite  $ 2,400 USD per guest (x 2)

Club World Owner's Suite  $ 2,700 USD per guest (x 2)

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by ChucktownSteve