Upgrade Bid Won

[GinaRz]

Thought I’d share my experience here since I didn’t find much info when I was looking. 

 

I booked the Norwegian Escape for sail date tomorrow 2/17 about 4 weeks ago and all that was left was interior rooms. I booked the interior guaranteed stateroom in this case. Within a few days I received an offer to bid on an upgrade to a balcony. I placed an initial bid of $155 per person then increased to $205 per person a few days later. I received at the beginning of this week on Monday (we sail tomorrow) an email saying my bid was rejected but they counter offered to an ocean view room for 50PP. I agreed to the counteroffer, but still didn’t see it was accepted. I also as a last ditch effort increased my balcony bid to $245PP. Today I received a confirmation that I won my upgrade bid for a balcony and my card was charged $542. I’m assuming that’s $490 plus taxes and or fees. So ultimately I think it was worth it as that’s still less than had I booked it from the beginning.

[julig22]

12 minutes ago, GinaRz said:

Thought I’d share my experience here since I didn’t find much info when I was looking. 

 

 

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, GinaRz said:

Thought I’d share my experience here since I didn’t find much info when I was looking. 

 

I booked the Norwegian Escape for sail date tomorrow 2/17 about 4 weeks ago and all that was left was interior rooms. I booked the interior guaranteed stateroom in this case. Within a few days I received an offer to bid on an upgrade to a balcony. I placed an initial bid of $155 per person then increased to $205 per person a few days later. I received at the beginning of this week on Monday (we sail tomorrow) an email saying my bid was rejected but they counter offered to an ocean view room for 50PP. I agreed to the counteroffer, but still didn’t see it was accepted. I also as a last ditch effort increased my balcony bid to $245PP. Today I received a confirmation that I won my upgrade bid for a balcony and my card was charged $542. I’m assuming that’s $490 plus taxes and or fees. So ultimately I think it was worth it as that’s still less than had I booked it from the beginning.

I'd ask them to explain the $52 difference.

Typically, the added taxes and fees are the same across cabin classes.

[Russiamomm]

Just now, cruiser2015 said:

I'd ask them to explain the $52 difference.

Typically, the added taxes and fees are the same across cabin classes.

If they took the NCL insurance that will go up with the more expensive cabin.

[dbrown84]

19 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

If they took the NCL insurance that will go up with the more expensive cabin.

plus  now if they had the FAS meals, they get two vs one, so they have to pay the gratuities for the extra meal

[cruiser2015]

27 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

If they took the NCL insurance that will go up with the more expensive cabin.

Could be an answer.

[step78]

10 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

plus  now if they had the FAS meals, they get two vs one, so they have to pay the gratuities for the extra meal

No. FAS stays as originally booked this way. 

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, step78 said:

No. FAS stays as originally booked this way. 

Which is why I said "if".  That being said, I hope you're not suggesting that if they did have the meals they wouldn't get an extra one.  If you are, you are 1000% wrong 

[Maanio]

If you originally booked inside and buy the bid upgrade to balcony you will not get an extra specialty dining which balcony cabins are entitled to.

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, Maanio said:

If you originally booked inside and buy the bid upgrade to balcony you will not get an extra specialty dining which balcony cabins are entitled to.

100% true! 

My wife and I booked an inside cabin on Joy last July and won an upgrade to a club balcony. We still only had one specialty meal each. 

We did get the snacks and free laundry that comes with a club balcony but the FAS perks were unchanged. 

[ggTexasGal]

Answers to the cost of upgrading questions are fairly easy find.

This link is just above "Guest" (where you should see "Your Cruise Information" and "Your Current Stateroom")

Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions or watch the Norwegian Cruise Line Upgrade Advantage video for more information about the program. Please note that information may display incorrectly once printed.

https://www.ncl.com/content/upgrade-advantage-faq

[dbrown84]

6 hours ago, Maanio said:

If you originally booked inside and buy the bid upgrade to balcony you will not get an extra specialty dining which balcony cabins are entitled to.

Not true.  

[Maanio]

1 minute ago, dbrown84 said:

Not true.  

It is true.

I experienced it myself last December and I specifically asked about it as well.

[ggTexasGal]

Perhaps the rules differ for European (and other) countries!

Which is a very good reason to refer to appropriate T&Cs.

Edited February 17 by ggTexasGal
corrections

[dbrown84]

13 minutes ago, Maanio said:

It is true.

I experienced it myself last December and I specifically asked about it as well.

And so did I, getting the extra meal and being charged the extra gratuities when my upgrade was processed.  And there have been plenty of posts here on CC of folks wondering why they were charged more than their bid amount, only to find out it was the extra meal 

[Maanio]

Just now, dbrown84 said:

And so did I, getting the extra meal and being charged the extra gratuities when my upgrade was processed.  And there have been plenty of posts here on CC of folks wondering why they were charged more than their bid amount, only to find out it was the extra meal 

So instead of being hostile, who knows, maybe terms are different between countries as another person stated here.

[dbrown84]

Just now, Maanio said:

So instead of being hostile, who knows, maybe terms are different between countries as another person stated here.

Where is the hostility?  I just wrote about my experience.  That's hostile???

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

And so did I, getting the extra meal and being charged the extra gratuities when my upgrade was processed.  And there have been plenty of posts here on CC of folks wondering why they were charged more than their bid amount, only to find out it was the extra meal 

Then why didn't I get the extra meal and get charged? 

And I called my pcc of many years after I won my bid and he confirmed that I wouldn't be getting the 2nd specialty meal. 

[julig22]

20 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

plus  now if they had the FAS meals, they get two vs one, so they have to pay the gratuities for the extra meal

No additional promotions with a bid. However, if you pay for an upgrade, I assume you might be eligible for the additional meal - but I can't say that for sure.

Upgrade Advantage FAQ (ncl.com)

[D. B.]

You need to know that the Upgrade cabin could be in a Less than Desirable location.

 The Class of cabin would be better but the New cabin can be one that experienced cruisers avoided.

  I experienced that once on another cruise line.

  These Upgrade programs are run by an outside company that operates these programs with a cut of the profits the cruise line makes (airlines use it also) off the higher price of the cabin.

 The cruise lines like it because they do Not have to administer or staff it. They just let the program know what cabins are unsold. Thats why you don't get an answer till close to the sailing. The fact that you do not get more perks with the new cabin is just more profit for the cruise line. It's a win-win for the cruise line so you can bet they like to participate. 

 Whoever thought up this program is a smart businessperson.

[LloydJr]

27 minutes ago, julig22 said:

No additional promotions with a bid. However, if you pay for an upgrade, I assume you might be eligible for the additional meal - but I can't say that for sure.

Upgrade Advantage FAQ (ncl.com)

I have done this several times (paid outright for an upgrade from inside to balcony) and we got the extra meal each time.

[dbrown84]

27 minutes ago, julig22 said:

No additional promotions with a bid. However, if you pay for an upgrade, I assume you might be eligible for the additional meal - but I can't say that for sure.

Upgrade Advantage FAQ (ncl.com)

That's why I said "if"

[julig22]

7 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

That's why I said "if"

Not at all what you said. You merely said If they have the FAS meals...

They DO NOT get another meal with an upgrade bid, even if they already have the FAS meals.

[Ct2393]

My problem with bidding on upgrades is you don’t know where the cabin is

located.  You could very easily go from a high floor to a one way down.   

[Asawi]

4 minutes ago, Ct2393 said:

My problem with bidding on upgrades is you don’t know where the cabin is

located.  You could very easily go from a high floor to a one way down.   

True. Someone wrote here some time ago that she was in an inside, some higher deck, and bid on an oceanview that she won. It was a porthole oceanview on deck 4. She did not feel lika winner... 😮  (I had a porthole oceanview on deck 5 forward so I didn't have anything to lose except money when bidding on the balcone I ended up winning. 😄 )