Lara1008 Posted April 7, 2019 #2851 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Hey all! We (family of 4) are sailing on the Bliss April 14th- Confirmed Mid BA cabin on the 13th deck, gonna be tight for us as we have 2 teenagers. Hoping one of our 3 Haven bids will be accepted...placed bids on the Penthouse Aft, the 2 Bdrm and then the Owners Suite. There wasn't even an option to bid on the Haven Spa Suite category...so they must be legitimately sold out? Put in a strong bid for the Aft Suite ($1500), Fair bids on the other 2 ($1800). I have been checking the site daily and All Havens have been showing as Sold Out for a couple of weeks now and they were showing that the day we got our invitation to bid on them. As of a few days ago all Balconies are showing as Sold Out except the Connecting Balcony rooms. I had also put in a bid for the Forward facing Penthouse Haven one but cancelled that bid when i noticed it said it had an 'obstructed' view. They offered for us to bid on a Mini Suite and a Spa Mini Suite as well, but after comparing sq footage there wasn't much difference, like 5 -15 sq to justify bidding on those....if we are gonna put a bid in, might as well bid for something a lot more substantial! If its meant to be it will be....if not, well it's ok. We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary...have never sailed with NCL before, nor have we ever been out to the West Coast, just hoping for a nice, smooth, safe and relaxing trip! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Nclgetawaymenhoney Posted April 7, 2019 #2852 Share Posted April 7, 2019 13 minutes ago, Lara1008 said: Hey all! We (family of 4) are sailing on the Bliss April 14th- Confirmed Mid BA cabin on the 13th deck, gonna be tight for us as we have 2 teenagers. Hoping one of our 3 Haven bids will be accepted...placed bids on the Penthouse Aft, the 2 Bdrm and then the Owners Suite. There wasn't even an option to bid on the Haven Spa Suite category...so they must be legitimately sold out? Put in a strong bid for the Aft Suite ($1500), Fair bids on the other 2 ($1800). I have been checking the site daily and All Havens have been showing as Sold Out for a couple of weeks now and they were showing that the day we got our invitation to bid on them. As of a few days ago all Balconies are showing as Sold Out except the Connecting Balcony rooms. I had also put in a bid for the Forward facing Penthouse Haven one but cancelled that bid when i noticed it said it had an 'obstructed' view. They offered for us to bid on a Mini Suite and a Spa Mini Suite as well, but after comparing sq footage there wasn't much difference, like 5 -15 sq to justify bidding on those....if we are gonna put a bid in, might as well bid for something a lot more substantial! If its meant to be it will be....if not, well it's ok. We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary...have never sailed with NCL before, nor have we ever been out to the West Coast, just hoping for a nice, smooth, safe and relaxing trip! Haven spa suite won't accommodate four which is why it was never offered 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kicker43 Posted April 7, 2019 #2853 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Has anyone received a response to their upgrade offer for the Norwegian escape sailing out of New York on April 21? I submitted upgrade offers for all Havens. I am currently in a mid-ship balcony stateroom. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartman3132 Posted April 8, 2019 #2854 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Has anyone heard about upgrade offers for the Gem out of Boston on the 19th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kicker43 Posted April 8, 2019 #2855 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I comment yesterday and receive my upgrade just now. My bid was accepted going from a mid-ship balcony to Haven forward facing penthouse for April 21st Norwegian escape!!! so excited!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY1sttimers Posted April 8, 2019 #2856 Share Posted April 8, 2019 17 minutes ago, Kicker43 said: I comment yesterday and receive my upgrade just now. My bid was accepted going from a mid-ship balcony to Haven forward facing penthouse for April 21st Norwegian escape!!! so excited!!! Congrats!! I’m hoping for the same luck on the breakaway in May. What did you bid if you don’t mind sharing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kicker43 Posted April 8, 2019 #2857 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Not at all the bids were as follows: Haven courtyard & Haven Spa- 1,200$/person Haven Forward Penthouse Suite- 1,400$/person Haven Aft Penthouse suite-1,500$/person Haven 2 br- 1,800$/person Also, on this thread I read that someone had similar bids to mine and they found out roughly 13-14 days prior to sailing which is about the same timeframe from when I just found out. So when bidding I believe if you go out of the fair range and into the good range you will have some success. Additionally, the availability was pretty open. There was Haven spa- 10 rooms left Haven courtyard- 14 rooms left Haven forward penthouse-7 rooms left Haven aft penthouse- 9 rooms left Haven 2 br-7 rooms left 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwnurse Posted April 8, 2019 #2858 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Just received an upgrade from a Balcony to Haven Courtyard Balcony for 4/21. Fair range. Happy to find out this early. Was worried I'd hear 2 days before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntersh2 Posted April 8, 2019 #2859 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I just got Off Getaway and I was one of a small few (talked up a storm with everyone in Haven Bar and Courtyard. The Getaway, Breakaway and Escape have tons of inventory and almost all. At least 95% of everyone spoke w and heard talking bid in, so keep this in mind. I would have never paid 1900 more for spa if I could do again from (full price paid) mid ship balcony. Never again.....people got in H4s for price I paid. Or 100 more. Crazy !! So if that much inventory..I'd study hard and bid accordingly. People winning spa for 1350 more. From balcony..and as it goes on should get less to bid once April vacas are done in USA. Late April/May's judge accordingly.. good luck all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanishguy1970 Posted April 8, 2019 #2860 Share Posted April 8, 2019 We have a bid for a spa balcony and spa mini suite on our upcoming cruise on the 27 however the ship is sold out ( Epic) and it does not even show up when you search for it, so we are doubtful we will get anything. We are very happy with out Balcony Stateroom and we know last minute cancellations can happen, so we will stay tuned :-).... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfessorMA Posted April 9, 2019 #2861 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Any one heard back about upgrade to adt/forward penthouse on Jade TA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linga Posted April 9, 2019 #2862 Share Posted April 9, 2019 On 4/5/2019 at 7:37 AM, linga said: I'm On an April sailing of Breakaway. We had an aft balcony room and bid on both a Haven Aft and the 2 bedroom Haven because we wanted to add a 3rd person and needed at least a one bedroom unit. There were tons of empty rooms on this cruise, so I thought we had a good chance. I kept upping our bid, at the end I had bid $1600 each. Then last week, all of the Haven rooms we wanted started disappearing rather quickly. The 2 bedrooms sold out in one day. We bit the bullet and just upgraded because we really wanted the room. By the time I upgraded, there were only 2 Haven Afts left. There were 7 a week prior. Not sure where all those Haven rooms went, but we weren't successful in getting a bid approved. Still very excited to have the Haven Aft and that huge balcony! Can't wait!! I found out that the Royal Oasis ship cancelled their cruise, so a bunch of folks booked our ship within a few days. No wonder the inventory disappeared so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ella2 Posted April 9, 2019 #2863 Share Posted April 9, 2019 On the Bliss, 4/21/19, 7-night Mexican Riviera. Got upgraded today from a BF (balcony guarantee) to a spa balcony for basically the cost of the spa pass. I'm happy with that. It's also the EARLIEST I've gotten upgrades (my two previous Haven upgrades came 2-3 days prior to sailing). Havens have been gone for a while, mini-suites disappeared within the past week (my other bids), so knew it was a spa balcony or nothing. I'm happy with the result and looking forward to the thermal suite! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjtravelnews Posted April 10, 2019 #2864 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Just wanted to share what happened to me in case anyone else can take advantage of this scenario: Hubby and I were booked in a balcony cabin and daughter and boyfriend in a second balcony cabin. Though we are past final payment, I have been watching prices every few days. Our initial plan was to purchase the spa passes before we board to get the discount. I put a bid in for a spa balcony for the cost of two spa passes ($400 total) to see if we would have any chance of getting the upgrade. Turns out there was a pretty big drop in prices, bringing the cost of a spa balcony down to about $250 more than the cost of our regular balcony cabin. (Remember, the online cost of the spa pass is $199 - so that's only a little more than the cost of one pass, plus a an upgraded room.) Did a mock booking and saw there were lots of spa balconies still available. My TA called NCL. First they offered a complimentary upgrade to a mini-suite, but I really wanted the balcony. So asked if we could upgrade to 2 spa balconies and pay the difference in price. They said YES!!!! And because we booked before the price increase for the gratuities on the beverage package, the total cost to upgrade was only $200 per room!!!! On top of that, we were able to get two rooms next to each other (there were several cabins between us when we booked the original balconies). As soon as I got confirmation of the upgraded spa balconies, I went into the bidding page and cancelled the online bid for the upgrade. Bottom line, you may be able to snag the upgrade sooner - and potentially for a lower price than you expected. We actually saved $200 per room by not having to purchase the spa passes or paying for the upgrade through the bidding system. Now we are really excited for our Bermuda cruise! For anyone who tries this - don't forget the cancel the bid on the upgrade! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG POOCH Posted April 10, 2019 #2865 Share Posted April 10, 2019 So Last night on our FB Roll Call page, someone claimed that they got an upgrade to a balcony on the Epic 4/13.... I thought the ship was sold out, so I had lost all hope of getting our haven upgrade.... Now my hopes are up again! Really loved the Haven the last time we upgraded. Anyone else on the 4/13 Epic cruise hear anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap Posted April 10, 2019 #2866 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I've been monitoring NCL's webpage since I was invited to bid and for my sailing, there are a lot of cabins still available (in some categories, the max of 15 are showing--telling me there are possibly more if I understand it correctly). From Insides up to Havens. Should I just call them directly and offer what I bid for the upgrade I would like? Or wait it out? We are 72 days out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare All-ready2cruise Posted April 10, 2019 #2867 Share Posted April 10, 2019 It's always a good idea to keep your eye on the prices of your desired cabin(s). As far as offering to pay the difference, I'd simply ask if you could pay to upgrade to XYZ cabin. If it's possible, they'll give you a price you'll need to pay. The reason I suggest this is b/c sometimes it's less than what you'd expect. (wouldn't that be great?) Enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallnthensome Posted April 10, 2019 #2868 Share Posted April 10, 2019 2 hours ago, chapchap said: I've been monitoring NCL's webpage since I was invited to bid and for my sailing, there are a lot of cabins still available (in some categories, the max of 15 are showing--telling me there are possibly more if I understand it correctly). From Insides up to Havens. Should I just call them directly and offer what I bid for the upgrade I would like? Or wait it out? We are 72 days out. You can call if you wish but thinking that you can negotiate with them over the phone is a waste of time. There’s no reason for them to allow you to skip over the bidding process and hundreds of others who are also bidding like you. If they allowed that customer service would have thousands of calls a day by customers wanting to skip the bid program and turn it into let’s make a deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjtravelnews Posted April 10, 2019 #2869 Share Posted April 10, 2019 30 minutes ago, tallnthensome said: You can call if you wish but thinking that you can negotiate with them over the phone is a waste of time. There’s no reason for them to allow you to skip over the bidding process and hundreds of others who are also bidding like you. If they allowed that customer service would have thousands of calls a day by customers wanting to skip the bid program and turn it into let’s make a deal. See my comment above. I had no problem getting upgraded from a balcony cabin to a spa cabin - for less than what I originally bid and less than the cost of two spa passes. I did this on a Breakaway cruise two years ago, also. I think if the TA calls, they are much more likely to get the offer accepted. It's worth a try. There are still lots of unsold cabins on our cruise, which is surprising because I would think it's peak travel time (June 16 to Bermuda on the Escape). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallnthensome Posted April 10, 2019 #2870 Share Posted April 10, 2019 42 minutes ago, bjtravelnews said: See my comment above. I had no problem getting upgraded from a balcony cabin to a spa cabin - for less than what I originally bid and less than the cost of two spa passes. I did this on a Breakaway cruise two years ago, also. I think if the TA calls, they are much more likely to get the offer accepted. It's worth a try. There are still lots of unsold cabins on our cruise, which is surprising because I would think it's peak travel time (June 16 to Bermuda on the Escape). I saw your post but still don’t see how your situation applies to the person, chapchap, I was quoting ....... Nowhere does the other person mention price drops on his cabin like your scenario. It’s nice that NCL helped you out but doesn’t just mean that everyone of the thousands of people who want to bid could and should start calling customer service to throw out negotiating numbers thus bypassing the bidding process. If your cruise price drops considerably you may have options like you did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Laszlo Posted April 10, 2019 #2871 Share Posted April 10, 2019 2 hours ago, tallnthensome said: You can call if you wish but thinking that you can negotiate with them over the phone is a waste of time. There’s no reason for them to allow you to skip over the bidding process and hundreds of others who are also bidding like you. If they allowed that customer service would have thousands of calls a day by customers wanting to skip the bid program and turn it into let’s make a deal. Exactly why NCL has moved to the bidding system. They needed a room full of people just to field all the calls from pax and TA's looking for an upgrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjtravelnews Posted April 10, 2019 #2872 Share Posted April 10, 2019 1 hour ago, tallnthensome said: I saw your post but still don’t see how your situation applies to the person, chapchap, I was quoting ....... Nowhere does the other person mention price drops on his cabin like your scenario. It’s nice that NCL helped you out but doesn’t just mean that everyone of the thousands of people who want to bid could and should start calling customer service to throw out negotiating numbers thus bypassing the bidding process. If your cruise price drops considerably you may have options like you did. See your point - sorry if I misconstrued the original post to which you refer. Agree, it would be a nightmare if people suddenly all started calling in to bid for a better room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coachyo Posted April 10, 2019 #2873 Share Posted April 10, 2019 So on the Gem the H1 H2 cabins are “sold out”. There are 1/2 of the inventory for H3 H4 H5 we are under 60 days any chance these stay available and go to bids? Just hoping and wondering. Also is summer a high time for cruises and selling out or is it usually holidays? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Nclgetawaymenhoney Posted April 11, 2019 #2874 Share Posted April 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Coachyo said: So on the Gem the H1 H2 cabins are “sold out”. There are 1/2 of the inventory for H3 H4 H5 we are under 60 days any chance these stay available and go to bids? Just hoping and wondering. Also is summer a high time for cruises and selling out or is it usually holidays? Thanks Bermuda cruises in the summer months are historically always sold out, plus it's the first time in years that it's the gem out of Boston instead of the dawn this year, plus smaller ship than breakaway class. my suggestion is book what your comfortable paying, then put in a bid with upgrade advantage, be patient, watch inventory, and maybe you'll be successful or if not enjoy your lovely cruise in a balcony to Bermuda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG POOCH Posted April 11, 2019 #2875 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Well, 2 days out and no upgrade, but page still says pending.... Abandon all hope? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now