What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[MikeBTN]

I have another question. If I want to be more consider for the Haven suites upgrade, would you say NOT to bid on the mini-suite at all or bid the lowest on the mini-suite? I am now hearing that people that put in for a bid on all that are available are getting for example...mini-suite over the Haven, or oceanview over a balcony. Thoughts?

 

Now granted, if I didn't get an upgrade for the Haven, I would love to upgrade to a mini-suite. However, I would like to be more consider for the Haven suites first.

 

Again, let’s assume revenue is most likely the sole factor NCL is looking at. Here’s a hypothetical example:

 

You are in a balcony. You bid $50 per person on a minisuite and $500 on a Haven Courtyard. Someone in an inside bids $50 on an Oceanview and $100 on a balcony. Someone in an Oceanview bids $50 on a balcony.

 

Now someone else in a minisuite bids $500 per person on a Haven Courtyard. NCL will take their bid over yours. Why?

 

If they take your bid, they get $600 for the Haven, $50 for your balcony, and $50 for the ocean view for a total of $600.

 

If they take the minisuite’s bid they get $500 for the Haven, $50 for the minisuite, $50 for the balcony, and $50 for the ocean view for a total of $650.

 

In essence, your bid on the minisuite booted you out of the running for the suite.

[njkate]

My cruise doesn't even come up anymore so I'm assuming it's sold out and boat is full, so much for an upgrade unless people cancel last minute

[MikeBTN]

My cruise doesn't even come up anymore so I'm assuming it's sold out and boat is full, so much for an upgrade unless people cancel last minute

 

Sailing Getaway Sunday. Our cruise disappeared on Sunday. Received our bid acceptance on Tuesday. It is still not showing, so I assume it really IS sold out, but there were about 22 Haven Suites, about 20 MS, and a handful of balconies left before it disappeared.

[Lookn4Sun]

I'll be on the Sky the week after Thanksgiving, for a 4 day cruise. I have no idea, of course, if I'll be offered a chance to upgrade or not - but I want to have as much info as possible before hand so I can make an informed offer if I do get a chance. It is already fully paid for.

 

So, a little background, and some questions:

 

1. I booked a IX GTY (inside cabin guarantee/sail away) as a solo traveler at a super low fare that is roughly $600 less than what they are offering now - and at that time, the inside rate was less than the oceanview. Now the oceanview and inside are the same; I did try calling to see if I could switch to a guarantee oceanview but they said I'd have to pay the $600 difference. This is my first NCL cruise.

 

While I know that people with IX GTY reservations have gotten a chance to upgrade, any guess if the low fare I managed to get will hurt or help my chances to get an offer? I'm hoping helps, as they want to make more money off me!

 

2. I've been tracking prices and general availability of the lowest non sail-away balcony cabins - should I track all balcony cabin types/prices?

 

3. I've been tracking these monthly, and am five months out from the cruise - when should I move a more frequent check, and how frequent?

 

As I mentioned, right now the price of the same cabin is ~600 more than what I paid; the lowest standard balcony is ~1100 more, and there are a lot of open rooms. To help me understand how this could work, let's say it'll be the same when I get an offer to bid (prices and general availability), what would be a reasonable offer? I know that it's based on two people per room, so even though I'm traveling solo my bid will be doubled.

 

Any other advice?

 

Thanks!

[Lookn4Sun]

 

1. I booked a IX GTY (inside cabin guarantee/sail away) as a solo traveler at a super low fare that is roughly $600 less than what they are offering now - and at that time, the inside rate was less than the oceanview. Now the oceanview and inside are the same; I did try calling to see if I could switch to a guarantee oceanview but they said I'd have to pay the $600 difference. This is my first NCL cruise.

 

 

Not sure if it'll change - or if it changes my strategy - but I just checked and I have a IA room on the Norway deck already assigned to me.

[moonchild925]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anybody has had any experience/luck bidding from lower category haven to upper without paying full asking price. The first time I sailed on the epic in Sept 2016 I was offered the 2bdrm ph via the old upsell dept, which btw I liked a lot better than bidding. Since upgrade advantage started i took my chances bidding on every category of haven from a m/s up to asking price or just below and didn't win any of them on 2 sailings. This time I wasnt willing to miss the haven all together so bit the bullet and we are currently in a forward ph on Escape in Oct. When bidding opens ideally want to move to aft ph, 2 bdrm, spa deluxe or o/s via bidding if possible from there so long as even a small savings off published rates. Any tips? Suggestions? Encouraging success stories? Thanks in advance

[Medtech2]

I think your situation answers the question. No, not everyone gets the opportunity. If they did, you would have.

 

Are you in a studio cabin by chance? I’ve also seen reports that if you got too good of a price they will not offer an upgrade.

 

Again, as I suggested earlier, call the upsell department and ask if they can send you an invitation to bid.

 

You’d think if you got a good price they’d want to squeeze more money from you....

[RelaxingbytheSeas]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anybody has had any experience/luck bidding from lower category haven to upper without paying full asking price. The first time I sailed on the epic in Sept 2016 I was offered the 2bdrm ph via the old upsell dept, which btw I liked a lot better than bidding. Since upgrade advantage started i took my chances bidding on every category of haven from a m/s up to asking price or just below and didn't win any of them on 2 sailings. This time I wasnt willing to miss the haven all together so bit the bullet and we are currently in a forward ph on Escape in Oct. When bidding opens ideally want to move to aft ph, 2 bdrm, spa deluxe or o/s via bidding if possible from there so long as even a small savings off published rates. Any tips? Suggestions? Encouraging success stories? Thanks in advance

 

First Good Morning! I am not sure if I totally understand your question. It sounds like you bid on your last two sailing the full asking price or slightly below. If you did such and really wanted the room, why didn't you just go ahead and rebook at the asking price? Just curious. Also, if you are in the Fwd PH on the Escape in October, you can't bid down to the Haven Spa suites, but the others you can. However, in ending, your bid will be based on several attributes of what profit NCL in the end. So no one really knows? I have heard low bids have won, and high bids have lost. It will also depend on if NCL needs your room? I would say if you really want a better room and willing to pay, I would book it while you can. Good luck.

[klfhngr]

Bid 1600 from angled balcony on deck 15 for an aft penthouse H6. Escape on sept 16. Will we win??!!

[dexddd]

Bid 1600 from angled balcony on deck 15 for an aft penthouse H6. Escape on sept 16. Will we win??!!

 

Generally I'd say since it isn't prime season probably a better chance. $1600 total or pp?

 

Seeing that trip is the one of the few to Canada those are generally popular trips and sell well.

 

That category isn't crazy priced right now but there is only one room available so chances low. If really interested I'd upgrade on my own IMO.

[Qwenya]

Bid 1600 from angled balcony on deck 15 for an aft penthouse H6. Escape on sept 16. Will we win??!!

 

Consider you just gave cruisers on the same sailing the information to outbid you by $25 or so. Another factor is minisuite bidders generally have priority for Haven bid consideration over Balcony bidders.

[JamieLogical]

Another factor is minisuite bidders generally have priority for Haven bid consideration over Balcony bidders.

 

I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. It depends on what others on the ship have bid for. If a Balcony room is in higher demand from inside/oceanview bidders than a mini-suite is from oceanview/balcony bidders, then NCL is just going to do what nets them them most money. From what I have seen in this thread over time, it seems like balcony occupants are unlikely to bid on mini-suites because the risk of getting a poor room location isn't justified by the slightly larger bathroom. But lots of inside/oceanview people bid up to balconies because the luxury of having a balcony is worth the risk of a poor room location. So I suspect that on the BA/BA+ ships they actually get a lot more bids for balconies than they do for mini-suites.

Edited June 29, 2018 by JamieLogical

[Qwenya]

I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. It depends on what others on the ship have bid for. If a Balcony room is in higher demand from inside/oceanview bidders than a mini-suite is from oceanview/balcony bidders, then NCL is just going to do what nets them them most money. From what I have seen in this thread over time, it seems like balcony occupants are unlikely to bid on mini-suites because the risk of getting a poor room location doesn't justify they slightly larger bathroom. But lots of inside/oceanview people bid up to balconies because the luxury of having a balcony is worth the risk of a poor room location. So I suspect that on the BA/BA+ ships they actually get a lot more bids for balconies than they do for mini-suites.

 

 

That makes perfect logical sense.

[klfhngr]

Generally I'd say since it isn't prime season probably a better chance. $1600 total or pp?

 

Seeing that trip is the one of the few to Canada those are generally popular trips and sell well.

 

That category isn't crazy priced right now but there is only one room available so chances low. If really interested I'd upgrade on my own IMO.

 

Total.

 

It's ok that I told others, i'd rather spend the $1600 on beer or other stuff like my JEEP! ;) If we get it, we get it, if we don't, we don't, lol!

[MaryZ]

Bid 1600 from angled balcony on deck 15 for an aft penthouse H6. Escape on sept 16. Will we win??!!

 

Good Luck!

[MikeBTN]

Bid 1600 from angled balcony on deck 15 for an aft penthouse H6. Escape on sept 16. Will we win??!!

 

Doubtful. That’s barely above the minimum bid for that room. You’ll have a better chance winning a Forward Suite, Spa Haven, or Haven Courtyard Suite with that bid.

[DiannaG]

Total.

 

It's ok that I told others, i'd rather spend the $1600 on beer or other stuff like my JEEP! ;) If we get it, we get it, if we don't, we don't, lol!

I love my Jeep! Totally understand that, lol!

[klfhngr]

I love my Jeep! Totally understand that, lol!

 

 

Lol, thanks for understanding!

 

Also, rhthan to the others for your responses.. I'll keep you all posted, either way..

[katethecookiemonster]

My upgrade from and inside room to a balcony on the Gem in early June was processed the Thursday before our Saturday sailing, so just a bit over 48 hours out.

 

 

Hi there! How much did you end up bidding/paying for the upgrade from an inside to a balcony? I'm gonna try to do this in a month or so! Also how was the room they assigned you?

Thanks!

[katethecookiemonster]

I posted about it back at the time, but the gist is that we initially purchased a GTY of an IC for $799 and were assigned to an I1 on deck 10 Aft. We bid $350 per person, which was a VERY high bid in the Strong range because I had been tracking the availability of balconies in the months prior to sailing and they were down to 10 balcony rooms available at the time we put in that final bid amount. We won our bid and were awarded a BA on deck 10 (it was the best of the balconies that had still been available when bids were processed based on my tracking). We still ended up saving significantly over having booked the balcony directly. BAs at the time we booked were going for $1489.

 

This was on the Gem 6/2/18 sailing to Canada and New England.

 

 

Just saw this, sorry you can ignore my question from before :)

[prairiedawn1946]

how do you know how many rooms are left other than doing a mock reservation

[MikeBTN]

how do you know how many rooms are left other than doing a mock reservation

 

None

[umpisoccer]

Has anyone received an upgrade to a Haven suite on any of the recent sailings of the Bliss?

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

[JamieLogical]

how do you know how many rooms are left other than doing a mock reservation

 

That's the only way I know to find out. Also, keep in mind that the web site will only show you a max of 15 rooms in your chosen category, so there is no way to know if there are more than 15 left, There could be 15 or 50. All you'll know is that there are at least 15.

[jeffregpuck]

Has anyone ever actually gotten an upgrade to the Garden Villa or Owner's Suite through the upgrade process? We currently have bids in the lower end of "good" range for both of these, but no word yet, and we are 7 days out. Not holding my breath of course, but I just have this "feeling" that we will get that email any day now....LOL.

 

It's all good....as long as I'm cruising I can stay anywhere from an ocean view to the Haven and be happy!!!