Kattus

I find you can go crazy checking the site everyday to "guess" what is happening that is why we just bit the bullet and called in and did the upgrade. We got exactly what we wanted and now I really don't need to check the site everyday. I had been checking prices pretty much everyday since we booked in October 2016, was almost my second job. Now I am back to just my real job :)

 

 

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That's what I'm doing, SEVERAL times a day like a maniac. When I was at practice the other weekend or during one of my runs, I had to block out thinking about it since I wasn't near a computer to check price and inventory. My husband thinks I've lost my mind each time I give him updates ;p

Hi Kattus, we are on the same roll call!

 

Finally bit the bullet this week and put a bid in. Am trying to move from an IA to a Balcony.

I definitely did not want to overbid, I know it would have cost around $500 total to just book a balcony in the first place so I tried to keep that in the back of my mind going into it. I guess we will see what happens, I think the odds of getting some kind of Balcony cabin seem pretty good since there are so many still showing. In a dream world I would get the Spa Balcony but I know the chances of that are slim.

 

I too have been monitoring the available cabins and I can't make head or tails of it.Thought it was strange that I had the option to bid on an Oceanview when that category was showing as sold out, and now mysteriously 4 rooms are showing. Also noticed that the BB category went from 15 to 5 overnight which made me think that they had already started a shuffle.

They should create a dance called the "Bidding Room Shuffle." I think you have a great shot at a balcony cabin; did you bid on any minis? I'm not even sure if my current cabin, a spa mini, would be included with the minis, but if so, am wondering if it being sold out would somehow increase my chances of getting an upgrade. And if that's the case, you are more than welcome to enjoy my spa mini :D

The Upgrade Advantage is just a way for NCL to have their customers do the work of "bidding" to get an upgrade. Before you would call in they would give you a price and you would accept it or not. Today they pit us all against each other and take the highest bid for the room. The customers do all the work and decide how much each of us think the upgrade is worth and NCL sits back and picks the highest bidder.

 

In our case we called NCL prior to booking our cruise and asked if Costco Travel was part of the "Upgrade Advantage" program. We were told yes. We booked with Costco and as time went on and we did not get the emails I called back into NCL and found out that really Costco had "opted" out of the "Upgrade Advantage". It makes no sense to my why they would as Costco still gets a portion of the upgrade pricing but who am I to try to understand Costco. At the end of the day we were not eligible to participate in the bidding we we just called into Costco, go them to call NCL and got an upgrade price to move from a Mini Suite to a Spa Balcony (the lowest category in the Haven, which we were fine with). We got all the benefits of the Haven upgrade and got to pick our room and know that it was a done deal.

 

I kind of preferred this wondering if we were going to get the email, wondering if our bid would be high enough, then waiting to see if we won. Seems more like a big game of chance that we were not going to play.

 

We always book the lowest class cabin we would feel comfortable staying in, then watch for the upgrades ourselves. It seems those days are going bye bye as the bidding process becomes mainstay. I am sure before long all of their cruise partners will be opted in to this new process and it won't matter.

 

Good on NCL to find a new way to do less work and have customers bid against each other to get the most they can for every room on the ship.

 

It is what it is and like everything we will all complain then just get used to it.

 

My 2 cents.

Especially when people get carried away and overbid, not realizing that it'd be less $$ to upgrade themselves. Haven't seen any activity with my sailing, just another possible cancellation. My DH and I decided that we'll lower our bid if the inventory doesn't change within the next 2 weeks. When is your sailing?

Anyone sailing on the Epic out of Barcelona this Friday? We placed bids on 5 Haven rooms and all were declined. Our bids were on the high end so I'm curious to know what others bid!

 

 

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I checked your sailing (because I don't have much to do at work right now and it's what I do) and looks like everything is pretty much sold out. Your itinerary is one that I've wanted to do, so I'm sure you'll have a great time regardless! ;)

Just got my email notice and I have been upgraded to the Haven (H5) from an aft balcony on the Breakaway for this Sunday April 16th.

I bid low fair at $760pp.

Soooo Excited!!!

NIIIIICE! :D You hit a homerun, you didn't overbid and drown out savings and you got the room. Enjoy!

Oh I know it's going to be a long while before I get the email. My inner planner is coming out though. Lol!

 

So you go to Ncl.com, do the cruise search and find your sailing then go through the process as if you're going to book to find the cabins that are still available? I thought maybe there was a quicker secret way to do it. ;) I can do it that way though!

 

Thanks!

 

 

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And as your cruise date gets closer, you'll find yourself doing that multiple times a day to see if a) there's a price drop to upgrade or b) if you got an invitation to bid, to see what the inventory looks like and your chances of a successful bid amount lol:rolleyes:

I think the emails start getting sent out when you're 80 days out, so you've got plenty of time! For me, I check NCL.com and my saildate and ship, but you can also go to Expedia, etc, I think the inventory is pretty much the same.

Hopefully someone will be able to answer this: I know a few people who've sailed since the Upgrade Advantage program was implemented mentioned they received notification of their winning bid well in advance of their sailing.

I'm on the Breakaway May 7th and have monitored the number of available cabins and pricing since we booked in late March. While the H5 and H9 (the two categories I really care about) prices dropped a little, but not enough to upgrade ourselves, the number of rooms has remained the same. There are 15 H5 and 12 H9 cabins available. I have hopes that DH and I have a decent shot of getting into the Haven. Inside rooms went down $200, and the once sold out Oceanview is now showing as available, and there are countless balconies in every category but aft. Is there a small possibility that given the sheer volume of cabins still available, that they're already starting to shuffle people around, starting from inside and ov?

That's amazing! We had contemplated the Epic out of Barcelona, but couldn't find any reasonable airfare out of JFK (everything cost more than the cruise!) Definitely will keep flights on our radar since we want to do a European cruise in the future.

Hi Kattus! If you took any pictures of 13516 I would love to see them! We will be in that room this summer and I'd love to see what the spaces are like. I haven't seen reviews of that room that have been written after 2014 so any information would be great! The pictures that were posted from 13518 are great but there aren't any of the bathroom or the balcony.

 

Thanks!

HI there! I'm glad I came back to this thread to answer everyone's question. While I didn't get any pictures of the bathroom, I took a few of the balcony. The last picture is THE reason to get a portside suite and capture the best view of the Napali Coast!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154744840055931&set=a.10154744901975931&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154744840280931&set=a.10154744901975931&type=3&theater

We're about 4 weeks out and considered upgrading, but the only price drop to the Haven since we booked in March was minimal, not enough to warrant the extra cost. So, with the high number of cabins in the Haven suites we bid on (over 40) we're taking a huge gamble that we'll find ourselves in one. Worse case: nothing lost, nothing gained.

Okay, thanks!

Good to know because I thought I read some people saying you would have to cancel your current reservation with a penalty and then rebook a new reservation.

Not at all! We did it on our third NCL cruise last year, you just lose any promotions you had with current booking if they changed.

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Was just reading through and wondering if you do call NCL and tell them you just wanna pay the reminder to upgrade to the Haven instead of bidding, do they let you do that even though my final payment is already made?

Thanks!

That's what I was going to do to upgrade to the Haven category DH and I want, but then I realized we'd not only have to pay the bigger price difference, but difference in DSC and trip insurance. We paid the DSC before the April 1st increase​ for a reason, and it being less than 30 days to our sail date and a large number of Haven cabins (including 3/4 of the category we want) still available, figured on the small chance we didn't get the upgrade, we would still have spa access and a little more $$$ in our bank account. So you can certainly upgrade your cabin after final payment.

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No one knows for sure. They probably do take into account what has been paid so far and many other revenue aspects. But I'm willing to bet it is some sort of algorithm that they put into a computer that maximizes overall revenue.

 

i.e. your bid may not have been the highest dollar amount bid for the room you won....but maybe the person who bid on a spa balcony made it so that giving you the spa suite made them more money than someone else moving up from a different room/category.

 

I'm sure it's all complicated, but I'm also sure that there isn't just a couple people sitting at a desk saying "hey, this one bid $50 and this one bid $60, so $60 wins". Our bids don't exist in a vacuum all by themselves, they create domino effects down the line for other people bidding up to other categories.

In that case, my category (spa mini-suite) is sold out, so anyone bidding for a mini is more than welcome to have mine ;)

They gave me 14728 haven spa suite. Was a little worried about being on the starboard side but it's the farthest one forward and people who have been in that suite said they heard nothing from above.

Would you mind telling me how you bid? We're in a spa mini but are looking at the Haven spa and bid in all the Haven categories. There are a LOT of Haven spas left on our sailing on the Breakaway in early May, and hoping that the fact that it holds 2 not 3-4 is going to deter (or prevent) a lot from bidding on one of them.

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It's a free venue now, right?

We were booked on Celebrity Summit for April 8th. The ship was having engine troubles for the last two months. Well Celebrity decided to pull the ship out completely to fix the problem, which we understand. However, they only gave us TWO weeks notice that our cruise was being cancelled. Therefore, it is hard for a lot of people to try and find something with only a two weeks notice during spring vacation/Easter time.

Wow, we were going to try another cruiseline and book the Summit for early May, but now glad we didn't! You'll love NCL!

I am a woman & my bathing suit usually consists of board shorts & a tankini top. If I'm just lounging in the chairs, I probably have a dress cover up on over it. When my parents cruise, my dad sits there in shorts, shirt & sneakers & socks. There is no rule about changing in the locker room. You can go back to your room.

 

There are some good videos on that video website that show the locker rooms and thermal suite. I believe there are stalls in the locker rooms and no one is going to stop him from changing in a stall.

 

Here's the thing...what is the worry about what he wears in there? That someone will make fun of him for not being in a speedo? Not going to happen. :)

LOL thank you. I know it's a silly question, and just dawned on me the other day when I showed him video of the thermal spa and lockers. His eyes bugged out of his head and he asked me "Wait, I have to CHANGE in front of people?" :eek:

I want to share a few reflections on the whole trip, a lot contributed by my DH, Marc. I’ll probably post just this portion in the forum for those that don’t want to wade through all the details.

 

The Freestyle Concept:

 

We were looking forward to this after the sometimes-too-structured feel of Celebrity. I actually enjoy dressing up, but DH does not! Turns out, even I love to be able to go to a MDR dinner in shorts every once in awhile! Thumbs up to NCL for a nice balance with the freestyle wardrobe requirements - you’re required to be more dressed up for Ocean Blue, but other places it’s relaxed.

 

Freestyle entertainment is another story. Right after booking and researching, I was dismayed at the hype around reservations. . . .to everything! That, to me, kind of defeated the whole purpose of freestyle. I booked a lot of things that I ended up cancelling. I would always cancel within an acceptable window, but I hate feeling like I need to book stuff. DH will not even touch this process, it’s all up to me, which makes it more of an agitating task. I know you don’t “have” to reserve, but the HUGE line outside the comedy we went to drove the need for reservations home. I don’t want to spend my vacay time standing in a line because I didn’t plan in advance. Maybe smaller NCL ships are different? Somebody fill me in.

 

Freestyle dining was OK because we only did specialty dining one night - our best meal by far - at Ocean Blue. We reserved it 90 days ahead of time and still couldn’t get anything other than 8:30. If we had wanted more specialty dining, we would have been SOL. We heard the maitre d’ turning people away in front of us at Ocean Blue because of it just being too booked. Again, makes it not really “freestyle”, or it’s at a high cost of a long wait.

 

Food:

 

The food was never bad, but sometimes the sides didn’t seem well thought out or well done. The stacks of food in the MDRs were disconcerting and reminded you that you were essentially eating in a big cafeteria.

 

It’s hard going on Celebrity first if you’re a foodie, because you have the expectation there for the food. I liked the relaxed feel of the boat, but I wanted the food to be something less like a chore like they had to give it to you and ore like they enjoyed giving it to you. Case and point, at Ocean Blue, they took pride in telling you all about what you ordered and how it was prepared. Everywhere else it was just like at McDonald's, here’s what you ordered.

 

Buffet was not as good and no sense of direction as far as where you needed to walk. Very crowded. People cutting in and out, bumping into people. Yes it’s freestyle, but there needs to be some order with how you’re getting the food. Otherwise there is no structure. Celebrity has them beat on the buffet food “big time”.

 

The buffet was essentially the same every day, at least for breakfast and the one time we went for dinner, it was essentially the same as lunch. This was disappointing. The food that was there wasn’t bad, but it lacked variety and there wasn’t anything too exotic. There was usually a curry dish of some kind and also an asian dish, but not much to choose from. I missed Celebrity’s excellent indian food and also the sushi available at the buffet itself.

 

With desserts specifically, Carnival wins by a good amount, followed by Celebrity, then NCL.

 

I will say that NCL’s specialty dining prices are much better than Celebrity’s. We ate for half the price at Ocean Blue than we would have eaten at any of X’s major specialties, even with a discount they often offer. That being said, the quality of the “free” stuff on X is miles better, so you don’t really need to go as often.

 

Service:

Service was was excellent, better than Celebrity, especially the bartenders. NCL is the best so far for bartenders.

 

Drinks:

We shouldn’t have to go hunting for wine; again, spoiled with this from Celebrity where there was a sommelier at every meal pairing your food with a wine from the beverage package. Wine on NCL was not drinkable, at least not the merlot.

 

I missed Cafe al Bacio on the Summit. The Atrium cafe is not a relaxing space at all.

 

Entertainment:

NCL has this one hands down. I really enjoyed “Burn the Floor” and the improv comedy troupe was something different than other lines offer.

 

We obviously had a wonderful vacation. Our highlights were the wonderful service of the NCL team. They really took care of us, especially sending us chocolate covered strawberries and champagne for no reason that we could figure out. We loved spending time in the luxurious Vibe and the outstanding service and attention that came with, as it was put on our bill, “The Vibe Experience”. The relaxation of the spa was fabulous. Bermuda was terrific, even with some rain. We loved the new feel of the boat and our large room and bathroom.

 

All and all, we spent a lot more money on our vacation this year on NCL vs our vacation two years ago on the Summit, and from looking at both this year and following the prices, it would have been cheaper this year as well to go on Summit. We also had a balcony on the Summit that was roughly 3x as big, but we weren’t suite, aqua, or concierge class on X, just regular folk ;-). I think our spa mini-suite on NCL was for sure nice, but I can’t see paying that much again for that small of a balcony and to not have special dining like on Celebrity with their Aqua (spa) class restaurant "Blu".

 

We loved NCL and will certainly go back when we have kids, but Celebrity was less expensive and offered more value. The things that made our NCL voyage so awesome were Vibe and the spa, both added cost and at least for Vibe, not at all a guarantee until you walk on the boat and have the passes in hand. I have no regrets at all and would absolutely purchase spa and Vibe again, but maybe not on the same sailing unless the spa was included like it was for us this time. We did feel nickel and dimed a bit more on NCL. For example, no sodas, water, or coffees with the beverage package and having to pay the service fees on the beverage package and the taxes while in NYC. It adds up and when other lines offer the packages without these extra fees, it helps. That all said, we'll go wherever the best value is. A cruise will be enjoyable to us no matter what line it's on, so we'll be strategic with our hard-earned money.

 

It’s a bit tough to compare the two cruises since they were so different, but DH and I both agree that for Bermuda next time, we’d choose Breakaway ONLY if it was the same price or less than Celebrity. Our reasoning is that the “extras” we paid for (vibe, spa) are basically included in your fare for X. There is no Vibe area, but there is a whole free adult only solarium thalassotherapy pool that was never crowded.

 

When we have kiddos that are old enough to want to do children’s activities, I’m sure we’d want to pay more for NCL, but until then, we’ll shop around. And if the opportunity comes at the right price, would we sail NCL again? In the words of my awesome hubs, “heck yes”!

 

Thanks for sticking with me until the end and all of your kind words and encouragement. Please let me know if I can answer any questions at all.

 

Happy sailing, everyone!

Hopefully you're still reading this thread. I've got a question about the Thermal Spa since my DH and I are also in a spa mini for next month and he's very self-conscious about his size. Did you see anyone in there with a t-shirt and shorts? He's not comfortable changing in the locker room, too, and I told him he can have the robe on to cover himself lol TIA!

i checked 4/16 and haven spa going for 2100 retail. cheapest i've seen in long time

I saw that, too. It'd be nice if there was a drop like that on our sailing, then I'd cancel my bidding and upgrade in a heartbeat!

Just got the email today got the upgrade!!

Awesome!!! Congrats! Hoping luck is on my side, too, when we board second week of May. Am constantly checking to see room availability, and still lots of Haven cabins lol

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Please let us know the outcome, I've got my fingers crossed you get that upgrade!

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I'm confused. Is the bidding you are talking about on the BA? If so, how could they offer the GV as there are none on the BA?

My apologies, I meant the 2 bedroom family villa.

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Following this thread. Have been reading up on the bidding process, and seems that while some have been successful bidding on the lower end, others have not. I think it depends on supply and demand, and time of year (I'm imagining summer cruises will be more competitive bidding than spring, at least I hope so!) We're on the Breakaway in early May, and this is how we bid:

H6- mid-poor

H5- mid-fair

H9- mid-fair

H7- mid-fair

What's interesting is that the "good" bidding price on the H9 spa suite is almost exactly the current price difference we would pay to upgrade from our spa mini, go figure :confused: Since your cruise is a month after ours, I'll report back if we had a winning bid.

I am so sad... all of my bids to Haven were not accepted. Was notified via email at 1:10pm about 51 hours prior to sailing.

Sorry to hear that, people must have overbid A LOT to score the Haven cabins (as I read back to your earlier posts and you mentioned how much you bid). Either way, enjoy your trip!