Advance Upgrade offer on Getaway

[frugalsc]

Currently booked on an interior room on the Getaway.  Got an email to bid for an upgrade to the Club Balcony Suite starting at $250 and maxing out at $500 per room per person for up to 2 people for the whole trip.  If I bid $500 and accepted, I will pay $1000 extra for the room with 3 people for 7 nights. Same offer for the Balcony Stateroom except that it starts at $100.

 

Is it worth to bid the $500 to get the Club Balcony Suite, it does look like a nicer/bigger cabin with a balcony and other perks but not sure if it's worth the $1K.

 

If I compare the prices for a new booking on the same date and boat, the price difference between an interior room and the club room is more than $2K.  From that perspective, it's seems like a good deal.  Leaning toward biding $500 for the club room...

 

Should I do it?  Would you do it?  Have you done it?

 

[IAcruising]

Welcome to the Ncl bidding process that has no rhyme or reason.

 

Bid the most you are willing to pay, and then forget about it until the week of your cruise.

 

[BirdTravels]

21 hours ago, frugalsc said:

Currently booked on an interior room on the Getaway.  Got an email to bid for an upgrade to the Club Balcony Suite starting at $250 and maxing out at $500 per room per person for up to 2 people for the whole trip.  If I bid $500 and accepted, I will pay $1000 extra for the room with 3 people for 7 nights. Same offer for the Balcony Stateroom except that it starts at $100.

 

Is it worth to bid the $500 to get the Club Balcony Suite, it does look like a nicer/bigger cabin with a balcony and other perks but not sure if it's worth the $1K.

 

If I compare the prices for a new booking on the same date and boat, the price difference between an interior room and the club room is more than $2K.  From that perspective, it's seems like a good deal.  Leaning toward biding $500 for the club room...

 

Should I do it?  Would you do it?  Have you done it?

 

The Balcony and Club Balcony Are the same size room. The difference is the size of the bathroom and a few perks. 
 

We bid on every cruise (mostly to suites). Never win anything, but it is fun. 
 

You picked an inside room, stay with it. 

[gizfish]

The bigger bathroom in the club balcony, IMHO is not worth $150 more per person than the regular balcony.  Personally I would only bid on the regular balcony. Good luck.

[Sailing12Away]

Depends on a lot of factors. In the Club Balcony room you also get a free bag of laundry. Not worth $150, but a nice to have. You'll also get some snacks 1-2x during the trip in your room, like chocolate covered strawberries and things like that. Again, not a $150 value, but a nice to have.

 

You can put in bids for both the regular balcony as well as the club balcony room. Maybe put a more generous bid for the regular balcony and a lower offer on the club - if you manage to get the club at the super discount price (compared to what it would cost to outright move into that room) then it may be 'worth it' to you. 

[frugalsc]

21 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The Balcony and Club Balcony Are the same size room. The difference is the size of the bathroom and a few perks. 
 

We bid on every cruise (mostly to suites). Never win anything, but it is fun. 
 

You picked an inside room, stay with it. 

May I ask how much your bid was?

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, frugalsc said:

May I ask how much your bid was?

Even if you bid the max, there is only a very small chance that you will be successful 

Edited February 6 by zqvol

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, frugalsc said:

May I ask how much your bid was?

We usually bid $1000+ per person for a range of Haven. The Haven is currently sold out on our two cruises booked so far this year. 

 

As pointed out, there are over 1000 staterooms (balcony, club balcony, and Haven) that could potentially bid on a Haven suite. And, since the Haven is sold out, we're bidding assuming that there will be a late cancellation leaving a vacant room on the week of departure (which is when Haven upgrades are processed). So, in general, the probability of winning anything, regardless of how much you bid, is near 0%. We have won Haven rooms 3 times since the program started. 

 

Prior to automated bidding, you used to call the upsell desk and make an offer on vacant rooms that was accepted to declined on the spot. 

 

Starting bids

 

Last year, the winning bid for an H2 on this same ship was over $5K per person (we had a room in the Haven and met the guy who won the bid). He would have paid retail for the room if it was available, but the entire Haven was sold out when he booked. 

Edited February 6 by BirdTravels

[Sailing12Away]

OP here isn't looking at bidding into Haven, just moving from an inside to a balcony or club balcony.

 

Having said that, we too have put in the max bid for the best Haven rooms knowing that if we won it would still be at a discount and was 'worth it' to us. Most times we don't win, but that one time we did we lived like royalty. Granted, it wasn't a Haven room as it was on the Star, but it was a 3br villa for just the 2 of us, and it was fabulous.

[BirdTravels]

23 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

OP here isn't looking at bidding into Haven, just moving from an inside to a balcony or club balcony.

 

Having said that, we too have put in the max bid for the best Haven rooms knowing that if we won it would still be at a discount and was 'worth it' to us. Most times we don't win, but that one time we did we lived like royalty. Granted, it wasn't a Haven room as it was on the Star, but it was a 3br villa for just the 2 of us, and it was fabulous.

The OP asked me how much I bid. I answered. Sorry if my response did not meet your expectations. 

Edited February 6 by BirdTravels

[bkrickles1]

On 2/4/2024 at 12:49 AM, frugalsc said:

Currently booked on an interior room on the Getaway.  Got an email to bid for an upgrade to the Club Balcony Suite starting at $250 and maxing out at $500 per room per person for up to 2 people for the whole trip.  If I bid $500 and accepted, I will pay $1000 extra for the room with 3 people for 7 nights. Same offer for the Balcony Stateroom except that it starts at $100.

 

Is it worth to bid the $500 to get the Club Balcony Suite, it does look like a nicer/bigger cabin with a balcony and other perks but not sure if it's worth the $1K.

 

If I compare the prices for a new booking on the same date and boat, the price difference between an interior room and the club room is more than $2K.  From that perspective, it's seems like a good deal.  Leaning toward biding $500 for the club room...

 

Should I do it?  Would you do it?  Have you done it?

 

Everyone has different experiences and I'll tell you mine.

We sailed Joy just this past July and originally booked an inside cabin.

After receiving an upgrade email, I bid on a balcony and a club balcony.

The minimum bid for a club balcony on my sailing was $125pp.

We were ok with an inside cabin as this was going to be our 3rd vacation of the year and we've done inside cabins in the past and survived quite well.

We sailed Joy the previous summer too and had a club balcony suite and really enjoyed the bathroom, so we weren't adverse to a potential move but it had to be inexpensive!

Because of this, I bid $5 over the minimum and actually was awarded the club balcony cabin.

I paid $130pp for my wife and I. $260 total and received notification 6 weeks before my sailing, which seemed early, but made us quite happy.

Anyway, I'm sailing Getaway in April and once again we booked an inside cabin.

I didn't receive the email, but went in and inputted my info and was able to bid for a balcony and club balcony. This time the minimum bids are $100pp for a balcony and $250pp for a club balcony.

I bid $140pp for the balcony and the minimum for the club balcony. Again, we're ok with an inside cabin and the prices have actually gone up quite a lot since we booked.

A balcony now would cost us approx. $2000 more than we paid originally, which seems like a lot, and a club balcony is even more.

What's a little interesting is that if I go in for a mock booking now, as opposed to just a couple of days ago, there is only inside guarantee and club balcony guarantee available, but you can still pick a balcony and there's at least 150 of those still available. There was, at least, 60 club balconies available 2 days ago too.

With over 200 cabins available that are possibilities for an upgrade, maybe I'll get lucky again!

[frugalsc]

22 hours ago, zqvol said:

Even if you bid the max, there is only a very small chance that you will be successful 

My cruise is about 2 months out and still see both the club and regular balcony rooms for sale on their site.  I have to think my chances are pretty good if I put in a max bid?  Since both room's max bid is $500, will only bid for the club room.  I think it's worth it compare to what I would have paid during the initial reservation.

 

[frugalsc]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The OP asked me how much I bid. I answered. Sorry if my response did not meet your expectations. 

No need for apologies here, it was fun reading your post and thanks for sharing your experiences.  There wasn't even an offer for me to bid for a Haven room.  I'm swinging for the club room fences...wish me luck!

 

[frugalsc]

12 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

Everyone has different experiences and I'll tell you mine.

We sailed Joy just this past July and originally booked an inside cabin.

After receiving an upgrade email, I bid on a balcony and a club balcony.

The minimum bid for a club balcony on my sailing was $125pp.

We were ok with an inside cabin as this was going to be our 3rd vacation of the year and we've done inside cabins in the past and survived quite well.

We sailed Joy the previous summer too and had a club balcony suite and really enjoyed the bathroom, so we weren't adverse to a potential move but it had to be inexpensive!

Because of this, I bid $5 over the minimum and actually was awarded the club balcony cabin.

I paid $130pp for my wife and I. $260 total and received notification 6 weeks before my sailing, which seemed early, but made us quite happy.

Anyway, I'm sailing Getaway in April and once again we booked an inside cabin.

I didn't receive the email, but went in and inputted my info and was able to bid for a balcony and club balcony. This time the minimum bids are $100pp for a balcony and $250pp for a club balcony.

I bid $140pp for the balcony and the minimum for the club balcony. Again, we're ok with an inside cabin and the prices have actually gone up quite a lot since we booked.

A balcony now would cost us approx. $2000 more than we paid originally, which seems like a lot, and a club balcony is even more.

What's a little interesting is that if I go in for a mock booking now, as opposed to just a couple of days ago, there is only inside guarantee and club balcony guarantee available, but you can still pick a balcony and there's at least 150 of those still available. There was, at least, 60 club balconies available 2 days ago too.

With over 200 cabins available that are possibilities for an upgrade, maybe I'll get lucky again!

WOW just WOW and thanks for sharing your experience.  As I previously posted, I was going to max it out at $500, I still see club rooms still available for booking but can't quantify it like you did.  Maybe I don't need to bid $500 and good luck with your bid!

Edited February 7 by frugalsc

[frugalsc]

Follow up question around the timing of the bid, will my chance increase if I bid earlier?  Or their process is that they collect all the bid thru a certain date and then just rank and assign the winning bids from highest to lowest until all rooms are "sold".  One comment mentioned s/he won the bid 6 weeks out, so perhaps an earlier bid does increase my chance? @bkrickles1