Defhermit Posted April 11, 2019 #1 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Hey there all, I'm booked for an inside 'sailaway' cabin and have an opportunity to bid for a possible upgrade to a window or balcony room. I really have no interest in paying any more for a window, but a balcony could really improve my experience a lot, and I might be willing to part with some dollars to make that happen. Will the fact that I'm solo hinder my chances at succeeding? Followup: I know everyone asks this and there is probably not a great answer, but: how much should I bid for a balcony upgrade from an inside 'sailaway' booking? Is there a trick (eg: X percent of the difference between the currently-listed price of the balcony room and the price I paid for the room I already have)? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrown84 Posted April 12, 2019 #2 Share Posted April 12, 2019 I can't imagine that it would matter since you'll be paying double your bid amount, no matter if there is one or two of you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLAHAM Posted April 12, 2019 #3 Share Posted April 12, 2019 No because your upgrade bid will be based on two passengers regardless (i.e., if you bid $500 your actual total bid will be $1,000). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted April 12, 2019 Author #4 Share Posted April 12, 2019 oooh. I did NOT know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Nclgetawaymenhoney Posted April 12, 2019 #5 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Yes upgrade advantage whether one or four in cabin is always at two times the bid rate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin13 Posted April 12, 2019 #6 Share Posted April 12, 2019 11 hours ago, Defhermit said: oooh. I did NOT know that. I had a chance to upgrade and when I read the small print about having to pay for two I said forgot it. Also, you are stuck with the cabin that they select for you so if you currently like your location I would keep it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibby sails Posted April 12, 2019 #7 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Doesn't hurt to try a low bid. I have tried and got rejected twice but didn't matter because I like my present room anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrown84 Posted April 12, 2019 #8 Share Posted April 12, 2019 yes, I'm cruising solo on 4/28. I have an inside, with a low ($50) bid on a balcony. If I get it, then great. $100 for a balcony upgrade. If not, I'm more than happy with my current room. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin13 Posted April 12, 2019 #9 Share Posted April 12, 2019 1 hour ago, dbrown84 said: yes, I'm cruising solo on 4/28. I have an inside, with a low ($50) bid on a balcony. If I get it, then great. $100 for a balcony upgrade. If not, I'm more than happy with my current room. Yeah $100 for a balcony upgrade would be great. Sure hope you get it as a balcony sure beats an inside cabin any day of the week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_DeA Posted April 15, 2019 #10 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Minimum bids are not likely to win, better to step it up even if it's just $10-15. Even then it's a longshot. Do what you are comfortable with. I recently won an inside to balcony upgrade for $260 total( $130x2) but there were over 100 balcony cabins available 4 weeks prior to sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted April 15, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted April 15, 2019 50 minutes ago, Mike_DeA said: Minimum bids are not likely to win, better to step it up even if it's just $10-15. Even then it's a longshot. Do what you are comfortable with. I recently won an inside to balcony upgrade for $260 total( $130x2) but there were over 100 balcony cabins available 4 weeks prior to sailing. I'll probably try like $220 today. I really don't think I need a balcony but I feel like having one for 7 nights is money better spent than spending that same amount on an excursion in Ketchikan, right? Thanks for the replies everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_DeA Posted April 15, 2019 #12 Share Posted April 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Defhermit said: I'll probably try like $220 today. I really don't think I need a balcony but I feel like having one for 7 nights is money better spent than spending that same amount on an excursion in Ketchikan, right? Thanks for the replies everyone! It's really a personal choice. I would not sail to Alaska without a balcony, but that's just me. Since it is Alaska, I wouldn't skip an excursion that you really wanted to do if you can afford it, unless you plan to return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted April 17, 2019 Author #13 Share Posted April 17, 2019 After payday hit today I decided to really try for a balcony tonight. I bid $205 for a total bid of $410 to upgrade my solo sailaway cabin to a balcony. I bid nothing for an oceanview. What are my chances? When will I hear the results? I'm booked for Norwegian Joy to Alaska June 1-8th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_DeA Posted April 17, 2019 #14 Share Posted April 17, 2019 5 hours ago, Defhermit said: After payday hit today I decided to really try for a balcony tonight. I bid $205 for a total bid of $410 to upgrade my solo sailaway cabin to a balcony. I bid nothing for an oceanview. What are my chances? When will I hear the results? I'm booked for Norwegian Joy to Alaska June 1-8th. Where does that put on the range finder (poor, fair, good, etc.)? I think you have a pretty good chance at that bid level, it really depends on how many balcony cabins become available, either unsold or people moving up via their bids to mini-suite and the Haven. I would also give NCL a call and find out the price to upgrade directly to a balcony, it may be in the same ballpark of your current bid, and this way you wouldn't be waiting around to find out if your bid gets accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince_g Posted April 17, 2019 #15 Share Posted April 17, 2019 (edited) Call NCL and tell them you want to upgrade your reservation. NCL website shows 1 passenger price for sailaway inside at $1,274 and sailaway balcony price for 1 passenger at $1,499. You should be able to upgrade without bidding for $225. Edited April 17, 2019 by vince_g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted April 17, 2019 Author #16 Share Posted April 17, 2019 weird I didn't even know a straight pay-for-it upgrade was possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince_g Posted April 17, 2019 #17 Share Posted April 17, 2019 3 hours ago, Defhermit said: weird I didn't even know a straight pay-for-it upgrade was possible. I just did this yesterday. For our upcoming last minute cruise to Bermuda, we paid $599 for a sail-away inside. We then bid $100 per person. Yesterday I noticed the price for a sail-away balcony had dropped to $699. I immediately called them and upgraded to a sail-away balcony for $200 more. Originally the spread between sail-away inside and sail-away balcony was $400 per person. That was only on April 9th. We even had our balcony assigned by the end of the day. It ended up being a very good cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger727 Posted April 17, 2019 #18 Share Posted April 17, 2019 3 hours ago, vince_g said: Call NCL and tell them you want to upgrade your reservation. NCL website shows 1 passenger price for sailaway inside at $1,274 and sailaway balcony price for 1 passenger at $1,499. You should be able to upgrade without bidding for $225. Right, but when I’ve done this in the past it’s never mattered what my cabin was currently worth. Just what I paid. So if OP got his cabin for under $1089, the bid is still lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted April 17, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted April 17, 2019 The bid I put in was JUST into the 'fair' category. I paid ~1100 for my sailaway inside cabin, so we're basically breaking even in terms of the difference between my bid and the gap between what I paid and what a balcony is going for now. I don't really feel motivated to call NCL up and try to negotiate this. Someone please call me a lazy idiot for not doing this? Is this a no-brainer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser_1977 Posted April 17, 2019 #20 Share Posted April 17, 2019 @Defhermit If I'm reading correctly and you can call today and guarantee a balcony for the same price or less than your bid ==> you are a lazy idiot 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince_g Posted April 17, 2019 #21 Share Posted April 17, 2019 4 hours ago, sanger727 said: Right, but when I’ve done this in the past it’s never mattered what my cabin was currently worth. Just what I paid. So if OP got his cabin for under $1089, the bid is still lower. Yes, the only thing that matters is what they paid, which the OP did not say previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_DeA Posted April 18, 2019 #22 Share Posted April 18, 2019 19 hours ago, Defhermit said: The bid I put in was JUST into the 'fair' category. I paid ~1100 for my sailaway inside cabin, so we're basically breaking even in terms of the difference between my bid and the gap between what I paid and what a balcony is going for now. I don't really feel motivated to call NCL up and try to negotiate this. Someone please call me a lazy idiot for not doing this? Is this a no-brainer? Since you asked.. you are for sure lazy for not calling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted May 2, 2019 Author #23 Share Posted May 2, 2019 So I took the polite chiding that was offered in this thread and I called up about just paying for an upgrade. At that point a few weeks ago the cost of a straight upgrade was a bit more than the $410 upgrade big I still have pending so I held off. The woman I spoke to on the phone at NCL actually suggested that I keep checking the prices on the balcony, so I've been doing so! Yesterday I saw that the price for balcony has actually dropped for the first time since I've been tracking it, down to 1574 from the ~1650 its been for a few weeks. The difference between what I paid (~1100 plus fees/etc) and this new price is verrrry close to the pending upgrade big I still have. So here's my questions: if I call them up and pay the difference between the 1100 I paid and the 1574 the balcony is currently listed at, are there any other fees that I'll get dinged with? The cruise is currently 1 month out (yesterday was actually the exact '1 month out' date, maybe that's why the price went down?) Is this price likely to drop any lower? Any other tips? I sort of have gotten my hopes up to have a balcony but I don't want to pay more than I have to! Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defhermit Posted May 3, 2019 Author #24 Share Posted May 3, 2019 bump! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser1955a Posted May 3, 2019 #25 Share Posted May 3, 2019 18 hours ago, Defhermit said: So I took the polite chiding that was offered in this thread and I called up about just paying for an upgrade. At that point a few weeks ago the cost of a straight upgrade was a bit more than the $410 upgrade big I still have pending so I held off. The woman I spoke to on the phone at NCL actually suggested that I keep checking the prices on the balcony, so I've been doing so! Yesterday I saw that the price for balcony has actually dropped for the first time since I've been tracking it, down to 1574 from the ~1650 its been for a few weeks. The difference between what I paid (~1100 plus fees/etc) and this new price is verrrry close to the pending upgrade big I still have. So here's my questions: if I call them up and pay the difference between the 1100 I paid and the 1574 the balcony is currently listed at, are there any other fees that I'll get dinged with? The cruise is currently 1 month out (yesterday was actually the exact '1 month out' date, maybe that's why the price went down?) Is this price likely to drop any lower? Any other tips? I sort of have gotten my hopes up to have a balcony but I don't want to pay more than I have to! Thanks a lot. The upgrade notifications are still being made up to 48 hours before sailing. There may/will be several more price changes in the final month. The suites are probably notified last. It only takes one upgrade from a balcony to suite, to free up a balcony for you. Keep your fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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