Princess Upgrade Bidding

[trbarton]

Does anyone know if there is a certain time frame when you can use the bidding link to upgrade your stateroom, Bid for a Stateroom Upgrade?

 

I keep getting the message “This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time”. 
 

My cruise is September 2, 2024 on the Crown Princess to Alaska. 

 

Tom😀

[LACruiser88]

[trbarton]

59 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Thank you very much. 

[Scottdalfonso]

I assume some just aren't available. I sail August 31st and as far as I know, no one on our sailing has been able to bid, 

[JamieLogical]

You may also just be ineligible to bid if you booked through a TA who does not participate in the program. I am told many of the "big box" TAs do not participate.

[Anne76]

Sailing in september and getting the same message, booked directly with Princess...

 

Checking every day, just in case!

[cruisin_ppl]

For one of our recent Princess cruises, the cruise was paid in full, we were within 85 days of the cruise and when I tried the upgrade bidding link on the Princess website,  I got the message “This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time”.
Out of curiosity, I logged into my husband's Princess account and the upgrade bidding was open for him to put in an upgrade bid.  I thought this was very odd.

[Anne76]

Both our accounts are not eligible at this time...

 

Waiting and watching! (and shopping new clothes!).

[trbarton]

I think that it’s a glitch with the Princess as my travel agent handles all of my booking & this is the 1st time I’ve seen this message. I’ve called Princess but whoever answers the phone is unable to help.
 

My 11 day Alaska Cruise is 56 days aways. 
 

I’ll just keep trying.
 

Tom🤔 

Edited July 15 by trbarton

[galensgrl]

We paid in full at the end of February for our cruise in August. Received an invitation to bid for an upgrade early June. By the time I saw it the next day and went to bid the offer was rescinded.

Last week I received an email offering another chance to bid for an upgrade. This time I put in a promising bid. The bid was acknowledged by Princess, but not yet accepted. We cruise in about 20 days now, still haven't yet heard if bid was accepted yet. I read that it can happen just before the cruise or even at the terminal. Nothing to do but wait at this point. 

edited to add that I tried calling Princess to see if there is a time at which I'll know if the bid was accepted. No one knew the window of time to wait before figuring out if the upgrade bid would be accepted or not. Can literally be up till the time of boarding at the terminal. Kind of nerve wracking to wait and not know. 

Edited July 15 by galensgrl
add a thought

[trbarton]

Just now, galensgrl said:

We paid in full at the end of February for our cruise in August. Received an invitation to bid for an upgrade early June. By the time I saw it the next day and went to bid the offer was rescinded.

Last week I received an email offering another chance to bid for an upgrade. This time I put in a promising bid. The bid was acknowledged by Princess, but not yet accepted. We cruise in about 20 days now, still haven't yet heard if bid was accepted yet. I read that it can happen just before the cruise or even at the terminal. Nothing to do but wait at this point. 

My other option, which I’ve done before, is to go to the PSD desk ASAP, when I board & see if they have any options. 
 

What are you bidding from & to?  I want to go from an Ocean View to a Balcony. 
 

Thanks for your response. Yes you can get an offer anytime. 
 

Tom😀

[galensgrl]

3 minutes ago, trbarton said:

My other option, which I’ve done before, is to go to the PSD desk ASAP, when I board & see if they have any options. 
 

What are you bidding from & to?  I want to go from an Ocean View to a Balcony. 
 

Thanks for your response. Yes you can get an offer anytime. 
 

Tom😀

Hi Tom. I bid on a suite, the basic suite. I am travelling with a couple of siblings so a little more space would be good. Bidding up to that from a mini suite. Hoping for priority boarding and a bigger balcony if possible. If it doesn't happen before then, I may inquire onboard or just stay with the mini suite. Hopefully the mini suite will accommodate the three of us comfortably. I usually book an inside or ocean view for myself but sharing the cabin with a couple of other people made me concerned about space. 

[trbarton]

1 hour ago, galensgrl said:

Hi Tom. I bid on a suite, the basic suite. I am travelling with a couple of siblings so a little more space would be good. Bidding up to that from a mini suite. Hoping for priority boarding and a bigger balcony if possible. If it doesn't happen before then, I may inquire onboard or just stay with the mini suite. Hopefully the mini suite will accommodate the three of us comfortably. I usually book an inside or ocean view for myself but sharing the cabin with a couple of other people made me concerned about space. 

Thanks for your information. WOW…A Mini Suite sounds like a great idea. 
 

This will be my 38th Cruise with Princess. 
 

Right now the Princess site only shows Ocean View available. 
 

Tom😀

[seacruise9]

On 7/15/2024 at 2:03 AM, Scottdalfonso said:

I assume some just aren't available. I sail August 31st and as far as I know, no one on our sailing has been able to bid, 

Hi, 

 

I am booked on this same cruise and have not received an opportunity to bid on an upgrade. I booked this cruise directly through Princess and meet all of the listed requirements that are necessary to bid on an upgrade. 

 

Chuck 

[flying boat]

We had a cruise in March that if I remember right the bidding didn't open up until almost 30 days before the cruise.

[Esprit]

We board Sun Princess in 24 days time and I received another upgrade bid email today. All categories are available but I'm sticking with our deluxe balcony on deck 15 forward as I want to be close to the sea view bar and terrace. 

[suzyed]

9 hours ago, flying boat said:

We had a cruise in March that if I remember right the bidding didn't open up until almost 30 days before the cruise.

We bid on our October cruise toward the end of June.

[Luv2cruz1000]

On 7/15/2024 at 3:41 PM, trbarton said:

My other option, which I’ve done before, is to go to the PSD desk ASAP, when I board & see if they have any options. 
 

What are you bidding from & to?  I want to go from an Ocean View to a Balcony. 
 

Thanks for your response. Yes you can get an offer anytime. 
 

Tom😀

Has anyone gotten upgrades after they board?

[echoshipmate]

Just remember, bid availability is also determined by the length of the cruise. We became bid eligible a few days ago for a 9/29, 16 day sailing rt from LA to Hawaii. Made a bid, no response yet.

Doug

[wintrev]

We are on the Coral on 15/9 and received an email to bid. At the time the cruise was sold out and then 1 suite became available midship. Put in a bid but have since cancelled as the cruise has been showing Sold out again for the last week - would be nice if they let you know as soon as there is no chance instead of leaving people hoping. 

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, wintrev said:

We are on the Coral on 15/9 and received an email to bid. At the time the cruise was sold out and then 1 suite became available midship. Put in a bid but have since cancelled as the cruise has been showing Sold out again for the last week - would be nice if they let you know as soon as there is no chance instead of leaving people hoping. 

Just because the cruise is sold out now doesn't mean there won't be cancellations in the next ~2 months.  There's not "no chance" of anyone getting upgraded.

[JamieLogical]

4 hours ago, wintrev said:

We are on the Coral on 15/9 and received an email to bid. At the time the cruise was sold out and then 1 suite became available midship. Put in a bid but have since cancelled as the cruise has been showing Sold out again for the last week - would be nice if they let you know as soon as there is no chance instead of leaving people hoping. 

 

They always keep bidding open in case there are cancellations.

[flying boat]

We got an upgrade from inside to ocean view on a sold out cruise, so there is always a chance.

[billco]

Seems to me that if the cruise is sold out, almost sold out, has a waiting list, TA holds, etc, there wouldn't be much of a reason to open bidding. Princess has bidding for their benefit, not ours. We have an Alaskan cruise on the Discovery in September. Since we booked the price has of our current cabin has gone up quite a bit. If Princess opened bidding for a higher category cabin, it wouldn't make sense to bid on it.

Edited July 17 by billco

[LACruiser88]

12 hours ago, Luv2cruz1000 said:

Has anyone gotten upgrades after they board?

Right after the pandemic start-up this was possible on most cruises.  Now with ships sailing at capacity, it would be very rare to get an upgrade after boarding.