Princess Introduces Bidding For Upgrades

[suzyed]

19 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Thanks for clarifying - I really didn't look too closely to their screen shots. Looking at this, the highest option for a balcony is a mini? Not a full suite? Yes, lots of conflicting info...

Is that a correct assumption...the Suite option is not offered for someone in a standard balcony?

 

[ceilidh1]

1 minute ago, suzyed said:

Is that a correct assumption...the Suite option is not offered for someone in a standard balcony?

 

No idea - I was just going by the screenshot from the webinar. Original room was balcony and bidding options seemed to only include upgraded balconies or a minisuite. BUT they did imply that all categories would be available for bidding, so we will need to wait and see...

[ceilidh1]

Some more info...

Upgrade.pdf

[caribill]

47 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Some more info...

Upgrade.pdf 719.66 kB · 11 downloads

 

Interesting.

 

o The example shown for bidding from having a balcony definitely does not show full suite among the "available upgrade options for this booking."

 

o Says "Upgrades do not include any additional perks."

 

Does that mean someone upgraded to club class does not get the free wine on embarkation day? Does not get to use the CC part of the dining room? etc.

 

Does that mean some upgraded to a full suite does not get the free full-suite mini-bar? Cannot have Breakfast at Sabatini's? Cannot get free laundry? etc.

[wowzz]

In reality,  how often are suites empty on any cruise ?

  They normally get snapped up pretty quickly.

Anyone thinking that they can bid $1000 and upgrade from a balcony cabin to a suite is living in an alternative universe  !

[wowzz]

Just now, caribill said:

Does that mean someone upgraded to club class does not get the free wine on embarkation day?

With luck, no. The wine is awful !

[jagoffee]

16 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Interesting.

 

o The example shown for bidding from having a balcony definitely does not show full suite among the "available upgrade options for this booking."

 

o Says "Upgrades do not include any additional perks."

 

Does that mean someone upgraded to club class does not get the free wine on embarkation day? Does not get to use the CC part of the dining room? etc.

 

Does that mean some upgraded to a full suite does not get the free full-suite mini-bar? Cannot have Breakfast at Sabatini's? Cannot get free laundry? etc.

I do not think it means what you are suggesting based on the FAQs that I read early.  Not sure what the definition of “Perks” means in this particular situation.
 

16. Will I receive all the amenities of a Club Class Mini Suite or a full suite if I am upgraded to such categories?
 Yes! You will receive all the amenities of the upgraded stateroom category. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by jagoffee

[ceilidh1]

25 minutes ago, wowzz said:

In reality,  how often are suites empty on any cruise ?

  They normally get snapped up pretty quickly.

Anyone thinking that they can bid $1000 and upgrade from a balcony cabin to a suite is living in an alternative universe  !

That may be true on longer cruises but definitely not on all/most sailings. The reason that suites are fully booked by sailing is that Princess "upsells" people into them. I have had a number of upsell offers from a balcony to a suite in the past...some have been more than worth it, others not so much.

[kitty cant dance]

I didn't get an invitation.

[Guest ldtr]

22 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

That may be true on longer cruises but definitely not on all/most sailings. The reason that suites are fully booked by sailing is that Princess "upsells" people into them. I have had a number of upsell offers from a balcony to a suite in the past...some have been more than worth it, others not so much.

Have been on 5 Princess cruises since restart. suites have sold out well before balconies on all five.

[ceilidh1]

25 minutes ago, kitty cant dance said:

I didn't get an invitation.

Bidding opens Sept 6th for sailings Oct 1st and onwards. Only select ships to begin with. No one would have an invitation yet.

[wowzz]

35 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

That may be true on longer cruises but definitely not on all/most sailings. The reason that suites are fully booked by sailing is that Princess "upsells" people into them. I have had a number of upsell offers from a balcony to a suite in the past...some have been more than worth it, others not so much.

But us Brits never get upsell offers. 

Hopefully with the new bidding system, Americans will no longer get preferential treatment.

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Interesting.

 

o The example shown for bidding from having a balcony definitely does not show full suite among the "available upgrade options for this booking."

 

o Says "Upgrades do not include any additional perks."

 

Does that mean someone upgraded to club class does not get the free wine on embarkation day? Does not get to use the CC part of the dining room? etc.

 

Does that mean some upgraded to a full suite does not get the free full-suite mini-bar? Cannot have Breakfast at Sabatini's? Cannot get free laundry? etc.

 I think by perks they mean things like if you had an OBC offer, and you got 100.00 for your balcony but you'd get 200.00 for a suite, you'd still have the 100.00.  You'd get the dining room, laundry, etc.

 

On Celebrity, you also don't get the points associated with the new room.

 

We moved from concierge to Aqua.  We got the restaurant and the spa access (that we didn't use).

 

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, abbydancer said:

 I think by perks they mean things like if you had an OBC offer, and you got 100.00 for your balcony but you'd get 200.00 for a suite, you'd still have the 100.00.  You'd get the dining room, laundry, etc.

 

On Celebrity, you also don't get the points associated with the new room.

 

We moved from concierge to Aqua.  We got the restaurant and the spa access (that we didn't use).

 

 

Yes, I think you will get amenities associated with the cabin type ... just not perks that are being offered at the current time.  

[LACruiser88]

4 hours ago, ldtr said:

Have been on 5 Princess cruises since restart. suites have sold out well before balconies on all five.

Pre-covid, on almost all cruises 10 days or longer, full suites had been booked way before final payment was due.  I believe that will also be the case in the future. 

[minnesotasisu]

I didn't read through all12 pages of comments so perhaps this question  was answered previously: I booked my cruise through a big box store travel agency. Do they have to submit my bid or can I do it directly through Princess and bypass my TA? The info says the TA gets a commission so I am assuming they must be involved.... or I could be wrong.

[Steelers36]

28 minutes ago, minnesotasisu said:

I didn't read through all12 pages of comments so perhaps this question  was answered previously: I booked my cruise through a big box store travel agency. Do they have to submit my bid or can I do it directly through Princess and bypass my TA? The info says the TA gets a commission so I am assuming they must be involved.... or I could be wrong.

You can normally do it yourself, but your BB agency seems to be one to block access to clients from some other posts in here.  TA is going to earn the commission no matter how booked.  I suggest you look into some posts... you may be able to directly get to the upgrade site using a URL in browser (not sure).  You might need to wait until Sep 6 to find out how other folks are making out.

[vjmatty]

20 hours ago, abbydancer said:

 

 

On Celebrity, you also don't get the points associated with the new room.

 

 

 

Maybe I missed it on the current webinar but I didn't catch whether or not Princess will double the cruise loyalty points for suites won through bidding. Did you happen to hear anything about it?

 

Also, RC doubles points at the JS level.... if memory serves, Princess does NOT do this for mini suites, is that correct?

[abbydancer2003]

Just now, vjmatty said:

 

Maybe I missed it on the current webinar but I didn't catch whether or not Princess will double the cruise loyalty points for suites won through bidding. Did you happen to hear anything about it?

 

Also, RC doubles points at the JS level.... if memory serves, Princess does NOT do this for mini suites, is that correct?

No, only double is in full suites, or sailing solo. And Princess points are either 1 or 2 per cruise, and nights. 

[voljeep]

11 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

No, only double is in full suites, or sailing solo. And Princess points are either 1 or 2 per cruise, and nights. 

no double for suites obtained by "upsells" ( pre-bidding process )

 

but, really, how much does it  matter anymore?

[abbydancer2003]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

no double for suites obtained by "upsells" ( pre-bidding process )

 

but, really, how much does it  matter anymore?

Depends if you like the minibar, or laundry.  

[NavyVeteran]

54 minutes ago, voljeep said:

no double for suites obtained by "upsells" ( pre-bidding process )

 

but, really, how much does it  matter anymore?

 

51 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

Depends if you like the minibar, or laundry.  

It matters if you're trying to get to Elite. After that, it doesn't matter anymore. It used to matter for Loyalty OBC, but that is gone. All other benefits past Elite are based only on number of days with no bonus for suites or solo.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Maybe I missed it on the current webinar but I didn't catch whether or not Princess will double the cruise loyalty points for suites won through bidding. Did you happen to hear anything about it?

Lets face it - suites sell out early.  You will never get a suite through the bidding process. 

Worrying about points (which are meaningless in the scale of things) is a pointless (sic) exercise. 

[vjmatty]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Lets face it - suites sell out early.  You will never get a suite through the bidding process. 

Worrying about points (which are meaningless in the scale of things) is a pointless (sic) exercise. 

Not worried, already Elite anyway, just curious about how the cruise lines compare with each other particularly as Princess joins the bidding process. 

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

Just book what you want.  If you want a suite, pay for it.  Trying to get one for a bargain price is just throwing the dice.