What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[SilkShirt]

NCL Bliss January 5th  14 night sailing. All Mini Suite and Haven cabins are sold out. I'm booked in a balcony.

How can I get an accepted bid to buy an upgrade??

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, SilkShirt said:

NCL Bliss January 5th  14 night sailing. All Mini Suite and Haven cabins are sold out. I'm booked in a balcony.

How can I get an accepted bid to buy an upgrade??

 

If all mini-suites and Havens are sold out, there likely isn't much to upgrade TO, but there can be last-minute cancellations, so you never know. Your bid would likely have to be very high to win a bid if there is a last-minute cancellation, though. If minis and Havens are completely sold out, you would be bidding against a LOT of people for one or two spots if they open up.

[SilkShirt]

Thanks Jamie. That's what I thought. 

[SilkShirt]

Some people have told me that NCL holds a few cabins for the bidding. This doesn't make any sense to me.

Why not sell them all at full price. Bidding is to get extra revenue by getting people who have paid in full to spend more 

on a empty cabin that's an upgrade from what they have. Plusgrade.com helps airlines and cruise lines fill seats, and empty cabins. It is interesting that all Haven and Minis are sold out and there are plenty of balconys and inside cabins available.

 

 

[nyc2pdx]

It doesn't make sense to me either.  Why not sell them at market price?  Then if they don't sell, then offer them for upgrades.

[JamieLogical]

I sincerely doubt that NCL holds any cabins for upgrades. They are in the business of making money. This whole bidding system is created to maximize the amount of money they can make. I have zero doubt that if they can sell a cabin for full price, they will.

[Bo77]

We cruising on Gem this December. 14 days thru holidays. We got offer to bid for upgrade to H4 or H1. I didn't bid on H4, there's not much difference for me between 2bd suite( which we reserved and paid for)  and H4 in Haven. But I was interested in H1. It says it's sold out. I called my very good TA and told her about my bid I placed for H1 but asked her why should I bid if it's sold out. She is very knowledgeable and she told me " I guarantee you that somebody canceled last minute and they didn't put it back for sale ( very expensive) but they put it for bid" Better chances for them to get money from bids compare to try to sell it for such a crazy amount within couple of weeks. I don't know if it's true or not, but makes sense. I checked the price of H1 same cruise, same dates, just next year -$60 000 (4ppl)for 2 weeks, . Who they will sell it to in such a short time? Don't get me wrong, H1 is beautiful villa but $60k for older ship??? Crazy. I did place a bid. I don't believe we'll get it, but nothing's wrong with trying 🙂 

My TA also told me, that they going purely for money, at least with higher cabins. Everything depends on how much you paid already and how much extra they can get from you. Of course availability on the cruise counts. Again, I don't know if it's true, but makes sense. 

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck with bidding!

Bo

[Trimone]

The best chance of getting a haven room is to book a cruise not starting at the original port, for example a ship leaving Copenhagen as its first port, there will be some passengers still on from Berlin not getting off until the second stop, if you have a bid and are boarding at Berlin you have more of a chance because they are not leaving that cabin empty to fall back in-line at Copenhagen.

Thats how I went from a spa balcony to H5 for £405 pp

[timf2001]

8 hours ago, Bo77 said:

We cruising on Gem this December. 14 days thru holidays. We got offer to bid for upgrade to H4 or H1. I didn't bid on H4, there's not much difference for me between 2bd suite( which we reserved and paid for)  and H4 in Haven. But I was interested in H1. It says it's sold out. I called my very good TA and told her about my bid I placed for H1 but asked her why should I bid if it's sold out. She is very knowledgeable and she told me " I guarantee you that somebody canceled last minute and they didn't put it back for sale ( very expensive) but they put it for bid" Better chances for them to get money from bids compare to try to sell it for such a crazy amount within couple of weeks. I don't know if it's true or not, but makes sense. I checked the price of H1 same cruise, same dates, just next year -$60 000 (4ppl)for 2 weeks, . Who they will sell it to in such a short time? Don't get me wrong, H1 is beautiful villa but $60k for older ship??? Crazy. I did place a bid. I don't believe we'll get it, but nothing's wrong with trying 🙂 

My TA also told me, that they going purely for money, at least with higher cabins. Everything depends on how much you paid already and how much extra they can get from you. Of course availability on the cruise counts. Again, I don't know if it's true, but makes sense. 

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck with bidding!

Bo

 

Your TA seems to think someone already cancelled the H1, but in all likelihood it's still booked and they are taking bids just in case someone cancels at the last minute.  NCL always takes bids on all categories, regardless of how many cabins are truly available.

[havanadaydreaming]

Offered $50 received balcony upgrade yesterday, 5 days before sailing. 

[davencl]

4 hours ago, timf2001 said:

 

Your TA seems to think someone already cancelled the H1, but in all likelihood it's still booked and they are taking bids just in case someone cancels at the last minute.  NCL always takes bids on all categories, regardless of how many cabins are truly available.

Yes highly unlikely it would cancel as the entire fare would be forfeited.  Not impossible(could be canceled due to illness or death) but highly unlikely.

[All-ready2cruise]

37 minutes ago, davencl said:

Yes highly unlikely it would cancel as the entire fare would be forfeited.  Not impossible(could be canceled due to illness or death) but highly unlikely.

Agreed, IMO, it's just more data mining.  TAs don't always get the "scoop". 

 

 

[Donquiote60]

Just got my rejection emails from Norwegian that none of my bids were accepted a couple hours ago. Sailing in two days on the Bliss. 

 

All were in the poor range and it's looking like it's a sold out ship, anyways happy with what I have and I thought it was nice that I got an email at least to let me know for certain. 

[JamieLogical]

56 minutes ago, Donquiote60 said:

Just got my rejection emails from Norwegian that none of my bids were accepted a couple hours ago. Sailing in two days on the Bliss. 

 

All were in the poor range and it's looking like it's a sold out ship, anyways happy with what I have and I thought it was nice that I got an email at least to let me know for certain. 

 

Same for me. Sailing on the Bliss the Sunday and all four Haven bids (currently in a BA) were rejected, but the ship has been sold out for weeks, so not surprised.

[Donquiote60]

16 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Same for me. Sailing on the Bliss the Sunday and all four Haven bids (currently in a BA) were rejected, but the ship has been sold out for weeks, so not surprised.

Yup same we are in a BA also and pretty decent location so we're happy. Excited for tomorrow and we'll see you at the M&G on Monday! 

[Bo77]

Have a beautiful vacation 🙂 With or without upgrade. 

Something is going on with reservations tonight. When I went to check availability on Gem for Holiday cruise, mini suite and suites were available, after months of sold out. When I tried to "book" some suite or mini suite , within two minutes it disappeared. I believe, somebody is getting upgraded right now.  The whole ship is booked. 

[Whatsausername]

On 11/28/2019 at 10:58 AM, havanadaydreaming said:

Offered $50 received balcony upgrade yesterday, 5 days before sailing. 

Assuming that's for a December 2nd sailing, Is that for the Sky or the Sun?

 

I had an upgrade offer for the Sky next month on a 5 day but despite both my bids being in the "Poor" range, it doesn't look like the cruise is selling out anytime soon.

[havanadaydreaming]

13 minutes ago, Whatsausername said:

Assuming that's for a December 2nd sailing, Is that for the Sky or the Sun?

 

I had an upgrade offer for the Sky next month on a 5 day but despite both my bids being in the "Poor" range, it doesn't look like the cruise is selling out anytime soon.

Sky. 

 

Hang tough, we didn't get upgrade until week of sailing

[Whatsausername]

1 hour ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Sky. 

 

Hang tough, we didn't get upgrade until week of sailing

Thanks! Yeah, both of my oceanview and balcony bids were in the middle of the Poor range so I'm not getting my hopes up this far away.

[emtowle_mobile]

On 11/28/2019 at 9:57 AM, timf2001 said:

 

Your TA seems to think someone already cancelled the H1, but in all likelihood it's still booked and they are taking bids just in case someone cancels at the last minute.  NCL always takes bids on all categories, regardless of how many cabins are truly available.

This is not my experience.  We were on the Gem in 2017 and I posted bids on a number of categories but the garden villa was not in my list to bid for.  I kept watching cabins and what was sold out and checking my bids.  Late in the game the garden villa showed up, we placed a bid and got it. I’m guessing a lot of bidders never saw it because they didn’t check their bids.

[mking8288]

Almost has nothing to share, report or comment on ... upcoming GEM 8 nights sailing (Dec. 13th - NY / FL / Bahamas) - already down to the single digit dance with folks, 7 Days To Go only.

 

Sail Away prices in multiple categories dipped to its lowest point more than 5 or 6 weeks ago, as the Upgrade Bidding opened up at 80 days, with a very substantial across-the-board unsold inventory shown (on the "other" site, not allowed to mention/share ... sorry)  Balcony SA-GTY (Exclude Offers) as low as that of Oceanviews, only slightly above Insides ... some folks were able to call in, ask for and got free, no-cost upgrades (or, minimal upcharge) - even from Balconies to Mini Suites (all on Deck 11)  Haven inventory was still available in most categories - except for the 2 Garden Villas, already sold out ... months ago.  

 

Prices then reversed and bounced higher, never returned to its lowest (earlier, as noted above - inside Final Payment / penalty window)   First to go / disappear - listed as SOLD OUT - were the Haven sub-categories, all gone weeks ago.  Then, the remaining suites gone - followed by about a month ago, the mini's and most of the balconies ... remaining were the OV and I/S.  An exceptional pattern - solo discounts never seen/noted - supplement not waived - for the last 2+ months.  

 

For all practical purposes, the itinerary / cruise disappeared on NCL dot com and even when it showed up, sometimes all "Sold Out" even for Insides - when mock booking was done.   This is a "different" pattern and trending, not the usual ones - maybe, it is the result of "RateGain" model being applied by NCL here.  

 

My translations - path to a successful & winning "Upgrade" bid is / was little to none/impossible as everything appeared sold out.  No subsequent shared reports by anyone (Roll Call) of a winning bid to Haven, or to a suite, or upgrade to a mini, or upgrade to a balcony.  Not really seeing anyone else posting directly on other recent past Gem sailings (sailed this Monday to the Caribbean ... next up, the holiday cruise to the Caribbean, definitely sold out & beyond full double occupancy)

 

Long story - 2 days ago, we lost on Inside sideway, midship on Deck 8 (IA category) and ending up on Deck 5, midship (O1) with a picture-window family oceanview.  Both sleep up to 4 and both starboard side.  Since other bids are possibly still pending, up to 2 days prior (5 more days) - withholding the winning" amount charged.  Let's just say ours - inside the fair range on the scale/meter, passed the "poor" border ... a little higher than we typically will "offer".  Bid for balcony failed - that's right around poor/fair.  Min. bid was $25 for OV and $50 for "B" - which would barely move the pointer on the meter/scale.  

 

Sometimes, we get our Balcony bids accepted, other times (like this one) - we only get our OV wish - at least, our batting average is still pretty good.  Forward looking, perhaps NCL is going to take some of the higher/est bids earlier than the past, then move downward to the next lower tier & work on filling up those cabins - releasing them for those lined up below to get upgraded ... sooner than last minute.  Just my guess, of course on the Calculus game. 

 

[Bo77]

I think I'm starting to see tiny pattern in this particular Gem holiday cruise. Exactly 1 week ago mini suites and suites were available to buy , after weeks of no availability - sold out( except when you tried to buy it you couldn't, not available) everything else was sold out. The whole cruise is sold out. Except- today, you had the same thing -  OV were available, when you tried to buy it $ 1900 pp - not available. Same with Haven- from $ 12k pp, except not possible to buy it. It looks like they upgrading people to different cabins and suites. Some cabins emptied, but you can't buy it. Which would suggest they just replacing it with existing people already. I bet with you that tomorrow everything will appear sold out again.

Of course I can't say I'm right. But it's not first time I see this changes. 

[tropicallie]

We are sailing on the Pearl Monday for a shorty in a mini suite.  All except insides sold out.  Have bids in poor range outstanding for Haven.  I don't expect to win the bids with the ship already sold out but expected an email saying our bids had failed.  Nothing in spam.  I wasn't aware the upgrade people work on Saturday.

Oh and website still shows the  "lets get you upgraded" splash screen.

Edited December 7, 2019 by tropicallie

[All-ready2cruise]

7 minutes ago, tropicallie said:

We are sailing on the Pearl Monday for a shorty in a mini suite.  All except insides sold out.  Have bids in poor range outstanding for Haven.  I don't expect to win the bids with the ship already sold out but expected an email saying our bids had failed.  Nothing in spam.  I wasn't aware the upgrade people work on Saturday.

Oh and website still shows the  "lets get you upgraded" splash screen.

It's 48 hrs... auto system so wkends don't make a diff.  You should receive email tomorrow one way or another. 

[tropicallie]

All-Ready2Cruise -  thanks.  Always have sailed on Saturday or Sunday.