Bidding to upgrade room

[willow949]

This is new for me. We got a email about bidding for a upgrade. We are now in a regular unobstructed balcony. The bidding for a larger veranda starts at $45.00 and a mini suite is $390.00 to start. Are either of those offers worth it?  If you bid, when will you know you got the upgrade? And will they tell you what room #?  Also, does the bidding ever go down?

Thank you in advance for information. 

[Wishing on a star]

A lot of 'if's' here!

 

This whole bidding system is new, so all anyone her can go by is what we see on the web-site and what others have posted here so far.

 

I am guessing that by saying larger veranda, you mean a Deluxe Balcony? 

These are slightly bigger balcony cabins with the little double seat sofa.

And, of course, a Minisuite is even larger and nicer.

 

I think some are getting notices that their bid has been accepted fairly quickly.  The Princess information states that you can find out as late as the last minute.

 

Okay, do you have a location that you like?

When you bid on an upgrade, they put you in that higher category, but it can be in any location on the ship.  (far forward, under or over a louder venue, etc...)

How much would you appreciate the space?  What is that worth to you?

 

NOTE:  by policy, you accept the possible upgrade, and you don't get to decide to decline.  If you were to be able to get out of the upgrade, and not pay, you could lose the cabin you are in if it becomes unavailable.     Also, if you get an upgrade and your new cabin assigned, and there is another cabin available with that exact category, like mini suite category MA,  then you can do a switch to any other MA cabin.  

 

We don't know what your fare was, or how much it would cost you to simply pay the difference to move up.  I am assuming that the bids here would cost a bit less than that.  That would be the bottom line for you.  

 

No, I don't think the bidding goes down.  It is pre-set.  You could place the min. bid and hope for the best.

Can you pull up your sailing, like you were booking another cabin, and see how many show up, how booked up the ship is?   That might be an indicator on whether Princess will be upgrading at the min. bids.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Arizona Wildcat]

Your bid can be accepted any time from pretty much immediately to about 72 hours before departure.

Definitely your personal decision if you thing it is a good value. Do you care about the location of your cabin?  A lot?  A little?  Is a minisuite worth $$ to you?  Those answers vary.

On other cruiselines I have only occasionally seen minimum bids accepted and never had minimum bids reduced.

FYI my minimum bid to a Club Class mini suite from mini suite was $450.  I will stay where I am.

[Mary Ann 2]

Just so you know, the price quoted is per person.  There is more information on the Princess.com site if you want to read all about it.

[roxievegas]

How long is your cruise - can you stand to be in your cabin or are you do you want something bigger.

personally, the $390 pp for a mini is very high - I would not pay that - just me

 

I currently have a regular balcony and I bid $150 total for a Premium Deluxe Balcony, which gives us a "couch"- more like a loveseat, but we don't like sitting on the bed all the time when reading.

 

If our bid is not accepted, we will live with what we have - it's only 7 days

[waltd]

If I’m upgraded, then what?

• It's simple. You'll get an email from us with the good news up to 3 days before you sail, and then you'll pay for the accepted bid amount via one of the following methods:
  • Pay through your Cruise Personalizer at princess.com
  • Have your travel advisor pay through POLAR Online
  • Call our Contact Center at 1-800-Princess (774-6237)
• You’ll see your new stateroom number when you log into your My Princess account. (It’s assigned based on availability.)

And if I’m not?

You’ll keep the comfortable stateroom you have and won’t be billed for the extra amount.

What if I make multiple offers?

Each one is considered on its own, and only one will be accepted based on availability and whether it wins.
 

[socialworker]

I'm unsure of what I'm seeing in the Upgrade Offer.  We have an obstructed ocean view that's really not obstructed and we're happy with it.  The offer from Princess contained three possible upgrades, Oceanview, Standard Balcony and Premium Balcony. Then we decided what we'd be willing to pay for each balcony option (only worthwhile choices). When I clicked on submit an upgrade bid, what popped up was a box with a line with a red dot and the number $1040 and the continuation of the line. Under that was the "button" to "submit a bid."  I was afraid to click the upgrade button because I sure didn't want to bid an additional $1040 per person. 

Can someone please explain how I go about submitting a bid and what the heck was that $1040 representing.

Thanks.   

[HBCcruiser]

36 minutes ago, socialworker said:

I'm unsure of what I'm seeing in the Upgrade Offer.  We have an obstructed ocean view that's really not obstructed and we're happy with it.  The offer from Princess contained three possible upgrades, Oceanview, Standard Balcony and Premium Balcony. Then we decided what we'd be willing to pay for each balcony option (only worthwhile choices). When I clicked on submit an upgrade bid, what popped up was a box with a line with a red dot and the number $1040 and the continuation of the line. Under that was the "button" to "submit a bid."  I was afraid to click the upgrade button because I sure didn't want to bid an additional $1040 per person. 

Can someone please explain how I go about submitting a bid and what the heck was that $1040 representing.

Thanks.   

What you are seeing is the upgrade bid dial. You can bid the minimum or higher by moving the dial. You will see that the bid price (multiply by 2 - double occupancy) increases as you move the dial. You select the price you are willing to pay for the upgrade and submit the bid. You will be asked to enter a CC but you will NOT be automatically  charged if you win. You will need to do that through the online portal or your TA. If your bid is accepted you will receive an email listing your new cabin number as well as an email asking you to pay. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by HBCcruiser

[willow949]

I thought I was told you may not have a room number until sail. Just like a guaranteed room. I want a room with the location I know ahead of time. Can you cancel the bid if you don’t like where they put you?

[deepcman]

There's a 30 page forum similar to what you started and I'm sure all your questions will be answered. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2879420-how-is-the-bidding-system-doing-any-comments/?do=getNewComment

Happy reading. 😉

[sonomaphil]

On 10/24/2022 at 8:49 AM, socialworker said:

I'm unsure of what I'm seeing in the Upgrade Offer.  We have an obstructed ocean view that's really not obstructed and we're happy with it.  The offer from Princess contained three possible upgrades, Oceanview, Standard Balcony and Premium Balcony. Then we decided what we'd be willing to pay for each balcony option (only worthwhile choices). When I clicked on submit an upgrade bid, what popped up was a box with a line with a red dot and the number $1040 and the continuation of the line. Under that was the "button" to "submit a bid."  I was afraid to click the upgrade button because I sure didn't want to bid an additional $1040 per person. 

Can someone please explain how I go about submitting a bid and what the heck was that $1040 representing.

Thanks.   

I'm guessing if you moved the slider just over to the right you're seeing what the minimum bid they will accept it.  That may be different than what you're willing to spend. So yes, they want $1040 per person for that upgrade. You can't just bid what you choose. 

[HBCcruiser]

30 minutes ago, willow949 said:

I thought I was told you may not have a room number until sail.

Actually once my bid was accepted they assigned me my new cabin number. Other cruise lines do not do that! 

 

[Doug R.]

32 minutes ago, willow949 said:

I thought I was told you may not have a room number until sail. Just like a guaranteed room. I want a room with the location I know ahead of time. Can you cancel the bid if you don’t like where they put you?

I got my new cabin number immediately upon upgrade. It may occur anytime before sailing just like guarantees. No way of asking for a location. You pay your money and takes your chances.

[jagoffee]

6 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Actually once my bid was accepted they assigned me my new cabin number. Other cruise lines do not do that! 

 

Celebrity does as well, but I am not sure about other cruise lines.

[Felt]

My experience was very satisfying.  Put in a bid for an upgrade from a Mini Suite to an upgraded suite at  approx 75% of the max. As it got close to the cruise date decided to max out my bid to insure having the best opportunity to have my bid accepted.  Two days before my cruise got an e-mail from Princess saying that there were no requested cabins available to upgrade me to but they could offer me a Penthouse suite for only $ 350 more for both of us than I had bid.  Jumped on it as the additional perks alone more than paid for the extra $ 350.  I'm sure the Princess figured that since we had bid so much to begin with, we wouldn't mind paying an extra $ 350.  They were right as the final cost for the Penthouse Suite was less than half its original rate for that suite.  Probably someone cancelled and they already had gotten their money for the cabin and anything extra they got from me was gravy.

 

Don't feel too sorry for them.  Saw another side of cruising I never knew existed and just got off another Princess cruise about a month ago that I booked the Penthouse suite for and have another Penthouse suite booked for a future cruise.  I am hooked.  

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

7 hours ago, Felt said:

...Saw another side of cruising I never knew existed and just got off another Princess cruise about a month ago that I booked the Penthouse suite for and have another Penthouse suite booked for a future cruise.  I am hooked.  

 

 

We just received notice that our bid was accepted today for a Vista Suite.  First time ever in a suite.  Cruise is about 3 weeks from now.  Yep...I'm seriously concerned that we're going to be spoiled...just like after our first Delta One flight!

[Felt]

Being spoiled is one of the reasons some suggest not taking the upgrade.  The biggest thing that spoiled us on the last cruise was access to the concierge lounge which was right across the hall from our suite.  Only 46 cabins had access to the lounge out of over 1,800 cabins.  The concierge was so helpful on many occasions I gave her a $ 50 tip at the end of the voyage. 

 

We have another cruise scheduled in a mini suite prior to the other one I mentioned in another penthouse suite but since Princess added the Sanctuary perk to our benefit might not be too different than our suite experience.  But definitely yes-probably will never go back to a balcony cabin.   

[LawDog61]

Do you need to wait for the email to bid?

[Felt]

There is a section after you log into the cruise planner about upgrading and you have to enter your booking # etc to find out if you qualify.  Think final payment has to be made first before they tell you if you can.  Only downside is they can wait as close to 2 days before you sail to notify you if you have been upgraded-not enough time to even print new luggage tags if you have already left.  

[Cruisemeister2002]

Personally I was very disappointed at the offer Princess gave me. It consisted of the types of upgraded cabins available with sliders which increase the value which you wish to bid. We are currently on an inside cabin and the cheapest upgrade to a sea view was £700 per person. There was me thinking I might get a balcony for £200 extra per person. It's not as if there are only a few cabins available. Whether Princess will reduce prices nearer the cruise date I don't know. But I think a balcony was around £1300 per person more.Suffice to say I won't be bidding unless they drop considerably. My take on the bidding was Princess asked you to bid on available cabins, if it wasn't enough they requested you upped your bid. this slider situation just seems like a highest bidder gets a cabin, but if you are paying close to full price you may as well have paid for it in the first place or just go for a grade of cabin that suits your needs.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I fully understand your viewpoint. I'm not sure if upgrading is handled differently in the UK, but in the US it is actually handled by a third party vendor which does this for multiple cruise lines. I just won a bid yesterday; first time ever. I always book a category of cabin in which I'm happy with (usually mini-suite). Occasionally I will bid for an upgraded cabin (depending on finances at the moment and whether or not we are traveling with friends). I have *always* bid rather low, never expecting to win. Yesterday I was very surprised when I got the notification that my bid had been accepted. It certainly was *not* as much as  a suite would normally have cost...you never know! If they want to move some people "upwards" in order to sell more of their high demand cabins then you may very well be successful in bidding low. I suspect that is what happened with my bid.

[Felt]

There is a section after you log into the cruise planner about upgrading and you have to enter your booking # etc to find out if you qualify.  Think final payment has to be made first before they tell you if you can.  Only downside is they can wait as close to 2 days before you sail to notify you if you have been upgraded-not enough time to even print new luggage tags if you have already left.  

[Felt]

My comments are only based on my experience so you can take that with a grain of salt.  Last Oct Princess announced a new pricing policy which was going to reward people who booked early with the lowest prices and not have as many price reductions as the the sailing date got nearer.  We booked a mini suite when a particular cruise on the Sum Princess was offered and saw the price go up over 50% in the last 7 months.  Then they introduced the Sanctuary staterooms for some balcony, mini suite and all suite guests and grandfathered in all those who were already booked in stateroom in those areas that qualified.  The end result is that the cabin next to ours now goes for twice what we booked it for.

 

As far as booking at the last moment, think that after the 90 day period where people can opt out and get a full refund is the best time to look for deals.  In looking for cruises after my busy season came across 1 penthouse suite left approx 2 months before the cruise which I am sure someone recently opted out of.  Got a reasonable discount off list (not nearly as much as my aforementioned counter offer for the same type of stateroom) but enough to make me book it on the spot.  Less than a week later the cruise was listed as sold out.  

[Cruisemeister2002]

14 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I fully understand your viewpoint. I'm not sure if upgrading is handled differently in the UK, but in the US it is actually handled by a third party vendor which does this for multiple cruise lines. I just won a bid yesterday; first time ever. I always book a category of cabin in which I'm happy with (usually mini-suite). Occasionally I will bid for an upgraded cabin (depending on finances at the moment and whether or not we are traveling with friends). I have *always* bid rather low, never expecting to win. Yesterday I was very surprised when I got the notification that my bid had been accepted. It certainly was *not* as much as  a suite would normally have cost...you never know! If they want to move some people "upwards" in order to sell more of their high demand cabins then you may very well be successful in bidding low. I suspect that is what happened with my bid.

No, it appears the system in the UK is different. My link for bidding was via email which took me to the sliders. I presume you can check cabin availability in the States. I do it via going through the booking process as if I am a new customer, it's a bit time consuming as I have to keep going back to different grade cabins. But it allows me to see availability of all grades. Whether the offers for upgrades vary per person I don't know as we booked for our cruise some time ago and the price has increased for our cabin by some £1300. Maybe that's why the jump to a higher grade is so great, I don't know. Like I say, I was expecting ,maybe £200 per person extra for an upgrade from an inside to a balcony cabin or even a sea view. But the difference was £700 per person sea view and £1300 per person for a balcony.

[Scottdalfonso]

1 hour ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

No, it appears the system in the UK is different. My link for bidding was via email which took me to the sliders. I presume you can check cabin availability in the States. I do it via going through the booking process as if I am a new customer, it's a bit time consuming as I have to keep going back to different grade cabins. But it allows me to see availability of all grades. Whether the offers for upgrades vary per person I don't know as we booked for our cruise some time ago and the price has increased for our cabin by some £1300. Maybe that's why the jump to a higher grade is so great, I don't know. Like I say, I was expecting ,maybe £200 per person extra for an upgrade from an inside to a balcony cabin or even a sea view. But the difference was £700 per person sea view and £1300 per person for a balcony.

Sounds like the same system... they email you in the US as well, and then you have the sliders to bid, but there is ALSO a way to check if you are eligible through the website, it's in the Extras area of the website. And no, we are not able to see the availability other than the way you are doing it. But remember, the available rooms aren't always the ones being bid on- people upgrade, move or cancel at the last minute which is why it can take up until cruise day to win a bid.