Beware of the MSC Upgrade bid program

[MrMike45]

10 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I haven't looked today but when I compare the price between one of the cheaper Haven suites and the "standard" Yach Club suite the difference usually is at least $2500 for a one week cruise.

 

Still a sizable savings, and by no means am I defending NCL's current price increases (heck that's why we are trying MSC to begin with), but not quite as big a price difference as the $4k per person.  

[Valkyrie]

2 minutes ago, MrMike45 said:

 

So I guess I'm not getting it 😞 

I wouldn't give up yet. They could move people around when closer and you still get a chance🙂

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, MrMike45 said:

 

Still a sizable savings, and by no means am I defending NCL's current price increases (heck that's why we are trying MSC to begin with), but not quite as big a price difference as the $4k per person.  

 

As I understand it Beardface said that the cost for Haven was $4k per person, not the price difference.  

[Beardface]

5 hours ago, MrMike45 said:

 

I don't think this is an apples to apples comparison, as to the best of my knowledge, there are no inside Haven rooms.  All are balcony rooms, and most are considerably bigger than your average room and balcony.  A YC inside room vs. a Haven balcony room is not a fair comparison.  

 

What would a YC balcony room with comparable size have cost in comparison to that same Haven room you priced out?  

 

We did price out a balcony in the YC as well.  The difference between a YC balcony and a Haven balcony was a little over $1500pp for the week, or right under $5000 for the Seaside, a little over $8000 for the Encore.

[jdvmd]

Any update from the OP on this?

 

[ashank1m]

On 6/27/2019 at 1:07 AM, sverigecruiser said:

 

I do believe that you will get all YC benefits and that "shoreside" doesn't know what they are talking about but I'm not necessary correct.

 

I have heared about people being upgraded who didn't got the benefits, for example access to the Top Sail Lounge. (I think that was a free upgrade and that's not the same thing but it can be done.)

 

If they have upgraded passengers without access to the Top Sail Lounge they can ask for the cards the first day and they can probably also see the photo taken at embarkation if some people can get Into the YC but don't have all the benefits.

Hmm, is that mean your phote will be posted to all the bars and wait/butler station to remind them you ARE not YC guest just a roomer in YC?  Ignorance can be a bliss, hit the YC tent, Boarding pass may not have YC experience but room is in YC so act like it and hope for the best. 

[sverigecruiser]

7 hours ago, ashank1m said:

Hmm, is that mean your phote will be posted to all the bars and wait/butler station to remind them you ARE not YC guest just a roomer in YC?  Ignorance can be a bliss, hit the YC tent, Boarding pass may not have YC experience but room is in YC so act like it and hope for the best. 

 

I have only responded to people saying that it can't be done. It can be done and it has been done.

 

I don't know how they know if someone has a YC room without all the YC benefits but the staff do know, there is no doubt about that!

[Valkyrie]

Ok, I am back from the cruise. We did indeed get the Yacht Club Benefits. So, I guess the shore side reps do not know how it works. 

We ended up in cabin 16023. We usually do balcony cabins. The other cruise we took on Divina on a forward facing balcony cabin that was very nice. This was our first Inside cabin. It was very small cabin with a shower that was tiny. I think the restaurant was above us because every night about the same time there was a lot of banging and moving around of items.

A few notes:

Carry some tip money for the porters when you get there. They were pretty vocal about getting a tip for moving your bag 5 feet to put on a cart.

 

Try to keep up with the butler when getting on boarding. They move fast and you are mixing in with the other passengers. There were about 10 - 15 in our group going up and I don't think everyone made it.

 

On lobster day (Thursday) get to the Yacht Club grill early. They ran out of lobster or quit serving pretty quickly. We were limited to 1 each. There were people from other parts of the ship eating there also.

 

For breakfast, the Yacht Club grill is OK. For a little more variety, the buffets had a few more choices. We never tried the Yacht Club restaurant for breakfast.

 

You can get items from the Venchi bar included. I had a banana milk shake and many marrochino's. The hot chocolate was very rich. It was like drinking hot fudge, very thick.

 

We played the slots and charged to the room. There was no extra fees added.

 

Gelato bar was also included. I had a chocolate covered bar that was pretty good.

 

Don't waste your time going to the Yacht Club grill when it is raining. The overhang is too small for a spot for the tables. We were up there when it started and they moved the tables up next to the buffet. It would have been great to sit at one of these. You didn't even have to get out of your chair to refill your plate.

 

If you can't decide between the Butchers Cut and the other restaurant that list the filet mignon, we were told it is the same steak. It was very good. The sides were not. We would do the other (maybe it was Ocean Cay) since we could get crab cakes there.

 

For more varieties of beer, the sports bar had more.

 

They do allow a certain number of people into the Yacht Club from other parts of the ship. I am not sure if it is a day or week long pass. There were quite a few that got in using the glass door on the top deck by tailgating. It got quite crowded at times.

 

That all I can think of now. But, we had a great time. If anyone has questions, I will try to answer them.

 

 

 

[Até]

Thanks for reporting back.

 

ETA: Do you think giving up the larger cabin with a balcony was worth the Yacht Club benefits?  And more specifically did you get the full YC drinks package, throughout the ship?

Edited August 26, 2019 by Até

[Bluewake]

Valkyrie - Thank you for the update. It is encouraging because we are in exactly the same situation as you were in that we "bid" for an upgrade from a balcony to a YC inside on Seaside.  We have been assured by our PCC that we will receive all YC privileges and our reservation materials do state we have the plusgrade "YC Experience".  However, given the known gap between MSC-USA and the ships, we cannot be certain until we board.  As others have asked, did you feel the upgrade was worth it?  Honestly, I am having second thoughts about giving up our balcony but we wanted to try the YC.  I was surprised from your post that people simply wait by the door and follow YC passengers into the area. Do you mean non-YC passengers? If so, does that mean they also grab the free drinks, use the pool,  and eat in the YC restaurant?  If so, no wonder it's so crowded.

[frank808]

1 hour ago, Bluewake said:

Valkyrie - Thank you for the update. It is encouraging because we are in exactly the same situation as you were in that we "bid" for an upgrade from a balcony to a YC inside on Seaside.  We have been assured by our PCC that we will receive all YC privileges and our reservation materials do state we have the plusgrade "YC Experience".  However, given the known gap between MSC-USA and the ships, we cannot be certain until we board.  As others have asked, did you feel the upgrade was worth it?  Honestly, I am having second thoughts about giving up our balcony but we wanted to try the YC.  I was surprised from your post that people simply wait by the door and follow YC passengers into the area. Do you mean non-YC passengers? If so, does that mean they also grab the free drinks, use the pool,  and eat in the YC restaurant?  If so, no wonder it's so crowded.

That is what happened last year for both weeks on Seaside.  Dead give away were the people sitting 9n the loungers with non YC towels.  Also was told by another passenger that they sat with people at the bar all day (about 6 hours).  Asked them to have dinner in YC restaurant and the people drinking with them said they are not in YC and just walked in through doors to drink at the bar.

 

Surprised that the door by the aura sectuonnis still not fixed.

[BLONDEDUDE59]

These are reasons why I never bid for cabin upgrades with any cruise line, and why I don't deal with booking yacht club level type rooms.

Booking an Aurea Level Suite or Aurea Level Balcony Room is a much better value for the money with MSC, and honestly unless one just prefers the mega size ships like Seaside and Meraviglia, Armonia and Divina are more intimate and quieter, very clean (Armonia just rated a CDC Score of 97; Seaside scored 91) , and the service is better on these smaller ships too.

[CruisingFox27]

6 hours ago, frank808 said:

That is what happened last year for both weeks on Seaside.  Dead give away were the people sitting 9n the loungers with non YC towels.  Also was told by another passenger that they sat with people at the bar all day (about 6 hours).  Asked them to have dinner in YC restaurant and the people drinking with them said they are not in YC and just walked in through doors to drink at the bar.

 

Surprised that the door by the aura sectuonnis still not fixed.

 

A couple of people 'tailgated' into YC last year on a sailing we were on, albeit a different ship, the Butlers were alerted and the perpetrators soon departed. The Butlers and Concierge on Seaside obviously need to be enforcing this more firmly on Seaside.

[Valkyrie]

11 hours ago, Até said:

Thanks for reporting back.

 

ETA: Do you think giving up the larger cabin with a balcony was worth the Yacht Club benefits?  And more specifically did you get the full YC drinks package, throughout the ship?

That's a good question. On our cruise it would have been. The ship was sold out, hot and it seemed like thousands of kids on board. We did get YC drinks everywhere on the ship.

[Valkyrie]

11 hours ago, Bluewake said:

Valkyrie - Thank you for the update. It is encouraging because we are in exactly the same situation as you were in that we "bid" for an upgrade from a balcony to a YC inside on Seaside.  We have been assured by our PCC that we will receive all YC privileges and our reservation materials do state we have the plusgrade "YC Experience".  However, given the known gap between MSC-USA and the ships, we cannot be certain until we board.  As others have asked, did you feel the upgrade was worth it?  Honestly, I am having second thoughts about giving up our balcony but we wanted to try the YC.  I was surprised from your post that people simply wait by the door and follow YC passengers into the area. Do you mean non-YC passengers? If so, does that mean they also grab the free drinks, use the pool,  and eat in the YC restaurant?  If so, no wonder it's so crowded.

Hi Bluewake,

Our documents also said plusgrade on them. So I am sure you will be upgraded. It is a good way to try the Yacht Club at a cheaper price. It was our first inside so it was a little different not having  any outside reference to gauge night and day. You spend most of your time outside the cabin and that makes it a little easier. I would take a tablet or clock since there is no clock in the room.

 

It was non-YC passengers coming in. They probably have been on MSC before and knew the tricks. Inside the YC they do not ask for a card\bracelet to get drinks. So, once in it's free drinks.

[Até]

I saw a recent upgrade offer from MSC for a two week Meraviglia sailing originally booked in a Fantastica inside.  Currently the cabin cost is $1000pp with the All In package.  The offer was for an Ocean View at low of $145pp and high of $360pp, a Balcony at low $430pp and high $720pp and a YC interior for low $1295pp and high $1860pp.  Those do correspond to what is still available on the ship.

 

Currently if they just paid the difference shown on the website the Fantastica Ocean View is $200pp more and the Fantastica Balcony is $500pp more, those prices have not varied much over the last few months and are about the same as when they booked.  However, the YC interior is currently shown on the website as an astounding $2800pp more than what they paid for the Fantastica inside, but the interesting thing is that when they booked it was only $1500pp more.  I'm pretty sure if they called in to MSC they would be able to get the YC interior priced as it was when they originally booked, which was $2500pp at that time.  So suddenly that YC interior bid doesn't look so good.

 

So it looks like the super cheap upgrade to a YC interior has been fixed by the Plusgrade team.  Unfortunately I don't see any real deals in these offers, from my calculations even with the minimum bid they are about the same as if you just booked the cabin you wanted in the first place, especially when you consider you have no idea what cabin you may "win" with bidding.  The bid to a "Balcony" could be any  balcony, even a poorly located Bella.  Fantastica benefits would be retained but that's not the point.  There are too many poorly located balconies to ever recommend making that blind bid for a minimum of $430pp.  One big concern is that if you weren't paying attention that YC interior bid would look like a decent deal when it's really not.  MSC has recently been inflating YC prices, especially near/after the deposit loss 120 days out.  I'm not sure if part of the reason is to make these YC upgrade offers look like deals when they really aren't.

 

Also of note is the wording of what the YC upgrade includes "MSC Yacht Club benefits including dedicated 24-hour concierge and butler service, unlimited drinks, all-inclusive meals in the private MSC Yacht Club restaurants, and entry to exclusive areas like "The One Sun Deck"".  It's good to see that's been clarified.

[mafig]

I have to say I'm surprised and disappointed that the YC is becoming crowded and that it's crowded because of people sneaking in.  If this is the case, why doesn't MSC do something about this.???

 

A little off topic, but is this a problem in the Haven too?  People sneaking in I mean.

I know the Haven is sometimes crowded with Haven people making it not truly a "Haven."

[Bluewake]

We were in the YC on the Seaside on the August 31st sailing.  After reading some prior posts on this thread, I was concerned about the YC being crowded by hordes of non-YC people sneaking into the YC!   However, that was not at all the case.  On one or two occasions, I did see someone coming through the glass door separating the YC pool deck from the Aurea area but they easily could have been YC people.  We never had a problem getting a chair or table on the pool deck although chairs right by the pool were sometimes a bit more difficult to find.  As an aside, we had upgraded from a balcony to the YC and, starting  with check-in, there was never a question as to whether we would receive all of the YC benefits.  It was an excellent experience.

[deliver42]

 Glad to hear it.

[BLONDEDUDE59]

Yeah, Bluewake got lucky!  Normally, with most mainstream cruise lines, just because a cruiser upgrades his or her cabin, they only rarely get to keep the amenities they had with the cabin they upgraded to, as their original booking is cancelled by the cruise line, and they receive a new booking with an upgraded cabin, such as in the so called upgrade bid program, and usually the amenities they had with their original cabin cost extra to be added to their upgraded cabin.

Apparently upgrading from a Bella, Fantastica or Aurea Experience Package in an inside, ocean view, balcony or suite to a YC Level Cabin on MSC includes the YC Experience Amenities as well.  

[js]

On 8/12/2019 at 6:41 PM, Beardface said:

 

We did price out a balcony in the YC as well.  The difference between a YC balcony and a Haven balcony was a little over $1500pp for the week, or right under $5000 for the Seaside, a little over $8000 for the Encore.

 

I agree with you.  I am sailing on Seaside YC in February and booked a while ago and paying just under $4,000 (although not $5000) for two people for a YC1 (balcony) cabin.  That was the third sailing I booked for the week after President's week under $4,000 but you don't see those prices any longer.  We are also all booked in the Haven next year, August 2020.  My dd and her bf are in a Haven Cabin in the actual Haven and paying just about $8,000.  It was about $1500 less or so for the spa Haven but they wanted to be in the actual Haven (which we all prefer).  Haven prices are very high buy my family much prefers the nightlife of NCL.  When I sail YC, I sail with my mom and not my family.

[graphicguy]

On 6/28/2019 at 12:48 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

The Yacht Club cabin includes the Yacht Club experience.  If not, no point in being in Yacht Club.  Particularly in an inside.

 

On 6/28/2019 at 2:43 PM, kodesthemoose said:

We should really place our bets.  I'm betting on OP getting the YC perks but also betting that MSC has no idea what it's doing with this bidding program. 

True on both counts!

[goodoldan]

Yeah, I just got the upgrade auction email for our trip on the Divina in December. A couple of options for upgrades to YC, but only a "slider" to select a bid in a predetermined range... and the prices in the range weren't all that attractive. Looked at the FAQs about the process... no mention of not getting YC perks. Maybe there's some confusion between the upgrade auction and a free upgrade (where the MSC ToC's seem to indicate that the upgrade is for the room only but not perks... still practically unworkable for YC). They did also offer a non-YC suite with a "sealed panoramic window" (but no balcony) for a reasonable minimum bid... but I'd probably just keep my carefully-selected B2 balcony instead.

 

As someone who has only an occasional beer at the pool or a glass of wine with dinner (even when drinks are included), pricing unlimited drink packages into YC makes this much less of a value for me... even at auction... but I suppose my drinking preferences would offset the binge cruise drinker at the other end of the spectrum (and having to show a card for drinks in the YC would spoil the "ambiance"). Guess I'm a cruise line's worst nightmare... no photos, few drinks, don't shop much on board, don't spend much in the casino.  😉

[RichNY]

I'm trying to figure this out. We are booked in the YC and received a upgrade offer to the Royal Suite for a minimum bid of $2370pp..Fellow travelers booked in lesser experiences were offered the same offer minimum offer. I guess paying more for a cabin really doesn't effect the bidding process...

 

Needless to say we won't bidding on nothing more than a larger cabin since we are already receiving the same perks.....

[Até]

39 minutes ago, goodoldan said:

Yeah, I just got the upgrade auction email for our trip on the Divina in December. A couple of options for upgrades to YC, but only a "slider" to select a bid in a predetermined range... and the prices in the range weren't all that attractive. Looked at the FAQs about the process... no mention of not getting YC perks. Maybe there's some confusion between the upgrade auction and a free upgrade (where the MSC ToC's seem to indicate that the upgrade is for the room only but not perks... still practically unworkable for YC). They did also offer a non-YC suite with a "sealed panoramic window" (but no balcony) for a reasonable minimum bid... but I'd probably just keep my carefully-selected B2 balcony instead.

The Plusgrade description now directly states YC bids come with all YC perks.  It is very vague regarding all other cabins and leaves the experience level out completely.  The only Aurea perk I would expect from bidding on a cabin you know is Aurea would be the My Choice dining.  I don't think there's a chance of getting all the perks, if there were it would be spelled out as it now is with the YC bids.

 

That bid to an Aurea suite with sealed panoramic windows is a total joke, I'd consider it a outright downgrade.  In fact MSC will not give those suites to balconies as a free upgrade because people would have a fit.