Royal bid for upgrade....Carnival Next?

[jimbo5544]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

Lufthansa.

Are they the only airline that does that (especially interested in flights Europe where economy seats are terrible for that long...)?

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

...at the right price, I would not call getting suites as"stuck".  When we booked our first CS on the Liberty my wife almost had a heart  attack when she saw what we paid.....I might have misrepresented the price as a somewhat lower number and then she saw the real one...

There is that, but it's still more than what we typically budget for a cruise so we'd either have to cruise less or cut down on some of our other yearly activity. We did stay in an extended balcony on Glory and she was very disappointed with the regular balcony on Pride after that.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, sparks1093 said:

There is that, but it's still more than what we typically budget for a cruise so we'd either have to cruise less or cut down on some of our other yearly activity. We did stay in an extended balcony on Glory and she was very disappointed with the regular balcony on Pride after that.

It does set the expectation bar.......

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Are they the only airline that does that (especially interested in flights Europe where economy seats are terrible for that long...)?

I don't know. We've only been over a few times and prior to that we used Air France and I don't think at that time that they offered bidding, although they might now. As I recall Lufthansa's economy seating was better than Air Frances and the amenities both air lines offered were very similar regarding food and beverage.

[fabby50]

You might want to try Air Lingus to Europe.  My husband booked our last reservations to Germany and he said they were about $1K less per person than anyone else at the time.  They have great planes and the food is really good too (scones and clotted cream pre landing anyone?).

[Emmabelle]

I got an email today to upgrade only one of my OV cabins for a balcony cabin for $250 for our 3 person cabin.  I also have a 2 person cabin booked, which apparently they won't let me move 2 people into the available adjoining balcony cabin because it can sleep 3 people.  I'm not going to leave my son and his gf on deck 2, while me, my husband and daughter are on deck 6.  So I will just stay with my connecting OV's on deck 2.  Sorry Carnival....  

Edited March 21, 2019 by Emmabelle

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Lol, there has been much discussion and still unknowns (a lot of them).  Maybe we can get all the facts before we fire the guy (or girl) that designed the area.

Jimbo...comparing the deck plans of the Havana area from the Vista and the Horizon to what we have seen so far for the Mardi Gras is like comparing apples and oranges.  The original Havana area, as we both know from first hand experience was well thought out and had purpose.  It seems like the Havana area on the Mardi Gras was an afterthought and is relegated to a microscopic area on the starboard side of the ship.

[fabby50]

For those of you who have sailed with a Havana area, what do you think of the one on the upcoming Panorama?  There's a lot of discussion about the Mardi Gras, but not much about the Panorama (on any subject).  Thank you!

[SNJCruisers]

9 minutes ago, fabby50 said:

For those of you who have sailed with a Havana area, what do you think of the one on the upcoming Panorama?  There's a lot of discussion about the Mardi Gras, but not much about the Panorama (on any subject).  Thank you!

It's set up identical to the one on the Horizon, so it will be a fantastic area located on the aft of deck 5, unlike the  Mardi Gras whose section is located on the starboard side of deck 8, just north of the atrium mid ship, with a small pool, no hot tubs and no aft wake view. 🤔

[fabby50]

Thank you - that's good to hear.  We're booked on her for the Valentine's Day week cruise in an aft Havana wrap-around.  Waiting for dining to open up and more shore excursion to show.

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, fabby50 said:

You might want to try Air Lingus to Europe.  My husband booked our last reservations to Germany and he said they were about $1K less per person than anyone else at the time.  They have great planes and the food is really good too (scones and clotted cream pre landing anyone?).

I think we did price them but they only flew into the main cities and when you added in the flight from there to our destination city it was comparable to booking one of the other airlines (with the added stress of having to book the follow on leg yourself instead of having one itinerary).

[Steve551]

On 3/19/2019 at 7:16 PM, jimbo5544 said:

It appears that Royal has copied the "bid for upgrade program" that NCL has been doing, will Carnival end up doing the same thing?

I like "bid for upgrade" programs.

 

I like to fly Alitalia (JFK-FCO). I always buy Premium Economy because if there are open Business Class seats you can bid for them. I have been able to get upgrades at 1/2 the price or less (total) of the seat cost originally.  And if I don't get the upgrade their PE is a decent product, better than domestic First Class.

 

I wish that Carnival Corp would do it on all of their lines.

[Palmetto Pilot]

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

...at the right price, I would not call getting suites as"stuck".  When we booked our first CS on the Liberty my wife almost had a heart  attack when she saw what we paid.....I might have misrepresented the price as a somewhat lower number and then she saw the real one...

I know that feeling 

[jimbo5544]

49 minutes ago, Palmetto Pilot said:

I know that feeling 

It was not the first time for me...nor the last.

[Palmetto Pilot]

I don't like bidding programs. I've had killer luck on Royal calling the crown and anchor and getting very nice upgrade deals. This seems to have gone away now. The upgrade troll has only emailed me a few times on CCL but I'd like the offers to keep coming without having to bid.