What is all the bidding talk?

I haven’t been on NCL in two years and have two future cruises planned with them. I’ve read a lot of talk about bidding on cabins and I’ve never heard of it before. Clearly it’s bidding to get a better cabin, but how does it work?

I haven’t been on NCL in two years and have two future cruises planned with them. I’ve read a lot of talk about bidding on cabins and I’ve never heard of it before. Clearly it’s bidding to get a better cabin, but how does it work?

At a certain point before the cruise you'll get an email offering a chance to bid on upgrades. There's a thread discussing the process that's hundreds of pages long, so good luck trying to figure it out!

At a certain point before the cruise you'll (you might) get an email offering a chance to bid on upgrades.

If there empty high value cabins that NCL want to fill and so get more income they often try to fill them by offering a bidding "war".

Some may not get an email because their travel agents aren't participating.

Some may not get an email because their travel agents aren't participating.

I never knew that. I guess I learn something new every day.

50 days prior to your cruise departure, you will be given the opportunity to bid for an upgrade. NCL use to run a telephone upsell desk to sell upgrades. With the launch of one new megaship a year, that telephone call desk was not scalable to the number of new passenger rooms available each week. Now the system is somewhat automated. You can bid up to 2 cabin classes above what you are booked at. For example, if you are in an inside cabin you can bid on a Ocean View or Balcony. If you are in an Ocean View, you can bid on a Balcony or Minisuite.

The bidding system will tell you what the minimum and maximum bids are for an upgrade.

You can be awarded an upgrade as late as 48 hours before departure.

If you win an upgrade, your credit card is automatically charged for the upgrade and you are assigned a room (you don't have a choice of rooms in your new booking class).

Good Luck.

Just be warned that you are bidding on the type of room, no guarantee of where on the ship it could be

Also if you have a handicapped room (that you require) you probably will not be upgraded to another handicapped room (they go quick) so you could be stuck without the room you require and your old room will probably be sold already

Yes, there are some dangers. I got an upgrade a few months ago. Cabin was very nice, but right above the "night club" and heard loud music well into the night. As we both are night owls and don't get to bed until late, it was not too much of a bother. Bring ear plugs, just in case. That is the real downside, you may get an unfavorable location such as right below the pool area where moving chairs can be noisy.

I booked a balcony through a TA. Never received an email, but when I logged onto NCL, there was a screen offering a "bid to upgrade". I put in a bid and my Haven upgrade was accepted. I was able to do it without my TA and/or an email.

I have placed a bid but not won, but I will tell you to check how much the upgrade would cost before you bid. Currently the minimum bid for a mini-suite is only slightly less than than the upgrade cost for me. So, I put in a bid, but if it is accepted I would be only saving like $50 per person.