Are Upgrades Easier Now Since Ships are not Sailing at Capacity?

[sail2day]

I understand that in July the Edge and Apex are only sailing at 38-50% capacity. Does that mean upgrades are easier? Has the price point come down? 

[KKB]

IDK.

Our Move up price minimum bid isn't much less than if we had just booked a Sky Suite in the 1st place.

I didn't price the higher up suites.

[Jeremiah1212]

It doesn't appear so at all. On Edge upgrade prices from CC to AQ were higher than what it would have cost to originally book AQ. I never heard a person who bid and won an upgrade except for a group that went from Penthouse to Iconic but that was not due to a MoveUp bid. 

[basenji56]

For my 9/4 Edge sailing, yes.

 

After final payment, I was able to upgrade through my TA from a solo infinite veranda to concierge class for no charge. She then upgraded me to Aqua for $135.

[miched]

It is probably easier as there are more cabin still available.  Just be willing to pay the extra cost.  I don’t think there will be any bargains and it may even be more to do so than when you originally booked

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Bruin Steve]

Let me start with this:  We moved our B2B bookings on Apex from Concierge to Sky Suite.  Did it the old-fashioned way, with my TA calling X, not via the "Move Up" gimmick.  Of course, we paid for it and it was not a cheap giveaway.

 

I know there has been talk of cruise lines limiting occupancy to 50-60%...however I do not believe holding that line has been a problem for them.  Occupancy has really been limited by other factors:  1) A lot of people are still ineligible to cruise due to lack of vaccination.  2)  A lot of people are still hesitant to cruise, choosing to wait our the pandemic a little longer.  3)  Unlike the ordinary, where cruise lines have about a year and a half build-up after announcing a cruise in which to market it, for these early cruises, they have been marketing them for three months or less.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, I am under the assumption that Celebrity still has some incentive to observe a little "social distancing".  Now consider that, on the Apex, for example, they have four main dining rooms...plus Blu for Aqua...plus Luminae for suites.  If they were to allow cheap, easy upgrades to Aqua and Suites, those cabins would fill up...and Blu and Luminae would be at capacity for every meal.  Same thing with the Retreat.  So, Celebrity really does NOT want to allow that--causing a complete disdain for social distancing at its highest levels.  They are much better off allowing things to work under the general laws of supply and demand--hold to the price structure and allow the Suites and Aqua to fill only in the same proportional levels they usually would if sailings were full.

 

So, the desired result would be, if the ship were 50% full, only 50% of the suites and 50% of Aqua cabins would be full as well...the MDRs would all operate 50% full...and Blu, Luminae and the Retreat would all be 50% capacity as well.  Likely, they would allow move up bids only to the extent that categories held to the same percentages of the ship overall...NOT to the full occupancy levels.  Hence, no reason to allow mass discounted upgrades.

[Seany527]

I was able to upgrade from a Sunset Verandah to Sunset Concierge at no additional cost for the Equinox 8/1, but that was through my own research.
 

MoveUp program has been iffy...sometimes the minimum bid is greater than the cost to just switch on your own.  

[TeeRick]

So a question here about upgrade availability.  Is any cabin on the ship and are all decks available?  Or does Celebrity actually close off areas and decks (or portions of decks) to achieve the lower capacity?  If areas are closed (saving energy, staff, maintenance, money) on a 50% capacity sailing, then the number of cabins actually available might be misleading.

[isdoo]

Most of the cruises I am looking at are all sold out in suites as an example. 

[lhsail]

15 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

So a question here about upgrade availability.  Is any cabin on the ship and are all decks available?  Or does Celebrity actually close off areas and decks (or portions of decks) to achieve the lower capacity?  If areas are closed (saving energy, staff, maintenance, money) on a 50% capacity sailing, then the number of cabins actually available might be misleading.

I do not have a definitive answer, just an observation. On our B2B cruises on the Summit in August there are many more cabins shown as unavailable than there should be based on the occupancy rates for these cruises. And the unavailable cabins are in blocks. Maybe just coincidence. 

[Jeremiah1212]

16 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

So a question here about upgrade availability.  Is any cabin on the ship and are all decks available?  Or does Celebrity actually close off areas and decks (or portions of decks) to achieve the lower capacity?  If areas are closed (saving energy, staff, maintenance, money) on a 50% capacity sailing, then the number of cabins actually available might be misleading.

 

Deck 6 is closed on Edge and Equinox through at least September. On early Edge sailings Inside's and OV's were not being sold. On other Equinox sailings OV's are not available but insides are. It's a little hit or miss but 100% of the ships are not open for booking at this time.

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Deck 6 is closed on Edge and Equinox through at least September. On early Edge sailings Inside's and OV's were not being sold. On other Equinox sailings OV's are not available but insides are. It's a little hit or miss but 100% of the ships are not open for booking at this time.

It makes sense that they would close off certain decks or portions of decks for a number of reasons.

[Jeremiah1212]

I also don't know with any certainty how the percentage is being calculated so the raw pax number makes more sense. At double occupancy Edge is at 2,918 but at max occupancy of 115% it would be at 3,373.

[TeeRick]

23 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I also don't know with any certainty how the percentage is being calculated so the raw pax number makes more sense. At double occupancy Edge is at 2,918 but at max occupancy of 115% it would be at 3,373.

The official capacity according to Celebrity - whatever that implies- is 2918 passengers with 1377 crew.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Interesting thread. I too was wondering if some decks are being closed off.

[DCPIV]

On 7/9/2021 at 3:55 PM, Seany527 said:

MoveUp program has been iffy...sometimes the minimum bid is greater than the cost to just switch on your own.

 

Indeed, that was the case when I called about upgrading an upcoming sailing. That was a pleasant surprise, especially since upgrading via X or TA gets you any additional amenities that may be coming to you via the upgraded room.

 

It would have been a pretty raw deal to upgrade via Move Up (more money, but no additional amenities and no choice on the location).  It was well worth the hold time.

[Lastdance]

So far, I have read about three people using the MOVE-up program and getting the Villa for seven nights; two were on Apex and one on Edge.  One Apex cruiser said she put in a bid of 2,025 pp. for the Villa.  her total cost was around 14,000, way less than the listed price.  Her photos were very nice and she was very will to upgrade from her S2.  I do not know what the others paid, but they were all ecstatic about their "catch of the week."

Edited July 14, 2021 by Lastdance