Move-up, Don't think it is worth the stress!

[Suite Susie]

Made a couple of Move up bids about 6 weeks ago from a Celebrity Suite to both an RS and PH.  I must have checked my emails dozens of times every day over the weeks!  Well today was 2 days before we sail, so I stupidly spent the night checking my email every hour (sad I know, but I couldn't sleep) and nothing.  Many nights dreaming of what might happen. 

At lunchtime today my offers were still "pending" under Manage my Booking.  We have now passed the 48 hours deadline until we sail and I have not heard anything from Celebrity.  I thought they would at least let you know that your bid had been rejected, but nothing!  I feel totally deflated and exhausted and very disappointed not to hear anything. 

I now have to decide whether the stress and disappointment was worth it and whether I should bid for our next cruise in January. 

Am I wrong in assuming they would let me know one way or another?

Has anybody else found the process stressful.  

[mom says]

Honestly, if you're going to stress this badly over a simple change of cabin category, then perhaps move up bids aren't for you. Perhaps, in future, just pay to upgrade if the higher category is that important.

[NewWestwardbound]

Absolutely yes! We're on the same cruise, but I withdrew my Move Up bid a couple of weeks ago, primarily because I couldn't justify it but also I was going through the same routine you are of checking my emails on a far too regular basis. We do have a bid still in for the following cruise though......... but no cabins have been available at our Move Up level for several weeks is I'm not holding out much hope. 

[missm]

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it is all a big tease and that our bid won't be accepted. We chose a nice 1A hump balcony that we will be happy in and not worry about a getting a suite. TBH, the only reason we would like a suite is that there really isn't any comfortable seating in the "regular" cabins, so we usually end up having to sit on the bed all the time. The person who picked those bed/couches never actually sat on one!

[NewWestwardbound]

The email I received after bidding said "Stay tuned for an email at least 24 hours before your sailing to see if youve been upgraded." so not long to wait. 

[Mr. Click]

I have not done a Move UP yet but to me it is like United's Mileage Upgrade game.  They take your miles and your money, hold it for weeks or months and then sell the seat to someone else for a few $$ more and eventually, after a few reminders send your money and your miles back.  There are better ways to do it and if you really want that upgrade just ask what the cost is and decide if it is worth it to you.

[Iamcruzin]

33 minutes ago, mom says said:

Honestly, if you're going to stress this badly over a simple change of cabin category, then perhaps move up bids aren't for you. Perhaps, in future, just pay to upgrade if the higher category is that important.

Funny you say that. I was offered a move up offer on Royal Caribbean. The lowest bid was more than what I would have paid if I had booked the higher category from the beginning.  I always research the price of the highest category that I would be willing to book if I received an offer. I screen shot the mock booking a save it as a reference.

[RickT]

28 minutes ago, Mr. Click said:

I have not done a Move UP yet but to me it is like United's Mileage Upgrade game.  They take your miles and your money, hold it for weeks or months and then sell the seat to someone else for a few $$ more and eventually, after a few reminders send your money and your miles back.  There are better ways to do it and if you really want that upgrade just ask what the cost is and decide if it is worth it to you.

Big difference is X doesn't take your money until you win your bid... and you can cancel your bid as long as you haven't been selected for a bid upgrade.  It's not for everyone but I enjoy it.  If I have a cabin I really love I won't bid.  If I have a cabin that I like and the bid costs aren't too great I'll bid (I've bid and won) and if I happen to have a cabin I'm not keen on you can be sure I'll bid.  But, it's not for everyone.... no need to bid if you're not comfortable with the process.

[TeaBag]

16 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Funny you say that. I was offered a move up offer on Royal Caribbean. The lowest bid was more than what I would have paid if I had booked the higher category from the beginning.  I always research the price of the highest category that I would be willing to book if I received an offer. I screen shot the mock booking a save it as a reference.

You are right on!  I saw the same thing on Celebrity.

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, TeaBag said:

You are right on!  I saw the same thing on Celebrity.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

[jelayne]

We bid on a CS recently.  At the time there were no CS open  and we didn’t bid the maximum.  Since there are only 8 CS the odds of a last minute cancellation is slim.  I checked about every 4-5 days but beyond that I didn’t worry about it.  I was notified 2-3 days before sailing that my bid was rejected.

 

There are only 2 PH & 8 RS so odds are slim and unless you bid the maximum and/or have a ton of CC points your chances like mine are slim.  

[Suite Susie]

1 hour ago, NewWestwardbound said:

Absolutely yes! We're on the same cruise, but I withdrew my Move Up bid a couple of weeks ago, primarily because I couldn't justify it but also I was going through the same routine you are of checking my emails on a far too regular basis. We do have a bid still in for the following cruise though......... but no cabins have been available at our Move Up level for several weeks is I'm not holding out much hope. 

Look forward to seeing you on board - the forecast looks very wet unfortunately, but we're sailing to relax and be spoiled!

[Covepointcruiser]

I am glad the airlines or ships put full fare passengers ahead of those wanting upgrades.   It wouldn’t make sense to refuse a full fare passenger because of someone waiting in the wings for an upgrade.

[wwcruisers]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

It's all smoke and mirrors.

.... or, a game of 3-Card Monte!

[johnoli]

I bid the smallest amount mainly because I’m really happy about the cabin I already have. If they move me up to a suite then so be it. I am positive it’s not going to happen so I don’t even check.

[hcat]

 

In our opinion, obsessing over a possibility to move up for a fee is not worth it..esp when you have a CS booked already. Others with a different personality  play the bidding game but go with the flow and take it or leave it. We choose the cabin we like at best price we can afford and would not care to bid..but that's just us.

 

One our worst roll calls  ever was  a number of years ago on Royal C. It  included a  loosely organized group that sailed together previously, not sure why. The entire roll call was consumed by  endlesss  conversation  about who among them..all Diamonds ....would get the anxiously awaited  call to move up...to a suite,  and they  also went over all of their past  move up successes. All  very boring and exclusionary to others who were not in the hunt.  

 

We attended a  pre sailaway get together at our hotel, figuring all the jockeying was over.  Alas,  one of the group arrived a bit late to dinner,  and gleefully announced  that he just got the call. .  It made his day but made others sad  who did not get a call.

 

safe sails everyone

Edited August 30, 2019 by hcat

[Mike45LC]

I have never made a bid for a Move Up because I consider it a game of three-card monte with a tip of the hat to WWCruisers).  Buy the cabin you want in the first place, and save yourself the stress.

 

I have been offered Move Ups on Princess -- on Princess it is not a bid, but you receive an email saying that for $___, they will upgrade you.  Some of these offers stink -- I refused to pay $____ per day for a S2 suite when I originally booked, so why would I now pay even more than that?  Unfortunately, some of the Move-Up offers were good -- now my wife will not let us book anything less than a mini-suite, because once she experienced the larger cabin, well, a simple balcony is no longer good enough!!

 

With the bidding system that Celebrity has, don't engage, if you are going to stress out over it.  On eBay, I do "purchase now" instead of actually bidding!

 

[Mr. Click]

7 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

I am glad the airlines or ships put full fare passengers ahead of those wanting upgrades.   It wouldn’t make sense to refuse a full fare passenger because of someone waiting in the wings for an upgrade.

I can't speak for all airlines but I know United will sell that upgrade long before they give it to a Premier FF or someone asking for a mileage upgrade.  In the last three years we have had the grand total of 2 United upgrades clear.  We rarely bother with them anymore. The whole big up/upgrade thing is just a way for them to make some extra $$$ along the way.  I first saw it on Air New Zealand about  5-6 years ago when we went to Australia for a cruise.  It is a game, I personally would not play it.

[Suite Susie]

Well we did finally hear back last night, over 3.5 hours after the cut-off time.  Both bids were rejected, but this did not surprise me at all due to the limited amount of RS and PS cabins available.  Slept well last night for the first time in ages!  We are certainly checking regularly for our next cruise to see if we can upgrade without going through the Move-up process, but at the moment all the higher level suites are sold out!  We sail tomorrow, so have to go and pack.  Enjoy your cruises everybody.

[Cruise a holic]

Actually, we were in a Royal suite and did a move up to a penthouse- did slightly above minimum bid and didn't get it!  But yes I was anxious and checked often- too much for my nerves!  We were so happy that we didn't ultimately get it!  The Royal suite was a dream and we had so much room and so many amenities that the Penthouse would have been a waste! 

 

We got a good rate to upgrade initially to the RS as I watch the rates daily and sometimes I am very lucky! 

[Glendakayself]

We have a bid in to move from an OV to a FV for our Summit October Canada/New England cruise. I am sure if a human at Celebrity looked at our bid they would laugh because it is more than $1100 per person less than the current rate for the last available FV although it is $100 pp over the minimum bid. The extra space would be wonderful, but we are not holding our breath. We do check prices/category availability every morning for that cruise and other cruises we have booked, but we are expecting to cruise in the OV in October and enjoy it.

 

Safe and happy sails to all, 

[bikerunner]

22 hours ago, Glendakayself said:

We have a bid in to move from an OV to a FV for our Summit October Canada/New England cruise. I am sure if a human at Celebrity looked at our bid they would laugh because it is more than $1100 per person less than the current rate for the last available FV although it is $100 pp over the minimum bid. The extra space would be wonderful, but we are not holding our breath. We do check prices/category availability every morning for that cruise and other cruises we have booked, but we are expecting to cruise in the OV in October and enjoy it.

 

Safe and happy sails to all, 

I don’t worry about move ups.  But tried it a cpl times never worked. In general why stress on it, I am already on the ship and I already like my current room, is there ever really a bad room on a cruise?   I moved the upgrade way on my cruise in nov.  prices dropped significantly after final payment.  I was able to get 2 aft cabins connecting.  Didn’t get 9384 on the reflection which would have been great but the 2 cabins will take out the balcony divider and have a nice big balcony. No complaints.