How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[rheathslc]

2 minutes ago, 1cruiselvr said:

Did you win your cc minutes suite bid?

Not yet. I'm not very hopeful tbh. The ship now shows sold out. So unless someone cancels we likely won't get the upgrade. I do love the club class perks but $500 extra to buy the upgraded cabin for 3 days wasn't in our budget at the time. I did eventually add bids on a Vista Suite at $200pp and Premium Suite at $220pp because we got a bigger tax refund than we were expecting. Haha! But probably very unlikely we win any of the bids. 

[GonzoWCS]

Island Princess Rome —> FLL 23 Days Upgrade from Veranda to Mini-Suite $52 a day.

 

Happy

 

Cheers

[caligirlfashionista]

I was offered a counter, but I didn’twant it so I upped my bid. Has anyone tried this an won by upping their past bid?

[1cruiselvr]

1 hour ago, caligirlfashionista said:

I was offered a counter, but I didn’twant it so I upped my bid. Has anyone tried this an won by upping their past bid?

I'd think that wouldn't help you bc other people got your same counter offer and accepted it. Upping but not meeting the counter doesn't seem like it would work. Let's us know what happens. 

[tulok]

Our cruise on Emerald just opened to bids. I am not interested in bidding but was curious. (Traded cabins twice to get my perfect location as cabins cancelled) To upgrade from a balcony to reserved mini is 610. per cabin minimum. When we booked my TA quoted 1000. per cabin more if we wanted a reserved mini. So minimum bid is 400.00 difference. To some it may be worth it. I am just not seeing the value.

[Cruisingawayfromthesnow!]

On 3/15/2024 at 4:23 AM, TAW1963 said:

So it is 1 day before embarkation and I haven't heard anything on my counter-offer bid that I received on Tuesday.  Both my original bid, and my new counter-offer bid (which they fixed the price), show as pending still.  There are no indications that they are moving forward with my bid (cc charge, status change, etc.).  I am assuming at this point it is unlikely that they are going to take my counter-offer bid, or the original bid (different cabin category). They say that the bids can be accepted up to 1-day before departure in the terms and conditions, but I am not holding my breath.   The problem I am experiencing is the extra anxiety that this causes. I am happy wth my original cabin, but the counter-offer to a Window Suite, from my forward-facing Mini-Suite, was appealing to us for 10 sea-days out of 15 on a roundtrip to Hawaii.   I keep checking my phone for emails, cc charges, and my Princess account way too often.   I am not sure this is worth it.  For reference, attached is my counter-offer, which I accepted.

It says attempt unfortunately:(.   What happened ? 

[TAW1963]

2 hours ago, Cruisingawayfromthesnow! said:

It says attempt unfortunately:(.   What happened ? 

It does say attempt, which is the clue that it is certainly not necessarily going to happen.  We got a rejection email the day before we departed.   The counteroffer email is strange for it makes one feel like you’ve been given a great opportunity with likelihood of success. 

[rheathslc]

We just got notified that we won our bid to upgrade from Mini-suite to Club Class Mini-suite for our cruise on the Discovery on March 31st - so 13 days out.

 

I bid the highest amount of $80pp, but was not hopeful we would get anything because the cruise showed sold out. 

 

Sooooo excited! Club Class dining is a huge advantage imo. Plus we were on Emerald deck with a totally uncovered balcony and walls that jut into the room on both sides between the sleeping area and sitting room area. Now we're on Riviera with a totally covered and slightly larger balcony plus no pesky walls taking up space. 

 

Yay!!!

[KKB]

We are doing a TA/UK 28 day cruise next month. (booked as B2B)

Interior guarantees booked.

Price dropped after final payment for 1st leg & was able to call TA & upgrade to obstructed balcony at no extra cost.

Bid on Deluxe balcony for 1st leg (just over min bid) & was awarded it 6 weeks prior to boarding.

The ODD thing...was never able to bid on the 2nd leg. Said not available for bidding. (I checked MANY times)

I suspect it has to do with the coding of a B2B as it shows up on our app as one cruise.

Oh, well, 2nd leg is port intensive so won't miss the balcony much anyway.

Edited March 18 by KKB

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

26 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

We just got notified that we won our bid to upgrade from Mini-suite to Club Class Mini-suite for our cruise on the Discovery on March 31st - so 13 days out.

 

I bid the highest amount of $80pp, but was not hopeful we would get anything because the cruise showed sold out. 

 

Sooooo excited! Club Class dining is a huge advantage imo. Plus we were on Emerald deck with a totally uncovered balcony and walls that jut into the room on both sides between the sleeping area and sitting room area. Now we're on Riviera with a totally covered and slightly larger balcony plus no pesky walls taking up space. 

 

Yay!!!

 

Is that $80 pp, per day or for whole cruise?

 

[rheathslc]

1 minute ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

Is that $80 pp, per day or for whole cruise?

 

For the whole cruise. But it's only a 3-day cruise. 🙂

 

For comparison it would have cost $256 per person more to just book this cabin class outright when we booked. So it's a good deal especially because I really wanted Club Class. 

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, KKB said:

We are doing a TA/UK 28 day cruise next month. (booked as B2B)

Interior guarantees booked.

Price dropped after final payment for 1st leg & was able to call TA & upgrade to obstructed balcony at no extra cost.

Bid on Deluxe balcony for 1st leg (just over min bid) & was awarded it 6 weeks prior to boarding.

The ODD thing...was never able to bid on the 2nd leg. Said not available for bidding. (I checked MANY times)

I suspect it has to do with the coding of a B2B as it shows up on our app as one cruise.

Oh, well, 2nd leg is port intensive so won't miss the balcony much anyway.

Must be a different reason.  I have a B2B booked and it shows as on cruise on the APP and I received the offer to bid for both legs of our B2B.  

[KKB]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Must be a different reason.  I have a B2B booked and it shows as on cruise on the APP and I received the offer to bid for both legs of our B2B.  

Interesting.

it was the only thing I could think of!

Princess had no idea when I called.

[rheathslc]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Must be a different reason.  I have a B2B booked and it shows as on cruise on the APP and I received the offer to bid for both legs of our B2B.  

 

8 minutes ago, KKB said:

Interesting.

it was the only thing I could think of!

Princess had no idea when I called.

 

I have successfully bid on two separate segments of a B2B and won both so I agree with @jagoffee. It has to be some other reason. Sorry you're experiencing that. What a bummer.

[trbarton]

Anyone on a Princess cruise made a bid for an upgrade & if it was accepted, what did you pay, & what did you go from & to? When was your bid accepted?

 

I’ve got a bid from a Balcony to a Mini Suite. I’m aware that it could be as short as 2 days before the cruise. 
 

Tom🤔

[trbarton]

If you’ve made a bid on a Princess cruise for an upgrade & if it was accepted, what did you pay, & what did you go from & to? When was your bid accepted prior to the sailing date of your cruise?

 

I’ve got a bid from a Balcony to a Mini Suite. I’m aware that it could be as short as 2 days before the cruise. 
 

I questioned my T/A as to how they could offer bids & they explained it’s because Princess holds some staterooms back so that’s how I could bid. 
 

Tom🤔

Edited March 19 by trbarton

[rheathslc]

4 minutes ago, trbarton said:

If you’ve made a bid on a Princess cruise for an upgrade & if it was accepted, what did you pay, & what did you go from & to? When was your bid accepted prior to the sailing date of your cruise?

 

I’ve got a bid from a Balcony to a Mini Suite. I’m aware that it could be as short as 2 days before the cruise. 
 

I questioned my T/A as to how they could offer bids & they explained it’s because Princess holds some staterooms back so that’s how I could bid. 
 

Tom🤔

I just got notified today that I got an upgrade for the 3-day on the Discovery on March 31st that's right before the Eclipse Cruise. 

I bid $80pp (max bid) to move from a Mini-Suite to Club Class Mini-Suite. The cruise has been showing sold out for several weeks so I was not hopeful. I was super excited when I got the notification email today. 

 

I have also won a bid on the two other cruises I placed bids for. They were B2B cruises on the Royal in May 2023. 

For the first leg - 3 days leaving on May 3rd - I bid $110pp for Balcony to Club Class Mini-Suite. I was notified I won the bid on April 24th.

 

For the 2nd leg - 7 days leaving May 6th only inside cabins were available when I booked (which I only booked on April 28th) I bid $170pp for an Obstructed Balcony. I placed the bid April 29th and was notified on May 2nd, only 4 days before the cruise.

 

Both of those were mid range bids.

 

 

[trbarton]

10 hours ago, rheathslc said:

We just got notified that we won our bid to upgrade from Mini-suite to Club Class Mini-suite for our cruise on the Discovery on March 31st - so 13 days out.

 

I bid the highest amount of $80pp, but was not hopeful we would get anything because the cruise showed sold out. 

 

Sooooo excited! Club Class dining is a huge advantage imo. Plus we were on Emerald deck with a totally uncovered balcony and walls that jut into the room on both sides between the sleeping area and sitting room area. Now we're on Riviera with a totally covered and slightly larger balcony plus no pesky walls taking up space. 

 

Yay!!!

What’s the difference BTW a Mini-Suite to a Club Class Mini-Suite?

 

I've look for the Discovery Princess & see a Reserve Class but no Club Class?

 

Tom🤔

[trbarton]

1 minute ago, rheathslc said:

I just got notified today that I got an upgrade for the 3-day on the Discovery on March 31st that's right before the Eclipse Cruise. 

I bid $80pp (max bid) to move from a Mini-Suite to Club Class Mini-Suite. The cruise has been showing sold out for several weeks so I was not hopeful. I was super excited when I got the notification email today. 

 

I have also won a bid on the two other cruises I placed bids for. They were B2B cruises on the Royal in May 2023. 

For the first leg - 3 days leaving on May 3rd - I bid $110pp for Balcony to Club Class Mini-Suite. I was notified I won the bid on April 24th.

 

For the 2nd leg - 7 days leaving May 6th only inside cabins were available when I booked (which I only booked on April 28th) I bid $170pp for an Obstructed Balcony. I placed the bid April 29th and was notified on May 2nd, only 4 days before the cruise.

 

Both of those were mid range bids.

 

 

What’s the difference BTW a Mini-Suite to a Club Class Mini-Suite?

 

I've look on Princess for the Discovery Princess & see a Reserve Class but no Club Class Mini Suite?

 

Tom

[rheathslc]

Just now, trbarton said:

What’s the difference BTW a Mini-Suite to a Club Class Mini-Suite?

 

I've look for the Discovery Princess & see a Reserve Class but no Club Class?

 

Tom🤔

The bidding system still has the outdated name. So when I placed my bids they were called Class Class and my notification email said my new stateroom category is Club Class Mini-suite but that means Reserve.

[trbarton]

3 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

The bidding system still has the outdated name. So when I placed my bids they were called Class Class and my notification email said my new stateroom category is Club Class Mini-suite but that means Reserve.

Thank you very much. 
 

I’m on the April 3, Solar Eclipse cruise, & when I just checked, the highest category for bidding is for the Mini-Suite. 
 

Tom😁

Edited March 19 by trbarton

[rheathslc]

5 minutes ago, trbarton said:

What’s the difference BTW a Mini-Suite to a Club Class Mini-Suite?

 

I've look on Princess for the Discovery Princess & see a Reserve Class but no Club Class Mini Suite?

 

Tom

For Reference:

 

[rheathslc]

11 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Thank you very much. 
 

I’m on the April 3, Solar Eclipse cruise, & when I just checked, the highest category for bidding is for the Mini-Suite. 
 

Tom😁

You're welcome! Based on my experience and what others have reported you can bid on up to four full categories above your current cabin category. 

 

For this one we were in a Standard Balcony and I could bid on Deluxe Balcony, Premium Deluxe Balcony, Mini-Suite, and Club Class (Reserve) Mini-Suite. Then I noticed that the cost to just book a Mini-Suite was less than the minimum bid for that category so I had our TA switch us.

 

Then after two days I got a new "Bid to Upgrade" email and then I could bid on everything from Club Class Mini-Suite all the way up to the Sky Suite. And the max bid was $80pp but it would have cost $256pp to book a CC Mini at that point so I thought the $80pp was a good deal. Super glad we got it!

[Guest Pops37]

On 3/15/2024 at 1:04 PM, rheathslc said:

Not yet. I'm not very hopeful tbh. The ship now shows sold out. So unless someone cancels we likely won't get the upgrade. I do love the club class perks but $500 extra to buy the upgraded cabin for 3 days wasn't in our budget at the time. I did eventually add bids on a Vista Suite at $200pp and Premium Suite at $220pp because we got a bigger tax refund than we were expecting. Haha! But probably very unlikely we win any of the bids. 

I agree, the price adjustments are on the high side. I often shop for the discount fairs and then get an auction upgrade offer that well overshadowed the savings!

[FLAlaska]

Just a small bit of advice based on one story. I was sailing solo on the Sky in a minisuite (had a deal with no supplement)  and put in an upgrade to a PH. Of course, it would have to pay the supplement since they dont do solo upgrade prices but I was ok with that.

 

However, I kept checking the prices of the PHs constantly. About a month out, the prices dropped for the PH and there was no supplement if I ugraded. The total was less than the lowest bid amount.  I cancelled the bid and changed by cabin. Yes, this was after final payment and yes they let me do it.

 

So keep checking prices even if you are bidding!

Edited March 19 by FLAlaska