Upgrade bidding - first come, first serve?

[Karaboudjan]

50 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Yes with one exception. They also figure in the downstream affect.  A $300 bid that vacates a cabin they can resell or fill with a bid may trump a higher bid that simply empties a cabin.  That's where the need for a more extensive algorithm comes in.

Actually had this happen - I had a sold out cabin category, put in my minimum bid shortly after final payment.  Got my upgrade bid shortly thereafter - they wanted my cabin to resell.

 

I would not assume that your experience proves how the algorithm works.  Having a sold out category does not necessarily make it more desirable.  If it's a lower category they could choose to reject your bid, keep it sold out and make any new customers buy a higher category.  

 

[MotownVoice]

56 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

if you have the insurance, which I don't

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by MotownVoice

[haolenate]

Sorry I've been away, its conference and convention season - sadly not over, have one left (CruiseWorld) and then I can take a break (and a cruise!)

Few notes:  this project was under Howard Sherman, not Frank Del Rio.   But they liked Howard's work enough that he's now the head honcho of the Oceania division.

 

And yes, this *is* a software SAAS that runs on top of NCL's booking system, same as the airlines PSS systems.  They are all independent databases and are separate for security reasons and also credit card data & storage (PCI).  Thank the Germans for that one.    The system has a HUGE variety of algorithms to run based on input from NCL and how its designed, and a human in Miami (well, humans) at the corporate office sets the different parameters for the cruise (eg: the SKY may run Profile "B" while GETAWAY is on Profile "D", Pr1ma is on "A", etc.  and it can change for each cruising date as well, depending on what they are getting).  

Julig22 - seems you get what I was trying to state earlier.  The system takes into account your OWN cabin, and its current bid value, and the options you are moving into, in order to get the most revenue for NCL.   There's also algorithms that CAN and DO include your Latitudes Status, onboard spend history (passenger score), and what you paid for your cabin.   

If the system was merely taking a bid for an upgrade and processing it, almost any computer programmer can design that.  But there's a reason our friends in Montreal have had such great success with this in the airline business (and I've oversaw the implementation of it with one).   Each company has its own business rules and how its to be ran; Plus just offers the software and training, but the airlines (or cruiselines, in this case) is the one driving it.

[vtgumby]

We bid the minimum amt on a cruise in Alaska in September, the ship was less than half full, had a gazillion balcony cabins available and we were not upgraded. I’m assuming they kept these balconies open for C 19 cases but I have to admit we were surprised and I also must say that we were pretty happy with our very spacious inside cabin, we slept like babies!

Still, surprised and we’re Sapphire members.