How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, Therese S. said:

Since the cost of Princess insurance is based upon the cabin price, if a bid is accepted, does the price of your Princess insurance go up?  What about the tax portion of the cost?

 

Yes insurance does go up.  And taxes / port fees are the same for every cabin so no change.

[cruiserdru]

Sorry, I don't remember where exactly I saw it, but yes you need to update the insurance to match your final price. 

 

Do you mean port fees when you say taxes because I thought those were not dependent on the cabin - just per cabin charge from the port??

[HBCcruiser]

15 minutes ago, cruiserdru said:

Sorry, I don't remember where exactly I saw it, but yes you need to update the insurance to match your final price. 

 

Do you mean port fees when you say taxes because I thought those were not dependent on the cabin - just per cabin charge from the port??

You are correct. From Princess website:

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/princess-cruise-room-upgrade/

 

[Lou33]

2 hours ago, Therese S. said:

 

We’re debating placing a bid on the regular balcony.  Still a great deal when added to what we paid for our oceanview 

Our bidding strategy is to first book a category and cabin that we are happy with.  Then consider that when we made the original booking, if we wanted to book a higher category, what extra cost would have made that decision a "no brainer".  Then that's what we bid.  Either way, we can't lose.  

 

For our current cruise, the minimum bids are higher than what we would have paid at the time that we booked, so we will stay put.  On our past cruises on RCI, NCL, and Celebrity, the minimum bids were quite low, but I'm not seeing that on Princess.  

[PacnGoNow]

31 minutes ago, Lou33 said:

Our bidding strategy is to first book a category and cabin that we are happy with.  Then consider that when we made the original booking, if we wanted to book a higher category, what extra cost would have made that decision a "no brainer".  Then that's what we bid.  Either way, we can't lose.  

 

For our current cruise, the minimum bids are higher than what we would have paid at the time that we booked, so we will stay put.  On our past cruises on RCI, NCL, and Celebrity, the minimum bids were quite low, but I'm not seeing that on Princess.  

Maybe, they will come down if no one bids on the initial prices?

 

[Cruise Raider]

On 9/16/2022 at 4:02 PM, mina said:

Just got offer for Nov 6, 2022 7 day California coastal on royal from San Francisco. Our original cabin is a mini suite MA.  
 

Forward Facing Club Mini = $85 pp

Club Class Mini = 110 pp

Premium Suite = $550  pp

Penthouse Suite = $700 pp

Penthouse Suite Aft Facing = $1030 pp

I just received the same offer on my MA cabin … it’s double because I booked it as a solo.  Still a great deal if my minimum bid is accepted.  I truly doubt that will happen, though.  

Edited September 18, 2022 by Cruise Raider

[Cruise Raider]

On 9/16/2022 at 10:00 PM, caribill said:

 

 

Have you (or anyone else who has received a bidding E-mail) compared the minimum bid price to what it would have cost to have booked that higher category in the first place?

I did .. probably noted it somewhere within this thread.  It was a much better deal by bidding on the minimum but then, a few days after I made the bid, the price dropped on the cabin I wanted and it was slightly lower than my bid.  So, I rescinded my bid and upgraded my cabin.  

[mina]

44 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I just received the same offer on my MA cabin … it’s double because I booked it as a solo.  Still a great deal if my minimum bid is accepted.  I truly doubt that will happen, though.  

We bid the minimums as well.  We shall see.  Lots of club class and suites open so maybe we will get lucky!  

[Cruise Raider]

So, I was told by someone at Princess that a bid offer is only available to those with the Plus or Premier package but I can confirm that either they already changed that policy or it is not true.  We got an upgrade bid without the package and just added the plus package and received the bid offer again.  

 

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I did .. probably noted it somewhere within this thread.  It was a much better deal by bidding on the minimum but then, a few days after I made the bid, the price dropped on the cabin I wanted and it was slightly lower than my bid.  So, I rescinded my bid and upgraded my cabin.  

I wish I could see what is still available on our upcoming sailing.  It's "currently unavailable" so we can't get any idea.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

I wish I could see what is still available on our upcoming sailing.  It's "currently unavailable" so we can't get any idea.

 

I wish that, too.  One of mine is currently showing as unavailable, too.  

[DUCHESSRN]

I got a letter for both Oct 15th and 22nd cruise but like our Cabin so did not bid.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:51 PM, Therese S. said:

Since the cost of Princess insurance is based upon the cabin price, if a bid is accepted, does the price of your Princess insurance go up? It should. We've upgraded in the past from offers (before the bid thing) and insurance went up.  

What about the tax portion of the cost? IIRC the tax/fee portion did not change.

See above 😉

[seagunthera]

I received a bid notice on a booked mini suite but on the email, it lists only my name (and not my two minor children traveling with me in the cabin).  Has anyone experienced this?  If so, the per day bid applies to all three passengers, correct?  My son's fare as a 3rd passengers was only $249 so I can't imagine a situation where upgrading to a suite would be at a reasonable price.  

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Got a bid offer Saturday for our 12/8 Caribbean Princess sailing and initially put in an offer.  Cancelled the bid this evening as we are happy with current location and don’t want to chance it. As we were only bidding to go from inside to obstructed oceanview it’s really not a big deal.  Had a balcony been within reason we might have considered it, but would rather spend the extra on shoreside experiences. 
 

That said the bid options were straightforward, the process was simple, and cancelling the bid just as simple. 
 

Edited September 19, 2022 by AtlantaCruiser72

[caribill]

53 minutes ago, seagunthera said:

I received a bid notice on a booked mini suite but on the email, it lists only my name (and not my two minor children traveling with me in the cabin).  Has anyone experienced this?  If so, the per day bid applies to all three passengers, correct?  My son's fare as a 3rd passengers was only $249 so I can't imagine a situation where upgrading to a suite would be at a reasonable price.  

 

Only to first two passengers in the cabin. If you have a successful bid there will be no additional charge for 3rd and 4th passengers.

[Bwana Tom]

Initially the bidding process was to begin in September on the Caribbean, Discovery, Enchanted, Regal and the Ruby Princess ships. Then the remaining Princess ships were to be added by between then and November. I'm not sure whether all the remaining ships will be added at one time or gradually a few at a time. I would however be very interested in hearing from anyone when they do receive a bid offer for one of these remaining ships. 

Thanks

[chicopaige]

Saturday I received a bid offer for Royal Princess leaving October 9th.

[cruzin4us]

Latest info on my B2B sailing starting Oct 1st on Discovery:

 

I got an upgrade on my October 1st sailing......BD Balcony to a BB Balcony......I did not bid on this

 

I got an upgrade on my October 8th sailing.... ID Inside to an IB Inside.......I did bid a lowball bid for an outside room but obviously didn't get it.       

Edited September 19, 2022 by cruzin4us

[RKSue]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:00 AM, caribill said:

 

 

Have you (or anyone else who has received a bidding E-mail) compared the minimum bid price to what it would have cost to have booked that higher category in the 

On 9/17/2022 at 1:00 AM, caribill said:

 

 

Have you (or anyone else who has received a bidding E-mail) compared the minimum bid price to what it would have cost to have booked that higher category in the first place?

So I did on 2 of the suites. 

 

vista suite cost $4199 pp at time of booking. They offered us the range of $580-1220 pp bid. At even the highest bid it would be cheaper by $500

 

the Penthouse suite is the one I want. Original price was $4499. The bidding range was $880-2155. At the highest bid it would cost me $105 more than had I booked it in the beginning. There are no more suites available on my cruise November 28th. However I’m pretty sure 1 person got the upgrade. They offered the max which was most likely a good deal for them. And the offer went from pending to accepted. Each person gets different bidding scale. If there is a cancellation up to date of cruising they can accept an offer and move you. I’m guessing if it’s within three days you will get a phone call from a 611 area code.  Soooo if you really want one cross your fingers and answer that phone call. 
 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

I got an upgrade on my October 8th sailing.... ID Inside to an IB Inside.......I did bid a lowball bid for an outside room but obviously didn't get it. 

I would NOT want to be moved to another inside. When I pick an inside, I pick what I want. If I pay for an upgrade to an outside cabin, I am expecting to get an outside cabin.

[cruzin4us]

23 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I would NOT want to be moved to another inside. When I pick an inside, I pick what I want. If I pay for an upgrade to an outside cabin, I am expecting to get an outside cabin.

Me too, however when the Diamond cruises were cancelled out of San Diego, it left me scrambling for a cabin.   There were only GTY cabins left, so I'm stuck with whatever they give me.   All my cruises are casino comped cruises, so I can't complain too much 🙂

[caribill]

25 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I would NOT want to be moved to another inside. When I pick an inside, I pick what I want. If I pay for an upgrade to an outside cabin, I am expecting to get an outside cabin.

 

Since this upgrade was a gift from the Upgrade Fairy, my guess is that cruzin4us did not have no upgrade marked on their booking.

[wowzz]

Can I just ask how you get a casino comp'd cruise?

Do you have to lose a specific amount of money - $10,000? - before you get a free cruise ?

[suzyed]

1 hour ago, RKSue said:

 

Wish I could.