How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[Staci0615]

When do you know if your bid is accepted?   We are 23 days out and still shows pending even though others on our sailing have gotten their upgrades already…hoping we are not denied but I still see available cabins

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

9 hours ago, cathycat said:In addition to that, this new room is also ADA compliant so no bathtub.  

Which ship and what is the cabin number because the cabin may be larger than you think? 

[Coral]

This is the first time I have been eligible to bid. My November Emerald Princess cruise was not allowed for some reason. 

 

Today I finally looked and the lowest cost to bid from a mini-suite to a suite is the same price as it would be to book the suite right now through my agent.

 

Make sure you check pricing before you bid! If I wanted a suite at that price, I would book it through my agent.

[Sailaway617]

11 hours ago, cathycat said:

Our cruise is in just a few weeks.  We were in a Mini-Suite and decided take a chance and bid for a Club Class Mini-Suite.  There were two different descriptions for the Club Class Mini-Suite.  One was with the Mini Suite described as forward and with a large balcony that could be windy.  The second description was for another large balcony but aft  We bid $300 and waited.  Today I received notice that our bid was accepted.  The email stated:

• Your stateroom has a new category – Club Class Mini Suite – and a new number, which you’ll see when you log in to My Princess. (FYI: Staterooms are assigned based on availability.)  
• Of course I rushed to make the payment right away to assure we'd get a good cabin.  Once the payment was made I was given a new cabin number.  Well --- the cabin is no larger than our original Mini Suite ad the balcony might not even be as large as it is described as angled.  In addition to that, this new room is also ADA compliant so no bathtub.  Totally different than what I was led to believe.  So with all of this in mind the only "perk" is Club Class dining and I'm not sure this is at all worth it.  Personally I feel duped.  I doubt I'll ever BID on another room with all of this in mind.

Thank you for your detailed post. Did you bid $300 total or per person? While you may have lost a bathtub, you may have gained more space in your cabin, since it is ADA compliant, walkways and space must accommodate a wheelchair. Also, the angled balconies on Royal class ships are larger and in the middle of the ship, as I understand it. Hope your new cabin and the dining upgrade isn’t too disappointing.

[Coral]

11 hours ago, cathycat said:

 

• Of course I rushed to make the payment right away to assure we'd get a good cabin.  Once the payment was made I was given a new cabin number.  Well --- the cabin is no larger than our original Mini Suite ad the balcony might not even be as large as it is described as angled.  In addition to that, this new room is also ADA compliant so no bathtub.  Totally different than what I was led to believe.  So with all of this in mind the only "perk" is Club Class dining and I'm not sure this is at all worth it.  Personally I feel duped.  I doubt I'll ever BID on another room with all of this in mind.

The ADA mini suites are actually quite large. I have pictures of one from the Emerald Princess if you want to email me (link in my signature). I think you will be fine with the cabin. I got one through an upgrade. Plus you get Club Class.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Coral

[tlc1972]

I'm on Discovery next week. Had originally booked a balcony on Sun deck near the Retreat pool - for me, that's one of the better locations just off the Retreat pool and like the larger balcony on those cabins

But when my bid offer came through, I thought I'd try my luck on a mini-suite. Put in just a "fair" offer of $175, thinking it wouldn't be enough (I think "good" was closer to $350 or more). I received my upgrade email about three weeks prior to embarkation that my bid was accepted. 

Granted, I'm going solo, so I'm actually paying twice as much. Never occurred to me to call and inquire about an upgrade instead of bidding. But I feel it's a good deal and look forward to having a larger cabin, even if the balcony is a bit smaller (after all, it's just me!).

[Suite Susie]

It’s a great shame that UK passengers cannot participate in the bidding process. We could with Celebrity, but not Princess. Seems a bit unfair to me as our chances of an upgrade must be diminished. Are there any UK cruisers that have received an upgrade the old fashioned way? Loved the anticipation of the bidding process with Celebrity, even though we were unsuccessful!

[Sailaway617]

Any thoughts on when to place a bid? Do offers expire? Do offers/ranges decrease as the embarkation date nears, if a cruise is not full? Appreciate any thoughts or experiences.

[justafem]

OMG! OMG!  OMG!  

 

I just got the email that my bid from the cheapest guarantee inside to an obstructed balcony was accepted!  

 

Minimum bid of $100 pp.  

 

Just checked, it's a deluxe obstructed balcony.  We have a couch (and a boat in front of the balcony)! 

 

And this is the March 12, 15 day Hawaiian cruise we got for $100 pp ($355 pp with port fees and taxes).  

 

I'm doing the happy dance!  Hubs won't hardly look at me, because he's not on this trip.  

[Sailaway617]

13 minutes ago, justafem said:

And this is the March 12, 15 day Hawaiian cruise we got for $100 pp ($355 pp with port fees and taxes).  

Yay! So happy for you! Did the port fees and taxes go up, with the upgrade by $255pp?

[MsSoCalCruiser]

5 hours ago, justafem said:

OMG! OMG!  OMG!  

 

I just got the email that my bid from the cheapest guarantee inside to an obstructed balcony was accepted!  

 

Minimum bid of $100 pp.  

 

Just checked, it's a deluxe obstructed balcony.  We have a couch (and a boat in front of the balcony)! 

 

And this is the March 12, 15 day Hawaiian cruise we got for $100 pp ($355 pp with port fees and taxes).  

 

I'm doing the happy dance!  Hubs won't hardly look at me, because he's not on this trip.  

Congratulations, that’s awesome!  Which balcony did you get?  Some of them don't have much obstruction at all.

[Sam.Seattle]

On 2/6/2023 at 7:12 AM, TN-Mountains said:

I don't think big box bookings are eligible for bidding upgrades.  I originally booked through big box and I saw that disclaimer somewhere, but I don't recall if that was on the big box booking or Princess' website.  

Look at your Big Box confirmation under the Terms and Conditions section.  About 12-pargraphs down there is a section "Bid to Upgrade" followed by the comment that they do not participate.

 

Cheers!

[justafem]

16 hours ago, Sailaway617 said:

Yay! So happy for you! Did the port fees and taxes go up, with the upgrade by $255pp?

Nope, our insurance did go up by $8 pp though

10 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Congratulations, that’s awesome!  Which balcony did you get?  Some of them don't have much obstruction at all.

E518, there's a boat in front of the window, but who cares.  Especially when we went from the cheapest IC guaranteed interior.  

 

I'm not picky about my room, just put me on the ship.  An inside would have been fine, but WOOT WOOT WOOT!

[rnr4thatsme]

Has anyone NOT been able to find out the location of their upgraded cabin before accepting offer?  From what I’ve read on here, it seems everyone was able to tell the exact cabin they were getting for the upgrade before accepting the upgrade.

[Shippy]

Just got offer

currently have a Vista Suite on 10 day cruise on the Crown

Offers

Owners suite   $910 pp

Aft Penthouse   $710.  pp

Penthouse   $660.  pp

Premium Suite   $260.  pp

[Jaymuxman]

3 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Has anyone NOT been able to find out the location of their upgraded cabin before accepting offer?  From what I’ve read on here, it seems everyone was able to tell the exact cabin they were getting for the upgrade before accepting the upgrade.

There is no longer a matter of "accepting" it or not. If you submit a bid and it is accepted, your credit card will be charged immediately.

 

 

[justafem]

6 minutes ago, Jaymuxman said:

There is no longer a matter of "accepting" it or not. If you submit a bid and it is accepted, your credit card will be charged immediately.

 

 

I had to manually pay for my up-bid on Wed Feb 22.  And yes, I booked directly though princess. 

 

I had the option of declining the up-bid. 

[Jaymuxman]

Just now, justafem said:

I had to manually pay for my up-bid on Wed Feb 22.  And yes, I booked directly though princess. 

 

I had the option of declining the up-bid. 

I believe the new rule went into effect either 2/24 or 2/25.

 

[Sailaway617]

10 minutes ago, Jaymuxman said:

I believe the new rule went into effect either 2/24 or 2/25.

 

Yes it went into effect on Feb. 24th, the day I received a bid offer. I had hoped to use a gift card to make a bid, but the system would only accept a credit card.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Sailaway617
Added info.

[ciera123]

We received an email today saying our upgrade was accepted, then I went online and had to pay for it within 48 hours.

We were originally on Ruby Princess for a 15-day Hawaii, San Francisco round trip, ocean-view cabin. When they changed ships to  the Royal Princess, they upgraded us to an obstructed balcony, as Royal doesn’t have ocean-views . We put in the minimum bid of  $390 per person for a mini-suite. 😊

[polmcs]

On 2/6/2023 at 7:12 AM, TN-Mountains said:

I don't think big box bookings are eligible for bidding upgrades.  I originally booked through big box and I saw that disclaimer somewhere, but I don't recall if that was on the big box booking or Princess' website.  

All 4 of my bids ended up expiring. I still think it a little strange that I initially submitted 2 bids and at the same time as one expired, the other disappeared completely from the system, rather than simply expiring and I had to resubmit that bid, along with another 2 for $#!+$ and grins. 
 

As I stated, this was on a big box booking that was made many months before the bidding process was implemented, so no mention in my T&Cs about any non participation. I do recall Princess stating in their T&Cs that some TAs did not participate, but clicking on the “see if your booking is eligible” link did bring me to the bidding page. 

[cruzsnooze]

On 2/16/2023 at 12:54 AM, cathycat said:

Our cruise is in just a few weeks.  We were in a Mini-Suite and decided take a chance and bid for a Club Class Mini-Suite.  There were two different descriptions for the Club Class Mini-Suite.  One was with the Mini Suite described as forward and with a large balcony that could be windy.  The second description was for another large balcony but aft  We bid $300 and waited.  Today I received notice that our bid was accepted.  The email stated:

• Your stateroom has a new category – Club Class Mini Suite – and a new number, which you’ll see when you log in to My Princess. (FYI: Staterooms are assigned based on availability.)  
• Of course I rushed to make the payment right away to assure we'd get a good cabin.  Once the payment was made I was given a new cabin number.  Well --- the cabin is no larger than our original Mini Suite ad the balcony might not even be as large as it is described as angled.  In addition to that, this new room is also ADA compliant so no bathtub.  Totally different than what I was led to believe.  So with all of this in mind the only "perk" is Club Class dining and I'm not sure this is at all worth it.  Personally I feel duped.  I doubt I'll ever BID on another room with all of this in mind.

The cabin will be somewhat bigger but the bathroom is horrible. The shower has no enclosure and water is every where. There are no shelves to put anything. The only perk to club class is the dining so what do mean that's the only perk? Club class mini suites are all the same, just better location mid ship deck 9 usually. What ship are you talking about?

[Shelly97060]

4 hours ago, Jaymuxman said:

There is no longer a matter of "accepting" it or not. If you submit a bid and it is accepted, your credit card will be charged immediately.

 

 

You accept the terms and agree to make payment when you submit your bid but you credit card isn’t automatically charged when bid is accepted.  Once you are notified you have a winning bid you then pay for it ( either through Personalizer, your TA/PVP or by calling Princess). 😄

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 2/23/2023 at 8:03 AM, justafem said:

Nope, our insurance did go up by $8 pp though

E518, there's a boat in front of the window, but who cares.  Especially when we went from the cheapest IC guaranteed interior.  

 

I'm not picky about my room, just put me on the ship.  An inside would have been fine, but WOOT WOOT WOOT!

I’m happy for you!

[Clampram]

11 hours ago, ciera123 said:

We received an email today saying our upgrade was accepted, then I went online and had to pay for it within 48 hours.

We were originally on Ruby Princess for a 15-day Hawaii, San Francisco round trip, ocean-view cabin. When they changed ships to  the Royal Princess, they upgraded us to an obstructed balcony, as Royal doesn’t have ocean-views . We put in the minimum bid of  $390 per person for a mini-suite. 😊

Congrats on the nice upgrade. We are on that cruse as well and hoping to get one of those emails since we bid on an upgrade several weeks ago. Did they give you a location of your new mini suite?