How does NCL fill unsold Haven cabins?

[rattanchair]

Is the bidding process the only method? or do they upgrade their preferred Latitudes?

[Starflyr3]

there is a bidding process.  You send them what you're willing to pay (they have a min and a max) and wait.  And pray. 😂😂

[rattanchair]

Perhaps what I am looking for is at what lower level do they start the Haven bidding process. I was H6 and was offered to bid on the supposed next two higher categories.  Is it a standard balcony? Inside? Does every category get to bid on all the higher Haven categories? Say I buy a special inside for a hypothetical $599. Will they send me an offer 4-6 weeks before sailing to bid on a Haven H6 which I paid an actual $9071 for an additional $2000 pp?

[BirdTravels]

20 minutes ago, rattanchair said:

Is the bidding process the only method? or do they upgrade their preferred Latitudes?

No free upgrades.

 

The "Best Bid" gets the unsold cabins. NCL has always sailed with their suites full. Used to be a manual process where you called in for upgraded pricing. Now, an automated system collects bids. 

[Paul Bogle]

There is no simple answer to this question. Minimum bids seem to vary depending on which category you are booked into. There is a very long thread titled "What was your upgrade offer and what did you bid" that can provide you with information of the bidding process. The thread should be easy enough to find.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

You can only bid up 2 categories. So a inside could not bid on a haven, they would only have the option to bid on ocean view or balcony 

[rattanchair]

Got it . Thank you.

[All-ready2cruise]

Right, just b/c I'm Platinum, almost PP does not mean that a bid I make would have any more leverage than someone bidding for the first time.  I might wish it did but it doesn't. If I bid low and a newbie bids high, they get the upgrade, not me.   

I probably drink too much wine...lol

[don't-use-real-name]

No one knows for sure - that is absolutely positively how the bidding (upgrading) program is

conducted - but there have been a lot of responses questions answers here at CC to get an

inkle of what is going on behind those closed doors (or curtains) internet shutters blinds to

arrive at a probable conclusion.

 

As noted before - you can only bid if NCL is offering it to you about 80 days from sailing

you can only bid two meta above your present category i.e. Inside to a Balcony - Ocean View

to Mini-Suite - Balcony to Suite(Haven) -

Suites may bid all the way thru the roof to a Haven or Garden Villa.

 

Bidding is on a scale of poor to maximum

Poor maybe just a few dollars per person (PP) to the maximum where at this point you should

consider an outright purchase of that cabin category - benefits being you get to select the cabin

location instead of it being assigned in an undesirable location and you may get more perks and

bennies while carefully weighing the loss of any !

 

A presumption of what transpires - someone in a suite bids and wins a better (Haven) Garden suite

creating a vacancy that someone in a balcony can bid for and then that Inside cabin bids on the

balcony - sort of a domino effect.

There is always the possibility of someone out bidding offering more for cabin and moving up a

double step to a better cabin.

On beginning and ending of season cruises it is possible for a low-ball ridiculous bid to get a great

deal on a cabin with no one bidding !

 

The awarding of the bids can be as soon as right after the 80 day posting period right down to the

2 day 48 hours before sailing. Discussing upgrading on board with Guest Services is not usually

productive "BUT" don't be afraid to ask in case of some fluke. Just remember if you are upgraded

at the last moment your cabin selection is at the mercy of NCL - think leftovers cold ones at that ! 

 

I don't know if your being Platinum PP Ambassador has any merit to the awarding bidding process.

It may be a tie breaking situation between two bidders.

If you have had a history of participation in the bidding process that may factor in - I think it

does as in my last 3 cruises I have been offered the chance to bid and won and I did not bet

the farm just a notch or two above minimum.

Edited June 15, 2019 by don't-use-real-name

[5onadime]

Follow up question to bidding two categories higher...... On the Jewel class ships that have both suites AND haven.... are they considered two different categories? Or would a balcony still be allowed to bid on haven rooms?

[don't-use-real-name]

6 hours ago, 5onadime said:

Follow up question to bidding two categories higher...... On the Jewel class ships that have both suites AND haven.... are they considered two different categories? Or would a balcony still be allowed to bid on haven rooms?

I don't have an answer for that - - -

If you are in a Balcony cabin - two steps categories up is the Haven - first step being a Suite.

I don't know if that goofy category of Mini-Suite (Deluxe Balcony) is a category step in the upgrade structure !

A WAG if in a balcony and bidding for a Haven you are going to have to push that upgrade needle a tad past

midrange.

Readers - anyone been in a balcony and offered the opportunity to bid (2steps up) for a Haven ?

 

Note there are 4 cabins (Owners Suites on deck 9 & 10 forward ) that are part of the Haven complex although

they are not inside the ship within a ship Haven walls.

 

The US money is in a vault at Fort Knox.

The Coca Cola secret formula is in a bank vault in Atlanta.

The KFC secret recipe is still a secret.

NCL bidding upgrade program - lets have a game of blind folded piñata darts at a revolving target !

[All-ready2cruise]

10 hours ago, 5onadime said:

Follow up question to bidding two categories higher...... On the Jewel class ships that have both suites AND haven.... are they considered two different categories? Or would a balcony still be allowed to bid on haven rooms?

On the Jewel Class ships, you're given the opportunity to bid on suites and havens if you're in a balcony or better. 

[BirdTravels]

The same thing is true on the Joy. The Concierge rooms and Havens are one class for bidding purposes. 

 

And when the Take All Five promotion is not running, concierge rooms are allowed all free at sea promos. 

[SouthLyonCruiser]

19 hours ago, rattanchair said:

Perhaps what I am looking for is at what lower level do they start the Haven bidding process. I was H6 and was offered to bid on the supposed next two higher categories.  Is it a standard balcony? Inside? Does every category get to bid on all the higher Haven categories? Say I buy a special inside for a hypothetical $599. Will they send me an offer 4-6 weeks before sailing to bid on a Haven H6 which I paid an actual $9071 for an additional $2000 pp?

I believe that they offer it to people who have cabin catagories that are sold out and they want to get those back on line first. 

But, I am just speculating. That would be about all we can do unless we get a mole into NCL.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

19 hours ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

You can only bid up 2 categories. So a inside could not bid on a haven, they would only have the option to bid on ocean view or balcony 

I don't believe that is true. My son got a two bedroom Haven balcony and was booked in a standard balcony.

By the way he got it for the minimum bid.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

16 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

No one knows for sure - that is absolutely positively how the bidding (upgrading) program is

conducted - but there have been a lot of responses questions answers here at CC to get an

inkle of what is going on behind those closed doors (or curtains) internet shutters blinds to

arrive at a probable conclusion.

 

As noted before - you can only bid if NCL is offering it to you about 80 days from sailing

you can only bid two meta above your present category i.e. Inside to a Balcony - Ocean View

to Mini-Suite - Balcony to Suite(Haven) -

Suites may bid all the way thru the roof to a Haven or Garden Villa.

 

Bidding is on a scale of poor to maximum

Poor maybe just a few dollars per person (PP) to the maximum where at this point you should

consider an outright purchase of that cabin category - benefits being you get to select the cabin

location instead of it being assigned in an undesirable location and you may get more perks and

bennies while carefully weighing the loss of any !

 

A presumption of what transpires - someone in a suite bids and wins a better (Haven) Garden suite

creating a vacancy that someone in a balcony can bid for and then that Inside cabin bids on the

balcony - sort of a domino effect.

There is always the possibility of someone out bidding offering more for cabin and moving up a

double step to a better cabin.

On beginning and ending of season cruises it is possible for a low-ball ridiculous bid to get a great

deal on a cabin with no one bidding !

 

The awarding of the bids can be as soon as right after the 80 day posting period right down to the

2 day 48 hours before sailing. Discussing upgrading on board with Guest Services is not usually

productive "BUT" don't be afraid to ask in case of some fluke. Just remember if you are upgraded

at the last moment your cabin selection is at the mercy of NCL - think leftovers cold ones at that ! 

 

I don't know if your being Platinum PP Ambassador has any merit to the awarding bidding process.

It may be a tie breaking situation between two bidders.

If you have had a history of participation in the bidding process that may factor in - I think it

does as in my last 3 cruises I have been offered the chance to bid and won and I did not bet

the farm just a notch or two above minimum.

We had a standard balcony and were offered to bid on a Garden Villa.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

6 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

I don't have an answer for that - - -

If you are in a Balcony cabin - two steps categories up is the Haven - first step being a Suite.

I don't know if that goofy category of Mini-Suite (Deluxe Balcony) is a category step in the upgrade structure !

A WAG if in a balcony and bidding for a Haven you are going to have to push that upgrade needle a tad past

midrange.

Readers - anyone been in a balcony and offered the opportunity to bid (2steps up) for a Haven ?

 

Note there are 4 cabins (Owners Suites on deck 9 & 10 forward ) that are part of the Haven complex although

they are not inside the ship within a ship Haven walls.

 

The US money is in a vault at Fort Knox.

The Coca Cola secret formula is in a bank vault in Atlanta.

The KFC secret recipe is still a secret.

NCL bidding upgrade program - lets have a game of blind folded piñata darts at a revolving target !

After balcony comes the mini suite and then the suite.

[All-ready2cruise]

5 minutes ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

I don't believe that is true. My son got a two bedroom Haven balcony and was booked in a standard balcony.

By the way he got it for the minimum bid.

But the balcony is the level that can bid on suites/haven staterooms.  Oceanviews can bid on balconies and mini-suites and insides can only bid on ocean views and balconies. As stated in post #12. 

[All-ready2cruise]

BTW, just as an aside, the Epic is unique in that, it doesn't have any oceanview cabins, so, someone an inside cabin would be able to bid on a balcony and a minisuite  but not a haven suite (hopefully everyone knows that minisuites are just glorified balconies). 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

10 hours ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

I don't believe that is true. My son got a two bedroom Haven balcony and was booked in a standard balcony.

By the way he got it for the minimum bid.

That's two categories so fine mini suites is one category then "all haven" is the other category good for him and his family 

[SouthLyonCruiser]

6 hours ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

That's two categories so fine mini suites is one category then "all haven" is the other category good for him and his family 

Mini suites, suites, then Haven.

[All-ready2cruise]

Nope, minisuites, then suites/haven.  Suites and Haven are not considered separate categories when allowing bids. So, from a balcony you can bid on minisuites, suites and haven. 

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

I don't believe that is true. My son got a two bedroom Haven balcony and was booked in a standard balcony.

By the way he got it for the minimum bid.

Yes. A Haven is two steps above a Balcony. 

Step 1: Balcony to Minisuite

Step 2: Minisuite to Haven

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, SouthLyonCruiser said:

I believe that they offer it to people who have cabin catagories that are sold out and they want to get those back on line first. But, I am just speculating. That would be about all we can do unless we get a mole into NCL.

Not good speculation. Once bidding opens, they let people bid regardless of whether the cabin classes are "sold out". Our cruise is pretty much wide open and bidding is allowed in all classes. Why would NCL do anything else. With bids, everyone moves up, so there will be vacancies in lower cabin classes. 

 

BTW: doing upsells to fill every suite on a ship is not new. NCL has always sailed with their suites full. NCL use to do it with a call center. But since they have been launching a new megaship every year, the call center could not keep up and they went to an automated bidding system (similar to other cruise lines.... I was amused that Royal recently changed their bidding system to include the "dials" like NCL).

[zqvol]

On 6/14/2019 at 5:35 PM, rattanchair said:

Is the bidding process the only method? or do they upgrade their preferred Latitudes?

There are two ways. One is to use the bidding process. The other is to just pay the difference between the cabin you have booked and the cabin you want. They do not give upgrades to Latitude members just because they are Latitude members.