Bidding for Celebrity cabin upgrades in the weeks before departures?

[ERParadise]

I would like to know the facts regarding past experiences with passengers placing bids to upgrade their cabins in the weeks prior to departure.  I have a few questions, but beyond my questions I would like to hear the experiences of other passengers.

1) If two passengers bid the same amount for an upgrade does the passenger with more Captains Club points win?

2) Can you bid to move up more than one class of cabin?

3) What is the bid range that works to win a higher level of suite? To move into Aqua Class or from Aqua Class to a suite or move from a Sky suite to a Celebrity or Royal Suite?  The dollars it takes to win these upgrades on average?  Please give examples of what you paid to get a successful upgrade or amounts you offered and didn't get the upgrade.

4) Do passengers who book directly with Celebrity have an advantage over a passenger who booked through an outside travel agency?

5) Does Captain Club tier level have any value to upgrades?

 

Thanks for all the facts that you have experienced.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

There is a sticky at the top of this board that should give you the info you are looking for.

[Jim_Iain]

50 minutes ago, ERParadise said:

I would like to know the facts regarding past experiences with passengers placing bids to upgrade their cabins in the weeks prior to departure.  I have a few questions, but beyond my questions I would like to hear the experiences of other passengers.

1) If two passengers bid the same amount for an upgrade does the passenger with more Captains Club points win?

NO  -  they don't reveal their antilogarithms but they try to maximize their revenue

2) Can you bid to move up more than one class of cabin?

Yes -  You will be able to bid for all cabins available on your bid form only one will be awarded if you win and others cancelled.

3) What is the bid range that works to win a higher level of suite? To move into Aqua Class or from Aqua Class to a suite or move from a Sky suite to a Celebrity or Royal Suite?  The dollars it takes to win these upgrades on average?  Please give examples of what you paid to get a successful upgrade or amounts you offered and didn't get the upgrade.

See Sticky ---

4) Do passengers who book directly with Celebrity have an advantage over a passenger who booked through an outside travel agency?

NO --  I book with an agent and have won many upgrades.

5) Does Captain Club tier level have any value to upgrades?

NONE

 

Thanks for all the facts that you have experienced.

 

This sticky is good to get an idea but on your other questions see above inline

[George C]

We went from sky suite to penthouse on Edge a month ago , had only booked it two weeks before sailing, was notified 2 days before sailing.

[ERParadise]

19 hours ago, George C said:

We went from sky suite to penthouse on Edge a month ago , had only booked it two weeks before sailing, was notified 2 days before sailing.

How much did you bid to get that upgrade?  We want to advance from sky suite and not sure how much to bid

[ERParadise]

20 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

There is a sticky at the top of this board that should give you the info you are looking for.

What is a "sticky" and what date was it posted?

[George C]

3 minutes ago, ERParadise said:

How much did you bid to get that upgrade?  We want to advance from sky suite and not sure how much to bid

Total of 7100 , 3550 each, penthouse was amazing, love perks royal and above , liquor setup , free specialty restaurants. See thread on move up , several are listed in this.

[miched]

We found that many cruises the move up starting bid was about the same as the cost to upgrade.    Just because you make a offer it doesn’t guarantee that you will get it but once accepted you can’t refuse.   You have no choice in the location , don’t get the extra points, you do get the amenities but only get the perks you originally booked.   
 

You need to evaluate if it is cost effective and suits your budget.   When we sail we usually set a price that we are happy with and get the category we want but it is tempting sometimes to add more if you can score a great deal 

If we have a SS we won’t bid on a move up to a CS as we don’t like the layout of the cabin 

 

It all depends on what is important to and what you  are happy with.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[hasentreelake]

22 minutes ago, ERParadise said:

What is a "sticky" and what date was it posted?

@ERParadise    
A 'sticky' is a post that stays fixed (or sticks) at the beginning of a forum.
On this Celebrity Forum, there are 5 or 6 stickies... 

 

They are there for the purpose of easily finding them as they contain information that is generally useful to everyone that visits the forum.
The 'sticky' related to Move Up is here:

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by hasentreelake

[George C]

34 minutes ago, miched said:

We found that many cruises the move up starting bid was about the same as the cost to upgrade.    Just because you make a offer it doesn’t guarantee that you will get it but once accepted you can’t refuse.   You have no choice in the location , don’t get the extra points, you do get the amenities but only get the perks you originally booked.   
 

You need to evaluate if it is cost effective and suits your budget.   When we sail we usually set a price that we are happy with and get the category we want but it is tempting sometimes to add more if you can score a great deal 

If we have a SS we won’t bid on a move up to a CS as we don’t like the layout of the cabin 

 

It all depends on what is important to and what you  are happy with.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

The cost of a upgrade would have been thousands more going from sky to penthouse on edge, but I am sure that is the case sometimes , I also don’t really care for celebrity suite.

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

The cost of a upgrade would have been thousands more going from sky to penthouse on edge, but I am sure that is the case sometimes , I also don’t really care for celebrity suite.

If I were in a Sky Suite, I'd def not bid to upgrade to a CS, slightly larger room, sliding door to hide the bed but meh, not much more  Next level is where the really good upgrades come in, specialty dining etc.  That's just me though.

[cruisingxpert]

44 minutes ago, miched said:

If we have a SS we won’t bid on a move up to a CS as we don’t like the layout of the cabin 

 

Agree.  I saw the suite on a cabin crawl in 2019.  They get better balcony chairs but layout

is disappointing.

[choochella]

Crap. I’d just be happy to get a decent move up bid from our inside to a balcony. 

[mayleeman]

17 minutes ago, choochella said:

Crap. I’d just be happy to get a decent move up bid from our inside to a balcony. 

Bid enough and you can! But if you are interested in points, just see if it would be better to rebook to a balcony direct.

[George C]

17 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

Agree.  I saw the suite on a cabin crawl in 2019.  They get better balcony chairs but layout

is disappointing.

I rarely do cabin crawls anymore but there a great way to see some of the other cabins and suites, we normally offer a tour of a higher end suite to the roll call when we book it. 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, choochella said:

Crap. I’d just be happy to get a decent move up bid from our inside to a balcony. 

I would think you will be successful even if you bid close to the minimum.

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

If I were in a Sky Suite, I'd def not bid to upgrade to a CS, slightly larger room, sliding door to hide the bed but meh, not much more  Next level is where the really good upgrades come in, specialty dining etc.  That's just me though.

It's not just you. I was doing some research just yesterday to get a sense of how much I'd bid to go from SS to CS on Edge. It wouldn't be very much. Lower than the minimum I'm sure.

[Jim_Iain]

19 minutes ago, RichYak said:

It's not just you. I was doing some research just yesterday to get a sense of how much I'd bid to go from SS to CS on Edge. It wouldn't be very much. Lower than the minimum I'm sure.

It helps to know the price of the SS and the CS and then check the minimum that is offered.  

 

I've seen cases where someone could have upgraded cheaper than the bids that were offered.   They often also often offer upgrades for cabins that aren't available in the hope that someone in that class will also bid on an upgrade and open an availability. 

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I would just like to add that even if you do upgrade you will only get the Captain's Club points based on your original cabin grade.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[RichYak]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It helps to know the price of the SS and the CS and then check the minimum that is offered.  

 

I've seen cases where someone could have upgraded cheaper than the bids that were offered.   They often also often offer upgrades for cabins that aren't available in the hope that someone in that class will also bid on an upgrade and open an availability. 

I noted that information. When I booked, a CS would have cost about $1400pp more than the SS I ended up booking, so I already know I wouldn't pay that much. I don't even think I'd pay half that to move to a CS. I suppose at $500pp I might be interested?? Maybe??

 

With no tangible extra benefits, it's really just about extra space. How much value does one place on space?

[ERParadise]

On 8/9/2021 at 5:28 PM, CHEZMARYLOU said:

There is a sticky at the top of this board that should give you the info you are looking for.

 

On 8/10/2021 at 2:40 PM, George C said:

The cost of a upgrade would have been thousands more going from sky to penthouse on edge, but I am sure that is the case sometimes , I also don’t really care for celebrity suite.

I spoke with Celebrity today and ask how full the ships are right now and was told that most cruises during August are at 50%.  I replied that on my October cruise it shows all the suites sold out and she said that is because Celebrity is only releasing some of the cabins to keep the overall occupancy down.  If this is the case it may be different bidding on upgrades than in a normal timeframe?

 

[Jim_Iain]

On 8/11/2021 at 7:02 AM, RichYak said:

I noted that information. When I booked, a CS would have cost about $1400pp more than the SS I ended up booking, so I already know I wouldn't pay that much. I don't even think I'd pay half that to move to a CS. I suppose at $500pp I might be interested?? Maybe??

 

With no tangible extra benefits, it's really just about extra space. How much value does one place on space?

I was looking and saw a Edge bid  from someone in a S3 and the minimum  bid started at $750 pp and they won the bid at $1,040 ( Total cost $2,080).

 

Space is one consideration but having a separate bedroom is a real plus to me.

[DCPIV]

Do take a look (or give a call) and see what it would cost to upgrade directly. We recently were able to for significantly less than the minimum move up bid, and you get all perks.

[ERParadise]

On 8/13/2021 at 7:44 PM, DCPIV said:

Do take a look (or give a call) and see what it would cost to upgrade directly. We recently were able to for significantly less than the minimum move up bid, and you get all perks.

How does this work compared to the bidding system?  When the bids come out you simply contact celebrity and ask for a discounted upgrade?

[miched]

21 hours ago, ERParadise said:

How does this work compared to the bidding system?  When the bids come out you simply contact celebrity and ask for a discounted upgrade?

You just call who you booked with  and ask how much it would cost to upgrade if that category is available.   There is no discount.   The amount to upgrade is usually the difference between what you paid and the rate that is posted on the website for that category.  
 

Just because there are offers to move up the minimum bid is a starting point and it isn’t a open auction plus it doesn’t mean someone is going to “win”.   X just wants some options to fill the cabins if there are any available on sailing day.   You place the amount that you are willing to pay and have no idea of what others have bid.   The amount you place is set.   The amount anyone places doesn’t affect the minimum.   100 passengers could bid the minimum and nothing changes.   If your bid is accepted and you get the move up you cannot change your mind if you don’t like the location 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅