Ncl upgrade program

[BklynBorn47]

I am the OP, a seasoned cruiser but new to this upgrade thing.

We got the upgrade notice yesterday for the Transatlantic sailing on the Escape April 25th!

All but 1 option was for the Haven.

We always just booked the cabin we wanted (nice balcony, mid ship) and stayed there.

Now, wondering if this is the time to try out the Haven.

Never done transatlantic before  - 7 days at sea & 9 ports - sounds to us still better than at home.
Considering the total cost (Transatlantic followed by B2B on the Star), this may be the time.

Decisions, decisions!
Looking at the 2 bdrm villa - for the 2 of us I think I will feel like a queen.
Any advice appreciated.

[norway olin]

1 hour ago, BklynBorn47 said:

Looking at the 2 bdrm villa - for the 2 of us I think I will feel like a queen.
Any advice appreciated.

Go for it.  Bid whatever you are comfortable with.  Right now there are 11 Haven Courtyard Suites unfilled , but only one 2BR.  I would bid on all Haven rooms, although the 2BR is least likely.

  

We just got off the Encore. I had bid on all Haven rooms and won the Haven Spa even though that was marked as sold out for 3 months before the trip and the status never changed.

[nhtravels]

Just got word of our upgrade for the Bliss (2/4)!  We went from a Haven Aft with Large Balcony to a Haven 2 Br. with Large Balcony.  There were only 3 H5's available and 1 H6 when we were bidding.

 

Our bid was just over the fair line.  (We paid $865 pp)  This being a 16 day cruise, we felt that it was money worth spent for us.

 

The price difference between the HB and the H5 when we booked was almost $3600.  So we ultimately saved $1900 to have the extra space and be in the Haven proper.  After having a 2 Br. at the beginning of January, this is our favorite cabin type!

[Toledosfinest]

Got my upgrade request email yesterday, and we are still just over 100 days out. We depart May 11th

 

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/26/2022 at 4:02 PM, surfone said:

We received ours for the May cruise,  we were surprised with 4 months to go

Same with us, the upgrade offer came yesterday and we don't sail until May 13th. We were very surprised and there was 11 options for us to pick from. We're in a MA and had the option to bid on every suite above our current room.

 

13 hours ago, BklynBorn47 said:

Never done transatlantic before  - 7 days at sea & 9 ports - sounds to us still better than at home.
Considering the total cost (Transatlantic followed by B2B on the Star), this may be the time.

Decisions, decisions!
Looking at the 2 bdrm villa - for the 2 of us I think I will feel like a queen.
Any advice appreciated.

If your 2nd half of the B2B leaves out of Barcelona on the 13th, don't bid on the 3 bedroom villa. If we win our bid I promise to let you come hang out with us 😆

[BklynBorn47]

8 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

If your 2nd half of the B2B leaves out of Barcelona on the 13th, don't bid on the 3 bedroom villa. If we win our bid I promise to let you come hang out with us 😆

 

YES!  We will be on the star on the 13th.  We bid on a Haven Courtyard HF on the Escape.

See you onboard!

[Travelbug321]

On 1/26/2022 at 2:02 PM, surfone said:

We received ours for the May cruise,  we were surprised with 4 months to go

What date are you sailing? If you don't mind sharing your bid and what you got?

[surfone]

56 minutes ago, Travelbug321 said:

What date are you sailing? If you don't mind sharing your bid and what you got?

We haven't put a bid in yet.  Probably going with the minimum regardless when we do 

[tupperstamper]

I just got mine for my April 9 cruise.

[kjquilts]

On 1/26/2022 at 2:59 PM, Russiamomm said:

Question for anyone who knows.  I will have enough points on my NCL credit card to upgrade with points by late next month.  I plan to do that to get into a balcony from my current OV.  Will the categories for upgrades change when I do that?  Right now my options only go to a Club Balcony.  If I upgrade using points any chance I’ll get a chance to bid on a suite?  (I’m on the Gem.)

We are booked on the Bliss May 21st .... used NCL points to go from inside to forward facing oceanview stateroom.  Received NCL Upgrade Advantage Program email today with opportunity to bid on balcony, spa balcony, club balcony and spa club balcony staterooms.

[Russiamomm]

9 hours ago, kjquilts said:

We are booked on the Bliss May 21st .... used NCL points to go from inside to forward facing oceanview stateroom.  Received NCL Upgrade Advantage Program email today with opportunity to bid on balcony, spa balcony, club balcony and spa club balcony staterooms.

Thank you!  I was hoping the offer wasn’t a “one and done”.  We’ll see what happens next month after I upgrade.

[karmamule]

We're sailing on the Joy in May and got our update e-mail about a week ago, so around 100 days before embarkation.

[JandC_Cruising]

2 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

Thank you!  I was hoping the offer wasn’t a “one and done”.  We’ll see what happens next month after I upgrade.

Just an FYI....if you already received your Upgrade advantage email and placed bids, you may need to call the upgrade advantage help after you do your points upgrade and have them push a refreshed offer email to you.

In 2019 we had standard balcony, received our upgrade bid notice and placed bids.

Two weeks later we decided to pay for a Spa balcony due to a price drop.

Our upgrade bids didn't auto cancel.  The system still thought we were in the original balcony.

We waited another week, but nothing changed, so we cancelled our open bids and called for help.

Within an hour we received a new Upgrade Advantage email to bid from Spa Balcony.

 

[Russiamomm]

1 hour ago, JandC_Cruising said:

Just an FYI....if you already received your Upgrade advantage email and placed bids, you may need to call the upgrade advantage help after you do your points upgrade and have them push a refreshed offer email to you.

In 2019 we had standard balcony, received our upgrade bid notice and placed bids.

Two weeks later we decided to pay for a Spa balcony due to a price drop.

Our upgrade bids didn't auto cancel.  The system still thought we were in the original balcony.

We waited another week, but nothing changed, so we cancelled our open bids and called for help.

Within an hour we received a new Upgrade Advantage email to bid from Spa Balcony.

 

Thank you!  I have not placed any bids yet and don’t plan to until after I do the upgrade with points.  If the options don’t change I will call them.

[OhioTony]

Be sure to call NCL, before you bid.

To our surprise, we upgraded with a phone call for less than we were going to bid.

They even threw in a $100 ship credit!

[surfone]

2 hours ago, OhioTony said:

Be sure to call NCL, before you bid.

To our surprise, we upgraded with a phone call for less than we were going to bid.

They even threw in a $100 ship credit!

When is your cruise?

[Sixtytwo]

For those who have received a positive response to your upgrade bid, did you all book direct with NCL or with a TA? We have gotten an upgrade in the past even booking thru our TA. Just wondering if we might still have a shot at an upgrade for April TA.

[DuckTollerFans]

On 2/1/2022 at 5:46 PM, OhioTony said:

Be sure to call NCL, before you bid.

To our surprise, we upgraded with a phone call for less than we were going to bid.

They even threw in a $100 ship credit!

Did you call and specifically ask for the upgrade options?  That's great that you even got credit!

[OhioTony]

On 2/1/2022 at 7:56 PM, surfone said:

When is your cruise?

Feb 26

[surfone]

26 minutes ago, OhioTony said:

Feb 26

what a great deal.  So assuming you went from an inside to a balcony. Plus a obc.  Wow, I suppose it's worth a phone call.  I guess your ship had plenty of cabins left.   We've sailed twice since August and our next is in May.  Happy cruising

[AK Dreaming]

I'm booked for March 19th on the Escape and still not upgrade offer. 

[complawyer]

if you have a cruise already booked, sorry, but it does not mean you will automatically get an upgrade offer from ncl and even you do, it doesnt necessarily mean your bid will be accepted

 

by the way, i dont mean to rain on  your parade, but  you asked

[RBrowny]

Hi, this is my first post so sorry if I have missed anything. I have the Gem booked for September, we had to go for an inside room - when can I bid on a window room or balcony, and what are the prices? I want to upgrade, but unsure how the process works. Thanks!

[Lucinarei]

1 hour ago, RBrowny said:

Hi, this is my first post so sorry if I have missed anything. I have the Gem booked for September, we had to go for an inside room - when can I bid on a window room or balcony, and what are the prices? I want to upgrade, but unsure how the process works. Thanks!

Usually shortly after final payment you'll get an email that invites you to upgrade. You'll also get a banner on your NCL account that gives you a link to upgrade.

 

Not all bookings are eligible to upgrade and I'm not sure if there are different rules/practices for those bookings made outside of the US. Good luck if you do get the email! 🙂

 

Edited to say: Welcome to Cruise Critic! 😁

Edited February 9, 2022 by Lucinarei

[complawyer]

please see my prior post. you are never guaranteed that ncl will send you an upgrade notice, nor is there any guarantee that even if you bid, the bid will be accepted. time wise, we are sailing on apr 8th from athens and i  received the upgrade notice over 3 weeks ago.

 

since we have 3 people in a haven 2 bedroom, even at the cheapest bid, the other cabins would have done me no good, as one of our friends is taking the other room and she needs the privacy.

 

my advice to you, is just to cancel your current reservation, and upgrade to an ocean view room or a balcony (assuming the costs are within your budget) 

this way you get the actual cabin you want and (and this is a big and) you wont be stuck in the inside cabin if you really dont want one.

 

finally, although there are no "set prices"  the notice will give you whatever cabins are available to be bid on, and a notice of a minimum bid and a maximum bid and all points in between.

 

obviously if  you bid at the max level, your chances are greatly improved. at  the minimum, not so much.

also remember that whatever you bid is multiplied X2.