Bidding for upgrades

[Sue sue sue]

Princess have offered us a chance to bid for a cabin upgrade.

the cruise is in November.

Upgrade bid prices seem very high.

Are the prices likely to go down, or will they stay at the current bid price? 
Anybody had experience of this? 

[startedwithamouse]

2 minutes ago, Sue sue sue said:

Princess have offered us a chance to bid for a cabin upgrade.

the cruise is in November.

Upgrade bid prices seem very high.

Are the prices likely to go down, or will they stay at the current bid price? 
Anybody had experience of this? 

They won't go down. You have to look at it this way:  is it less to bid to upgrade than to upgrade now directly with Princess? 

[LACruiser88]

Related thread, link below...

 

 

 

 

[voljeep]

past bids acceptance has nothing to do with current bids acceptance as it depends on capacity and availability.

[LeeW]

The bid page does show a bar of bids from minimum to maximum.  Max bid can easily be more than cost of upgrading by phone or TA.  Minimum doesn't show unless you move the slider a bit and can be as low as $40.  Even a max bid doesn't guarantee you will get an upgrade.

[jennmaybe]

Our cruise is in Oct and I also felt the minimum bid was high.  We decided not to bid and keep our balcony cabin.  That minimum that we passed on is paying for 4 excursions (non-ship ones). 😄

 

 

[Sue sue sue]

Well, we did it…..we’ve put in a minimum bid to upgrade from an inside to a balcony. 

 As it’s a 2 week cruise, we decided it was worth the extra.

If we fail, no problem, more money to spend on the cruise! 

Fingers crossed!! 😃😃

[jennmaybe]

Good luck! 😁

[Sue sue sue]

Thank you! 

[Samkitty1]

Sailing on the Royal Princess Sept 9....Alaska

 

We bid 100 pp / just over minimum to upgrade from a BD balcony to a Superior Deluxe Balcony D4...

The  bid was accepted yesterday, and we were assigned a wake view  cabin on deck 10. We are very happy with the assignment. 

 

Our other bid of 160 pp for a mini suite was not accepted. sigh...I would have loved a mini 

 

On our last cruise in May on the Regal , we were upgraded from an obtstructed balcony on deck 8 to  to a BB unobstructed balcony on deck 10 at no charge. Totally random, but we were happy with the upgrade without having to bid.

 

f you are particular about where your cabin will be, then it's probably better to book the cabin that you want and mark it  for no upgrade.   

 

[sandyoftheseas]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess July 1-8 .  We booked an inside cabin and put in 2 upgrade bids for $10 over the minimum bid.  We bid $45 each for an obstructed ocean view and $90 each for a balcony. The cruise was showings full for about the last 3 weeks before the cruise so we did not think we would get any upgrade.  About 1 week before the cruise we got an e-mail that we got the upgrade for the obstructed ocean view cabin and we enjoyed the room with the window and extra space,

[blue cow dog]

Question, when you bid for an upgrade is there an option to pick where about on the ship the cabin you are bidding on is located?  We have not cruised since Covid (got a bonus day on the Regal Princess) and are booked for next May.   Thank you 

 

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, blue cow dog said:

is there an option to pick where about on the ship the cabin you are bidding on is located?

The answer is no, there is no way to know ahead of time where the cabin will be located.  You are rolling the dice as to the location.  🤷‍♂️

[blue cow dog]

14 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The answer is no, there is no way to know ahead of time where the cabin will be located.  You are rolling the dice as to the location.  🤷‍♂️

Thank you for the answer. 

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, blue cow dog said:

Question, when you bid for an upgrade is there an option to pick where about on the ship the cabin you are bidding on is located?  We have not cruised since Covid (got a bonus day on the Regal Princess) and are booked for next May.   Thank you 

 

The only time you would have a clue to the general area, would be if it was a specific cabin category.

 

Example:

Look at where the cabins are located in the category, on that ship.  Are they all aft facing? And what decks?

 

Are they obstructed balconies on Deck 8?

 

Are they reserve mini suites, midship?

 

Use the deck plans to see where they may be located.  Again, general idea only.

 

If you are just bidding for a general inside, balcony, OV could be anywhere.

[CrazyTrain2]

Ever wonder how those less than ideal (under the pool, under a restaurant, next to the theater) cabins get booked - Bid for an upgrade and find out.

 

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes......

[LittleFish1976]

I think I recall reading that if you get a suite as a bid-for upgrade, you don't get the normal inclusions of that cabin category such as bar set up or complimentary specialty dining on first night of cruise etc. Is that correct?

[mamacookiep]

If you win your bid for a suite you’ll receive all the perks that come with a suite.

Mini bar setup, priority tenders, reserve class dining, welcome specialty dining on embarkment night, suite breakfast with mimosas in either Sabatinis or Crown Grill,

fresh flowers and fruit basket in your suite, welcome glass of champagne, and depending on which ship, use of thermal spa steam room, beds and showers.

Forgive me if I left something out, I’m sure I did!

[LittleFish1976]

Thanks very much for your prompt and thorough answer! All the suites are listed as sold out but I may put in a bid anyway and see what happens.

[chubbypiggy]

My upcoming cruises are about a month away (Diamond Princess).  Few days ago, for both cruises, not b2b, I placed a minimum bid from mid-ship balcony (BA) to mini suite.  Today I received an email saying my bid for both cruises were accepted.  I was given mid-aft mini-suite (MB).  I like the location of the mini-suite cabin on both cruises.

 

From now until check-in time for the cruise, can Princess change my upgraded assigned cabins' location?  For example, to a lower mini-suite category (MD or ME)? Or same category, but to another cabin number?

 

Do I need to call Princess now to request to mark my bookings to "Do Not Upgrade"?  Thank you.

    

[voljeep]

you don't get 2 cruise credits for a 'bidded' suite

[PacnGoNow]

4 hours ago, chubbypiggy said:

My upcoming cruises are about a month away (Diamond Princess).  Few days ago, for both cruises, not b2b, I placed a minimum bid from mid-ship balcony (BA) to mini suite.  Today I received an email saying my bid for both cruises were accepted.  I was given mid-aft mini-suite (MB).  I like the location of the mini-suite cabin on both cruises.

 

From now until check-in time for the cruise, can Princess change my upgraded assigned cabins' location?  For example, to a lower mini-suite category (MD or ME)? Or same category, but to another cabin number?

 

Do I need to call Princess now to request to mark my bookings to "Do Not Upgrade"?  Thank you.

    

I have not heard of that happening. But, I suppose it could be possible.

 

I’d be afraid to call in, as they may mess it up.  I’d probably call my TA/CVP and ask them to mark it no ug.  That is, if you used a TA/CVP.

 

[chubbypiggy]

30 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I have not heard of that happening. But, I suppose it could be possible.

 

I’d be afraid to call in, as they may mess it up.  I’d probably call my TA/CVP and ask them to mark it no ug.  That is, if you used a TA/CVP.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.  I do use a Princess CVP.  When I made the bookings, I did ask the CVP to mark both bookings as "Do not upgrade", but I don't know if that option also applies to cabins assigned by "bid" upgrade.  Maybe I should give my CVP a call tomorrow.