Notification of Upgrade Advantage

[Aquarius_traveler129]

Hi there,

Just wondering when we can expect a notification for an upgrade. I have been lucky before and this seems like it might be a good opportunity. 

 

Sailing the Dawn this summer on the 15th. Just passed final payment and checked the site. There are about 50+ balconies and 15 Club available for this sailing at $4000/PP starting. 

 

With this in mind, we booked with a coupon and got this sailing for 1400 PP in a inside room. So if we snag a balcony even for $400PP it'd be a great deal. I remember on other cruises we received the invite close to final payment. Is there a average timeframe for us to be expecting this invite?

[nordicacres]

We got the email 9 days after final payment was due. I have no idea if that is typical or not, though!

[mking8288]

Keyword here is this Summer the 15th ... the cruise will sell out, one way or another - maybe, without the possibility of anyone getting those prized balcony upgrade.  Will you settled for an Oceanview instead - I would highly recommend making a bid for that, as a back up or else, stay with the Inside you are booked in.

 

Ships are sailing full and/or near capacity this year, especially with winter breaks and school holidays - expect and plan for that this summer.  

 

As for NCL's partner sending out notices about upgrade bidding - lately, it seemed to vary widely - case in points, virtually nobody on our next sailing received the alerts, emails or see the option to bid, until about 60 to 65 days in - and the minimum starting bid is crazy, IMHO.  $300 x 2 to go from a balcony (of our own choiced selection) to a club balcony GTY assignment.  Suites started at $1,000+ and higher as the starting x 2 and Haven, oh my lord - we can do 1 or 2 nice cruises for the incremental upgrade.  

 

Regardless, we had fun in the past with bidding - apparently, not anymore - do the math, perhaps you might be better off calling in to ask about a straight upgrade, if prices do drop soon - for the peak summer weeks, doubtful, however (sorry, that's the reality)  

[julig22]

Typically upgrade bid offers are available around day 110. I just go to the plusgrade website and check there, don't wait for notification from NCL - which you may or may not get.

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Typically upgrade bid offers are available around day 110. I just go to the plusgrade website and check there, don't wait for notification from NCL - which you may or may not get.

I never got the email and did what you said. 

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

Hi there,

Just wondering when we can expect a notification for an upgrade. I have been lucky before and this seems like it might be a good opportunity. 

 

Sailing the Dawn this summer on the 15th. Just passed final payment and checked the site. There are about 50+ balconies and 15 Club available for this sailing at $4000/PP starting. 

 

With this in mind, we booked with a coupon and got this sailing for 1400 PP in a inside room. So if we snag a balcony even for $400PP it'd be a great deal. I remember on other cruises we received the invite close to final payment. Is there a average timeframe for us to be expecting this invite?

No need to wait.  Simply go to https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/NCL/

[Aquarius_traveler129]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Keyword here is this Summer the 15th ... the cruise will sell out, one way or another - maybe, without the possibility of anyone getting those prized balcony upgrade.  Will you settled for an Oceanview instead - I would highly recommend making a bid for that, as a back up or else, stay with the Inside you are booked in.

 

Ships are sailing full and/or near capacity this year, especially with winter breaks and school holidays - expect and plan for that this summer.  

 

As for NCL's partner sending out notices about upgrade bidding - lately, it seemed to vary widely - case in points, virtually nobody on our next sailing received the alerts, emails or see the option to bid, until about 60 to 65 days in - and the minimum starting bid is crazy, IMHO.  $300 x 2 to go from a balcony (of our own choiced selection) to a club balcony GTY assignment.  Suites started at $1,000+ and higher as the starting x 2 and Haven, oh my lord - we can do 1 or 2 nice cruises for the incremental upgrade.  

 

Regardless, we had fun in the past with bidding - apparently, not anymore - do the math, perhaps you might be better off calling in to ask about a straight upgrade, if prices do drop soon - for the peak summer weeks, doubtful, however (sorry, that's the reality)  

There’s actually plenty of other sailings this time frame that are on newer ships and cheaper. Not sure why the Dawn is so expensive but I’m pretty sure $4000+ PP balconies will lose out to other sailings first. I’m hopeful! 

my last cruise we were in a balcony- and prior we won an upgrade for a ocean view. Would be happy with either! Upgrades are exciting and risky which I like. 
 

thanks for the tips! 

[Aquarius_traveler129]

1 hour ago, MoCruiseFan said:

No need to wait.  Simply go to https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/NCL/

This is awesome thank you. Nothing yet- may be too soon. 

[mking8288]

@Aquarius_traveler129  Tips are just tips, FWIW, they aren't necessary what NCL and their outsourced contractor are doing.  The other tactics, watch & read ("stalk") the Dawn's CC roll call ahead of yours sailing Alaska and see/read their chats, see if anyone is sharing about their bids or whether or not, and when theirs became available.  Last year and 2022, during the gradual ramp-on exiting Covid-19 where we sailed at 40% occupancies, upgrades were easy & good for those that won ... some were awarded at 20, 30 to 50, 60 days out, shocking ... and, bids were poor to good.  Come late 2023 and cruise ships sailing at or near full occupancies, things began to change.  

 

Friends that're interested knew about the URL link to check - except, nothing was showing or released, message popped up saying ... to the effects that sorry, nothing available and/or, please check back later.   You should check using the link anyway now, and see what it say - repeat that a week later, and so on, and so forth - keep your eyes on the prices & changes, along with inventory.  

 

This Spring, even the TA are sold out, i.e Escape is full - next month heading east across the pond ... and, even Haven, Suites, Spa Balconies became sold out fairly early.  There is also the new element of "Live Bidding" mainly for the handful of (hidden ??) Haven suites, perhaps from last minute upgrades & cancellation (yeah, right ...)   We are on a different TA and ship later next month, just about everyone except for less than a handful of Club Balconies are sold out, full (for the upper sub/categories) balconies & OV are still open - the odds are changing, and the game rules changed ... still changing, to maximize net revenue by/for NCL's bottomline.  

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, nordicacres said:

We got the email 9 days after final payment was due. I have no idea if that is typical or not, though!

That is the normal timing. 
 

No sense on doing anything with bidding until people have committed to the cruise. 
 

If they need to create some “cheap” rooms, some upgrades to Ocean View, Balcony, and Club Balcony happen earlier. The goal is to have the right mix of rooms so that they can sell the ship out.
 

Suites upgrades are normally done the week of cruise. The goal is to always sail with 100% of the suites occupied. 

[Aquarius_traveler129]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

That is the normal timing. 
 

No sense on doing anything with bidding until people have committed to the cruise. 
 

If they need to create some “cheap” rooms, some upgrades to Ocean View, Balcony, and Club Balcony happen earlier. The goal is to have the right mix of rooms so that they can sell the ship out.
 

Suites upgrades are normally done the week of cruise. The goal is to always sail with 100% of the suites occupied. 

Lovely! Thank you so much for this information. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the email the next few days 🙂 

 

I think the chances of needing “cheap” rooms is high. This sailing is $4000+ pp on a balcony right now. Wild! 

[julig22]

15 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 Last year and 2022, during the gradual ramp-on exiting Covid-19 where we sailed at 40% occupancies, upgrades were easy & good for those that won ... some were awarded at 20, 30 to 50, 60 days out, shocking ... and, bids were poor to good.  Come late 2023 and cruise ships sailing at or near full occupancies, things began to change.

 

This Spring, even the TA are sold out, i.e Escape is full - next month heading east across the pond ... and, even Haven, Suites, Spa Balconies became sold out fairly early.  

Heck, just before the shutdown some of us got upgrades more than 90 days out! Family OV was sold out and they needed those staterooms more than they needed balconies. It was a great cruise, Tahiti to Hawaii, super cheap (I think I was paying a little over $2K, airfare included). Really sad when it got cancelled. 

And the transpacific from Tokyo to Alaska next month is also sold out, according to the website.

[zqvol]

7 minutes ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

Lovely! Thank you so much for this information. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the email the next few days 🙂 

 

I think the chances of needing “cheap” rooms is high. This sailing is $4000+ pp on a balcony right now. Wild! 

Doubtful

Edited March 19 by zqvol

[Aquarius_traveler129]

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

Be careful who you get your information from. 

None of this sounds inaccurate and is in line with other cruisers? Not sure what your comment is about but please be kind to others 

[zqvol]

Just now, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

None of this sounds inaccurate and is in line with other cruisers? Not sure what your comment is about but please be kind to others 

Your chance for an upgrade are somewhere between slim and none.

[Aquarius_traveler129]

7 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Your chance for an upgrade are somewhere between slim and none.

Ah I see. You were warning me about YOUR advice. 
 

No one says your chances are 100% or not. I’ve been on 3 cruises bid for 2 and got one. At minimum bid. The chances are dependent on how full cruise is for each category state room. This is a really negative outlook on the situation? 
 

 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

15 minutes ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

This is a really negative outlook on the situation? 

 

 

I agree. We’ve been upgraded once (and have bids in for our next cruise in 3 weeks). If you get the upgrade, great. If you don’t, what did it cost you? Maybe ten minutes of your time putting bids in, at your convenience?

[MoCruiseFan]

17 hours ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

This is awesome thank you. Nothing yet- may be too soon. 

 

You are very welcome.  I hope you have an amazing time on your cruise ipgrade or not!