Move-Up Bid Accepted

[actuarian]

My wife and I made the minimum acceptable bid ($160/person) to "move-up" from Aqua Class to a Sky Suite for our 10/28 4-night cruise on the Infinity.  I thought I was just going through the motions because Celebrity marked the bid as "weak".  We bid the minimum because this is the second half of a B2B and we liked the Aqua Class room that we had and not having to change rooms.  However, the bid was accepted and we were upgraded yesterday and re-assigned to an S1 with an oversized balcony!  This was all 13 days before the cruise, even though other posters indicated that Move-Up bids get processed only 2-3 days before the cruise.  Interestingly, our bid for the 10/24 first half of the B2B is still "pending" and, since there are no suites currently available for that cruise, I expect that bid to be rejected.  We will have to change rooms on 10/28 but it certainly seems worth it!

[shipshape sam]

Congrats!  The circumstance that you described would be how we would do it too.  Like what we have and are okay if we stay in that cabin.  Then, you take a shot and glad to read it worked.  

 

How/where did you find out about the 'move up' option on your sailings?  We are not sailing much right now with so many land based trips and I am not staying as current as I used to be.

 

 

[Skip2MySue]

30 minutes ago, shipshape sam said:

Congrats!  The circumstance that you described would be how we would do it too.  Like what we have and are okay if we stay in that cabin.  Then, you take a shot and glad to read it worked.  

 

How/where did you find out about the 'move up' option on your sailings?  We are not sailing much right now with so many land based trips and I am not staying as current as I used to be.

 

 

I too would be interested in the "move up" option as I'm new to Celebrity and this is the first I've heard of such option.

Thanks

Skip

[actuarian]

6 hours ago, shipshape sam said:

Congrats!  The circumstance that you described would be how we would do it too.  Like what we have and are okay if we stay in that cabin.  Then, you take a shot and glad to read it worked.  

 

How/where did you find out about the 'move up' option on your sailings?  We are not sailing much right now with so many land based trips and I am not staying as current as I used to be.

 

 

Celebrity has started pretty routinely sending move-up invitations to people who have reservations and who have not opted out of receiving marketing emails.  I usually receive the invitation 32-34 days before embarkation day.  Just today, I received an invitation to bid on upgrading a cruise that embarks on November 19.  That is 34 days in advance and the earliest of the 3 move-up bidding invitations that I have received.  They promise a response to the bids at least 2 days before the cruise.  In fact, I received the upgrade 13 days in advance of our 10/28 cruise but our bid (for the same amount) for our 10/24 cruise is still pending even though that cruise is in only 8 days.

Actually, I am a little surprised that it took the cruise lines so long to come up with this idea.  They can solicit hundreds of bids and than let their computers select the bids that will maximize the revenue to the cruise line.  It has to produce considerably more revenue than targeted up-sell calls with almost all of the work being done by machines instead of cruise line employees.  The computer can instantly pick the combination of bids that will maximize revenue.  I used to write mathematical software before I retired so I know that this is easy to code.

It allows multiple bids to be accepted for a single vacant cabin.  For example, if there is an empty Royal Suite, they can upgrade someone from a Celebrity Suite to the RS, then someone else from a Sky Suite to the newly empty CS, then someone from Aqua Class to the SS and so on.  In total, they can accept at least 6 bids for that single empty RS with revenue from each one.  The total may well sum to the full original asking price for the RS or even more.  After all the upgrades, they end up with an empty inside room that they can sell very quickly and cheaply so the ship sails full (or just give it to an entertainer).  

Edited October 16, 2018 by actuarian

[shipshape sam]

Thanks for great info.  Makes $en$e to me!  Guess the upgrade fairy has retired. 😁

[Skip2MySue]

20 hours ago, actuarian said:

Celebrity has started pretty routinely sending move-up invitations to people who have reservations and who have not opted out of receiving marketing emails.  I usually receive the invitation 32-34 days before embarkation day.  Just today, I received an invitation to bid on upgrading a cruise that embarks on November 19.  That is 34 days in advance and the earliest of the 3 move-up bidding invitations that I have received.  They promise a response to the bids at least 2 days before the cruise.  In fact, I received the upgrade 13 days in advance of our 10/28 cruise but our bid (for the same amount) for our 10/24 cruise is still pending even though that cruise is in only 8 days.

Actually, I am a little surprised that it took the cruise lines so long to come up with this idea.  They can solicit hundreds of bids and than let their computers select the bids that will maximize the revenue to the cruise line.  It has to produce considerably more revenue than targeted up-sell calls with almost all of the work being done by machines instead of cruise line employees.  The computer can instantly pick the combination of bids that will maximize revenue.  I used to write mathematical software before I retired so I know that this is easy to code.

It allows multiple bids to be accepted for a single vacant cabin.  For example, if there is an empty Royal Suite, they can upgrade someone from a Celebrity Suite to the RS, then someone else from a Sky Suite to the newly empty CS, then someone from Aqua Class to the SS and so on.  In total, they can accept at least 6 bids for that single empty RS with revenue from each one.  The total may well sum to the full original asking price for the RS or even more.  After all the upgrades, they end up with an empty inside room that they can sell very quickly and cheaply so the ship sails full (or just give it to an entertainer).   

 

Thanks for the info.  Very interesting concept.

Skip

[IndyCruisers]

Congrats on the accepted bid.  Just received the emails that none were accepted.  Happy with the selected Aqua, but gave it the college try.  

Enjoy the cruise and the upgrade.  

 

[Luvcrusn]

21 hours ago, actuarian said:

Celebrity has started pretty routinely sending move-up invitations to people who have reservations and who have not opted out of receiving marketing emails.  I usually receive the invitation 32-34 days before embarkation day.  Just today, I received an invitation to bid on upgrading a cruise that embarks on November 19.  That is 34 days in advance and the earliest of the 3 move-up bidding invitations that I have received.  They promise a response to the bids at least 2 days before the cruise.  In fact, I received the upgrade 13 days in advance of our 10/28 cruise but our bid (for the same amount) for our 10/24 cruise is still pending even though that cruise is in only 8 days.

Actually, I am a little surprised that it took the cruise lines so long to come up with this idea.  They can solicit hundreds of bids and than let their computers select the bids that will maximize the revenue to the cruise line.  It has to produce considerably more revenue than targeted up-sell calls with almost all of the work being done by machines instead of cruise line employees.  The computer can instantly pick the combination of bids that will maximize revenue.  I used to write mathematical software before I retired so I know that this is easy to code.

It allows multiple bids to be accepted for a single vacant cabin.  For example, if there is an empty Royal Suite, they can upgrade someone from a Celebrity Suite to the RS, then someone else from a Sky Suite to the newly empty CS, then someone from Aqua Class to the SS and so on.  In total, they can accept at least 6 bids for that single empty RS with revenue from each one.  The total may well sum to the full original asking price for the RS or even more.  After all the upgrades, they end up with an empty inside room that they can sell very quickly and cheaply so the ship sails full (or just give it to an entertainer).  

Thanks for that info and enjoy the suite!

[Fogfog]

On 10/16/2018 at 11:59 AM, actuarian said:

My wife and I made the minimum acceptable bid ($160/person) to "move-up" from Aqua Class to a Sky Suite for our 10/28 4-night cruise on the Infinity.  I thought I was just going through the motions because Celebrity marked the bid as "weak".  We bid the minimum because this is the second half of a B2B and we liked the Aqua Class room that we had and not having to change rooms.  However, the bid was accepted and we were upgraded yesterday and re-assigned to an S1 with an oversized balcony!  This was all 13 days before the cruise, even though other posters indicated that Move-Up bids get processed only 2-3 days before the cruise.  Interestingly, our bid for the 10/24 first half of the B2B is still "pending" and, since there are no suites currently available for that cruise, I expect that bid to be rejected.  We will have to change rooms on 10/28 but it certainly seems worth it!

Nice job.  Will be interested to hear your view on Blu vs Luminae.  Have read that your cabin steward will help  to move your luggage to your next cabin. Please let us know how Infinity is looking, Blu etc

[TeaBag]

Yes, you get an email with the info.  We got another one (for all the suites) for our cruise which is 17 days out and has one 2B available.  Don't know what they're up to unless they are compiling a list of people who could occupy a suite cancelled at the last moment.

Yes, the upgrade fairy is dead.

[Marelaine]

That's a great price. Congrats on your successful upgrade bid. Enjoy your suite.

[southernbreezes]

On 10/16/2018 at 12:43 PM, Skip2MySue said:

I too would be interested in the "move up" option as I'm new to Celebrity and this is the first I've heard of such option.

Thanks

Skip

Here is the link to bid on an upgrade. Anyone with a reservation can bid up to 30 days of departure.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/bid-on-cruise-room-upgrade

Edited October 19, 2018 by southernbreezes

[shipshape sam]

22 minutes ago, southernbreezes said:

Here is the link to bid on an upgrade. Anyone with a reservation can bid up to 30 days of departure.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/bid-on-cruise-room-upgrade

thanks for the link. 

 

Was a little confused about up to 2 days prior to sailing statement.

 

 I like the program to allow Celebrity to maximize profits. and not have the random upgrading (at least I thought it was random).  Not sure we would ever use as if we book early we are wanting a specific cabin and if we book late, we don't care about the cabin so much and are price driven for that sailing.     We did get a random upgrade once.  Found out when we tried our room key in the cabin we had booked.  Went back to customer service and then found out they had upgraded us from oceanview to what ever the 1st level of suites  were on Enchantment of Seas.

[judy.s.anderson.79]

On 10/16/2018 at 8:59 AM, actuarian said:

My wife and I made the minimum acceptable bid ($160/person) to "move-up" from Aqua Class to a Sky Suite for our 10/28 4-night cruise on the Infinity.  I thought I was just going through the motions because Celebrity marked the bid as "weak".  We bid the minimum because this is the second half of a B2B and we liked the Aqua Class room that we had and not having to change rooms.  However, the bid was accepted and we were upgraded yesterday and re-assigned to an S1 with an oversized balcony!  This was all 13 days before the cruise, even though other posters indicated that Move-Up bids get processed only 2-3 days before the cruise.  Interestingly, our bid for the 10/24 first half of the B2B is still "pending" and, since there are no suites currently available for that cruise, I expect that bid to be rejected.  We will have to change rooms on 10/28 but it certainly seems worth it!

That is fantastic!! Congratulations!!

[actuarian]

On 10/17/2018 at 5:03 PM, TeaBag said:

Yes, you get an email with the info.  We got another one (for all the suites) for our cruise which is 17 days out and has one 2B available.  Don't know what they're up to unless they are compiling a list of people who could occupy a suite cancelled at the last moment.

Yes, the upgrade fairy is dead.

I think that they may have a handful of rooms that do not show on the internet because they hold them back until the last minute, perhaps for VIPs, cruise line employees or just in case a cabin suffers some kind of damage and they need to move someone.  Also, cruise lines sometimes actually need to sail with a very small number of cabins empty because, when a lot of people sleep the maximum allowable number of people in their cabins, the maximum capacity of a muster station may be reached before all of the cabins assigned to that muster station are sold.  

[crash3x]

I made a bid 2 weeks ago for our Nov 5th cruise on the Reflection from a Sky Suite to a Reflection suite.  I only bid minimum because we are already paying a huge amount for our 11nt cruise , But I have so much OBC we will never spend so a large amount of that will be refunded so I thought what the heck.  We have not heard anything back  and we leave in 2 wks so I assume we didn't win the bid.  Oh well, nothing ventured , nothing gained.

[villauk]

On 10/17/2018 at 10:03 PM, TeaBag said:

 

Yes, the upgrade fairy is dead.

 

 

Yes, well and truly 😿.

[Gambler458]

On 10/19/2018 at 10:46 PM, crash3x said:

I made a bid 2 weeks ago for our Nov 5th cruise on the Reflection from a Sky Suite to a Reflection suite.  I only bid minimum because we are already paying a huge amount for our 11nt cruise , But I have so much OBC we will never spend so a large amount of that will be refunded so I thought what the heck.  We have not heard anything back  and we leave in 2 wks so I assume we didn't win the bid.  Oh well, nothing ventured , nothing gained.

You will get an email either way, if you won the bid or not.  I won a bid to oceanview on a sailing this week, but lost out on all the other categories I sent bids on and rec'd an email on each of my offers.

[crash3x]

How long after your bid did you have to wait.   I am 14 days out from my cruise.  The only email I got said if I win the bid they will charge my credit card.

[Luvcrusn]

39 minutes ago, crash3x said:

How long after your bid did you have to wait.   I am 14 days out from my cruise.  The only email I got said if I win the bid they will charge my credit card.

It can be right up to sail date.

[actuarian]

2 hours ago, crash3x said:

How long after your bid did you have to wait.   I am 14 days out from my cruise.  The only email I got said if I win the bid they will charge my credit card.

They can accept bids anytime during the 30 days prior to the cruise.  If they have not yet accepted one of your bids, all of your bids will remain "pending" until around 2:30 PM two days prior to your sailing.  At that time, they send out rejections for all bids that have not yet been accepted.  In my experience, they only mail out rejections before that time if you have made more than one bid and one of your bids is accepted.  In that case, they send out rejections for your other bids at the same time that they send out the acceptance because, once they have accepted one of your bids, they never accept another even if the other bid is for a larger amount and for a higher room category. 

 

This "one acceptance" rule is something to be aware of if you submit bids for multiple room categories.  It is possible to end up bidding against yourself.  For example, if you originally booked a Sky Suite and you bid $1,500 for a Royal Suite and $1,000 for a Celebrity Suite and you win the Celebrity Suite, then you lose the Royal Suite.  This will happen even though you might have won the Royal Suite for $1,500 if you had chosen not to bid on the Celebrity Suite.  Because it is usually more profitable for the Cruise Line to move two parties up one category each than to move a single party up two categories, the lowest category room that you bid on is the bid that has the best chance of being accepted.

[slatterj]

If you win your bid do you lose your perks...OBC?

[CEOofVacation]

5 minutes ago, slatterj said:

If you win your bid do you lose your perks...OBC?

You keep any existing perks but no additional perks and no additional Captain's Club points.

[parrotfeathers]

I got the move up email from a sky suite to a celebrity suite for my 5 night Infinity cruise.  I may regret not bidding, but I didn't think it was worth the extra $300 per person.  I may be disappointed at the size of this suite compared to RCL's GS but I'll just go with the flow.

[jagoffee]

20 hours ago, actuarian said:

 

 

This "one acceptance" rule is something to be aware of if you submit bids for multiple room categories.  It is possible to end up bidding against yourself.  For example, if you originally booked a Sky Suite and you bid $1,500 for a Royal Suite and $1,000 for a Celebrity Suite and you win the Celebrity Suite, then you lose the Royal Suite.  This will happen even though you might have won the Royal Suite for $1,500 if you had chosen not to bid on the Celebrity Suite.  Because it is usually more profitable for the Cruise Line to move two parties up one category each than to move a single party up two categories, the lowest category room that you bid on is the bid that has the best chance of being accepted.

 

I assume that this is just a theory?  Or do you actually have some insider information?

 

i would think the higher category cabin (if available) would go first to the bidder that the (current price paid plus the bid) in the highest.  Then the next level on down to maximize the total.  Or something similar to maximize the revenue.

(just a theory). The best totals of all the bids if cascaded.

 

I have only experienced the bidding process once and I am convinced the category was never available.  I suspect there  is a default automated  setting two days or so before the Sail date that sends out notices that a your bid was not successful.