How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, HiCCCs said:

Current special promotion touts "Save up to 40% off" which is hardly the case because I booked this sailing back in December 2022 and this new promo price made the fare actually go up $1!!  Where's the 40% savings on that???

and NO OBC ... even if it's 'excursion' OBC - which I have for our future cruise

[HiCCCs]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

and NO OBC ... even if it's 'excursion' OBC - which I have for our future cruise

You are correct! The promos for Princess this time of year are always the worst. I wouldn't book anything until after May 2nd when this promo (I use the term loosely) has ended.

[justafem]

3 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

You are correct! The promos for Princess this time of year are always the worst. I wouldn't book anything until after May 2nd when this promo (I use the term loosely) has ended.

I agree, this isn't a 'sale', it's not even a discount.  

 

I'm also waiting to book 2024.  Probably booking at the black Friday sale, unless something much better comes along before. 

[HiCCCs]

19 hours ago, justafem said:

I agree, this isn't a 'sale', it's not even a discount.  

 

I'm also waiting to book 2024.  Probably booking at the black Friday sale, unless something much better comes along before. 

Just a thought....since this 'sale' is nothing to write home to mother about....what happens if you make a reservation now and when real sales kick in you simply re-fare it? That way, you at least have the stateroom and location you want today and get a better rate on it later? Will that work as long as there are other staterooms available within the same category?

[roxievegas]

We had a Balcony BE and the offer was $40pp or $80 total to get a Deluxe Balcony, I also bid for premium and mini suite, but those were not accepted. (my husband wanted a sofa in the room)

 

I received email this morning that the bid for the Deluxe was accepted and then had the great pleasure in dealing with customer service to get the $80 paid - even though the message says that it will automatically be billed to by credit card - NOT

 

Our cruise is 30 days out today.

[rnr4thatsme]

8 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

We had a Balcony BE and the offer was $40pp or $80 total to get a Deluxe Balcony, I also bid for premium and mini suite, but those were not accepted. (my husband wanted a sofa in the room)

 

I received email this morning that the bid for the Deluxe was accepted and then had the great pleasure in dealing with customer service to get the $80 paid - even though the message says that it will automatically be billed to by credit card - NOT

 

Our cruise is 30 days out today.

When did you place the bid though?

[roxievegas]

11 minutes ago, rnr4thatsme said:

When did you place the bid though?

the first day you are allowed - which I believe was 90 days before sailing

[rnr4thatsme]

58 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

the first day you are allowed - which I believe was 90 days before sailing

Ah, ok, the rules changed for bids made in February where the card is charged automatically, I believe.

[Guest]

On 3/16/2023 at 1:30 PM, rnr4thatsme said:

Ah, ok, the rules changed for bids made in February where the card is charged automatically, I believe.

I made a bid 2 days ago.Got confirmed yesterday.Cruise is tomorrow.They charged my card.Went from inside to balcony for 65.00. I am platinum.

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by garsny

[HiCCCs]

1 hour ago, garsny said:

I made a bid 2 days ago.Got confirmed yesterday.Cruise is tomorrow.They charged my card.Went from inside to balcony for 65.00. I am platinum.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!  Did you get the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package along with this voyage?  If so, I'd love to hear some of your experiences with the package...especially their specialty desserts.

[justafem]

5 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

Have a wonderful cruise!!!  Did you get the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package along with this voyage?  If so, I'd love to hear some of your experiences with the package...especially their specialty desserts.

 

Currently on board the royal.  Monster desserts are easy, take a little time, but delicious. 

 

Also have the option of a Sunday or a fancy piece of cake.  

[Incognito1]

7 hours ago, garsny said:

I made a bid 2 days ago.Got confirmed yesterday.Cruise is tomorrow.They charged my card.Went from inside to balcony for 65.00. I am platinum.

 

WOW!  Maybe the key is waiting until the last minute.  Nicely done.

[HiCCCs]

2 hours ago, justafem said:

 

Currently on board the royal.  Monster desserts are easy, take a little time, but delicious. 

 

Also have the option of a Sunday or a fancy piece of cake.  

Where are you getting them? Is it just one place like at the Gelato counter? Or International Cafe? Or Swirls? Or Pastry Shop? They show pictures of the desserts with lollipops stuck in them...and even those baby bottles of booze shoved into the ice cream!!! Is that for real? Or advertising gimmick?

[rnr4thatsme]

Got my upgrade today!  33 days out on Discovery Princess 4 day repo - paid $175 cdn (each) for upgrade from BB balcony to club class mini suite.  Think that’s fair as I was going to pay that to move to deluxe balcony but decided to chance it instead with this bid.  Was automatically charged as I made the bid after March 1.  To note, per the barometer on the bidding site, my offer was on the high side of “weak” as bidding started at $150.  Full price to upgrade would have been around $400.  I know some have gotten free upgrades on our sailing, but I’m a bit fussy about location and M1 was the only category I was interested in - more midship.

[HiCCCs]

2 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Got my upgrade today!  33 days out on Discovery Princess 4 day repo - paid $175 cdn (each) for upgrade from BB balcony to club class mini suite.  Think that’s fair as I was going to pay that to move to deluxe balcony but decided to chance it instead with this bid.  Was automatically charged as I made the bid after March 1.  To note, per the barometer on the bidding site, my offer was on the high side of “weak” as bidding started at $150.  Full price to upgrade would have been around $400.  I know some have gotten free upgrades on our sailing, but I’m a bit fussy about location and M1 was the only category I was interested in - more midship.

Sounds like you hit the jackpot rnr4thatsme. Cha-ching! Thanks for sharing this information and it's good to know that even a "weak" bid can be a winner! Like anything else, you take your chances. Lady Fortuna is calling you to bingo and the casino for even bigger wins!!

 

[floridacruiser14]

What time does bidding open? We are 85 days out so we should be in the window but when I put in our booking information it says not eligible for upgrade. Am I missing something?

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, floridacruiser14 said:

What time does bidding open? We are 85 days out so we should be in the window but when I put in our booking information it says not eligible for upgrade. Am I missing something?

I thought I read it doesn’t open until 75 days prior to the sail date but I couldn’t swear to that.  Don’t give up hope yet, it’s probably just a little while longer.  

[HiCCCs]

1 hour ago, floridacruiser14 said:

What time does bidding open? We are 85 days out so we should be in the window but when I put in our booking information it says not eligible for upgrade. Am I missing something?

Here is the schedule from Princess' website:

[HiCCCs]

2 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

Here is the schedule from Princess' website:

However, I must confess.....the verbiage of the third bullet point is throwing me off more than just a bit. To be eligible to submit a bid, "the voyage must be at least five days within final payment"??? If the final payment is due according to the number of days "before sailing sate" (sic-duh!!) as noted in their chart, and bidding opens 5 days after that, how is it possible that "the voyage must be at least five days within final payment"? Sorry of this has been noted and discussed earlier in the thread.....

[WAvoyager]

45 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

However, I must confess.....the verbiage of the third bullet point is throwing me off more than just a bit. To be eligible to submit a bid, "the voyage must be at least five days within final payment"??? If the final payment is due according to the number of days "before sailing sate" (sic-duh!!) as noted in their chart, and bidding opens 5 days after that, how is it possible that "the voyage must be at least five days within final payment"? Sorry of this has been noted and discussed earlier in the thread.....

That really should have been “no sooner than 5 days following the final payment due date”

[HiCCCs]

52 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

That really should have been “no sooner than 5 days following the final payment due date”

But it's not about the voyage, correct?....it's about the bidding....the bidding cannot be submitted sooner than five days following the final payment due date. Is that what they are trying to say?  It's very confusing as it is written....but maybe it's must me??

[bjkTX]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:16 PM, HiCCCs said:

Current special promotion touts "Save up to 40% off" which is hardly the case because I booked this sailing back in December 2022 and this new promo price made the fare actually go up $1!!  Where's the 40% savings on that???

Since we booked our Feb 2024 cruise abut a year ago Princess has had two major sales - including the Best Sale Ever!  As a result our cruise now lists for $3,500 more than when we booked it. 

[HiCCCs]

1 hour ago, bjkTX said:

Since we booked our Feb 2024 cruise abut a year ago Princess has had two major sales - including the Best Sale Ever!  As a result our cruise now lists for $3,500 more than when we booked it. 

YIKES!!!  He/She/They who hesitates is lost....and out of money!  That's a hefty chunk of change--the going price of some cruises!!! I'm always watching the prices. We recently had our Mediterranean Adventure (aboard the Sun Princess) drop $400pp. We like those coins in our pockets.

[sns1]

My husband and I just got our bid accepted for a vista suite for the 4/15/23 sailing on the Caribbean.  We were originally booked in a mini suite on the dolphin deck.  We normally book a year in advance to make sure we get the room we want but we booked this cruise two months ago.  No suites were available and very few mini suites.  We took what was available and then decided to do a bid (our first).  We bid the lowest amount we could.  The cruise became "currently unavailable" shortly after we booked this cruise.  We truly did not think we would have our bid accepted.  We received an e-mail last night saying that our credit card would be charged for the bid.  We feel like it was a good deal.  The fare for the suite including our bid is still lower than if we booked it from the start.  We will get a free specialty dining and we already paid our gratuities at the mini suite price.  (We will still give our room steward a little extra)

 

We are happy and will be sailing shortly.

[sns1]

One more thing.....we are now in club class, which we weren't in our original mini suite.