Help Please - with Priceline for hotels in FLL

[Chetsky]

Anyone have any suggestions how to get the Marina Marriott, Embassy Suites or other nice hotels in FLL through priceline ?

[bostongal]

Check out www.biddingfortravel.com (http://www.biddingfortravel.com) and www.biddingforfun.com (http://www.biddingforfun.com).
Both sites have good information on bidding.
Find the zone and the stars and bid from there.

Good Luck!

Meg

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do then by the ones you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

[CruiseFever]

Amber?

They're playin' your song

Happy Cruising

Chris

www.LifeIsCruising.com (http://www.LifeIsCruising.com)

Next up:
Caribbean Princess 06/26/04
Star Princess 10/24/04
Diamond Princess 12/22/04
Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

[Lidi]

Hi Chetsky,
We are trying for those exact hotels for 9/24. We have tried once with a $50 bid. It was not accepted. You want to put in for a 3star downtown FLL. Amber will be able to tell you a good price for your time frame but I would also go to Biddingfortravel.com and check it out for yourself.
Good luck!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2003;5;11;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Norway 5/11

[BurBunny]

LOL Chris! With the board glitches yesterday I missed this thread.

Chetsky, the two hotels you mentioned are the 3* properties in the Downtown Fort Lauderdale zone on Priceline. Also worth considering are the 4* Renaissance (also downtown) or the 4* Hyatt Pier 66 (Beach zone). You've been given terrific information for resources to look at to assist you.

Lidi - you might want to become familiar with immediate rebid zones. At the 3* level there are currently two other zones you can use to increase your bid amount the same day without risking getting a hotel in a different zone. So you could bid $50, if that's rejected, increase to $55 then $60 if necessary (or any other amounts.) It really makes a difference in your bidding http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

<font face="Imprint MT Shadow" size="5" color="#FFCC00">Amber</font>
<font size="4" face="Berlin Sans FB">Cruise Resource
BiddingFun and BiddingHELP</font>

[Missybud]

Hi Amber,
Questions regarding San Juan and HW and PL. We are a good sized group traveling on the Golden in October. For the last 2 months the same 4 choices have been showing on Hotwire. Have you been able to identify the 'customer favorite' yet? Do you think more choices will open up on Hotwire soon? I am really partial to a one night precruise at the Embassy Suites, Wyndham Condado, or The Intercontinental. Do the latter 2 also show up with any frequency? Thanks in advance.
Missy

[Lidi]

Thanks so much Amber! I will see if I can figure that out. Would I check out the FLL page of biddingfortravel or priceline itself? Thank you so much for all your help!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2003;5;11;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Norway 5/11

[lawgirl]

Lidi: You check out biddingfortravel.com first -- there is a question/answer page for general hotel bidding that explains the free rebids. I recently bid for a FLL hotel and wanted a 3*, but got upgraded to a 4* (Renaissance). I think I had to bid $70.00 to get it, but that was around Thanksgiving when cruising is popular. Good Luck!

Amber: I think we may have met -- I seem to recall meeting Burbunny at a Cruise Critic party - maybe on the Brilliance or Serenade? Am I remembering correctly??? Or, I could have just seen your posts!!

Jolinda

Summit, November 2002
Brilliance, March 2003
Serenade, August 2003

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We got the Embassy suites for our 1 day precruise stay and also for 3 days post cruise.
For the precruise we paid $77 plus tax and fees and $70 per night plus tax and fees.

Good Luck with your bidding but do as BostonGal advised and go to the websites she posted so you fully understand the process.

Bill

http://home.comcast.net/~w.coleman43/1a.jpg


Caribbean Princess Eastern Caribbean cruise page (http://home.comcast.net/~w.coleman43)

[LindaKE]

We just got the Renaissane for Feb. 5 for $82. I bid $65 for a 4* in downtown FLL and got a counter offer.

LindaKE

Sun Princess(Alaska)
Carnival Inspiration

[cruisevegas]

We also just got the Renaissance for 9/24 for $72. They countered on a $65 bid. Said we should raise it $17. Just used a rebid at $72 and it was accepted.
Sharon

[westerdam42]

I bid today for March 05, got Renaissance on 17th St for $80. Checked hotel web site and cheapest room available $259. I was really surprised when my $80 bid was accepted the first time. Finding hotels during this time is difficult due to Spring Break. Good luck!!!

3/9/05 Eastern Caribbean
Sun Princess

[BurBunny]

Missy - I'm not aware of any new identifications in San Juan. The "customer favorite" designation can change - don't go by that but by the entirety of the rest of the amenity icons for identification.

I've not seen the Wyndham Condado or Intercontinental come up frequently, but they do still show up.

Lidi - Priceline's web site won't give you any information about rebidding. The site you mentioned gives some, but another site might be clearer about how to understand it http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Jolinda - don't think we've met onboard, at least not on those two ships. However, we have chatted on the boards before.

<font face="Imprint MT Shadow" size="5" color="#FFCC00">Amber</font>
<font size="4" face="Berlin Sans FB">Cruise Resource
BiddingFun and BiddingHELP</font>

[Missybud]

Thanks Amber. Missy

[LindaKE]

cruisevegas,
That is what I got. (I originally bid $65 and they countered saying I should add $17.) You don't have to bid their number to get the bid?

LindaKE

Sun Princess(Alaska)
Carnival Inspiration

[BurBunny]

Linda - if you have immediate rebid zones available to you, you don't have to counter with the full price they request. Usually you can get acceptance at about half what they quote. So if they say $17 increase, I'd bid $8 or $9 more using an immediate rebid zone instead.

<font face="Imprint MT Shadow" size="5" color="#FFCC00">Amber</font>
<font size="4" face="Berlin Sans FB">Cruise Resource
BiddingFun and BiddingHELP</font>

[cruisevegas]

Linda- I did exactly what Amber said.

Amber- Have never used priceline before and was nervous about trying it. After reading all your tips decided to give it a try and am very happy with the hotel we got. Thanks so much!!!!!

Sharon