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What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid


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Enjoy your new cabin and the canal transit.  We sail on Dec 9, 2018 and are still awaiting NCL’s response.  They lowered the price today, on the the cabins we bid on, so assuming they will wait until see if that results in any new bookings before handing out upgrades based on the bids...but who really knows!

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On 10/21/2018 at 10:28 AM, xcell said:

For those sailing on the Escape Dec 21 -- there's over 17 haven suites up for grabs....start your bidding!

 

 

I saw that too! The cruise seems super light which means they will probably drop prices soon. Not sure if I should bid higher now or just wait to see if i can buy an upgrade to Haven outright. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Wizpharm2 said:

Enjoy your new cabin and the canal transit.  We sail on Dec 9, 2018 and are still awaiting NCL’s response.  They lowered the price today, on the the cabins we bid on, so assuming they will wait until see if that results in any new bookings before handing out upgrades based on the bids...but who really knows!

I've been watching your sailing, too.  It has been much more popular than the one I am on.  I thought they might free up some insides on our trip so they could resell them.  Best of luck.  

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Going on the Sun's November 12 cruise to Cuba and the Southern Caribbean. Bid $240 for an upgrade from an Oslo Deck Oceanview to a Balcony, and $290 (I think) for a Mini-Suite. Just got an email saying the Balcony bid was accepted. w00t!

Edited by RaiderDuck
The name of the ship might be helpful...
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46 minutes ago, RaiderDuck said:

Going on the Sun's November 12 cruise to Cuba and the Southern Caribbean. Bid $240 for an upgrade from an Oslo Deck Oceanview to a Balcony, and $290 (I think) for a Mini-Suite. Just got an email saying the Balcony bid was accepted. w00t!

Congrats and enjoy your cruise.  I love the Sun.

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I am confused about this bidding process. I booked a sailing on the Star that was mostly sold out. My only option when I booked was a GTY Mini suite. Despite the cruise being sold out, I received an offer to bid.  I would have purchased a suite had one been available. They are still showing as sold out. Why the bidding dance, and is there any hope at all? 

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Welcome to my world! Don’t get it and do not accept that maybe they will have a cancellation. Maybe at the very last minute, but my situation, as yours was a few months before sailing. Data mining - thats it- hard to convince me otherwise. So I pulled the bid. 

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17 minutes ago, travelgals said:

Welcome to my world! Don’t get it and do not accept that maybe they will have a cancellation. Maybe at the very last minute, but my situation, as yours was a few months before sailing. Data mining - thats it- hard to convince me otherwise. So I pulled the bid. 

getting ready to pull my bid as well, all and all our bid amount plus stateroom amount equals about 80% of a purchasing a balcony outright and ncl still wont accept,  they are just ticking off their client base.

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1 hour ago, Newleno said:

getting ready to pull my bid as well, all and all our bid amount plus stateroom amount equals about 80% of a purchasing a balcony outright and ncl still wont accept,  they are just ticking off their client base.

It’s business.  Why take 80% when they could get 100%?  They can wait till the last minute in case someone books a last minute cruise at full price.

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44 minutes ago, erdoran said:

It’s business.  Why take 80% when they could get 100%?  They can wait till the last minute in case someone books a last minute cruise at full price.

I was thinking of pulling my bid, but your post solidified it,  NCL will not get another $520 of revenue out of me for the bid and I will definitely not pay any services charges, $435.  For a total of $955.  This is the only way the NCL clan will learn to treat customers with respect.

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Here we are - minus 5 days out and a good # of folks on the Roll Call still waiting to see if their bids are successful or not, just about everything from Haven down - and given what I've come to learn ... the vendor/NCL "possibly" standing firm, 3 days from the deadline to upgrade or expire/decline the offer, some of which - IMHO - rather reasonable, given the unsold inventory shown.  I think they took some for Havens & Spas, maybe some Mini's.  

 

Below is a snapshot of prices - noticed that Inside & Oceanviews no longer has a single supplement - as of 2 days ago, I/S dropped from $599 to $579, yesterday down to $499 and this evening to $399 for solo. OV was a little higher, but it's now @ $549 ... all of these are p/p SailAway GTY rates, no choice in cabin assignment.  Balcony (SA) at $599 but single supplement still apply ... there are still 13 AFT balcony available for new bookings, 15 shown this morning - 1 booked sometime today by a solo CC'er joining from the Mid-Atlantic area.  

 

Hence, it looked like our fellow CC'er bidding will continue to hit the keyboards and/or touch-screen tomorrow to refresh & see if "processing" will come up.  I can also personally vouch that one bid out of two (not mine) was accepted early last week - upgraded to a BA (mid-ship Balcony on a higher deck) - will only release the "winning" amount later, to not bump up the other outstanding bids.  Have fun analyzing this one. 

 

Last minute bargain cruisers - this is your chance for a Halloween sailing, docking late afternoon/evenng on Wed. - be advised, it is a shortened 2 nights Bermuda stay - and the odds of sailing out against a Nor-Easter.  Forecast models should be more conclusive by this time tomorrow ... heads up, sailing north or south really aren't options either with the weather.  

 

The Gem's Florida/GSC/Nassau prices dropped for this weekend earlier & there are still cabins for a longer Carib/repo itinerary for the Breakaway, also sailing out.  

 

2018 NCL Escape Halloween - Oct 23 last minute price drop.jpg

Edited by mking8288
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10 hours ago, Newleno said:

I was thinking of pulling my bid, but your post solidified it,  NCL will not get another $520 of revenue out of me for the bid and I will definitely not pay any services charges, $435.  For a total of $955.  This is the only way the NCL clan will learn to treat customers with respect.

 

 

I am a little confused about your hostility. In what way is NCL being disrespectful by allowing bidding on your nearly sold out sailing? Bidding gives people an opportunity to upgrade to staterooms they might not otherwise be able to afford or wish spend additional money on. It doesn't take anything away from anyone. People who can afford to and wish to spend the money can still purchase the staterooms outright at full price, if they are available. If the rooms are not available, NCL can use the Upgrade Advantage Program to fill last minute cancellations. And while you may have a negative perception of data mining, knowing what people are willing to bid on stateroom categories will allow NCL to make more accurate pricing decisions moving forward. If you don't want to share that information with NCL, then simply don't bid. I don't see where NCL is doing anything shady or ill intentioned in this process.

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This has been my first time bidding on an upgrade.  I read a lot of the first monster thread but some of it I scanned because of the sheer volume.  Once your upgrade goes through that's it, right?  I have no interest in doing so, but if someone wanted to call and pay for a higher category it wouldn't be possible?  I am trying to figure it out, like a lot of first timers.

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17 minutes ago, heelfan94 said:

This has been my first time bidding on an upgrade.  I read a lot of the first monster thread but some of it I scanned because of the sheer volume.  Once your upgrade goes through that's it, right?  I have no interest in doing so, but if someone wanted to call and pay for a higher category it wouldn't be possible?  I am trying to figure it out, like a lot of first timers.

As long as its not too close to sailing I don't see why you shouldn't be able to. Never hurts to ask!

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27 minutes ago, heelfan94 said:

This has been my first time bidding on an upgrade.  I read a lot of the first monster thread but some of it I scanned because of the sheer volume.  Once your upgrade goes through that's it, right?  I have no interest in doing so, but if someone wanted to call and pay for a higher category it wouldn't be possible?  I am trying to figure it out, like a lot of first timers.

 

You won't receive notification that your bid is declined until 48 prior to sailing and it would likely be too late to call and do a direct upgrade at that point. If your bid is accepted, according to the FAQ, it is final and you will have no further opportunity to upgrade. But I suppose it couldn't hurt to call and ask to upgrade to an even higher category for full price, if there is still enough time before your sailing.

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The interesting thing for me is they wont allow me to upgrade, they say as I booked through a TA I must speak to them.

 

I did book this online (in UK) and paid in full a year ago, right away I put my booking in myncl, I have since had no contact with TA. 

 

What is odd is not that they won't allow me to directly upgrade (I understand the reasons) but more that they sent me an email inviting me to bid, I don't understand the difference they allow an upgrade through one route but not the other.

 

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3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

 

I am a little confused about your hostility. In what way is NCL being disrespectful by allowing bidding on your nearly sold out sailing? Bidding gives people an opportunity to upgrade to staterooms they might not otherwise be able to afford or wish spend additional money on. It doesn't take anything away from anyone. People who can afford to and wish to spend the money can still purchase the staterooms outright at full price, if they are available. If the rooms are not available, NCL can use the Upgrade Advantage Program to fill last minute cancellations. And while you may have a negative perception of data mining, knowing what people are willing to bid on stateroom categories will allow NCL to make more accurate pricing decisions moving forward. If you don't want to share that information with NCL, then simply don't bid. I don't see where NCL is doing anything shady or ill intentioned in this process.

We all have our own opinions, I had my bid in for two weeks,(that is plenty of time to decide) I pulled it, not playing the NCL game, customers revolt, revolution to change their policies.  If I bid the maximum ($400) it would have been more than a balcony room outright, from the website, they gladly would take more through bidding than buying outright.  Outrageous, passengers revolt! Yes we can Yes We can, after all, these cruise companies in order to stay in business just have to break even.   It is really about the passengers.  We should have passengers on their board of directors, this is our cruiseline.

Edited by Newleno
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25 minutes ago, Newleno said:

We all have our own opinions, I had my bid in for two weeks,(that is plenty of time to decide) I pulled it, not playing the NCL game, customers revolt, revolution to change their policies.  If I bid the maximum ($400) it would have been more than a balcony room outright, from the website, they gladly would take more through bidding than buying outright.  Outrageous, passengers revolt! Yes we can Yes We can, after all, these cruise companies in order to stay in business just have to break even.   It is really about the passengers.  We should have passengers on their board of directors, this is our cruiseline.

You absolutely have a right to your opinion.  The two week rule is not how NCL plays the game.  It seems most of the upgrade offers are handled in bulk (from what I've read) and it happens close to each sailing.  Bidding maximum may or may not help you out.  It depends on how full the ship is, what is available, etc.  There are a lot of elements involved.  My advice would be to submit the bid and see how it plays out.  

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1 hour ago, Newleno said:

We all have our own opinions, I had my bid in for two weeks,(that is plenty of time to decide) I pulled it, not playing the NCL game, customers revolt, revolution to change their policies.  If I bid the maximum ($400) it would have been more than a balcony room outright, from the website, they gladly would take more through bidding than buying outright.  Outrageous, passengers revolt! Yes we can Yes We can, after all, these cruise companies in order to stay in business just have to break even.   It is really about the passengers.  We should have passengers on their board of directors, this is our cruiseline.

Outrageous? Revolt? Really? I think you are wayyy over dramatizing this. If you don't want to pay for an upgrade. DON'T. It's that simple. They are a business and the goal of a business is to make money. If you don't like that take YOUR money elsewhere and leave the upgrades to others who want them. 

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