Haven’t received “bid for upgrade email”

[pugsammy]

Hello...I have two cruises booked...End of February on the Sky and end of June on the Gem.

i have not received the upgrade email and it’s not in my mail on NCL....when do they typically send them? 
 

I just booked the February cruise this week.

 

thanks for your help!

[Burrata]

not everyone receives the email : (

 

[All-ready2cruise]

2 hours ago, pugsammy said:

Hello...I have two cruises booked...End of February on the Sky and end of June on the Gem.

i have not received the upgrade email and it’s not in my mail on NCL....when do they typically send them? 
 

I just booked the February cruise this week.

 

thanks for your help!

I've booked some cruises last minute and rec'd an Upgrade Advantage offer a day or two later.  It's possible that there are no cabins to upgrade to or if you booked through a travel agent, it's possible they don't participate in the program.  

How much inventory is still available to upgrade to?

  

Normally the offers will go out anywhere from 110 days (my current upcoming cruise) to 80 days or as mentioned soon after booking. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, pugsammy said:

Hello...I have two cruises booked...End of February on the Sky and end of June on the Gem.

i have not received the upgrade email and it’s not in my mail on NCL....when do they typically send them? 
 

I just booked the February cruise this week.

 

thanks for your help!

They normally come out 80 days prior to cruise. Too early for June. And the Feb, you prob won’t get one at this point. I Annie that you don’t see anything on your MyNCL home screen?
 

That being said, on a recent cruise, we got our email about 100 days out. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by BirdTravels

[Sauer-kraut]

Sometime you'll see it as you log into myncl page.

[xcell]

Did you book directly with NCL or a TA?  If the latter, then chances are your TA (i.e. some big box stores -- costco) do not subscribe to the bidding system.

[jancl57]

I have 2 cruises booked and both paid in full.  One Feb 22.  I received the "let's get you upgraded" email the day after my final payment.  The 2nd cruise I have booked is May 28.  I paid balance last Thursday and haven't received an offer to bid email.  We did book the FEb cruise directly through NCL and the May cruise through a TA.    I'm veyr happy with our location on he May cruise so I'm sure we will fine.

[MrsKC08]

As mentioned above. Not everyone gets the upgrade email...it's completely random.

[JamieLogical]

9 minutes ago, MrsKC08 said:

As mentioned above. Not everyone gets the upgrade email...it's completely random.

 

I don't know about "completely random"... I have never NOT gotten the upgrade offer on any of my 8 cruises. Some I have booked a year in advance and some I have booked only a month or two out. I *have* booked all of them directly through NCL.

[MrsKC08]

10 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I don't know about "completely random"... I have never NOT gotten the upgrade offer on any of my 8 cruises. Some I have booked a year in advance and some I have booked only a month or two out. I *have* booked all of them directly through NCL.

I've been told both by NCL, Travel Agents, and those who have asked top officers that it is truly a random "lottery" system that is generated by their systems. You must be one of the lucky ones who ALWAYS gets an offer. I've talked to many who are frequent NCL cruisers with many nights under their belt and there were a few who never got on a offer and some who could count on one hand with fingers left over. So...dunno.

[JamieLogical]

3 minutes ago, MrsKC08 said:

I've been told both by NCL, Travel Agents, and those who have asked top officers that it is truly a random "lottery" system that is generated by their systems. You must be one of the lucky ones who ALWAYS gets an offer. I've talked to many who are frequent NCL cruisers with many nights under their belt and there were a few who never got on a offer and some who could count on one hand with fingers left over. So...dunno.

 

Guess my whole family is lucky? My parents and my brother and his SO have also always gotten the offer.

[MrsKC08]

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Guess my whole family is lucky? My parents and my brother and his SO have also always gotten the offer.

That's awesome. Others just haven't had that kind of luck.

[spanishguy1970]

13 minutes ago, MrsKC08 said:

I've been told both by NCL, Travel Agents, and those who have asked top officers that it is truly a random "lottery" system that is generated by their systems. You must be one of the lucky ones who ALWAYS gets an offer. I've talked to many who are frequent NCL cruisers with many nights under their belt and there were a few who never got on a offer and some who could count on one hand with fingers left over. So...dunno.

We are going on the Bliss this coming April for 21 days and we got the email for the first time 110 days out, We put up a bid of course with no answer yet. On other cruises we have to wait 80 days out to sign on to our NCL account and see the " let's get you upgraded " link to actually bid. We have never won a bid LOL

Edited January 22, 2020 by spanishguy1970

[RedwingHockeyFan]

On the cruise I am taking on 1FEB they started filling the balcony upgrades from inside and OV already but haven't filled any of the spa upgrades.  There are also still a handful of Balcony room available but only as guarantee.  I imagine if you purchased a balcony room or lower that they are past the point for upgrading that category.

[david_sobe]

Oh boy, I had the opposite situation where the email bid offers would not stop coming via my personal email and NCL site.  First of all, we are in a 2 bedroom suite so there is nowhere to upgrade excepted the DOS which there are only 2.  They have been sold for almost a year so its unlikely they would be resold by bids.  One day I got so tired of the emails that I actually put in a low ball bid just to stop the emails.  Then part of me regretted it because I really don't want to upgrade and spend more money.

NCL really plans ahead and wants several customers on stand by to fill cancellations or unsold cabins.  This will always keep prices artificially high IMHO.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I don't know about "completely random"... I have never NOT gotten the upgrade offer on any of my 8 cruises. Some I have booked a year in advance and some I have booked only a month or two out. I *have* booked all of them directly through NCL.

Count me as always getting an offer.  Twice on one cruise - once to upgrade my original cabin and then again to upgrade after I'd upgraded (at no cost when prices went down).  Don't always get the email but when I log in, the upgrade banner would be there.  I have gotten the offer as early as 110+ days out - still waiting to hear on that one.  For an upcoming cruise I noticed the banner around 80 days out, bid was accepted 11 days later.

 

I personally feel that offers may be random but are also based on a combination of factors.  You are more likely to get an offer if you have a cabin that they think they can resell for that cruise - and undersold inventory for a category upgrade.  On port-intensive cruises, people may choose inside or OV instead of balcony.  If OV then sells out (which is the situation where I won my bid), they want to bump people out of the OV's and into balconies or suites.  Also numbers matter - easier to move a solo or double than a family.

[JamieLogical]

25 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I personally feel that offers may be random but are also based on a combination of factors.  You are more likely to get an offer if you have a cabin that they think they can resell for that cruise - and undersold inventory for a category upgrade.

 

 

I don't know, I'm booked in a BA for my March 22 sailing and there are still over 100 BAs available as of yesterday, yet I am constantly getting spammed with the upgrade offer emails...

[dmdiver]

I received an upgrade email yesterday, as did my friend in another cabin.  Thing is, the upgraded cabin is less than what I paid for the one I'm in.  So, I'm not going to pay even more.  I'm even more annoyed that they don't offer price protection on the cabin I already have booked.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

8 minutes ago, dmdiver said:

I received an upgrade email yesterday, as did my friend in another cabin.  Thing is, the upgraded cabin is less than what I paid for the one I'm in.  So, I'm not going to pay even more.  I'm even more annoyed that they don't offer price protection on the cabin I already have booked.

Did you call ncl directly and see if they will upgrade you for free then, that can happen it's worth a fifteen minute phone call

[dmdiver]

Yes, they would have upgraded us from a balcony to a mini-suite.  We thought about taking it, but decided not to, since the only difference is the size of the bathroom.  If it had been to Haven or some full suite, that would be different.  As it is, I'd rather have an onboard credit for the difference.  If we weren't within the penalty period, we would have cancelled & re-booked & saved some money.  They did offer a little OBC, which is better than nothing for sure - better than a bigger bathroom.  We've just been spoiled with Carnival because when we book early saver, we are eligible to get OBC for price drops up to 3 days before cruising.  

[hamrag]

16 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

 

I don't know, I'm booked in a BA for my March 22 sailing and there are still over 100 BAs available as of yesterday, yet I am constantly getting spammed with the upgrade offer emails...

I have noticed a trend of logic and deep analysis to your posts so, if I may, how do you find that info' re available cabins as what we see here in the UK is a max of 15 showing per category? As an example, we are planning to sail Spirit on a 24 night cruise from Cape Town to Singapore on that same date i.e. March 22 and it looks like there is loads of availability still for inside and outside cabins....less so for balcony.

 

I can see almost 100 insides, about 40 outsides and 30 balconies so I am minded to hang off until we are into 75% penalty territory from next week. But there may be much more than that available, as some categories have 15 showing, is that likely?

 

Many thanks for any insight.

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

I have noticed a trend of logic and deep analysis to your posts so, if I may, how do you find that info' re available cabins as what we see here in the UK is a max of 15 showing per category? As an example, we are planning to sail Spirit on a 24 night cruise from Cape Town to Singapore on that same date i.e. March 22 and it looks like there is loads of availability still for inside and outside cabins....less so for balcony.

 

I can see almost 100 insides, about 40 outsides and 30 balconies so I am minded to hang off until we are into 75% penalty territory from next week. But there may be much more than that available, as some categories have 15 showing, is that likely?

 

Many thanks for any insight.

 

There are some TA sites that will show up to 100 cabins in a category instead of just the 15 shown in NCL. Unfortunately, I cannot name specific TAs on Cruise Critic, as it is against the rules.

[Mike_DeA]

21 hours ago, julig22 said:

  You are more likely to get an offer if you have a cabin that they think they can resell for that cruise - and undersold inventory for a category upgrade.  On port-intensive cruises, people may choose inside or OV instead of balcony.  If OV then sells out (which is the situation where I won my bid), they want to bump people out of the OV's and into balconies or suites.  Also numbers matter - easier to move a solo or double than a family.

 

I've gotten invitations to bid when I've book a sailaway (guarantee) cabin.

[rachiem]

We booked through a TA (UK) and haven't received an offer...sailing the Gem in Mch.

Didn't realise that this could be a TA thing. I've not been impressed with my TA (didn't use my usual one as they gave me a better deal) but in future I will probably book directly or with another TA that I've used and have always been excellent.

We did fancy an upgrade this time but when the TA called the cost was a lot more than we wanted to pay and the TA was charging an admin fee too.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Mike_DeA said:

 

I've gotten invitations to bid when I've book a sailaway (guarantee) cabin.

No reason you wouldn't since Sailaway cabins are no different than any other cabin, once assigned.  Nearly any cabin can be offered an upgrade.  It just depends on inventory.  If they have a lot of unsold balconies they might offer cheap bids to inside or ov.  Once you are onboard it doesn't cost them anymore to have you in a balcony, so if they can get more money out of you by putting you in an unsold cabin, they come out ahead.  Plus they can then sell remaining inside and ov at last minute bargain rates.