What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[itsbaker]

I've been out of the loop and just learning about this upgrade "auction." We are booked in a Balcony Spa (B9). I got the message about the upgrade bids and every Haven class is listed, but the NCL website when booking says Haven is sold out.  I'm assuming that this is just a form for every cruise.  This is probably a stupid question, but does anyone think it would still be possible to get a Haven Spa room upgrade if they are listed as sold out on the website?

[JamieLogical]

22 minutes ago, havenfan said:

This may seem a bit weird but, can you narrow down the time of day when the change happened?  I'm on the April 7 Pearl cruise and I've noticed that prices dropped for the suites on each of the last five Mondays between 11:00 and noon EST.  I'm just wondering if they run some batch jobs at that time of day (not necessarily on Mondays).

 

I am sorry, but  can't. The best I can do is say sometime between 10:30 yesterday morning and maybe 9:00 this morning?

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, itsbaker said:

I've been out of the loop and just learning about this upgrade "auction." We are booked in a Balcony Spa (B9). I got the message about the upgrade bids and every Haven class is listed, but the NCL website when booking says Haven is sold out.  I'm assuming that this is just a form for every cruise.  This is probably a stupid question, but does anyone think it would still be possible to get a Haven Spa room upgrade if they are listed as sold out on the website?

 

Anything is possible. A last-minute cancellation might free up a room. Chances are probably pretty low, but no really reason NOT to bid if you have the money to spare should you win.

 

As for the ability to bid on sold out categories, there's no real reason for NCL to not allow you to do so. Like I mentioned, they might get last minute cancellations, so having bidders to fill those gaps is useful. Plus, even if there's no room to process a dingle upgrade for a sailing, they can use the data generated through the bidding program to inform future pricing decisions.

[RedRover96]

I'm not a computer person, spreadsheet specialist, etc, etc.  However, I believe I've read where an independent company handles all the "bidding" with some kind of algorithms process (???).  And once again with my limited expertise I really doubt there is "someone" figuring all this out.  It's a computer with all kind of algorithms (for lack of better terms) making the decisions.  It gets down to making just 1 extra dollar for NCL is what’s going to be spit out by the computer.  Maybe someone with real expertise can chime in????

[tallnthensome]

Norwegian Bliss 15 day Panama Canal for March 30th. Just won an upgrade. We are a family of four that went from a lowly Family Inside to a much larger Family Ocean View. Bid was $175 PP for a total of $350. It may not seem like a major upgrade but it is for us. It gives us double the space and we have a lot of luggage as well as a bigger bathroom. $350 is pretty darn good in my opinion for four people for 15 days. Wanted a balcony but am plenty happy with this as the price would have been a lot more for it if purchased outright. 🙂

[MandC2019]

Congratulations tallnthensome - for sure the extra room will come in handy    We're on the Star 14 day Panama Canal March 30th and hoping we'll be as lucky as you guys.  Enjoy your cruise!

[Greenpea2]

46 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Norwegian Bliss 15 day Panama Canal for March 30th. Just won an upgrade. We are a family of four that went from a lowly Family Inside to a much larger Family Ocean View. Bid was $175 PP for a total of $350. It may not seem like a major upgrade but it is for us. It gives us double the space and we have a lot of luggage as well as a bigger bathroom. $350 is pretty darn good in my opinion for four people for 15 days. Wanted a balcony but am plenty happy with this as the price would have been a lot more for it if purchased outright. 🙂

That's excellent! Enjoy!

[Ella2]

5 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

I'm not a computer person, spreadsheet specialist, etc, etc.  However, I believe I've read where an independent company handles all the "bidding" with some kind of algorithms process (???).  And once again with my limited expertise I really doubt there is "someone" figuring all this out.  It's a computer with all kind of algorithms (for lack of better terms) making the decisions.  It gets down to making just 1 extra dollar for NCL is what’s going to be spit out by the computer.  Maybe someone with real expertise can chime in????

 

The company is called PlusGrade and they handle upgrade bidding for a multitude of airlines, and currently two cruise lines...Norwegian was the first, and Royal Caribbean has followed suit.

 

The bottom line is they are trying to maximize revenue.  You will hear many different opinions on exactly how they do that.  I am sure that Norwegian can input some of their own parameters (for example, airlines can give preference to high level frequent flyers in the bidding) but I have not seen anything that suggests Norwegian does anything like that with their upgrade bidding.  Doesn't mean they are NOT, though.  The reality is that none of us knows for sure, but we do all enjoy speculating. 😉 

[Mickey74]

On the Escape March 31st - upgraded from balcony to H5 today!  $680 per person - woohoo!  First time in the Haven so very, very excited. 

[pyrrhus]

7 hours ago, RedRover96 said:

I'm not a computer person, spreadsheet specialist, etc, etc.  However, I believe I've read where an independent company handles all the "bidding" with some kind of algorithms process (???).  And once again with my limited expertise I really doubt there is "someone" figuring all this out.  It's a computer with all kind of algorithms (for lack of better terms) making the decisions.  It gets down to making just 1 extra dollar for NCL is what’s going to be spit out by the computer.  Maybe someone with real expertise can chime in????

Unlike an airline where an upgrade in class could mean an increase in costs to the carrier.  There really isn't an increase in costs for the cruise line.  Do they furlough butlers if the suites weren't full?  So I bet the algorithm is pretty simple.  Availability vs those asking for an upgrade.  Of course as demand outstrips supply you start adding in the other facts, higher bid, higher initial price paid, higher status etc...  Of course that is the magic no-one knows.   Like with everything in life, someone will eventually tell people.

[Ella2]

1 hour ago, Mickey74 said:

On the Escape March 31st - upgraded from balcony to H5 today!  $680 per person - woohoo!  First time in the Haven so very, very excited. 

 

Congrats!  That's a great price and you are going to LOVE it...you will be spoiled.  I've upgraded balcony to Haven on Escape and Getaway and both experiences have been awesome.  Enjoy!

 

[huntersh2]

13 minutes ago, Ella2 said:

 

Congrats!  That's a great price and you are going to LOVE it...you will be spoiled.  I've upgraded balcony to Haven on Escape and Getaway and both experiences have been awesome.  Enjoy!

 

Yes wow 680. Thats insanely good. It seems like H5 is at least 800 pp. I've seen as far as 1100 pp. Great price. I paid 800 pp for Haven Spa, which seems like a lesser room. Congrats

[tallnthensome]

Our Bliss cruise has been showing sold out for a week except for a few insides, nothing else left. A couple days before there were plenty of cabins available, not a lot, but some.  Yesterday, upgrades including mine went out. There must be something to NCL holding some cabins for upgrades. Don't be discouraged to bid on categories that are shown as sold out. I did and still got one. 

[❤️2cruise]

We just received an upgrade on the Getaway, 4/27   .  $200 pp from minisuite to spa minisuite.  This saved us $79 pp for the spa pass which we were going to buy anyway.

[TrumpyNor]

My bid just got accepted for our cruise in May (Star), paid $385 p.p. to upgrade from inside cabin to balcony cabin for a 12 days cruise. Ended up with a BA balcony cabin that currently is listed online for double the price I have paid in total, so I am very happy with that. Did however choose to bid "strong" when placing the bid, to give myself a higher chance of getting a balcony cabin. 

[hardtohide]

7 hours ago, ❤️2cruise said:

We just received an upgrade on the Getaway, 4/27   .  $200 pp from minisuite to spa minisuite.  This saved us $79 pp for the spa pass which we were going to buy anyway.

We love the spa on the Getaway.  We ALWAYS buy the passes.  It's the cost of an excursion and you get to use it all week....

[slugg]

On 3/26/2019 at 3:50 PM, RedRover96 said:

I'm not a computer person, spreadsheet specialist, etc, etc.  However, I believe I've read where an independent company handles all the "bidding" with some kind of algorithms process (???).  And once again with my limited expertise I really doubt there is "someone" figuring all this out.  It's a computer with all kind of algorithms (for lack of better terms) making the decisions.  It gets down to making just 1 extra dollar for NCL is what’s going to be spit out by the computer.  Maybe someone with real expertise can chime in????

Sure. I can chime in. First, a little about me. I’m a software engineer with a background in mathematics, machine learning, pattern recognition, and reverse engineering. I’ve been doing this for roughly 20 years. Making “all kinds of algorithms,” as you put it, is what I do. 

 

Given a sufficient amount of data, yes, I could reverse engineer PlusGrade’s algorithms and know how to beat it. However, I don’t have the data.

 

It doesn’t maximize NCL’s bottom line, per se. Maybe that’s what the developers intended, but like any software, I guarantee you that there are bugs. It can be exploited, but first we need enough data.

[slugg]

26 minutes ago, hardtohide said:

We love the spa on the Getaway.  We ALWAYS buy the passes.  It's the cost of an excursion and you get to use it all week....

Off topic for this thread, but I must say that if it were truly the cost of an average excursion, I would have already bought passes. $200 per person seems a bit much, IMO. 

[Theresa522]

How long does it take to get declined??  I placed a couple of bids over a week a go. Our cruise is April 9th 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

39 minutes ago, Theresa522 said:

How long does it take to get declined??  I placed a couple of bids over a week a go. Our cruise is April 9th 

You can get upgrade up to 48 hours prior, if declined you will get an email around 2 to 4 pm two days prior to cruise

[huntersh2]

1 hour ago, slugg said:

Sure. I can chime in. First, a little about me. I’m a software engineer with a background in mathematics, machine learning, pattern recognition, and reverse engineering. I’ve been doing this for roughly 20 years. Making “all kinds of algorithms,” as you put it, is what I do. 

 

Given a sufficient amount of data, yes, I could reverse engineer PlusGrade’s algorithms and know how to beat it. However, I don’t have the data.

 

It doesn’t maximize NCL’s bottom line, per se. Maybe that’s what the developers intended, but like any software, I guarantee you that there are bugs. It can be exploited, but first we need enough data.

Slugg. Your hired get us the data and solve the algorithm. And get us all the cheat codes for all access Haven!! 😀😀😀😀😂😂

[huntersh2]

1 hour ago, Theresa522 said:

How long does it take to get declined??  I placed a couple of bids over a week a go. Our cruise is April 9th 

Usually Tuesday ish of week travelled so you are a ways out. Say April 2nd. But Tuesday leave date seems odd. So I'm referring to Sat and Sun leaves. For Sun leave I recd mine Tuesday afternoon..around 1pm

[AdoraBelle]

I know this is slightly off topic, but the bidding system wanted me to pay very close to what it would cost me for the upgrade anyway, as the MINUMUM bid for an H6. Meanwhile, I noticed there were H6 suites available on almost every deck of my upcoming cruise.

 

Today, I guess their nerve finally broke and there was a massive price drop. I called and paid for the upgrade to an H6 for $500 total, and I got to pick my room.

 

If I had used their bidding system, the MINIMUM bid they would have accepted would have been $1000. It’s still set to that today.

 

Check the prices with mock bookings EVERY day.

Edited March 28, 2019 by AdoraBelle

[huntersh2]

13 minutes ago, AdoraBelle said:

I know this is slightly off topic, but the bidding system wanted me to pay very close to what it would cost me for the upgrade anyway, as the MINUMUM bid for an H6. Meanwhile, I noticed there were H6 suites available on almost every deck of my upcoming cruise.

 

Today, I guess their nerve finally broke and there was a massive price drop. I called and paid for the upgrade to an H6 for $500 total, and I got to pick my room.

 

If I had used their bidding system, the MINIMUM bid they would have accepted would have been $1000. It’s still set to that today.

 

Check the prices with mock bookings EVERY day.

Adora what sailing ? Thanks 

[AdoraBelle]

1 minute ago, huntersh2 said:

Adora what sailing ? Thanks 

 

4/7 out of NOLA, but I notice a lot of April and May sailings are having price drops.