Any Upgrade Bids Accepted Recently?

[bkrickles1]

32 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Not an expert by any means, but to me it seem your bid will be accepted.   I would check to see if they charged your credit card.

Thanks!

Nothing on the card yet.

[julig22]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Not an expert by any means, but to me it seem your bid will be accepted.   I would check to see if they charged your credit card.

I have an alert on my CC so anytime there is a purchase above a specified amount, I get a notification.  So I instantly know if my bid has been processed.

[bkrickles1]

I clicked on the NCL app about an hour ago and it showed my new stateroom #.

I am so happy to have successfully navigated the upgrade advantage program.

We are sailing Joy on July 23rd and had originally booked an inside cabin (13555) because my wife convinced me to go on 4 trips this year and I wanted to save a little.

When we booked back in February, we were able to get an inside cabin for approx. $2500. That includes the $500 cruise first cert. we bought for $250 and my military discount.

At the time a regular balcony was going for approx. $1200 more and didn't fit my budget.

When I received the upgrade email after final payment, I put in minimum bids for a balcony and a club balcony suite (which is what we stayed in last summer on Joy). $100pp and $125pp respectively.

So, for $250 total, my wife and I had our bid accepted. 

A Club Balcony Suite for under $2800 is a terrific deal for these times and it makes my wife a happy woman.

45 Days until our sailing!!

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

I put in minimum bids for a balcony and a club balcony suite (which is what we stayed in last summer on Joy). $100pp and $125pp respectively.

So, for $250 total, my wife and I had our bid accepted. 

Very nice!  I've upgraded from insides twice for around $100 pp, but both of those were repricings after final payment.  I have a $105 bid on a balcony upgrade on my next cruise, so we'll see what happens.  Either way, I'll be cruising. 😎

[hernando52]

General question on the bidding process.  It states that bids are processed between 14 days to 1 day before the cruise.  Is this always the case or can you get win a bid prior to the 2 weeks out?  

[psuboater]

1 hour ago, hernando52 said:

General question on the bidding process.  It states that bids are processed between 14 days to 1 day before the cruise.  Is this always the case or can you get win a bid prior to the 2 weeks out?  

It can vary widly. Typically, category upgrades from interior to oceanview or balcony can be processed earlier, but Haven suites they like to let us all sweat it out until the end. Makes sense because inventory of oceanview/balcony are greater than Suites/Havens.

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, hernando52 said:

General question on the bidding process.  It states that bids are processed between 14 days to 1 day before the cruise.  Is this always the case or can you get win a bid prior to the 2 weeks out?  

I, just yesterday, had my bid accepted for a sailing on Joy July 23rd. That's 45 days prior. 

The accepted bid took me from an inside cabin to a Club Balcony Suite. 

I was surprised at how early it was accepted but very happy. 

Almost 7 weeks prior to sailing and with a minimum bid. 

[vacation44]

23 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

I clicked on the NCL app about an hour ago and it showed my new stateroom #.

I am so happy to have successfully navigated the upgrade advantage program.

We are sailing Joy on July 23rd and had originally booked an inside cabin (13555) because my wife convinced me to go on 4 trips this year and I wanted to save a little.

When we booked back in February, we were able to get an inside cabin for approx. $2500. That includes the $500 cruise first cert. we bought for $250 and my military discount.

At the time a regular balcony was going for approx. $1200 more and didn't fit my budget.

When I received the upgrade email after final payment, I put in minimum bids for a balcony and a club balcony suite (which is what we stayed in last summer on Joy). $100pp and $125pp respectively.

So, for $250 total, my wife and I had our bid accepted. 

A Club Balcony Suite for under $2800 is a terrific deal for these times and it makes my wife a happy woman.

45 Days until our sailing!!

Very happy for you!   

[knscruiser322]

hi. what would be considered a reasonable or good discounted upgrade from a club balcony suite (Joy) to a Haven cabin? and when is it considered too much?

 

It seems the prices are slowly dropping nearing sailing, so curious what's a good bid or too much at this point.

[n4w]

Yes, it's a long thread.  And there's a lot of useless stuff, but there's some good info in there as well.

 

A short answer is it's all personal preference.  Another short answer is every sailing is different. Otherwise, the answer is 42 - Life, the universe and everything.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by n4w

[psuboater]

12 hours ago, knscruiser322 said:

hi. what would be considered a reasonable or good discounted upgrade from a club balcony suite (Joy) to a Haven cabin? and when is it considered too much?

 

It seems the prices are slowly dropping nearing sailing, so curious what's a good bid or too much at this point.

For our sailing in a MA Club Balcony Suite the difference between MA and the lowest Haven was around $3000 total. However, as we got closer, Haven sold out. I put a max bid of $1000pp for the lowest Haven and did not get it. 

[knscruiser322]

16 minutes ago, psuboater said:

For our sailing in a MA Club Balcony Suite the difference between MA and the lowest Haven was around $3000 total. However, as we got closer, Haven sold out. I put a max bid of $1000pp for the lowest Haven and did not get it. 

Thanks! This is very helpful. The difference between my MB and the lowest Haven is about $2200 and change. Its definitely been going done, but also it seems to be selling out quick as it approaches the sail date. The next up available one is $2400 and change.

 

I've put the lowest minimum "fair" bid on both so hopefully I get it but as the sail date inches near and if the price drops more, I might just straight out do an upgrade over the phone.

[psuboater]

1 minute ago, knscruiser322 said:

Thanks! This is very helpful. The difference between my MB and the lowest Haven is about $2200 and change. Its definitely been going done, but also it seems to be selling out quick as it approaches the sail date. The next up available one is $2400 and change.

 

I've put the lowest minimum "fair" bid on both so hopefully I get it but as the sail date inches near and if the price drops more, I might just straight out do an upgrade over the phone.

Honestly if it's important to you, I would do the upgrade over the phone- it seems like the Joy is going out at full capacity. I think $2400 guaranteed saves you the stress of waiting on bids!

[wolft927]

Upgrading to the Haven is almost impossible lately. We are on the Escape January 6th 2024 and there are only 13 Haven suites left. We have a 2 bedroom Haven Suite, becasue we are traveling with anouther couple and was the most affordable way to all stay in te Haven 

[tde1969]

We sail in 94 days on a 14 day Iceland cruise.  There are still 48 Haven rooms available.  I feel like that is really high.  We've bid on 5 different Haven rooms.  Fingers crossed.  

Edited June 14, 2023 by tde1969
spelling

[mconthehighseas]

I was sent an email about 2 weeks ago about bidding for an upgrade.  I just checked to see what rooms are available,  and NCL shows that all cabins except insides are sold out, yet they are letting me bid on 3 different type cabins. Haven't decided on a bid yet,  but I thought I should at least share this info here.  We cruise in less than a month.

Other info for the people who asked how far out people had booked:
This is our first NCL cruise, and we booked almost a year ago.  

[mscdivina2016]

18 hours ago, tde1969 said:

We sail in 94 days on a 14 day Iceland cruise.  There are still 48 Haven rooms available.  I feel like that is really high.  We've bid on 5 different Haven rooms.  Fingers crossed.  

We are on the same sailing.

 

I expect that number to increase. But will decrease by one after I get mine. 🙂

Final payment for some is not due till Sunday with a grace period. A ton of HE and 2brms remain.

 I bid on every Haven. Wish I could just buy it but I would forfeit point value.

[ChiefMateJRK]

8 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Wish I could just buy it but I would forfeit point value.

What does this mean?

[HuliHuli]

14 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What does this mean?

It means someone wants to negotiate a different deal than the one the cruise line is offering.  The good news is the cruise line will happily take their money at the listed upgrade price and still give them the points.

[vswan]

14 minutes ago, HuliHuli said:

It means someone wants to negotiate a different deal than the one the cruise line is offering.  The good news is the cruise line will happily take their money at the listed upgrade price and still give them the points.

I read this differently. I am currently booked in a balcony cabin. The cost to upgrade to a Club is minimal, but last time I called and upgraded directly I lost the 3X insider points. If I had kept those points would be platinum, now will reach that with this insider offer so am happy to stay in my balcony cabin rather than lose out on getting to platinum this cruise. It is my understanding if I am upgraded through the bidding process I keep the insider points I booked with. (I also signed up for the air which is another headache of just calling).

 

I generally could care less about the perks, but 2 extra specialty dining and the laundry perk are nice when I'm this close.

[Susandt]

On 6/14/2023 at 2:30 PM, tde1969 said:

We sail in 94 days on a 14 day Iceland cruise.  There are still 48 Haven rooms available.  I feel like that is really high.  We've bid on 5 different Haven rooms.  Fingers crossed.  

How do you find out how many haven are available 

[Susandt]

3 hours ago, vswan said:

I read this differently. I am currently booked in a balcony cabin. The cost to upgrade to a Club is minimal, but last time I called and upgraded directly I lost the 3X insider points. If I had kept those points would be platinum, now will reach that with this insider offer so am happy to stay in my balcony cabin rather than lose out on getting to platinum this cruise. It is my understanding if I am upgraded through the bidding process I keep the insider points I booked with. (I also signed up for the air which is another headache of just calling).

 

I generally could care less about the perks, but 2 extra specialty dining and the laundry perk are nice when I'm this close.

I was wondering about this.  We have 3x with aug cruise getting us close to platinum, don’t want to lose that.

[mscdivina2016]

5 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What does this mean?

I booked an inside cabin, used NCL world points to get a free balcony.

 So when I want a haven, they look at the price I paid instead of what a balcony is worth. ($3000+ value)

 

So if I want to buy a haven my points are worthless. But if I bid, I am $3000 ahead of everyone else.

[Bequia]

If you have prepaid gratuities for a balcony cabin and your bid is accepted for a Haven upgrade, how is the difference in the gratuity amount handled?

[Russiamomm]

7 minutes ago, Bequia said:

If you have prepaid gratuities for a balcony cabin and your bid is accepted for a Haven upgrade, how is the difference in the gratuity amount handled?

They do not charge you extra.  But, at a minimum, gratuities are expected to be given to the butler and concierge.  They do not receive anything from the DSC.