HesterMofet Posted July 3 #1 Share Posted July 3 Just want to know if there is any chance! I did what qualified as a "good" bid for four, so we shall see. I know these are rare as there aren't many suites, but I thought it was worth a shot. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 3 #2 Share Posted July 3 (edited) Yes, people often report getting upgrades at all sorts of bid levels. It is totally a matter of what is available and how many bidders are trying to get them. On our last cruise, there was a suite available that could have been an upgrade at the terminal--must have been a last minute cancelation. In that case, VV has determined a price based on the type of cabin you originally booked and what you are upgrading into. Edited July 3 by cantgetin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric&Pam Posted July 3 #3 Share Posted July 3 I've won with a "poor" or "fair" bid, can't remember exactly, but there was lots of availability for that particular category. The popularity of the itinerary has a major effect....much easier to get deals on the more common ones than the once or twice a year sailings. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 3 #4 Share Posted July 3 46 minutes ago, Eric&Pam said: I've won with a "poor" or "fair" bid, can't remember exactly, but there was lots of availability for that particular category. The popularity of the itinerary has a major effect....much easier to get deals on the more common ones than the once or twice a year sailings. Do you happen to know if VV TA’s generally sail at or near full capacity? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CineGraphic Posted July 3 #5 Share Posted July 3 1 hour ago, Liao said: Do you happen to know if VV TA’s generally sail at or near full capacity? They are popular. We sailed Barcelona to Miami, Oct. 2023, and although I don’t think the ship was full, I think for some reason they limited capacity to around 1800. I can tell you that the suites for TAs tend to sell out before anything else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 3 #6 Share Posted July 3 3 hours ago, Liao said: Do you happen to know if VV TA’s generally sail at or near full capacity? I've been on all 4 of the TAs between Barcelona and Miami. October 2022--1300 sailors April 2023 1500 October 2023. 1851 April 2024. 2100 I'm sure the round numbers are not exact, but they are what we were told. We could definitely tell a difference on the April 2024---too full for my liking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 4 #7 Share Posted July 4 58 minutes ago, cantgetin said: I've been on all 4 of the TAs between Barcelona and Miami. October 2022--1300 sailors April 2023 1500 October 2023. 1851 April 2024. 2100 I'm sure the round numbers are not exact, but they are what we were told. We could definitely tell a difference on the April 2024---too full for my liking! I’ve only been on one TA, Celebrity Edge, October 2022, 1300 passengers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 4 #8 Share Posted July 4 21 hours ago, Liao said: I’ve only been on one TA, Celebrity Edge, October 2022, 1300 passengers I' ve done a total of 12 TAs, but figured the question applied to Virgin Voyages. I've seen huge increarses on other lines as well. THe good thing on other lines is these cruises are typically when schools are in session so most of the kids on board are infants and toddlers--not the ones who can run around without parental supervision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACrew Posted July 7 #9 Share Posted July 7 It also depends on what you paid for your initial cabin. For example, we won our upgrade on a poor bid but my initial sea terrace cost was $1000 more than the rate at day 59. You can’t get a price adjustment after final payment. So, the guy who paid $2000 for the sea terrace 45 days before sailing needs to bid more than me who paid $3000 for a sea terrace. Best of luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetdriver787 Posted July 7 #10 Share Posted July 7 You can “win” with any bid. The upgrade programme is run by a company called “plusgrade,” not Virgin Voyages. This company runs programmes for a slew of other cruise lines, airlines and hotels. The goal is to maximise ancillary revenue for the customer. The customer in this case being the operator not the traveller. What an individual paid for their original cabin is largely irrelevant as that is already cash in the bank. The bidding ranges will be set for the various categories. In other words, the ranges will be higher for somebody bidding up 2 categories or more, from the original, rather than just 1. Where possible, the inventory of returned or unsold stock that is made available to the programme, is used to create chains that maximise the revenue generated. That may mean that individual links in that chain (bids) are not necessarily the highest, so long as the entire chain is the most profitable. Unlike an auction, where you make a visible “bid” for a physical commodity, or a competition, where you enter to “win” an actual prize, these programmes are neither! You are invited to enter into a binding contract, IF, at a later date an upgrade becomes available to the programme. It is purely speculative and often the upgrade doesn’t exist. Nor does the highest bid necessarily “win!” For the traveller it’s a bit of fun and not really a strategy for something that is important. A bit like entering the lottery, except in this case the prizes are intermittent and you only pay for your ticket if you are successful. We were successful last year in bidding from a Sea terrace to a Brilliant suite for 7 nights. The bid was “weak” and just around $100 off the bidding floor. As for the original price paid? Nothing! It was airline points, and even then an absolute bargain! Book what you are happy with, but hey….”Take a punt!” 👍🥂🍾 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 7 #11 Share Posted July 7 The above info is correct. Winning bids have nothing to do with what you paid for your cabin originally, only what category you purchased. I'm aware of one person who went from an inside to an oceanview for $25. It really doesn't matter whether the site lists your bid as "weak" or "good." It matters what others bid and how many upgrades are available. Another thing to check is whether upgrades are available at port. In this case, you are told what the price will be and what the available cabins are. THe sales person will have access to a chart showing the various cabin categories and price depends on what category you are in and what you are going to. The advantage of this is that you know exactly what cabin you are moving into--this means you can avoid cabins in locations you consider less desirable and that someone who needs an accessible cabin can potentially move to a better level of accessible. The downside is that there is no guarantee that any upgrades will be available at the port and any available might be priced higher than those that were bids. We have been very fortunate with upgrades at port on other lines, and I was quite surprised to see huge signs at the terminal for our last VV cruise as it was the most full VV we'd been on. The goal of the line is to get the most they can from each passenger/cabin....and if that means an extra $200 in their pocket at port, they will go for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesterMofet Posted July 7 Author #12 Share Posted July 7 19 hours ago, PACrew said: It also depends on what you paid for your initial cabin. For example, we won our upgrade on a poor bid but my initial sea terrace cost was $1000 more than the rate at day 59. You can’t get a price adjustment after final payment. So, the guy who paid $2000 for the sea terrace 45 days before sailing needs to bid more than me who paid $3000 for a sea terrace. Best of luck! Understood! I figured it worked that way. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesterMofet Posted July 7 Author #13 Share Posted July 7 9 hours ago, Jetdriver787 said: Book what you are happy with, but hey….”Take a punt!” 👍🥂🍾 That's what we did. We got a sea terrace and saw the option and said, "why not?" as it's our 25th anniversary trip. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric&Pam Posted July 8 #14 Share Posted July 8 2 hours ago, HesterMofet said: That's what we did. We got a sea terrace and saw the option and said, "why not?" as it's our 25th anniversary trip. Thanks! What sailing on you on, and what categories did you bid on. I can check inventory if you'd like. We just celebrated our 25th last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted July 8 #15 Share Posted July 8 18 hours ago, Eric&Pam said: What sailing on you on, and what categories did you bid on. I can check inventory if you'd like. Checking inventory doesn't tell you all you need to know. For instance, there may be 100 people with "lock it in" rates that have not yet been assigned to rooms. You might see 300 empty sea terraces/ central sea terrace available, but you wouldn't know how many of those would ultimately be assigned to the "lock it in" people. It does give you a better idea on suites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric&Pam Posted July 8 #16 Share Posted July 8 1 hour ago, cantgetin said: It does give you a better idea on suites I was assuming suites...that's how I won our bid, by bidding on the category with the most availability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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