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What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid


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We are booked Escape (inside)Nov 11-18 out of NY and Star Nov 19-30 out of Miami (Ocean view). Bidding balcony on Escape and balcony on Star. Each bid $200. Escape wide open lots of balconys available, Star almost sold out. We were notified our Star bid accepted 3 weeks ago and so far nothing for Escape. 40 days out..

Hard to understand how they award the bids.....

 

If the sailing is wide open across a lot of categories, they don't need to move people out of the lower categories, so they wait until they need lower priced cabins, before they move people into the unbooked higher priced cabins. Makes sense that they needed your cabin on the Star, since it's solidly booked already

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It looks like our cruise is pretty full! I just looked at the Spa Mini Suites - Sold Out, Spa Balcony - 3 available. The Haven only shows 2 Spa Suites available no other category...Oh well, I booked the room that I was happy with and I believe that is the room I am sailing in!

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I have looked up the balconies left on our Thanksgiving cruise, and I am a bit concerned. All that's left is GTY balconies, Deck 8 (Jade), forward. It's right above the Theater, some kind of machinery, and the anchors, and a lot of people report mechanical noise all through the night. Keeps them up all night. All of a sudden, I am not sure I want to upgrade to a balcony AND pay for it as well.

What do y'all think?

 

This is our first time on Norwegian and Jade, so I don't know much about the ships. All I know is from research, but there isn't much about the cabins... Currently, I am on deck 5, OV, aft, right under Alizar dining room.

Edited by Itchy&Scratchy
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I have looked up the balconies left on our Thanksgiving cruise, and I am a bit concerned. All that's left is GTY balconies, Deck 8 (Jade), forward. It's right above the Theater, some kind of machinery, and the anchors, and a lot of people report mechanical noise all through the night. Keeps them up all night. All of a sudden, I am not sure I want to upgrade to a balcony AND pay for it as well.

What do y'all think?

 

This is our first time on Norwegian and Jade, so I don't know much about the ships. All I know is from research, but there isn't much about the cabins... Currently, I am on deck 5, OV, aft, right under Alizar dining room.

 

It's a definite risk when bidding on upgrades, since you don;t get to choose your cabin location. Take the time to examine the deck plans and know where all the possible upgrades category rooms are, then weigh out whether the added features of the upgraded room are worth the risk. An easy example is my upcoming sailing on the Escape. We are currently booked in an angled balcony on Deck 13. The angled balconies on the Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships are extra spacious. It was easy for us to choose NOT to put in a bid for an "upgrade" to a mini-suite, because the only thing a mini-suite would give us is a bigger bathroom. It wasn't worth giving up our larger balcony and potentially getting a poor room location just for a bigger balcony. It wasn't even worth bidding to upgrade to a Spa Mini-suite for that. We decided we would rather just purchase spa passes outright and keep our bib balcony.

 

However, in June I sailed on the Gem and we were originally booked in an inside room. For us, the risk of getting a poor room location was worth it to get a balcony. We figured any balcony room would be better than our inside room. We ended up in a great location and didn't regret our choice at all!

 

So, definitely weight the pros and cons, the risks versus rewards, and bid accordingly.

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It looks like our cruise is pretty full! I just looked at the Spa Mini Suites - Sold Out, Spa Balcony - 3 available. The Haven only shows 2 Spa Suites available no other category...Oh well, I booked the room that I was happy with and I believe that is the room I am sailing in!

 

Yep. We are on your sailing. I am not holding my breath! I suppose a lot of people were like us who wanted to go the Eastern Caribbean for a change. We will be fine. Just happy to be going!!

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I bid in the high poor range and was upgraded from a BC to an H4 on the 10/27 Breakaway. It appears there were lots of upgrades to the Haven within the last week.

 

Congrats on the upgrade. You must be so excited!

 

We are currently in the window to bid and are trying to decide if we want to make an offer.

 

If you don't mind sharing, can you advise what the lowest minimum bid was for the H4 category on your sailing?

 

I'm just curious if the minimum bid amounts change per sailing or if they remain fairly static. More curiosity than anything else.

 

Thanks!

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Congrats on the upgrade. You must be so excited!

 

We are currently in the window to bid and are trying to decide if we want to make an offer.

 

If you don't mind sharing, can you advise what the lowest minimum bid was for the H4 category on your sailing?

 

I'm just curious if the minimum bid amounts change per sailing or if they remain fairly static. More curiosity than anything else.

 

Thanks!

 

Not only can they change between sailings, but they can change on a specific sailing. We first put in our bids for our upcoming Escape Sailing (11 days away!) right at 80 days out when they opened up. At that time, we put in the minimum bid +$30 for the Spa Haven Suite. More recently, I went back in to bump up our bids and the minimum bid for the Spa Haven had gone up so that our bid was actually BELOW the currently available minimum bid! IIRC, it was $400 as the minimum originally and they raised it to $500.

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It's a definite risk when bidding on upgrades, since you don;t get to choose your cabin location. Take the time to examine the deck plans.

So, definitely weight the pros and cons, the risks versus rewards, and bid accordingly.

I am weighing all the pros and cons, that's why I am asking the more knowledgeable people. :) I have studied the deck plans as well.

 

It appears that all that's left for 3 people is balconies on deck 8 forward. Not very desirable, even though I usually think that a balcony is always better than inside. I am not so sure I'd want a balcony on deck 8 forward, because of numerous noise reports. On one hand, I'd love a balcony, on the other hand - if we can't sleep at night because of the mechanical noise, then I don't want a balcony.

 

We were in the inside guarantee on deck 11 right under the buffet and got upgraded (free) to OV on deck 5. My poor mom just got assigned 8003, most forward inside.

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I am weighing all the pros and cons, that's why I am asking the more knowledgeable people. :) I have studied the deck plans as well.

 

It appears that all that's left for 3 people is balconies on deck 8 forward. Not very desirable, even though I usually think that a balcony is always better than inside. I am not so sure I'd want a balcony on deck 8 forward, because of numerous noise reports. On one hand, I'd love a balcony, on the other hand - if we can't sleep at night because of the mechanical noise, then I don't want a balcony.

 

We were in the inside guarantee on deck 11 right under the buffet and got upgraded (free) to OV on deck 5. My poor mom just got assigned 8003, most forward inside.

 

 

Your upgrade is unlikely to come from the pool of currently available balconies. It is MUCH more likely to come from a balcony being vacated by its occupants being upgraded. That's why they process the vast majority of the upgrade bids all at once. Because each upgrade vacates a room that can then be upgraded into.

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I am weighing all the pros and cons, that's why I am asking the more knowledgeable people. :) I have studied the deck plans as well.

 

It appears that all that's left for 3 people is balconies on deck 8 forward. Not very desirable, even though I usually think that a balcony is always better than inside. I am not so sure I'd want a balcony on deck 8 forward, because of numerous noise reports. On one hand, I'd love a balcony, on the other hand - if we can't sleep at night because of the mechanical noise, then I don't want a balcony.

 

We were in the inside guarantee on deck 11 right under the buffet and got upgraded (free) to OV on deck 5. My poor mom just got assigned 8003, most forward inside.

 

Another thing with deck 8 forward balconies on Jade is they are hull balconies with metal frames and do not feel as open as Plexiglas balconies. I personally don't mind them but some people don't like hull balconies.

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I am weighing all the pros and cons, that's why I am asking the more knowledgeable people. :) I have studied the deck plans as well.

 

It appears that all that's left for 3 people is balconies on deck 8 forward. Not very desirable, even though I usually think that a balcony is always better than inside. I am not so sure I'd want a balcony on deck 8 forward, because of numerous noise reports. On one hand, I'd love a balcony, on the other hand - if we can't sleep at night because of the mechanical noise, then I don't want a balcony.

 

We were in the inside guarantee on deck 11 right under the buffet and got upgraded (free) to OV on deck 5. My poor mom just got assigned 8003, most forward inside.

 

I personally would bid and bring ear plugs or even a sound machine just in case you were to get a noisy cabin. Only you would know if spending more $$ to upgrade would be worth it.

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Not only can they change between sailings, but they can change on a specific sailing. We first put in our bids for our upcoming Escape Sailing (11 days away!) right at 80 days out when they opened up. At that time, we put in the minimum bid +$30 for the Spa Haven Suite. More recently, I went back in to bump up our bids and the minimum bid for the Spa Haven had gone up so that our bid was actually BELOW the currently available minimum bid! IIRC, it was $400 as the minimum originally and they raised it to $500.

 

 

 

I’ve been assuming the minimum changes by sailing but didn’t appreciate that it could change during the process!

 

I find this whole system very fascinating.

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Yep. We are on your sailing. I am not holding my breath! I suppose a lot of people were like us who wanted to go the Eastern Caribbean for a change. We will be fine. Just happy to be going!!

 

I'm sure! I was scheduled on this same cruise/week last year on the Escape and ended up going Western. I debated Western again, but wanted to go Eastern with everyone else! Oh well, I hope they are ready for our crazy group!

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I personally would bid and bring ear plugs or even a sound machine just in case you were to get a noisy cabin. Only you would know if spending more $$ to upgrade would be worth it.

I have slept with the ear plugs even at home for the last 10+ years, so it's not a problem for me. But they don't drown out ALL the noises. I can still hear quite a bit through them.... and no, I don't have acute hearing. Just the opposite. DH will most likely find ear plugs uncomfortable, and the poor guy is an insomniac...

 

I am going to reduce my bid to $50 pp from the $100 pp I currently have. That way if we get upgraded to a noisy cabin, at least I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it. If more balconies were available on different decks, I would have taken my chances with a higher bid.

Thanks!

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Another thing with deck 8 forward balconies on Jade is they are hull balconies with metal frames and do not feel as open as Plexiglas balconies. I personally don't mind them but some people don't like hull balconies.

thanks! Wouldn't bother me. We've only had a balcony once - on our last cruise. It was a partially obstructed balcony, but we LOVED it anyway.

 

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I am only worried about noise and people smoking on balconies.

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ETA: I am glad we had this chat, because I went ahead and reduced the balcony offer, but also found a new offer for a mini-suite. Until now the second offer was still for an OV bid, even though we were already in an OV cabin. So, I got a new bid in for a mini-suite, however, not much hope there, because the MS cabins for 3 people are totally sold out at this time.

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ETA: I am glad we had this chat, because I went ahead and reduced the balcony offer, but also found a new offer for a mini-suite. Until now the second offer was still for an OV bid, even though we were already in an OV cabin. So, I got a new bid in for a mini-suite, however, not much hope there, because the MS cabins for 3 people are totally sold out at this time.

 

Remember, as I said earlier, most upgrades don't come from the pool of available rooms, but rooms that are vacated by the upgrade process. Now, in your case, there might not be many suites available for those mini-suite occupants to upgrade into if the entire sailing is nearly sold out, but don't assume that if you win an upgrade, it's going to be into one of the currently available rooms.

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Remember, as I said earlier, most upgrades don't come from the pool of available rooms, but rooms that are vacated by the upgrade process. Now, in your case, there might not be many suites available for those mini-suite occupants to upgrade into if the entire sailing is nearly sold out, but don't assume that if you win an upgrade, it's going to be into one of the currently available rooms.

 

I've seen a lot of people not bidding because the room they went to bid on looks sold-out. BID! That room type may open up when the people in those cabins upgrade..

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Congrats on the upgrade. You must be so excited!

 

We are currently in the window to bid and are trying to decide if we want to make an offer.

 

If you don't mind sharing, can you advise what the lowest minimum bid was for the H4 category on your sailing?

 

I'm just curious if the minimum bid amounts change per sailing or if they remain fairly static. More curiosity than anything else.

 

Thanks!

 

I don't remember for sure, but I think the minimum was $800 pp.

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Sailing on the Getaway next week. Just got awarded an upgrade from a Balcony (BC) to a Haven Penthouse (H5). Bid $1010 which was squarely in the Fair category. Feeling pretty pumped, I think I saved at least 50%. Especially since the balcony was comped by Casino at Sea.

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Sorry if I have missed the answer to this in the thread... we are taking our first NCL cruise next month and are new to the bidding process. We were invited to bid last week and bid on 3 different upgrades. Today, we received notification that one of them was accepted😀 however, we have since decided that we would really like this be of the other upgrades offered in the bidding process. Are we able to go back and increase our bid for the other upgrades and still be considered for those, or is the bidding process over once one of our bids in accepted?

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Sorry if I have missed the answer to this in the thread... we are taking our first NCL cruise next month and are new to the bidding process. We were invited to bid last week and bid on 3 different upgrades. Today, we received notification that one of them was accepted😀 however, we have since decided that we would really like this be of the other upgrades offered in the bidding process. Are we able to go back and increase our bid for the other upgrades and still be considered for those, or is the bidding process over once one of our bids in accepted?

 

I'm almost certain that you've missed the opportunity. It's my understanding that you have to bid on whatever offers you're interested in before one is accepted or rejected.

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