Level upgrade program: tips? Worth it?

[snoopycr]

Anyone use the level upgrade program to bid on suites? Is it worth it? Any tips or suite preference? 

 

Thanks

[cantgetin]

It can be worth it.  Do you want a suite?  Are you willing to pay the minimum bid price?  There are relatively few suite perks on VV other than the stocked bar and a bigger room.

 

[snoopycr]

It says suites receives select beverages (alcohol?) and rooftop access. Would be nice to get away from the crowd. Seems space is very limited for pool/hot tubs.

 

So just put min bid? 

[cantgetin]

NO, bit a strange number at least a little above minimum bid.  Your chances improve if you use something "different."  If minimum bid is $100 (I know that's not realistic, but for example,) you bid $107 or $117.  Most people will bitd $100 or $101.

[Lustate]

Having done the bid up thing, I can confirm it’s not quite all it appears to be. We bid above the minimum and in one case above the going rate for a cabin. All bids were not accepted. We then got to the port and a nice long line of people was there as you could pay at the port to upgrade. 
 

not clear how or what happens back of house but seems somewhat more complex than your bid being enough and cabins being available. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Lustate

[_tacocat_]

if you're bidding from an insider/sea view to a plain old sea terrace, you'll probably get it if you bid the minimum or slightly over.  that's a numbers thing - there are a ton of regular sea terrace cabins.

 

if you're hoping to get a suite, good luck - chances are slim to none.  suites are pretty well booked through the end of next year, and now that there's no more testing and they're tightening their cancel policies, i'm guessing there will be very few suites that cancel last minute.

 

if you want "suite lite" benefits, you might want to look into the splash of romance package. it's $200 for early boarding, daily pressed juices, 1 shake for champagne and 2 3-hour spa passes, among a couple other perks.

 

i've only been in suites so far, but i don't really see the value proposition anymore now that they've gotten so crazy expensive AND they've started excluding suites from most fare savings promotions.  have one more voyage booked in a suite in october, then we're moving to an xl sea terrace on the 2nd leg of our back to back and will probably only do normal cabins from here on out.

[godzukihop]

14 hours ago, cantgetin said:

It can be worth it.  Do you want a suite?  Are you willing to pay the minimum bid price?  There are relatively few suite perks on VV other than the stocked bar and a bigger room.

 

Do not agree, there are many perks. Concierge, and many things free that others have to pay for. Trust me the black wristbands have their advantages. When we stopped in Bimini, we didn't have to wait for the tram to fill up to go to the beach club, they had golf carts waiting for us and we were on our way asap.

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by godzukihop

[Cashsmoney]

Well I think the one thing that totally pays for the mega rockstar is the unlimited drinks. That’s a 200-300 dollar a day value to my wife and I. 

[_tacocat_]

14 minutes ago, Cashsmoney said:

Well I think the one thing that totally pays for the mega rockstar is the unlimited drinks. That’s a 200-300 dollar a day value to my wife and I. 

the only way mega rockstar works out financially with drinks is if you give yourself alcohol poisoning haha.  my husband and i did a back to back in a mega, which cost i think 4x more than a sea terrace cabin.  we drank around the clock for 9 nights and probably still didn't break even on booze/spa/other perks.

 

it was nice to be able to get whatever drink you wanted without worrying about bar tab or whatever, but you did still have to watch your account like a hawk.  if you got an upgraded liquor in a cocktail, some of the bartenders wanted to charge you for a shot of that booze PLUS the base cocktail, which put you over the $25/drink limit.  sometimes, mystery drinks ended up on our tab (presumably the bartended accidentally adding a new sailor's drink to our tab), and their policy is that you can only get as many drinks as registered guests in the suite, so the app showed charges in our wallet.  same with bottles of wine- a few times, our included bottles showed up in our wallet too.  ultimately everything was wiped off, but it was kind of annoying to watch out for.

[Lustate]

1 hour ago, _tacocat_ said:

the only way mega rockstar works out financially with drinks is if you give yourself alcohol poisoning haha. 

The math sounds about right. Most cocktails in the $15 region, so you would need to each drink 10x a day.

 

You can hear a liver screaming from decks away lol 

[cantgetin]

I understand that MEGA rockstar suites have free alcohol all over the ship.  Other than the concierge (which I now have thru the loyalty program) and Richard's Rooftop with nightly champagne, and the initial alcohol set up, what do rockstar suites get that "others have to pay for?"

[rebeccac]

We were in a regular Rockstar suite and while the one time bar set-up and the agent/concierge were nice (we barely used Richard's Rooftop), I think the best perk was the golf cart in Bimini.  We made the mistake of not waiting for a golf cart on the way back and we took the tram which was there and waiting.  It is such a ROUGH ride.  That being said, unless the price difference was minimal, I think you could easily buy yourself almost all of the same perks for far less than the cost of a suite.  

[snoopycr]

It says suites receives select beverages (alcohol?) and rooftop access. Would be nice to get away from the crowd. Seems space is very limited for pool/hot tubs.

 

So just put min bid? 

[snoopycr]

On 8/31/2022 at 5:38 PM, Lustate said:

The math sounds about right. Most cocktails in the $15 region, so you would need to each drink 10x a day.

 

You can hear a liver screaming from decks away lol 

Are the price of cocktails the same whether you have a bar tab or not? 

 

Thanks

[rebeccac]

12 hours ago, snoopycr said:

Are the price of cocktails the same whether you have a bar tab or not? 

 

Thanks

Yes.  

[cantgetin]

14 hours ago, snoopycr said:

Are the price of cocktails the same whether you have a bar tab or not? 

 

Thanks

The bar tab is one pay source for drinks.   Yes, the prices are the same regardless of whether the cost comes out of bar tab, sailor loot, or ultimately a credit card on account.  Of course, you've received a bonus by purchasing a bar tab, so if you want to get really technical, you are paying less thru the bar tab.  The nice thing about VV is that the cocktail which is on the menu for $13 will actually result in a $13 deduction from the bar tab, NOT the $15 as it would on other lines because the tip is already included in the posted price. The only exception to this is a few Med stops that have a local tax that must be applied when the ship is in port.

[DV8]

Do you have to wait for an offer/invite to bid? Or should it be accessible somewhere in your account?

[cantgetin]

3 hours ago, DV8 said:

Do you have to wait for an offer/invite to bid? Or should it be accessible somewhere in your account?

I've only seen it as an offer about a month ahead of embarkation.

[CruisingWalter]

On 8/30/2022 at 11:22 PM, snoopycr said:

It says suites receives select beverages (alcohol?) and rooftop access. Would be nice to get away from the crowd. Seems space is very limited for pool/hot tubs.

 

So just put min bid? 

 

You get your fully stocked bar in the cabin and access to RIchard's Rooftop if you're a Rockstar. You get a selection of drinks at all the bars if you're a MegaRockstar.

 

We had a Cheeky Corner Suite on our sailing and while it was really fun to have a fully stocked bar, you can take the unfinished bottles home with you, Richard's Rooftop was not a benefit for us. It has barely any shade so we did not go up there except for one champagne reception. The crew up there are awesomely friendly like the rest of the ship, but it was a non benefit for us. If it had a pool it might have been a place we would have spent more time. It was barely used during our cruise.

 

The only nice perk really was the private golf carts at Bimini. The road is SO rough there that when we rode back on the regular tram, it was almost painful, but the golf cart was a much smoother ride getting to the beach. 

 

Even our massive balcony was a waste because VV only had two lounge chairs, 1 very small table and dining chairs. We had a 500+ sq ft balcony and more than 80% of it was empty. Normally you might expect a four person dining table, an outdoor sofa/chaise setup. Something to make that balcony feel more like a private oasis than just two lounge chairs and one hammock. It was a stunning balcony to be sure, but we didn't spend as much time on it because it wasn't as well appointed as you see on other cruise line suite balconies. 

 

VV is one cruise line where you don't need suite perks. There is no special restaurant exclusively for you, there is no specially held seating at the venues jus for you, there is no special lounge (other than RR) just for you. Everybody gets the same restaurants, bars, 

 

And if you look at the location of some of the suites, they are directly below the gym, the galley and the pool decks. That's why we booked the Cheeky Corner in the back. 

[LibratPDX]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:52 PM, cantgetin said:

I've only seen it as an offer about a month ahead of embarkation.

You don't have to wait for an email (I never received one), you can go to the website and fill in your information (Google Virgin Voyages Upgrade and it comes up).  It won't work until your sailing is eligible. 

[DV8]

9 hours ago, LibratPDX said:

You don't have to wait for an email (I never received one), you can go to the website and fill in your information (Google Virgin Voyages Upgrade and it comes up).  It won't work until your sailing is eligible. 

Ah ha, thank you!
It says not eligible - I only booked about two weeks prior to the sailing, not sure what affect that may have, but I'll keep checking.

[garycarla]

Everyone wants an upgrade. EVERYONE.

 

But, reality is a the sick *****.  On most cruises the suites are already sold out.

 

So - no matter what you bid, you are not going to get one.

[cantgetin]

Overall, the above is true...but things do open up, even at the last minute.  We were boarding the Disney Magic once and the Walt suite was on the upgrade list of cabins that could be purchased at the port. Those cabins have a separate reservation and booking process, and are usually booked 18 months in advance, so I asked the CM about it.  The grandfather who had booked it had a last minute medical issue, so the family canceled.  No, I didn't take it as there were 2 of us and I didn't want to pay for a suite that sleeps 7.

It doesn't hurt the cruise line to have a list of people who want a suite if one opens.

[DV8]

18 hours ago, garycarla said:

Everyone wants an upgrade. EVERYONE.

 

But, reality is a the sick *****.  On most cruises the suites are already sold out.

 

So - no matter what you bid, you are not going to get one.

Suites aren't the only upgrades 🤷🏻‍♀️

[garycarla]

agree... but it seems that the vast majority of comments are about getting a suite.