How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[RKSue]

On 10/13/2022 at 9:42 PM, azbirdmom said:

 

I just noticed your comment about Ian and saw that you live in Babcock Ranch.  There was a segment on 60 Minutes last Sunday that included footage of Babcock Ranch with an interview indicating that the way it was built meant very little damage there.  Sad to hear that is not the case.  Wishing you and everyone in the area affected by Ian well.

We had shingles, my screened in cage due to my neighbors shingles becoming missals, most of my landscaping and my favorite tree. However I have been standing in long gas lines and delivering food to friends and others in need. I have a Tesla so waiting in line was no big deal. I did have several people ask me why I was in line. Hmm. I guess they don’t think past the car. Anyway

[RKSue]

14 hours ago, Shippy said:

what ship ?

Caribbean Princess out of Ft Lauderdale. November 28th. 10 days to the Panama Canal. 

[Coral]

Does anyone know when bidding opens up for ships starting in Europe? I heard "late October".

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10 hours ago, rsquirrel said:

I'm not sure how they decide on who gets bid options.  I was hoping we would get one for our cruise that is sailing next week but nothing.  I have been checking and I did see a lot of verandah cabins open up a few days ago, as months ago the cruise was full.  

 

Is it worth checking when we get onboard about paying to upgrade?  

did you check that you agree to receive email communications on the app and the website (your profile)? I didn't get my bid invites until I did that.

Also, if you and your cruise are eligible, you will see this when you log in to manage your cruise under the Booking Summary:

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[roxievegas]

We received an email yesterday for our cruise that leaves Jan 7 out of San Pedro, California.

We currently are in a Balcony 

We want a mini suite, but the bid price was too much, so we bid on a Premium Balcony which gives us a couch- no bathtub\

Will be interested to see how long to be notified

 

When the cruises first started up last year we would board the ship, go directly to guest services and ask how much to upgrade to a mini suite.  The first time it was $15 per day.  A few months later it was $30 per day - after that the booking on the ship was getting higher and they would not allow us to upgrade right then and there - they said they would notify us later in the day and we did not want to unpack, pack and unpack to move to another cabin - so we stayed put.

[seagunthera]

Here's my first (and last) attempt at bidding: 

 

I paid for a forward facing mini some time ago and later put in a bid for one of the forward facing Club Class mini's as none were available at the time I booked.  I entered my bid for the maximum allowed ($150 per person- for reference, $50 was the minimum) as I really wanted one of those CC forward cabins.  My bid was never accepted or denied.  Then, one morning, I just happened to log on to look at the inventory of cabins for this cruise and low and behold, a forward facing CC mini popped up as available.  I immediately placed a hold on it and called a Princess rep to make the switch  After a few minutes on hold, the rep came back on the line and asked me for a credit card to pay for the upgrade to Club Class: $101 for the two of us to upgrade from a MF cabin to a M6.

Two take aways:  

1- It seems no one is monitoring the inventory and offering available cabins to those who have bid via the new upgrade program.

2- It's also obvious that the minimum "weak" bid of $50 per person actually turned out to be the honest price for that cabin.

 

After years of sailing with Princess, I must admit I'm a little disgusted...

[rsquirrel]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

did you check that you agree to receive email communications on the app and the website (your profile)? I didn't get my bid invites until I did that.

Also, if you and your cruise are eligible, you will see this when you log in to manage your cruise under the Booking Summary:

 

Thanks so much.  It says I’m not eligible at this time.  I had already signed up for lots of communication.  I didn’t realize I could check for upgrades without an email.

Edited October 15, 2022 by rsquirrel

[dog]

6 minutes ago, seagunthera said:

Here's my first (and last) attempt at bidding: 

 

I paid for a forward facing mini some time ago and later put in a bid for one of the forward facing Club Class mini's as none were available at the time I booked.  I entered my bid for the maximum allowed ($150 per person- for reference, $50 was the minimum) as I really wanted one of those CC forward cabins.  My bid was never accepted or denied.  Then, one morning, I just happened to log on to look at the inventory of cabins for this cruise and low and behold, a forward facing CC mini popped up as available.  I immediately placed a hold on it and called a Princess rep to make the switch  After a few minutes on hold, the rep came back on the line and asked me for a credit card to pay for the upgrade to Club Class: $101 for the two of us to upgrade from a MF cabin to a M6.

Two take aways:  

1- It seems no one is monitoring the inventory and offering available cabins to those who have bid via the new upgrade program.

2- It's also obvious that the minimum "weak" bid of $50 per person actually turned out to be the honest price for that cabin.

 

After years of sailing with Princess, I must admit I'm a little disgusted...

So glad you ended up with the upgrade you wanted. Enjoy 😊 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, seagunthera said:

Two take aways:  

1- It seems no one is monitoring the inventory and offering available cabins to those who have bid via the new upgrade program.

2- It's also obvious that the minimum "weak" bid of $50 per person actually turned out to be the honest price for that cabin.

that's not how upgrades work. They will not upgrade as cabins become available, and if they have more than one bidder for the same cabin, why would you think YOU would win the bid?

 

Also, for our upcoming cruise, even the cheapest balcony is almost the same price per person as I paid for all three of us in an inside. I paid $2,500 for all three of us, and right now balcony is $2,200 pp. So, my $150 pp bid from inside to balcony does not equal "an honest price for that cabin".

[Cruiser 8]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

Does anyone know when bidding opens up for ships starting in Europe? I heard "late October".

I am on the same TA cruise with you, and I am wondering the same thing.  

[Cruiser 8]

Does anyone know if they rolled out the program to other ships that was not on the initial list?

[Princessfan20]

Can you make a bid on each cabin type at the same time.  For example Balcony. Mini- Suite and Suite?  And if so, do they notify you all at once on your bids whether they were accepted or not?

[Shelly97060]

5 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

Can you make a bid on each cabin type at the same time.  For example Balcony. Mini- Suite and Suite?  And if so, do they notify you all at once on your bids whether they were accepted or not?

Yes, you will be given a list of cabin categories you are eligible to bid on. 
 

As for notification I have no first hand knowledge but there have been posts on this thread indicating that people who bid on multiple cabin types received an email for each of the declined offers and a separate email on the accepted offer. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Shelly97060

[Cruiser 8]

23 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

Can you make a bid on each cabin type at the same time.  For example Balcony. Mini- Suite and Suite?  And if so, do they notify you all at once on your bids whether they were accepted or not?

Yes, you can make bids on different categories, and they will let you know if you got the winning bid.  Good luck.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cruiser 8

[Shippy]

6 hours ago, RKSue said:

Caribbean Princess out of Ft Lauderdale. November 28th. 10 days to the Panama Canal. 

   Sorry to say there appear to have NO penthouse suites available.

The top category I found was an MB mini suite of which 11 are available.

[Kay S]

We sail Nov 14.  We have received no bidding offer.  We have a CC mini suite, which is what we want.  I have been checking to see they don't "upgrade" us (even though I checked "no upgrade").  I picked the cabin in the location I wanted.  This bidding thing is too much like gambling for me.  I book the cabin I want in the category I want in the location I want and the uncertainty of not knowing for sure would drive me nuts.  Getting a "better" cabin for a few bucks less would not make it worth it to me.  (DH is a gambler, but I win in this minor marital argument. 🙂)

 

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Kay S

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Princessfan20 said:

And if so, do they notify you all at once on your bids whether they were accepted or not?

I can only answer if your bid IS accepted - Yes. First I received emails stating that I was NOT successful on bids I did not win. Thirty minutes later I received the “Yay,  you have been upgraded” email for the bid that I won.

Edited October 15, 2022 by HBCcruiser

[HBCcruiser]

45 minutes ago, Shippy said:

   Sorry to say there appear to have NO penthouse suites available.

The top category I found was an MB mini suite of which 11 are available.

There have been zero suites available on our November 10th Discovery cruise for a while but I just got upgraded to one. My guess is someone cancelled so you never know. 🤷‍♀️

[Princessfan20]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

I can only answer if your bid IS accepted - Yes. First I received emails stating that I was NOT successful on bids I did not win. Thirty minutes later I received the “Yay,  you have been upgraded” email for the bid that I won.

 

When you are notified of your bid win is your credit card immediately charged for the upgrade or do you still have the opportunity to accept or reject the bid?

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

When you are notified of your bid win is your credit card immediately charged for the upgrade or do you still have the opportunity to accept or reject the bid?

I was notified yesterday for my November 10, 2022 cruise so three weeks prior for me. Suites have been sold out for a while on my cruise so I assume someone cancelled which triggered the upgrade. Not certain but that makes sense. They do not automatically charge your CC like other lines do. You have to log into your account and pay. You have 48 hours to pay or you forfeit your upgrade. I’m not sure if you can call to decline the upgrade or not, or if you automatically keep your original cabin if you do not pay, but others have reported that you do.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

When you are notified of your bid win is your credit card immediately charged for the upgrade or do you still have the opportunity to accept or reject the bid?

Not sure if you can reject but it is not charged immediately. You can contact your TA if you have one or go on your personalizer and pay for it there!

 

2 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

When you are notified of your bid win is your credit card immediately charged for the upgrade or do you still have the opportunity to accept or reject the bid?

 

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

I was notified yesterday for my November 10, 2022 cruise so three weeks prior for me. Suites have been sold out for a while on my cruise so I assume someone cancelled which triggered the upgrade. Not certain but that makes sense. They do not automatically charge your CC like other lines do. You have to log into your account and pay. You have 48 hours to pay or you forfeit your upgrade. I’m not sure if you can call to decline the upgrade or not, or if you automatically keep your original cabin if you do not pay, but others have reported that you do.

Our whole ship was sold out and unavailable according to a Princess rep, for almost two months. And bid were still won.

[jagoffee]

On 10/14/2022 at 4:41 PM, HBCcruiser said:

Just received my bid acceptance email for the 11/10/2022 Discovery sailing. Bid slightly above the minimum. Moving from a CC mini to an S4. The process was similar to what others are saying.  I first received the emails for the bids that were NOT accepted. The acceptance email came 30 minutes later and is titled "Yay - you got your stateroom upgrade". They tell you to pay on your Cruise Personalizer but right now I am getting a notice that their website is having difficulties. 🙄 I have 48 hours to pay, though.

Did Princess immediately change you cabin to the new one or are they waiting for your payment.

 

 

[seagunthera]

10 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's not how upgrades work. They will not upgrade as cabins become available, and if they have more than one bidder for the same cabin, why would you think YOU would win the bid?

 

Also, for our upcoming cruise, even the cheapest balcony is almost the same price per person as I paid for all three of us in an inside. I paid $2,500 for all three of us, and right now balcony is $2,200 pp. So, my $150 pp bid from inside to balcony does not equal "an honest price for that cabin".

The M6 CC class cabin was a few dollars (under $20) more than I paid for the Cat MF so your situation is clearly not the same as mine. But thanks for your input. 

[seagunthera]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Did Princess immediately change you cabin to the new one or are they waiting for your payment.

 

 

They changed it and to0ok payment during the same phone convo. The rep was amazing!

Edited October 16, 2022 by seagunthera