Cabin Upgrade Bidding

[The_Force]

Has anyone tried the cabin upgrade bidding? When I placed my initial upgrade bid, the offer was supposed to be per cabin.

DATE	SHIP	BID TYPE	OFFER
Dec 29, 2021	Scarlet Lady	Seriously Suite	$950 USD per cabin

When I received the notice that I was outbid, I was told if I wanted to submit a new bid, it had to be higher than my original bid, and now it was per passenger!!! This is a major difference. Seems like I was baited into bidding then Virgin switched how the bidding process worked. Why cant we just book the cabin we want? It was available at booking time but our TA was told we had to bid on it. Anyone else experienced any of this?

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by The_Force
Added additional info

[scaught]

Im kinda confused as to how it works. As I read it, I was bidding extra monies to get an upgraded room. I figured it was probably not a great offer, but I put 135 in as a bid (on top of what I already paid for a centrally located balcony room) for an XL Sea Terrace. I got an email this week that I was outbid. When i check the site, it says 'You’ve been outbid! Increase your offer to $6,603 USD to be in 1st place'. Someone is really wanting to pay that much extra on top of what they already paid?  

Edited December 25, 2021 by scaught

[The_Force]

Here's where my bid currently stands... If someone is really bidding $6,621 per person for a Serious Suite cabin, on top of what they've already paid for this four day cruise, Virgin Voyages will continue to operate in this fashion. In the future, my money will be spent elsewhere where I can book the cabin I want, when it's available at the time I choose to book. Sorry Virgin... I'm not going to play this game.

 

Your current offer per passenger

$950 USD

You’ve been outbid! Increase your offer to $6,622 USD to be in 1st place!

[MarinerBoy]

Virgin is a super premium cruise line compared to Crystal, Regent etc.. to be honest Virgin is underpriced for what it is, in the future I have no doubt their basic cabins will be $3000+ as an entry way, about 3x what Princess/Carnival/RCI charge.

[The_Force]

A little background... our TA booked a Suite twice for us for the Dec 29th cruise. Both times, it showed available online, and for our TA to book. Within hours, VV cancelled our reservation by sending us and our TA a cancellation email. So we booked a Sea Terrace. Our TA wad told we could bid on a suite. We always cruise in suites and would prefer to be able to book the cabin we want without having to go through all of this bidding war. Just looking for anyone elses experience regarding the bidding process. Thanks

[drewdawg199]

Don’t count on the upgrade bidding, rebook for a date that has confirmable suites, only way to have piece of mind. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by drewdawg199

[MarinerBoy]

41 minutes ago, The_Force said:

A little background... our TA booked a Suite twice for us for the Dec 29th cruise. Both times, it showed available online, and for our TA to book. Within hours, VV cancelled our reservation by sending us and our TA a cancellation email. So we booked a Sea Terrace. Our TA wad told we could bid on a suite. We always cruise in suites and would prefer to be able to book the cabin we want without having to go through all of this bidding war. Just looking for anyone elses experience regarding the bidding process. Thanks

Suite are the least recommended way to cruise. You lose a lot of money on a suite because the markup for a cruise are huge on suites vs standard rooms. You are paying 3x the price of a standard room while having same benefits on the ship, you essentially are a victim of your stupidity if you sail in suites based on this logic above.

[_tacocat_]

2 hours ago, The_Force said:

A little background... our TA booked a Suite twice for us for the Dec 29th cruise. Both times, it showed available online, and for our TA to book. Within hours, VV cancelled our reservation by sending us and our TA a cancellation email. So we booked a Sea Terrace. Our TA wad told we could bid on a suite. We always cruise in suites and would prefer to be able to book the cabin we want without having to go through all of this bidding war. Just looking for anyone elses experience regarding the bidding process. Thanks

That seems crazy - if it's available to book, it should be available to book.  Doesn't help now, but you can book the trip yourself and then add a TA after the fact for whatever perks they're offering (we did for the first ultimately cancelled booking we made in 2019).  I wonder if you had done that if it still would have kicked you back and forced you to bid.

[_tacocat_]

1 hour ago, MarinerBoy said:

You are paying 3x the price of a standard room while having same benefits on the ship

Not sure how it works on other lines, but on VV, suites get you, first of all, more space (and some or all drinks based on rockstar vs. mega), priority booking of dinner reservations and excursions, anytime boarding, a dedicated person to go to if things like reservations or bookings get messed up or need to be changed, a private area on the boat (Richard's Rooftop) with 2 hot tubs, tons of seating and free champagne every evening, and a private area at Bimini, also with a ton of seating, 3 dedicated bartenders and food served to you vs. waiting in line for a buffet.

 

I thought it was worth it, especially with with our rolled-over future voyage credits from cancelled 2020 bookings.

[drewdawg199]

3 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

Suite are the least recommended way to cruise. You lose a lot of money on a suite because the markup for a cruise are huge on suites vs standard rooms. You are paying 3x the price of a standard room while having same benefits on the ship, you essentially are a victim of your stupidity if you sail in suites based on this logic above.

I guess that also means you never pay for first class on a plane, because everyone gets to the same place at the same time?

[basset lady]

We have booked suites on two cruises directly with Virgin Voyages. We were able to choose the type of suite we wanted on each cruise. In fact, we changed our minds on the suite we wanted on one of the cruises with no problem at all. Customer Service Representatives have all been awesome! This is the first we’ve heard about “bidding” or not being able to choose a specific suite. Hubby intends to call VV Customer Service tomorrow and asks exactly how the bidding is supposed to work as my sister wants to upgrade to a suite. 

 

[Chamoretta]

Scarlet Lady only has 75 suites compared to the over 1,000 sea terrace cabin.  I agree with basset lady in regards to being able to book twice for a suite through VV with no real problems.

[benjaminnicholas]

On 12/25/2021 at 6:43 PM, MarinerBoy said:

Virgin is a super premium cruise line compared to Crystal, Regent etc.. to be honest Virgin is underpriced for what it is, in the future I have no doubt their basic cabins will be $3000+ as an entry way, about 3x what Princess/Carnival/RCI charge.

 

VV is nowhere near in the same category as Crystal, Regent, Viking or Azamara.

 

They're perhaps a half-step up from Celebrity.

[cantgetin]

Different lines offer different suite perks.  We got a really good price on a low end suite on Princess, so took it.  At the time of our VV booking, no suites were available, so that was not even a consideration.  Whether or not the perks are worth it is an individual matter.  I could give you a laundry list of perks on Princess, but I really enjoyed the free laundry and the special dining area which also included at least two items which were not available in the standard dining room, as well as the upgraded toiletries.  On a 2 week cruise, that was great.  VV's perks tend to focus more on service and special areas of the ship that are not open to the masses.

I fully agree with booking the cabin you want at the time of your initial booking rather than hoping it opens later!

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by cantgetin

[FoxCrane]

Has anyone had a successful bid for upgrade? What cabin did you have, what did you win, and what was your winning bid? 

[godzukihop]

36 minutes ago, FoxCrane said:

Has anyone had a successful bid for upgrade? What cabin did you have, what did you win, and what was your winning bid? 

Is it really a bid when they tell you the minimum starting price?

 

[jason1022]

wanted to follow up on this.I am sailing out on Wednesday the 15th and have a bid on the massive suite.  are these suites actually available or just incase someone cancels? Francesco in the red glove (who is said to of been there the longest)department said if you are bidding on it it is and they will take highest bidder. Any one have any success with bidding?

[_tacocat_]

Someone on here said before that if it’s “biddable” it’s available, but I doubt they would hold back suites specifically for bidders. It’s probably there for bidding in case someone cancels at the last minute.

[John84]

On 12/26/2021 at 3:08 AM, _tacocat_ said:

Not sure how it works on other lines, but on VV, suites get you, first of all, more space (and some or all drinks based on rockstar vs. mega), priority booking of dinner reservations and excursions...

 

I thought it was worth it

Exactly. A suite wasn't worth it for me when booking, but it's not like I couldn't see why people may have a different opinion. I'm sure other people are happy to go for inside cabins because they don't think the approx $800 extra for a small Balcony on a Sea Terrace is worth it.

[CruisingWalter]

We just got the email today for our Scarlet sailing coming up in a few weeks.

 

The way I'm reading this, that price is the minimum bid if you want to bid on the cabin upgrade. We already have a Cheeky Corner Suite with the Biggest Terrace so we're quite happy where we are. But if I'm reading this right, we have to bid a minimum of $5600 for the Massive Suite and $3600 for the Fab Suite. My guess is that is the minimum price difference between our Cheeky Corner and these other Suites.

 

The Massive Suite is, well MASSIVE but I'm all about the large balcony and the aft view so we're staying put. 

[Janthere]

On 6/10/2022 at 4:24 PM, jason1022 said:

wanted to follow up on this.I am sailing out on Wednesday the 15th and have a bid on the massive suite.  are these suites actually available or just incase someone cancels? Francesco in the red glove (who is said to of been there the longest)department said if you are bidding on it it is and they will take highest bidder. Any one have any success with bidding?

Hi @jason1022Can you please post if you were successful in your bid for the massive suite? Wishing you a fantastic cruise 🙂 

[LSU_Cruisin]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:24 PM, jason1022 said:

wanted to follow up on this.I am sailing out on Wednesday the 15th and have a bid on the massive suite.  are these suites actually available or just incase someone cancels? Francesco in the red glove (who is said to of been there the longest)department said if you are bidding on it it is and they will take highest bidder. Any one have any success with bidding?

We received our upgrade offer from a sea terrace to an aft suite pretty big terrace. We also are sailing on the 15th