Upgrade bidding

[Over from NZ]

Does anybody know if it is available to cruisers from down under.. or only offered to the US Market? 

[buchhalm]

For a January cruise ex Sydney,  it WAS available on Celebrity. 

Laughable "savings". Not worth the time even looking (not to mention being bombarded with "offers" after looking for "upgrade deals")

[valantine80]

Have received offers to bid for an upgrade on Royal twice this season. The first time we booked an interior with virtual balcony and bid minimal amount to upgrade to ocean view which was successful but we were then upgraded to balcony.

[Tripmode33]

We've received upgrade bidding emails from Princess the last three cruises we've booked this season.  I understand they use a third party to handle the process.

[arxcards]

We have been able to put bids in for our upcoming cruise on Majestic Princess. We have done this via the personaliser without needing an email. All of the upper-level cabins have been sold out for months, so the bids are only speculative that there could be a last minute cancellation.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We had an email from Princess offering us a chance to bid for a mini-suite, club class mini-suite, or suite for our March Grand cruise where we currently have a balcony cabin booked. We put in a lowish bid for a mini-suite just for the fun of it. All bid categories were booked out when we bid so it will depend on last minute cancellations.

 

I've heard you can decline the upgrade if the new cabin is not in a suitable location but haven't seen that for myself. I carefully checked where the minisuites were before deciding to bid. 

 

On Coral Princess you have to be careful bidding on mini-suites as there are some right at the bow that don't have balconies. 

[icat2000]

OzKiwiJJ - You must be on same cruise as me. I looked at the bidding but they wanted minimimum $892 to upgrade from inside to balcony I couldn't be bothered as we on back to back and our inside on Lido deck so perfect location as far as I'm concerned. 

[Over from NZ]

Sorry. I should have been more specific. Talking about Princess. Thanks for the replies. Good to hear it is being offered down under (assuming NZ will be the same.. which may also be wishful thinking lol). 

[icat2000]

8 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Sorry. I should have been more specific. Talking about Princess. Thanks for the replies. Good to hear it is being offered down under (assuming NZ will be the same.. which may also be wishful thinking lol). 

My response was related to Princess. Hopefully, your bids successful. I'm of the view that if they want to upgrade you it should be free. Seems like a suck more money out of you excercise.

Edited February 8, 2023 by icat2000

[Over from NZ]

5 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

My response was related to Princess. Hopefully, your bids successful. I'm of the view that if they want to upgrade you it should be free. Seems like a suck more money out of you excercise.

Cheers. Nah, I think this is a better way. Before.. some random may have got an upgrade. It was extremely unlikely to get one. This way.. everybody has a chance.. it's more fair and if you're so inclined.. you chuck some money at it. It's less than what you would have paid.. it's a win-win for the passengers and the cruise-line. 

 

We wouldn't chuck much at the upgrade bid.. $892 would be for how long a cruise? And is that each?

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

36 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

OzKiwiJJ - You must be on same cruise as me. I looked at the bidding but they wanted minimimum $892 to upgrade from inside to balcony I couldn't be bothered as we on back to back and our inside on Lido deck so perfect location as far as I'm concerned. 

We're doing Melbourne to Sydney via South Australia, departing 21st March. The minimum bid for balcony to mini-suite was under $200 (can't remember exactly what it was) for a ten night cruise so we thought we'd have a go. The minimums for club class and suites were much higher but we don't want club class anyway as friends are joining the ship for the last three days, Melbourne to Sydney, and we want to dine together.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Cheers. Nah, I think this is a better way. Before.. some random may have got an upgrade. It was extremely unlikely to get one. This way.. everybody has a chance.. it's more fair and if you're so inclined.. you chuck some money at it. It's less than what you would have paid.. it's a win-win for the passengers and the cruise-line. 

 

We wouldn't chuck much at the upgrade bid.. $892 would be for how long a cruise? And is that each?

 

I found the bid email for our cruise. This is what we were able to bid on for a ten night cruise:

 

[MicCanberra]

We have a couple of bids pending I am not that hopeful but then we are also happy with the current cabins.

[Over from NZ]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I found the bid email for our cruise. This is what we were able to bid on for a ten night cruise:

 

Cheers! That's awesome! 

[icat2000]

I didn't get the upgrade email. I just looked into it by plugging in my booking number on the website. Looks like cruises are sold out as we on the prior one to NZ before South Australia one.

[mr walker]

59 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We have a couple of bids pending I am not that hopeful but then we are also happy with the current cabins.

perfect way to view it - happy if your bids are accepted, happy if not - win/win 🙂 

[arxcards]

For Princess, if upgrade bidding is available for your cruise, you can find out here:

Princess Upgrade – Cruise Room Upgrades - Princess Cruises

[GeroWA]

Received an Upgrade Offer from NCL today, decided to ignore it as I have heard many stories of these upgrades costing way over the original cost. Besides if I wanted an upgraded cabin I would have bought it at the time of booking.

[arxcards]

26 minutes ago, GeroWA said:

Received an Upgrade Offer from NCL today, decided to ignore it as I have heard many stories of these upgrades costing way over the original cost. Besides if I wanted an upgraded cabin I would have bought it at the time of booking.

Agreed. In our case, all of the higher-level cabins were sold out when we booked. With so many cancellation credits floating around, they have been getting snapped up quicker than usual. We are happy with what we have, but also happy if we can snag something better.

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, mr walker said:

perfect way to view it - happy if your bids are accepted, happy if not - win/win 🙂 

Exactly

[joejoe 59]

16 hours ago, valantine80 said:

Have received offers to bid for an upgrade on Royal twice this season. The first time we booked an interior with virtual balcony and bid minimal amount to upgrade to ocean view which was successful but we were then upgraded to balcony.

About what time frame out do they offer the bid to upgrade?

Do you need to sign up to get upgrade offers?

We have a virtual balcony on Quantum for March so any help with this would be appreciated. 

[valantine80]

1 hour ago, joejoe 59 said:

About what time frame out do they offer the bid to upgrade?

Do you need to sign up to get upgrade offers?

We have a virtual balcony on Quantum for March so any help with this would be appreciated. 

Am not sure of time frame in  November but when we were upgraded were selling balconies for about the same price we had paid for interior.

On our last sailing on 20th January the upgrade offer came in on 9th January. We were in a balcony so not interested in upgrading.

Not sure about having to sign up for offers but probably so as last upgrade offer had the "unsubscribe" option.

 

[bazzaw]

IMO - an "Upgrade" is only something that takes you from out of one cabin category to another higher category . Cruiselines often/mostly consider upgrades to be to a higher grade of cabin within the same category. Sometimes these kind of "upgrades" can actually be a downgrade. 

[Over from NZ]

43 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

IMO - an "Upgrade" is only something that takes you from out of one cabin category to another higher category . Cruiselines often/mostly consider upgrades to be to a higher grade of cabin within the same category. Sometimes these kind of "upgrades" can actually be a downgrade. 

Well the good thing is - you're bidding on the type of cabin you want. So it would be a true upgrade. E.g. you're in interior and bidding on balcony. 

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

IMO - an "Upgrade" is only something that takes you from out of one cabin category to another higher category . Cruiselines often/mostly consider upgrades to be to a higher grade of cabin within the same category. Sometimes these kind of "upgrades" can actually be a downgrade. 

True, previously with the upgrade fairy.

That isn't the case with the ones you bid for, as it depends on what category you bid for, and then if you are successful or not.