Will Cunard Introduce Bid Upgrades?

[Gomac]

Now that Princess have brought in a bidding upgrade system will Cunard be next?

 

Perhaps Cunard don’t need to introduce the ability to bid and upgrade as they already sell the Grills cabins quite easily looking at future bookings. Also it may cannibalise their customers willing to book the more expensive cabins from the outset? 

[Host Hattie]

I'm not sure anyone here is going to be able to answer that. Is it something that all the other Carnival brands already do or is Princess the first ?

I've used a similar system on planes and trains but as you say the Grills tend to sell out so I'm not sure how it would work.

Bid to upgrade from inside to balcony perhaps?

 

[majortom10]

• I am sure Princess are testing the water to see if it works and if so and perhaps Cunard and P&O will follow suit. But like as previously stated Cunard dont seem to have any problems selling QG, PG and BC at the moment so dont think it might be worth the effort just for inside, oceanview and balcony staterooms. P&O is a different matter and it might be worthwhile trying to sell upgrades rather than giving them away for free.

[LB_NJ]

They may not since there are only a few ships.

 

 

However, if it is easy for them, they might as a way to handle last minute cancellations

[Mr&MrsHendricks]

I honestly can’t see how anyone on Cruise Critic would be privy to such information. 
You could try posing the same question in one of the several Cunard themed Facebook Groups.

You’ll get a definitive answer there since as we all know, The Facebook’s is full of experts.  

[Gretchendz]

No  one knows, of course. However, I am a bit surprised it took Princess this long, given how many other lines in their space have essentially the same program. I think customers in general prefer it to the apparent mystical "Upgrade fairy."

 

Cunard may decide not to do it, as they are run somewhat independently. On the other hand, Princess and Cunard, of all the Carnival brands, are most closely joined at the hip.

[majortom10]

7 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

No  one knows, of course. However, I am a bit surprised it took Princess this long, given how many other lines in their space have essentially the same program. I think customers in general prefer it to the apparent mystical "Upgrade fairy."

 

Cunard may decide not to do it, as they are run somewhat independently. On the other hand, Princess and Cunard, of all the Carnival brands, are most closely joined at the hip.

Cunard are very closely combined with P&O both coming under Carnival UK and have the same staff in their HQ in Southampton. Princess have offices and staff in the same building but run independently from Cunard/P&O.

[MylesS]

I can't see this coming to Cunard, personally.

As someone who sails on both lines, there seem to always be suites available on Princess, even for short-notice sailings, as opposed to Cunard where (for certain itineraries) you have to book more in advance for a Princess/Queens Grill Suites, and even then, it's normally only the lower tier suites left.

Carnival have also stated in previous investor-related posts that sales for Grills has gone up since the pandemic, however it's important to note that some of this boost will most likely be due to future cruise credits.

I have heard that Cunard is one of Carnival's most profitable brands, and this could be due to the high volume of Grills suites that are sold (as well as lesser ships to maintain, older ships that have returned their initial investments, etc. also contributing to this) - so maybe we won't see it coming to Cunard because of this?

[techteach]

I used the bidding process prior to last weeks Celebrity cruise. I hated it. I was offered the ability to bid on cabins that I’m sure were not available, but bid well over $1,000 per person. Didn’t get either of them, and spent 3 weeks checking multiple times a day. I don’t think they should offer suites that aren’t available. Before anyone makes a snarky remark - I understand that it was my decision to check daily.

[Stu UK]

Don’t think Cunard need to introduce bids as higher categories always sell. The Celebrity Move Up Programme (and MSC is contracted to same company) has been great during the pandemic with under capacity sailings and also for last minute cancellations.  Allows extra income as its the compound value of all the successful bids in a “chain”.  As ships get back to normal capacity and post pandemic not sure there will be too many successful bids.

[LB_NJ]

On 8/27/2022 at 3:03 PM, techteach said:

I don’t think they should offer suites that aren’t available. 

 

They do not really know if they are unavailable until the ship sails.

[gumshoe958]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:03 PM, LB_NJ said:

 

They do not really know if they are unavailable until the ship sails.

Exactly. The whole point is to make sure the prime real estate isn’t empty or given away if someone cancels last minute or no shows.

 

Plus there’s the psychological aspect. I suspect we’d be shocked at how many people willingly pay way over the odds for an upgrade simply because of the perception that they’ve “won” a bid. Sure, there are bargains to be had but overall the house always wins.