Upgrade Advantage Question

[fuentecat]

Hi All,

I recently booked a Southern Caribbean on the Epic for March 2020.  The difference in fare for the Haven vs my mini-suite is approx $3,000.  When I go to make a bid for the Upgrade, if I bid the equivalent of what I would pay outright for the Haven, the rating barely registers as "Good".  It also looks remarkably easy to end up bidding more than what you would pay directly at the time of booking for the Haven.  Do the ratings matter much?  What am I missing?  Thanks in advance for any insights.

 

[BirdTravels]

You are missing nothing. 
 

Depending on the pricing, it is often better to just pay retail and get the room without bidding. We have done that. 

Edited December 1, 2019 by BirdTravels

[julig22]

You are correct.  An upgrade may be cheaper than a "good" bid.  NCL will often let you do a single upgrade after final payment - and if you want the upgrade, call and ask.  Usually you would also keep the perks you had at booking.  But they can also say no - but then it could be a matter of talking to the right agent - some are more flexible than others!

[don't-use-real-name]

Since you are nearing the Final Payment cut off - I would call NCL and if that $3000 is affordable (your budget)

make an offer.

With bidding there are no guarantees.

Bidding in the medium (Good) range may work and you may be paying more but try the direct offer.

In any case bid/offer what you can afford.

 

[gizfish]

People have won bids in the poor category, and people have not won bids in the excellent category.  That pretty color dial thingie is probably just there to entice us to bid more than we want ; )

[fuentecat]

Thanks all for the information!

[Nola26]

If the retail price is within your price/budget range just call NCL and book. You will be eligible for all of the Haven promotions (you are only eligible for your mini-suite promotions when you bid) which may include some OBC.

[Bonnie23]

I took a cruise on NCL Star in November.  We had booked an obstructed ocean view and were offered to upgrade to balcony or mini-suite.  We bid to the fair category for the balcony and poor for the mini-suite (way too much $$$ to move to fair.). We were upgraded to the balcony and very happy!😊

[don't-use-real-name]

An advantage of calling NCL and making an Offer is you will have the opportunity to see what cabins are left

in inventory and make that selection rather then wait the bid process play out and get the last cabin left in the

worse location on the ship - and then added insult of paying more for it than you would by an offer !