Any Upgrade Bids Accepted Recently?

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

10 minutes ago, Thebigtone24 said:

Interesting. Maybe if they don’t like the numbers they are seeing from the regular process, they switch to real time to squeeze people harder. 

I think you’re right.

[amygutman]

Pays to pay attention to the website....

 

Was online looking at GSC excursions when I noticed there was an available 2 bedroom Haven for our upcoming cruise for about 200$ more than the Haven penthouse we booked. We had really wanted a 2 bedroom as our almost 14 yo (this is his birthday cruise) likes to have his own space but the price at the time we originally booked was >3,500$ more.

 

Called our amazing TA, and as soon as I confirmed he switched us to the available 2 bedroom Haven I cancelled our upgrade bid (1000$). The only downside was missing out on the villa reservation we wanted which cancelled when we changed the room booking. Such is life. We love the villa, but kiddo loves having his won space more. 

 

TLDR: looked at website, saw a bigger room available for similar cost, called the TA and now have a happy teenager!

 

Warmest, Gutman

[mscdivina2016]

13 hours ago, Thebigtone24 said:

Interesting. Maybe if they don’t like the numbers they are seeing from the regular process, they switch to real time to squeeze people harder. 

Actually it's because they received multiple max bids so they figured if your willing to bid max how much more will you go.

 

On my sailing I knew of 4 others who bid max on everything.

 

To be honest,the bids were a joke.

 

$5000 max for haven owners suite or $2800 for a haven deluxe.

 

I think because it was a 21 night the system could not compute it right 

 

Once live, I was at $7500 per person on 4 categories,around $5000 person on a couple others and won a haven spa room for $4150 person I think.

[italianstalion]

I have not had one upgraded recently.  But, in 2021 I bid the minimum for 4 different rooms after I booked a normal balcony and I had one accepted for the family balcony suite on the NCL Joy (Haven Room).  When I do get offered an upgrade I usually bid the minimum.  

 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

2 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Actually it's because they received multiple max bids so they figured if your willing to bid max how much more will you go.

 

On my sailing I knew of 4 others who bid max on everything.

 

To be honest,the bids were a joke.

 

$5000 max for haven owners suite or $2800 for a haven deluxe.

 

I think because it was a 21 night the system could not compute it right 

 

Once live, I was at $7500 per person on 4 categories,around $5000 person on a couple others and won a haven spa room for $4150 person I think.

Actually I wasn't even max bid, just in the fair area of the dial.

[jumbojem96]

On 3/21/2023 at 12:12 PM, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

It's something they started doing in 2022, though not all the time.  You receive an email saying you've been outbid with the chance to increase your bid.  I rebid incrementaly until I was the highest bidder, it has been showing that way since yesterday.  I'm just curious how long they'll leave open before the close and award to the highest bidder. My sailing leaves in a week.

Let us know what happens!

How many days out from sailing did you get the email about live bidding?

Edited March 22, 2023 by jumbojem96
addtnl question

[Daddywrbucks]

Sailed on the Joy back in September 2022, and had originally booked a Haven Family Suite.  About 3 weeks prior to embarkment, I received a text offering Real Time bidding (was never offered any other bidding offer prior) and had no idea what it was.  So I started throwing down some bids, most of which came back "out-bid" .  Got up to the point where I decided I wasn't going any further and ended up as the highest bidder.  Got spooked thinking I was going too far, buyers remorse... and completely backed out.  Gave it some thought, spoke to the other people I was traveling with and decided to jump back in. 

So I began the bidding process all over again, and oddly enough the process went exactly the same as the first time... same bid amounts, same everything, until we reached the highest bidder again (same dollar amount)  And that was where I stayed up until around 2 days before sailing when I received the official upgrade email and had the amount taken out of my account. 

In retrospect it didn't feel as though I was actually bidding against a real person the 2nd time I was going thru it, it really felt manufactured, almost as if Norwegian had it set up some way or something.  But in any case, I ended up with the 2-bedroom haven suite which was pretty nice and I still paid less for it than if I had ordinally booked it.  So, best of luck with your bid and enjoy your trip!

[MoCruiseFan]

YES

[mscdivina2016]

6 hours ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

Actually I wasn't even max bid, just in the fair area of the dial.

It doesn't have to be you who bid max.  It will show you how many other people are bidding. All who bid are getting a shot.

[mscdivina2016]

3 hours ago, Daddywrbucks said:

Sailed on the Joy back in September 2022, and had originally booked a Haven Family Suite.  About 3 weeks prior to embarkment, I received a text offering Real Time bidding (was never offered any other bidding offer prior) and had no idea what it was.  So I started throwing down some bids, most of which came back "out-bid" .  Got up to the point where I decided I wasn't going any further and ended up as the highest bidder.  Got spooked thinking I was going too far, buyers remorse... and completely backed out.  Gave it some thought, spoke to the other people I was traveling with and decided to jump back in. 

So I began the bidding process all over again, and oddly enough the process went exactly the same as the first time... same bid amounts, same everything, until we reached the highest bidder again (same dollar amount)  And that was where I stayed up until around 2 days before sailing when I received the official upgrade email and had the amount taken out of my account. 

In retrospect it didn't feel as though I was actually bidding against a real person the 2nd time I was going thru it, it really felt manufactured, almost as if Norwegian had it set up some way or something.  But in any case, I ended up with the 2-bedroom haven suite which was pretty nice and I still paid less for it than if I had ordinally booked it.  So, best of luck with your bid and enjoy your trip!

I can confirm that it was against real people as we actually met. There were 18 Haven's available and we knew the cabins, their numbers and what they were.  (2brm, aft, spa, ect.)

 

So in 21 nights we basically met. Actually on boarding I met two others. That's how I knew we all bid max.

 

[BCOS]

3 hours ago, Daddywrbucks said:

 

In retrospect it didn't feel as though I was actually bidding against a real person the 2nd time I was going thru it, it really felt manufactured, almost as if Norwegian had it set up some way or something.  

On eBay, people can put in proxy bids that are the max they are willing to go, and when others bid under that amount, it immediately tells them that they have been outbid... until they go over the highest bidder's max. I suspect that with NCL, the bids of the other bidders were still just sitting there in the system, and when you were bidding, you were essentially replaying your waltz to the top against the same bids.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

5 hours ago, jumbojem96 said:

Let us know what happens!

How many days out from sailing did you get the email about live bidding?

10 days out went live.

[RD64]

Sounds like too much work to hunt people down and find out what everyone paid.

[jumbojem96]

3 hours ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

10 days out went live.

Im 10 out, wonder why that hasnt happened for me.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

6 hours ago, jumbojem96 said:

Im 10 out, wonder why that hasnt happened for me.

It doesn't happen on all sailings, I'm not sure what triggers.  7 Days out now and still showing me as high bidder but no other movement.

[mscdivina2016]

12 hours ago, BCOS said:

On eBay, people can put in proxy bids that are the max they are willing to go, and when others bid under that amount, it immediately tells them that they have been outbid... until they go over the highest bidder's max. I suspect that with NCL, the bids of the other bidders were still just sitting there in the system, and when you were bidding, you were essentially replaying your waltz to the top against the same bids.

No proxy.

What you bid is your bid .

 

If other person bid $1000 and you bid $1500, it is not $1001 or $1050, but unlike ebay is now $1500.

 

That is for certain. What I don't know is on my case there were 7 of the same haven available. When you bid are are high bidder ,are you on of all 7 or high bidder of one of the 7?

 

[mscdivina2016]

9 hours ago, RD64 said:

Sounds like too much work to hunt people down and find out what everyone paid.

Nobody hunted anyone down. While waiting to board in the lousy haven waiting area, people were talking.

 A couple I knew saw me and asked if I won the 2brm haven, I replied I got the spa room, and a couple there also there said they were bidding on that room as well but decided to go after the 2brm which they won and as luck would have it another couple spoke up that they were also bidding on that 2brm but ended up winning another category.

 Funny how it unfolded. We ended up as soon as we got onboard viewing each other's room. Over the next 3 weeks we casually found out about others.

 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

13 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

No proxy.

What you bid is your bid .

 

If other person bid $1000 and you bid $1500, it is not $1001 or $1050, but unlike ebay is now $1500.

 

That is for certain. What I don't know is on my case there were 7 of the same haven available. When you bid are are high bidder ,are you on of all 7 or high bidder of one of the 7?

 

Wow, that is a very good question when there are multiple cabins available......

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

After live bidding, just got 2 bedroom suite on March 30 Jade.

[Jordan61]

7 minutes ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

After live bidding, just got 2 bedroom suite on March 30 Jade.

 

Congrats!

[complawyer]

question  is "how much did it cost you in bids, as opposed to the actual cost of this cabin"

[amygutman]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

question  is "how much did it cost you in bids, as opposed to the actual cost of this cabin"

Math is fundamental, right?

 

Here's our happy tale. This Wednesday one 2 bed / 2 bath (H4) Haven become available on the Getaway for an April 5 night cruise of of Canaveral. The H4s have been sold out for months and unbelievably, the price was 1900$ less (2 adults, 1 teen) than listed when we initially booked the Haven Courtyard Penthouse (HF). I know the original listing price as I had been weighing H4 vs HF; ultimately, we chose the H4 as I set a max daily "price" for cruises.

 

Our formula is: "Bucket-List Cruises" = 1-1.5K / day; "It's A Fun Day At Sea And Not At Work" = 500-800$/day. These costs include flights, discretionary charges, car rental / shuttle / parking, extra tips, dining, excursions, travel insurance and is the same for cruises or other types of vacations. When I got the upgrade email 4 weeks ago, I put in "poor bids" on the H4, H3 (OS) and H2 (DOS) - 500$ / person (1K total) for each category. Math: no flight or car rental (we live in Orlando), my TA booking bonus for repeat customer pre-paid 300$ tips + OBC, specialty dining is a Platinum perk, hotel + shuttle + parking was 80% paid for with Bonvoy points, and travel insurance was cheap because I bought it the day we made the initial cruise payment. This meant 1,225$ to play with. 

 

All Haven rooms are pretty great because, hey...it's the Haven. But the cruise is for my soon-to-be 14 yo's birthday and he loves having his own room with the H4 or OS floorplan so I threw out low bids knowing they would most likely not get taken. 

 

Trolling my booking site on 3/22 I saw one H4 had become available for 180$ more than what I paid initially for the HF. Crazy, right? I was on the phone with my TA and had the reservation re-booked within 45 minutes whilst I cancelled my other upgrade bids. Because my TA did all of the work, we lost none of of perks or reservations which may happen if you upgrade. 

 

I have NO idea why the price dropped so much, especially with a fully booked Haven. Would I have paid 1900$ more for the H4 - no. 1K, yes. 180$? Hell yes! Keep watching those booking sites (plus have an amazingly responsive TA) and you may get lucky. Set your budget and make sure your math includes adding additional costs (including discretionary charges increasing substantially going up in categories, especially in the Haven). Best of all - I am not telling my son. He's just happy to be cruising, and can't wait to surprise him!

 

Happy Hunting! Amy

[mscdivina2016]

9 hours ago, complawyer said:

question  is "how much did it cost you in bids, as opposed to the actual cost of this cabin"

On my past November 21 night sailing I ended up with a $25000+ haven at the lowest price they dropped it to, for $13,100 total including everything after live bidding.

 

 

 

 

 

[complawyer]

is the $13000 per person ?

[mscdivina2016]

10 minutes ago, complawyer said:

is the $13000 per person ?

No total for 2.  It was also the spa haven so it came with the spa pass for all 21 nights.

 

For clarification.  I booked an inside, used points for a double upgrade to a balcony and then bid.

 

So I was $7000 lower than those who booked a balcony to start with.

 

If they would have looked at the value of my balcony (BA) and charged me the difference, I would have just paid it.