Nclgetawaymenhoney

1 hour ago, chapchap said:

Out of curiosity, is there a certain time of day bid acceptance notifications (and forbid-- rejections) get sent out?  

No I received acceptance, at 930, 1100ish, 1230ish and most recently exactly at 200pm 50 hours before sailing for the 2pm, I’ve never been rejected but based on reading this thread the rejection emails come out between 2pm and 5pm 2 days before sailing 

1 hour ago, aero777 said:

Has anyone noticed starting today the max number of cabins displayed is 15, even on a site that used to display more than 15 cabins?

Yes I have that problem now too,I'm thinking maybe it's a result of ncl upgrade to their website this weekend since that website would "feed" to other websites 

Suggestion would be to call back casino at sea and see how much more it would be with them to just upgrade out right with them.  Even if it's more than your willing to pay it gives you some kind of starting point for your upgrade advantage bid.

Next step is to read at least some of the main thread, and you will see that each cruise is different each and every sailing, while $800 per person might win on sailing. $2000.00 per person next weeks sailing might be denied 

really since you say your willing to bid heavy, your probably best just calling and paying the difference. Enjoy your cruise!

18 hours ago, cksv said:

Does anyone have any experience with winning a bid on a last minute booking? I’m considering booking about 30 days out in hopes of snagging a cheap Balcony Guarantee and then making a strong bid for The Haven. Just wondering if that’s a viable strategy and if NCL considers the price paid on the original booking when awarding upgrades. From what I read on this thread it sounds like no since they already have your money from the original booking and probably just look for the highest bid, but may consider cabin type booked in order to squeeze out the most dollars for those who want to upgrade from Insides to Balcony, Mini Suite, etc. Anyway any data points would be helpful.

Read this thread for early May discussion on whether or not original price is a factor, in most cases the consensus was that it doesn't not, what matters is simple supply and demand, is the ship full, do they need your cabin to open up lower cabins/higher cabins etc.

the winning bid on a packed summer high season sailing versus a October hurricane sailing can and will be hundreds if not a thousand dollars more, if won at all.

bid what you are comfortable bidding, do your research to make sure it's not practical to just pay outright for the higher cabin, good luck 

1 hour ago, ssteinerman said:

 

Fair enough - I was going by the countdown clock on the NCL vacation page, which says 80 days out.

You don’t always get a email, or anything in inbox it could also be on your homepage as banner let’s get you upgraded and some have reported it’s sometimes less than 80 days before they do offer the program, and again really it doesn’t matter if you get it st 80, 70 or even 50 days you probably won’t hear for several more weeks after, again unless you   Overbid.

1 hour ago, Stlcardsfan79 said:

Myself along with several other on our cruise in January didn’t receive our offers to bid until 72 days out. I was getting a little worried too but it was fine. 

3 days left in May + 30 days in June + 31 days I. July + 17august =81 days 

your to early, plus remember then unless you overbid, in most cases you won’t hear until within 5 days of sailing 

and ive won all four of my bids successfully, awarded 5, 4, 3 and most recent on a full full ship 50 hours before sailing 

1 hour ago, Joeghartman said:

Now that I have a bid almost near the max for a spa balcony, I will be checking obsessively for the next 75 days.

You do realize a spa balcony is the same size as regular balcony, just near the spa, with spa access and some upgraded toiletries, that’s it, so check to make sure your not overbidding for that spa balcony, you can get the pass for between 200 to 250 per person for 7 days

Just got off Escape, regular balcony, had 7 nights of towel animals, ice twice a day, and single serve coffee maker 

We just got off the Escape yesterday, and we booked teppanki for 4 on the date and time we wanted the afternoon we boarded no problem,  also was able to add a buying cagneys about 2 days into cruise we thought we would just try for fun and no problem whatsoever 

Looking forward to it, we are sailing on Escape to Bermuda tomorrow! The sail away from New York is so special 

My four bids, all accepted I found out, 5, 4, 3 and 2 days prior on this last one.  My best deal though I had kept decreasing my amount to bid from 200 and got it for 145 mini suite from ocean view, got it 5 days out, but again supply demand is the key that's the only of my last four sailings that was not sold out, it was Escape 2017 early December sailing 

Early November on this thread had some good information on cabin inventory 

9 minutes ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

 

What site to track more then 15 rooms?

We are not allowed to mention ta names on this site, I will say if you read the whole thread you might find someone else did name the site

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

Congrats on winning. Supply and demand is definitely the main factor.  For my upcoming sailing on the Escape (June 2) there are still over 170 balconies left, so I think the people in interior and oceanview cabins have great odds of upgrading for a decent price. But on that same sailing, there are only 7 mini-suites left, so I don't think we are going to see many people upgraded from balconies to mini-suites!

I have a spreadsheet like you, and use the site that shows cabins even above 15 in a category tracking was going along fine,  until Monday April 29th, wen I compared inventory from the day before, it went from 197 balconies available to just 93, then it stayed steady just a reduction her or their, but following Wednesday dropped to below 50 which was. Now only 10 days from sailing, their for the last 10 days or so their were almost as many minis as balconies.  I never saw after tracking four cruises though it to drop by over a 100 cabins in one day

My acceptance was at exactly 2pm

Got my acceptance at exactly 2pm today for sailing on Escape, this Sunday, may 19th.  Went from a ocean view oa deck 11 to a bb balcony deck 13 mid to aft near stairs starting bid was 50 I believe and we paid $195 per person to upgrade.  This is our fourth consecutive time winning a upgrade but way more than I've ever paid in past, supply and demand makes a huge difference 

The magician show that is free and plays in supper club a couple nights is fine, food free as well but not great but the magician is good plus some friendly comedy as well

I can recommend the Hampton inn, we used it in dec, very clean, and when you check in the give you a choice of what time to take their shuttle, probably seats around 16 people and give you number and location for pick up on return 

1 hour ago, nothing89 said:

Could anyone advise how NCL paid upgrades work after final payment.

 

Is it the total cost of new upgrade -and which component of it if I may ask? - has to be more than total of final payment amount I've paid (including all free at sea gratuities, pre-paid gratuities)?

 

Booked directly with NCL and tried to upgrade from IF to MX (MX base fare and total bill cost more then my IF total payment) directly with NCL but NCL rep said not allowed.

 

Thank you in advance 🙂

They probably were not letting you upgrade because mx is a sailaway rate which means you would lose your drink package and dining perks, if you want to pay to upgrade from a if to a mini suite category you would have to pick mc, mb, ma etc. they would let you pay that difference and upgrade 

A bx is normally a sailaway rate, which mean no perks such as drink package, internet etc but no their are no obstructed balconies on the joy

Yes thought it was just me

31 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Um.... I think you are doing your math wrong. I paid $1200 and the other bidder paid $1000. NCL has $2200 in their pockets.

 

Now I bid $100 and the other person bids $200 to upgrade. If they take my bid, NCL has $2300. If they take the other bidder's bid, NCL has $2400.

 

So how does my paying a "total" of $1300 and the other bidder only paying a "total" of $1200 make a difference?

 

I agree that NCL is out to maximize profits. So it makes sense for them to ALWAYS take the highest bid. Unless their algorithms indicate that taking the lower bid will net them money from other avenues (ie: on board spending, gambling, etc.). 

Jamie your right,

It’s been proven before in this thread, basically it’s a “new” booking as far as nick is concerned

one example in this thread and by example I mean same sailing same ship since each sailing is different

that example was. Aft balcony person pad 1649.00 pp while a sail away paid 949, the both had the same bid range example h9 minimum 600 max 2000.

the aft balcony bid 1100

the sail away bid 1300

the sail away won it was posted on their roll call with these numbers

Ncl is a business and just like any business maximize profits 

also another example why would cas at sea people with free rooms ever even get a option to bid, you see them winning there bid as well, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, we are leaving this month so comes in handy.

5 hours ago, JAYNECOBB said:

 

Do you happen to know what “itinerary no longer available” means?

It means currently sold out which also can have to do with lifeboat capacity.  No matter what you will not get your rejection email until 48 hours prior, remember cancellations can happen plus they are still data mining all those pending bids for data for future cruise info, very valuable information to companies future bidding.  Good luck

46 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Were those drops across the board or in specific categories?

Hi Jamie, I'm specifically tracking balcony and mini to try and score free upgrade for friends in s balcony, so that s the 50 and 30. The havens dropped by w200 or 300 hundred