Upgrade Emails

[Mutzi S.]

We usually book direct with MSC and have received Upgrade emails.  Our next cruise was booked through a TA.  Will we receive the Upgrade emails directly or will it go to our TA?  TIA

[RBrowny]

Should come straight to you, mine have and I always book through TA.

[Haljo1935]

Currently on cruise booked through a TA - received 4 upgrade emails direct from MSC.

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

They will come directly to you. Just be advised that the upgrade through MSC is often *not* a deal. It's generally cheaper to book the category you want outright, unless it YC.

[DaKahuna]

16 minutes ago, Ottawa_Cruiser said:

Just be advised that the upgrade through MSC is often *not* a deal.

 

 This was true for us.  I could not believe the per person price for the upgrades they offered us on our upcoming cruise.  I took one look and deleted the email.  Was not even worth considering. 

 

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 This was true for us.  I could not believe the per person price for the upgrades they offered us on our upcoming cruise.  I took one look and deleted the email.  Was not even worth considering. 

 

For our October 20th sailing, they want $315pp to upgrade to oceanview. I could have booked that category for $100 more pp at time of booking!

[jame_g]

Same here. The upgrade emails I get typically have the starting bid at, or just below, what I could have booked it at to begin with. Going up very much at all usually puts it over, and sometimes well over, what I could have booked it at to begin with. Not a deal. I just book what I want to begin with, and as early as possible, because the price just seems to go up from there.

Edited August 14 by jame_g

[les37b]

Does anyone know how soon before departure upgrade bids get considered and either accepted or rejected? I have a balcony with premium drinks and have bid on YC. If accepted, I wont bother booking alternative restaurants, but will book if not successful. Dont want to be left in no mans land and get rejected and too late to book one of the restaurant packages.

[kym05]

Based on what I have read here and reddit, there isn't really an exact timeframe, I've read people being accepted immediately and others 3 days before the cruise, I wish you luck on your bid! 

[notley-cruise]

23 hours ago, les37b said:

Does anyone know how soon before departure upgrade bids get considered and either accepted or rejected? I have a balcony with premium drinks and have bid on YC. If accepted, I wont bother booking alternative restaurants, but will book if not successful. Dont want to be left in no mans land and get rejected and too late to book one of the restaurant packages.

Bids are considered based on their value.  So if you bid the minimum you might be waiting until two days before departure for a response, bid the maximum and you'll get acceptance almost immediately. 

So how much over minimum did you bid ?

[les37b]

1 hour ago, notley-cruise said:

Bids are considered based on their value.  So if you bid the minimum you might be waiting until two days before departure for a response, bid the maximum and you'll get acceptance almost immediately. 

So how much over minimum did you bid ?

 

I bid the maximum, though originally I bid 30% over the minimum. I changed to maximum 2 weeks ago. 

[lumpkin8]

I just got my accepted bid email this morning!  This is for a Merv sailing on Sept 15th.  I booked an interior guarantee single a few weeks ago. I got immediately upgraded for free to a regular balcony.  I then added my daughter into my room, and they put her in at the same price as if I had booked her initially in the interior guarantee. So the total for the 2 in the balcony cabin came to under $1200 (included drinks package).

 

I then bid on an interior YC.  The min. bid was about $530.  I initially bid $550, but then changed it to $560 (so that the arrow went from "poor" to "fair".)  This was on August 18th.  And this morning,(3 days later) I got the acceptance email!

 

So the YC cabin came to the inital $1200, plus additional $1120, totalling $2320 for the 2 of us in YC interior.  If I booked today, the YC interiors are sold out, and the next level would be over $7000 for the cabin.

 

I don't know what the YC interior would have been if I had booked it originally, but I am pretty sure when I looked back then it was at over $2000 per person.

 

So as people are saying, the timing could be all over the place for bid answers.  I do hope I got a good rate for YC (I think I did !?!?!) and did not overpay.

[notley-cruise]

48 minutes ago, lumpkin8 said:

I don't know what the YC interior would have been if I had booked it originally, but I am pretty sure when I looked back then it was at over $2000 per person.

 

So as people are saying, the timing could be all over the place for bid answers.  I do hope I got a good rate for YC (I think I did !?!?!) and did not overpay.

Yeah, for similar Sept Meraviglia Bahamas sailings YC interiors are from USD2000 per person.

[lumpkin8]

Great!  Then we got our YC cabin for about half price!

 

[les37b]

2 hours ago, lumpkin8 said:

I just got my accepted bid email this morning!  This is for a Merv sailing on Sept 15th.  I booked an interior guarantee single a few weeks ago. I got immediately upgraded for free to a regular balcony.  I then added my daughter into my room, and they put her in at the same price as if I had booked her initially in the interior guarantee. So the total for the 2 in the balcony cabin came to under $1200 (included drinks package).

 

I then bid on an interior YC.  The min. bid was about $530.  I initially bid $550, but then changed it to $560 (so that the arrow went from "poor" to "fair".)  This was on August 18th.  And this morning,(3 days later) I got the acceptance email!

 

So the YC cabin came to the inital $1200, plus additional $1120, totalling $2320 for the 2 of us in YC interior.  If I booked today, the YC interiors are sold out, and the next level would be over $7000 for the cabin.

 

I don't know what the YC interior would have been if I had booked it originally, but I am pretty sure when I looked back then it was at over $2000 per person.

 

So as people are saying, the timing could be all over the place for bid answers.  I do hope I got a good rate for YC (I think I did !?!?!) and did not overpay.

 

Good you got yours after 3 days. I initially bid +30% of the start price and then 100% and still nothing. I suspect the number of places left also factor into it. I'll be annoyed though if I miss out because I did the initial bid and date of the full price bid is being ignored.

 

Strangely my upgrade link is no longer valid, nor link to amend my upgrade bid, so maybe its actually in process now of being accepted! Fingers crossed!

 

Edited August 21 by les37b

[Haljo1935]

13 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Good you got yours after 3 days. I initially bid +30% of the start price and then 100% and still nothing. I suspect the number of places left also factor into it. I'll be annoyed though if I miss out because I did the initial bid and date of the full price bid is being ignored.

 

Strangely my upgrade link is no longer valid, nor link to amend my upgrade bid, so maybe its actually in process now of being accepted! Fingers crossed!

 

I wish you luck 🤞and hope you'll come back to update us on the outcome.

[les37b]

8 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I wish you luck 🤞and hope you'll come back to update us on the outcome.

 

I will..... But its not as hoped!

 

The rep I spoke with said it had been accepted on 15 August - but I'd not heard anything and shortly after I spoke with him (and following his call with the bid upgrade team) my upgrade link was now working again. (Meaning I would be able to amend or cancel - which had it been accepted, would not be possible.

 

I called back. The gent I spoke with said he would get in touch with that team again and call me back (yesterday or within 24 hours) unfortunately that hasn't happened.

 

I was hoping to be able to amend my CC details as its an Amex BA card Ive used and will push me over the threshold for a companion seat - and as its only valid 12 months, want that payment to go through in October not August! 1st world problems I know - but it was our intention to use it for flights to Tokyo October 2025 - which we would be able to do now if we cant change the card!

 

So with no call back or email, I have reached out to the bid team and hope they can update with more than "you will have to wait until 48 hours before sailing."

[les37b]

Well I'm very unimpressed with MSC communications.

 

The first guy never called back at all and still hasn't. I also sent an email as had been suggested to msg_upg@msccruises.com

 

I called back and spoke with a concerned lady who promised to get this resolved and promised to call me back between 6 and 7pm. 

 

That didn't happen.

 

I called back the following day. The lady read the notes and contacted the lady I last spoke with and I was told she would call back shortly. She also promised to give me a follow up call later to make sure I got that call.

 

I got zero calls despite all the promises and 3 days on, still waiting a reply to my email.

 

Is this standard practice by MSC?

[lumpkin8]

les37b   This sounds really frustrating!   I am so glad you did get your upgrade, but it sounds like you might not be able to switch credit cards for the payment.  If not, I hope you can still find enjoyment in going on the cruise.

[xcell]

On 8/13/2024 at 11:36 AM, Ottawa_Cruiser said:

They will come directly to you. Just be advised that the upgrade through MSC is often *not* a deal. It's generally cheaper to book the category you want outright, unless it YC.

 

100% in agreement based on my experience but mine was from a YCI to YCD (and at the time of the bidding, there was 16 rooms available -- even upto the week before the cruise) -- the amount they wanted made no sense.

 

My conspiracy theory is that they offer the YC bids lower to non-YC gues, as some of the bid winners upgraded less than what they asked me to bid.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, lumpkin8 said:

les37b   This sounds really frustrating!   I am so glad you did get your upgrade, but it sounds like you might not be able to switch credit cards for the payment.  If not, I hope you can still find enjoyment in going on the cruise.

 

Unfortunately the first person I spoke with clearly didn't speak to the upgrade team as he'd told me and it appears my full price bid is still just sitting there in limbo and not accepted yet despite his reassurance. Each rep I spoken with since (3 of them and email) have simply promised call backs but broke that promise on each occasion. So, its disappointing the guy lied to me, 3 reps promised and failed and no reply from a "24 hour response" email - and still waiting the upgrade info and CC payment change possibility of no one is answering! I'd prefer if they were just truthful and say they are not going to call me rather than raise expectations.

[NYcruzzer]

Sucess !  Cruising 9/1 on Meraviglia. Last Monday we bid $600.00 PP to go from an Obstructed view balcony to a YC interior. Friday we upped our bid to $650.00 PP. This morning we got the congratulations e-mail that our bid for an inside YC was accepted. Now the best part. When we checked our new cabin number they actually assigned us to a YC balcony ! Initial "all in" fare $1750.00 with drink package and wi-fi Plus $1300.00 for upgrade. Total price $1525.00 PP for a YC balcony. Just about 50% savings.   Woo Whooo very excited ! 

[les37b]

On 8/26/2024 at 3:29 PM, NYcruzzer said:

Sucess !  Cruising 9/1 on Meraviglia. Last Monday we bid $600.00 PP to go from an Obstructed view balcony to a YC interior. Friday we upped our bid to $650.00 PP. This morning we got the congratulations e-mail that our bid for an inside YC was accepted. Now the best part. When we checked our new cabin number they actually assigned us to a YC balcony ! Initial "all in" fare $1750.00 with drink package and wi-fi Plus $1300.00 for upgrade. Total price $1525.00 PP for a YC balcony. Just about 50% savings.   Woo Whooo very excited ! 

Nice. Great news for you.

 

Well despite an agent telling me my bid was successful and calls listened to and agents promising to call back, I’m still waiting 2 weeks on since I was told II was in.

 

i had no problem in waiting until the final 2 days if that’s what it was, but after the info from here about max bid timescales and wanting to change the CC I’d used, the events since have been pretty dire.

 

They have confirmed from listening to calls, they did confirm I was successful and that on 4 occasions I was told they would call back. The bid team have ignored my email and also the several emails CS has sent them. Most unimpressed and the lady who actually did call back and continues to do so after escalating agrees it’s “embarrassing”.

 

Fist world problems I know and my impatience is down to tithe information from them calls and not the wait, as I genuinely had no problem with what I was expecting… ie 2 days before sailing.

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, les37b said:

Well despite an agent telling me my bid was successful and calls listened to and agents promising to call back, I’m still waiting 2 weeks on since I was told II was in.

 

 What does your reservation show when you log into the MSC Web site and look at it?  If you were already successful, the new room number should show up in your reservation. 

 

 I hope your Agent did not make a mistake in thinking the successful submission was a succesful upgrade bid, they are different. 

 

[les37b]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 What does your reservation show when you log into the MSC Web site and look at it?  If you were already successful, the new room number should show up in your reservation. 

 

 I hope your Agent did not make a mistake in thinking the successful submission was a succesful upgrade bid, they are different. 

 

It’s still showing as pending. The reason I had initially called MSC was to see if I could change the card Id used, but while I was waiting for them to answer, I noticed the link was no longer working. So my first interaction was to ask about that. He claimed he saw it had been accepted and confirmed he had after speaking to the bid team.

 

His “advice” was false and they have listened to the call and confirmed it to be the case. Two weeks ago because of that (and the fact I had bid the full amount), they said they would speak to them and get it fast tracked so it could be all sorted. Luckily the last rep has been good and has been calling me to say “sorry, they’ve still not responded to us”. She has been good despite the response not being positive. 4 people have failed to call back despite stating they would (and why I’ve continued to call.)

 

Was it an error? I’m not sure how it can be an error to say he’s spoken on the phone to the bid team, when that’s impossible for them to do so…He claims they told him it had been accepted. That can’t be the case for 2 reasons. He couldn’t have spoken to them and it hadn’t been accepted.

 

I’m starting to think I’m better off cancelling the bid and keeping the money.

Edited September 5 by les37b