Newbie Upgrade Advantage Question

[mand2240]

Hi guys. New poster here! I am booked to sail on the Escape on 8/5 with my wife. We booked with a group of friends and somehow we let them talk us into an inside stateroom. I just got the email for the upgrade advantage program, and I definitely want to upgrade to a balcony (I know I can only go up 2 categories from your initial reservation, otherwise we would be eyeing a suite or a haven cabin). My question is, what is a reasonable bid to move up from an inside stateroom to a balcony? I have seen plenty of threads on upgrading from balconies to suites and haven cabins, but not a lot on going from an inside cabin up. Also I did not see any "gauge" on whether or not my bid entry was good, low, or spot on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!

[Jed12345]

I'm not sure on the Escape, but we bid at the bottom of "fair" from an inside to a BA and was accepted (on the Jewel). I read others that were lower and also accepted.

[Stcksav]

My family is on the same cruise in August. If you log into your NCL account and go through the upgrade process, you should see a gauge on the right side of the screen showing how they rank your bid. The more you slide right and increase your bid, the higher your bid is ranked.

[Sauer-kraut]

Price out the difference that you paid for your inside to what a balcony in the class you will be bidding on and then bid UNDER that price....if you are going to pay more why not just do a paid upgrade and choose the cabin you want?

[mand2240]

My family is on the same cruise in August. If you log into your NCL account and go through the upgrade process, you should see a gauge on the right side of the screen showing how they rank your bid. The more you slide right and increase your bid, the higher your bid is ranked.

 

 

Ah I see it now. It wasn't showing up on my phone browser, switched over to the desktop site and it was there.

[mand2240]

Price out the difference that you paid for your inside to what a balcony in the class you will be bidding on and then bid UNDER that price....if you are going to pay more why not just do a paid upgrade and choose the cabin you want?

 

 

Good advice. I did reach out to Norwegian to see what the upgrade price would be and it was $900 and some change. Definitely wont go close to that.

[Ginnyfyr]

Good advice. I did reach out to Norwegian to see what the upgrade price would be and it was $900 and some change. Definitely wont go close to that.

 

Another thing to consider - and I learned this tip from a seasoned NCL cruiser on my first NCL cruise last week - is that if you bid and it's accepted, you stay with whatever perks you got when you initially booked. But, if you call and upgrade, you're entitled to whatever other perks they would give for that cabin category. For instance, we originally booked in a mini-suite and could pick 2 perks, so we took the drink package and the 3 specialty restaurants deal. Our bid on a Haven room was accepted (shockingly - I am a cheapo and bid in the poor section of the gauge and they went for it! Mind blown!) but we were still only entitled to the drinks and restaurant perks. Had we called and done a "proper" upgrade, we could have had free internet, tips paid for, and some OBC in addition to the drinks and restaurants. Just throwing that out there for consideration!

[garycarla]

...My question is, what is a reasonable bid to move up from an inside stateroom to a balcony? ...

 

It is going to vary widely. If for reason, very few people this week on your ship, then a lower bid might work. If there are lots of people bidding, and they are bidding high, than the answer changes. I am sure somebody in the know can tell what the bids seem to be on average. But - NOBODY knows what is going to happen on a particular cruise until it happens.

 

Still - to get a good idea, there is a very long thread about folks doing upgrades and their experiences here.

[bmwcmu]

If you haven't already and are interested, join the roll call for Aug 5th.

 

We're getting a M&G and slot pull together!

[mand2240]

If you haven't already and are interested, join the roll call for Aug 5th.

 

We're getting a M&G and slot pull together!

 

 

I believe I am already on there. You just have to make a post in the roll call thread right?

[bmwcmu]

I believe I am already on there. You just have to make a post in the roll call thread right?

 

Yes! If you or anyone is interested in the M&G/slot pull just post in there and we'll get you guys added to the list.

[mamasylvia]

Successful bids that I have seen discussed have varied wildly. People with bids in the "fair' range have been disappointed, while my barely-above-minimum bid for a suite on the Pearl next week was successful (to my complete amazement). And bear in mind, there will probably be balcony cruisers who bid on a minisuite or suite so there will be additional balcony rooms available to lower-level rooms.

 

Best advice is really to bid what it is worth to you. I waffled over even a minimum bid, but finally decided that for 4 adults, the extra room was worth trying. (Just paying to switch to a suite would have cost over $4000 - our bid cost less than half that.)

 

Also, watch out if you do decide to bid. When I go to the bid page, mid-range bids on the top classes (Haven) are already there (which I frankly consider sleazy on NCL's part). You have to move the slider to "no bid" if you see that also or you could wind up paying more than you wanted for a cabin you don't want. (I read about that in another thread before bidding and was sure glad I did!)

[mand2240]

Successful bids that I have seen discussed have varied wildly. People with bids in the "fair' range have been disappointed, while my barely-above-minimum bid for a suite on the Pearl next week was successful (to my complete amazement). And bear in mind, there will probably be balcony cruisers who bid on a minisuite or suite so there will be additional balcony rooms available to lower-level rooms.

 

Best advice is really to bid what it is worth to you. I waffled over even a minimum bid, but finally decided that for 4 adults, the extra room was worth trying. (Just paying to switch to a suite would have cost over $4000 - our bid cost less than half that.)

 

Also, watch out if you do decide to bid. When I go to the bid page, mid-range bids on the top classes (Haven) are already there (which I frankly consider sleazy on NCL's part). You have to move the slider to "no bid" if you see that also or you could wind up paying more than you wanted for a cabin you don't want. (I read about that in another thread before bidding and was sure glad I did!)

 

Great advice. Thank you for the reply!