How is the bidding system doing? Any comments?

[HiCCCs]

13 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We just received the below upgrade offers for our upcoming November Med/TA voyage on the Enchanted. 

 

We are currently in a non-Club Class mini-suite.  We placed a bid for a Club Class mini-suite.  The minimum bid seems very reasonable.

 

Check out the minimum bid for the Sky Suite, yikes!  😮

 

 

Thanks for putting the screenshots in this. It's very helpful to see what might be coming in the email along with the various bidding options. That's a very reasonable upgrade from a Mini-Suite to a Club Class (supposedly now it's called Reserve Collection) Mini-Suite. Good Luck!!

[HiCCCs]

13 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We just received the below upgrade offers for our upcoming November Med/TA voyage on the Enchanted. 

 

We are currently in a non-Club Class mini-suite.  We placed a bid for a Club Class mini-suite.  The minimum bid seems very reasonable.

 

Check out the minimum bid for the Sky Suite, yikes!  😮

 

 

An interesting notation....your cruise must be around +90 days away.   And yet, I thought the rules for bidding to upgrade were that the voyage needed to be within 75 days or 70 days of sailing. So is the offer you received different than their "bid to upgrade" program?

Edited July 21, 2023 by HiCCCs

[sunviking90]

4 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

An interesting notation....your cruise must be around +90 days away.   And yet, I thought the rules for bidding to upgrade were that the voyage needed to be within 75 days or 70 days of sailing. So is the offer you received different than their "bid to upgrade" program?

These are the windows. It depends on the length of the sailing. It is 5 days after final payment due date.

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by sunviking90

[LACruiser88]

6 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

An interesting notation....your cruise must be around +90 days away.   And yet, I thought the rules for bidding to upgrade were that the voyage needed to be within 75 days or 70 days of sailing. So is the offer you received different than their "bid to upgrade" program?

Our cruise is a 26-day voyage.

[roxievegas]

On 7/20/2023 at 12:52 PM, LACruiser88 said:

We just received the below upgrade offers for our upcoming November Med/TA voyage on the Enchanted. 

 

We are currently in a non-Club Class mini-suite.  We placed a bid for a Club Class mini-suite.  The minimum bid seems very reasonable.

 

Check out the minimum bid for the Sky Suite, yikes!  😮

 

 

the $35 pp bid sounds okay.  I wish I could, would, had the money to go for the highest suite, but I don't, won't, can't do that- my husband would shoot me.

[portiemom]

On 7/19/2023 at 1:27 PM, HiCCCs said:

Just to clarify....are you talking about a combo cruise/land vacation/tour?  The upgrade bid would be for your stateroom on the cruise ship but not on the hotel/lodge room.

Correct. Heart of the Rockies cruise tour. Bid for upgrade on Alaska cruise.

[dreams_of_travel]

I placed a bid eons ago to move from an Oceanview/midship, to a balcony on the Crown leaving on Tuesday.  Today I got an email about getting approved for a mini suite, not quit forward but not quite mid ship.  Bid was $300/person.   Very happy about this.  

[1cruiselvr]

45 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

I placed a bid eons ago to move from an Oceanview/midship, to a balcony on the Crown leaving on Tuesday.  Today I got an email about getting approved for a mini suite, not quit forward but not quite mid ship.  Bid was $300/person.   Very happy about this.  

Confused. You bid on a balcony but you win a mini suite?

[dreams_of_travel]

21 hours ago, 1cruiselvr said:

Confused. You bid on a balcony but you win a mini suite?

Yes, I bid on a regular balcony, and won a mini suite.  I have no explanation how that happened, but it will be nice to have the extra space and couch.

[dave_k58]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:03 PM, Prost Seattle said:

I put in weak bids for our Sep. 30 cruise, we’re fine with the mini-suite, but if we get one of the upgrades it’ll be nice.  

I was thinking about upgrading from a mini to a full suite. But according to princess.com - our cruise is completely sold out except for obstructed ocean view and interiors. Still got an email from princess reminding me about the bid program

[dreams_of_travel]

22 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Yes, I bid on a regular balcony, and won a mini suite.  I have no explanation how that happened, but it will be nice to have the extra space and couch.

I went back and looked at my bid confirmation email.  Correction:  I put a $300/person bid on standard balcony, premium balcony, and mini suite.  I lucked out with the mini suite.

[Poipu04]

On 7/21/2023 at 11:18 PM, dreams_of_travel said:

I placed a bid eons ago to move from an Oceanview/midship, to a balcony on the Crown leaving on Tuesday.  Today I got an email about getting approved for a mini suite, not quit forward but not quite mid ship.  Bid was $300/person.   Very happy about this.  

Congratulations! Curious how many days is your cruise? 

[dreams_of_travel]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:06 AM, Poipu04 said:

Congratulations! Curious how many days is your cruise? 

My cruise is a 10day.

[jennmaybe]

We are booked in a regular balcony cabin for our Mediterranean cruise in October. I got the email to upgrade to a club class mini suite starting at $250 per person.  Is that a good deal?

[chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, jennmaybe said:

We are booked in a regular balcony cabin for our Mediterranean cruise in October. I got the email to upgrade to a club class mini suite starting at $250 per person.  Is that a good deal?

It all depends on how long your cruise is....but generally,  it probably is a good deal

[jennmaybe]

  It’s a 7-day. I’m not  all that familiar with the club class mini suite, so I wasn’t sure if it was worth it.

[CalTexCruiser]

4 hours ago, jennmaybe said:

We are booked in a regular balcony cabin for our Mediterranean cruise in October. I got the email to upgrade to a club class mini suite starting at $250 per person.  Is that a good deal?

 

$ 250 will get you 6 or 7 specialty dinners depending on which restaurants you go to, so you could factor that into the equation.

 

Plus club class mini suites are in better locations.

 

I wasn't too impressed with club class dining--it's literally a cordoned section of the MDR (at least on the Discovery Princess) and the food was standard MDR fare (with one extra dish per night).  (Some) waitstaff in club class is better than the waitstaff in the main section of MDR.

[jennmaybe]

Thank you!  Yeah, I’m not sold yet….that definitely gives me some insight.  😄

[rheathslc]

19 minutes ago, jennmaybe said:

Thank you!  Yeah, I’m not sold yet….that definitely gives me some insight.  😄

I LOVE the Club Class minis and think $250 per person is a steal for a 7-day cruise. I would go for it. But it depends on what you value most in cruising. The cabin locations tend to be better (depending on individual preferences of course) and some even have bigger balconies. I really love the Club Class dining. In my experience the difference is that it's a dedicated wait staff and smaller area so it's a lot like traditional dining used to be where the staff gets to know you and what you like versus the mdr where it's not always possible to get the same table let alone section even with the same time reservation each night. I have also found the service to be better in general. For sure it's more consistent. You also get priority embarkation which is a huge plus for me.

 

For me the perks are worth it. 🙂

[CalTexCruiser]

5 hours ago, jennmaybe said:

We are booked in a regular balcony cabin for our Mediterranean cruise in October. I got the email to upgrade to a club class mini suite starting at $250 per person.  Is that a good deal?

 

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

$ 250 will get you 6 or 7 specialty dinners depending on which restaurants you go to, so you could factor that into the equation.

 

Plus club class mini suites are in better locations.

 

I wasn't too impressed with club class dining--it's literally a cordoned section of the MDR (at least on the Discovery Princess) and the food was standard MDR fare (with one extra dish per night).  (Some) waitstaff in club class is better than the waitstaff in the main section of MDR.

I didn’t read your original post correctly and missed that you are upgrading from balcony to club class mini

 

i thought the 250 was from regular mini to club class mini

 

from balcony to club class mini, 250 pp is a good deal IMO

[roxievegas]

leave in 4 days.  My bid still shows pending.  Looking everyday.

 

currently in balcony, bid $150pp for mini suite.

[jennmaybe]

1 hour ago, rheathslc said:

I LOVE the Club Class minis and think $250 per person is a steal for a 7-day cruise. I would go for it. But it depends on what you value most in cruising. The cabin locations tend to be better (depending on individual preferences of course) and some even have bigger balconies. I really love the Club Class dining. In my experience the difference is that it's a dedicated wait staff and smaller area so it's a lot like traditional dining used to be where the staff gets to know you and what you like versus the mdr where it's not always possible to get the same table let alone section even with the same time reservation each night. I have also found the service to be better in general. For sure it's more consistent. You also get priority embarkation which is a huge plus for me.

 

For me the perks are worth it. 🙂

 

38 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

I didn’t read your original post correctly and missed that you are upgrading from balcony to club class mini

 

i thought the 250 was from regular mini to club class mini

 

from balcony to club class mini, 250 pp is a good deal IMO

Thank you both for that info!  I went out and read up on all of the perks and I think if I could get it for around $250 or a little more per person it would be worth it. We are spending a booku on airfare, so I can’t go much over that.

[cruisers0708]

We are 30 days away from Alaska on Crown Princess.  Originally booked a Mini-Suite Guarantee and placed a bid on a Club Class Mini just slightly over the minimum ($150/pp).  Today received an email that our offer was not accepted, but was counter offered a penthouse suite ($1000/pp).   I guess I have impulse control issues because I hit "Accept Offer" almost immediately.  These suites were available online yesterday for $4,568/pp.  I think we did okay, LOL

[Poipu04]

2 hours ago, roxievegas said:

leave in 4 days.  My bid still shows pending.  Looking everyday.

 

currently in balcony, bid $150pp for mini suite.

Keep us posted on your outcome! Good luck!

[atlast95]

10 hours ago, cruisers0708 said:

We are 30 days away from Alaska on Crown Princess.  Originally booked a Mini-Suite Guarantee and placed a bid on a Club Class Mini just slightly over the minimum ($150/pp).  Today received an email that our offer was not accepted, but was counter offered a penthouse suite ($1000/pp).   I guess I have impulse control issues because I hit "Accept Offer" almost immediately.  These suites were available online yesterday for $4,568/pp.  I think we did okay, LOL

That's exciting! You should have great views from your penthouse suite balcony. Enjoy the luxury of travelling in style.