How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[cruzsnooze]

Does anyone know if they also do bidding on cruise tours?

[1cruiselvr]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

Does anyone know if they also do bidding on cruise tours?

No they don't. 

[HiCCCs]

Greetings and peace to all!

 

Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a dramatic increase on Princess' platform of the Reserve a Guaranteed Stateroom rather than being able to pick the specific stateroom you want as compared to before this whole bid to upgrade program started? Maybe it's just certain ships or bookings.....but it seems to me to have significantly increased as I watch for price reductions on existing bookings. I've even seen where the price drops but the Princess rep says, "It's only for new bookings" whereas in the past they have applied the price difference to existing bookings.

[trbarton]

26 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

Greetings and peace to all!

 

Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a dramatic increase on Princess' platform of the Reserve a Guaranteed Stateroom rather than being able to pick the specific stateroom you want as compared to before this whole bid to upgrade program started? Maybe it's just certain ships or bookings.....but it seems to me to have significantly increased as I watch for price reductions on existing bookings. I've even seen where the price drops but the Princess rep says, "It's only for new bookings" whereas in the past they have applied the price difference to existing bookings.

Yes Princess has a whole new pricing,  if you want to pick your stateroom it’s slightly more than a guarantee. I didn’t know that Princess was strapped for cash. 
 

Tom😀

[Paula_MacFan]

8 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

Greetings and peace to all!

 

Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a dramatic increase on Princess' platform of the Reserve a Guaranteed Stateroom rather than being able to pick the specific stateroom you want as compared to before this whole bid to upgrade program started? Maybe it's just certain ships or bookings.....but it seems to me to have significantly increased as I watch for price reductions on existing bookings. I've even seen where the price drops but the Princess rep says, "It's only for new bookings" whereas in the past they have applied the price difference to existing bookings.

Yes, and there have been a few lengthy threads lately discussing this topic 🙂 

 

[HiCCCs]

8 hours ago, trbarton said:

Yes Princess has a whole new pricing,  if you want to pick your stateroom it’s slightly more than a guarantee. I didn’t know that Princess was strapped for cash. 
 

Tom😀

What I find goofy is that sometimes the price is exactly the same for "pick your own room" as "reserve a guaranteed stateroom" .... and sometimes when you click on "pick your own room" there aren't rooms to pick and you are forced to select the "reserve a guaranteed stateroom." I, for one, am not a fan of these changes.

[HiCCCs]

45 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Yes, and there have been a few lengthy threads lately discussing this topic 🙂 

 

On this forum? Or on another? I'm seeing the discussion about there not being a guarantee of which room you will get for taking your chances on the "bid to upgrade" ... but I'm not seeing threads about when making an initial booking having limited access to picking the room you actually want. Thanks for directing me to those lengthy threads if you are able.

[Paula_MacFan]

13 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

On this forum? Or on another? I'm seeing the discussion about there not being a guarantee of which room you will get for taking your chances on the "bid to upgrade" ... but I'm not seeing threads about when making an initial booking having limited access to picking the room you actually want. Thanks for directing me to those lengthy threads if you are able.

These are just a few, but I hate to hijack this thread as it's supposed to be about the bidding process only.  You can use the search function to find more if you're so inclined.

[HiCCCs]

4 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

These are just a few, but I hate to hijack this thread as it's supposed to be about the bidding process only.  You can use the search function to find more if you're so inclined.

MANY THANKS!!!!

 

[pompeii]

If you don't bid on the first offers you get, does Princess send better offers closer to sail date if there aren't enough takers on the first batch?  I'm on a 2-day Seattle to Vancouver and the minimum offer from an inside to a balcony obstructed is $75 per person.  For a standard balcony, the minimum is $150 per person, for just the bid...on top of your original fare.  For a two day cruise!  That seems insanely expensive, especially considering that very, very few cabins have sold except for interiors.  

 

Do the bid offers get better closer to the sail date?  

Edited July 16, 2023 by pompeii

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, pompeii said:

If you don't bid on the first offers you get, does Princess send better offers closer to sail date if there aren't enough takers on the first batch?  I'm on a 2-day Seattle to Vancouver and the minimum offer from an inside to a balcony obstructed is $75 per person.  For a standard balcony, the minimum is $150 per person, for just the bid...on top of your original fare.  For a two day cruise!  That seems insanely expensive, especially considering that very, very few cabins have sold except for interiors.  

 

Do the bid offers get better closer to the sail date?  

I have not ever seen the bids get lower, but that’s my experience only. For your particular cruise, we have taken many of these coastals they do tend to go very cheap closer to sailing date. I wouldn’t bid, but rather just watch pricing. You may see better categories start to sell close to what you paid. If that happens, you may be able to just call in and pay the difference. 

[brickgirl]

On 6/24/2023 at 3:47 PM, jjack413 said:

Ok, I’m about to get my feelings hurt. I put in 2 bids at the lowest amount for club class mini suite and forward facing club mini suite.  It lets you know if your bid was weak.  I’m already in a mini suite but want to experience the club dining.

Can you tell me how to cancel or modify your bid?  I can't find it anywhere.  Now I'm wondering if my bid even went through because I didn't receive any confirmation that I submitted a bid.  Thanks

[roxievegas]

3 hours ago, brickgirl said:

Can you tell me how to cancel or modify your bid?  I can't find it anywhere.  Now I'm wondering if my bid even went through because I didn't receive any confirmation that I submitted a bid.  Thanks

log into your account.  go down the screen where it allows you to book excursions, dining, beverage packages and "bid upgrade"

click on the bid box, put in your last name, then your booking number and it will show your bids.  You can cancel, or click to make a new bid, either for the same category or a different one if available.

 

[SCX22]

On 7/16/2023 at 5:10 AM, pompeii said:

If you don't bid on the first offers you get, does Princess send better offers closer to sail date if there aren't enough takers on the first batch?  I'm on a 2-day Seattle to Vancouver and the minimum offer from an inside to a balcony obstructed is $75 per person.  For a standard balcony, the minimum is $150 per person, for just the bid...on top of your original fare.  For a two day cruise!  That seems insanely expensive, especially considering that very, very few cabins have sold except for interiors.  

 

Do the bid offers get better closer to the sail date?  

 

Bids don't change unless you move up in category...

 

I always book guarantee rooms.  I had originally booked an IE guarantee on the Sky Princess in April.  I was sent the Bid to Upgrade e-mail 85 days prior to sailing, but was not assigned a cabin yet.  At this point, the highest category I could bid on was a Deluxe Balcony for $275pp, lowest bid.  Didn't take the bait because I was waiting to see if a comped upgrade would go through with my guarantee status.  At 37 days prior to embarkation Princess finally assigned a cabin, a BB Balcony.  A day later, I was sent a new Bid to Upgrade, now allowing me to bid all the way up to a Suite, and pricing for the Deluxe Balcony dropped to $75pp, lowest bid.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

Bids don't change unless you move up in category...

 

I always book guarantee rooms.  I had originally booked an IE guarantee on the Sky Princess in April.  I was sent the Bid to Upgrade e-mail 85 days prior to sailing, but was not assigned a cabin yet.  At this point, the highest category I could bid on was a Deluxe Balcony for $275pp, lowest bid.  Didn't take the bait because I was waiting to see if a comped upgrade would go through with my guarantee status.  At 37 days prior to embarkation Princess finally assigned a cabin, a BB Balcony.  A day later, I was sent a new Bid to Upgrade, now allowing me to bid all the way up to a Suite, and pricing for the Deluxe Balcony dropped to $75pp, lowest bid.

We do the same, always cheapest guarantee and wait to see what we are assigned and that determines if we bid or not. To date, we've been put in A or B category cabins and happy with locations. We've bid minimum on a minisuite and received an acceptance of bid notice a couple days after bidding. Same here, pricing dropped after we were assigned a cabin. 

[Cruise Raider]

On 7/16/2023 at 5:10 AM, pompeii said:

If you don't bid on the first offers you get, does Princess send better offers closer to sail date if there aren't enough takers on the first batch?  I'm on a 2-day Seattle to Vancouver and the minimum offer from an inside to a balcony obstructed is $75 per person.  For a standard balcony, the minimum is $150 per person, for just the bid...on top of your original fare.  For a two day cruise!  That seems insanely expensive, especially considering that very, very few cabins have sold except for interiors.  

 

Do the bid offers get better closer to the sail date?  

We are on that same cruise and noticed the bid amounts are excessive.  Since it’s just two days, we are going to hang in our inside cabin, that is in our desired location.  
We were on a short little cruise on the Royal a couple of months ago and had an aft cabin.  The seas were some weird kind of rough we haven’t experienced before and both of us felt so sea sick.  That usually doesn’t affect us that way but it sure did hit us like a ton of bricks.  
Anyway, after a lot of pleading at the front desk, we were moved to a midship cabin and all was fine even though the seas were still very rough.  
So, I’m not going to chance a bid, especially at those prices.  We were able to get a decent price on this as we canceled our original booking and rebooked it while onboard earlier this month with that half off sale right before final payment was due. 

[portiemom]

On 7/8/2023 at 5:48 PM, cruzsnooze said:

Does anyone know if they also do bidding on cruise tours?

 

On 7/8/2023 at 6:55 PM, 1cruiselvr said:

No they don't. 

Really? Maybe I'm missing something, but I've received 2 emails now (one just today) urging me to bid on an upgrade for my cruise tour. The cruise portion, obviously, not the land portion.🤔

[portiemom]

On 7/16/2023 at 8:10 AM, pompeii said:

If you don't bid on the first offers you get, does Princess send better offers closer to sail date if there aren't enough takers on the first batch?  I'm on a 2-day Seattle to Vancouver and the minimum offer from an inside to a balcony obstructed is $75 per person.  For a standard balcony, the minimum is $150 per person, for just the bid...on top of your original fare.  For a two day cruise!  That seems insanely expensive, especially considering that very, very few cabins have sold except for interiors.  

 

Do the bid offers get better closer to the sail date?  

Mine did not. Same offer.

[SwimCarrie]

11 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We are on that same cruise and noticed the bid amounts are excessive.  Since it’s just two days, we are going to hang in our inside cabin, that is in our desired location.  
We were on a short little cruise on the Royal a couple of months ago and had an aft cabin.  The seas were some weird kind of rough we haven’t experienced before and both of us felt so sea sick.  That usually doesn’t affect us that way but it sure did hit us like a ton of bricks.  
Anyway, after a lot of pleading at the front desk, we were moved to a midship cabin and all was fine even though the seas were still very rough.  
So, I’m not going to chance a bid, especially at those prices.  We were able to get a decent price on this as we canceled our original booking and rebooked it while onboard earlier this month with that half off sale right before final payment was due. 

Were you headed up to Vancouver from SF? The was a particularly bumpy ride. I think a lot of people were sick on that one. 

[Cruise Raider]

8 minutes ago, SwimCarrie said:

Were you headed up to Vancouver from SF? The was a particularly bumpy ride. I think a lot of people were sick on that one. 

 That was the one.  We’ve done that so many times in the past but this one was really a strange kind of rough…even the crew agreed! ,

[behappy11]

It appears that our sailing is fully booked a few weeks out. In this circumstance would any bids have been accepted?

[Cruise Raider]

10 hours ago, behappy11 said:

It appears that our sailing is fully booked a few weeks out. In this circumstance would any bids have been accepted?

Probably not, unless some passengers in a higher level cabin cancel.  
They may start giving out move over offers.  

[HiCCCs]

15 hours ago, portiemom said:

 

Really? Maybe I'm missing something, but I've received 2 emails now (one just today) urging me to bid on an upgrade for my cruise tour. The cruise portion, obviously, not the land portion.🤔

Just to clarify....are you talking about a combo cruise/land vacation/tour?  The upgrade bid would be for your stateroom on the cruise ship but not on the hotel/lodge room.

[LACruiser88]

We just received the below upgrade offers for our upcoming November Med/TA voyage on the Enchanted. 

 

We are currently in a non-Club Class mini-suite.  We placed a bid for a Club Class mini-suite.  The minimum bid seems very reasonable.

 

Check out the minimum bid for the Sky Suite, yikes!  😮

 

 

[Prost Seattle]

I put in weak bids for our Sep. 30 cruise, we’re fine with the mini-suite, but if we get one of the upgrades it’ll be nice.