How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[Jemnibabe]

2 hours ago, MamaMills said:

Bidding should open for my 1/11 sail date in the next day or two.  As of now there are about 700+ rooms and suites open (50%), MOSTLY balcony or above, that show on the booking site. That might make it interesting.

 

I'm in an inside for now.  The bump to an obstructed balcony would have been $360 total and was the cheapest upgrade when booking. Paying more for the upgrade than I did for the total cruise for 3 didn't excite me.  Mini suite would be amazing, but my realistic goal will be a deluxe balcony for the sofa.  I'm hoping for the opportunity to upgrade us to anything better than a forward inside at a cost that makes me feel like I got a bargain!  If not...eh...it was worth a shot and we're still happy to be on the ship and escaping the January cold.

How could you possibly see 700+ rooms available on your cruise?  Every time I check my cruise I rarely see more than 25 total.  What am I missing here?  Thanks for the info.

 

Judy from SW Florida Hurricane survivor

[MamaMills]

3 hours ago, Jemnibabe said:

How could you possibly see 700+ rooms available on your cruise?  Every time I check my cruise I rarely see more than 25 total.  What am I missing here?  Thanks for the info.

 

Judy from SW Florida Hurricane survivor

Short Version: I had too much time on my hands.

Longer version: I went in like I was going to make a booking. Clicked on each category. Clicked on choose my location. All available rooms were shown. Back out & Repeat for each different category.

 

Our last cruise was visibly full when you checked availability for booking and only had a handful of options available. This one has a ton of rooms to choose from in all categories. I don’t think you’re missing anything! It’s probably that the cruise you’re on has a lot more interest and occupancy than the one I’m scheduled for.

[MamaMills]

5 hours ago, RogueRamblers said:

We received our upgrade bid invitation for our 1/16/23 15-night Hawaiian cruise on Royal Princess on 10/23:

$400 Deluxe Balcony

$250 Std Balcony

$150 Deluxe Obstructed Balcony

$100 Std Obstructed Balcony 

When we booked, balconies were over $1000 (and still are) more than interiors so I booked an interior, hoping the balcony prices would come down closer to our sailing,  when Iwould upgrade. Then Princess introduced this Upgrade Bidding program, and I was hopeful we'd get an invitation. Because I don't want an interior room, we bid $340 for the Std Balcony to try to ensure we'll get upgraded. From the posts here, that may be a little higher than necessary, but it's  a lot less than the current balcony prices. 

Violet

Were these your bid minimums per person or per cabin?

[RogueRamblers]

38 minutes ago, MamaMills said:

Were these your bid minimums per person or per cabin?

All the bids are per person.

[Shelly97060]

Bid was accepted on 20 day voyage that sails in November. Original cabin was a BD Balcony. Minimum bid for mini suite was $495 pp.  I bid the minimum $495 yesterday and was assigned an MB mini today. 
 

 

[geoherb]

My bid to move from an inside to an obstructed view was accepted today. I bid the minimum amount. It's around a hundred dollars less than if I had booked an obstructed view originally and even more of a savings over the midship obstructed view I received.

[MamaMills]

7 hours ago, geoherb said:

My bid to move from an inside to an obstructed view was accepted today. I bid the minimum amount. It's around a hundred dollars less than if I had booked an obstructed view originally and even more of a savings over the midship obstructed view I received.

Awesome! Great for you. Location makes a big difference in value and price, so it sounds like you got a good deal with the system.

[RKSue]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:28 AM, justafem said:

Always have to pay port fees and taxes.  The cabin is free, the rest are things that cruise lines actually pay for.  

 

I'll put it in perspective.  We just got back from a 10 day Alaskan.  We paid $800 total, which was $200 in room charge that we receive back as refundable onboard credit and $600 in taxes and port charges.  I also get free drinks, (just for me) and $400 in casino credits. A friend of mine booked the cruise without the casino promotion, she paid $3600, no onboard and no drinks.  

 

I have a 16 day Panama booked next year.  Our price was $1000 (same deal as before, but higher port fees).  Different friend had the same cruise booked, same room class.  She paid $4800.  I told her to call the casino dept and have her cruise refared.  She was thrilled to have saved $3800.

 

I can travel a whole lot at casino rates. 

 

On 10/30/2022 at 9:28 AM, justafem said:

Always have to pay port fees and taxes.  The cabin is free, the rest are things that cruise lines actually pay for.  

 

I'll put it in perspective.  We just got back from a 10 day Alaskan.  We paid $800 total, which was $200 in room charge that we receive back as refundable onboard credit and $600 in taxes and port charges.  I also get free drinks, (just for me) and $400 in casino credits. A friend of mine booked the cruise without the casino promotion, she paid $3600, no onboard and no drinks.  

 

I have a 16 day Panama booked next year.  Our price was $1000 (same deal as before, but higher port fees).  Different friend had the same cruise booked, same room class.  She paid $4800.  I told her to call the casino dept and have her cruise refared.  She was thrilled to have saved $3800.

 

I can travel a whole lot at casino rates. 

What is the Casino number if I can ask. All of my behind the scenes phone numbers have changed. Thanks. 

[gottagocit]

How soon after your final payment date (75/90 days prior to sailing date) should you expect to receive upgrade offer emails?

[roxievegas]

46 minutes ago, RKSue said:

 

What is the Casino number if I can ask. All of my behind the scenes phone numbers have changed. Thanks. 

888 772 6697

[Itchy&Scratchy]

if you haven't received an upgrade yet, and your cruise is sailing soon, check the prices. Yesterday my cruise prices dropped significantly (I checked in the morning - high, and then in the afternoon - dropped), so they are now as low as I paid a year ago. So, it may be worth it to pay the difference directly and have a choice of a cabin.

[polmcs]

I got an email yesterday to say that my bid on my late November TransAtlantic cruise had been accepted. I had bid $20pp over the minimum. Went from an obstructed balcony to a club class mini suite. Princess is selling club class minis on my voyage, but for about $5K more than what I paid for my balcony, so to get the M1 for just over $1.5K more than my original fare, definitely works for me.

 

In fact, what I ended up paying in total, wouldn’t even get me a premium balcony at todays fare. 

[EconDoc]

We have two cabins on Emerald Princess 15-day Panama Canal in December.

 

Upgrade offers:

 

From the inside cabin (IB):

• Obstructed Oceanview $40 pp
• Oceanview $145 pp
• Balcony $565 pp

 

From the balcony (BF guarantee)

• Premium balcony $115 pp (bid on this)
• Minisuite $445 pp
• Club class minisuite $635 pp

 

We placed a bid on one as noted above.

[MamaMills]

8 hours ago, gottagocit said:

How soon after your final payment date (75/90 days prior to sailing date) should you expect to receive upgrade offer emails?

According to the Princess site/terms, 5 days after final payment date. So 70/90.

 

If you don’t receive an email, login to your personalizer on the website and you will see an advertisement to “upgrade your cabin”. You’ll probably see that now…but if you put in the booking number and name and it isn’t in the window, it will say it’s unavailable for upgrade.

[sunsetme]

Success! Received 2 emails bid not accepted and then got an email from Princess upgrade to mini suite from mid ship balcony $300 for Dec 3 Discovery cruise.

[geoherb]

12 hours ago, gottagocit said:

How soon after your final payment date (75/90 days prior to sailing date) should you expect to receive upgrade offer emails?

 

The final payment date for my cruise was August 30. I received the offer to bid on September 17. I received the notification that my bid was successful October 31. My cruise leaves November 28. 

I booked the cruise initially August 9. Princess sent me an initial upgrade notification (from a Cat. IF to a Cat. IA) that day. But my travel agent had to rebook me to get a better deal. I lost the Cat. IA cabin and took the chance at another guarantee Cat. IF. I found out I had been assigned to a Cat. IB cabin before the final payment date. Princess did not send me a notification for that cabin assignment. 

 

When I received the notice that my bid was successful, it did not include the cabin number. I was able to see it in the Cruise Personalizer. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by geoherb

[WmFCoyote]

We are upset with the way PCL has handled the "Upgrades". We are on the 28 day Med and TA cruise which sails on 14 November from Rome. We have been waiting for an E-Mail to offer us the chance to upgrade at a price. A friend also on this sailing, informed us that they received an offer on 19 October. We have received none. We are also booked in a B2 Balcony. We have heard nothing from PCL. This is not our first cruise (over 30) and we qualified and opted into receiving offers. Not saying we would have bid, but would have liked the offer to bid. Disappointed

[Shelly97060]

3 hours ago, WmFCoyote said:

We are upset with the way PCL has handled the "Upgrades". We are on the 28 day Med and TA cruise which sails on 14 November from Rome. We have been waiting for an E-Mail to offer us the chance to upgrade at a price. A friend also on this sailing, informed us that they received an offer on 19 October. We have received none. We are also booked in a B2 Balcony. We have heard nothing from PCL. This is not our first cruise (over 30) and we qualified and opted into receiving offers. Not saying we would have bid, but would have liked the offer to bid. Disappointed

You can go into cruise Personalizer and scroll to about the middle of the landing page and you will find a bid to upgrade box where you can check to see if you can bid.   This link may also work https://upg.plusgrade.com/marketing/partner/RNo2BO4VPCL

[Itchy&Scratchy]

7 hours ago, WmFCoyote said:

This is not our first cruise (over 30) and we qualified and opted into receiving offers.

I thought so as well, but it turned out I didn't opt in. The moment I marked yes on both the app and website, I got an offer to bid. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy

[MamaMills]

Bidding opened for me today as expected.

 

- I did not receive an email yet.  I'm opted in, but it hasn't been sent just yet so I went to the personalizer and clicked the link to check.

 

- I am in an inside cabin currently.  I only received an opportunity to bid on balcony categories. This was unexpected. I wonder if I get upgraded to a balcony soon, If I can go back in and have the opportunity upgrade that to a mini suite.

 

- My minimums for a 4 day cruise are: 

  -  Standard Obstructed: $35/pp (was $348 cost increase at booking)

  -  Deluxe Obstructed: $75/pp (was $372 cost increase at booking)

  -  Standard Balcony: $90/pp

  -  Deluxe Balcony: $110/pp

 

I'll update if any of my offers are received.

[jwattle]

31 minutes ago, MamaMills said:

Bidding opened for me today as expected.

 

- I did not receive an email yet.  I'm opted in, but it hasn't been sent just yet so I went to the personalizer and clicked the link to check.

 

- I am in an inside cabin currently.  I only received an opportunity to bid on balcony categories. This was unexpected. I wonder if I get upgraded to a balcony soon, If I can go back in and have the opportunity upgrade that to a mini suite.

 

- My minimums for a 4 day cruise are: 

  -  Standard Obstructed: $35/pp (was $348 cost increase at booking)

  -  Deluxe Obstructed: $75/pp (was $372 cost increase at booking)

  -  Standard Balcony: $90/pp

  -  Deluxe Balcony: $110/pp

 

I'll update if any of my offers are received.

I think that the offers that you receive are based on your current room (ie: interiors receive balcony offers; balconies receive mini offers, etc)

[1cruiselvr]

6 hours ago, jwattle said:

I think that the offers that you receive are based on your current room (ie: interiors receive balcony offers; balconies receive mini offers, etc)

Not true for us. We booked premium deluxe balcony and our upgrade offer included all the suite categories, club class mini suite, and regular mini suite. We bid on the suites and cc mini. Since none were available at the time of the offer, I doubt those bids will go anywhere. There are mini suites available, so if we bid on that category, we’d probably win but I’m not willing to give up the nice big balcony. 

[RKSue]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:12 PM, geoherb said:

 

The final payment date for my cruise was August 30. I received the offer to bid on September 17. I received the notification that my bid was successful October 31. My cruise leaves November 28. 

I booked the cruise initially August 9. Princess sent me an initial upgrade notification (from a Cat. IF to a Cat. IA) that day. But my travel agent had to rebook me to get a better deal. I lost the Cat. IA cabin and took the chance at another guarantee Cat. IF. I found out I had been assigned to a Cat. IB cabin before the final payment date. Princess did not send me a notification for that cabin assignment. 

 

When I received the notice that my bid was successful, it did not include the cabin number. I was able to see it in the Cruise Personalizer. 

Are you on the Caribbean Princess with Us? I wasn't able to do anything accept try to move into a full suite, but I was told they are sold out. I put in a bid anyway for the type of suite we would enjoy. If I could have rebooked into something I would have as this might be Moms last cruise. She will be 94 when we set sail.

[Ombud]

Let me preface this by saying this is not about a casino cruise

 

I just went online to see what it would cost to switch to a mini-suite.  Don't really need it as I've got a great Caribe balcony but it might be nice. Put in my name & booking number. States I'm not eligible to bid. Why? Cruise isn't for 32 days and there's a boatload of empty mini-suites & premium balconies. Any idea??

[iamaqt2]

8 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Let me preface this by saying this is not about a casino cruise

 

I just went online to see what it would cost to switch to a mini-suite.  Don't really need it as I've got a great Caribe balcony but it might be nice. Put in my name & booking number. States I'm not eligible to bid. Why? Cruise isn't for 32 days and there's a boatload of empty mini-suites & premium balconies. Any idea??

That happened to me because I mixed up a letter and number from my booking number.  Maybe try again?