Upgrading after final payment

[aimee0715]

I am thinking I would like to upgrade to a veranda on our November 30 cruise on Journey.  It is my understanding that if your voyage is eligible for upgrade bids, you will receive an email about bidding.  Can someone tell me how close to sailing date those emails go out?  I am just an Adventurer so bidding may be a long shot anyway.  

[Fatfish]

You can check here just in case but it maybe to early...I did a quick check and there are 20 veranda cabins still unsold ..

 

https://www.azamara.com/azamara-upgrade-program

[berkshireboy]

We have an inside cabin booked on the Quest, Dubai & Emirates cruise on 29 November.  At 97 days out we received an [unsolicited] email asking if we wanted to bid for an upgrade.  However, we could only bid on a restricted view outside or a Club Continent Suite, not on a veranda cabin.  We have made a minimum bid offer on a restricted view outside but will not be concerned if we do not get an upgrade.  At this point in time there are no inside cabins and only 2 outside [including 1 disabled] available.  There are numerous veranda cabins still available.    Seems to be there will be a lot of juggling with inventory before we sail!

[Burlington ON]

I didn't receive an email.  After final payment was made I went to the Azamara Bid Upgraded site:  https://www.azamara.com/en-ca/azamara-upgrade-program, entered name and booking number and continued from there.  Good luck!

[aimee0715]

Thanks everyone!  

[Lookyboy]

9 hours ago, Burlington ON said:

I didn't receive an email.  After final payment was made I went to the Azamara Bid Upgraded site:  https://www.azamara.com/en-ca/azamara-upgrade-program, entered name and booking number and continued from there.  Good luck!

And were you invited (eligible) to bid? Sorry if I have missed something here and have the word 'misguided' applied to me again on this forum.

 

We don't receive any e-mails from Azamara (old news, I know), and when I tried this for our recent cruise, I was not able to bid. Hoping to be able to access the bidding for our next one, so waiting to hear how this went for you.

[aimee0715]

19 hours ago, Lookyboy said:

And were you invited (eligible) to bid? Sorry if I have missed something here and have the word 'misguided' applied to me again on this forum.

 

We don't receive any e-mails from Azamara (old news, I know), and when I tried this for our recent cruise, I was not able to bid. Hoping to be able to access the bidding for our next one, so waiting to hear how this went for you.

I wanted to report back on what has happened since I posted my query.  Yesterday,  I used the link posted above and it told me that I was not eligible to bid.  I tried again today and I was eligible.  It invited me to bid on either a club veranda or a club oceanview.  Just out of curiosity, I checked my email to see if Azamara sent an email inviting me to bid.  I have not received an email. 

 

I know there is a separate sticky for bids but I'll post what I was offered in case anyone is curious.  The minimum bid on a club veranda is $500 per person.  I should add that the reason I decided that I might want to upgrade is that if I was booking right now, I could book an aft balcony (club deluxe veranda) for $1080 more than what paid for an interior.  I have always been interested in trying an aft balcony and I know that normally there would be more difference in price than that.  If I was booking today, I could get a regular balcony (club veranda) for $500 more (that is $500 total for both of us).  It is pretty annoying that the minimum bid to upgrade to a club veranda is $1000 (which is, of course, a "weak" bid) .  Also, I just checked and $500 per person is weak, $510 per person is "fair" and $520 per person is "strong". The minimum bid for an oceanview is $200 per person.  That is actually only $100 more than the price difference between what I paid for the interior and what an oceanview is now.  I'm not interested in an oceanview though.  Needless to say, I am not bidding. Although, I would strongly consider it if I was for sure going to get one of the aft balconies that is still available.  

[Phxazzcruisers]

On 9/13/2019 at 12:26 PM, aimee0715 said:

I wanted to report back on what has happened since I posted my query.  Yesterday,  I used the link posted above and it told me that I was not eligible to bid.  I tried again today and I was eligible.  It invited me to bid on either a club veranda or a club oceanview.  Just out of curiosity, I checked my email to see if Azamara sent an email inviting me to bid.  I have not received an email. 

 

I know there is a separate sticky for bids but I'll post what I was offered in case anyone is curious.  The minimum bid on a club veranda is $500 per person.  I should add that the reason I decided that I might want to upgrade is that if I was booking right now, I could book an aft balcony (club deluxe veranda) for $1080 more than what paid for an interior.  I have always been interested in trying an aft balcony and I know that normally there would be more difference in price than that.  If I was booking today, I could get a regular balcony (club veranda) for $500 more (that is $500 total for both of us).  It is pretty annoying that the minimum bid to upgrade to a club veranda is $1000 (which is, of course, a "weak" bid) .  Also, I just checked and $500 per person is weak, $510 per person is "fair" and $520 per person is "strong". The minimum bid for an oceanview is $200 per person.  That is actually only $100 more than the price difference between what I paid for the interior and what an oceanview is now.  I'm not interested in an oceanview though.  Needless to say, I am not bidding. Although, I would strongly consider it if I was for sure going to get one of the aft balconies that is still available.  

If I am not mistaken, after final payment you can always upgrade to a better cabin by paying the current advertised price less what you originally paid for your cabin.  If there is an aft balcony available for $1080 more than what you paid for your interior, I would call my travel agent (if you used one) or Azamara if you did not and see if they will let you pay outright to upgrade without any bidding.  If you pay to upgrade, as oppose to winning a bid you also get the points for the room you pay full price for.  I hope this makes sense

[excitedofharpenden]

7 hours ago, Phxazzcruisers said:

If I am not mistaken, after final payment you can always upgrade to a better cabin by paying the current advertised price less what you originally paid for your cabin.  If there is an aft balcony available for $1080 more than what you paid for your interior, I would call my travel agent (if you used one) or Azamara if you did not and see if they will let you pay outright to upgrade without any bidding.  If you pay to upgrade, as oppose to winning a bid you also get the points for the room you pay full price for.  I hope this makes sense

The problem is the OP would pay the balcony price rolled back to when the interior was originally booked. Like Everything pricing wise on Azamara it is not as straightforward as it first looks. 

 

Phil 

Edited September 15, 2019 by excitedofharpenden

[Phxazzcruisers]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

The problem is the OP would pay the balcony price rolled back to when the interior was originally booked. Like Everything pricing wise on Azamara it is not as straightforward as it first looks. 

 

Phil 

Boy, that is not fair.  I have never done this on the 20+ cruises with Azamara, but we have upgraded suites on Celebrity several times and it never worked this way.  Sorry Azamara is not as fair as Celebrity.  

[excitedofharpenden]

3 minutes ago, Phxazzcruisers said:

Boy, that is not fair.  I have never done this on the 20+ cruises with Azamara, but we have upgraded suites on Celebrity several times and it never worked this way.  Sorry Azamara is not as fair as Celebrity.  

Yes, I’ve tried it before after final payment.  What I’m not sure of is whether this is marketplace specific.  I notice the OP is in the US so it might be different to me in the U.K. and worth checking, but my feeling is that there will be a clause somewhere.  

 

The other thing I notice is that stateroom categories are often hidden from the inventory during this bidding process.  Same for Celebrity. They offer cabins to upgrade to which aren’t for sale.  Of course they may be betting on someone vacating to another cabin to free that one up.  It’s all a bit of a minefield to understand. 

 

Phil

[Phxazzcruisers]

9 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Yes, I’ve tried it before after final payment.  What I’m not sure of is whether this is marketplace specific.  I notice the OP is in the US so it might be different to me in the U.K. and worth checking, but my feeling is that there will be a clause somewhere.  

 

The other thing I notice is that stateroom categories are often hidden from the inventory during this bidding process.  Same for Celebrity. They offer cabins to upgrade to which aren’t for sale.  Of course they may be betting on someone vacating to another cabin to free that one up.  It’s all a bit of a minefield to understand. 

 

Phil

I am also in the US, so maybe it i different for us here

[uktog]

On 9/15/2019 at 2:26 AM, Phxazzcruisers said:

If I am not mistaken, after final payment you can always upgrade to a better cabin by paying the current advertised price less what you originally paid for your cabin.  If there is an aft balcony available for $1080 more than what you paid for your interior, I would call my travel agent (if you used one) or Azamara if you did not and see if they will let you pay outright to upgrade without any bidding.  If you pay to upgrade, as oppose to winning a bid you also get the points for the room you pay full price for.  I hope this makes sense

I tried to do that and the price I was quoted was far in excess of that difference calculation (through LCV ambassador). 

[Phxazzcruisers]

6 hours ago, uktog said:

I tried to do that and the price I was quoted was far in excess of that difference calculation (through LCV ambassador). 

Again, I am in the US, so the rules may be different for us here

 

[uktog]

They actually asked for more to

upgrade than a brand new booking in a suite would have cost !

 

[hamrag]

38 minutes ago, uktog said:

They actually asked for more to

upgrade than a brand new booking in a suite would have cost !

 

 

And because you are now well under 90 days out, the minimum cancellation fee is 50% so it makes no sense whatsoever to cancel and rebook!

 

Reading your 'Az loyalty' posts on other threads, it is shameful the way they treat guests like yourselves where even the so called free nights are of no benefit because of their pricing rules...not good, in any sense!

[Bloodaxe]

16 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

And because you are now well under 90 days out, the minimum cancellation fee is 50% so it makes no sense whatsoever to cancel and rebook!

 

Reading your 'Az loyalty' posts on other threads, it is shameful the way they treat g uests like yourselves where even the so called free nights are of no benefit because of their pricing rules...not good, in any sens

 

It is Amazing how many people are still loyal the way that they are being treated, I know all about the wonderful on board staff but I for one have no further bookings and it will take a great deal to get me back.

[Redtravel]

Never got an invitation to bid. Had I not read about the changes to bidding for upgrades, I would have never known it had changed. We had originally booked a V1 deck 8 midship cabin. The price for a suite was outrageous. We had hoped to get a $395 upgrade. After discussing whether or not to bid, we decided to stay in our booked cabin.  At first glance, it was small. We settled in, found lots of good storage space, and really enjoyed the cabin. It is small. The furnishings are good.  Booked another cruise on An R ship.

[hamrag]

FAO Bonnie please, if reading this thread.

 

We are booked on 2 cruises, booked on precisely same basis at same time with the same TA....Journey on 30th November and 7th December. At least two weeks ago we received an invitation to bid for 30 November upgrade, but to date no such invitation for 7th December cruise...and no-one else on our rollcall has received such, nor is it accessible through the Az website.

 

Is it possible to establish the reason for this, or is the intention still that Azamara will open this up for the bidding process?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[Grandma Cruising]

One thing I have noticed is that the length of time before cruises start that they become eligible for upgrade bids seems to vary a lot, so it’s possible that your 7 December cruise will become eligible, unless it’s sold out, or unless everything except inside cabins are all sold.

[hamrag]

I received an email, a couple of hours after posting earlier....unsure if Bonnie influenced this, no matter the reason I now have access to upgrade!

[BBMacLaird]

On 10/3/2019 at 10:53 AM, hamrag said:

I received an email, a couple of hours after posting earlier....unsure if Bonnie influenced this, no matter the reason I now have access to upgrade!

Nope, hamrag, I had nothing to do with that email to you...just coincidence. Or...the power of positive thinking?? 

Glad you now have access to bid on an upgrade. Good luck!