What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[workn2cruz]

I received my email that I was invited to bid, but after creating it and submitting it I get that NCL is unable to process it and to check back in 24 hours. The reservations are paid in full as of last week. Thanks for the info. 

[NCLholic]

On 1/24/2020 at 2:56 PM, oteixeira said:

Just got upgraded on the 2/1 Escape cruise from an MA to an H9.  Had the meter right on the line between poor and fair.

Congrats! I am still waiting to hear about my Haven bids for the 2/2 sailing on the Encore. The closer it gets, the less optimistic I am becoming. 

[trish4bruce]

On Thursday I booked an OV partially obstructed and my only option at the time was a accessible room on the Dawn for March 15, 2020.  I would have preferred not to book accessible as we do not need it but no other option for obstructed view.  I just got the bid email.   $250 (CDN) was minimum bid for a mini suite and $200 (CDN) for balcony.  Seemed a bit high but I was happy to get the option.   Now I just have to wait and not keep going in and upping my bid!

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Can you change payment methods and amount after your initial bid?  

[MaryZ]

• 52 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

  Can you change payment methods and amount after your initial bid?  

  If you want to just change your bid amount go in thru the email they sent you and adjust it.

If you want to change payment methods, you need to cancel your bid.  Then go in from your reservation or your original email inviting you to bid and start over.

 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

15 minutes ago, MaryZ said:

• If you want to just change your bid amount go in thru the email they sent you and adjust it.

If you want to change payment methods, you need to cancel your bid.  Then go in from your reservation or your original email inviting you to bid and start over.

 

Perfect!  I would love to surprise dh with an upgrade, like I did on our last cruise. This will make it much easier. 😉

[Bitten10]

Question for the experts here...

 

Supposing you are "lucky" enough to be on a cruise where something goes wrong and NCL "refunds" your cruise fare as credit towards a future cruise.  When you go to redeem this credit, would you receive credit for the upgrade fee?  Technically it isn't a part of your cruise fare, but through no fault of your own, NCL still owes you the money back.  Right?

 

I was "lucky" enough to be on a cruise under these circumstances last year, but I didn't have an upgrade, so I couldn't tell you.  But I'm curious because it's always possible it could happen again.

[Bitten10]

Also, has anyone heard about recent upgrades on the Sky?  I'm watching my bids carefully!

[AliciaandMark]

1 hour ago, Bitten10 said:

Question for the experts here...

 

Supposing you are "lucky" enough to be on a cruise where something goes wrong and NCL "refunds" your cruise fare as credit towards a future cruise.  When you go to redeem this credit, would you receive credit for the upgrade fee?  Technically it isn't a part of your cruise fare, but through no fault of your own, NCL still owes you the money back.  Right?

 

I was "lucky" enough to be on a cruise under these circumstances last year, but I didn't have an upgrade, so I couldn't tell you.  But I'm curious because it's always possible it could happen again.

We were on a cruise last year that was cancelled by NCL due to mechanical issues 48 hours before sailing. Got all our money refunded including our upgrade costs (we’d successfully won a balcony upgrade). We also got a 100% future cruise credit however this credit covers what you paid in base cruise fare only not inclusive of gratuities or upgrade costs ect. 

[cruiseboy226]

Anyone hear about any upgrades for Encore March 29th sailing?

[Ms BumbleBee]

110 Days out and I got an offer to upgrade.  We are currently in a Concierge Suite (CA)  with Balcony on the Joy:

 

Haven Deluxe Owner Suite - minimum bid $1000 pp

Haven 2 Bedroom Villa - minimum bid $750 pp

Haven Courtyard - minimum bid $500 pp

Haven Aft Facing Penthouse - minimum bid $500 pp

Haven Forward Facing Penthouse - minimum bid $400 pp

Haven Connecting Stateroom - minimum bid $400 pp

Haven Penthouse with Balcony - minimum bid $400 pp

Concierge Family Suite with Balcony - minimum bid $450 pp (which I could get now by calling as that is more than if I just paid for the upgrade)

 

Only the the Haven Family Villa Suite (6) and Haven Penthouse Suite (4) have any availability for the Haven.  The Concierge Family Suite has 13 available and if the upgrade was less I would probably do it but I am happy at where I am so I don’t need to change or even bid at this point.  I bid on the Haven Penthouse since it encompasses both of those that have availability.  

 

This ship is not sold out and many room types have availability other than the Haven so I don’t feel I have much of a shot but it made sense to try.  I Found it interesting they are offering bidding this early. 

[azcruise]

Leaving on the Jade on February 17th.  Offered upgrade opportunity and bid from our Ocean View to balcony ($110pp) and mini-suite (125pp). 30 days out, we got the email that we won the mini-suite. Still in OV for the next two cruises (B2B2B), but maybe we will get lucky on those!

[MaryZ]

Haven bids were accepted today on the 2/14 sailing of the Joy.  We went from balcony to Haven Courtyard, which is our preferred cabin.

[Nath]

Can  you please share what was your bid?  Poor, fair, good, excellent?  7-day sailing?

[ollienbertsmum]

6 hours ago, AliciaandMark said:

We were on a cruise last year that was cancelled by NCL due to mechanical issues 48 hours before sailing. Got all our money refunded including our upgrade costs (we’d successfully won a balcony upgrade). We also got a 100% future cruise credit however this credit covers what you paid in base cruise fare only not inclusive of gratuities or upgrade costs ect. 

That must be such a gutting experience.  I spend so much time working out what we are going to do, I cannot imagine how a Refund as to just the cruise cost, would work out. 

[davencl]

11 minutes ago, MaryZ said:

Haven bids were accepted today on the 2/14 sailing of the Joy.  We went from balcony to Haven Courtyard, which is our preferred cabin.

Are you comfortable sharing your bid amount?

[MaryZ]

No.  I bid in the middle of good.  So it was much more than minimum.  
Plus haven was fairly empty. 
 

[mianmike]

32 minutes ago, davencl said:

Are you comfortable sharing your bid amount?

 

If people aren't comfortable sharing their bid amount in this thread, (the "What was your upgrade offer and what did you BID") maybe they should post in another thread.   If there's enough interest, someone could start the: "My bid was accepted and it's a secret" thread.  😉

[MoniMommy]

🤣🤣

[MaryZ]

38 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 

If people aren't comfortable sharing their bid amount in this thread, (the "What was your upgrade offer and what did you BID") maybe they should post in another thread.   If there's enough interest, someone could start the: "My bid was accepted and it's a secret" thread.  😉

ahhh..true.  I posted more to let people know that bids on the cruise I'm on are being accepted.  

It's up to each individual to decide what to bid. 
What I bid really has no bearing on anything.  Middle of good is enough information I think.  If everyone posts that their bids are in the middle of good, then you know that's where you should go if you want a decent chance to win.  If you want to gamble, go lower. 

I've gambled and won with poor bids.  But this time I was playing to win.  So it's a different theoretical. 

 

I should add, this is a 16 night cruise

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by MaryZ

[mianmike]

2 minutes ago, MaryZ said:

What I bid really has no bearing on anything. 
 

 True.  Unless you are posting in the "What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid" thread, then what you bid is relevant.  Don't get me wrong, your "middle of good" was helpful and I appreciate your information.  My post was general in nature and not directed at you specifically.   

 

For those of us analytical type folks, actual bid amounts are very useful though.   

[jlowe420]

1 hour ago, MaryZ said:

Haven bids were accepted today on the 2/14 sailing of the Joy.  We went from balcony to Haven Courtyard, which is our preferred cabin.

Well thats bad news, I was hoping for the same on the 2/2 sailing.  I have a pretty aggressive offer in so I guess now I'm hoping for someone to cancel.

[MaryZ]

24 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 True.  Unless you are posting in the "What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid" thread, then what you bid is relevant.  Don't get me wrong, your "middle of good" was helpful and I appreciate your information.  My post was general in nature and not directed at you specifically.   

 

For those of us analytical type folks, actual bid amounts are very useful though.   

I used to think that too. 
But then I read people's responses....as in...omg I could do two cruises for that much...or I can't afford that... you're ruining it for people like me
So that was like 2018 and I decided no longer to share what I bid.  I'll share I bid, where my bid meter lies and what category I'm going from and to. 
But this is a cruise that is only once.  So it's not relevant to really anyone.  The pricing on the Bliss doing the panama canal out of NY is already lower than what the pricing on the joy is and it's 7 days longer.  I'd make a lower bid on that.
If you are on the same cruise, going from a balcony to haven  my stating my bid is in the middle of good lets you pretty much know exactly what I bid.

 

As I just looked at the availability on the Bliss,  it is much less than what was available on the Joy.  So I would reconsider what I said about making a lower bid and definitely be more aggressive and at least do the middle of good.  
The Joy as of Sunday evening 12 hrs before I got my bid had 15 H5 and 15 H4 cabins showing available.  I never went to look at other sites to see if more were available.  That is one of the reasons I felt that we would win our bid with what I bid.

Edited January 28, 2020 by MaryZ

[TsTucker]

5 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 True.  Unless you are posting in the "What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid" thread, then what you bid is relevant.  Don't get me wrong, your "middle of good" was helpful and I appreciate your information.  My post was general in nature and not directed at you specifically.   

 

For those of us analytical type folks, actual bid amounts are very useful though.   

 

There was a great analysis post done at the end of the original thread or beginning of this one if you can find it. Basically, it summed up what was more likely to win based on where you are trying to upgrade. For example, I think she said that based on the posts, a low-end bid may get you moved into an OV or BA but usually only middle-range+ bids win for Haven rooms (YMMV). So in that sense her analysis is helpful because it gives you an idea of what range you should aim for if you are really hoping to win (but no guarantees). Of course, they also accept bids even if the boat is packed solid in case of any cancelations. So some people don't find out if their bid was successful until 2 days before sailing. You may be bidding on something that has a close 0% chance of being accepted. 

The challenge is the the bid range isn't a constant: the starting & the max amount is different for every cruise based on availability, time of year, kind of cabin they can resell, how many bids they have in for that cruise and what those bids are etc. So I can bid $100 for a room on a cruise and win it, but someone could bid $500 on the same room on a different cruise and lose it. There are so many variables that only comparing the same cruise bids would be helpful - and by the time all the bids are in, it's 2 days before sailing so you can't even really use the info. 

[mianmike]

41 minutes ago, TsTucker said:

 

There was a great analysis post done at the end of the original thread or beginning of this one if you can find it. Basically, it summed up what was more likely to win based on where you are trying to upgrade. For example, I think she said that based on the posts, a low-end bid may get you moved into an OV or BA but usually only middle-range+ bids win for Haven rooms (YMMV). So in that sense her analysis is helpful because it gives you an idea of what range you should aim for if you are really hoping to win (but no guarantees). Of course, they also accept bids even if the boat is packed solid in case of any cancelations. So some people don't find out if their bid was successful until 2 days before sailing. You may be bidding on something that has a close 0% chance of being accepted. 

The challenge is the the bid range isn't a constant: the starting & the max amount is different for every cruise based on availability, time of year, kind of cabin they can resell, how many bids they have in for that cruise and what those bids are etc. So I can bid $100 for a room on a cruise and win it, but someone could bid $500 on the same room on a different cruise and lose it. There are so many variables that only comparing the same cruise bids would be helpful - and by the time all the bids are in, it's 2 days before sailing so you can't even really use the info. 

 

There are so many variables into what constitutes a winning bid.  Copious data points and specific cruise research are needed to make an educated bid.  Lots of spreadsheet tabs and it's very time consuming.      

Edited January 28, 2020 by mianmike