Any Upgrade Bids Accepted Recently?

[mscdivina2016]

1 hour ago, Ashlynkat said:

Looks like they're processing the Haven upgrades for the NCL Encore Oct 29th Panama Canal cruise. We got bumped to the Haven from our Club Balcony Suite! Going to enjoy that for 21 days!

Did you bid or were you just given a free upgrade?

 

We were on that exact sailing last year. Our bidding went live.  We ended up in the Haven for a total cost for two people at $13,100.

[Ashlynkat]

2 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Wow!  That's great especially for a 21 day cruise!

Can you recall what range your bid was in?

We did go into the green very good level but it was still a bit cheaper than buying the upgrade outright. 

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, Ashlynkat said:

We did go into the green very good level but it was still a bit cheaper than buying the upgrade outright. 

So happy you got your bid accepted!

   

We have loved our rare 7 day Havens, but most often we are in a Balcony or Club Balcony.   Spending 21 days in Haven sounds heavenly.  Hope you have an awesome cruise😊

[ustasmom]

Question about the upgrade offer:

 

I have a balcony stateroom yet I can bid for a balcony stateroom. Will it be a higher category or might we go backwards?

[julig22]

20 minutes ago, ustasmom said:

Question about the upgrade offer:

 

I have a balcony stateroom yet I can bid for a balcony stateroom. Will it be a higher category or might we go backwards?

A balcony or a Club Balcony?  They are different.

[ustasmom]

8 hours ago, julig22 said:

A balcony or a Club Balcony?  They are different.

Offer for balcony, spa balcony, club balcony, and club spa balcony. I'm already in BA. I'd hate to pay to go backwards.

 

[GALSews]

2 minutes ago, ustasmom said:

Offer for balcony, spa balcony, club balcony, and club spa balcony. I'm already in BA. I'd hate to pay to go backwards.

 

Usually, you get to pick which of the categories and their subcategories you want to bid on. So you could put in bids for spa balcony, club balcony or spa club balcony and skip the bids on just the balcony.

[Sand and Seas]

10 hours ago, ustasmom said:

Offer for balcony, spa balcony, club balcony, and club spa balcony. I'm already in BA. I'd hate to pay to go backwards.

 

If you are already in a Balcony, it shouldn't offer you the basic Balcony to bid.  

It would only offer you the Spa Balcony & above (Club Balcony & Club Balcony Spa). 

 

Your offer to upgrade should have something like "Your Current Stateroom" and then list your current category.  If it doesn't have your current category correct, I would call NCL and check.

My last one looks like this:

Here are your cruise details:

Your Cruise Information    Your Current Stateroom REQUEST UPGRADE Ship  Norwegian (ship) Sail Date  xx/xx  2023 Reservation #  5XXXxx Stateroom  Club Balcony Suite Total Approx. Size  249 - 439 sq. ft.

 

[melissamg30]

On 8/17/2023 at 12:47 PM, Ashlynkat said:

Looks like they're processing the Haven upgrades for the NCL Encore Oct 29th Panama Canal cruise. We got bumped to the Haven from our Club Balcony Suite! Going to enjoy that for 21 days!

I just received the email to bid going from our BA balcony Haven cabins for our Panama Canal cruise in December. I was wondering, How long did it take them to notify you that you won the upgrade from when you placed the bid? Also, where were you as far as bidding amounts...Low side, mid or high?   

[Ashlynkat]

22 minutes ago, melissamg30 said:

I just received the email to bid going from our BA balcony Haven cabins for our Panama Canal cruise in December. I was wondering, How long did it take them to notify you that you won the upgrade from when you placed the bid? Also, where were you as far as bidding amounts...Low side, mid or high?   

This was a pretty early notification to be upgraded. The last time we won an upgrade bid (for a Baltic Cruise on the Breakway), it was about 2 weeks before the cruise that we found out. I think it is going to vary cruise by cruise. NCL clearly wants to make the most money and sell out the ship and I'm sure they've got all kinds of different algorithms they follow to decide when to upgrade or not.

In my case, we were in a Club Balcony Suite which had been sold out for a while on our cruise while there were over a dozen Haven rooms available. Upgrading us now with more than 60 days till the cruise, freed up a room that probably won't have any trouble selling at full fare before sailing. And if they don't, they can accept an upgrade bid for someone from another class closer to the cruise date. 

We did a mix of  "excellent" and "strong"  green zones to yellow zone "Fair" bids depending on how much savings it was based on paying for the upgrade directly. We followed the prices and room availability on Costco's website (which is easier to navigate in our opinion) and adjusted our bids a few times up and down. For the 2 Bedroom Haven we got the upgrade for, we went into the excellent range but are still quite happy with the savings we had versus if we bought the upgrade outright. 

[rattla]

3 hours ago, melissamg30 said:

I just received the email to bid going from our BA balcony Haven cabins for our Panama Canal cruise in December. I was wondering, How long did it take them to notify you that you won the upgrade from when you placed the bid? Also, where were you as far as bidding amounts...Low side, mid or high?   

 

[Sand and Seas]

I keep watching to see if the current pricing on our cruise for Haven cabins will drop making it worthwhile to call and pay for the upgrade.  We are within two months out now of our cruise on Joy.  While Balcony prices have dropped, Haven prices have not.  (There are not many Haven cabins left.)

 

The max bids for the lowest category is 1000 X 2.  Next two higher categories, max bid is 1500 X 2.  Difference between our Club Balcony and that category is about 3300 X 2.      I find it strange that the max bids are so low compared to other cruise upgrade offers we have received.

 

[mscdivina2016]

4 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

I keep watching to see if the current pricing on our cruise for Haven cabins will drop making it worthwhile to call and pay for the upgrade.  We are within two months out now of our cruise on Joy.  While Balcony prices have dropped, Haven prices have not.  (There are not many Haven cabins left.)

 

The max bids for the lowest category is 1000 X 2.  Next two higher categories, max bid is 1500 X 2.  Difference between our Club Balcony and that category is about 3300 X 2.      I find it strange that the max bids are so low compared to other cruise upgrade offers we have received.

 

Wow, that max is really low.

 

Everyone will bid max at those prices.

Then you could go live bidding. 

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Wow, that max is really low.

 

Everyone will bid max at those prices.

Then you could go live bidding. 

Yikes!  Live bidding sounds scary....

Do you know how far out they start the live bidding process?  

[Russiamomm]

9 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yikes!  Live bidding sounds scary....

Do you know how far out they start the live bidding process?  

Haven went to live bidding on my April transatlantic.  We put in a few bids and were immediately notified that we’d been outbid.  We gave up and resolved ourselves to the fact that we weren’t going to be in the Haven.  Just got too rich for us.  Lo and behold, five days before sailing we got notice that our latest bid was accepted.  We ended up in our preferred room, the 2 BR Haven.  So all is not lost if it goes to live bidding.  There is still hope as long as you don’t cancel the bid altogether.  
 

Some of it is luck.  I know from the FB group that a family had to cancel the week before the trip, opening up another 2BR.  While I feel for them and their family, it got us into the Haven for 16 nights for a reasonable amount of money,

Edited August 21, 2023 by Russiamomm

[mscdivina2016]

3 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yikes!  Live bidding sounds scary....

Do you know how far out they start the live bidding process?  

We started two weeks before sailing.

 

It was. 21 night transatlantic.  I was at $7500 a person for 6 categories. Ended up in a Haven spa for a little over $4100 per person bid .

Brutal!

[Sand and Seas]

27 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

We started two weeks before sailing.

 

It was. 21 night transatlantic.  I was at $7500 a person for 6 categories. Ended up in a Haven spa for a little over $4100 per person bid .

Brutal!

Well 21 days in a Haven Spa cabin does sound wonderful!   Sounds like it was well worth it in the end.

 

Thanks to you and @Russiamommfor sharing your experiences. 

Give me something to think about if my cruise bidding goes Live😬

[Sand and Seas]

Has anyone had problems using a Citi (Costco) card for you Upgrade?  

 

I'm kind of worried as that's the card I've used for my bids and I had a strange thing happen a couple of days ago.  I went in to modify a bid and a few minutes later I got a 'Your request to cancel bid' notice on each of my categories.   I immediately re-entered bids using Citi card again and they were accepted.  Then, when I went in a few hours later to check, all of them cancelled again☹️   Re-entered again and still hoping they are OK🤞

 

There is another thread where some have had trouble getting their Citi card accepted by NCL.  Both NCL & Citi says the problem isn't on their end.  If the Citi card won't work if they go to accept/ process my bid, will they give me a chance to give them a different card?   

[mscdivina2016]

1 hour ago, Sand and Seas said:

Has anyone had problems using a Citi (Costco) card for you Upgrade?  

 

I'm kind of worried as that's the card I've used for my bids and I had a strange thing happen a couple of days ago.  I went in to modify a bid and a few minutes later I got a 'Your request to cancel bid' notice on each of my categories.   I immediately re-entered bids using Citi card again and they were accepted.  Then, when I went in a few hours later to check, all of them cancelled again☹️   Re-entered again and still hoping they are OK🤞

 

There is another thread where some have had trouble getting their Citi card accepted by NCL.  Both NCL & Citi says the problem isn't on their end.  If the Citi card won't work if they go to accept/ process my bid, will they give me a chance to give them a different card?   

No!

 If bid is accepted and card fails, they move on and you lose out.

 Once a bid is accepted and card fails it cancels all.

 

Also if your saying your bids have been cancelled twice and you put them in again, you are now at the back of the line.

Not a huge deal unless you were bidding Max than everyone else who may have bid max is now ahead of you.

 

I wonder if they were accepting your bid? Check to see if the cabins you were bidding on are still there or there are fewer now.

Edited August 22, 2023 by mscdivina2016

[Sand and Seas]

4 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

No!

 If bid is accepted and card fails, they move on and you lose out.

 Once a bid is accepted and card fails it cancels all.

 

Also if your saying your bids have been cancelled twice and you put them in again, you are now at the back of the line.

Not a huge deal unless you were bidding Max than everyone else who may have bid max is now ahead of you.

 

I wonder if they were accepting your bid? Check to see if the cabins you were bidding on are still there or there are fewer now.

I'm not really sure if the Citi card failed, but after re-entering them twice it does look like bids are still there now.  It didn't say they had cancelled bids but that I had chosen to cancel them.  Very confusing!

 

The bids (with Citi card) were there for weeks before I got the messages a couple of days ago that said I had cancelled them.  I had gone in and modified a bid before all of the 'you cancelled your bid' messages started coming.  Went in to check bids again about 10 hrs later and again the message that I had cancelled them.  Re-entered again & hoping they are OK now.

 

The inventory of haven cabins hasn't changed so I don't think they have begun awarding.  

[KKB]

Breakaway Aug 4 10 day Med cruise.

Got fantastic deal in 2021 on this cruise, $2K each w/ air & amenities.

Bid $155@ on OV & got it-- that window & that 30 extra feet felt luxurious.

DH & I stayed in INT on Getaway--not a huge fan.

 

[alwaystheslayer]

Anyone bidding on the Oct 15th Escape cruise? When I booked all spa/haven rooms were listed as sold out. I am hoping to get an upgrade to a spa or haven room...They have a lot of rooms listed to bid on.

Anyone know what my chances might be? It seems pretty bleak based on what I've read. 

[BunnyHutt]

On 8/22/2023 at 3:58 PM, Sand and Seas said:

I'm not really sure if the Citi card failed, but after re-entering them twice it does look like bids are still there now.  It didn't say they had cancelled bids but that I had chosen to cancel them.  Very confusing!

 

The bids (with Citi card) were there for weeks before I got the messages a couple of days ago that said I had cancelled them.  I had gone in and modified a bid before all of the 'you cancelled your bid' messages started coming.  Went in to check bids again about 10 hrs later and again the message that I had cancelled them.  Re-entered again & hoping they are OK now.

 

The inventory of haven cabins hasn't changed so I don't think they have begun awarding.  

I received the same message about my bids (that I had placed in May, immediately after getting the email and didn’t look at since) a couple of weeks ago. I hadn’t even visited the site in 6 weeks, let alone canceled anything! I used my AmEx. Went in and re-bid with the same card - all low balls on what I believe are sold our cabins, anyway - and haven’t had any phantom cancellations since. 
 

I believe our odds are basically 0 but my friend and I figured it didn’t hurt anyone to try. 😆

[Wolf16]

Anyone win anything on Aug 27 NCL encore to Alaska yet? 

 

Can't decide if it's worth upgrading bids anymore or if they already got chosen. I can still adjust my bid. 

 

7 day don't know if more than 1200 pp to go from club balcony suite to haven 1 bd is worth anymore. Any thoughts from experienced folk on suite balcony vs haven? 

 

Thanks, 

 

 

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, BunnyHutt said:

I received the same message about my bids (that I had placed in May, immediately after getting the email and didn’t look at since) a couple of weeks ago. I hadn’t even visited the site in 6 weeks, let alone canceled anything! I used my AmEx. Went in and re-bid with the same card - all low balls on what I believe are sold our cabins, anyway - and haven’t had any phantom cancellations since. 
 

I believe our odds are basically 0 but my friend and I figured it didn’t hurt anyone to try. 😆

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one with the strange cancellations!   I was feeling weirdly pranked  by the upgrade system😒

 

Maybe it will end up being lucky for both of us.  Hope you get accepted for a low ball bid🤞