What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid

[MikeBTN]

2 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

My son was notified at 1:39 that he got the upgrade from balcony to spa balcony on the Jan.27 sailing of the Getaway.  He bid $210.00 Canadian. Price for the spa pass was $266.00 so he saved a little over $100.00. His first cruise, he’s excited but also disappointed with the liquor up charge situation as I told him before he booked, that he would be able to get an assortment of semi premium drinks.

 

Still plenty of “semi-premium” drinks available under the $15 limit. It’s not like he’s limited to well drinks and PBR.

[cheersforbeers]

8 minutes ago, MikeBTN said:

 

Still plenty of “semi-premium” drinks available under the $15 limit. It’s not like he’s limited to well drinks and PBR.

Mike, what’s wrong with PBR, goes down smooth.

[gmbhardy]

Yea, I like PBR.

[Kim L]

22 hours ago, mwolever said:

Have a great time! I will be on the sailing right behind you! Don't drink all of the champagne 🙂

Thanks sure will first time cruising.

[llarosa]

So after reading a bunch on this post and others, I pulled my upgrade bid... but now I'm having second thoughts.

 

We have a mid ship balcony on the Feb 17th sailing of the Jade.  (We booked a GTY but already have our cabin assignment.)

 

I don't want to pay the $1500+ for any of the Haven upgrade options but I originally bid on a Mini Suite.

 

The reason I pulled the bid is after reading numerous comments to avoid the Mini Suites on Deck 11 due to the noise of the pool deck, garden cafe and fitness center.  And of course, we won't be able to select the location if we get the upgrade.

 

But now I'm thinking that I pulled it too quickly since we don't sleep in late.

 

I'd be interested in any thoughts on whether the Mini Suite upgrade is worth pursing.

[mwolever]

10 minutes ago, llarosa said:

So after reading a bunch on this post and others, I pulled my upgrade bid... but now I'm having second thoughts.

 

We have a mid ship balcony on the Feb 17th sailing of the Jade.  (We booked a GTY but already have our cabin assignment.)

 

I don't want to pay the $1500+ for any of the Haven upgrade options but I originally bid on a Mini Suite.

 

The reason I pulled the bid is after reading numerous comments to avoid the Mini Suites on Deck 11 due to the noise of the pool deck, garden cafe and fitness center.  And of course, we won't be able to select the location if we get the upgrade.

 

But now I'm thinking that I pulled it too quickly since we don't sleep in late.

 

I'd be interested in any thoughts on whether the Mini Suite upgrade is worth pursing.

My parents had exactly this complaint last year, and they did not sleep in late either. My mom said the chair shuffling started before 6AM and was VERY annoying. For what it's worth. 

[llarosa]

12 minutes ago, mwolever said:

My parents had exactly this complaint last year, and they did not sleep in late either. My mom said the chair shuffling started before 6AM and was VERY annoying. For what it's worth. 

Thanks...  that's enough for me to confirm I did the right thing in cancelling my bid.  Why would I want to pay more for an annoying cruise.  (We aren't up before 7... and maybe would sleep till 8 on vacation.)

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Whereto?]

Any successful bids for Breakaway departing February 7th?  I have pending bids (for almost a month) but fake-booking shows ship sold out except for Haven which I can't bid on. Still hoping!!🤞🤞🤞🤞

[JamieLogical]

17 minutes ago, Whereto? said:

Any successful bids for Breakaway departing February 7th?  I have pending bids (for almost a month) but fake-booking shows ship sold out except for Haven which I can't bid on. Still hoping!!🤞🤞🤞🤞

 

The good news is, there is hope for you if there are still some Havens left, because other people in lower categories might get upgraded into those Havens, freeing up rooms for you!

[don't-use-real-name]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The good news is, there is hope for you if there are still some Havens left, because other people in lower categories might get upgraded into those Havens, freeing up rooms for you!

 

And it is likely that those cabins being vacated are desirable ones.

 

You can always go back and alter cancel amend your bid as many times as you feel necessary -

 Best not doing this too close to sailing as the bid fairy may have closed the opportunity door at i.e. 2 weeks

rather than the 48 hours.

 

Only bid for the upgrade you want - don't bid for anything below or in between that unless you will be satisfied with that.

 

Jamie should publish or have a designated thread (sticky) here at CC for the fine arts of bidding and upgrading 101 !

Jamie's answers and input are so helpful they can't be ignored.

[newmexicoNita]

On 1/24/2019 at 7:44 PM, cheersforbeers said:

Mike, what’s wrong with PBR, goes down smooth.

I am a bit surprised at all the people who are so up in the air at the drink price changes. Yes, it is high, no I do not think I would want to pay the new prices, but, yes, as you say, there are plenty of decent choices. My hubby love good scotch for instance, but does he drink "the best" at home, of course not. He is happy with  M Walker red for instance. 

[cheersforbeers]

45 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

I am a bit surprised at all the people who are so up in the air at the drink price changes. Yes, it is high, no I do not think I would want to pay the new prices, but, yes, as you say, there are plenty of decent choices. My hubby love good scotch for instance, but does he drink "the best" at home, of course not. He is happy with  M Walker red for instance. 

nmNita, I totally agree about your observation.  There are a lot of posters that are seriously negative, bet they would be a blast to cruise with.  Give me a lemon and I’ll make something out of it.  Enjoy

[mwolever]

Haven't heard much of anything on upgrades in the past week, on any sailing. Very anxious, as this seems atypical, and still quite a few rooms available on my Feb 3rd Getaway sailing but no news on approved upgrades (except one Haven I did hear about like 5 days ago). Anyone else experiencing unusual stagnation??

[JamieLogical]

43 minutes ago, mwolever said:

Haven't heard much of anything on upgrades in the past week, on any sailing. Very anxious, as this seems atypical, and still quite a few rooms available on my Feb 3rd Getaway sailing but no news on approved upgrades (except one Haven I did hear about like 5 days ago). Anyone else experiencing unusual stagnation??

 

I'm on the February 2 Bliss sailing and so far I have only heard of one confirmed upgrade from an Oceanview to Balcony in my roll call.

[luv2cruise523]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I'm on the February 2 Bliss sailing and so far I have only heard of one confirmed upgrade from an Oceanview to Balcony in my roll call.

Hi Jamie -  I'm asking you this question because you seem to be very well informed about this process.

 

We have an inside cabin for 4 on the Escape 3/17/19. I booked it with the 3/4 "FREE option. I received a bid opportunity for an Outside and a Balcony, I bid minimum on both. For some reason I just had a thought, I see that for the Free at Sea the option for the 3/4 Free is not offered as an option for Outside and above on this sailing. Does this mean if I "win" either of my bids that I lose the 3/4 Free?  If so that would NOT be good.

Thank you in advance for your time.

[EllieinNJ]

I am leaving today for South America for my 2/2/19 Sun cruise.  Have printed the e docs but will still wait until an hour before we leave to print luggage tags.  Some balconies opened up but the prices they are asking are crazy.  Waiting and hoping.

[JamieLogical]

9 minutes ago, luv2cruise523 said:

Hi Jamie -  I'm asking you this question because you seem to be very well informed about this process.

 

We have an inside cabin for 4 on the Escape 3/17/19. I booked it with the 3/4 "FREE option. I received a bid opportunity for an Outside and a Balcony, I bid minimum on both. For some reason I just had a thought, I see that for the Free at Sea the option for the 3/4 Free is not offered as an option for Outside and above on this sailing. Does this mean if I "win" either of my bids that I lose the 3/4 Free?  If so that would NOT be good.

Thank you in advance for your time.

 

If you win your bid, you keep the same Free at Sea perks as your original booking, so you would still get 3/4th guest free. Also, the "per person" amount you pay for the upgrade is only for the 1st and 2nd guest. So, if you bid $100 per person, you will only pay $200, not $400.

[PatandStu]

We were underneath the garden cafe on the Jade last October with an inside room and a mini suite. 

We didn’t hear a thing from the buffet. 

[don't-use-real-name]

4 hours ago, PatandStu said:

We were underneath the garden cafe on the Jade last October with an inside room and a mini suite. 

We didn’t hear a thing from the buffet. 

 

The location - the deck under the Garden Café depends a lot on the tables and chairs - the floor surface -

the route that service carts rumble around picking up dirty dishes silverware etc. and the exits entrances

to the crew served galley areas. During times that you are not in your cabin with activity going on you of

course are not going to be bothered by the noise - but maybe late a night when major house cleaning is

done movement of tables and chairs may come into play.

In selection of a cabin - checking the deck plans seeing what is above and below you will help make a

better decision on location.

 

There are deck plans for all NCL ships - LINK:

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/cruiseline.php?line=Norwegian

 

Click on your ship and see a deck menu - click on your deck

 

Best yet if you have Cruisedeckplans membership click on drag decks and you can move one deck over

on top another to see the effect of cabin location - hint line up the elevators and/or stairs as an aid.

 

 

[gatordad1]

why did liquor jump in price? or should i search?

 

[Nola26]

56 minutes ago, gatordad1 said:

why did liquor jump in price? or should i search?

 

Please post in the liquor thread. Here we are discussing bidding and upgrading, thanks.

[mwolever]

I'm now somewhat suspicious that they changed the upgrade process when they made other changes on or around 1/12. More ways to save money... hold out on upgrades until the last possible second...

 

In the past I've seen upgrades go out more around the 10-15 day mark, if there are a lot of cabins left. 

[gatordad1]

9 hours ago, Nola26 said:

Please post in the liquor thread. Here we are discussing bidding and upgrading, thanks.

There are a lot of other topics being discussed in this thread as well, thanks for your opinion.

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, mwolever said:

I'm now somewhat suspicious that they changed the upgrade process when they made other changes on or around 1/12. More ways to save money... hold out on upgrades until the last possible second...

 

In the past I've seen upgrades go out more around the 10-15 day mark, if there are a lot of cabins left. 

 

How far back in the past? I've been pretty closely monitoring this thread and it's predecessor for about a year now and the trend seems to be upgrades processed 3-7 days out. Exceptions to that rule of thumb seem to be when prices drop significantly further out from sailing, when the ship is just about sold out, or when individuals place very high bids.

[mwolever]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

How far back in the past? I've been pretty closely monitoring this thread and it's predecessor for about a year now and the trend seems to be upgrades processed 3-7 days out. Exceptions to that rule of thumb seem to be when prices drop significantly further out from sailing, when the ship is just about sold out, or when individuals place very high bids.

I trust you. My last NCL was December 2017, and that was my 3rd bidding experience. I've only been following the process for about 2 months now on this thread and my roll call, and I was expecting more around the 7-10 mark this time because it is undersold. If you think this is pretty normal, I believe you! This is new to me; in the past I've been upgraded farther out if things are available, and if not it's more of a last-minute waiting game to see how things shake out. But I've had more time to prepare and know what to expect (even if that's "I'm probably not gonna get it"), this time I'm like a deer in the headlights