MSC Upgrade program

[caffeine_demon]

Hi,

 

Just got an invite to bid on the "upgrade program" for my virtuosa cruise, and was wondering if if my offere is rejected, do I get a chance to make a higher offer, or is it tough titties  after 1 bid?

 

Thanks

[kernow]

We've just had the offer too. I assume it's just one bid and the higher offers get the cabins. Not sure if you can bid in more than one category.

[caffeine_demon]

Says you can bid on more than one category..

 

Whilst I'm on - another quick q - it says the price is "per person based on 2 sharing" - so I assume that as a single, if I bid £100, the total will be 200?

[LifeonMars]

5 minutes ago, caffeine_demon said:

Says you can bid on more than one category..

 

Whilst I'm on - another quick q - it says the price is "per person based on 2 sharing" - so I assume that as a single, if I bid £100, the total will be 200?

 

yep 

[rattla]

Personally i think I’ll leave it as I booked what I did as it’s what I wanted and I’m not seeing these upgrade prices are really much less than I paid when I booked? Maybe YC inside the only exception, but the the price online has now come for under £1000 for the 4 day cruises too.

[dexddd]

There has been little info here about bidding.  Supposedly they use same third party as NCL where lots of info.

 

Reports are submit bid, you can change, but no report of contact to increase bid if someone else outbids you.

[rattla]

55 minutes ago, dexddd said:

There has been little info here about bidding.  Supposedly they use same third party as NCL where lots of info.

 

Reports are submit bid, you can change, but no report of contact to increase bid if someone else outbids you.

i think it’s fairly new and the first time it’s been offered to UK cruisers.

[nyk24]

Personally I think getting the upgrade is a gamble, you don't know where they are going to stick you. If I wanted an upgrade it would have to be one from the upgrade fairy haha. At least then I wouldn't feel short changed.

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

There has been little info here about bidding.  Supposedly they use same third party as NCL where lots of info.

 

Reports are submit bid, you can change, but no report of contact to increase bid if someone else outbids you.

 

They use the same company as NCL, it's not like eBay where you bid it up, you put in a sealed bid so nobody outbids you, you just put in a best offer, highest wins.

[annarack]

Which dates are people receiving these offers for please?  I had hoped MSC might give some free upgrades with the ships being so empty!  Would have been a good way to hook new MSC passengers on higher grade cabins for future cruises, but I guess this system might do that as well - plus give MSC that little bit higher income.  Good luck with your bids everyone.

[nyk24]

1 minute ago, annarack said:

Which dates are people receiving these offers for please?  I had hoped MSC might give some free upgrades with the ships being so empty!  Would have been a good way to hook new MSC passengers on higher grade cabins for future cruises, but I guess this system might do that as well - plus give MSC that little bit higher income.  Good luck with your bids everyone.

July 17th......I am sure MSC will still give free upgrades, if you think outside the box;)

[pmd98052]

June 1st sailing and we received this today. It went to my wife's email and was addressed to our son which makes no sense given I made the booking. Cost is absurdly high and to be honest moving from aft suite to a forward cabin with hot tub sounds great but when the ship is sailing (and if the weather is poor) an aft balcony cannot be beat!

[Drivencruise]

1 hour ago, Couple-Somerset said:

We booked cheapest Inside for the first cruise on May 20th - upgrade offer from £25 to move to Oceanview - so £6.25 per person per night is worth a small upgrade bid.

 

I still think they will upgrade free on the low occupancy sailings to June 21st - but easier for them to upgrade me to a Balcony if I'm in an Oceanview so worth the £25 (IF our "bid" is accepted of course).

 

We have a Balcony for our 7N on June 12th and we're happy with that as the ship will have max 1,000 guests - if it was 40%-75% occupancy, we would try to get in to YC.

 

.

 

 

It’s value at that . I’m reluctant though , my gty inside is mid ship 13 and Fantastica , with a 11am board . I don’t want any new edocs with a later time 🙈

[CaroleC]

2 hours ago, annarack said:

Which dates are people receiving these offers for please? 

I had two come together today, one for my May 24th sailing and the other for July 3rd. Upgrade offers were both the same which I thought was strange as the May cruise is 4N whereas July is 7N 🤷‍♀️

[Malibustacey79]

I’ve had two today for the same sailing - in July - both addressed to my mum even though I’m the lead passenger. I won’t be bidding as we have a great cabin that we’re really excited about. 
 

I haven’t heard anything at all about the guarantee balcony I booked for myself and my husband in June though...not that I’m interested in bidding on that one either but seems odd since it’s sooner?

 

Re: the guarantee cabin in June - could this remain unconfirmed until the actual sail date? 

[glynbob]

Hi all, has anyone had their bids accepted for the 20th and 24th May sailings? 

[Até]

2 hours ago, glynbob said:

Hi all, has anyone had their bids accepted for the 20th and 24th May sailings? 

With US bookings the winning bids, made through the same company, were usually not awarded until after 48 hours before sailing.  I met several people at boarding who did not know they had won their bid.  However, a very high bid will often get accepted soon after it's made.

[glynbob]

20 minutes ago, Até said:

With US bookings the winning bids, made through the same company, were usually not awarded until after 48 hours before sailing.  I met several people at boarding who did not know they had won their bid.  However, a very high bid will often get accepted soon after it's made.

Thanks for the info, I'll just wait and see what happens and hope for the best. 👍

 

[kernow]

1 hour ago, Até said:

With US bookings the winning bids, made through the same company, were usually not awarded until after 48 hours before sailing.  I met several people at boarding who did not know they had won their bid.  However, a very high bid will often get accepted soon after it's made.

Do they notify you if your bid was unsuccessful like RCL do?

[debgreg]

Does anyone know do you get the chance to upgrade if booked through a travel agent. I know with one of them ( can’t remember which🤔) TA had to participate, we’ve booked through Cruise Nation ?

[kernow]

4 minutes ago, debgreg said:

Does anyone know do you get the chance to upgrade if booked through a travel agent. I know with one of them ( can’t remember which🤔) TA had to participate, we’ve booked through Cruise Nation ?

Yes, we booked through a TA and had the upgrade email directly from MSC.

[debgreg]

Just now, kernow said:

Yes, we booked through a TA and had the upgrade email directly from MSC.

Thanks, I did status match and have still had nothing, just done it again 🤷‍♀️

[Até]

27 minutes ago, kernow said:

Do they notify you if your bid was unsuccessful like RCL do?

I do not think they notify unsuccessful bidders.

 

8 minutes ago, debgreg said:

Does anyone know do you get the chance to upgrade if booked through a travel agent. I know with one of them ( can’t remember which🤔) TA had to participate, we’ve booked through Cruise Nation ?

In the US it was only offered through participating travel agents or direct bookings.  MSC states in order to receive a bidding offer  you do have to be signed up to receive marketing emails through your MSC profile.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Até

[debgreg]

14 minutes ago, kernow said:Yes, we booked through a TA and had the upgrade email directly from MSC.

Do you get the upgrade offer before or after check in 🤷‍♀️ Thanks 

[CaroleC]

25 minutes ago, kernow said:

Yes, we booked through a TA and had the upgrade email directly from MSC.

Same as us