How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[rnr4thatsme]

12 hours ago, Jaymuxman said:

There is no longer a matter of "accepting" it or not. If you submit a bid and it is accepted, your credit card will be charged immediately.

 

 

Actually, I double checked and you do need to accept the offer before you are charged.  The difference is accepting the offer triggers an automatic payment after Feb 24.   I was just wondering if everyone who received an offer was notified of the exact stateroom location in their offer.

 

 

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Actually, I double checked and you do need to accept the offer before you are charged.  The difference is accepting the offer triggers an automatic payment after Feb 24.   I was just wondering if everyone who received an offer was notified of the exact stateroom location in their offer.

 

 

You do realize that what you posted states - “your credit card will be automatically charged only upon acceptance of your offer by Princess.”   It does not say acceptance by you, that happens when you make the offer.

 

I believe that was Princess’s intent from day one.  Princess tried to give customers the option to use credits/gift cards to make the payment.  Unfortunately some cruisers were using those generous terms to default  on their payment after Princess accepted the offer.  I believe it was never intended to be a negotiation with a customer’s ability to “change their mind”.

 

I guess Princess has closed that loophole.

[Woobstr112G]

Tried it for the first time for my cruise on Thursday. Alas, I don’t think I got it. Not a real big disappointment as I already have a PH suite. I just wanted one of the aft facing PH suites…..

 

Bob

[ciera123]

5 hours ago, Clampram said:

Congrats on the nice upgrade. We are on that cruse as well and hoping to get one of those emails since we bid on an upgrade several weeks ago. Did they give you a location of your new mini suite?

Yes they did. The letter stated that if we didn’t pay within 48 hours we would be staying in our original cabin. If we didn’t like the location they gave us on Aloha Deck 12, apparently we could have just not paid for the upgrade. We don’t care about location too much since we like the movement!! Good luck! 🍀 

[ciera123]

5 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Actually, I double checked and you do need to accept the offer before you are charged.  The difference is accepting the offer triggers an automatic payment after Feb 24.   I was just wondering if everyone who received an offer was notified of the exact stateroom location in their offer.

 

 

That’s how ours worked when our bid was accepted yesterday. They gave us our new cabin number, then stated that we needed to pay within 48 hours. 

[rnr4thatsme]

1 hour ago, ciera123 said:

That’s how ours worked when our bid was accepted yesterday. They gave us our new cabin number, then stated that we needed to pay within 48 hours. 

When did you make your bid?   Before Feb 24?  

[Sailaway617]

18 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

You accept the terms and agree to make payment when you submit your bid but you credit card isn’t automatically charged when bid is accepted.  Once you are notified you have a winning bid you then pay for it ( either through Personalizer, your TA/PVP or by calling Princess). 😄

The system changed on February 24th, although it doesn’t say that on the bid page. This is what it says now when you open the link that is sent to you, when you receive an email to bid on an upgrade. You have to enter a credit card that will be charged immediately if your offer is accepted.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Sailaway617
Removed personal info.

[Shelly97060]

1 hour ago, Sailaway617 said:

The system changed on February 24th, although it doesn’t say that on the bid page. This is what it says now when you open the link that is sent to you, when you receive an email to bid on an upgrade. You have to enter a credit card that will be charged immediately if your offer is accepted.

 

 

Thank you for the update!  I appreciate this information, I hadn’t seen that change!

[Sailaway617]

6 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

Thank you for the update!  I appreciate this information, I hadn’t seen that change!

You’re welcome. I was prepared to use a gift card to cover any upgrade bid I won and was surprised by this change and no option to use a gift card.

[Clampram]

Does anyone know if they do all of the upgrade bids for a specific cruise on the same day? We put in a bid for a suite and haven't heard anything but some folks got upgraded this week that has bid on mini suites............shall I give up the hope???

Our cruise is on March 27

Edited March 1, 2023 by Clampram

[ciera123]

19 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

When did you make your bid?   Before Feb 24?  

Yes, that is the difference I guess. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have bid with the new rules. 🫣

Edited March 1, 2023 by ciera123

[Amy G]

I got our bid approved tonight for a cruise on April 1st.  We were in a deluxe balcony obstructed, and I bid $200 (per person) for a mini-suite and won the bid!  

[teecee60]

Leaving next week on the 14 night Enchanted Princess transatlantic to Barcelona. Made a near minimum bid of $205pp to move from an inside to an obstructed balcony... got it no problem! 🙂

 

That was a lot, *L*O*T*  LESS than the difference between the original prices. 

[jagoffee]

On 2/28/2023 at 3:20 PM, Sailaway617 said:

You’re welcome. I was prepared to use a gift card to cover any upgrade bid I won and was surprised by this change and no option to use a gift card.

Princess tried to give you that option, but it was not to be.  

[SCX22]

I suspect that Princess changed the payment policy to automatic, upon Princess accepting the bid because some guests didn't see the upgrade notice 48 hours and pay the difference after Princess' acceptance, thus reverting them back to their original stateroom, or too many guests were declining the upgrade after having seen the "upgraded" cabin number they were assigned.  Instead of earning more money, Princess would be losing money in these scenarios.  They would be declining everyone else's bids for those cabins whose bids were accepted, but declined and bids not paid; once a bid is declined, that's the end of the game for both Princess and the guest.  The new system simplifies payment and guarantees Princess more money, but is less flexible for guests.

[caribill]

On 2/28/2023 at 5:48 PM, Sailaway617 said:

The system changed on February 24th, although it doesn’t say that on the bid page. This is what it says now when you open the link that is sent to you, when you receive an email to bid on an upgrade. You have to enter a credit card that will be charged immediately if your offer is accepted.

 

 

 

"Upon acceptance of an offer, the total amount will be charged...."

 

It does not indicate if that is acceptance by Princess when they send out the info that you won the bid or by the customer after receiving the offer and accepting it.

[caribill]

If I remember correctly, when the bidding system started last fall, Princess asked for the charge card number at the time of the bid and indicated you would be charged if the bid was successful Princess.

 

It also said back then "Once your offer is accepted, the upgrade amount paid is final and non-refundable."

 

People were surprised that they had to arrange payment once they were notified of a successful bid.

[SCX22]

13 minutes ago, caribill said:

If I remember correctly, when the bidding system started last fall, Princess asked for the charge card number at the time of the bid and indicated you would be charged if the bid was successful Princess.

 

It also said back then "Once your offer is accepted, the upgrade amount paid is final and non-refundable."

 

People were surprised that they had to arrange payment once they were notified of a successful bid.

 

Prior to 2/24/23 the charge card was only needed to secure the bid.  The writing after the highlighted section was added after 2/24/23. 

 

The instructions Prior to 2/24/23 were as follows:

You had to manually pay for the winning upgrade bid in the Cruise Personalizer or TA within 48 hours of Princess accepting.

[azgrandmax3]

Way before the bidding issue began  we received several upgrades at no charge.  Never consider bidding now.  To our shock yesterday we received a very nice upgrade Mini in club location. No extra costs to us.  Just makes me wonder if guest stopped bidding might Princess return to before bidding began.?

 

Happy safe sailing to all!

[sns1]

I received an e-mail this week to bid on a suite.  I checked our cruise and it states "sold out" for all suites and mini suites.  Why does Princess send e-mails when there is nothing available?  We have a mini suite booked. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by sns1

[caribill]

2 hours ago, sns1 said:

I received an e-mail this week to bid on a suite.  I checked our cruise and it states "sold out" for all suites and mini suites.  Why does Princess send e-mails when there is nothing available?  We have a mini suite booked. 

 

Because someone who booked a full suite may end up cancelling the cruise and thus a cabin becomes available to be filled by someone who placed a bid.

 

It may or may not happen, but it could.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, azgrandmax3 said:

 To our shock yesterday we received a very nice upgrade Mini in club location. No extra costs to us.  Just makes me wonder if guest stopped bidding might Princess return to before bidding began.?

 

As long as people are willing to pay extra for what Princess used to give away free, there will be less free upgrades.

 

[jtcoolk]

Does anyone know if you can bid again?  After you have recieved one.  Or is it a one time deal?

[rnr4thatsme]

38 minutes ago, jtcoolk said:

Does anyone know if you can bid again?  After you have recieved one.  Or is it a one time deal?

You can change your bid, or add or remove bids on other categories.  Doesn’t seem to be a limited thing.

[Jaymuxman]

44 minutes ago, jtcoolk said:

Does anyone know if you can bid again?  After you have recieved one.  Or is it a one time deal?

I edited our bid "up the bid" after I had placed initial bid. Good luck. I am thrilled with our upgrade.