Upgrade bid experiences

[Belfastman]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Fine but most guests have no contact with cruise Critic so how are they told. 

They can see it for themselves on the website (as the link above shows) or they may have received an email concerning the details of the upgrade system before it started.

[combine]

To be fair to HGC, she did answer Midwestchicks question where they could find details about upgrades, as it was posted on Cruise Critic.

 

For guests not on CC but internet savvy and accessing the  Azamara website, the upgrade details can be found under ‘Booked ‘ section and scroll down to Azamara Upgrade. Even if they booked through a travel agent, they would probably browse the Azamara website?

 

In  my 2020 brochure under terms and conditions there is no reference to any upgrade offer but it is Volume 1 so obviously predates the new system. If anyone has a more up to date copy it may now be listed?

 

For people who book with travel agents, dont have a brochure and dont have internet access, they will probably find out whilst on board!  That does not in any way excuse Azamara for not advising people of options.  Paper mail has always been good!  But some people are off the radar and choose not to be on the internet. It’s just like on line shopping or on line banking. You cannot force people to sign up. 

 

Despite having take 9 previous Azamara cruises I had ever received any emails until earlier this year when I checked my contact status on the Celebrity website ( RCI parent company, although many will not know that either) I found I was not ‘opted in’ to receive Azamara emails. I have now corrected that and do receive emails, one of which was the one advising me I was eligible to bid for an upgrade.

 

All this information is of course useless to anyone who is not on Cruise Critic, but may be helpful for new members who have stumbled upon this website.

 

[uktog]

Sorry I was just seriously frustrated as I’m opted in I am bombarded with marketing every week but despite booking direct only those booked through agents have had notification for our upcoming cruises. 

We know in May it did not work and we missed out despite being at a high loyalty level 

[Grandma Cruising]

I always book direct with Azamara, but then transfer my booking to my daughter travel agent. For my November 2019 cruise I got an email direct from Azamara (from Miami) telling me I could bid. I got the email on 3 August, which was 101 days ahead of the cruise. I can’t actually remember what happened for my July cruise. I know I bid on 6 April, but I have deleted all emails relating to that cruise, so can’t say whether I got an email or used the website link. 

 

 

[midwestchick]

8 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Here’s a link to the Azamara UK web page about it https://www.azamara.co.uk/azamara-upgrade-programme

 

 

Thank you.  If rooms are not available, they wouldn’t be offering them as an upgrade, would they?  I find it hard to believe all the suite categories are still available on that particular cruise.

[combine]

55 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

 

Thank you.  If rooms are not available, they wouldn’t be offering them as an upgrade, would they?  I find it hard to believe all the suite categories are still available on that particular cruise.

On the day I was offered to bid for an upgrade (obstructed Oceanview to balcony) I did a screen shot to see the cabins available  on the Azamara web site. There were only 9 V1s available forward ,deck 8 and also guarantees.

 

I was successful in my bid and was allocated a V2 midship that had not shown as available on bidding day.  Who knows how this works! 

 

I have to say we are happy with this allocation but I am unsure if I would do it again as maybe all my good fortune with cabin location may have been used up!  Previously Host Grandma commented that her allocation from oceanview to balcony was not one she would have chosen. It is definitely something you need to think about.

 

ps. For info , I had booked this cruise on board last year and then transferred it to my travel agent.

Edited September 16, 2019 by combine
Extra information

[midwestchick]

43 minutes ago, combine said:

On the day I was offered to bid for an upgrade (obstructed Oceanview to balcony) I did a screen shot to see the cabins available  on the Azamara web site. There were only 9 V1s available forward ,deck 8 and also guarantees.

 

I was successful in my bid and was allocated a V2 midship that had not shown as available on bidding day.  Who knows how this works! 

 

I have to say we are happy with this allocation but I am unsure if I would do it again as maybe all my good fortune with cabin location may have been used up!  Previously Host Grandma commented that her allocation from oceanview to balcony was not one she would have chosen. It is definitely something you need to think about.

 

ps. For info , I had booked this cruise on board last year and then transferred it to my travel agent.

 

I have yet to figure out how to do a screenshot of available cabins on Azamara.  I had one site I’ve used but it’s not accurate.  

We have been happy with our past upgrades although the Panama Canal cruise was sometimes rough for as far forward as we were. 

[Grandma Cruising]

9 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

 

I have yet to figure out how to do a screenshot of available cabins on Azamara.  I had one site I’ve used but it’s not accurate.  

We have been happy with our past upgrades although the Panama Canal cruise was sometimes rough for as far forward as we were. 

I check what cabins are available on the Azamara website by doing a ‘mock’ booking for each category.

[combine]

15 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I check what cabins are available on the Azamara website by doing a ‘mock’ booking for each category.

 

Yes, I just go through the booking process for each cabin level I am interested in. Below is the screen shot of available cabins on the day I bid for an upgrade. These cabins do not go all the way forward on deck 8, unlike 6 and 7 so  I considered it a good risk. A V2 allocated midship on deck 6 was even better ! 

 

[midwestchick]

20 hours ago, uktog said:

Well we get all their marketing stuff but no email about our upcoming cruises others are bidding on. You cannot defend their system 

Oh and as they are direct books it’s not a travel agent issue. 

 

I spoke with my TA and she said there is no availability for N1 or N2 so I don’t even know why they sent an email to upgrade.  What a waste of time.  I find it rather ridiculous they would do that.  

[Grandma Cruising]

24 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

 

I spoke with my TA and she said there is no availability for N1 or N2 so I don’t even know why they sent an email to upgrade.  What a waste of time.  I find it rather ridiculous they would do that.  

But if there is availability in the large suites someone in a CC Suite might bid to upgrade to that, so there could be a vacancy (or more than one) in due course.

[hamrag]

Breaking news....after finding an option to bid for our cruise, via the Azamara website on Friday past (prior to then, it said I was not eligible) I received an email a few minutes ago inviting a bid!! 🤣

 

Hopefully others will receive same.

[midwestchick]

25 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

But if there is availability in the large suites someone in a CC Suite might bid to upgrade to that, so there could be a vacancy (or more than one) in due course.

 

Ahhhhhh.......never thought about that option.  Thank you. And yes, the N1 is much bigger than a V2.  266 compared to 175 square feet. 

[hiccups]

2 hours ago, midwestchick said:

 

I spoke with my TA and she said there is no availability for N1 or N2 so I don’t even know why they sent an email to upgrade.  What a waste of time.  I find it rather ridiculous they would do that.  

Our upcoming cruise has been sold out for several weeks, and we can still put in bids on all the suite cabin categories.  Guess they're doing that in case there's a cancellation.

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Our upcoming cruise has been sold out for several weeks, and we can still put in bids on all the suite cabin categories.  Guess they're doing that in case there's a cancellation.

 

Yes, and as Host Grandma Cruising said, if others bid up.  

Edited September 16, 2019 by midwestchick

[excitedofharpenden]

On 9/16/2019 at 9:56 PM, midwestchick said:

 

Yes, and as Host Grandma Cruising said, if others bid up.  

That's the way it works. They also sometimes  keep some cabins back in the inventory. They'll offer upgrades to categories that are marked as sold out, but they will juggle if they can to fill the ship as much as they can. 

 

Phil 

Edited September 21, 2019 by excitedofharpenden

[midwestchick]

6 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

That's the way it works. They also sometimes  keep some cabins back in the inventory. They'll offer upgrades to categories that are marked as sold out, but they will juggle if they can to fill the ship as much as they can. 

 

Phil 

 

Sneaky little stinkers, aren’t they? 

[uktog]

On your transatlantic there were 10 suites available a week or so ago and now there are none. As no one has reported being successful on bids and this was a slow selling itinerary it would seem as is often the case now these rooms are being sold at knockdown prices elsewhere rather than going to support and enhance loyalty 

[Belfastman]

9 hours ago, uktog said:

On your transatlantic there were 10 suites available a week or so ago and now there are none. As no one has reported being successful on bids and this was a slow selling itinerary it would seem as is often the case now these rooms are being sold at knockdown prices elsewhere rather than going to support and enhance loyalty 

I can see suites available. Also remember that the majority of people on the ships do not post on cruise critic therefore you do not know who bid for and perhaps got an upgrade.

[dabear]

9 hours ago, uktog said:

On your transatlantic there were 10 suites available a week or so ago and now there are none. As no one has reported being successful on bids and this was a slow selling itinerary it would seem as is often the case now these rooms are being sold at knockdown prices elsewhere rather than going to support and enhance loyalty 

 

Same with upcoming cruises with embarkations from Hong Kong. Many cancellations and open cabins probably due to the unrest. Prices have dropped, including slashed prices now as guarantees but no upgrade bids by loyal customers have apparently been accepted. It doesn't promote loyalty.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Belfastman said:

I can see suites available. Also remember that the majority of people on the ships do not post on cruise critic therefore you do not know who bid for and perhaps got an upgrade.

Interesting when the future cruise manager asked Miami on Friday on our behalf the response was there were no suites available and no upgrades had been processed- I reported that response 😀

Edited September 22, 2019 by uktog

[hubofhockey]

This is kind of weird.  I put in a request for upgrade, figuring I'd just give it a shot.  It was a verandah bid up to continental suite on 15-night 10/16/19 (23 days away) Quest to Southeast Asia.  I bid $610 per person and was even contemplating pulling the bid back.,  It's $81 more per day and I could put that to better use.  Of course, maybe that's sour grapes.  I logged in today to check on the bid on the modify bid page and got a message that I was ineligible to bid.  I called Azamara and asked why I was now ineligible after already having a bid in.  The very nice phone representative told me that the bidding was closed because they have enough bids but my bid was "under consideration".  This all seemed very weird.  Why didn't Azamara link just say, "bidding is closed" rather than "ineligible"?  The fact that I can't modify or even reduce my bid now, even if I wanted to, is annoying in itself.  My account is still showing my old cabin and I'm good with that.  Looking forward to the vacation and I suppose Azamara is being Azamara here.  🤣

 

Edit, I tried again and when I go into modify or cancel, it says "offer pending".  

 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by hubofhockey

[Grandma Cruising]

Do let us know the final result, hubofhockey.

[hubofhockey]

4 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Do let us know the final result, hubofhockey.

 

Of course, I will.  You do so much here to help Azamara cruise guests, especially new people, that everyone who benefits should reciprocate.  For more information on this itinerary, last I looked, they had 5 or 6 open continental suites that could have been booked when I first placed my bid.   I would guess that had a good number of people bidding on those suites.  I don't know if $81 per day gets this done.  So far, based on your spreadsheet, all failed bids at CC level are $50 and below per day per cabin and all successful bids are $70 and above.  

Edited September 24, 2019 by hubofhockey

[catlover2027]

Hi Host Grandma Cruising.  I can't figure out how to anything to the bidding sheet, perhaps you can.    I finally realized since we hadn't completed the check-in, there wouldn't be an offer.  So I checed in and found how to receive offers.  Then we got a chance on 9/16 to bid for an upgrade on our October 10, 2019 cruise from our OV to a Veranda.  As an Azamara newbie I don't know their cabin category ins and out yet.  But I did see your upgrade bid sheet and it was very helpful.  We bid $500 for the cabin, still considered a weak bid,  (minimum was $400) and we got an email today 9/24 confirming the upgrade.  We wanted the extra points for the Veranda since are working towards our Elite plus on Celebrity so we went the extra $100.  If it matters, we went from 4042 to 7106.

 

Eileen