Bidding on an upgrade

[techteach]

Checking in - Has anyone had an offer accepted?

[fourmile.ranch]

1 hour ago, techteach said:

Checking in - Has anyone had an offer accepted?

I am also curious!

 

This past Monday was the 80 day mark to my voyage in July. Did not receive an email but entered my info anyway and it took me to a page where I could make an offer on an upgrade. From my booked inside stateroom I was only offered Oceanviews and Balconies although all BC and Grills are all still available.

 

Unsurprising the minimum possible bid for a balcony, if accepted, would be $100 less per person than if I just booked a balcony outright. So not much saving for giving up ability to choose your stateroom.

 

But here's the silver lining. Once final payment passed this voyage has had two price drops. Neither significant enough to outweigh cancellation fees but enough to give me buyers remorse on my inside cabin choice. Bidding for an upgrade gave me an opportunity to make a different choice without having to cancel my whole booking and take the penalty.

 

I fully expect my minimum bid to be accepted since it's so close to their regular price anyway and there are LOTS of available balconies shown on a dummy booking. I figure it's more a question of how long they take - honestly I was surprised it wasn't accepted immediately.

[Host Hattie]

2 hours ago, techteach said:

Checking in - Has anyone had an offer accepted?

Mine are still pending, we sail in 30 days.

[techteach]

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Mine are still pending, we sail in 30 days.

So you could hear at any time if your bid was accepted. We’re still 50 days outs.

[Host Hattie]

13 minutes ago, techteach said:

So you could hear at any time if your bid was accepted. We’re still 50 days outs.

I'll update this thread when I get a response.  

[techteach]

4 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I'll update this thread when I get a response.  

I didn’t think we would get a “regret” email. We’re in QG5 and bid to move to QG3. At the time there were lots of open QG5 and 6, and they had dropped the price enough that we rebooked.

[techteach]

I received an email this morning saying our bid had been accepted. We are now in a Penthouse Suite, #9060. This is an upgrade from a Q5. I bid $2,200. per person. This is after we had rebooked twice due to the price dropping. Is it worth it? Would the bid have been accepted if I had bid lower? I look at it as an opportunity to try something new for a lot less than I would normally have paid. We are at 41 days from sail date @Host Hattie.

Edited May 23, 2023 by techteach
Correction.

[Host Hattie]

Congratulations @techteach

[Host Hattie]

It's 6 days until we sail and our upgrade offers are still showing as pending. 

Until yesterday I could have changed or cancelled them.

[Pear Carr]

We cancelled our upgrade bid 9 days prior to sailing given mixed reviews for Princess Grill on current voyage, some passengers (only confirmed from one grills passenger but suspect likely others on board) confined with covid, and final straw being delivery of letter to cabin warning of norovirus! Happy with the cabin we chose and did not want to chance disappointment  or even worse being confined if unwell after paying for an upgrade. Looking forward to boarding on Tuesday and enjoying all QV has to offer! Good luck to anyone waiting on news of an upgrade.

[Victoria2]

10 minutes ago, Pear Carr said:

We cancelled our upgrade bid 9 days prior to sailing given mixed reviews for Princess Grill on current voyage, some passengers (only confirmed from one grills passenger but suspect likely others on board) confined with covid, and final straw being delivery of letter to cabin warning of norovirus! Happy with the cabin we chose and did not want to chance disappointment  or even worse being confined if unwell after paying for an upgrade. Looking forward to boarding on Tuesday and enjoying all QV has to offer! Good luck to anyone waiting on news of an upgrade.

I am onboard QV.

Yes lots of coughs but that doesn’t mean Covid is a problem. Staff are serving in the Lido and apart from the letter advising us all to up the hygiene ante [and some def. need to ante up] there’s no problem as far as I can tell. Precautionary measures which sit very well with me. Enjoy your cruise.

[fourmile.ranch]

We, too, cancelled our upgrade bid a few weeks ago. After the voyage posted a third price reduction we realized that our original fare plus the bid would have been more than new bookings were paying for a balcony. After calling Cunard to see if we could just pay the difference, they said no but kindly gave us a complimentary upgrade from a deluxe inside to oceanview. That was good enough for us so we withdrew the bid. Of course since then the fare has bounced back the other way so we are more than happy with our stateroom.

[Windsurfboy]

On 6/3/2023 at 9:08 AM, Host Hattie said:

It's 6 days until we sail and our upgrade offers are still showing as pending. 

Until yesterday I could have changed or cancelled them.

 

As the cruise is showing sold out , do you think upgrades are possible 

[Host Hattie]

12 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

As the cruise is showing sold out , do you think upgrades are possible 

Unlikely unless there are last minute cancellations.

[Windsurfboy]

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Unlikely unless there are last minute cancellations.

 

I would say good luck but that would be wishing bad luck on someone else. 

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

As the cruise is showing sold out , do you think upgrades are possible 

Yes every chance. We have just returned from roundtrip TA on QM2 and was showing sold out a couple of times from about 2 months before cruise and then availability. We downloaded our boarding pass and luggage tags when noticed stateroom number was different on boarding pass and luggage tags. Contacted my TA who got in touch with Cunard. They told us we had been given a free upgrade from an inside to a full balcony a whopping 13 grade upgrade. So yes it is possible.

[Host Hattie]

That's an impressive upgrade, how long before sailing did your stateroom change?

[majortom10]

56 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

That's an impressive upgrade, how long before sailing did your stateroom change?

2-3 weeks didn't know until printed off boarding pass and luggage tags. Cunard never informed us that we had been given a free upgrade.

[Host Hattie]

I've had two of these emails overnight -

 

Thank you for your offer to upgrade your stateroom for your upcoming voyage. Unfortunately, on this occasion, you have been unsuccessful.

 

 

[exlondoner]

On 6/3/2023 at 11:30 AM, Pear Carr said:

We cancelled our upgrade bid 9 days prior to sailing given mixed reviews for Princess Grill on current voyage, some passengers (only confirmed from one grills passenger but suspect likely others on board) confined with covid, and final straw being delivery of letter to cabin warning of norovirus! Happy with the cabin we chose and did not want to chance disappointment  or even worse being confined if unwell after paying for an upgrade. Looking forward to boarding on Tuesday and enjoying all QV has to offer! Good luck to anyone waiting on news of an upgrade.

My impression is there have been few Covid cases. I have been unlucky, and because I took prompt action, not many people caught it from me, certainly not our restaurant neighbours. But the Medical people have not seemed busy, so I doubt they are dealing with a wave of cases.

[Pear Carr]

Good to hear and thank you for your update. Hopefully you have enjoyed your last few days and making a speedy recovery.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Pear Carr said:

Good to hear and thank you for your update. Hopefully you have enjoyed your last few days and making a speedy recovery.

Other than a bit of a cough, which I tend to have anyway, I was feeling fine before I was released, so yes I am enjoying my last few days. But the luggage mat appeared on the bed this morning - always a depressing sight.

[Windsurfboy]

4 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I've had two of these emails overnight -

 

Thank you for your offer to upgrade your stateroom for your upcoming voyage. Unfortunately, on this occasion, you have been unsuccessful.

 

 

 

Never mind , think of all the champagne you can buy with money saved

[ExArkie]

15 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

That's an impressive upgrade, how long before sailing did your stateroom change?

 

14 hours ago, majortom10 said:

2-3 weeks didn't know until printed off boarding pass and luggage tags. Cunard never informed us that we had been given a free upgrade.

We received a free upgrade on our westbound transatlantic last December. I found out about it a few days before final payment, when I checked the booking to be sure all was in order. When it showed up, I contacted our travel agent, who had not been informed of the upgrade, either. 
 

On previous trips when we had been upgraded, Cunard sent a revised confirmation with the new cabin number. Evidently, they no longer do so.

 

[techteach]

@Host Hattie I’m sorry your offer wasn’t accepted. @ExArkie We have been upgraded and received a new cabin number but kept the same confirmation number.