How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[Sea Hag]

I got a bidding offer notification for a 2/23 cruise. It was fun to look at the bidding page, but we won't be bidding. Like what we have, so no reason to change.

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

I got a bidding offer notification for a 2/23 cruise. It was fun to look at the bidding page, but we won't be bidding. Like what we have, so no reason to change.

Did you land your preferred front mini with the big balcony? ☺️ Enjoy your cruise! 

[azbirdmom]

Update on my situation....

 

At 4:40 PM (Arizona time, it's one hour earlier PST) I got a succession of 3 emails - Yay! - you got your stateroom upgrade, Cabin Change Notification, and Your Princess booking confirmation, the latter of which had the balance due for the upgrade + PVP.  This was exactly 26 hours after I got the Princess Upgrade wasn't accepted emails and logged in to see that we had been moved to the PH suite.  And the balance was due TODAY.

 

So I immediately called the casino reservation number.  Got the offshore office and the person had no clue what I was talking about.  She transferred me to a nice young man in the Arizona office but he couldn't process anything on casino reservations so he said he would transfer me to one of the few casino folks left in his office.  Oops instead got sent back to the Philippines where the person again had no idea what to do but very unhelpfully offered to process an upgrade to Princess Premier if I'd like!  He transferred me to the customer service folks and then promptly cut me off.

 

I called back on a different casino number and again got the offshore folks.  He had no clue what to do and said he could transfer me but warned that the people he was transferring me to may not be in the office much longer and wait times are long.

 

While listening to the lovely hold music I used a different phone to call the usual casino rez line and got connected to the Philippines.  Again the person didn't know how to handle it but I asked if I could be transferred to casino services and someone in Arizona picked up.  He said he was in casino sales and hadn't processed one of these before.  So I asked him if he could just look at my booking and  see if there was a balance due.  Low and behold he could see what I needed to pay and he processed my payment.  He also sent me a new Booking Confirmation that shows paid in full.  So I am holding my breath but think I am finally done!

 

By the way the option to pay for the upgrade never did show up in the Cruise Personalizer although I've heard that some with casino reservations can DIY payments.  Who knows how these things work?   In any event I am sure all of this will be a distant memory when I am enjoying our lovely PH suite but for now I think I will see if a glass of wine will alleviate some of the stress!

[Sea Hag]

4 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Did you land your preferred front mini with the big balcony? ☺️ Enjoy your cruise! 

Yes, we did exactly that! Booked the thing some really long time ago and even got a price drop recently. Thank you, we will definitely do that! 😃

[Dididi]

We're on the Sky Princess 10-day holiday cruise to the Caribbean. Lots of unsold/unassigned cabins and the cruise is in two weeks.  We booked an interior for a fantastic price.  Awhile back, I placed a bid for one of the six premium ocean views, only $5 above the minimum.  Didn't bid for the next categories -- obstructed balconies and deluxe obstructed balconies -- because most are on the Emerald Deck and, depending on location, can be noisy.  Yesterday I received an email with a counteroffer: a deluxe obstructed balcony for the price we bid for the ocean view.  I was given the choice between two specific Emerald Deck cabins were we to accept the offer.  One was alright according to the deck plans.  We said yes.  We're in a deluxe (sofa!) obstructed balcony for $360.  The fare difference is $1400.

[mnITguy]

I just boarded the Sky Princess for a 7-day western Caribbean. My two bids are still showing as "pending" status on the bidding website. I checked with guest services right away and they said no upgrades are available and we're sailing "full" at around 3,500 passengers (Princess lists this ship's capacity at 3,660 guests).

 

We're booked in a balcony stateroom class BA. At the time of the initial email, I was offered to bid on the following: Club Class Mini Suite (and forward facing), Mini Suite, Premium Deluxe Balcony, and Deluxe Balcony. I bid on the Club Class Mini Suite - Forward Facing at $265 USD per guest, and the Premium Deluxe Balcony at $120 USD per guest.

 

In the moment, I admit I'm a little disappointed to not get either. I kept my hopes up since they had not sent the emails saying the bids weren't accepted and since the status is still pending on the website. Communication could certainly be better.

[Cruise Raider]

18 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

Quick question which has probably been asked before but I searched and couldn't find anything. Im booked as a solo in a club mini which had about 0 single supplement. It was a great deal.

 

However, if I were to bid for an upgrade, I understand it would still for double occupancy, the fact that I had no supplement wouldn't make a difference.  Am I correct?

 

You are correct.  Even with no solo supplement, if you bid on an upgrade, you will pay double for the bid.  

[Cruise Raider]

19 hours ago, kiwimum said:

Thanks for the quick response.   I took a look at the cabin, but dark at the moment but with the overhang we may be thankful during the trip.   
 

 

We absolutely loved the fully covered balcony.  We still got plenty of sunshine on the balcony, depending on the position of the sun.  But, for the most part, it was just so incredibly pleasant out there.  I thought the beam might bother me a bit but, ends up, it never did.  I loved there was so much room and such a great view of everything from the balcony.  

 

[Mary Ann 2]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:19 PM, Boatingmom said:

Keeps telling me I'm not elligible

I keep getting the same message for a cruise just several days later than two posts for 2/23 cruise.  I've checked every day since we reached 85 days and just get that message.  Anyone have any ideas why?

 

I've sent an email to my TA to be sure they didn't opt out, but it seems unlikely as they are just a small agency.  

 

My TA had marked my aft balcony as "No upgrades" before this whole Bidding process began as she knows we don't want to be upgraded to a mid deck Deluxe balcony and lose the big aft balcony. Anyone get an email with that notification on their reservation? Do you think that's the problem?

 

Probably won't do anything as we need a completely covered balcony as DH has to stay out of sun or wear sleeves and hat.  But I sure wanted to experience it. We are on the Ruby BTW so it is in the list of ships participating.

 

Ideas?

[hotvwchick]

I just got my bid accepted for my holiday cruise on the Diamond Princess Dec 27. 3pp in cabin. Went from BC balcony to Premium balcony. Minimum bid was $40 and my bid was $50. Mid ship aft on deck 10. Big improvement from being under the pool. 22 days till sailing! Thought it would be closer to the date but am happy for the early acceptance.

[GonzoWCS]

Just had our bid accepted.  Balcony BF to Mini-Suite MB 16 Day on the Regal.  Very pleased

 

Cheers

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, GonzoWCS said:

Just had our bid accepted.  Balcony BF to Mini-Suite MB 16 Day on the Regal.  Very pleased

 

Cheers

When is your cruise?

 

[GonzoWCS]

1 hour ago, suzyed said:

When is your cruise?

 

December 18th

 

Cheers

[texbecca]

I'm booked on the Ruby Princess sailing out of Galveston February 26. I was excited for the bidding to open for my cruise which for me, as I understood the process, would have been this past Saturday. I got on the website on Saturday, 85 days out from my cruise, and it said I was not eligible. I tried again the next day and still no luck.

 

I reached out to princess via their chat and they said they couldn't help me because I booked through a "trip advisor." I informed them I had booked the cruise myself directly with Princess. They said that the person I reached on the phone when I called Princess was now my trip advisor. This didn't make sense to me.

 

I emailed and called the woman with whom I booked the cruise. I have not heard back from her.

 

I called Princess again today and talked to an agent and they informed me that you can only bid  the 5 days following final payment due- so day 90 through day 85. This doesn't make sense either.

 

I've been trying to upgrade directly on the website. And yes, I'm paid in full and I've opted in for emails (I double checked.)

 

Ugh! What am I missing here? 

[merryjewelhound]

We are currently on the 7 day Caribbean on the Sky. We had booked an interior as we needed to use up credits. We bid on obstructed balcony and deluxe obstructed balcony as soon as bidding opened. We didn't hear anything at all until 2 days and 20 hours before the cruise. One showed we got the upsell (I don't think there was much if any savings over booking it initially as we paid we paid $135 per person  for the deluxe obstructed. We did receive a notice that the other bid was rejected. So this is more of a FYI

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, texbecca said:

I called Princess again today and talked to an agent and they informed me that you can only bid  the 5 days following final payment due- so day 90 through day 85. This doesn't make sense either.

 

As usual the Princess folks have no clue how their program works.  They start allowing upgrade bids x days before your cruise according to the following chart:

 

And you can modify or place more bids up until 1 day before the cruise too.

 

[iamaqt2]

I'm booked on the Discovery 10 night Mexican Riviera for New Years 12/28 sailing.  Booked in an inside.  Bid 50 for Oceanview, Bid 80 for Obstructed Balcony BW and bid 95 for Obstructed Premium Balcony DW. Those were all minimum bids.

Received the denial emails for oceanview and BW today.  2 hours later got the acceptance for the DW in the exact cabin and location I wanted.  
Talk about winning the upgrade lottery!

[hotvwchick]

3 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

I'm booked on the Discovery 10 night Mexican Riviera for New Years 12/28 sailing.  Booked in an inside.  Bid 50 for Oceanview, Bid 80 for Obstructed Balcony BW and bid 95 for Obstructed Premium Balcony DW. Those were all minimum bids.

Received the denial emails for oceanview and BW today.  2 hours later got the acceptance for the DW in the exact cabin and location I wanted.  
Talk about winning the upgrade lottery!

See you onboard!

[iamaqt2]

1 minute ago, hotvwchick said:

See you onboard!

See you too!!  Gonna be a great cruise!

 

[northbeachgirl]

On 12/6/2022 at 9:10 PM, iamaqt2 said:

See you too!!  Gonna be a great cruise!

 

See you too, got the upgrade too

[Mary Ann 2]

On 12/6/2022 at 3:23 PM, azbirdmom said:

 

As usual the Princess folks have no clue how their program works.  They start allowing upgrade bids x days before your cruise according to the following chart:

 

And you can modify or place more bids up until 1 day before the cruise too.

 

No idea what is going on with the bidding for our cruise. We're at day 79 now and still no email and using the link on Princess.com gives us a pop that says "

This reservation is not eligible for Princess Upgrade at this time."

[paradiselivin1]

Just pulled out of FLL on the Enchanted. Received our email to bid on 9/15. I did on 9/16. We NEVER received any e-mail from Princess letting us know one way or the other. We booked a deluxe balcony (DE) and bid on a CC Mini. No response. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zet. Zilch. We book through a TA and did not hear from her that anything had come through but when I changed my bids over the last month or so I received an e-mail directly from Princess. 

[suzyed]

On 12/6/2022 at 2:43 PM, texbecca said:

I'm booked on the Ruby Princess sailing out of Galveston February 26. I was excited for the bidding to open for my cruise which for me, as I understood the process, would have been this past Saturday. I got on the website on Saturday, 85 days out from my cruise, and it said I was not eligible. I tried again the next day and still no luck.

 

I reached out to princess via their chat and they said they couldn't help me because I booked through a "trip advisor." I informed them I had booked the cruise myself directly with Princess. They said that the person I reached on the phone when I called Princess was now my trip advisor. This didn't make sense to me.

 

I emailed and called the woman with whom I booked the cruise. I have not heard back from her.

 

I called Princess again today and talked to an agent and they informed me that you can only bid  the 5 days following final payment due- so day 90 through day 85. This doesn't make sense either.

 

I've been trying to upgrade directly on the website. And yes, I'm paid in full and I've opted in for emails (I double checked.)

 

Ugh! What am I missing here? 

They are full of it...everything they said is untrue.

[Shelly97060]

2 hours ago, paradiselivin1 said:

Just pulled out of FLL on the Enchanted. Received our email to bid on 9/15. I did on 9/16. We NEVER received any e-mail from Princess letting us know one way or the other. We booked a deluxe balcony (DE) and bid on a CC Mini. No response. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zet. Zilch. We book through a TA and did not hear from her that anything had come through but when I changed my bids over the last month or so I received an e-mail directly from Princess. 

I wonder if for some reason your initial bid never went through ( some sort of system glitch)? Each time I have placed a bid I have received an email confirmation within a few minutes letting me know they received it. 

[roxievegas]

received email confirmation that our bid was accepted.

we were booked in Balcony BB category and I placed 3 bids

first was $150 total for a Premium Deluxe Balcony - rejected two days ago 

2nd was $75 total for Deluxe Balcony - rejected two days ago

3rd was $300 total for mini suite - minimum I could bid - accepted last night

I now have 48 hours to contact Princess to pay

This was for Discovery January 7th 2023 sailing - which had lots of mini suites available when I last checked, so I was hoping that my minimum bid would be enough to get one.