MoveUp

[foxnan]

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to bid upgrades?  Bid highest or a little below?

I'm bidding on up grade for a Millennium cruise.

Edited February 24, 2022 by foxnan

[jalves]

Depends on your financial circumstances and how much you want that upgrade.  How happy you are with your current stateroom is also a consideration.  

 

For us, we bid slightly (10-15%) above the minimum.

[PTC DAWG]

IF you like your location currently, keep in mind you have very little to zero control of the location of the new cabin.  

[5waldos]

2 minutes ago, jalves said:

Depends on your financial circumstances and how much you want that upgrade.  How happy you are with your current stateroom is also a consideration.  

 

For us, we bid slightly (10-15%) above the minimum.

And how often are you successful? I have the same question as the OP but don't need to really think about it until late June. 

[PTC DAWG]

5 minutes ago, 5waldos said:

And how often are you successful? I have the same question as the OP but don't need to really think about it until late June. 

Word is that lower bids are being accepted more often with lower capacity on ships.  Who knows what capacity will be in June...I think that will have a lot to do with it.  There is an upgrade bid sticky at/or near the top of this board that may give you some more info.  

[foxnan]

11 minutes ago, jalves said:

Depends on your financial circumstances and how much you want that upgrade.  How happy you are with your current stateroom is also a consideration.  

 

For us, we bid slightly (10-15%) above the minimum.

That seems low.  Have you had success bidding low.  I have been in the fair range and have never been successful.  I have the feeling only strong bids stand a chance.

[jelayne]

Before placing a Move Up bid you should check to see what the price would be to just upgrade.  There are time when the minimum MU bid is not much less than just upgrading which would get you the perks of the new cabin and the Captains Club points.  

[Jim_Iain]

My experience has been that it really depends on the type of room your are bidding on and the number of those rooms available on the cruise, offset by how aggressive other bidders are.    I've won bids in the lower quadrant and been rejected on bids near the very top of the bidding range.  

 

It really is like any other auction -  set your upper limit and compare against current price and choose your limit on what you are comfortable with.    Remember also that just because they have a bid category open doesn't mean there are only cabins in that class open.   They often have these available in case of cancellations e.g. the Penthouse.

[foxnan]

48 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

My experience has been that it really depends on the type of room your are bidding on and the number of those rooms available on the cruise, offset by how aggressive other bidders are.    I've won bids in the lower quadrant and been rejected on bids near the very top of the bidding range.  

 

It really is like any other auction -  set your upper limit and compare against current price and choose your limit on what you are comfortable with.    Remember also that just because they have a bid category open doesn't mean there are only cabins in that class open.   They often have these available in case of cancellations e.g. the Penthouse.

Well said.  Thanks.

[foxnan]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Before placing a Move Up bid you should check to see what the price would be to just upgrade.  There are time when the minimum MU bid is not much less than just upgrading which would get you the perks of the new cabin and the Captains Club points.  

My understanding is you do not get the CC points on an upgrade.  Points remain the same.

[Jim_Iain]

12 minutes ago, foxnan said:

My understanding is you do not get the CC points on an upgrade.  Points remain the same.

You are correct.  You do not get the point level for the room you are upgraded to but receive the points per original class of room.

[wrk2cruise]

35 minutes ago, foxnan said:

My understanding is you do not get the CC points on an upgrade.  Points remain the same.

 

If you upgrade by paying the prevailing rates for the new category  (not a reduced price MoveUp bid) you get all the booking perks and CC points for that category just like if you did a new booking for that category.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

It really is like any other auction

I find it more complicated than that. An auction has only one factor: how high is your bid relative to all others. That's it.

 

The Move-Up has 2 factors: How high is your bid (similar to above) AND how much can Celebrity make on the cabin that you're vacating. The 2nd factor is blind and out of your control. If they don't need your current cabin, you may not win a move-up no matter what you bid.

[KKB]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

My experience has been that it really depends on the type of room your are bidding on and the number of those rooms available on the cruise, offset by how aggressive other bidders are.    I've won bids in the lower quadrant and been rejected on bids near the very top of the bidding range.  

 

It really is like any other auction -  set your upper limit and compare against current price and choose your limit on what you are comfortable with.    Remember also that just because they have a bid category open doesn't mean there are only cabins in that class open.   They often have these available in case of cancellations e.g. the Penthouse.

Exactly.

Yesterday there were 3 SV's available for my cruise. Better bid MAX to get one of those.

MANY MANY IV's available...may as well bid MIN.

[NutsAboutGolf]

They use algorithms to shuffle people around to maximize their profit, whether that means a person moves up one category or five categories.  Safe bet to bid a little bit more than the minimum.

[JamieLogical]

I bid the discounted minimum for an Aqua Class cabin on my March 19 sailing. I am sailing solo, but still have to pay for double occupancy with the bid, so I didn't want to go any higher than that. There are still at least 72 Aqua Class staterooms available on my sailing, so I think I have a pretty good shot, even with the minimum bid. Will let you guys know if I get it.

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by JamieLogical

[dreams_of_travel]

I am on a B2B in April, and have currently two different assigned concierge cabins.  I am wondering if I bid on each for an Aqua class cabin, if they could assign me the same cabin on both cruises.  Is there a way to call in proactively to get the same cabin?  

[phoenix_dream]

A lot depends on what you are moving from and to.  Suites on most sailings of late are very hard to come by as they book those full.  You have to hope someone cancels last minute.  Moving from inside or from a regular balcony to AQ or CC might bring you better luck.

 

One last word - take care when you bid.  Oftentimes the move up bid at maximum (or even mid) is higher than if you booked outright, and very often higher than had you booked that cabin in the first place!  We always make a note of the pricing of the next higher cabins when we book so that we don't get carried away at the last minute and do something stupid.

[wrk2cruise]

43 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I am on a B2B in April, and have currently two different assigned concierge cabins.  I am wondering if I bid on each for an Aqua class cabin, if they could assign me the same cabin on both cruises.  Is there a way to call in proactively to get the same cabin?  

 

No  I'm sure they are computer assigned.  Almost zero chance you would get the same cabin for both cruises.

[dreams_of_travel]

I figured as much.   I'm already in a concierge cabin, so I won't both.  My minimum bid for Aqua is $50/pp but I am happy with my location, and wouldn't want to chance a "bad" cabin move. Thanks for the reply.
 

[DeltaJoe15]

The wife an I were booked on the Millennium back in Nov an early Dec did a Move Up bid from a 

Sky Suite to a Celebrity Suite  I bid the Minimum an got the up grade.  Now back in late November

the ship was only 40% full  

[NutsAboutGolf]

The bidding awarding is done by a 3rd party company called PlusGrade, many travel companies use them including RCL and NCL.  With reduced capacity things are far less complicated since there's so much availability, yet the software looks at every possible bidding scenario and picks the scenario that will make the X the most money for the sailing.  Personally, I've always found the minimums too high and they would seem to increase over time.

 

 

 

[JamieLogical]

13 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The bidding awarding is done by a 3rd party company called PlusGrade, many travel companies use them including RCL and NCL.  With reduced capacity things are far less complicated since there's so much availability, yet the software looks at every possible bidding scenario and picks the scenario that will make the X the most money for the sailing.  Personally, I've always found the minimums too high and they would seem to increase over time.

 

 

 

 

The minimum to go from a regular Veranda to and Aqua Class for my upcoming Summit sailing is only $35. Since you have to pay double, that's $70, which still works out to only $14/day for my 5-day sailing. It seems like access to Blu is probably worth $14/day, so I bid the minimum.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The minimum to go from a regular Veranda to and Aqua Class for my upcoming Summit sailing is only $35. Since you have to pay double, that's $70, which still works out to only $14/day for my 5-day sailing. It seems like access to Blu is probably worth $14/day, so I bid the minimum.

 

Wow!  Yeah, even at $70 more this is quite a deal.  You also get other perks like spa access and a few room enhancements.

[JamieLogical]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Wow!  Yeah, even at $70 more this is quite a deal.  You also get other perks like spa access and a few room enhancements.

 

Yeah. On the Summit, the Persian Garden is nothing to write home about and I will likely end up in a sub-optimal room location whereas right now I am in one of the Sweet 16 rooms on Deck 6, but it is still probably worth $14/day.