Vacationlover2 Posted May 13, 2017 #1 Share Posted May 13, 2017 This was my experience. My family had 2 connecting inside cabins. My friends had 2 connecting inside cabins. This was our 7th cruise on NCL and we are gold. This was their 2nd cruise on NCL. We bid $100 per cabin, for a total upgrade price for both cabins of $400 for a balcony. Friends bid $50 per cabin for a total upgrade price of $200 per cabin. My family got split, one midship balcony cabin on deck 12, one on deck 10. Friends who bid half as much and was only their 2nd cruise got side by side AFT cabins. So, if you think your bid or status matters, think again. Weird, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biker@sea Posted May 13, 2017 #2 Share Posted May 13, 2017 How much did you pay for your cabin? What Category? Did your friends pay more? Did they have better Inside cabins? Status means nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Wheels Only Posted May 13, 2017 #3 Share Posted May 13, 2017 In the future, book exactly what you want and don't bother with the bid process. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April42749 Posted May 13, 2017 #4 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Weird and more than that, frustrating........... As someone said...maybe your friend paid more for the original booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdsted Posted May 13, 2017 #5 Share Posted May 13, 2017 We've never upgraded our reservation but it is a little bizarre that there isn't some kind of upgrade preferential treatment for Latitude members at some status level. At least a better cabin assignment for identical bids. The airline we fly has been providing first class upgrades based on frequent flyer status for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacationlover2 Posted May 13, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted May 13, 2017 They did not pay more for their cabins Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klhbooknut Posted May 13, 2017 #7 Share Posted May 13, 2017 when did you find out that you had got your upgrade? Am waiting to hear if we got ours but are not cruising til June! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biker@sea Posted May 13, 2017 #8 Share Posted May 13, 2017 They did not pay more for their cabins Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk What deck did your friends get? what ship? Like Dawn / Star deck 8 aft. :(have a Bad noise problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garycarla Posted May 13, 2017 #9 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Lots more experiences shared in this active post > What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacationlover2 Posted May 13, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted May 13, 2017 The ship was the Escape. We found out 4 days before sailing. They found out 3 days before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buford T Justiice Posted May 13, 2017 #11 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Maybe it was alphabetical or reservation number order, or one NCL CSR does A-L and another does M-Z... and M-Z took the day off... Life is random Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMH15 Posted May 13, 2017 #12 Share Posted May 13, 2017 2 different workers handling upsells? Maybe the people in their new cabins upsold to suites? Maybe that happened after you were moved? Maybe? Maybe? Maybe? Regardless, you take your chances. You bid. You got. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted May 14, 2017 #13 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Maybe it was alphabetical or reservation number order, or one NCL CSR does A-L and another does M-Z... and M-Z took the day off... Life is random Seriously? There is nothing manual in the process. Consider if a ship has 2000 rooms and the average room puts in 2 bids (we have 6 pending bids on our upcoming cruise), the humans aren't going to try and sort out which of the bids to accept and assign. NCL got rid of the humans when they slowly closed the upsell department. Talk to the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allison0523 Posted May 14, 2017 #14 Share Posted May 14, 2017 How many people did you have in your 2 cabins vs what they had? It seems people are reporting that if they have less people, they are getting better upgrades. I'm not sure how that factors into things since only the 1st and 2nd passengers are charged but maybe it has something to do with the upgrade algorithm. We are in the same predicament right now. We have connecting balcony cabins and I don't want to chance being separated in an attempt to upgrade. We have 3 people in one and 2 in the other also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowerOrchard Posted May 14, 2017 #15 Share Posted May 14, 2017 This doesn't surprise me. If you bid enough to be accepted for an upgrade, the computer will randomly assign you to the upgraded cabin - the fact that your friends got the "better" upgrade (in terms of connecting rooms) is completely down to chance. The algorithm has been set, and no human is involved in these individual decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacationlover2 Posted May 14, 2017 Author #16 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I had two people per room. They had 2 in one and 3 in another. I only started this thread to let people know that there is no rhyme or reason to upgrades as many people asked this question. I am not looking for advice or am I complaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser Who Knows Nothing Posted May 14, 2017 #17 Share Posted May 14, 2017 But there is rhyme or reason. Just too many variables for us to understand. Book what you want and never look back is my philosophy. I have my connecting balconies and didn't even bother with the bid system. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regguy Posted May 14, 2017 #18 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I had two people per room. They had 2 in one and 3 in another. I only started this thread to let people know that there is no rhyme or reason to upgrades as many people asked this question. I am not looking for advice or am I complaining. Well, there is a reason, but we just don't know what the algorithm might be. In the end, it's revenue maximization. But it could be anything, including NCL needing or wanting your friends' cabins more than yours, wanting to prioritize open cabins for cabin steward assignments, or something else. Also, in assigning upgrades, whatever you might regard as a better cabin might not be better for NCL since better for NCL has a different meaning. Also, it could be that at the time you were upgraded your upgrade processed first because you had bid more but NCL did not yet have the two aft cabins in its upgrade inventory for any number of reasons we don't know. Maybe the were still being held by the algorithm that decides when to release cabins because they won't sell. Maybe one of those cabins itself had someone trying to upgrade at a lower amount and that upgrade processed after yours freeing the cabin to be upgraded. Last, it's a mistake to assume the upgrades are actually accomplished on the same day you get notice. There could be an assignment a month before or some kind of queue that changes as people change their bids or cabins sell. All you know is when your card gets charged, but a tentative assignment could have been weeks earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowerOrchard Posted May 14, 2017 #19 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Well, there is a reason, but we just don't know what the algorithm might be. I think we know a lot of it. Whenever NCL closes the window to make upgrade bids, they accept the highest bids for the number of available cabins (i.e., if there are 7 available cabins, the top 7 bids get their bids accepted). I would assume if there are several bids of equal amounts, they are prioritized by who bid first, but I don't know that part for sure - there might be a different sorting mechanism at this step. Once the pool of accepted bids is finalized, the computer randomly assigns the winning bids to the available rooms - nothing else is taken into account. Not Latitude membership, not the amount of the bid (as long as it makes it into the "winning bid" pool), not number of people in the room, not how "good" the new room is. I've seen no evidence that there is anything more that gets considered than amount of bid and number of available rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biker@sea Posted May 14, 2017 #20 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Just to try an learn a little ,watch NCL Dawn's bookings. Today she has 10 Aft. Penthouse's open for sale for this Fridays sailing CHEAP And 5 SJ's ;p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelmac Posted May 14, 2017 #21 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I had two people per room. They had 2 in one and 3 in another. I only started this thread to let people know that there is no rhyme or reason to upgrades as many people asked this question. I am not looking for advice or am I complaining. Many cruise lines do this -- "give the newbies better upgrades; it builds loyalty". Enjoy! Kel:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Dreaming Posted May 14, 2017 #22 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Thanks for posting your upgrade experience!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macandlucy Posted May 14, 2017 #23 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I would love it and appreciate it very much if NCL would at least take Latitudes status into consideration when assigning cabins (bid price being the same). I am only silver level and I realize that that will cause me to lose out sometimes, but even still, I think it's the right thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drvmywifecrzy Posted May 7, 2018 #24 Share Posted May 7, 2018 How was the cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtkenmore Posted May 7, 2018 #25 Share Posted May 7, 2018 How many people did you have in your 2 cabins vs what they had? It seems people are reporting that if they have less people, they are getting better upgrades. I'm not sure how that factors into things since only the 1st and 2nd passengers are charged but maybe it has something to do with the upgrade algorithm. We are in the same predicament right now. We have connecting balcony cabins and I don't want to chance being separated in an attempt to upgrade. We have 3 people in one and 2 in the other also. Also likely depends on lifeboat capacity for certain muster stations and how many people they can move around without overcrowding a station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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