Sun Princess: feeling jerked around by the bidding process

[IUSteve]

I hold a “guaranteed” reservation in a DF class balcony room, which are all handicap-accessible in awful locations with metal balconies.  I don’t need and dont want this kind of room.My reservation was made before deck plans of the ship were available, so I had no idea this was the kind of room I was being put in before I had to pay in full.

 

Desperate to find something else, I have put maximum bids on four other types of rooms. Despite putting the maximum bid possible on a cabana reserve mini suite, over the weekend I received an email that I had been “outbid.“ So I raised my bid and am now supposedly “in the lead.“ Yet someone else sailing the same date as I am just got an upgrade today to the same type of room. I have heard nothing.
 

Calling the “customer service“ people was an infuriating waste of time, because those people respond to any question or complaint like robots who have been programmed to be as unhelpful as possible, robots who moreover do not speak understandable English.

 

Princess might run nice ships, but their bidding and customer service systems suck. 

 

 

[cruzsnooze]

You knew you were bidding on handicap balcony so you knew that you could end up in one if I'm reading your post correctly.

[IUSteve]

2 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

You knew you were bidding on handicap balcony so you knew that you could end up in one if I'm reading your post correctly.

You’re not.

[cruzsnooze]

What category did you reserve when you made your GTY reservation?

[iamaqt2]

Edit. My original post was incorrect.

Edited April 23 by iamaqt2

[SCX22]

This isn't a Princess problem.  It's your anxiety getting to you.

 

Wouldn't jump the gun.  Just because you don't see availability, doesn't mean that there isn't non accessible availability in said category.  You could be upgraded at no cost.  The ivory tower has the infinite wisdom on this subject.  That's how GTY bookings work.

 

Another situation is that there could be move over offers put forth and those willing to accept will produce availability and you will be assigned one of the cabins that those people have freed up.

 

Not sure where your gripe about the bidding system comes from because no where does it say in the bidding system that you're guaranteed to win.  If you can pay the max bid now, you should have considered higher categories when you booked.  When you max out category bids, the total fare comes very close to paying the full fare of higher categories.

 

Patience is a virtue.

[iamaqt2]

43 minutes ago, IUSteve said:

I hold a “guaranteed” reservation in a DF class balcony room, which are all handicap-accessible in awful locations with metal balconies.  I don’t need and dont want this kind of room.My reservation was made before deck plans of the ship were available, so I had no idea this was the kind of room I was being put in before I had to pay in full.

 

Desperate to find something else, I have put maximum bids on four other types of rooms. Despite putting the maximum bid possible on a cabana reserve mini suite, over the weekend I received an email that I had been “outbid.“ So I raised my bid and am now supposedly “in the lead.“ Yet someone else sailing the same date as I am just got an upgrade today to the same type of room. I have heard nothing.
 

Calling the “customer service“ people was an infuriating waste of time, because those people respond to any question or complaint like robots who have been programmed to be as unhelpful as possible, robots who moreover do not speak understandable English.

 

Princess might run nice ships, but their bidding and customer service systems suck. 

 

 

There are only 6 of these cabins in this cat on the whole ship.  The chance of you actually getting one is slim to none.  It might have been a guarantee, but people with disabilities need these cabins.  You'll likely be assigned a much better cabin location.  I wouldn't spend a lot of money on the upgrade bids.

[IUSteve]

8 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

This isn't a Princess problem.  It's your anxiety getting to you.

 

Wouldn't jump the gun.  Just because you don't see availability, doesn't mean that there isn't non accessible availability in said category.  You could be upgraded at no cost.  The ivory tower has the infinite wisdom on this subject.  That's how GTY bookings work.

 

Another situation is that there could be move over offers put forth and those willing to accept will produce availability and you will be assigned one of the cabins that those people have freed up.

 

Not sure where your gripe about the bidding system comes from because no where does it say in the bidding system that you're guaranteed to win.  If you can pay the max bid now, you should have considered higher categories when you booked.  When you max out category bids, the total fare comes very close to paying the full fare of higher categories.

 

Patience is a virtue.

As I’ve explained, I had no idea I was being put into this undesirable room category. When I reserved the ship was still being built, there were no deck plans, and I wasn’t told it was an accessible room, just that I had a balcony.

[SCX22]

1 minute ago, IUSteve said:

As I’ve explained, I had no idea I was being put into this undesirable room category. When I reserved the ship was still being built, there were no deck plans, and I wasn’t told it was an accessible room, just that I had a balcony.

 

Right, but you booked GTY.  You're missing the "OR BETTER" part of booking a GTY.  Wait for Princess to assign you a cabin before reacting.  What if Princess wanted to upgrade you with the GTY booking, but instead you placed a bid and won?  Then you missed out on a free upgrade.

[DallasGuy75219]

59 minutes ago, IUSteve said:

Calling the “customer service“ people was an infuriating waste of time, because those people respond to any question or complaint like robots who have been programmed to be as unhelpful as possible, robots who moreover do not speak understandable English.

 

Princess might run nice ships, but their bidding and customer service systems suck. 

Princess' upgrade process is outsourced to a third party (Plusgrade).  You're getting scripted, unhelpful answers because no one at Princess has direct control of or visibility to your upgrade bids, or direct control of the upgrade process on any sailing.

 

The bidding/upgrade process is to set up to be entirely online and automated, so it's not surprising when Princess employees tell you there's nothing they can do, because the process isn't meant to be manually manipulated or subject to Princess employees trying to figure out why you didn't get an upgrade but someone else did.

Edited April 23 by DallasGuy75219

[OzKiwiJJ]

By the way "Outbid" doesn't necessarily mean you really have been out-bid. I got the Outbid email for our upcoming Coral world cruise. I just ignored it as we weren't prepared to raise our bid. Four days later I got the new cabin.

[Scottdalfonso]

If Princess works like most of the other lines, they actually have nothing to do with the bidding. It's a 3rd party company, and they have no real rhyme or reason on how they choose who wins. I've seen many posts of people bidding on the same thing as a friend and the friend gets the room with a lower bid. It really all seems very random. 

[happy42cruise]

How close to sailing are you?  How did you book (through a TA, CVP, directly on website)? If you have a TA or CVP I'd call them to see if they can get you moved to a different cabin.  If not then I would use direct message on Insta or X with your booking information, and the Customer Solutions team should contact you directly to assist.  The only other place you might contact would be the special assistance group to ask to be moved to a non-accessible cabin. Or once on board ask guest services if they have any availability.  Hopefully you get an upgrade through bidding before you board. 

[JamieLogical]

4 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

If Princess works like most of the other lines, they actually have nothing to do with the bidding. It's a 3rd party company, and they have no real rhyme or reason on how they choose who wins. I've seen many posts of people bidding on the same thing as a friend and the friend gets the room with a lower bid. It really all seems very random. 

 

It's definitely not random, but it is complicated. Every upgrade is actually a chain of upgrades and what matters to them is which chains will net them the most money. So if I am booked in an Interior and bit the max on a Balcony and then I hear about someone in an OV that bid the minimum for a Balcony and won, I might be pretty miffed, because I bid way more than that other person. But the fact is that someone else in an Interior probably bid on an OV and the combination of moving that person into the OV and the OV person into the Balcony netted more money.

 

I promise you, every business is in the business of making money, so there is no randomness involved. They will absolutely, without fail, award bids based on what will net them the most money. That's why any question about what you originally paid or loyalty level should not factor in AT ALL. They already have all the money from everyone's original bookings. What you paid for that is completely irrelevant. What matters at the time of awarding upgrade bids is how much MORE you are paying NOW.

[MacMadame]

13 hours ago, IUSteve said:

Calling the “customer service“ people was an infuriating waste of time, because those people respond to any question or complaint like robots who have been programmed to be as unhelpful as possible, robots who moreover do not speak understandable English.

Try calling the CVP line and see if they will move you to a different cabin rather than relying on the bidding process. Even if the cruise is sold out, you might get a solution from them as sometimes cabins are held back and don't appear online.

 

(I'm assuming you didn't book through a TA or CVP because otherwise, you wouldn't be asking here but making them fix it. 😄)

[cruzsnooze]

The reality still remains that the OP took a gty in Category DF ,  gambled and isn't happy. When the cruise opened up after the build wasn't it available to OP to look at the cabins and book then letting the GTY go? I suspect the price of the GTY was too good to give up. GTY'S sometimes work out and sometimes not.

   OP booked a DF GTY because it was all that was available. OP knew he might end up with a DF cabin Because that's what they Chose to book. Hoping something else opens up isn't a given.

   I hope for the OP's sake something opens up and they can move to a different cabin.

Edited April 23 by cruzsnooze

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

The reality still remains that the OP took a gty in Category DF ,  gambled and isn't happy. When the cruise opened up after the build wasn't it available to OP to look at the cabins and book then letting the GTY go? I suspect the price of the GTY was too good to give up. GTY'S sometimes work out and sometimes not.

   OP booked a DF GTY because it was all that was available. OP knew he might end up with a DF cabin Because that's what they Chose to book. Hoping something else opens up isn't a given.

   I hope for the OP's sake something opens up and they can move to a different cabin.

The OP states that it was not determined that a DF would be an assessable balcony cabin when he booked.

[IUSteve]

5 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Try calling the CVP line and see if they will move you to a different cabin rather than relying on the bidding process. Even if the cruise is sold out, you might get a solution from them as sometimes cabins are held back and don't appear online.

 

(I'm assuming you didn't book through a TA or CVP because otherwise, you wouldn't be asking here but making them fix it. 😄)

 

Thanks.  How do I reach a CVP?  Is there a different number from the ordinary "customer service"? Do they have magical powers the people in "customer service" don't?  I got a call out of the blue from a CVP a few weeks ago who promised to get back to me about something and never did.  Now when I try to call back the number he called from, I just get dumped into the ordinary "customer service" queue.  

[voljeep]

17 hours ago, IUSteve said:

As I’ve explained, I had no idea I was being put into this undesirable room category. When I reserved the ship was still being built, there were no deck plans, and I wasn’t told it was an accessible room, just that I had a balcony.

and

 

how long from when you booked to you had to pay in full?

and how long from paid in full until now?

 

[t&atravel]

@IUSteve  You said you booked a guaranty cabin, have you even had a cabin assigned yet?  All your worry may be for nothing. They could place you in a better place and in a non-accessible cabin (which could be likely).  I don’t think anyone will be able to help you change cabins if you don’t even have one yet.

[IUSteve]

5 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Try calling the CVP line and see if they will move you to a different cabin rather than relying on the bidding process. Even if the cruise is sold out, you might get a solution from them as sometimes cabins are held back and don't appear online.

 

(I'm assuming you didn't book through a TA or CVP because otherwise, you wouldn't be asking here but making them fix it. 😄)

 

Thanks, I've never been able to find a "CVP line."  Everything seems to go to the standard offshore "customer service" line.  Any suggestions on how to reach a CVP?

 

[MacMadame]

53 minutes ago, IUSteve said:

 

Thanks.  How do I reach a CVP?  Is there a different number from the ordinary "customer service"? Do they have magical powers the people in "customer service" don't?  I got a call out of the blue from a CVP a few weeks ago who promised to get back to me about something and never did.  Now when I try to call back the number he called from, I just get dumped into the ordinary "customer service" queue.  

Since CVPs are considered TAs by Cruise Critic (Personally, I consider them Premium Customer Service), I can't give you the number but you should be able to find it on the Princess website or by Googling There is also a form to "request a CVP" though that hasn't worked for me. You may have also gotten an email from a CVP when you booked and it might work to call them.

[WisCruiser2]

@IUSteve, as others have explained, booking a DF Guarantee room does not necessarily mean that is what you will be assigned. We booked last fall for February on the Enchanted (A Royal-class ship) and wanted a balcony. There were no regular balcony staterooms left so we booked a Guarantee Deluxe (DF), only choice left. About a week or so before our sailing we were assigned a Deluxe in a higher category (i.e., better location). So I wouldn't be too worried, especially if your cruise is a ways out.

[Wishing on a star]

To the OP,  I believe you are on the SUN, next month...  And not sure if an accessible cabin is required...   Perhaps the problem is that the accessible cabins are all booked.

 

First:  Those lowest category Deluxe Balconies (accessible) seem to be located forward on deck 9, and on deck 16.  (just behind the Seaview deck and the dome area)

Those on deck 16 look huge...  And, they do have glass, not metal, balconies.

The size of these on deck 16, as well as the location right next to a prime area, could be very nice.

So, even if another accessible cabin does not open up, then you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good cabin on deck 16.

 

Also:   I am not sure how you booked, or why you thought that there were few options other than the lowest category Deluxe Balcony guarantee?  Perhaps the 'accessible' factor?

But, even at this date, it looks like there is some real availability for regular deluxe balconies on this cruise.

It is too bad that you are now past final payment, which complicates all of this!

Edited April 24 by Wishing on a star

[JamieLogical]

39 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

To the OP,  I believe you are on the SUN, next month...  And not sure if an accessible cabin is required...   Perhaps the problem is that the accessible cabins are all booked.

 

First:  Those lowest category Deluxe Balconies (accessible) seem to be located forward on deck 9, and on deck 16.  (just behind the Seaview deck and the dome area)

Those on deck 16 look huge...  And, they do have glass, not metal, balconies.

The size of these on deck 16, as well as the location right next to a prime area, could be very nice.

So, even if another accessible cabin does not open up, then you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good cabin on deck 16.

 

Also:   I am not sure how you booked, or why you thought that there were few options other than the lowest category Deluxe Balcony guarantee?  Perhaps the 'accessible' factor?

But, even at this date, it looks like there is some real availability for regular deluxe balconies on this cruise.

It is too bad that you are now past final payment, which complicates all of this!

 

I do not believe the OP wants/needs an accessible cabin. When they booked a GTY, the lowest deluxe balcony cabin category it was not defined as accessible cabins as the deck plans had not been released. Now the concern is because they are booked into an "accessible cabin category" they can only upgraded to another accessible cabin category, which the OP does not want or need and limits their upgrade options.